Pokemon: Radiant Ruby and Shining Sapphire
Chapter 15
The End of Our Fairytale
As the message that was just broadcast over the concert hall silenced, the crowd was quiet, but only for a moment before all pandemonium broke out. Screams from the crowd deafened the hall. Ruby looked on from backstage as he saw members of Team Aqua's red and blue fish pokemon tearing apart the crowd as they tried to escape. His mind was racing, unaware of how to react to, let alone comprehend the masacre taking place in the theatre in front of him. He looked to Lissia, who was still on stage, fall to her knees in terror before letting out a long scream.
In sort of a reactionary manner, Ruby snapped back to a semi conscious state of mind as he called out, "Combusken! Come to me!" In a few seconds the yellow orange chick emerged from the crowd and took his place by Ruby's side and he frantically asked, "What the hell are we going to do Ruby?"
Ruby, taking a few more deep breaths, responded, "We have to stop the Team Aqua members at the exits… We'll use the backstage exit to push our way around..."
The young boy was stopped by a scream coming from the backstage exit. He turned to see the security guard by the door getting his legs bitten off by another of the same Pokemon attacking the crowd members. Ruby quickly responded, "Combusken! Mach Punch!" His partner lunged forward and his tallon fist glew white for a brief moment before violently blasting the fish Pokemon into the wall, killing it instantly. Immediately after this, a small team aqua member came running out knife in hand, clearly targeting Combusken yelling, "You bastard!" Ruby instinctively tackled the small boy to the ground. While on top of the boy Ruby, reached for the wrist of the hand wielding the knife and twisted it, disarming him. He then brought his free hand around to drill his fist into the boys face. The boy reacted by becoming almost completely limp, clearly dazed by the blow. Ruby started to get off of him, but before he did, he saw that the boy was reaching to his side for a second knife on his belt buckle. Reactively, Ruby grabbed the knife that he had previously twisted out of his opponents hands, raised it, and brought it down into the center of his chest. Blood spurt out before Ruby took the blade out and penetrated his body again. Now running on complete adrenaline, he repeated stabbing two or three times even after the body ceased reacting to the piercings.
Upon the last stab, Ruby started breathing heavily and his vision cleared to the bloodied corpse that he had created. It took only a few seconds after this before the smell of blood caused him to vomit on the carcass and tears started forming in his eyes. He started to cry while murmuring to himself, "Oh Arceus no… please no… what did I…"
Combusken then grabbed Ruby and punched him in the gut, which expelled what little vomit remained in his mouth and throat. The boy's partner urgently explained, "Now is not the time to start feeling sorry for yourself! We have to stop Team Aqua now! Not just for you, but for Sapphire and Emerald as well! We have to go now! Before anymore of them come to block this exit!"
Combusken let go of the boy right as two more members of Team Aqua arrived along with two Mightyena. They were about to run in and attack the two, but a blur of green flashed behind them and all four enemies spurt out blood before falling to the ground.
As Ruby was regaining his senses slowly, he started to make out the figure that had saved them. It was Grovyle, and standing behind him was Emerald. The boy ran up to Ruby and asked, "Are you alright? We came to assist this side of the stage. I'm glad to see you're uninjured."
Ruby just blinked twice quickly and shook his head as a response. He tried to speak, but nothing comprehensible was leaving his mouth.
Emerald didn't wait for a valid response before exclaiming, "Anyway Ruby, I've been trying to keep this sides' exits relatively safe, but that job is going to fall to you. Right now, I need you to defend this part of the back hallway as best you can. I'm going to clear the theatre exits from the inside. Sapphire and another strong trainer are defending different parts of the opposite side of the building! We have a plan and if we stick to it, we'll have as few casualties as possible. Now go!" The boy finished before rushing out onto the stage to face three of Team Aqua's members that were outnumbering Lissia and Ali.
Ruby took a few more breaths before hitting himself in the face to bring him back into the moment. He then thought, "Alright Combusken, let's get going." The two then leapt over the bodies on the ground and ran out the backstage exit. The hall was also chaotic, people practically running over each other to get away. Beyond the crowd Ruby saw two more members of Team Aqua commanding their Pokemon to kill any civilian around them. Ruby commanded to his partner, "Jump over the crowd and take them out!"
Combusken did just that as he propelled himself toward the wall to have a better vantage point to leap off of it towards his intended targets. Once the Pokemon reached his opponents, He swiftly brought one of his talons around to slit one of the trainer's throats. The other tried to retaliate but before she could command her pokemon, was met by a swift uppercut sending her flying into the air, and falling back to the ground on her head. Ruby worked his way through the crowd and retrieved the Pokeballs from the two bodies and returned the hostile pokemon to their quarters and throwing them to the side.
He then yelled to the people escaping from the exit he had just cleared, "Keep moving! I'll lock this area down the best that I can!" Of course, no one really responded, but the boy could tell that the panic, at least behind him, would be less chaotic because of his claim. He looked further down the hall to see another exit being attacked, this time by three Mightyena who seemed to have no one commanding them.
Ruby commanded, "Combusken use Seismic Toss on the one furthest to the right, Try and aim for the one furthest from you. We'll think of a strategy to deal with the remaining one after that."
Combusken nodded and bolted forward at an incredible speed. The bird grabbed one of the dogs that was about to pounce on another victim and jumped high into the air. Right before he reached the ceiling of the hallway he looked through the crowd and found the farthest Mightyena, which was currently tearing out a woman's throat with it's teeth. He then propelled himself off of the ceiling, holding the first Mightyena in front of him and crashed down onto his target at an incredible speed. The two pokemon just layed there, whether they were unconscious or dead didn't really matter at this point because Ruby was focused on locating the last target.
Ruby looked side to side among the crowd, but couldn't find the last one anywhere. But before he could ask Combusken to help in the search, out of the corner of his eye he noticed a black and gray figure lunging at him from his left side. He brought up his arm in time to stop the Mightyena's bite from sinking into his neck, but was still brought to the ground with the pokemon's teeth having found a place in his forearm. He wrestled with the wolf for a time before managing to kick it off of him. Ruby started to get up and the Mightyena growled towards its cornered prey. Before the wolf could lunge again however, it was engulfed by a stream of flames, being completely incinerated on the spot.
Combusken emerged from the flames point origin and rushed over to Ruby thinking, "Yo are you alright?!"
Ruby looked down to his arm and realized that it felt numb. Looking at it he could see frost across his skin and the little blood that had leaked out was completely frozen. He thought, "It must've used Ice Fang the moment it realized that the blow wasn't lethal." He then moved it around a bit before responding, "It has a sharp sting to it but I think I'll be fine, it's already starting to thaw. We should…"
The boy stopped his sentence upon believing he saw something. He blinked twice just to see if he was just seeing things from the pain, but from the nearest theatre exit, the same sight remained. Two Team Aqua grunts were fighting their way up the crowd towards the main entrance, holding in tow Sapphire's limp body.
"No… no, no, no, NO!" Ruby without a second thought, took off after the two. Combusken followed and asked, "What the hell happened? We're supposed to be guarding the exits!"
Ruby responded, "They have Sapphire! We're going to stop them!"
The boy pushed and weaved his way up the stream of people until there was another clearing. There were a few corpses on the ground just outside of the crowd, but then there was the entryway to the Contest Hall, which was guarded door to door by Team Aqua Grunts. The two that had carried Sapphire there were talking to a man in a blue vest with an exposed chest and a blue bandanna on, and a tall dark skinned woman, who had primarily long black hair with a single streak of blue hair down one side. The man had dark hair and had a gold anchor necklace on with a small rainbow stone where the chain met with the ornament.
Ruby yelled at the group of four, "Hey fuckers!" All of their attentions turned towards the boy at once. He continued, "What the hell do you think you're doing with Sapphire!"
The large man with the bandanna gave a brief chuckle before saying, "Well I'll be damned! Looks like the lot of ya were right. Seems this was Birch's precious little flower. Thanks for the confirmation scamp!"
Ruby gritted his teeth and spat before saying, "Give her back. NOW!" Combusken finally caught up to Ruby and then stood next to him in a fighting stance.
The man laughed and said, "Well don't we have some spirit!" He then pointed to the two that had brought Sapphire to him and said, "Mind killing this scamp for me? He's a little too loud for my liking."
The two grunts, one male and one female threw out their pokeballs to reveal a purple acidic blob and the other a large blue bat with a gigantic mouth and purple covering the insides of its wings.
Ruby reached down to his side where his belt usually is with his pokeballs strapped to it only to remember that he was wearing his concert attire, and both Zigzagoon and Lombre were still in the changing room. He grimaced and thought to Combusken, "New plan. Kill the trainers as fast as we can. We don't have the resources to drag on this fight any longer than we have to. Also, If you see an opening to retrieve Sapphire, take it and then retreat. I'll follow you as fast as I can if you can manage to grab her."
Combusken nodded and the two sprinted towards their targets. The acidic blob shot a purple liquid from its mouth that landed in front of the two approaching them. Ruby thought, "Get us over it!" The chick grabbed Ruby and leapt up before locating the one controlling the blob Pokemon Ruby thought, "Throw me and take the other one!" Combusken did just that and lobbed the boy at the female target. Ruby tackled her to the ground before quickly getting to his feat and stomping down on her head. Again whether her going limp or not was her dying didn't matter as he reached down to the pokeball in her hands and returned the purple mass back to its storage unit. Combusken had less luck, seeing as the winged pokemon was keeping him from the male Team Aqua member. Ruby rushed over to the winged bat creature and pulled down on one of its wings yelling, "Now!" Combusken took this chance to leap towards the trainer and punch him clean in the gut. As he fell to the ground, Combusken pushed the center button on the trainer's pokeball, which returned the bat as well.
The two then regrouped and faced down the two remaining trainers. The woman looked shocked. She even said aloud, "Well that was impressive… So what now?"
The man smiled and started to clap pausing finally to speak. "Well done! Well done indeed!" He expressed while caressing his black beard. He then stated, "Well you have my interest alright ya little scamp. So let me cut ya a deal. If ya can best me in a battle, I'll give ya back Birch's kid. She seems pretty important to ya after all."
Ruby scoffed, "As if! What the hell makes you think I'm about to trust a terrorist!?"
The man folded his arms and chuckled, "Oh boy, you really don't know who the hell I am, do ya? I'm no simple terrorist!" He then threw his arms outwards and expelled, "I'm the man who will save this world from humanity! I am Archie! The Leader of Team Aqua!"
Seemingly unfazed, Ruby yelled back, "So fucking what?! That just means I have less reason to take you at your word! I don't give a damn who you are! I'm taking Sapphire and that's final!"
The man laughed as he threw out a pokeball, releasing a shark looking figure. It had a scar across its left eye, which the irises were a deep red It's underbelly was white and the top was a navy blue. It levitated just off the ground as well. Archie explained, "It doesn't really matter if ya trust me or not scamp! The only way yer taking the lass is by getting through me! Sharpedo and I are gona teach ya a bit about respect!"
Ruby thought to Combusken, "It looks like it's a water type Pokemon, similar to the red, blue, and yellow Pokemon from earlier. Since we're on land we should have the advantage of speed at least on our hands. However, we have no idea how strong this man is. Let's stick to nonverbal commands for this fight!"
Combusken responded, "Not that I disagree, but I get the feeling that we're just a bit in over our heads here. This is their leader Ruby. Remember that Mr. Briney said that he was like the second strongest trainer in the region or something crazy like that!"
Ruby retorted, "I don't give a damn about that! We have to win! We don't have a choice anymore!"
Archie then yelled, "Let's start already, we need to head out at some point soon kid!" He then just pointed at Combusken and Sharpedo darted at too fast of a speed for him to respond in time. The shark pokemon rammed into Combusken, sending him flying into the wall behind him Ruby turned to his partner and thought, "Crap, the attack isn't over! Get ready to counter attack with Mach punch." As Ruby predicted, Archie's Sharpedo whirled around and dashed at Combusken again, who this time was ready and parried the rush with a side swipe of his talon-fist. Sharpedo backed off almost like it was waiting for a command.
Ruby called his partner back towards him and when he arrived thought, "It seems like this leader is the real deal. He isn't using verbal communication to tell his commands. He must have an aura bond with his partner as well."
Combusken agreed, "Yeah, he'll be a tough opponent for sure. I'm really surprised at how fast that Sharpedo is even without water. Let's plan with that in mind."
Ruby nodded and thought, "Ok, well first of all, we should plan on dealing with Archie. We should try our best to break Sharpedo's guard and attack the one in charge dirrectly, sound good?"
Combusken stated, "It wont be easy, but i'll try. The most likely way for that to happen is getting in a Seismic Toss. I'm kinda limited to physical moves because all of my ranged attacks won't do well against a Water Type."
Ruby acknowledged the ided, "Sounds good. While you do that, I'll still be looking for an opening to grab Sapphire and retreat."
The two then split off again to instigate their plan, but Sharpedo didn't rush after Combusken like before. Instead, the pokemon maintained it's distance while shooting steaming water at Combusken from a distance.
Ruby cursed, "Damn it, they've already adapted to our strategy! Don't touch the water Combusken! It's Scald, which can even burn a fire type like you! Try to dodge around to get a clear shot at Archie."
Combusken did exactly this, narrowly avoiding each of the water streams. Shot dodged after shot dodged, Ruby's partner slowly made it's way around to the intended target, but just as he was nearly in range of Archie, Sharpedo directed it's attention to Ruby himself and fired off one shot of steaming water, hitting the boy directly in the chest and sending him flying backwards to the ground.
Ruby screamed as he writhed in pain on the ground. Combusken saw this and started to run towards the boy, only to be rushed again by Sharpedo using Aqua Jet, knocking the pokemon onto the ground next to his trainer. Archie then laughed as he gave his first verbal command, "Sharpedo, Hydro Pump. End this."
Ruby could barely make out anything through his bloodshot eyes, but he came to just in time to be doused with a stream of high pressure water coming from Sharpedo's mouth, blasting both him and his partner into the wall behind them. This pain lasted for some time before finally letting off slowly. Ruby barely had control over any of his senses at this point and just laid there like a sentient doll. He couldn't see but he could hear footsteps and screams from the various people still fleeing for their lives. But soon he heard a specific pair of footsteps approaching him. He could guess even in his dazed state that they belonged to Archie. Soon they stopped and he heard a very vague voice speak to him.
He could barely make out what the voice was saying but his brain slowly put the words together to say, "That was a pretty interesting fight, probably the best I've had in years. So if you survive these wounds, maybe you'll get stronger and I can go all out. But hell if I know that you'll even make it. Goodbye scamp."
Ruby twitched a little as if he were reaching out his hand at something, anything, but even the boy didn't know what he was hoping to grab hold of. Sapphire? Combusken? His parents? Maybe even life itself, but it didn't matter as his mind went blank and his vision went dark, and the pain was numbed at last.
Light, not intense at all, but still present all the same. This was the first conscious thought Ruby had in what seemed like forever for him. He could tell there was light before he even opened his eyes, but he could tell, he could tell that there was indeed light, but then could tell that he was tired, but not drowsy, just exhausted. The boy then blinked his eyes open to see the source of light, It was a ceiling light on an unfamiliar ceiling. The boy blinked a few more times before he heard inside his mind, "Glad to at least see you can function again, it's at least progress" Ruby asked, "Combusken, are you there?"
Combusken's voice responded, "It depends on what you mean by 'there'. The most I could tell you is that we're in the same Pokemon Center. But no, I'm not near you at present."
Ruby asked, "Wait, what? Why are we…" Before he even finished, he remembered the events that led up to him being knocked unconscious. "Oh right… that's why…" He just laid there in his own thoughts for a while before asking, "So… how are your injuries?"
Combusken explained, "It wasn't much, no permanent damage or anything, guess that's the advantage of having a Pokemon body. What about you?"
Ruby then for the first time since waking up tried to move, but was immediately greeted with pain across his entire chest, forcing out a scream of pain along with some tears. He had never felt this much lingering pain in his life. About ten seconds into his screams, he heard a familiar female voice try to comfort him, "Hush hush. You're going to be alright. You're going to be fine." He looked up to see a black haired nurse holding his hand gently as he started to regain his steady breathing from when he had just awoken. After the tears stopped, he could finally make out the young nurses face, which was clearly Kaitlin's from the Dewford Pokemon Center. She stroked his hand and sighed before saying, "You had us all so worried. Of those who survived, your injuries were the worst of all of them. We weren't sure if you were going to make it honestly… but now that you're awake that mean's the heal powder treatment is working. You'll be ok soon, but you really need to rest."
Ruby breathed slowly and managed to get out through painful grimaces, "What are you doing here?"
The nurse shook her head before saying, "Today sure has been a day, let's just say that. Nurses were called from all over Hoenn to help out. And even with all of us here, it still barely makes a difference."
"So the boy's awake, is he?" Ruby glanced to the curtains to see an unfamiliar face. It was a man with red hair and visors on. From the side, the boy could make out a rainbow colored stone embedded into the side of his visor. He was wearing a lab coat and walked into "Ruby's room". He then said, "Thank you miss, but I would like to have a few words with the boy."
Kaitlin argued, "Are you kidding me doctor? Do you see what kind of shape he's in right now? He needs rest!"
The man shook his head and said, "Don't worry, there will be plenty of time for him to rest after we've had our conversation. Now please, leave us."
Kaitlin glared at the man for a moment before sighing and walking out of the curtains.
The moment she left, the man drew out a small machine from his pocket, which started to float in the air on its own. It pulsed once and then almost everything around them became quiet. There was no clammar of the chaos happening outside of their booth. The man stated, "An interesting invention, wouldn't you say? I built it to cancel sound waves. All noise within ten feet of this device is canceled."
Ruby asked, "Who are you, and what do you want with me?"
The man sighed and said, "Well you see, that's a bit complicated. Although I am a doctor, I am not here to treat you. But instead I'm going to start this conversation by saying, I'm sorry Ruby… about Sapphire."
This brought Ruby to full attention. He almost shot up immediately, but remembered what happened the last time he tried to move just in time to relax a little and ask, "What happened to her? Was Team Aqua stopped?"
The man shook his head and explained, "No, in fact none of those responsible were even apprehended. Every member of team Aqua had an Abra with them in order to teleport back to their base once they were finished making their statement. The members that survived, didn't last long, as their necks were rigged with ballistic collars that exploded about ten minutes after the rest of Team Aqua escaped. I hate to admit it, but this was an incredibly clever plan, one that benefitted them immensely. As for Sapphire, Archie and Shelly took her with them. They are probably going to try and get ransom for her at some point."
Ruby laid back and cried to himself, "Damn it… I didn't change a damn thing,,,"
The man then stated, "I didn't come here just to tell you what happened, but more so to reconcile for my own sin." Ruby looked at the man half heartedly before he continued, "I was there when Sapphire was taken away. I was guarding the people as they escaped with her in fact. But when her and Marshtomp were defeated, I decided to keep protecting the people rather than go after them. In a sense, it could be said that that was my error, but at the time I couldn't discern the proper course of action. But I calculated that if I stayed I'd save approximately eighty two percent more lives if I stood my ground instead of giving chase. So I decided to stay."
Ruby remembered vaguely, that Emerald had stated that Sapphire was being assisted by someone, this man was probably that person. The boy then relaxed and consoled, "No, your decision was probably the right one… It's just that…"
The man cut Ruby off mid sentence and explained, "I am not here to recapture the moment, like I said. I just wanted you to understand the situation. I am here to present a way that we might search for Sapphire together."
Ruby spurt out immediately, "I'll do it!" He adjusted before repeating, "I don't care what it takes, I'll do it!"
The man sighed and said, "Hopefully you do not come to reject this offer now that I'm about to formally introduce myself." He adjusted his visors and nodded saying, "My name is Maxie, and I am the leader of Team Magma."
Ruby's mouth dropped open slightly, and Combusken yelled in his mind, "Wait what!?"
Ruby thought, "So you've been listening in this whole time?"
Combusken responded, "The man said it was sound proof, not spiritual link proof."
Ruby stated, "Fair enough." He then said aloud, "Why? Why the hell were you there? What turn of fate led all three of you major pieces to be there at the same time?!"
Maxie explained, "I was simply there to experience the show, like everyone else. My work was done for the week so I decided to take some time to myself. Only Arceus knows why we were all destined to meet up there at that time. Emerald was just as surprised to see me as I was him."
The bedridden boy then sighed knowing now where this conversation was leading, "So you're asking me to join Team Magma in order to look for Sapphire. Am I in the ballpark?"
Maxie confirmed, "Yes, you are. Because of our conflict with Team Aqua, there is at least a sixty percent increase to your chances of finding her if you join our ranks. That being said, I understand that your goals and motives would then be completely different to the rest of Team Magmas, and for that I'd be willing to accommodate your specific role in our organization to further help you find Sapphire."
Ruby then felt the urge to finally ask the question in the back of his mind, "Why the hell would you be willing to do that? What's in it for you?"
Maxie again adjusted his visor before explaining, "For starters, the reason I'm offering you this at all is because I feel somewhat responsible for the capture of young Ms. Birch. But for the more important reason, it is your skill Ruby. When I met Emerald and he explained he entrusted the entire west hall to your protection alone, I knew that you were a phenomenal trainer, with potential beyond that of even me. That would be the only explanation as to why Emerald would leave you to your own devices. With someone as powerful as you on our side Ruby, I believe Team Magma's chance of success would increase by at least twelve percent, which is substantial when my previous calculation landed us around sixty-eight percent already."
Before Ruby had time to respond to any of this, Maxie turned around and said, "Don't answer my request now. If you decide that you want to join us, come to the base of Mt. Chimney. Once you enter from the south take a left and keep walking as far as you can. There will be three rocks. Underneath one of them you will find a button to activate a communicator. Tell them that the Earth will allow us to prosper and they will let you in." He then grabbed the sound wave canceler out of the air and the ambient noises of the Pokemon Center resumed. The man nodded at the boy one last time before leaving his quarters.
The boy laid back into his bed and took a deep breath. He thought to his partner, "Well, that was a thing. The ability to try to find Sapphire at the low cost of joining a terrorist group. Fuck this dude."
Combusken responded, "Not to mention that their Team Magma, you know, the people who want to expand human domination over Pokemon, so that of course leaves me uneasy about even thinking about it. However…"
There was a pause in their conversation for a brief moment before Ruby asked, "However what?"
Combusken finished his thought, "I've come to like traveling with you and Sapphire. It's really enjoyable, and way more interesting than my life in the wild. So what I'm trying to say is that I'll follow you whatever you choose to do. We're partners after all. And I'd like to get Sapphire back, if only to constantly be able to give you two shit about being perfect for eachother again."
Ruby gave a halfhearted smile before responding, "Thank. It really means a lot to hear that." He then adjusted in his bed to bring up his arm, which was nearly covered in dry blood. He thought back to the members of Team Aqua he had killed, especially the first one he encountered. He thought, "So this is what it feels like to have blood on your hands. Must say, I could've gone my entire life without this feeling. Damn it…"
Before Combusken had time to respond, Ruby heard a massive commotion outside of his quarters. He heard Kaitlin plea, "He needs rest damn it! What don't you people get about that! Please just leave him…" The curtains flew open to reveal Emerald stampeding his way over to Ruby. He had a syringe in his hands. He marched straight next to the boy, and without a single word thrust the needle into his chest. Ruby screamed in pain as Emerald injected him with whatever it was that was in the syringe. When he finally pulled away, Ruby felt his pain begin to numb almost immediately.
Emerald yelled at Ruby, "You had ONE JOB! Protect the people of your sector. That's not too fucking difficult to understand, right?! But NO! You had to go try and play HERO for your FUCKING GIRLFRIEND! You left your post and now people are DEAD! DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT!? DEAD!"
Ruby was speechless, whether it was because he was too scared to respond because of Emerald's aggression, or the fact that he actually didn't have a response didn't matter at the time.
Kaitlin came into the area and yelled at Emerald, "I don't care who the hell you are, get out NOW!"
Emerald slammed his and on the stand next to Ruby and stated, "You have no idea what you've done! If I had known you would abandon your damn post I never would've left it to you! And what the hell did you even accomplish?! Now Sapphire's gone AND there were at least twenty to thirty corpses added to the pile! Why didn't you just keep your feelings in check and do your damn job!"
Kaitlin, irritated that she was being ignored, gripped Emeralds arm and slapped him across the face. Emerald just took the hit and started to try to breathe normally again. He sighed and explained, "Damn it! I just need to cool off a bit. I'll be outside!" He stomped away and out of sight after saying this.
Kaitlin sighed and looked down to Ruby. She explained, "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have let him into the Pokemon Center, I knew he would do this the moment I saw his expression."
Ruby, now slightly more relaxed, asked, "What the hell did he put into me? The pain in my body is gone. I feel almost completely fine, from a physical perspective anyway."
The nurse answered, "He injected you with a venom that was created by the Draconids. Now I say 'venom' but it's only poisonous to dragons, but it does wonders for humans. I could probably let you go now, because it healed you completely. However…" she pointed down to Ruby's chest before saying, "... that scar will never heal. It will always be incredibly tender, so watch out for that in the future. If the pain persists, just call into the Dewford Pokemon Center. On the island we have some reputable pain medication." She then sighed once again saying, "And as much as I wish I could tell you to get some rest, I'm fairly certain our protection team's leader would like to talk to you. So go see what he has to say, then promise me you'll get some rest."
Ruby sat up and slowly got to his feat. He then reached for his show outfit's jacket that was on the stand next to his bed. He nodded to Kaitlin as he left the hospital wing. On his way to the entrance, something caught his eye. On a bench outside of an operation room he saw Lissia sitting, completely motionless. The boy approached her and knelt down, asking, "Hey. You doing alright there?"
There was no response from the girl. She just stared blankly at the ground. Ruby asked again, "You doing ok? Lissia?!"
Again, there was no response, at least for right away. But after a couple of seconds, the girl finally got out, "She's gone…"
Ruby was about to ask what she meant, but he put the pieces together quickly enough to stop himself. Ali was nowhere to be found, Lissia is in complete shock, they are outside of an operating room. It all added up to the grim truth. Ruby only managed to get out, "I'm so… sorry."
Upon hearing this, Lissia stood up and began to run down the hall overflowing with tears. Ruby groaned as the scene brought about a horrible feeling inside him. Unable to determine what the feeling was, he continued down to the main entrance, where he saw Emerald just outside the door.
The boy took a deep breath before walking outside, It was the first time he noticed that the police had completely surrounded the facility. He then walked over to Emerald and sat down on the ground. He gathered his thoughts for a bit before saying, "I know an apology won't cut it, but unfortunately it's all I have for now."
Emerald shook his head and apologized, "No, it won't do, but I guess for now I'll take it. I'm sorry for snapping. I feel like you've never been in a life or death situation like this and I kind of get it. I honestly probably would've tried to save her too if I was in your position. It's just that it got you nowhere, and got a lot of people killed. It's just really been a frustrating situation. Why didn't I investigate that person in the Contest Hall earlier further? Why did all of this happen while I was off duty? How did we all manage to get wrapped up directly in the center of it? There's just a lot about this situation that went so poorly."
Ruby nodded to show that he agreed. He then asked, "Where is Grovyle? I kinda figured he'd be with you?"
Emerald answered, "He is helping the best that he can with the Pokemon victims currently. He says "glad to see you're alive" by the way."
Ruby gave a halfhearted smiled before responding, "Only thanks to you saving us early on like you did. I really appreciate it."
Emerald nodded before asking, "So what do you plan to do now? Combusken and you are now both fully conscious and ready to continue on. But what direction do you plan to take your journey now?"
Ruby looked down to the ground before answering, "Well I suppose I should try to find Sapphire. That seems like the logical next step. After that, maybe crushing Team Aqua should be my next goal."
Emerald explained, "Neither of those goals will come easy. But I might have a way to help you achieve both."
Ruby perked up and gave a small chuckle before saying, "Before you offer me a place in Team Skystorm, I'm already going to decline."
The dark haired boy looked down at Ruby, not only shocked that he knew what he was going to suggest, but also the immediate refusal. "Can I ask why?"
Ruby explained, "You're organization is dedicated to making the Hoenn region as peaceful as possible, while taking a defensive approach about the two major threats. That being said, it might take decades to finally stamp out the two organizations at large. That's just a bit too long to try and accomplish anything, like finding Sapphire as soon as possible. In fact, that would be such a side priority for your organization that even if I did join, I'd quit nearly immediately."
Emerald sighed and agreed, "You're right. The people come first, then we deal with the threats in the shadows. I'm not going to deny that it might take a lot of time to achieve our end goal. However, what other approach do you intend to take when it comes to finding Sapphire. There's no way you can take down Team Aqua all on your own."
Ruby stood back up and explained, "Well the way I see it, I have two options. You're right in assuming I can't take down Team Aqua on my own, but there are two job openings that I've just received. One is nearly guaranteed results, but will take way too long for my liking, and the other promised me free reign over what actions I choose to take."
The Leader of Team Skystorm started to rub his face with in stress. He groaned before saying, "So Maxie actually offered you a position on Team Magma, with freedom of choice no less. Well damn, that sure sounds like the better choice, huh?" He looked to Ruby who just nodded and Emerald explained, "You know that regardless of the situation, Team Magma is still a terrorist organization, right? If you join them, all of Hoenn will start to view you as an enemy, including your family; And as much as I wish I could support you in your decision, I'd have to deny any connection to you. You'd be on your own."
Ruby nodded and held out his hand to Emerald saying, "Yeah, I know. Thanks for the out, but I think I've made up my mind. I'm going to save Sapphire no matter what."
Emerald looked back, clearly disappointed with Ruby's response, but then reached out and shook the boy's hand saying, "Next time we meet, we'll most likely be on opposite sides of a war. Just remember, if you ever want to fall back on my "out", i'll be willing to let you join the proper side again."
Ruby nodded and let go of Emerald's hand. He then turned and walked back into the Pokemon Center which was still chaotic. He walked to the front desk and asked, "Can I see my Pokemon. His name is Combusken."
But before the secretary had time to respond, Combusken said to Ruby, "No need. Look to your left."
Ruby followed the instructions to see his partner being examined one last time before being motioned at to go. The orange and yellow humanoid chick rushed to Ruby's side and thought, "So next stop Mt. Chimney, right?"
Ruby nodded and expressed in thought, "Mt. Chimney it is!" After this brief conversation, the two left the Pokemon Center and didn't look back at the life they were leaving behind.
