Pokemon: Radiant Ruby and Shining Sapphire
Chapter 13
The Burden on His Shoulders
Hours at sea past and the sun was beginning to set. With the twilight covered sky overhead, the three children traveling to Slateport. Briney called down to the children, "We'll be at the shore by nine, you should all get some rest."
The three took the advice and they got changed for bed. While they were getting ready, Emerald, without Grovyle, snuck outside to the dock. Sapphire noticed this and said to Ruby, "Hey. Go talk to him, I'll wait here."
Ruby asked, "Why don't you just come along? That way I don't have to relay all the information back to you."
Sapphire brought her palm to her face saying, "You're really dense you know. Guys can talk about anything together, but when a girl gets involved the conversations are immediately censored."
Ruby was about to detest the notion, but then briefly thought on it. Realizing that it was probably the truth, Ruby just nodded and walked outside asking Combusken to stay inside. He then stepped outside into the twilight. He saw Emerald at the bow of the boat, staring out over the ocean. The boy approached him and greeted , "Yo, hope I'm not interrupting anything."
Emerald turned to see Ruby and asked, "What's up?"
Ruby knew the reason he was out here, but decided to break the ice by asking, "What are you looking out for. You almost seem mesmerized by something."
Emerald turned back to the ocean and pointed around, "Look at how beautiful this world is. It's a truly incredible sight."
Now leaning on the guardrail, Ruby agreed, "Yeah. It is. I've been waiting my whole life to get out of the house to see it all."
Emerald nodded and started to look down saying, "I just… wish it could stay like this forever."
Ruby asked, "What's that supposed to mean? The world isn't going to change anytime soon."
Emerald looked back at Ruby and shook his head. He stated, "You're wrong. This world is setting the stage for its own destruction."
Ruby saw the dread in the boy's eyes before asking, "What the hell are you talking about? The world seems just fine to me."
Emerald sighed before saying, "Then you clearly aren't looking very hard." Upon seeing Ruby's questioning glare, the boy asked, "What do you know about the motives of Team Aqua and Team Magma?"
Ruby answered, "Well Team Aqua is trying to make the world better suited for Pokemon while Team Magma the same but for men, correct?"
Emerald nodded saying, "Correct. Now let me ask you a question regarding the story I told you earlier inside Granite Cave. What were the motives of Rupture, Groudon, Depths, and Kyogre?"
Ruby began, "Well Rupture and Groudon were fighting for human supremacy and… Oh wait a minute…"
Emerald stated, "Exactly. It would appear that history is destined to repeat itself very soon."
Ruby stated in rebuttal, "Well not exactly. Team Magma and Team Aqua might be very prominent threats, but nothing compared to that of the Two Legendary Beasts right? And besides, Team Skystorm is going to stop them right… wait…"
"Correct again Ruby." Emerald sighed as he stood up straight saying, "Team Skystorm was founded to resemble the third party, Leon and Rayquaza. To stop the two from destroying the world. That was what my mother thought when she created the team, but now…"
There was silence in the air for a bit. The wind blew, the waves crashed, Peeko 'Sqwad'. Ruby then finally found his segway to the original reason he came out here and asked, "So who exactly was your mother? How did she have enough power and influence to start her own team?"
Emerald looked at the boy and slid down to the floor of the bow and motioned for Ruby to do the same. As he did, Emerald began, "My mother is a part of a group of people known as the Draconid Clan. These people are meant to be the protectors of Hoenn and Sinnoh's lore and futures. They keep track of the most ancient historical events in the most unreliable way to transfer information, by word of mouth."
Ruby asked, "You're not really giving much respect to their names right now, Aren't you a Draconid too?"
Emerald nodded and sighed, "Yeah, unfortunately. But I'm not sure if I follow their cult anymore."
Ruby asked, "Well why not?"
Emerald folded his arms and appeared to be in deep thought for a bit. He then looked as though he was examining Ruby for a bit before asking, "Why do you want to know all of this?"
The other boy answered, "I just kind of want to. It's not like I'm using the information for any other reason. All I knew about you before this was you stole a Pokemon and help people with their lore checks."
Emerald breathed in deeply before saying, "Well maybe it's better for you that way. If you learn everything about me, you might eventually get sucked into the role the Draconids will soon have to play in this world."
Ruby smiled saying, "You know? About a week ago I would've just left this conversation at that. But If the role of the Draconids is to save this world, I can't sit by and do nothing anyway. I'm finding this adventuring thing way too fun to just let the world I'm exploring to be in danger."
Emerald drew back, clearly a little shocked by the boy's resolve. He then shook his head and said, "Fine, I'll tell you who my family is to the Draconids." He looked Ruby in the eyes and began, "My mother, Zinnia, is the Lorekeeper of this generation. It's her duty to keep the world informed of its wrong doings and help it fix itself. That is her role, and what the role of my sister would've become."
Ruby asked, "You have a sister? What's she like? Where is she now?"
Emerald took a deep breath in before explaining, "My sister, Aster, died eight years ago."
Ruby immediately backed off the topic, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything."
Emerald explained, "I was getting there anyways so don't feel like you pressured me into a sensitive subject or anything." Ruby retained his original sitting position with a sigh of relief. Emerald continued, "Aster, as the next in line to succeed my mother, was destined to be the one to put an end to Team Aqua and Team Magma, but then another threat started. Can you guess?"
Ruby nodded saying, "I don't think anyone could forget an event that big. The 'Three Day War' that happened between Sinnoh, Alola, and Kanto. A dispute over the Orange Islands. Something so trivial took the lives of so many."
Emerald nodded saying, "Indeed, the bloodshed was pointless and yet there was so much of it. War is madness, lives are taken, families are broken, and the problem is rarely even resolved. However, that isn't my point. What I was meaning to get to is this question. Do you know how the war ended?"
Ruby thought for a bit before answering, "Being no clear victor, there was a ceasefire which eventually led to a stalemate."
"Which poses my final question on the topic." Emerald asked, "Why would the bloodshed just halt immediately with no real reason?"
Ruby shrugged saying, "There wasn't a reason ever given. Are you saying that there was something erased from that event in the news?"
Emerald nodded, "My sister was erased from the story." Ruby looked back with an inquiring glance. Emerald explained, "On the second day of the War, the Draconids were informed of everything. Zinnia was the first to act, assembling a small group of strong trainers to act as a peace convoy. When they left, my sister disappeared within hours. We couldn't find her the entire day. The next day however, we heard the conflict had come to an end. My mother returned the day after and proclaimed to everyone's amazement that it was the appearance of the Lord of Sky himself that brought about the ceasefire."
Ruby stated in awe, "Rayquaza ended the war single-handedly? It truly must be powerful."
Emerald closed his eyes and said, "Yes, it must be indeed. However, it was unlike Rayquaza to ever become involved in basic human quarrels in all of the history our people keep. Which begs the question, why did it appear during this event?"
Ruby finally started to put the pieces together, "Your sister summoned Rayquaza, didn't she?"
Emerald nodded saying, "Yes she did, at a cost. After being unable to find her for days, my mother and I set out to Sky Pillar to find answers. And we did…" Emerald brought his hand to his chest and said in a broken tone, "It was at the peak that we Aster's body with her Whismur partner still trying to cling to her corpse."
Ruby grimaced at the thought. He asked, "Why would she be dead? Do you even know what happened? I mean like…" The boy stopped because he saw tears falling from Emerald's eyes. He then said, "I'm sorry forget I…"
"It was Rayquaza that did it…" Emerald said through his broken voice. He continued, "Rayquaza, killed my eleven year old sister just to see how far her plea to end the war would go. And clearly… she passed its test." The boy started to clench his fists and he slammed down on the dock of the boat.
Ruby couldn't find words. He thought desperately for anything to come out of his mouth. After a minute he finally got out, "I get why you and your mother left behind the Draconid Clan."
Emerald took another minute to regather himself. Eventually, he took in a deep breath and said, "That's not quite the case. My mother,,, she's still in it. And because of that, I've still remained in their ranks as well. She's the only family I have left now, so I couldn't just leave her… but I guess she didn't put much care into thinking about leaving me."
Ruby all of the sudden was filled with a sense of anger as he stood up and held his hand down to Emerald saying, "Well then, I guess we'll just have to find her now won't we?"
Emerald looked up at the boy and gave a very quiet laugh saying, "No that's not at all the plan." Before Ruby could even ask what he meant, Emerald had already started to answer, "My mother left me in charge of Team Skystorm, which means that I have to do what I can to stop Team Aqua and Team Magma first. Once that threat is over, then I can find my mother."
Ruby drew back and didn't know how to respond. Luckily for him though, Emerald stood up and said, "But I guess I will take you up on the offer when this whole dilema with the teams is over. Sapphire can tag along too of course."
Ruby nodded saying, "Sure thing. And while you handle your problem, I'll just keep becoming stronger as a trainer so I'll be help to the best of my ability when you need me."
Emerald smiled back at the boy and nodded saying, "Thank you Ruby." He then looked around the boy to see Sapphire spying on them and said, "Your girlfriend looks to be getting jealous. I'd say we head back inside for the night. I've had enough of this emotional crap. Maybe next time we meet up, I can learn more about you two."
Ruby laughed saying, "Don't be disappointed when we aren't 'destined to amount to something' ok?" Upon saying this, the two walked back inside the cabin of the fishing boat. The two then returned to their respective sleeping areas.
A few hours passed before Combusken thought, "Well that was… Something…"
Ruby gave a chuckle as he thought, "So you did manage to get all of that. I was wondering about that."
Combusken stated, "Yeah. I have to admit, I always thought he was just a self righteous prick. And although that thought doesn't necessarily change, at least I understand why now."
The boy nodded and then said aloud, "I can hear you breathing anxiously Sapphire, your not hiding your curiosity very well."
Sapphire groaned as she said, "Then stop my need for anticipation and just tell me what you talked about already!"
The boy rolled over to see the girl laying in her own bed staring directly at him. Ruby stated, "I'll tell you tomorrow or something. It'd be a little much to relay to you now. I actually just kind of want to sleep on what I learned, ok?"
Sapphire broke into a small fit, "Are you shitting me? That only makes me want to know more!"
Ruby rolled back over saying, "Sorry, but I promise I'll tell you all about it when Emerald leaves tomorrow."
Emerald's voice broke its silence saying, "Wow Ruby, just give away my secrets like that, huh? Nice." He gave a small laugh after he said this to inform the children he was only kidding. He then said, "Well whatever. You should really get some sleep. Slateport City will be incredibly busy tomorrow and it'd be best that we stay in peak condition in case something comes up."
Ruby laughed saying, "Oh come on! What could we possibly not be prepared for at this point?"
_In the Morning at the Dock
The dock was swarming with people screaming as loud as they could from the hype that filled the air. People tearing off their own clothes in excitement, people forming rave circles, people making out in large groups, some guy doing all three at the same time. You know… Contest Hype… As Ruby got off the fishing boat at the dock he stated, "Ok, I admit. We are not prepared for this."
Sapphire peered out into the city and exclaiming, "So this is slateport? It's so HUGE!"
Emerald stated, "Well compared to Rustboro, it's not as big but it's the center of trade for all of Hoenn. It houses the third largest trade market in the world. Anything you need, you should be able to find here."
Sapphire grabbed Ruby by the wrist, waved to Mr. Briney, and drug the boy through the crowd into the market area, which was surprisingly less busy that then crowd outside would let on. Combusken followed behind finding entertainment in Sapphire's complete control over Ruby in the situation. The first shop Sapphire approached was an antique shop. She spotted a necklace that had an embedded rainbow colored gemstone in it. She picked it up saying, "This looks so pretty!"
Ruby took it from the girl and said, "Yeah it is, but it's really expensive. He pointed down at the price sign that read 20000 Poke. He then held the necklace up to the girl's neck saying, "But it does look nice on you."
All of the sudden, the shopkeep yelled at the two, "What do you think you're doing. That's not a plaything!"
Ruby turned back and said to the man, "We aren't just some kids, you know. We wouldn't just break it. We were just looking."
The man grunted saying, "Fine, but just put it down. I doubt the two of you have enough to buy it anyways."
Ruby dug out his wallet and checked, "Well you aren't wrong. I'm only running of 3000 Poke. Seeing that we need food constantly, I'd say I can't really spare anything."
Sapphire sighed saying, "Yeah, I only have 2000 so even together we can't afford it."
"Well that's not entirely true." Emerald had made his way over to the two of them with Grovyle following not far behind. He looked at the necklace, then back to Sapphire saying, "You know what this is right?"
Sapphire shrugged saying, "It just looks really pretty so it caught my eye. However, just by you saying that I know I'm about to be educated."
Emerald pointed at the rainbow stone saying, "That's a Keystone. If a trainer and a Pokemon with its corresponding Mega Stone share a strong enough bond, the two can perform Mega Evolution."
Ruby asked, "Mega Evolution? What the hell is that?"
Emerald lectured, "Mega Evolution is a temporary evolution of a Pokemon that grants it new stats and abilities so long as it's in its new state. After a certain amount of time though, the Pokemon reverts. However, very few trainers can achieve this. It's even been said that one requires and aura bond with their pokemon to accomplish the feat."
Sapphire stomped in frustration saying, "Well now I really really want it! I guess I'll go look for some people to battle me around the city."
Emerald laughed saying, "No need to do that now. I've got you covered." The boy looked at the shopkeep and told him, "My name is Emerald Draconid, the leader of Team Skystorm. Is there anyway I could get some sort of discount on this necklace?"
The man folded his arms saying, "Yeah right! You think you can just lie about who you are just to get a discount! Hmph! As if!"
Emerald sighed as he shrugged saying, "Well if I need to prove it to you, I suppose this should do." He reached down and grabbed the bottom of his right pant leg and pulled it up to reveal a metal anklet with a weaving design riding up his shin till his mid calf area. A rainbow stone, just like the one in the necklace was embedded into it near the top. He asked, "So what now?"
The man gave a small laugh saying, "Well I'll be damned, you really are Zinnia's kid. Interesting. But the thing is that I'm still running a bit tight on business as of late. All I can go down to on the Key Stone is 18000."
Emerald stated, "How about 15000 and I throw in another 1000 under the table. Get you a meal or two without being taxed at all for the sale. Deal?"
The man seemed to think on this for a bit before asking, "The hell do you need another Key Stone for anyway?"
The boy pointed back to Sapphire saying, "It's not for me. These two are my friends, and they plan on helping me with my duty to protect the people. Anything to increase their usefulness to my cause would be beneficial."
The man stared at Ruby and Sapphire for a bit before conceding, "Fine '15000' it is kid."
Emerald nodded and dug into his own wallet and pulled out what appeared to be nothing but a small dent in his finances and gave it to the man, who counted it before nodding the three off.
Ruby then gave the necklace back to Sapphire who gave a little jump of joy saying, "Thank you!" She then secured its place around her neck.
Emerald shook his head and said, "Don't worry about it. Consider it a bribe to not complain about me taking your dad's Pokemon anymore." He pointed to Grovyle as he said that.
Sapphire's grin turned to a glare as she started, "Well when you put it that way…"
Emerald and Ruby looked at each other and broke into laughter at the girl's reaction. Sapphire quickly joined in. After a few moments, the children heard someone in the market say, "Come on! The Contest Hall opening ceremony is almost starting. Let's get going!"
Ruby asked his two human companions, I don't think we have plans for the rest of the day. You want to see what all the fuss is about too?"
Sapphire looked over to Emerald, who shrugged. The girl then responded never been much for the Contest scene, but I suppose since we're already here that we should check it out." She then pointed towards the crowd and said, "Let's move! We don't want to be stuck in the back after all!"
The children pushed their way through the loud crowd until they reached a bench which they could stand on to see over everyone. The crowd circled this huge and gorgeous red and orange building. Right at the entryway there was a clearing. After a few moments of waiting, the doors burst open in a dazzling gleam of a Dragonbreath to reveal a girl with turquoise hair, with eyes the same color to match. She wore a ponytail near the top of her head that into an extravagant zigzag of hair. The girl was wearing a blue and white dress and a headset that looked like a small tiara. She was accompanied by a beautiful looking blue bird with cloudlike wings. The crowd roared with excitement at the exuberant entrance. Ruby and Sapphire both retrieved their Pokédexs from their bags, and it read off
Altaria
The Humming Pokemon
Height: 3'07"
Weight: 45.4Lbs
This Pokemon is known for its beautiful soprano tone that can captivate it's listeners. It's puff shaped feathers also let it camouflage in the clouds easily.
As the two were returning their Pokédexs, the turquoise haired girl began to speak as she waved to the crowd, "Hello hello! It's me! Lisia Lovewing! How are you all doing today?" The crowd began to sound even louder than before. The girl winked as she gave a cute little bow saying, "I'm glad to hear it!" When she stood back up she started pointing out to the crowd and asserted herself loudly, "Now! As you might know, today is the grand opening of three different contest halls here is the Hoenn region. This is a huge step, and especially amazing for me because I grew up here in Fortree City! I can't wait to put on shows here in this region!" The crowd erupted with cheers.
Ruby looked around and said, "This actually seems like a pretty big deal to the people here."
Emerald explained, "Of course it is. There are only two things that bring together most of the world. Those two being Pokémon Battles and Pokémon Contests. Although I've never been one for the contest thing myself, there's no denying the impact it has on this world."
Combusken, who was still off the bench, thought to Ruby, "How stupid of a system! Really, a life where Pokémon can be pampered their entire lives and still be treated as on par with the capabilities of a Pokémon that has trained its whole life to be the greatest they can be! So stupid!"
Ruby laughed and thought back, "Not everything can be solved through a fight, you know."
Combusken mumbled back, "I'd like you to prove that."
Ruby was about to respond, however the crowd cheered exponentially loud at something Lisia had said. The girl put one hand in the air and proclaimed, "Now's the time. The time I pick one of YOU to be brought to Contest stardom!" The horde of people burst into a frenzy. Lisia began looking at the crowd. She pondered as she walked around her small opening, gazing over her subjects. After a few moments she raised her hand to the air and started, "I choose…" in the blink of an eye, her hand pointing its finger came down directly at Ruby, "YOU! Come on down!"
Ruby looked to both of his sides before pointing at himself just to make sure. Lisia laughed as she said, "No need to be shy! Could everyone clear a path for him please?"
Ruby's mind was racing, "Fuck this is not ok! What do I do?"
Combusken responded, "Just go down and see what she wants. You don't have to do anything she says. Just play along for now."
Ruby shot back, "That's not the point! I just…" before he could finish, Sapphire playfully nudged him off the bench. He landed unscathed and gave the girl an irritated glare. He then sighed and started walking towards the girl through the parting crowd.
When he finally made it, Lisia giggled saying, "Hey there, wow I didn't realize you were so young. You looked relatively tall."
Ruby scratched the back of before explaining, "We were kind of standing on a bench just to see." To himself, he thought, "Damn it, play it cool! I guess I just never expected her to be this cute up close."
As Lisia started talking, Combusken's voice rang through Ruby's head, "Dude just tap it!"
It was then Lisia looked directly at a blushing Ruby, expecting an answer to a question that the boy clearly missed. Silence filled the air for a moment before Ruby stuttered out, "I'm sorry, what?"
Lisia laughed saying, "Your name? What you are referred to by others?"
Ruby took a deep breath in before saying, "Sorry. The name's Ruby Plake. I'm from Olivine in Johto but I've recently moved Littleroot here in Hoenn."
Lisia shouted to the crowd, "Looks like we got ourselves a gym leader's kid!"
Ruby shot back in surprise, "Wait what!? How do you know my dad?"
Lisia smiled at the boy, but completely ignored his question by asking something herself. "So are you ready?"
Ruby asked back, "What are you talking about?"
Lisia expressed to the crowd, "I asked… ARE YOU READY TO START YOUR CONTEST CAREER!"
The group of people burst into cheers. Ruby looked back at Sapphire who was laughing her ass off back on the bench still. Ruby told Lisia in a whisper, "Look, I just kinda got dragged into all of this. I really don't have any interest in competing or anything like that."
In response Lisia pulled up a cord near her mouth that Ruby hadn't noticed before, clearly a microphone. She whispered back, "That's fine. Just play along for now. Rule one about show biz kid, always be the crowd pleaser." She flipped back down her mic and proclaimed loudly, "And now, my chosen apprentice will complete the ceremony by announcing that the Slateport Contest Hall is now open, everyone quiet down please."
And they did quiet. Almost everything became silent, all for the anticipation for Ruby's big announcement. The boy closed his eyes, breathed in deep, and yelled at the top of his lungs, "The Slateport Contest Hall is officially open for business!"
The crowd erupted at the sound of the boy's voice. Ruby acquired a proud grin at the hype he had generated. But before he could try to contact his friends again. Lisia grabbed the boy's wrist and drug him into the huge building. The lobby was just as extravagant as its outside counterpart. The floors were all marble and it brightly be the pink chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. However Ruby's escapade didn't stop there, as Lisia brought the boy into a side room off of one of the back hallways. It appeared to be a dressing room, lined wall to wall with mirrors, closets, and scattered costumes. Lisia let out a sigh of relief as she fell into her chair near a makeup station. She then looked are the boy and smiled saying, "Thanks for that, you did great."
Ruby gave a sad excuse for a chuckle in response. He then stated, "Could you give me a sec? I got to find my friends."
Lisia nodded saying, "That's fine. A cute guy and girl in the same room alone? People would be bound to talk that one up. It's better that way."
Ruby was about to leave the room, but then realized the implications that she was talking about and asked, "Wait what? How old are you?"
The turquoise haired girl seemed a little off put by the question at first, but responded, "I'm 16. Why do you ask?"
Ruby, realizing that he overstepped just a bit, explained himself, "I just wasn't sure why people would imply things like that, but I suppose two years isn't much of a difference. For a while I thought you were older than that."
Lisia shot death glare that seemingly reached the boy's soul. Ruby, again realizing his mistake again defended himself, "I'm not saying that you look much older or anything like that. But just the way you demanded the crowd's attention the way you did, I just figured you were a lot more experienced at all of this."
The girl seemed to accept the answer and nodded. Ruby then quickly left the room and thought, "Yo! Where are you guys?"
Combusken answered, "We're still outside. The people swarmed the entrance the moment you got inside."
The boy looked down the hallway to see a massive hoard of individuals flooding the lobby. He thought to himself, "Fuck show biz man… wait, Showbiz!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. "Hey everyone! Could you let my partner Pokémon through. He's a Combusken! He should be traveling with two other humans and a Grovyle! If you could open a path that'd be much appreciated!"
Almost everyone recognized the boy's voice immediately and started to open a path. Soon Ruby saw his friends and waved for them to come to him. Sapphire sprinted to the boy and tackled him to the ground. She exclaimed, "You're already using your stardom to your advantage!? Wow, you really are too good at strategy."
Ruby asked, "Yeah ok, but why did you tackle me?"
Sapphire leaned down and kissed the boy, something Ruby never expected. The crowd gasped, as if they were witnessing a scandal. When Sapphire retracted she whispered to him saying, "I'm just making sure the public knows that you're already taken." She then got off of him and helped him to his feat.
Combusken, Emerald, and Grovyle caught up to the two and all of them walked back into Lisia's room. The first thing the contest performer did was apologize, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to just strip your friend away from you guys. I just kinda picked whoever caught my eye first."
Sapphire responded, "It's fine. I got enough entertainment out of this wonderful turn of events so I'm cool with it." The girl then quickly grabbed Ruby's hand, another approach that Ruby never could have predicted from her.
Combusken though immediately to Ruby, "Hot DAMN is she jealous right now. She is proving that you two are an item left and right."
Ruby, feeling a little uncomfortable, responded, "I have not idea what to do. If I try and stop her, she'll get mad at me, but if I let her keep this up, it'll just keep getting more awkward. The hell do I do?"
Combusken chirped before saying, "Your guess is as good as mine buddy. Good luck!"
Lisia, clearly noticing Sapphire's quick show of affection explained, "There's no need to worry. I'm not trying to take your boyfriend or anything." She then stood up and gave a small bow as she introduced herself, "As you probably heard, my name is Lisia Lovewing. It's nice to meet you all. I'd introduce you to my partner, Ali, as well, but she doesn't deal well with crowded areas. You'll get to meet her later though, I promise."
Emerald took that as his cue to introduce himself too. "My name is Emerald Draconid. Leader of Team Skystorm. And my partner her is Grovyle."
Lisia was speechless for a moment. She looked at Ruby with a glare that clearly asked "who are you?"
Ruby answered the look by saying, "Well my name is Ruby Plake, as I said before. My partner here is Combusken. And as you also apparently knew, my father is the Patalburg City Gym Leader."
Sapphire then took her turn, "The name's Sapphire Birch, daughter of the Lead Pokemon Professor in the Hoenn region. And my partner…" The girl let go of Ruby's hand, took a pokeball off of her belt, and opened it to release her blue and orange mud fish Pokémon as she finished, "Is Marshtomp. It's a pleasure to meet you Lisia."
Lisia staggered to get out, "You're all children of like THE MOST FAMOUS people in the Hoenn region. How did you all manage to band together?"
Emerald explained, "Well from what I know, these two were just neighbors that decided to travel together. I, on the other hand, am just on break for one more day. I met them through… let's just say… less than desirable circumstances. But we've only been traveling together the last three days."
Lisia laughed as she said, "So the leader of the great 'Protection Team' can take a break? What a world."
Emerald stated, "Well as far as I'm concerned, everyday you don't perform is a break for you, so don't get me started."
Lisia just kind of brushed off the comment and started a new conversation. "So about Ruby's new 'Career' in showbiz. Sorry to rope you into all of this but I only need you to do one thing for me." There was silence, clearly anticipating this task Ruby must perform. Lisia explained, "I need you… to perform with me and Ali for a single act tonight… please."
Simultaneously, the entire party responded, "Wait… What?"
