Vote results: 2 for Ruby & Sapphire, 1 for Diamond & Platinum, 1 for Gold & Crystal, 1 for original plans, and… hold on… 7 no-votes. So with a whopping total of 10 votes, SL #010 is the start of the Ruby & Sapphire segment. Hell, it's about time.
For those who may be wondering why your vote wasn't put into consideration despite being a faithful reviewer, it's probably because you voted on the wrong chapter. Because I don't know who will have their status revoked by the time the vote results come around, I will be ignoring all votes during the even-numbered chapters.
Note: regarding the recent developments, standard protocol is in effect. S-EARL will ignore everything except the updated game mechanics until Pokémon Special progresses to Generation VI. It doesn't matter if Pokémon Special doesn't actually progress there until long after XY(Z?) is released. In all practicality, X and Y (predicted nicknames for the new Dex Holders, which I also assume will be the shortened version of their actual names, like N) will not appear in SE, SA, or SL. At best, they will be in SR (after a 15 on 2 mass-bullying/trick/indoctrination/"welcoming"), and the successor to SA/SL. But until I know their in-manga names, personality, etc, they will not even be mentioned anywhere in all of S-EARL.
Oh, in case you haven't heard, Generation VI is inbound (probably should've said this before the note). Pokémon XY. Seeing how it's on the 3DS, I assume that this time, there will be a third version (Z) to match the 3D coordinate axes. Of course, the designers could decide to screw with the predictions and make X2Y2 or nothing at all. If the game designers wanted to make the probable third game less obvious, they could've just named the games based on the spherical coordinate system, but oh well. Then again, "Pokémon R and Theta" does sound ridiculous.
Segment: Ruby & Sapphire.
Chapter 10: New Region
April 21, Castelia City, Unova, 7 pm…
"So… this is Unova."
"Those are some tall, tall buildings. This city is HUGE!"
"Sapphire, stop being such a tourist."
"I am a tourist, Ruby! And so are you!"
"Get down from that street lamp! You're making a scene! And remember, we're here for a reason."
"Yeah, yeah. Relax, you sissy. I'll take you to that stupid music thing."
Sapphire jumped down from the street lamp and landed in front of Ruby. A few people gathered around the two Hoenn Dex Holders, wondering who this wild girl was. Ruby did his best to appear as if he had absolutely nothing to do with Sapphire. But the girl busted his cover pretty quickly. She put an arm around his shoulders.
"Alright then, let's go to New Mombasa."
"Nimbasa," Ruby corrected.
"Whatever." Sapphire sent out her Tropius in the middle of the street outside the harbor and hopped on. "Well? Come on! Let's get this thing over with. I want to do some sightseeing!"
Ruby sighed as he climbed onto the Tropius. A lot of people were gathered now, wondering who would release a Pokémon in the middle of a crowd that was trying to exit the harbor. Perhaps asking Sapphire to accompany him wasn't the best choice. But he had no other alternatives, as she was the only one with an aerial transport Pokémon. And she probably wouldn't have lent Tropius to him for an extended period of time. Then again, the company wasn't that bad. And something told him that if he left without her, she'd hunt him down and kill him…
As the Tropius lifted off and headed towards Nimbasa City, Sapphire looked over to the side and saw an eagle-like Pokémon flying southeast. She looked at it carefully and spotted two people riding it. There was a girl holding onto it on top and a boy being carried by the Pokémon.
'Wow. That's a Pokémon I never saw before. Cool.'
Within half an hour, the two Hoenn Dex Holders arrived at Nimbasa City. The Tropius stayed high above the city so that the two Dex Holders could get a good view of the heart of entertainment.
"Wow. This is a big city," Ruby muttered.
"The view is so nice," Sapphire said with a smile. "And is that an amusement park over there?"
"We'll go there after we're done with the Pokémon Musical," Ruby said. "Set down over there."
"… Jerk. You're no fun," Sapphire said with a sigh.
The Tropius soon landed next to the large sports dome. Sapphire glanced at the dome once before focusing her attention on the building Ruby was looking at.
"That's the building," he said.
"How do you know?"
Ruby looked at her as if she said something incredibly stupid. "… Because it says 'Musical' on it?"
Sapphire then realized that the building really had 'Musical' in big letters in the front.
"Oh. I didn't see it," she said as she blushed in embarrassment. She examined the Musical building closely and noticed something odd. "Hey Ruby, isn't the Musical supposed to be loud?"
"Yeah. So?"
"I'm not hearing anything going on in there." Sapphire closed her eyes and focused on her hearing. She soon ran towards the building and sniffed around a little.
Ruby ran up to her. "Sapphire, stop doing things that'll attract the wrong attention."
"It's not like I'm sniffing the ground in the middle of a street," she said as she continued to sniff at the air. She soon stopped and looked at the Musical building. "I don't think anyone's in there."
"Huh…"
Ruby approached the front door and tried to open it. It was locked. Sapphire thought for a second while the boy stood dumbfounded.
"Is it possible that it just closed for the day?" she suggested.
Ruby shook his head. "No. The brochure I read explicitly stated that the Musical opens at 6 in the morning and closes at midnight."
Sapphire crossed her arms and grinned. "Well, since the Musical is closed, you know what that means, don't you?" 'Time to do some sightseeing! And that amusement park!'
Ruby smiled. "Yep. We ask the people of Nimbasa for information! I want to know what happened!"
Sapphire's grin faded and she sighed. "Ah, hell… Fine. Whatever."
"Let's ask the Gym Leader," Ruby said. "A Gym Leader is supposed to know just about everything in their city."
The two Hoenn Dex Holders climbed back onto the Tropius and headed towards the Gym. Sapphire took this opportunity to do some more midair sightseeing. She purposely had Tropius slow down so that she could just look around a bit more. But Ruby noticed and she had no choice but to hurry it up.
"Holy crap," Sapphire muttered as the Tropius approached the Nimbasa City Gym. "That Gym is huge! You could probably fit all 8 Hoenn Gyms in there!"
"… We're going to have a hell of a time looking for the Gym Leader in there…"
The two Dex Holders soon entered the Gym and immediately froze.
"… What the hell," Sapphire muttered. "Who puts a rollercoaster inside a Gym?!"
"I can't see the opposite end of this place," Ruby said as he squinted. "I don't even know where to begin looking for the Gym Leader."
"Who cares? Let's ride!" Sapphire said excitedly as she jumped up and down.
"No way," Ruby said as he shook his head. "That'll mess up my hair and clothes."
Sapphire groaned and smacked a hand over her face. "You freaking sissy…"
"If you're looking for the Gym Leader," said the Gym's guide from next to a statue. "She's not here. She's currently inside the new Gym."
"A new Gym?" Sapphire muttered. "She must be one extravagant Gym Leader."
Ruby nodded. He then looked over at her in shock. "I must say. I'm surprised that you even know that word."
Sapphire gritted her teeth as she glared at Ruby. "I'm not an idiot you arrogant ass."
The boy laughed as he put a hand on her shoulder. "Of course not. I wouldn't hang around with you if you were, now would I?" He gave her a pat on the shoulder before heading outside. "Come on, Sapphire. Let's go find this profligate Gym Leader."
The girl's boiling rage melted away very quickly and she followed. Sure, Ruby may taunt her once every 5 seconds, but she knows that he doesn't mean it and still cares for her deeply. Even if he avoids talking about that event like the plague… One day, though…
The new Gym soon came into the view of the two Hoenn Dex Holders. This new Gym wasn't nearly as large and seemed like a regular Gym… until they entered.
"… This is a Gym?" Sapphire muttered.
"Wow. A fashion show!" Ruby exclaimed excitedly.
Sapphire narrowed her eyes as Ruby stared at the various fashion models. If she didn't know him any better, she'd say that he was staring at the models themselves rather than their clothes. She grabbed him by the ear (a technique she saw Crystal using against Gold at one point in the Battle Frontier) and dragged him down the walkway, towards the presumed Gym Leader.
"Ow, ow, ow… Sapphire, my ear is a delicate thing," Ruby complained. "Stop crushing it!"
The girl ignored him and continued to walk. The handful of models on the walkway saw her approach.
"Oh, a challenger!" they exclaimed. "You'll have to beat us fir-"
"Out of the way!" Sapphire yelled. "I'm not here to challenge the Gym Leader!"
The models scurried away and another one appeared, this one wearing a ridiculous yellow fur… wool… thing.
"Oh? You are not here to challenge my Gym?"
"… You're the Gym Leader?" Sapphire asked.
"Yes. I am Elesa, the Gym Leader if Nimbasa City."
"Beautiful!" Ruby exclaimed, and Sapphire instantly turned to glare at him.
His eyes were sparkling as he stared at Elesa and he started to walk closer. In that instant, Sapphire slammed the back of her fist into his forehead (protected by the soft padding on his hat), sending him flying several meters backwards.
"If you are not here to challenge my Gym, then what are you here for?" Elesa asked after watching Ruby fly away.
"Well, that jerk and I came here from Hoenn so that he could participate in this Pokémon Musical thing," Sapphire started. "But the Musical building seems closed, so we came here to see if you knew what happened."
Elesa's eyes narrowed a little. "Of course I know what happened. But the person who started the Musical is a friend of mine. And she needs help at the moment. You are not the first who came to my Gym looking for her. And I will not be giving away her whereabouts easily. If you can beat me in a battle, then I will give you a hint."
Sapphire shrugged. "Alright then." She dropped down to all fours and took out a Pokéball. "Let's go!"
Several meters behind, Ruby slowly sat up with his hands pressed firmly against his forehead. Instantly, he found himself surrounded by fashion models wearing beautiful attires. He immediately reached into his bag and took out his Pokéballs, a camera, and his photo album.
"This has got to be in my records!" he exclaimed.
"Don't you want to see your barbaric friend battle the Gym Leader?" one of the models asked.
"She's only like that at certain times," Ruby said dismissively. "Other times, she's quite… docile."
The models turned to stare at Sapphire, who was on all fours, swiftly dodging attacks and yelling out attacks of her own. 'Docile' didn't seem to apply to her at all.
"Anyways," Ruby continued as he set up. "She'll win for sure. No doubt." His eyes instantly began to sparkle as he looked at the fashion models. "However! Could you pose for the camera with my Pokémon? This will be great for my future Contests!"
As Ruby spent time taking photo after photo of the fashion models in various poses alongside his Pokémon, Sapphire stood behind him with her arms crossed, having beaten Elesa and gotten the hint. The girl decided to wait until Ruby realized her presence.
For 10 minutes, Sapphire stood waiting. But it seemed like Ruby was going to take all night with this, so she decided to intervene. She unstrapped the bag around her waist and after hefting it a little, whacked him on the side of the head with it, sending him flying another couple of meters
"Ow! Sapphire, what the hell!" Ruby yelled as he slowly got back to his original position.
"I got the hint of the whereabouts of the person who started the Pokémon Musical," Sapphire said with a smile. "So let's get going."
Sapphire grinned in satisfaction as Ruby packed up while continuously grumbling. Once the boy finished packing up his photo album, the girl dragged him outside.
"Alright… so where are we going?" he asked once he exited the Gym.
"We're going to Mistralton City," Sapphire answered. "Apparently the creator of the Pokémon Musical was last seen in Route 7 just north of the city. The Gym Leader of Nimbasa suggests we talk to the Gym Leader of Mistralton to find out about her whereabouts."
…
Mistralton City, 9 pm…
…
Ruby and Sapphire stood outside the Mistralton City Gym. Ruby was holding a little umbrella over his head while Sapphire simply stood under the pounding rain.
"So… this is the Gym, huh? It looks more like a hangar," Sapphire said as she stretched her arms.
"Well, let's go in already. Avoid this downpour," Ruby said as he ran into the Gym.
Sapphire rolled her eyes and followed. "We've both been through worse downpours before, you sissy."
Both Hoenn Dex Holders froze upon seeing the Mistralton City Gym's layout. Sapphire soon jumped in joy while Ruby remained petrified.
"… Mancannons?" he muttered in shock. "I'm not going in there! I'll die!"
"Then step aside and let the girl through!" Sapphire said excitedly.
Ruby simply stood back and watched as Sapphire hopped into the first mancannon. Deciding to let Sapphire have her fun, he sat down on a bench near the entrance of the Gym and began arranging the photos he took in Nimbasa City Gym into his photo album. All he could hear was Sapphire's excited squeals as she was launched from one mancannon and the next. She suddenly let out a surprised and slightly pained shriek and Ruby looked up. Apparently one mancannon was aimed at a wall… that was covered in soft padding, but still. A wall made of steel. And the mancannon was aimed pretty high up at that wall.
Sapphire groaned as she put a hand on her rear. The face-first splat into the 'soft' padding wasn't nice, and that 2~3 meter fall wasn't nice either. The 'soft' padding on the floor wasn't that great.
"Ow, my ass…" she muttered as she walked up to the Gym Leader. "That soft padding needs improvement!" she said to the Gym Leader who was watching her.
"Oh, I'm going to be changing the layout pretty soon," the Gym Leader answered. "Come back in a week or so, and things will be very different. I'm Skyla, by the way. Mistralton City's Gym Leader."
Sapphire proceeded to explain why she was there. Skyla listened attentively and her expression soon hardened.
"Oh, I see. You're here looking for her… Her friend came earlier today and he probably took her home. I know that she's in trouble as I had quite a few people looking for her already. Now, I can't let everyone know her whereabouts. So, like Elesa, you're going to have to beat me in a battle to prove your worth. Then I'll tell you where she might have gone."
Sapphire sighed and prepared to battle. "… Alright. Let's roll."
…
10 minutes later…
…
Ruby looked up from his photo album just in time to see Sapphire flying closer. She hit the 'soft' padding and rolled to lessen the impact. She ended up on her back directly in front of his feet.
"So, how'd it go?" Ruby asked as he helped her back to her feet.
"The one we're looking for headed to Nuvema Town with a guy named Black," Sapphire said with a grunt. "Damn, they really need to improve this Gym's layout…"
…
Nuvema Town, 11:30 pm…
…
Ruby and Sapphire hopped off of Tropius (again) and stared at the building in front of them. Professor Juniper's lab… for once, the building didn't look too different from its Hoenn counterpart. Both Hoenn Dex Holders have been in and out of Professor Birch's lab to know that.
"We can't talk to this professor at this time," Ruby said. "It's nearly midnight. We should come back in the morning."
"Fine by me," Sapphire said with a yawn. She approached the nearest tree and began to climb.
'Oh crap…' "You're not suggesting we sleep in the trees, are you?"
"Suck it up, you sissy," Sapphire said as she grabbed onto a thick branch. "You've slept on a tree branch once before, don't you remember? At Mirage Island?"
"… Where?"
Sapphire growled in anger and hurled a thick piece of wood at him, which he promptly dodged. "Just shut up and go to sleep."
Ruby grumbled as he approached the tree. He climbed up as well and soon reached the thick branch that Sapphire was currently lying on. He positioned himself as comfortable as possible without the risk of falling off.
"Well, for tonight and hopefully tonight only, I'll sleep like a barbarian. If I fall off… well, I hope you'll wake up in time to catch me."
Sapphire sat up and reached into her bag. "I got something that'll help you sleep knowing that you won't fall off and break a bone or two."
"Hm? What's that?"
Much to Ruby's dismay and horror, Sapphire pulled out… the length of vine she always carried around. Before he could even try to convince her out of it, she simply tied him onto the tree branch.
"There. Now you can't fall off! Good night, you sissy."
"… Thanks. Good night, you barbarian."
Next morning, the two Hoenn Dex Holders knocked on the door to Professor Juniper's house. The professor gladly told them the address of Black's house when they showed her their Pokédex. Sapphire continuously grumbled about chasing all over a foreign region looking for one person and Ruby did his best to calm her down. He promised her that he was going to take her somewhere fun afterwards. It was like calming down a child… who could break bones with a punch. Stay on her good side and nothing bad happens. Get on her bad side and…
The two Hoenn Dex Holders soon found the house they were looking for. The house had the correct address given and seemed to match the given description.
"This looks like the place," Ruby said as he took a brief look around. He walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell.
"That's not the way to get attention," Sapphire said with a sigh. Having lost the patience from this wild chase, she slammed her fist on the door repeatedly.
"Whoa! Hey, that'll only give them hostility!" Ruby said as he grabbed her by her wrist.
She pulled her hand back and crossed her arms. "I'm getting tired of this. Come on! I didn't come all this way just to hunt down this one person for some music thing. I want to explore places! Maybe even do some researching for papa!"
"… Research?"
Sapphire's eyes started to twitch slightly. "You forgot, didn't you? I help papa with his research on wild Pokémon. I've covered just about all there is to cover in Hoenn. But this is a new region. I want to travel around and see the habitats of wild Pokémon here."
"Maybe this president of the BW Agency can help us," Ruby said. "Why not get a local to point out interesting areas?"
"But you're trying to find her just so you can do that stupid music thing!"
"It's not stupid!" Ruby argued. "It's called class, you barbarian. It's like the Pokémon Contests back in Hoenn. It brings out the finer class of Pokémon. All you care about is what part of a Pokémon can be used as a cudgel in barbaric battles."
Sapphire was about to say something when the door opened. She saw a boy roughly the same age as her looking at her and Ruby suspiciously. She straightened her posture so that she could prove to the jerk Ruby that she wasn't barbaric. But she had absolutely no idea how other girls stood normally, so she ended up crossing her arms instead.
Ruby cleared his throat and took a glance at Sapphire. She met his eyes and understood what he was thinking.
'Leave the talking to the civilized person.'
Sapphire sighed again and slowly rotated her neck, feeling the slight cracks as she did so. Fine. She'd let the civilized person do the talking. If that failed, there was always her method.
"Hello," Ruby said to the boy. "My name is Ruby, and this is Sapphire. We are here to ask you if you know the whereabouts of the president of the BW Agency."
Sapphire resisted the urge to snort in disgust. She could feel Ruby's smugness. He was trying to prove to her that he was a much better talker. But she had to admit that he was better than her at talking. But something felt odd. She could feel the hostility coming from the unfamiliar boy and he seemed to be gripping something in his pockets.
Just then, the boy threw a Pokéball at the ground between them. And in a blink of an eye, a flaming bear-pig thing was looming over the two Hoenn Dex Holders, angrily breathing out smoke.
"Hammer Arm!" the boy suddenly ordered.
The flaming bear-pig Pokémon raised a thick cudgel of an arm and swung it downwards at Ruby as hard as it could muster…
Finally. SL has at least 1 chapter of EVERY storyline. Huzzah.