Pokemon: Radiant Ruby and Alpha Sapphire / Separation
Chapter 8
Fight Father Like Son
Petalburg_
Ruby Plake and Blaziken entered their destination precisely when they meant to, like any wizard should. It was mid day on a mild summer day in Spring. The weather was nice, the sun was shining, everything was as calm as could be.
But none of that mattered because it just so happened that the moment the two arrived, the entire city blew up into a panic. The people started screaming and slamming their doors at the sight of the two, but this was to be expected honestly. Unlike Lavaridge, Ruby had done absolutely nothing for the people of Petalburg to gain their trust. In all honesty, it's not that he didn't want to come back before, but he was completely terrified at the concept of confronting his father. But that fear wasn't there today. The boy had a clear goal he came here to achieve today, and nothing was going to stop him.
The two marched through the streets of screams all the way to the north of town where he saw the orange roofed building he was headed. He stood just outside and looked up at the Pokemon League symbol above the entryway for a moment.
Balziken asked, "Are you ready?"
Ruby nodded and replied confidently, "You bet. Let's go."
Upon entering the building the two were immediately met with two deadly glares from a lime green boy and girl, both roughly about seventeen. They were wearing red track suits, which was the standard uniform to train at Ruby's Father's dojo.
The boy snarkily said, "Well look who we have here. Come here to try to beg the master for forgiveness?"
Ruby responded, "Does it look like I'm here to beg? Step down Parker, or I'll plow right through you to him." He then looked over to the girl and said, "That goes for you as well Lori. I won't hold back just because we know each other."
The girl shrugged and said, "Oh well, I wasn't really looking for a fight anyway, but when the master sees you dressed like that, he's going to destroy you anyways. I really just hope this'll snap you back to reality."
The two then stepped aside so that Ruby could enter the dojo. The boy and his partner walked up to the folding door and opened it to reveal a large room designed as a Pokemon arena. The walls and ground were made of beautifully carved wood and at the far end there was no wall. Instead there was a sight of a bamboo courtyard that spread out at least a mile from where the room ended.
And sitting out meditating towards the scenery was the dark haired man that Ruby called father. Ruby walked closer until he was about halfway to him, but was stopped by his father's voice, "So, you've finally come. I must say, you've kept me waiting a lot longer than expected."
Ruby responded, "Well I was met with a few complications along the way. A few fights to the death, a couple encounters with terrorists. You know, basic Pokemon adventure stuff."
Norman chuckled a little and said, "I see the trauma hasn't affected your wit in the slightest." He then unfolded his legs and stood up and still looked out at the scenery and continued, "That gives me hope that when I turn around I'll still see my son instead of a monster."
Ruby stated, "Well then you might want to brace yourself a little harder. The Ruby that you knew is gone. I don't like to do introductions when I'm not making eye contact. Why don't we skip the theatrics and get this started already."
Norman nodded and slowly turned to see that the person standing before him was dressed in the attire of a Team Magma Admin. The man sighed before stating, "So it's
true then. I really was hoping they were just rumors."
Ruby then said, "Yeah well, whatever. It's nice to meet you Norman, the Gym Leader of Petalburg. I'm Ruby, the First Admin of Team Magma. And I'm here to challenge you, just like I promised."
Norman took a deep breath before saying, "You know, you never really struck me as the rebellious type. You had a good grasp on mortality and you never faltered from your belief that everyone could get along. But I guess that's all changed, hasn't it?"
Ruby chuckled and said, "Honestly, this conversation is starting to get tedious. I'm here to battle you, not to talk about the rights and wrongs of the world. Now come on, let's get started already." The boy unhinged a pokeball from his bel and threw it saying, "Alright Lombre, you're up first." The blue and green lilypad pokemon landed on the arena and stood at the ready.
Ruby's father responded,"Fine. Just know that when I beat you I'm dragging you home kicking and screaming if I have to." He reached down to a pokeball of his own and threw it out saying, "Alright Delcatty, let's go."
Out from the pokeball came a teal colored feline with a purple crown of fur as well as a scarf of fur around its neck the same color. Ruby pulled out his pokedex, which read:
Delcatty
The Prim Pokemon
Height: '3 07"
Weight: 71.9 lbs
This pokemon is known for its incredibly docile nature. Never making a permanent nest, this pokemon wanders around and usually paces its life however it wants to.
"So you throw out a pampered cat? Come on dad, I wanted a serious fight." Ruby snarkily responded to his father's choice in pokemon.
Norman stated, "Well with a remark like that I doubt you'll have any objections to me taking the first move then." He then commanded, "Delcatty, use Attract."
The feline pokemon waltzed over to Lombre before Ruby could give the command to retreat. Delcatty then brought it's tail and brushed the furry tip along Lombre's arm. Lombre responded by backing off slightly, but it was clear that she had already managed to infatuate him.
Ruby yelled out, "Push her away with Water Pulse."
Upon hearing this, Lombre took in a deep breath, but when he locked eyes with Delcatty while aiming, Lombre exhaled calmly and brought his guard down.
Ruby thought, "What the hell is happening?"
Blaziken explained, "The thing is, there are some pokemon that can release pheromones that cause pokemon of the opposite gender to fall in love with them. It's actually a pretty common mating tactic for pokemon in the wild. I've never seen it myself, but now that I'm witnessing it, it makes sense."
Norman then commanded, "Alright then, now use Play Rough." As Delcatty heard this, she tackled Lombre to the ground and started to smack him. The hits themselves didn't seem all too hard, but that in itself was the problem.
Ruby called out, "Get her off you Lombre!" But the plea fell on deaf ears as it seemed like Lombre was still completely in a lovestruck state of mind. The Lilypad Pokemon was struck again and again before eventually Ruby had to call out, "I return Lombre!" He then held out his pokeball, which absorbed the pokemon into its living quarters.
Norman chuckled a little saying, "Is this really all the strength behind a Team Magma Admin?"
Ruby looked back at his partner and asked, "Do you think you could handle this?"
Blaziken responded, "Of course I can, but I'd rather not be thrown into this fight until you absolutely need me. I feel like your dad's going to save his trump card until his last chance. I'd really recommend using Linoone instead."
Ruby nodded and thought back, "Looks like we're on the same page then. I was just wondering if you were getting bored on the sidelines already." He reached down to his belt and grabbed the middle Pokeball and threw it out saying, "Alright Linoone, you're up."
When Linoone was released onto the battlefield there was a silence that encased the room for a brief moment before Norman asked, "What are you waiting for Ruby?"
Ruby explained, "It's League Rules that I give the second command after switching out Pokemon, so go ahead."
Norman grinned before commanding, "Alright, Delcatty, Attract once more."
Ruby reacted immediately by saying, "Linoone, Quick Attack."
As Delcatty approached Linoone to seduce him, the racoon pokemon completely vanished from in front of the feline and appeared immediately behind it. What seemed immediately after this, though it happened before, Delcatty was sent flying to the side. THe pokemon flipped around in the air twice before gracefully landing back on its feet and hissing at Linoone.
Ruby then said, "Alright, now Headbutt!"
Norman reacted by calling out, "Counter with your own Headbutt Delcatty!"
Both pokemon ran up to each other and jumped right before their strikes. Once the two made contact, there was a brief shockwave that blew air across the room violently. However, it was clear in an instant that Linoone's attack carried a much stronger force than Delcatty's because the feline was launched back into the wall before falling slowly to the ground, completely out cold.
As Norman called back his pokemon, Ruby called out to Linoone, "That was great! Keep it up!"
Norman couldn't help but crack a brief smile after hearing this before reaching down for another pokeball on his belt. He threw it out as he said, "Alright. Go Zangoose!"
The pokeball released a white cat like pokemon with streaks of red fur across its chest, left ear, and The tips of its front paws Once again Ruby's Pokedex gave the information it had on the pokemon in front of him:
Zangoose
The Cat Ferret Pokemon
Height: 4' 03"
Weight: 88.8 lbs
This Pokemon's entire species has been in a fierce rivalry with the Servipper for generations. While it is a quadruped, Zangoose stands on their hind legs while in combat so they can extend their sharp, blade-like claws from their front paws.
To no one's surprise anymore, Zangoose then stood up on its hind legs and extended two razor sharp claws from each of its front paws. Immediately, Norman commanded, "Zangoose, Retaliate."
His pokemon dashed forward at Linoone and rushed in with its claws. Linoone dodged just in time to avoid what could've been a lethal blow. However, Zangoose's right claws still grazed the racoon''s side, drawing blood.
Ruby saw this and yelled at his father, "Are you trying to kill him? What the hell was that?"
Norman responded, "Well the way I see it, you shouldn't care about your pokemon anyway, right, Team Magma scum?"
Ruby grimaced at the thought of this charade putting his pokemon in real danger, he then said, "Linoone, get over here." Linoone backstepped, never looking away from Zangoose for a moment, until he reached Ruby's side. Ruby took a potion from his jacket and applied it slowly to the two open wounds, which stopped the bleeding and began the sealing process.
The boy then stood up and commanded, "Alright then, Quick Attack once again Linoone." The racoon once again vanished, but unlike Delcatty, Zangoose brought its left paw up to guard against the incoming blow, managing to parry away the attack with ease. Linoone then reappeared on the far end of the arena as he skidded to a halt.
"Sorry there kiddo, but Serviper can strike faster than the eye can see as well, but Zangoose has no problem keeping up." Norman then commanded, "Zangoose, use Slash."
Ruby predicted the oncoming attack and called out, "Linoone, retreat." Linoone leaped backwards and avoided the incoming claw swipe, However, Zangoose kicked off the ground and pursued its target in the air. It brought it's second claw forward, again, just missing Linoone. Linoone then saw this and decided to counterattack on its own. The pokemon hissed and its hair stood up and certain parts appeared to shape themselves as needles. Linoone then spun around and launched a flurry of needles down on his opponent. Zangoos brought both its arms up to defend its face from the oncoming barrage, but was still hit by several of the projectiles before landing. Linoone then flipped rightside up before landing again and continued hissing angrily.
Ruby let out a breath that he didn't even know he'd been holding in for that entire sequence. He then said, "Alright Linoone, now…"
Norman then called out and said, "Hold up there, I'm going to use my item now."
Ruby stopped his command and nodded to his father. Zangoose walked over to Norman, who healed the needle wounds with a potion. As it sprayed on, not only did the punctures disappear, the needles fell out with little resistance.
During this downtime, Ruby began to think, "Alright, so clearly he wants Zangoose to deal as much damage as possible before switching to his last pokemon. That either means his last pokemon isn't his strongest… or that…"
Blaziken finished that thought, "Or that he believes that pokemon doesn't need the help at all."
Ruby nodded and responded, "Let's just hope that it's the former. Anyway, let's focus on the fight right in front of us for now."
After Ruby's thought ended, Zangoose returned to the arena, re-energized and ready to pick up where it left off. Linoone readied itself as well, Ruby led off this time, "Linoone!" he paused until he had his pokemon's full attention. He then began circling his wrist in a circular motion as he said, "Use Quick Attack again!"
Norman responded, "Fine then, Zangoose, block and then counter with Slash again!"
Ruby smirked in a condescending manner as Linoone once again vanished. But this time Linoone reappeared at various different spots around Zangoose just rolling around on the floor before disappearing again. This happened for about twenty seconds before Norman finally said, "He'll appear at your 10 o'clock next, Attack there Zangoose."
Ruby thought, "Perfect!" Then he yelled out, "Ok Linoone, Sand Attack!"
As Linoone appeared right where Zangoose was about to attack, the racoon spun its tail around and threw all the gathered dust and sand directly into Zangoose's eyes. Norman immediately reacted, "Alright then, Zangoose, switch to Take-Down." Zangoose of course missed it's intended slice with it's claws but adapted by digging its claw into the floor below and pushing off the ground with its new found foothold, and launching both itself and Linoone into the wall of the room. As soon as Linoone and Zangoose fell to the ground, Ruby knew his pokemon could no longer fight so he held out his Pokeball and returned it before immediately throwing out his other pokeball and said, "Alright, Lombre, you're up!"
The Lillypad pokemon landed on the battlefield and Ruby yelled, "Arlight, now use Hydro Pump!" Lombre inhaled deeply and shot out an aggressive stream of water. Before Zangoose could even get back up to its feet, it took the full force of Lombre's attack, drilling it back into the wall it had just bashed into. This time, the force was strong enough to completely break through the wooden wall.
In turn, Norman wasted no time, knowing that Zangoose was out of the fight as well. He then held out his pokeball and threw another Pokeball from his belt and yelled, "Slaking, use Retaliate!" The pokeball then released a large brown sloth like Pokemon with white fur on its head and around its neck, which appeared before running up towards Lombre and chopping its hand downwards on Lombre's neck before it could recover from using its move, pushing the pokemon down hard enough to break the floorboards below them. It took a moment before Lombre fell to his knees and began to fall forward, but before he fell to the ground, Ruby had already returned him to his pokeball.
Norman laughed and said, "You know, that was some pretty good reaction time there. But I think you forgot that I was the one who told you that timing is the key to winning a battle."
Ruby took a deep breath in and then slowly exhaled as he put Lombre's Pokeball back on his belt and took out his Pokedex to learn about the new monster of a pokemon that had just laid down on the battlefield:
Slaking
The Lazy Pokemon
Height: 6' 07"
Weight: 287.7 lbs
Although this Pokemon is incredibly strong, it spends most of its days just lying down and eating the grass within its reach. When it eats all of the grass around it, it's so lazy that it will starve itself for days at a time before reluctantly moving to a new area out of necessity.
Ruby looked down at his pokedex, and then back up to Slaking, who was just casually laying over the dent in the ground it had just made with Lombre. He then thought as he put the Pokedex back in his pocket and thought, "Ir's really hard to believe that strength like that is a fucking afterthought compared to its laziness."
Blaziken then walked over to his partner's side and said, "Right then, what do you say for putting this lazy ass in his place then?"
Ruby nodded and said, "Oh hell, yeah, let's get it Blaziken!" He extended his fist, which Blaziken met with his own before walking out onto the battlefield for the first time in his evolved form.
There was a stillness in the air for a while. Ruby and Norman were locked in eye contact the entire time this took place, until finally, Ruby commanded in his mind, "Alright, Double Kick."
Bliziken immediately began approaching Slicking by strafing left and right in a serpentine manner before deciding to launch the attack from his opponents left side. Still lying down, Slacking parried away the first kick with its left arm, and when Bliaziken threw the second kick, the sloth pokemon caught his leg. Norman then commanded, "Vital throw, now" Slaking then spun Blaziken around before slamming him furiously into the ground in front of it. Thinking quickly, Blaziken managed to flip so that he could take the impact with his legs before retreating with a backflip that brought him all the way back to just in front of Ruby.
Blaziken thought, "That could've been really bad!"
Ruby nodded and thought, "Yeah. Ok, so new plan. Let's see how he handles stall." Rubye then said aloud, "Ok Blaziken, use Bulk Up."
Blaziken took a deep breath before cracking it's knuckles and a red aura began surrounding his body. Norman then commanded quickly, "Alright then, Slaking, use Yawn."
Ruby, grinning like he had a plan, ordered "Blaziken MOVE!" His partner stopped meditating immediately, just in time to narrowly avoid the frequency that was sent from his opponents mouth. Blaziken thought, "Arceus damn it all. That's a pretty great way to deal with stalls."
Ruby sat there for a moment and thought, ready to react to anything Norman might command next, and then he continued, and continued, and his father didn't command anything. He then thought to his partner, "Don't listen to this next verbal command, instead, rush in for a Blaze Kick." Ruby then said aloud, "Blaziken, Bulk Up again!"
Norman then commanded again, "Yawn once again Slak… what?!" The man was shocked as Blaziken darted in with a spinning kick with flames encircling his right foot. He didn't have time to react for another command, but Slaking managed to bring its arm forwards to take the oncoming assault. The kick pushed the sloth onto its back before it rolled around itself. The attack set Slaking's fur ablaze, but it reacted quickly by suffocating the flame in its large mouth.
Norman sneered, "Alright fine, if that's how it's going to be, bring it on. Slaking, use Retaliate!" Slacking then got up onto its feet and rushed at Blaziken. He closed the ground surprisingly fast, but Ruby had already nonverbally relayed to use Protect. A white aura barrier surrounded Blaziken's body as he took the full force of his opponent's attack, and yet barely felt anything at all, now even being pushed from the spot he originally stood. He then leapt over Slaking and delivered two swift kicks to the back of it's head.
Both Ruby and Blaziken were surprised by how relatively unphased Slaking was by the counter attack. Blaziken then backed off a bit and thought, "Holy shit, this guy's built like a truck!"
Ruby responded, "Yeah, but I've got a plan. Back off and use Bulk Up right away. I'm pretty sure we've got this in the bag now."
Blaziken put some more distance between him and his opponent and once again started to buff his physical attributes with the red aura. Blaziken was ready for a command from Norman that never came. The silence remained for a solid twenty seconds before Ruby finally said aloud, "Just like I thought. Slaking is incredibly strong and fast, but it becomes overwhelmed if overworked. It can't overcome its lazy nature."
Norman responded, "Oh, is that what you think? Sorry but, Slacking, Retaliate once more!"
Ruby then commanded, "Blaziken, Protect." Relatively close to the same interaction occurred just like before, Blaziken blocked, did a quick counter and then retreated. Ruby verbally called out his fathers bluff by saying, "Now use Bulk Up again."
The look on Norman's face shifted from it's normally calm demeanor to a state of panic, "Slaking, once more!" But this time, just as Ruby had predicted, the command had come too soon and Slaking just stood there, not doing anything.
Ruby took in a deep breath and thought, "Alright, let's finish this then. Let's show him just how strong you are this powered up. Go in for a Fire Punch, counter his counter, then end it…" Ruby stalled his final command as Blaziken ran up to his opponent, his left fist ablaze. Slacking then caught the punch before it connected with his own hand, but all of then sudden a raging inferno burst from Blaziken's wrist, causing Slaking to frantically let go just in time for Ruby to finish his command, "... with Sky Uppercut!" Blaziken stomped down with his left foot and carried his right arm all the way to Slaking's lower jaw. The force launched the sloth into the air a few feet before he flipped around in the air and landed back onto the ground, unconscious.
Norman fell to his knees in complete awe. The man was at a complete loss for words for a solid minute before something finally in him snapped, "No… no, no NO! I refuse! I refuse to let my son go on like this!" He reached down and grabbed the tree remaining pokeballs on his belt and was ready to release them, but was stopped by an unexpected yell, "THAT'S ENOUGH."
The sliding door to the room was thrown open to reveal some very unexpected guests. There in the doorway stood Flanery, Wattson, Brawly, Roxanne, as well as Ruby's mother and the young Wally of all people. Flanery then declared, "This battle is OVER! The winner is Ruby Plake!"
Ruby looked at them in complete shock and asked, "What… what are you all doing here?"
Brawly answered in his accent, "We're here ta bail ya out, whadya think?"
Roxanne further explained, "When we heard what was happening we all kind of figured it would end up like this somehow, regardless of who won the battle, so we figured that we'd act as referees if things got too crazy."
Ruby then asked, "But… how? How did you all know I'd even be here today?"
Flannery chuckled a bit before smuggly saying, "Hew the hell do you think? I let everyone know via PokeNave almost the second you left Lavaridge. I figured that'd give everyone ample amounts of time to get here."
Wattson then laughed out loud saying, "Everyone except me that is! I had to get my old ass moving immediately to make it in time! Luckily I have a certain Flying-type user as a friend and she got me here in a flash. But the thing is, I promised Ruby I'd keep it a secret to anyone outside the loop so she didn't stick around."
Roxanne pouted, "AW! Really! I haven't seen Win in almost a year! You could've at least let me know that she was coming early."
Ruby then looked over at his mother and Wally and asked, "Ok, but what are those two doing here?"
Cylesta put her hands to her hips and scolded her son, "Is that anyway to talk to your mother for the first time in over a year?"
Ruby cringed in response and siad, "Look, that came out wrong, I just am really caught off guard by everything that's going on right now."
Brawly asked, "Did ya think we wouldn't letcher mom in on all this? She's bean worried sick since ya up an joined Magma. It's least we could do ta let'er know what's up."
Flanery then walked over and rustled Wally's hair and explained, "And as for this little guy, Once he heard that you were here, he refused to leave without seeing you."
Wally just blushed before saying, "Look, I just really wasn't ok with how we parted in Mauville, It left me with this horrible feeling that I couldn't shake, so that's why I came home to Petalburg."
Norman got to his feet and took a deep breath in before saying, "I'm really not meaning to be rude or anything, but what does this have to do with any of you? Or are you trying to tell me that you've all been working for Team Magma as well?"
This one accusation set Flannery off. She clenched her fists, stomped right past Ruby and Blaziken over to Norman, and punched him across the face, knocking him on the floor in an instant, "How dare you suggest for a second that I'm working with those shitbags. For all I care, they could all burn in hell!" She then reached out her hand to help Norman off the ground. And as she lifted him back up, she explained, "However, your boy here is the one exception I'd make to that rule."
Wattson then explained, "Before we start this whole thing, I need everyone's word that everything said in this room stays in this room. If word got out about Ruby's actions it could throw his whole plan out the window."
Cylesta walked over to Norman and said, "Very well, but I want to hear whatever it is you all have to say from Ruby. All I want from the rest of you is to either confirm nor deny what you know, is that clear?"
All four Gym Leaders agreed simultaneously and then the entire room's attention shifted to Ruby. The boy looked up at his partner, who gave him a reassuring nod. He smiled and began, "So, it all started back during the attack on the Contest Hall…" And from there he tried his best to explain everything. He told his parents about how he joined Team Magma to find Sapphire. He told them about the craziness the last year had brought him, and what led him to make all of his decisions. He explained why he had to keep it a secret from the both of them, and also that there wasn't a day that went by that he didn't want to tell them about everything. And finally he told them about the deal that he had made with Maxie earlier this week, which came as news for everyone in the room except Flannery. He then concluded, "I'm so sorry that I had to keep you in the dark about all of this. Honestly, I was really just afraid how you'd take it all. I'm really sorry."
Cylesta took a deep breath in before walking over to Ruby and looking him square in the eye for a moment. And then she brought her right hand around to slap her son's face. Ruby stood there with the stinging sensation as he thought, "Yeah, that's about what I exp…" Before he could finish that thought, his mother had wrapped her arms around him and had started crying.
Through her tears she said, "I'm so sorry too. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. I'm sorry you were all alone. I'm so sorry this all happened to you!"
Ruby slowly brought his own arms up to reciprocate the embrace before feeling tears well up in his own eyes. They shed for a mix of reasons that he couldn't put together at this point in time, but he cried them nonetheless. After what felt like forever, Ruby let go of his mother and said, "Thank you. Thank you so much mom."
Norman then took a deep breath in before walking over to Ruby with his hands in his pockets. Once he made it to him he held out his left hand as if to give Ruby something. Ruby held out his own hand and his father dropped a purplish dumbbell shaped badge into the boy's hand. He then said to his son, "I'm so proud to be your father. You've earned this badge and so much more." Norman then smiled and held out his fist. Ruby nodded and smiled back before extending his own fist back at him.
_Later that evening
Ruby left the gym, his head held high after having finally seen his family again after so long. Blaziken followed behind him and thought, "Well, that went pretty damn well. So where are we off to next?"
Ruby responded, "Well I was honestly hoping that I could ask old Yen to take me around to Slateport again next. I've heard that there's a weather station across the river from Mauville, so I figured I'd head there and see what I can learn. Plus its supposedly right next to Fortree and I've always wondered what a town built in the trees would look like."
Baziken concurred, "That would be a sight, wouldn't it? I'm down, if we're lucky, Mr. Briney'll be willing to take us for a ride now before the sunset."
Ruby was about to respond, but before he could, he heard a young voice say, "You know, I think what you're doing is really brave." Ruby turned to see none other than Wally standing behind him. The boy continued, "You're really something else Ruby."
Ruby smirked and said, "Well the thing is, I get that I'm kind of a badass, but that doesn't mean you can't catch me."
Wally looked the boy straight in the eyes, something that he had never done before and said, "I will. I'll catch up, and someday I'll surpass you Ruby. You can count on it." He then smiled and turned around and walked away as quickly as he appeared.
Ruby smiled and thought, "I hope you do one day kiddo." He then turned back to Blaziken and thought, "Welp, we better get going. The sooner we get to that weather station, the better." And then the two exited the town to the east towards Yen Briney's home.
