Pokémon: Radiant Ruby and Shining Sapphire

Chapter 14

Let's Start the Show!

Ruby glared at Lisia, clearly unamused by the request she had given to him. The turquoise haired girl sighed, saying, "I can see that the notion doesn't excite you at all. I'm sorry, but I really need this favor from you Ruby."

Ruby explained, "Ok, first of all! I'm not really all that into the whole Contest thing. I was just minding my own business and you choose to intervene with my plans. Second, I have no idea what's going on anymore! I didn't expect any of this and now you're asking me to perform later?"

Lisia nodded and gave her little showbiz driven smile. She stated, "Look, I know I'm asking a lot. But I'll be there helping you learn every step of the way. I don't want to let the fans down by not having my 'new recruit' on stage with me later. I'm not asking you to join the Contest Extravaganza, I'm just asking for one day of your time to help me out, ok?"

Sapphire grabbed Ruby's wrist and started to drag him out of the room saying behind her, "I'll talk this over with him. We'll take 10 and reconvene." As they walked out the door, Combusken quickly followed the two.

The outside hall was empty but the crowd still roared ecstatically from down way. Sapphire sighed before leaning against the wall by the room they had just exited. She asked, "So… what's your plan?"

Ruby stated, "You're the one who drug me out here. Shouldn't you state your opinion on the situation first?"

Sapphire openly stated, "I don't mind at all what you decide. I just would like to keep Lisia from pressuring you into doing something you don't find comfortable. Out here, you can at least make a decision without any of the guilt trip bullshit."

Ruby was a little surprised by this. In the last week, Sapphire had always acted as though she relied solely on instinct how to respond, but this was a new, calculated approach that the boy had never seen from her. He thought quickly to Combusken, "I already know your opinion on the topic, so stay out of it. I'll keep what you want in mind."

Combusken, despite Ruby's plea, intruded anyway, "I say we do it."

"Look I get it you don't… wait. What did you say?" Ruby looked at his partner, trying to discern his sudden change of mindset.

Combusken repeated, "Let's do it. We're in no rush to become the very best after all. Plus, think of all the perks that come with helping a celebrity out. We'd be famous and be able to drag in challengers that just know us by name. It'd fit our needs fine as long as it truly is only for today."

Ruby, again shocked by his comrade's response. Laughed a little and thought, "Well when you put it like that, it's fine by me. But let's quick think what happens if we don't help out."

Combusken responded, "Well Lisia would take a massive hit from her morale, you'd look like and arrogant shitstain for abandoning her, and then life would go on."

The boy sighed saying, "Coming out here was to avoid the guilt, not push it further."

Sapphire stated, "I'm assuming you're trying to talk to Combusken. Might want to keep it down because you sound crazy when you just talk to yourself aloud."

Ruby gave a little laugh and said, "Yeah, probably does look bad, doesn't it?" He then gained his composure back before stating firmly, "I think I'll help out Lisia. We're in no hurry to get anything done after all. Plus this'll make Emerald's last day with us a memorable one."

Sapphire nodded saying, "Alright then. Sounds good to me." The three then walked back into the dressing room and were met with the glares of Lisia, Emerald, and Grovyle.

Ruby proclaimed, "You're in luck Lisia. I'm gona help you out."

Lisia got out of her chair and darted over to hug the boy, smothering his face in her cleavage. She squealed, "Thank you thank you thank you!"

Sapphire immediately turned red, grabbed the performer by her shoulder, and drug her back to her chair before asserting, "Ruby's mine! There will be NONE OF THAT!"

Ruby laughed a bit before saying, "Sapphire, she's taller than me, that stuff can't really be helped."

Emerald stated, "Doesn't mean you should just let it happen with your girlfriend standing right there."

Lisia shot in, "Wait, did I do something wrong? I just hugged him, not anything worse."

The three children faced the eldest in the room and were stupefied by her lack of understanding regarding the situation. Lisia giggles saying, "Well whatever, if you don't want me to hug him anymore I won't. Don't want you getting jealous."

Combusken responded, "Sapphire's just mad because she has no chest."

Out of sheer stupidity Ruby looked over at the brown haired girl's chest and noticed there wasn't much of anything.

Sapphire saw this and lit up, "Wait, are you seriously comparing right now!? Fuck off!"

Ruby backed off saying, "I wasn't meaning to it was just… Combusken said… I mean. You know what, I'll just take the blame for that one." Meanwhile, Combusken chirped historically from by the door.

Lisia pulled the conversation back to the point by saying, "Well if you're going to help, we should probably get right to practicing our act. Ali should already be in the practice room so let's head over."

Sapphire folded her arms and said, "Fine, fine. Let's go meet your partner and whatever." Ruby could hear the passive aggressive tone in her voice.

Emerald and Ruby both sighed at this as Lisia got out of her chair and walked to the door. After they left the room the party walked three rooms down the large, unpopulated hall. Inside was an open room lined with mirrors along the far wall. The room was filled with various props and outfits. In the middle was the Altaria the children had seen appear alongside Lisia as she emerged from the Contest Hall earlier. The Pokémon flapped over to its trainer and landed next to her.

Lisia introduced, "Everyone! This is my partner Ali! Say hi Ali." The Altaria have a beautiful high C as it's greeting.

Emerald asked, "So is this the Pokémon you have an aura bond with then?"

Everyone was shocked by the boy's question. Lisia asked back, "How did you know that?"

Emerald pulled up his pant leg to reveal the anklet with the keystone inside of it once again and explained, "This anklet serves double as a keystone holder as well as a keystone radar of sorts. It was picking up two for sometime now. Seeing that Sapphire now has one, the only other person would be you. And the only way to perform a feat like Mega Evolution is by having an aura bond with the Pokémon. The keystone is in your earpiece and your Altaria has Altariaite hidden in her left wing."

Lisia clapped towards the boy saying, "Nice detective work there. You figured all of that out so fast. So I take it that you believe in Aura Bonds then."

Emerald nodded saying, "I'm a Draconid, albeit reluctantly. It's in our religion that we believe in this stuff. But even if I wasn't, I share the same bond with my Grovyle over there." He pointed to his partner, who just nodded as a response. He then continued, "These too both have Aura Bonds with their partner's as well."

Lisia looked at the other two children who both shrugged in agreement. She laughed, "So COOL! I've only met one other person with an Aura Bond before. I never would've guessed I would meet three more! Totally AWESOME!"

Ruby asked, "So are we going to get started, or what?"

The turquoise haired girl ran over to the costumes and exclaimed, "If your so eager, come over and pick any outfit you'd like!"

Ruby walked over to the rack of outfits and started to shuffle through them. It wasn't long before he saw the one he knew he must have. It was a long red jacket with a black undershirt. The pants were black with a red belt already around the hip. He pulled it off the rack and said, "This one will do."

Lisia nodded and said, "Try it on then. There's a changing room around the corner."

The boy did as he was instructed and went into the changing room. As he slipped on the uniform, he looked in the mirror and thought, "Damn, this is actually pretty badass." The jacket was incredibly long, and once it hit his thighs it frilled outwards. The black undershirt and pants complemented the red perfectly. He then stepped out of the changing room to a small crowd of his acquaintances.

Emerald was the first to critique, "You look like an anime villain."

Ruby nodded and said, "Yeah I know. I think it looks awesome on me."

Sapphire stated, "Hey, do you mind if you take your hat off quick?" Ruby did as she asked and then the girl smiled saying, "Yeah! Now it's perfect. Except for it being a little big on you."

Lisia then said, "He'll have time to grow into it. I think I'm just going to give it to you. You're the only person I've seen that it would even work on, so it's yours."

Ruby asked, "Really, you're allowed to do that?"

The girl responded, "Well not technically, but I have my ways. Just consider it yours."

Ruby nodded and then tossed Sapphire his hat. Once she caught it he said, "I'm counting on you to hold onto it for now." The girl just nodded and put it into her bag.

Lisia then clapped her hands together and said, "Alright, now that that's out of the way, let's get to some practicing."

Ruby asked, "So what exactly are we doing?"

The girl struck a pose while pointing at him saying, "We're going to sing of course!"

Ruby nodded and sarcastically, "Yeah sure, but counterpoint, I don't really sing... Like… at all."

Lisia sighed saying, "You have a voice, and I'm sure you could use it if you wanted to. Why not try singing this. I'm sure you've heard it."

She handed him a piece of sheet music and Ruby recognised it immediately, "This is Appeal! Are you the one who wrote this?"

Lisia gave a half hearted smile before siying shallowly, "You're one of those people that learn songs not artists aren't cha?" She then nodded saying, "Yeah, that was my debut song two years ago, and today it'll be yours. But at least you know it, so this should go a lot easier. Just sing the first verse so I can hear what I'm working with. M'kay?"

Ruby then looked down at the sheet music and cleared his throat before starting,

"Suddenly meeting, it was a sweet shock
Lovestruck at the sight of you in Master Rank
My feet shook when we passed each other
Only greeting you with a good morning at most."

Afterwards, he was applauded by everyone in the room. Sapphire jokingly said, "And you said you don't sing."

Ruby retorted, "It's true though, I don't sing. And just because I can do it in front of all of you doesn't mean I can be up in front of a crowd and do the same. And what will Combusken be doing in all of this?"

Lisia answered, "You said you're not planning on competeling, so Combusken is off the hook."

Combusken burst into chirps in the background and Ruby flipped him off before sighing and saying, "Well that still doesn't say anything regarding my stage presence. What if I screw up?"

Lisia clapped twice and said, "Oh don't worry about the crowd. Out there just focus on singing to your friends and I. And if you ever feel like you're having a hard time, just jump back in when you feel comfortable again. The song was written originally as a solo so I think I'll be able to handle it. The real favor you're doing for me is just being up there with me, ok?"

Emerald then stated, "So then what's the choreography going to be. Just singing doesn't make for a very good performance after all."

The turquoise haired girl spun around saying, "That's where the practice comes in. This will probably take all day though so if you guys want to like get something to eat first, that'd be cool. Practice starts in an hour, so make it count!" She gave a little wink before exiting the room with Ali following directly behind her.

Ruby sighed before looking over to Combusken and thinking, "Lucky little shit…"

Combusken responded, "Hey, you agreed to it, not my fault I didn't get roped into your commitments."

Sapphire walked over to Ruby saying, "You know, I think she originally intended for this to be a way to get a boyfriend." When Ruby gave her a confused look, she pointed to the music in his hands and said, "That duet is about two people who just met each other falling in love. She has plenty of other songs to choose from. And hell while we were on the bench in the back row, she could've mistaken you for someone a little older than her."

Emerald laughed saying, "That's quite the theory you put together there Sapphire. Maybe we should ask Lisia when we come back. Speaking of which, Where do you want to eat?"

Sapphire shot her hand up saying, "I saw a neat little seafood place just outside the Marketplace earlier! I vote we go there!"

After Ruby and Emerald agreed, the three left the room While walking down the hallway to the entryway Ruby noticed a girl with a blue and white shirt struggling to enter one of the rooms. After a few seconds, she got the door open and quickly shut the door behind her. He asked his friends, "Hey, didn't she seem to have a lot of trouble with that door."

Sapphire shrugged saying, "This is the private hall, pretty sure all the doors are locked. If she had a key, I'd assume she's aloud back here."

Ruby nodded but Emerald clearly wasn't having the excuse as he walked to the door and knocked saying in a much deeper voice, "Security Sweep, Anyone in there?"

From the room came a squeal saying, "Here! I mean.. Sorry? I'm changing for practice, so please don't come in!"

Emerald's eyes went wide and he apologized, "Sorry to bother you ma'am, I'll swing by later then." He sighed as he walked back to his friends before explaining, "Her get up was a bit like Team Aqua's so I had to at least check. I suppose this is the Contest Hall. You're bound to see all sorts of outfits in here."

Ruby laughed saying, "Geez, it's your last day off. Stop being so paranoid!"

After this, the crew head out and ate food at a seaport restaurant next to the marketplace. As they sat down Sapphire asked, "Just wondering, why did you agree to help her out?"

Ruby gave a small laugh and explained, "Combusken brought up the descent point that having someone that high up on a social pedestal owe me one might be a good idea. Plus, who knows, maybe it'll be fun."

Emerald glared at Combusken and stated, "That reasoning is absolutely disgusting and you should be ashamed."

Combusken thought to Ruby, "Well you can tell Emerald that he can fuck the hell off and his oppinion has about as much value as a level one-hundred Magikarp."

Ruby gave a small chuckle but followed his better judgment not to relay that rest of the meal was rather uneventful. Having filled up on sustenance, the party returned to the Contest Hall, which was still brimming with activity. The three broke through the crowd and made it back to the practice room. There they saw Lisia and Ali doing what appeared to be a vocal warmup.

She then turned and gave a small curtsy to greet them and said, "So does this mean you're ready to get started?"

Ruby nodded and said, "Yeah, just let me get ready and then we're all set."

_Later that night

Ruby looked in the mirror at his new appearance. His red jacket and his weird hairstyle seemed so foriegh to him. The boy took a few deep breaths and thought, "It's fine. You've got this. You're just singing. It doesn't…"

He was cut off mid thought by Combusken thinking, "Dude, quit psyching yourself out. If you get to nervous, you won't have the balls to get up on stage."

Ruby nodded and said aloud to his partner that wasn't there, but in fact already among the waiting crowd, "Yeah yeah, I know. Damn it! This feeling just sucks!" As he said this there was a knock on his changing room door. Through it rang a familiar female voice, "Hey, you ok in there. We're almost live, we should prep backstage."

Ruby took a deep breath in and walked towards the door. He could feel his hands trembling as he reached out to the handle. He opened the door to Lisia immediately saying, "No, that won't do!" She reached out to Ruby's face and put her hands on his cheeks and stretched them out. "Smile! You can't go onstage with that expression! The crowd will confuse you for a corpse. No one's dying today so keep your chin up and smile!"

Ruby took her hands off of his face and said, "I'm just nervous is all. Cut me some slack. I have never done something like this before."

The turquoise haired girl shook her finger and sighed saying, "Well I didn't want to have to use this advice, but I will." She twirled around and extended her hand saying, "Just imagine that I'm Sapphire!"

Ruby looked at the girl, incredibly puzzled by this, but she then explained. "Well she said that you two were an item, right? That must mean you have really strong feelings for her. In kind, this means that you feel strong with her! The thing is, I may not be her, but she is in the crowd and is going to back you up all the way with this. So just pretend that I'm her, allow me to be her physical representation and you can get through this!"

Ruby gave a half hearted chuckle at the notion, but mostly because of how correct she was about Sapphire and himself. He does feel stronger when she's with him, and he feels more alive and confident as well. He then thought of the girl patiently waiting in the crowd for him to go out on stage and wow the people. He then smiled with the realization that regardless of how he does, Sapphire probably wouldn't care and everything would continue as it always had.

Lisia pointed at the boy and said, "See! There's the smile we need. Now come on! The show will wait for us no longer!"

The girl grabbed Ruby by the arm and started to drag him down the hall briefly to a back room which led to the stage. She said. "Alright, this is your entrance. Just come in when the music starts. I know you'll do great!"

Then there was quiet, but it was almost a relief. Ruby was calm, his mind was clear. All his nervousness was gone. He walked up the back stage and stood next to his entrance. He heard Combusken state one last time in his mind, "Knock 'em dead!"

Then an announcer's voice came over the room, "Ladies and Gentleman. It's our honor to welcome you here to the first ever performance in the Slateport Contest Hall, but far more substantially, the first ever performance in the Hoenn Region!" The crowd erupted after this statement. Applause and shouts rang through the room. With this still going on, the voice started up again, "Now I know you don't want to just hear my voice all night, you're here for the show! So without further adieu, I give you, LISIA!" Again this came along with the erupting crowd, but there was no wait when the sound of bells chiming started, which Ruby knew was his cue. It was show time!

He took a step out into the limelight and began to sing his intro while walking over to Lisia who entered from the other end of the stage.

"There's no jamming my feelings for you

I'll show you the glittering appeal of my love

Looking away with my head down

But you noticed!"

After the first verse ended Lissia and Ruby met in the middle of the stage and the music broke out for a small dance break. Ruby smiled and felt confident with each move as the crowd exploded with applause. The two then stopped the break with their backs to each other and they began singing again, this time, Ruby taking a lower harmony.

"Suddenly meeting, it was a sweet shock

Lovestruck at the sight of you in Master Rank

My feet shook when we passed each other

Only greeting you with a good morning at most

My bewildered heart is a glimmering rhapsody

Though I want to dream, I still can't sleep tonight

Just imagining those eyes like exquisite diamonds

And whispering a good night to the moon"

The two on stage then turned to each other and started to dance together. Ruby took Lisia's advice and thought of himself dancing with Sapphire. Somehow, knowing that both Sapphire and himself probably knew next to nothing about dancing he broke into a small laugh but then they continued to sing,

"There's no reaching my feelings for you

I'm lost for words when it's just the two of us

Covering those glazed eyes

Somehow, that smart smile comes to an end

Staying by your side every day is a sweet birthday

Tomorrow, I would surely tell you that I like you"

Ruby twirled Lisia around and they prepared for the key change at the last refrain and turned to face the crowd as they sang,

"There's no reaching my feelings for you

I'm lost for words when it's just the two of us

Covering those glazed eyes

Somehow, that smart smile comes to an end

Staying by your side every day is a sweet birthday

Tomorrow, I would surely tell you that I like you"

After the refrain, Lisia stepped up to center stage and delivered her final solo,

"Gently Lying on top of each other. Tee hee hee sigh…"

The crowd erupted with applause. Everyone left their seats and cheered louder than anything Ruby had ever heard before. Lisia smiled back to Ruby and extended her hand to him. The boy nodded and smiled as he grabbed her hand and they raised the hand together in the air before taking their unison bow. The girl then broke off and started to speak through her microphone, "Thank you all for making it out here today to see this special performance. And before we get the full show started, could we give up one more round of applause for Ruby Plake, my partner for today!" Ruby smiled and took another bow as the crowd continued to cheer. He swore he could hear Sapphire yell, "That's my Ruby!" He smiled and waved at the crowd one last time before retreating backstage once again.

Ruby sighed with relief as he walked out of sight of the crowd. He thought, "So, how was that Combusken?"

His partner from the crowd responded, "I'm surprised, Lisia didn't just carry you the whole time like I expected her to. Well done!"

Ruby smiled but this feeling was cut short when seemingly every electrical system in the Contest hall seemed to flicker. Lisia made a joke about his, "Huh, seems like the electricity needs to be updated before competitions actually start." The crowd chuckled at this, but then came a voice that no one was expecting.

A deep male voice rang out over the intercom, "Actually, no. The electricity is working just fine. Sorry, but I'ma have to cut this little show short today scamps."

Lisia asked to the air, "What are you talking about? The show is just getting started!" The crowd was in the middle of erupting with excitement only to be stopped by what sounded like an explosion from one of the spectator boxes at the top of the audience section. Out from the broken glass viewing box flew three chared human like figures, which fell to the ground completely lifeless.

Then there was silence. Everyone's attention was on the corpses of the people just scorched and hurled from their viewing place. The voice continued, "Now that I have your full attention, I would like to make my statement. Human kind have become too complacent with their use of pokemon. We battle them, "befriend" them, and use them for entertainment in these disgusting contests. Pokemon are the dominant species of this world and we treat them like tools. But starting today, this will no longer be the case. Team Aqua will set things right, here and now. I hope you enjoyed the little intro show, because it'll be the last show you ever see. The sea will allow pokemon to prosper."