Pokemon: Radiant Ruby and Shining Sapphire
Chapter 8
The Last of the Three
The scream came from across the street which just happened to be the Devon Corporation building. The kids ran to see a man running dressed in a red hooded jacket with the letter M patched on which looked like mountains. The hood had two distinct black spikes springing from the top. He also wore red baggy pants and red shoes. He sprinted northeast to the next route. There was someone following him a scientist, the kids recognized him, it was Dylan. Panting he was in no shape to continue following the red dressed man.
Sapphire, Ruby, and Combusken ran across the street as fast as they could (Looking both ways before of course) They walk up to Dylan and Ruby asks, "What happened?"
Dylan was in a sort of panic as he attempted, "He… he… he took the… the… parts…"
"The submarine parts?" Sapphire asked.
Dylan just started banging his own head to show that yes was the answer. Then he asked, "Could you please… go after… him and… get them back?"
Ruby nodded, took Sapphire by the arm and started running after the mysterious thief. They ran onto route 116 in pursuit. Combusken led the way through the tall grass patches and there was even a young trainer who wanted to battle.
The trainer said, "Hey you two, why don't you calm down and have a nice Pokemon battle."
Sapphire told the boy, "Sorry we are kind of in a hurry, I promise I will battle you when I come back."
The two continued sprinting until they got to the entrance of a large cave. There was an old man standing in front of it crying. "Oh Peeko how could he, just how could he?" the man said.
"What's wrong?" Ruby asked.
"This man in red came running by quickly, he simply took my precious Peeko and ran into the cave with her. Without her I'm defenseless so I can't go in on my own because I might be attacked by a Pokemon. Oh poor Peeko." The man continued weeping.
This time Sapphire pulled Ruby along saying, "Come on we can't let him get away with this."
The old man looked up and said, "There is no reason to hurry through that cave, he won't get far. There was a rockslide that happened about a week ago so my plan was to beg for Peeko back when he finally came back out. But now that you're here, can you please save my Peeko for me?"
Sapphire sighed with relief at hearing that the rockslide prevented the man from getting any further ahead of them. She then said, "Sure, we have our own business with that man as well so we can get your pet back."
Then she still pulled Ruby along as she walked into the cave. It was surprisingly well lit from the outside. The rocks looked to be an ash gray so they had found themselves in a very old cave. Sapphire still leading pulled Ruby along, Combusken right behind them.
Ahead they could see the man dressed in red trying to dig his way through the rocks. The kids walked up to see he was holding a Wingull in one of his arms, most likely Peeko.
"Come on, come on, COME ON!" the man said desperately while digging through the rock slide's remains.
Sapphire walked up to the pile of rocks and put her hands on her hips as she says, "Um excuse me thief but I believe you have a few things that don't belong to you."
The man heard this and replied, "Oh Arceus! Damn it all!" He turned around but then laughed, "Ha you're just a couple of kids. What do you plan to do? Fight me? Ha wouldn't that be a shame."
Ruby steps forward and says, "You and me, one on one, right now! I'll show you what a kid can really do."
The man started to laugh, "Fine, you're done for kid."
The two got in a position for a battle, Ruby just called Torchic to step forward and was ready to fight. The man threw out a Pokeball saying, "Go Mightyena." The familiar figure of a wolf now once again stood before the two with its intimidating growl.
Ruby decided he would hold nothing back in this battle, a thief is no good bastard no matter what, so he didn't care if he killed his opponent.
The man went first saying, "Mightyena use Focus Energy,"
The dog did just that and an orange aura of energy soon surrounded the pokemon. It glowed with the power that surrounded it now.
Ruby called, "Use Double-Kick."
The man calmly said, "Dodge it then use Tackle."
Combusken ran up for a kick which the first made considerable contact with the wolf's head but before the second kick the dog ducked and the foot went over it. The Mightyena took this opportunity to launch its body at Combusken who was sent flying into the wall to their side.
Ruby communicated, "Combusken, you alright?"
Combusken slowly worked itself back to its feet and replied sarcastically, "Never been better."
"Good then use scratch then ember, lets end this fast."
Combusken fully recovered then with amazing speed sprinted up to Mightyena and scraped its talons across the side of the pokemon, causing blood to gush out. After that it shot a ball of fire that ignited the Pokemon's face in flames. The dog rolled around confused and slowly it let out its final breath in this life, while the rest of its body was burned to a crisp.
The man's reaction to this was weird, he seemed to not even care about his fallen comrade. He just walked up to Ruby and handed him Peeko and the Devon Parts.
"Just take it and go, I'm done being embarrassed by dip shit kids." The man said as he gave it to him.
This hit Sapphire hard as a rejection from Virizion. "What the Hell! Your partner just died and you don't seem to give a shit!"
The man shrugged, "It's just another dead pokemon, these days they are just tools for destruction. So in the end who cares?"
Sapphire took the opportunity to punch the man in the face. Blood came rushing out of the newly broken nose. "That's for being a no good fuck!" She said as she turned to leave the cave.
Ruby looked down at the man, gave a small snicker and then followed Sapphire out of the cave.
The man waiting outside was overjoyed to see his Wingull returned safely. "Thank you so much for saving my Peeko!" He said with great exclamation.
The two began their walk back to Rustboro to be stopped by the kid that asked to battle earlier. He said, "Hey you promised me a battle!" He was pointing directly at Sapphire.
Sapphire sighed, clearly still angry about the man in red, and said casually, "And so I will keep that promise."
They backed into their positions and got ready to battle. The boy threw out his Pokeball and a Zigzagoon now stood before Sapphire as an opponent.
Sapphire sent out Mudkip first and the trainer battle commenced.
"Mudkip, use Mud Slap!" Sapphire called.
Mudkip spewed water onto the ground, then with its tail, dug into the ground lifting a fair amount of mud with it. The fish then ran up to the Zigzagoon and threw the mud at its face. This blinded the racoon so it was rolling around helplessly on the ground.
"Now finish it with a water gun!" Sapphire ordered.
Mudkip then shot liquid from its mouth with enough pressure to send Zigzagoon flying through the air. While in the air the boy returned it to its pokeball shelter and threw out a second ball saying, "Go Machop!"
There now stood a gray humanoid with three small patches of skin jutting up from its head, Ruby and Sapphire quickly got their Pokedexs which read:
Machop
The Superpower Pokemon
This Pokemon has tireless muscles and refuses to give up a fight until it is unconscious. It can lift Gravelers effortlessly and do so regularly to strengthen itself. Some have mastered all kinds of martial arts.
Sapphire called back Mudkip and sent out Wurmple because Bug is resistant to Fighting. Wurmple without order shot string on the Machop slowing it down greatly. Machop, with its strength still managed to move around easily. Machop was now aggravated however.
The boy said, "Machop, use Karate Chop!"
The human like creature jumped in the air and landed a critical hit on Sapphire's Wurmple. The resistance kept the Bug-Type standing however. Wurmple was thrown back about 5 meters and landed gracefully on its multiple legs.
Sapphire retaliated, "Wurmple use Tackle!"
The bug ran, or more of quickly made itself crawl, over to its opponent jumping at it once it was near. Machop however saw this as a chance to show off its martial arts, so it caught Wurmple mid flight, kneed it, then threw it to the side. This time Wurmple struggled to recover as it toppled over in pain.
Sapphire ran up to it, potion in hand, and sprayed the bottle on the bruised parts of Wurmple's body. The pokemon slowly got itself back up and ready to battle as Sapphire ran back to her spot.
The boy smiled saying, "That all you got? You're going to need more than that to stop my Machop."
Sapphire smirked back replying, "Alright fine, get ready though." Without any time after she called, "Wurmple use Struggle Bug!"
Wurmple lunged itself once again at Machop who believed was just going to easily counter the attack again. Instead when he grabbed the pokemon this time, it stuck to its hand and crawled up its arm to its face. Then as the Seedot before it, the bug mercilessly pounded the humanoid with all of its tiny legs. After the struggle, Machop finally managed to pull the Pokemon off of it and throw it to the ground. Machop panted with exhaustion from the assault.
The boy now called, "Machop use Vital Throw!"
Machop ran up but before it could attack, Wurmple was covered in a blinding white light, its form began to change just as Combusken's did. It formed into a cocoon of silky web that as Machop finally reached it, spikes sprung from its form impaling Machop's hand all the way through. The light went away and a red eyed spikey ball of silk remained. Machop was then stabbed in the shoulder by a second spike knocking it away and fainting on the ground. Sapphire ran up to it and sprayed it with a potion before Machop would bleed out any further.
The boy stood there in awe for a while, then he returned Machop to its Pokeball. Sapphire and Ruby both brought out their pokedexs and pointed it at the new figure that was once Wurmple:
Silcoon
The Cocoon Pokemon
This Pokemon is usually found hanging on trees connected to the branches by silk. They drink the water that falls through a small hole that they also see from. They defend themselves by extending sharp. needle like structures from their bodies.
Sapphire gave her signature smirk again and returned Silcoon to its own Pokeball. She turned to the boy to receive her prize money and said, "Twas a good battle my friend, just remember to balance your team more ok?"
Then the three walked back to Rustboro to find Dylan waiting impatiently at the entrance. Upon seeing the kids he ran up to them and asked, "Did you get back the parts?"
Ruby dug through his bag to reveal the engine looking object. He handed it over to Dylan, who sighed with relief upon getting it back.
Dylan told them, "Team Magma has been after me since I got these parts. Thank you so much, I thought I'd lost them." He smiled and tousled both of the children's' hair. Then he asked, "Could you two come with me to the Devon Corporation? There is someone I would like you to meet."
Ruby looked at Sapphire who just shrugged to the idea and so he said, "Sure, why not?"
The four of them walked across the street to this large entryway to the skyscraper before them. Lights on both sides showed the way to the entrance of the building. They walked in and were greeted by a blonde haired attendant sitting at the main desk.
"Welcome to the Devon Corporation building… Hello again Astronomer Dylan, did you catch that man?" The woman at the desk asked.
"Actually." Dylan began to confess, "These two were the ones who caught him and brought the parts back safely. I was wondering if I could get a meeting for them to talk to Mr. Devon Steele"
The attendant pulled out a book from under her desk and opened it to a schedule. "It looks like he's open for the next 2 hours if you would like to visit with him." She said with a smile.
Dylan said, "That works out great. Thank you very much."
The four then walked to an elevator and Dylan hit the button for the top floor, L72. The elevator ride took a good 4 minutes just to get to the top. While riding Dylan said while looking at Combusken, "I almost forgot, Pokemon must be stored away in Mr. Steele's office."
Sapphire returned Mudkip to its ball.
Combusken looked as Ruby started to pull out his Pokeball and thought, "Aw Hell Naw, I'm not going in that prison."
Ruby replied, "It's the rules Combusken, you have to follow them."
"No I don't I'm the Pokemon and you are the one that must follow the rules, but I will not comply. I must rebel against your human laws. I must…"
Mid sentence Ruby opened the pokeball which sucked in Combusken.
Ruby could still hear him finish his rant then all of the sudden, Combusken broke out in an argument against his shelter, "Arceus damn it this place is filthy. You are a sick bastard for doing this to me Ruby, I will burn your parents, do you hear me? BURN THEM TO A CRISP!"
The "ding" that signified their arrival of the top floor opened the elevator doors. The whole floor was a marketing office with a grand desk behind a long meeting table. At the desk was sitting an older man, with about fifty years on him and grayish white hair.
Dylan walked up to the man and asked, "Do you have some time sir? I would like you to meet these kids."
The man looked at the children with powerful eyes, yet compassionate. He said, "What have they done that you bring them to me? Messing around, trespassing? Or did they help you out in some way?"
Dylan answered, "These were the kids that helped me through the woods, and they got the Devon Submarine Parts back from Team Magma."
The man sat up straight and said, "Well you have my thanks kids. What brings you here today?"
They both pointed at Dylan who gave a small snicker. Dylan then said, "Ruby, Sapphire, meet Mr. Joseph Stone, head of this fine corporation. I brought you here so you could maybe do something more for us, if you're interested that is."
Ruby asked, "Like a job?"
Dylan replied, "Yes a job, you are taking the gym challenge are you not?"
Both Ruby and Sapphire nodded as their answers.
Dylan smiled then looks at Mr. Stone saying, "Then they should probably go to Dewford, where your son is."
"Ah yes," Mr. Stone said as he laid back in his chair, "That would be a great idea."
Ruby asked, "Excuse me sir, but I have a question. Why is Team Magma and Team Aqua after those parts?" He pointed to the objects in Dylan's hands.
Mr. Stone sighed, "Those parts are very important for underwater exploration. Both Team Magma and Team Aqua are looking for legendary beings that they believe to lie under the ocean. They will stop at nothing to see if those rumors are true. I believe they have plans to build their own submarine and awaken these creatures that have been resting for centuries."
Sapphire asks, "What is Team Magma after?"
Dylan answered, "Team Magma have the opposite motives of Team Aqua which is why they are rival gangs. Team Magma wants to awaken the legendary monster to create a world that is completely human controlled. Pokemon are just tools in their minds and should have no rights over human rule."
Ruby shakes his head as he thinks, "So that's why that man didn't care that his Mightyena died. It's because he only saw it as a tool."
Combusken overheard this from the pokeball and replied, "Yep, some humans are just total dicks like that. But you wanna know what? You are one who shares some of their views. You believe that pokemon should always listen to their human master."
"I am nothing like Team Magma, Pokemon are our friends, not just tools for warfare."
"True true. Let's just hope you keep those motives."
"Trust me, I will."
Sapphire cut in, "Sounds just as bad as Team Aqua if you ask me."
Mr. Stone stated, "My son is currently in Dewford in order to research these legendary monsters that they plan to awaken to see what we are up against. I would like you two to deliver something to him. Since there is a gym in Dewford I would hope you consider helping us out?"
Ruby answered, "If there's a gym, I'm in. Where would he be at?"
Mr. Stone smiled at his answer and said, "My son is probably in the caves at the opposite side of the island than the city."
He then started to look over his office and found an envelope and reached out to give it to Ruby. Ruby took it and put it in his adventure pack in a section labeled KEY ITEMS.
Mr. Stone then added, "From Dewford, you should head to Slateport City. My friend, Captain Frederick Stern lives there and is working on our underwater exploration project as well. Dylan, give them the submarine parts. The teams won't go after these kids so they will be safe with them."
Dylan handed Sapphire the parts in a leather bag and she put it in her pouch. She then looked at Mr. Stone and asked, "Anything else for us?"
Mr. Stone smiled and said, "Yes, I should probably give you something to benefit yourself for your service to me. Dylan, give them each a Great Ball."
Dylan dug out of his lab coat two different looking Pokeballs. They were blue on top with two red ends sticking out of the top. Dylan handed the balls to them saying, "These are a stronger form of the Pokeball. Our scientists helped developed these in the Kanto Region. They are known as the Sylph Company. They currently are developing all kinds of new Pokeballs"
"Thank you." Ruby said then added, "Are we finally done here?"
Mr. Stone gave a small chuckle as he said, "Are you sick of us already? Alright, that actually should be it. We hope to see you sometime again."
Dylan guided the kids to the elevator, which the moment they were inside Ruby released Combusken once again.
Combusken stretched out thinking, "Rules are retarded, I wouldn't have done anything to the man or his office."
Ruby sarcastically added, "Maybe they are typest against Fire, because well it's Fire."
"Bastard humans, always fucking with the moral system."
"Ha well maybe it's your language they have against you."
"No one can hear me but you dipshit."
"Very funny, don't make me put you back in the ball."
"Ugh fine! Just don't ever do that again."
"No promises."
The elevator reached the bottom floor and Dylan and the girl at the front desk said goodbye to the three at the front door. Once outside, Sapphire released Mudkip once again, who ran up to her shoulder and sat down in its normal spot.
They went back to their hosts' house and decided to leave their Poke Dollar winnings from the gym at their door. This turned out to be 4300 P. Then they left town to the south and headed back to the forest down route 104.
While walking through the route a young blonde lady stopped them and made eye contact with Ruby. She said, "Those eyes. They are the eyes of a strong trainer are they not? I haven't had a good battle in years. Would you take the time to do so?" She smiled and blushed because she only found one pokeball in her pocket.
Ruby nodded and went to his position away from her. He called Combusken to stand up front and center. The girl threw out her pokeball saying, "Go Beautifly." A long mouthed butterfly now flew before Combusken with ease. It was true to its name and had beautiful patterns on its wings. When Ruby pulled out his pokedex it read:
Beautifly
The Butterfly Pokemon
Beautifly is known for pollinating Rosalia and Vileplume when the season is right. They collect the pollen with their long mouths. They are highly known in the contest world for their amazingly complex patterns on their wings.
As Ruby was putting away his pokedex the girl gave a soft command, "Beautifly, use Shadow Ball."
A dark aura surrounded the butterfly and a purple energy ball started to form by its head. Then with a headbutt it sent the ball flying towards Combusken with incredible speed.
Combusken blew a small burst of fire from its mouth which was meant to block the ball, but the fire passed right through it. It hit Combusken directly in the chest and sent him flying through the air.
The girl then called out, "Now Beautifly, use Tackle."
While Combusken fell back down, it was directly hit with Beautifly's body right before landing, plowing him to the ground.
Ruby checked quickly and asked, "Yo Combusken, y'all right?"
Combusken replied, "Physically yes, but my pride is shattered. This butterfly is gona pay for that shit."
Ruby smiled and said, "You just never change do you? Ok get up and use Smokescreen."
Combusken jumped to its feet, ran up to the butterfly, tackled it, and shoot smoke at its eyes. Beautifly could do nothing because it was pinned to the ground.
Then Ruby commanded, "Now use Double Kick."
Combusken picked up Beautifly and kicked it into the air. Then followed it by jumping and a second kick meteor pounding the pokemon to the ground. Blinded and grounded, Beautifly could never have predicted the next attack.
Ruby said, "Combusken now use Stomp!"
From the air Combusken spiraled downward and did a flip at the last second to build up momentum and slammed its foot into the ground next to beautifly. It did not make contact but the move wasn't meant to kill it was just meant to show that Ruby had won without injuring the opponent fatally.
The girl saw this and returned Beautifly to her pokeball and said, "Wow you're good and noble. Thank you for not injuring my pokemon too badly, but you won fair and square." She walked over and handed him 230 Pokedollars. Then she added, "That was a fun battle, we should do it again sometime."
Ruby nodded and said, "Agreed."
Then the kids continued to the forest and continued their journey to the forest. Then all of the sudden Sapphire stopped.
Ruby turned around confused, "What are you doing?"
And to Ruby's surprise, she was standing there just blushing. She looked like she was nervous or embarrassed by something. Then Ruby noticed that Mudkip was jokingly nudging her face and Ruby had a realization.
He thought, "It's not that hard to believe that Mudkip is kinda like Combusken in the sense that they both give us crap."
Combusken added in a sarcastic tone, "Yeah, we totally shit and give it to you guys."
"Oh shut the hell up."
"Make me."
"To the pokeball th…"
Sapphire cut off Ruby and asked, "What do you like about me?"
Ruby was completely caught off guard by this question and stood there couldn't think so he just said, "Well you're… um... nice?"
Sapphire caught on to the question like tone he said this and took major offence. "Oh so it's questionable that I'm nice huh? And that's all you can say, that I'm nice? Nothing involving my personality? Wow Ruby, just…"
She was cut off as Ruby ran up and tackled her to the ground with a hug. Mudkip was sent flying yet landed gracefully on the ground.
Ruby now had collected himself as he playfully pinned Sapphire to the ground. Then he asked, "Do you really want to know?"
Sapphire just laughed and nodded as her response. She was obviously surprised by what just happened and was speechless.
Ruby took this as a yes and he began, "Well you are fun, awesome, cute, and the most interesting girl I have ever met."
Without thinking, Sapphire pulled him into her and kissed him. Both kids didn't expect this but they didn't reject it either. Ruby kissed back and put his hand to Sapphire's face. Sapphire wrapped her arms around him and the two shared the first true romantic moment between them.
Combusken said, "Wow why is your mind racing so much? Some thoughts are terrifyingly dirty."
Ruby couldn't respond, his mind was moving too fast and his heart felt something new. He thought, "Is this right? It feels right. Kissing my best friend is an ok thing, isn't it? There is nothing that will separate us. Is this love? Can it happen in a month? What are these feelings? I have so many questions that only I can figure out the answer to. I must find it out."
Combusken stopped this rant, "Wow you're going way too fast bro. Slow down."
Then Sapphire out of nowhere rolled over and retracted from Ruby and just stared into his eyes. Then she let her head fall so their foreheads just touched.
She said, "Well that was my first. What about you?"
Ruby just nodded, mind still racing.
Sapphire then stood up and pulled Ruby to his feet. Both of them dumbfounded, then continued down the path through the forest.
