Radiant Ruby and Shining Sapphire
Chapter 6
Rustboro
The next morning the children woke early and got ready to go. They were ready much sooner than Dylan so Ruby decided to spark up the conversation, "So… last night's talk."
Sapphire blushed as she gave her signature smirk as she said, "Yeah, what about it?"
"I'm not sure what to think of it."
Sapphire winked at him as she said, "Well it's kind of natural to develop feelings for eachother when we are traveling together, it's been a half week after all." She gave a small chuckle after realizing how fast that actually was.
Ruby stated, "You say that like it's been a month. Lets just not get ahead of ourselves or anything."
That was the time when Dylan burst out of his tent with a very loud, "Good morning World!" The "world" replied with a resounding echo of the greeting. He quickly put his tent away and said, "Ok, let's get going."
The scientist led the way unless grass was tall enough for pokemon to hid in. The second patch of grass, Sapphire found a red and white caterpillar Pokemon. She pulled out her Pokedex and it read:
Wurmple
The worm Pokemon
This Pokemon uses the spikes on its tail to tear off the bark of trees to drink the sap from them. The tail is also used to inject poison into its predators in defence.
Sapphire sent out Mudkip and the wild Pokemon battle begun. Wurmple, who was startled, used string shot in reaction to seeing Mudkip, ensnaring the fish in the web. Wurmple ran up and prepared to sting Mudkip with its tail.
Sapphire reacted quickly and said, "Mudkip, use Water Gun."
Mudkip managed to stand back up, and as Wurmple got close enough, Mudkip sprayed out a stream of water. Wurmple jumped to try to dodge it but was too slow, the water hit it out of the air to the ground. Sapphire threw a Pokeball at the Bug-Type which pulled the Pokemon inside. The ball shook three times and then clicked to lock closed.
Sapphire jumped in the air while shouting, "I caught a Wurmple!" She held out her hand and the magnet pulled the pokeball back to her.
Ruby congratulated her saying, "Well done Sapphire, nice capture!"
Mudkip untangle the web around it and ran up to Sapphire, who hugged it and put it back on her shoulder. They looked at each other and Ruby could tell that the were talking to each other telepathically about their victory.
She put the ball on her belt and the human trio continued through the hours past when they finally saw the exit of the forest direct sunlight blinded the children temporarily but Dylan seemed used to it. The remainder of Route 104 now laid before them. The first thing the children noticed was a flower shop to their left. To the right there was a flowing river with a bridge connecting both sides. Further on the other side of the river they could see skyscrapers which meant they were close to the next town, Rustboro.
They went to the bridge to find on it two young girls almost looking like they were waiting for them.
The first one said, "Hey sis look, two pokemon trainers coming our way."
The second one then asked, "Trainers will you battle with us?"
Ruby turned to look at Sapphire who nodded with approval. This would be both their first double battles. So they lined up and got ready for a fight and just before the battle began, Dylan butted in.
"Rustboro is just ahead, I'll go on without you for now." He said as he turned to keep walking past the small girls.
Ruby gave a brief smile at how spontaneous the event that just occurred was then went back to the scene of the battle.
The girls threw out their Pokemon. There stood a Lotad and a acorn with eyes and legs. Ruby and Sapphire once again used their Pokedexs as they read:
Seedot
The Acorn Pokemon
This Pokemon uses its stem to latch onto trees and drink the moisture from the leaves. The more water it drinks, the thicker its glossy coat becomes. It polishes its body with leaves on trees.
Ruby looked at Torchic and said, "You wanna do this?"
Torchic answered by jumping off his shoulder and got in a battle position.
Sapphire threw out her Pokeball which released Wurmple. She smiled at Mudkip, making sure it was ok she didn't use her this battle. Mudkip nodded after seeing the two grass type pokemon.
The battle started with one of the girls yelling, "Lotad tackle on Torchic," followed instantly by the other saying, "Seedot, Helping Hand."
Lotad launched itself at the opponent to be followed by Seedot, the first bashed Torchic in the side then the second in the head. Torchic fell over completely immobilized with pain.
Ruby turned to Sapphire and said, "Use String Shot so I can heal Torchic with a potion."
Sapphire ordered Wurmple, "String Shot!"
The worm spit out webs from its mouth which ensnared both the opponents' pokemon. While they were trying to untangle themselves Ruby ran up to Torchic and sprayed a potion on each of his wounds.
Torchic got up rather quickly and sprinted into the fray. He thought to Ruby, "Hey give a command while I get close."
Ruby thought quickly then responded to Torchic, "Use Peck on Lotad!"
Torchic obeyed and just as Lotad freed itself from the string, Torchic thrust its beak into the lilypad, tearing it open.
Sapphire saw this and realized the protection was gone and took the opportunity to strike as well. "Wurmple use Tackle on Lotad!" She exclaimed.
Wurmple did just that but the Seedot had other plans and jumped in the way of the attack to defend its partner.
Then the first girl said, "Lotad, Water Gun on Torchic."
Lotad stood back up and sprayed water from its mouth at Torchic. Torchic however saw this coming and leaped over the stream of water and landed behind Lotad.
Ruby saw his chance and said, "Torchic use Wing Attack!"
Torchic saw the opening in the lilypad and struck with its wing right at that spot. Lotad couldn't handle the pain so it fell unconscious.
Sapphire then saw her opening on Seedot and yelled, "Wurmple, use Struggle Bug!"
Wurmple attacked the Grass and Dark type which stood no chance against a Bug type move. It latched on to Seedot's face and started pounding it with all of its tiny legs at once.
Soon Seedot could stand no more and passed out just as its partner did. Ruby and Sapphire had won this battle together.
"What? We lost," Said the first girl.
"Darn it," The second followed.
The prize money was exchanged. Then Ruby and Sapphire went on their way across the bridge. When they got to the other end they could see the entrance to Rustboro. They took their first step into the city and the first thing they noticed was that it was huge. On the north end of the town there was a giant skyscraper with the letters DEVON CORPS. on the top three floors.
Sapphire expressed her views outloud, "My God this place is huge. You could fit Little Root in here like twenty times!"
Ruby laughed a little at how much she over exaggerated this statement and they continued to the center of town to see a restaurant and so they decided to stop there.
They sat down at a table outside and saw an unusual scene just outside. There were three members of Team Skystorm harassing a young girl with brown hair at a table.
"Hey there pretty girl, why don't you give us a show." One of the men dressed in green said.
The girl slowly got up out of her chair and backed away from them, "I really would prefer if you leave."
A second member said. "Come on, you'll be fine with a little peek won't you?"
The girl then let out a half cry, "Oh God, please help me."
That was the point when Ruby and Sapphire intervened. Ruby said to Torchic, "Light 'em up!"
Torchic reacted by shooting a fireball at one of the men's back igniting his clothing on impact. The man reacted by the classic stop, drop, and roll tactic well screaming his face off. The other too try to help the man and one of their legs was set ablaze as well.
Sapphire laughed and then commanded Mudkip to put the fire out with a Water Gun because she's isn't want to risk one of the idiots dying.
After Mudkip put out the flames out with a Water Gun, the men's attention turned to these two children.
"What're you two tryin' to pull?" The one whose leg was burnt asks.
Ruby smugly remarks, "I was just being chivalrous, you shouldn't treat anyone like you were treating her."
The man who was set ablaze stood up and said, "You want a piece of me you little shit!"
Ruby said, "I'd really prefer not to fight, but if you want to fine."
The man pulled out his pokeball and prepared to throw it, but before he could, his facial expression turns to fear.
A familiar voice from behind the children says, "I was hoping for a day off but I guess you idiots wouldn't let that happen of course." The two kids turn around to see the young Emerald coming out of the restaurant. He continued, "You totally deserved to be lit up, harassing girls isn't ethical no matter how pretty they are."
The grunt lowers his pokeball and sighs, then he turns around to the girl and says, "Sorry about that, you just were hot and I wanted to see you in action."
The girl gave a confused look at this terrible excuse for an apology. Then she got up and walked out of the restaurant. Emerald winked at her as she walked by him and she giggled at this as she leaves.
Emerald turns to Sapphire and Ruby again and says, "Come on guys, its been two days and you had to show up again? Whatever, this is my day off so I'll let you off the hook. But, thanks for stopping my grunt, he really should know better than that."
Sapphire nods in agreement while Ruby just shrugged his shoulders. Ruby then said, "I kinda was going to beat him for calling me a shit, but the thanks is fine enough for me."
Emerald smiles, although they were enemies, he began to think better of the two runts that beat him a week ago.
The grunts and their commander exit the scene marching in a diamond formation with Emerald in the lead.
Sapphire let out her breath and sighed, "What a bunch of weirdos,"
The two sat down and ate their food for the next hour. At about noon the kids decided to check out the Devon Corps building. The attendant unfortunately informed them that there were no tours that day and so they were forced to find something else to do. The two then decided to go to the town park just outside of the city.
Sapphire and Ruby both ran for the swing set that was closest to them and started to race each other to see who could get higher. They stayed even to the point where the swing had no more height to cover. Ruby jumps off at the highest point and rolls once he hits the ground to land uninjured. Sapphire watched this in horror, she felt fear for him, she couldn't lose her best friend, and a sigh of relief when he was ok.
Sapphire slowed to a stop on the swing and sat there. Ruby walks up and asked, "Have you never jumped off a swing before?"
She shakes her head no and becomes red with embarrassment as she says, "I can't, I'm afraid of heights…"
"Well you could try, its fun trust me," Ruby responded to that fear.
"No thank you, I'm good with staying in the swing."
"You won't conquer that fear unless you do things you are uncomfortable with."
"That's why I never plan to do that."
"Conquering fears is a good thing Sapphire."
While they were talking they had no idea what Torchic was about to do. It launched itself off a slide into Ruby's back causing him to fly forward and tackle Sapphire off of the swing. The boy was now on top of his victim and Torchic chirped with entertainment.
Torchic thought, "Awwww, how cute."
Ruby now was looking into Sapphire's eyes below him and Sapphire stared straight back into his. He could see just how pure her face was, it was flawless, not a blemish on it. Her sparkling brown eyes captivated him in their shine. For the first time he was sure… sure that maybe… just maybe… he truly found her to be… the cutest… girl he had ever met.
Ruby started to blush and Sapphire saw this opportunity to flirt. She pulled him in for a hug and rolled to the side so that she was on top. Then she playfully pinned his arms to the ground with her hands and knelt on his chest immobilizing all movement from his legs up.
She brushed her hair out of her eyes as she playfully said, "I win." with a victorious smile.
Ruby couldn't move at all and struggled to no avail. He had been beaten and he knew it so he just lay there still staring into Sapphire's eyes.
He thought, "God, she is pretty. And I'm friends with her, how lucky am I?"
Torchic overheard this thought and replied, "Not too lucky, it looks like you just got your ass whooped by a girl."
Ruby realized the reality of the situation and asked, "Sapphire could you get off please, it's getting hard to breathe."
Sapphire stood up and offered Ruby a hand to help him up as well. They smiled at each other then Sapphire looked at the ground blushing while Ruby awkwardly scratched the back of his head.
They continued to play at the park with their Pokemon as well until it started to get dark out. The two trainers went back into town to find an inn of any sort. No place had room (figures, it's the most populated city in Hoenn) so they decided to ask the houses. One man and his wife agreed to let them sleep in their guest bedroom, which had one large king bed. They paid the couple 100 Poke each and they were escorted to their room.
Torchic saw the single bed and made the joke, "I thought you said you wouldn't do that because you were too young."
Ruby flicked Torchic's beak in response to this unnecessary comment.
The two children took turns getting changed in the room alone and got ready to sleep. Then they laid town in the bed and turned off their lights, they did remain a good distance from each other for privacy's sake.
Soon after light out, Sapphire turned to face Ruby and said, "Today was really fun, we should do things like we did in the park more often."
Ruby winked back and sarcastically said, "Oh that, I thought you meant lighting a guy on fire was fun when you first started talking." Then in all seriousness he said, "But yeah that was fun. We definitely should!"
Sapphire rolled around to hug him and then rolled back to her spot and she said, "Goodnight Ruby."
Ruby was still a little in shock that she hugged him but finally got out, "Goodnight Sapphire."
The next morning Ruby awoke at about 11 o'clock to find Sapphire snoring loudly beside him. He shook her and all she did was flip over. He decided to let her sleep. Torchic was already up and around, pecking food crumbs out of a plate. Ruby looked to the side of his bed to find a plate with pancakes and a milk glass on his rented night stand. He picked it up to eat and there was a note on the tray. It read:
Dear visitors,
Sorry but we had to leave early in the morning to attend an important meeting. Here is some breakfast so we can send you off with a full stomach, like any good host should. You were really kind during your stay so thank you for that. The breakfast is free of charge of course.
Your hosts,
The Redens
Ruby smiled and got out his wallet and left 300 poke on his plate as a tip even though they didn't ask for anything. He placed the note on Sapphire's meal so she could read it when she wakes up as well.
Ruby got ready and called Torchic who jumped naturally onto his shoulder. Torchic looked at Sapphire and thought, "Aren't you forgetting someone?"
Ruby replied, "No I'm gona let her sleep this morning out."
The two left with a distinct destination in mind, the Rustboro City Gym. They walked to the far north end of town to find a large building with an orange roof, it had the Pokemon League symbol on the front. From the outside, it looked just like Ruby's father's Gym in Petalburg.
He took a deep breath in and then entered, the entire surrounding area was covered in rocks. Stalagmitic features made the building almost look like it was the inside of a cave.
A man in a white suit welcomes him, "Welcome to the Rustboro City Gym, there are plenty of unstable steps in here so watch yourself."
Ruby kept walking to be stopped by a youngster soon into his walk. "Hey!" the boy exclaimed, "I'm a Co-Leader here in this gym, you have to get through me before you can fight the gym leader."
Ruby said, "Alright fine then."
The two slid themselves in position for a battle, the boy threw out his pokeball saying, "Go Geodude!" A levitating boulder with arms appears before Ruby. Ruby pulled out his Pokedex which read:
Geodude
The Rock Pokemon
Geodude are often in a state of camouflage as they can look perfectly like small rocks that some people can trip on. It can throw rocks up to 20 meters with near perfect accuracy.
Upon seeing that it's a Rock Type, for obvious reasons he chooses Lotad to be his partner for this fight. "Go Lotad!" Ruby yells as he threw out his own creature. The lilypad allowed for a slow descent in the air.
Battle then began. Ruby leads, "Lotad use Leech Seed!" The pokemon spat out a seed which ingrained itself into the arm of the Geodude.
The boy then says, "Geodude use Rock Throw.
Ruby sees this coming and tells Lotad, "Spin to dodge it!"
The rock pokemon hurled a large rock at Lotad who gracefully dodged to the side.
Ruby commanded, "Now use Water Gun."
Lotad fired its liquid which hit the Rock-Ground type straight between the eyes. The pokemon stood no chance and Geodude fainted.
The boy returning Geodude said, "Darn, I lost." He sighed for his defeat.
The cocky Ruby returns Lotad with an, "Well that seemed easy enough, well done Lotad."
Then there was just a flight of uneven steps between Ruby and his first official gym battle.
