Pokémon: Radiant Ruby and Shining Sapphire

Chapter 3

An Emerging Rivalry

Now with his two partners, Torchic on shoulder and Zigzagoon in Pokéball, Ruby continued his way up Route 102. He avoided tall grass patches as much as possible because he really didn't want to get tackled or attacked again. He stayed to the edges of the cliffs he walked around. He heard in the distance Sapphire's voice talking. She said, "You know Mudkip, I think this will be a fun trip." Her Pokémon was still in the ball though.

Ruby walked up behind her and asked rhetorically, "Did someone order a glove magnet?"

Sapphire turned around and hugged Ruby rather aggressively. She then let go and said, "You took your time, but thanks for buying me one." She smiled and Ruby got out the magnet.

He said in reply, "Yeah well… I kinda owe you for stealing part of your birthday present."

Sapphire took off her glove and put the magnet in place. It attracted on its own and was now locked in place.

She then turned to Ruby with a smirk on her face. She asked, "You know what we should do?"

"No idea, what do YOU want to do?" Ruby replied.

"We should have a friendly battle, just us and our partners." She said while motioning towards the ball in her hand and then to Torchic.

Torchic shivered, "She said Mudkip right?" he asked.

"I believe so, why?" Ruby asked in reply.

"Mudkip is water and I'm fire, do the math."

"Don't pussy out yet, we have the advantage of an aura bond. I'm sure we can win. Also since it's water type you don't need to hold back your flames at all."

"Fine, but if I get hurt it's on you."

"Fine by me."

Ruby looked at Sapphire and said, "You're on!"

Sapphire gave a full smile and said, "Great, this'll be both of our first trainer vs trainer battles!"

She skipped back so there was a good 10 meters of room between them. She put the Pokéball into her gloved hand and and through it out yelling, "Go Mudkip!"

She threw the ball, and a blue mix of a dog and fish landed at her feet as the pokeball returned to her magnetized glove. The Pokemon had a large fin for a tail and another on top it's head. It also had stange orange gills as it's cheeks. Ruby pulled out his Pokédex and it read:

Mudkip

The Mudfish Pokémon

Height: 1"4"

Average Weight: 16.8 lbs

Mudkip's fin on the top of its head is incredibly sensitive. It can work as a radar to identify its surroundings without using its eyes in muddy water.

Torchic jumped off Ruby's shoulder and stood ready for a fight.

Sapphire called, "You two ready?"

"The real question is, are you?" Ruby replied.

Sapphire nodded as she gave her unique smile. "Ok Mudkip, LET'S GO!"

The two Pokémon started the battle by circling each other, watching each other's' movements.

Then Sapphire commanded, "Mudkip, use Water Gun!"

At that moment, Mudkip opened it's mouth and water spat out with a forceful stream. Not very well aimed though for Torchic merely sidestepped to dodge it.

Without a command Torchic ran up and sunk it's head into the Mudkip's side. It fell back stunned, then rolled onto its feet again. It retaliated by whipping its tail around, hitting Torchic across the beak.

Ruby thought, "They don't even need commands, they just naturally fight each other."

Torchic thought in reply, "We do better with commands because then it's not just mindless fighting. So my suggestion is that you help!"

Ruby yelled, "Torchic use Ember!"

The small chick jumped up and coughed out a ball of fire that hurdled toward Mudkip.

Sapphire responded quickly and commanded, "Mudkip, Water Gun the fire."

Mudkip did what it's trainer asked. It opened its mouth and the water extinguished the ball before it reached its target.

While Mudkip was distracted though, Torchic ran in for a devastating cut with its talons. The claws sunk into the Mudkip's leg and it yelped in pain. It quickly ran up to Torchic and tried to tackle it. Torchic saw this coming so he jumped over the fish and landed on it's back, like it had the first Poochyena.

Ruby thought to Torchic, "Now quick use Peck and when you make contact, Ember one last time."

Torchic followed orders and pecked the side of Mudkip and let loose one last fire. Mudkip fell to the side as Torchic lept off. There was a part of Mudkip's skin that was now shriveled and dried. The fish had also fainted from the blow. Since it couldn't continue Ruby had won his first official Pokémon battle.

Sapphire walked out and checked Mudkip. It wasn't serious so she congratulated Ruby. "Well done, it was a good battle for both of us." She opened her Pokéball and withdrew Mudkip to it. She got up went over to Ruby and gave him 500 Poké. "It's part of the deal you know, Poké is exchanged to the victor."

Ruby said, "You really don't have to." as he offered to give it back.

Sapphire responded, "Yes I do it's part of battling. Don't worry, even without that I have over 9000 still."

Ruby just smiled and said, "Thanks and good match friend."

She smiled as well. Then the two walked back to Oldale to the Pokémon center. The tall red building doors opened automatically as they entered. It was a nice building. A waiting room and a treatment room and a PC to top it off.

Sapphire walked up to the front counter and asked, "Could I have an appointment for my injured Mudkip?" She released the fish from its ball and put it on the table.

The nurse working looked at the Pokémon without any noticeable sign of nervousness. She said, "She'll have to stay a day while I treat her if that's ok with you?"

Sapphire nodded. "That's perfectly fine with me."

Then the nurse said, "The bedrooms are in the basement if you and your friend want to stay the night here?"

Ruby was now up at the desk with Sapphire and said, "We'd love to, thank you very much."

The two went down the escalator to the basement. It was nice down there. There were beds on both sides and a TV down the aisle between beds. It was a cool temperature and was the first tranquil setting Ruby had been in since his arrival in Hoenn. It was empty except for the two kids.

Sapphire looked at Ruby and asked, "What side you want?"

Ruby answered, "Let's take side by side beds so we can talk."

A spark of excitement came over Sapphires face. "IT'LL BE LIKE A SLEEPOVER!" She exclaimed exponentially loud.

Ruby laughed at her excitement. The two then picked to beds next to each other and unloaded their bags.

Then Ruby said, "We should get something to eat now."

Sapphire nodded in concordance and the two went outside the Pokémon Center, back to the eternally battling climates of the region. The two walked across the street to a restaurant. They sat outside as they ate and didn't say much. After the meal they were satisfied until an alert came up on their Poké Gears. It was an urgent message from Professor Birch titled HELP! The message read:

Ruby and Sapphire,

If you're still in Oldale please help me! Some mysterious group of people came in and stole the last Pokémon! The group is traveling north right now up 101. Please get that Pokémon back but be careful as well.

Birch

Right after they read this they looked at the south entrance of the town and saw a group of three people dressed in green. The two outside were much larger than the middle one.

They both sprinted to meet them as fast as they could. Torchic saw them run and followed as well.

The three thieves saw the kids before they got within 10 yards and the two on the outside nodded at the center one, who walked forward, Pokéball in hand.

When Sapphire reached them first she yelled, "Stop right there you thieves!"

Ruby then arrived a couple moments later and made eye-contact with the leader. He had a menacing look in his eyes. He was wearing a green jacket with the buttons opened to reveal a black undershirt. He also had gray jeans on. He stood there staring back until Sapphire broke out again, "Did you hear me? Give the Pokéball back right now!"

Then the leader walked right up to Sapphire and Ruby noticed they were about the same size. The boy had black hair and the greenest eyes anyone could imagine. He grinned and said in a sarcastic way, "No, I don't think I will." Then he turned and started walking away.

Ruby thought to Torchic, "Burn the ground in front of him to make him stop."

Torchic agreed and threw a fireball into the air from its mouth. It hit right where they planned and the small antagonist had to stop because of the flames. He turned around and looked at Ruby.

Ruby asked, "Who the hell do you think you are?"

The leader grinned again and laughed saying, "I should be asking you the same question."

Ruby answered, "I'm Ruby Plake, and your name?"

He first said, "Well as you can tell I'm a kid your age. But I, unlike you, am destined for greatness in this world. I am the Leader of Team Skystorm. My name is Emerald, and don't you dare get in my way or we will crush you!"

Sapphire counter struck with, "Oh yeah? Well I'm Sapphire, daughter of Professor Birch. I believe you have something of mine, and I intend to take it back."

Emerald smiled, "And how do you plan on doing that?"

Ruby barged in and said, "By force if we have to!"

Then the other two Skystorm members brought out there Pokéballs and prepared to fight. Emerald motioned them to put the balls away. "He wants a fight, Hell hath no remorse for fools. I'll take him on, I have an Aura Bond with this Pokémon, remember?"

Ruby and Sapphire looked at each other and realized just what they were up against.

Emerald turned back to Ruby. "One on one, your Torchic against my Treecko." He threw out the ball and the beam brought out a light green gecko creature. Ruby and Sapphire both pulled their Pokédexs out and scanned it. It read off:

Treecko

The Wood Gecko Pokémon

Height: 1"8"

Average Weight: 11.0 lbs

This Pokémon can vertically climb trees using small hooks at the bottom of its feet. It is always collected and never shies away from any situation. It also wields a powerful tail bash to defend or attack.

Treecko looked at Emerald for commands. Torchic ran up till about a yard away and prepared to fight.

Treecko nodded at Emerald and faced it's foe. The two Pokémon ready to battle for fates.

Ruby thought to Torchic, "Be careful, we can't hear his commands and he can't hear ours. It's fair but just watch out ok?"

"Alright then." Torchic replied.

Ruby then thought, "Torchic, the plan is wait till he attacks, dodge then use peck, then ember it's tail. If it doesn't work I'll make up a new plan."

Torchic instantly broke the plan however, it rushed Treecko with tremendous speed which caught it off gaurd. The chick pecked a hole in the gecko's shoulder and it stumbled back. Then Torchic ran up and tackled the Treecko to the ground. The chick used it's talons to pin Treecko's tail and arms. It repeatedly pecked at the green Pokémon's face until it fell unconscious. Then it ran back to a completely stunned Ruby.

"So how was that?" Torchic asked.

"That was... Well not my plan but it worked."

Emerald stood just as uneasy as Ruby. "What the hell just happened?" He asked under his breath.

Ruby looked directly at Emerald, pretending not to be shocked any by the easy win. "So where's your place in the world now?" He asked sarcastically.

Emerald just grunted and turned to the other two members. "Let's get out of here." He said as he returned the Treecko to the Pokéball.

Sapphire yelled, "Hey no. The point was to give it back if Ruby won!"

Ruby turned to Sapphire and said, "Stop and just let him have it, we don't need more trouble ok?"

Emerald smiled and said, "Yeah, he knows his place, why don't you Sapphire?" Then he nodded at the other green dressed men and one pulled out his Pokéball. He opened it and the beam shot in the air and unleashed a large blue dragon with curved red wings. It swooped by and and picked up the three Team Skystorm members and flew off. Emerald waved back at the two astonished children as he moved out of sight.

Still shocked, Ruby wasn't prepared for Torchic to jump on his shoulder. Once the bird jumped, Ruby toppled over on his side and snapped out of shock.

Torchic thought, "Seriously, you couldn't handle that even. You had one job Ruby."

Before Ruby could respond, Sapphire walked over to him, picked him up by the collar of his shirt, then slapped him clean across the face. "Why the hell would you just let him go?" She asked in an intimidating voice.

"Could I tell you tonight?" Ruby asked in reply.

"It better be a good answer." Sapphire said while throwing him back on the ground and turning back to the Pokémon Center.

Torchic thought to Ruby, "Nice, you got a beauty AND a beast."

Ruby stood back up and thought, "Yeah thanks. To be perfectly honest, I don't want to make any move because if it works out, I'll have to deal with that temper of hers everyday."

"Well hey, I heard dominatrix can be fun"

"Oh shut up!"

"Woah there don't worry, she'll just be telling you that with a whip in her hands. Could be a long night."

"I'm thirteen, that's really disgusting to think about."

"You're right, she must really like em small."

"Screw it, I'm done thinking to you for the day."

"You can't run away from the Lasso of Truth." Torchic concluded his mocking with this and followed Ruby back to the Pokémon Center.

The two went to the basement to find Sapphire on her bed with an agitated look on her face. She had already changed into her sleeping clothes and when she heard Ruby's

footsteps, she brought her gaze to meet his eyes.

"Can you give me an answer now?" She asked as she clenched her pillow through annoyance.

Ruby sat down on his bed and started his answer, "Sapphire, do you remember what your dad said about Aura Bonds?"

Sapphire eased a little and answered, "I really wasn't listening through that part."

Ruby smirked and said, "It's alright, I'll explain it to you again. When a trainer and a Pokémon have an Aura Bond, the two are meant for each other. Even though Emerald had to steal Treecko, the two still had the bond. I thought about taking Treecko when I won but I realized how unfair that would be. Could you imagine not having something you were meant to be with? It would be a form of torture. That's why I let it go."

Sapphire relaxed completely and sighed, "I guess that that is a good enough reason. It's also really generous to think like that for someone you only knew as a thief."

Ruby responded, "Thief or no thief, I wouldn't separate those meant to be together if my life depended on it."

Sapphire smiled and laid back on her bed. "Ruby, can I tell you something without you freaking out?"

"Sure," Ruby ensured.

"Well when I was on 102, I touched my Mudkip and it started to speak to me. Like not the pokémon sounds that it usually makes, like actual words. I spoke back but it didn't respond."

Ruby shifted his eyes away from her and said a little too loudly under his breath, "That's because you have to think to it."

Sapphire sprang right back to a sitting position in her bed, eyes wide open. "How do you know that?" She said very intrigued.

Ruby realized what he'd done and looked at Torchic. He thought, "Sorry I just told her about us talking."

"S'all right, if she has a bond she should know too." The chick responded.

Ruby looked back at Sapphire and said, "I can talk to Torchic as well."

Now even greater fascination rushed through Sapphire. "So, you can like think to each other? That's so cool!"

"Yeah it is. It's also only for those who share Aura Bonds." He responded.

Now Sapphire jumped over on Ruby's bed and hugged him I'm excitement. "That means I have an Aura Bond as well!"

Ruby was still on his bed and awkwardly sat for this weird embrace. After a minute he finally hugged back only to find that she was done and she jumped off of his bed back to her own.

"I can't wait to get Mudkip back now!" She stated with great joy.

Ruby smiled. Torchic looked up at him and thought, "You really enjoyed that one, didn't you?"

"A little too awkward to enjoy." he replied with a chuckle.

The rest of the evening Ruby and Sapphire talked about what their adventure might bring. When they were both tired they decided to call it a night. Ruby went to get changed and Torchic followed. Ruby asked him, "So what do you think your favorite part of this trip will be?"

Torchic tilted its head to look at Ruby and thought, "My favorite part is not knowing. It's always boring to know and it gets your hopes too high if you guess. So I really believe the favorite time I will have is just waiting to see where life brings us next."

Ruby nodded, accepting the answer. He walked back out to see Sapphire had taken off her blue bandana. Her hair was much longer down, it ended toward the lower chest area now. It also looked like a mess because it was bundled up for so long. Ruby caught himself staring just in time to escape Sapphire turning to see him looking.

She smiled and said, "Sorry about randomly hugging you earlier. I was just really excited."

Ruby sat down in his bed and said, "It's fine really. Maybe give me a chance to hug back next time."

Then they turned out the lights and both laid down.

Sapphire rolled around and said, "Goodnight Ruby."

"Goodnight Sapphire," he responded.

Torchic jumped in Ruby's bed and thought, "I'm sleeping here and if you deny access, I deny breathing later in the night for you."

Ruby responded, "You know what? I don't care, you can sleep here. I'm too excited to sleep probably anyway."

Torchic thought, "You can sleep. Just relax. If you're thinking wakes me up again I won't be very happy."

Ruby replied, "Alright I'll try. Goodnight Torchic."

"Goodnight Ruby."