The Family of Gems

By morning the weather had only improved marginally. The bladers trudged downstairs later than usual for breakfast. Nurse Joy spotted them from the desk and called them over.

"Good morning, boys," she said sweetly. "Your Pokémon are all feeling healthy this morning. You can come and collect them when you're ready."

"Thanks, Nurse Joy." Tyson glanced at her and did a startled double take. "Whoa! Nurse Joy! How did you get here before us?"

She cocked her head to the side. "Sorry? What do you mean?"

"We met you in Oldale Town," Ray said. "Don't you remember?"

"How come we didn't see you when we were on our way to Petalburg City?" Max asked.

"Oh! Oh, no," she giggled. "I'm not the nurse from Oldale Town but we are related. She's my second cousin."

The bladers exchanged glances and looked at Nurse Joy dubiously.

"No way, you're too similar to the Nurse Joy we met in Oldale Town," Tyson argued. "You've got to be identical twins at least."

"Afraid not," Joy said, gesturing to come closer to the desk as she pulled a framed photo out of a drawer. "I have a very tight-knit extended family." It took all of the bladers' willpower not to let their jaws just drop to the floor. The photo she was showing them was a picture of several women who all looked exactly identical. They were even wearing the same nurse uniform. Nurse Joy pointed to a woman standing at the edge of the group. "This is the Joy you met in Oldale Town." Then she pointed to a woman sitting at the front. "And this is me."

The boys were still hesitant to accept that as proof. This had to be some kind of hoax. Nurse Joy just giggled at their facial expressions – having seen it all before – and started to take trays of Pokéballs off the large machine behind her. "Your Pokémon all had a good rest in the regenerator last night. They should be really invigorated."

Tyson, Max and Ray retrieved their Pokéballs from the tray they were sharing, since they each only had one Pokémon. Daichi took his two Pokéballs, still proud of the fact that he even had two but when Kai came up next to him to claim his Pokémon he noticed an extra ball.

"Hey! When did you get another Pokémon?" he enquired, double-checking that Togepi was still being carried around and wasn't confined to a ball.

"Yesterday," Kai answered. "While you guys were going on ahead."

"You caught a Pokémon yesterday?" Max said, voice rising with incredulity. "Why didn't you tell us that the moment you got in? Now you have to show us."

"Yeah, show us!" Daichi added eagerly.

Kai shut his eyes and counted to ten but his eyebrow was still twitching. "Fine."

He collected his Pokéballs and released the bronze Seedot. He seemed to sparkle brilliantly for a second after he manifested. Kai groaned under his breath as the expected exhibition of excitement broke out. Max and Tyson were gushing repeatedly about how cool it was that such a creature even existed. Daichi poked him curiously and Ray was looking the species up in the Pokédex when something about it made him pause. He looked from Kai's Seedot to the one in the Pokédex repeatedly.

"Hey, this one has a different colour to what's shown in the Pokédex."

"So?" Tyson said. "The Pokédex is only one reference. Obviously the real ones will be different."

"Yeah, I suppose."

In the midst of all this, Mari and Hilary walked in through the front doors. Hilary tried to smooth down her hair as Mari retied her bandanna to fix her messed up hair. They both noticed the boys crowded around something near the front desk. Hilary sighed, thinking that they were obsessing over something dumb but Mari's interest was piqued.

"Hey, guys," she said as they walked up, "what've you got there?"

"Good morning, girls," Max said, standing up giving them a grin.

"Kai caught a Pokémon yesterday while he was away," Ray explained, showing them the Pokédex article on Seedot.

Hilary leaned down to look at the article. "Okay, so where is it now?"

"Here, check it out," Tyson said, moving aside so the girls could see.

Hilary stared at it expressionlessly. Sure, it was strange to her but it didn't really look that spectacular – it was just an acorn with feet. Mari, however, gasped dramatically and immediately dropped to her knees to pick it up. She held it at arm's length and gaped, hardly able to believe her own eyes. The others looked at her worriedly.

"It's… it's…" Mari stuttered, hardly able to form words. "It's… shiny!"

The others furrowed their brows.

"No shit," Tyson muttered. "We can see how shiny it is."

"No, you don't understand," Mari said quickly. She could hardly breathe from excitement. "The shinies are rare. So. Rare!"

"Surprised to see it myself," Nurse Joy interjected. "Woke up this morning and there was a shiny Seedot in the regenerator. Meeting rare Pokémon is so much fun!"

"I don't see what's so exciting about it," Tyson muttered, picking his nose. "It's just a different colour."

"And it's shiny!" Mari exclaimed, putting Seedot down and latching onto Kai's leg to his annoyance. "Will you give it to me? Please? I'll do anything, give you anything. I'll even trade Mawi for it."

Hearing that through her Pokéball, Mawi released herself and smacked Mari into the wall with a False Swipe. She put her hands on her hips and huffed then turned to glare at the shiny Seedot. How could her trainer think that she was worth a lame Seedot, even if it was shiny? Kai returned Seedot before Mawi could launch an attack on him too. Nurse Joy hurried over to help Mari up off the floor and assess her for injuries but Mari tried to wave her off. Nothing was broken but she was going to have one hell of a bruise.

"Ouch…" Max grimaced. "Remind me to never make Mawi mad."

"Eheh… sorry, Mawi," Mari winced, hobbling back to the group while massaging her back. "Didn't mean it, honest." Mawi whined at her, something that sounded like she was saying 'you better not', before Mari returned her to her Pokéball.

"I really don't get it," Tyson said. "Even if it's rare, it's just a different colour."

"One day you'll understand," Mari replied. "Shiny Pokémon are so rare that getting one in any way is like a gift from Arceus. Scientists still haven't been able to figure out exactly what makes a Pokémon shiny, since even if two shiny Pokémon breed their offspring are more likely to not be shiny."

"That's a lucky catch," Ray remarked a bit jealously. "And you're still the only one out of all of us who's qualified to challenge the Petalburg Gym."

"My Pokémon still need more training," Kai said bluntly, walking away from the group on his way to leave the Pokémon Centre.

"Wouldn't hurt to check the Pokémon Gym out, though," Mari suggested. "Been a while since I was last through here but I can still show you the way. It'll be worth it, even for you, Kai."

Mari gestured for them to follow her as she ran out the doors and into the city.

Petalburg City was not as big and bustling as Hilary and the bladers had been anticipating. It was a green city; filled with trees and parks and carefully surrounding natural lakes. Many of the buildings in the city looked old and traditional, built lightly to cope with the humid Hoenn climate. Mari led them to a large building just on the edge of the city and gestured to it grandly. It was built in a traditional Hoenn style; elevated off the ground and with a sloped roof of thatched palm leaves raised off the walls by wooden ranma. Hilary and the bladers stared at it blankly. It was a large and important-looking building but it really just looked like a typical dojo. There wasn't even a sign stating that it was the Gym.

"I was expecting to be a little more overwhelmed," Max commented.

"May not look like much on the outside but Petalburg Gym has been the pride of the city for many decades," Mari told them. "Least I think so."

"How are you even sure that this is the Gym?" Ray asked. "I don't see any signs."

"Pfft! Only need to know one sign and it's that one," Mari said, pointing to a symbol hanging ostentatiously above the main doors. It looked like a Pokéball but the white half of it was skewed to look like it had fused with a triangle. "That's the universal symbol for a Pokémon Gym. Official League Gyms are the only buildings that can use that ensign. Want to go inside?"

"And do what?" Tyson replied. "None of us are going to challenge the Gym."

"There's plenty to do at a Pokémon Gym other than challenge the Gym Leader," Mari informed them. "You can just go in there to use their training rooms and equipment. There are also other trainers who you can have proper battles with and there're a whole bunch of various other things, depending on how the Gym Leader chooses to run things. Let's go inside already. And since Petalburg Gym is a dojo you have to take your shoes off – be polite."

The group carried on into the Gym, leaving their shoes on one of the shelves in the foyer. The interior had nice wooden floors and tatami mat rooms that felt so nice underfoot and the walls and sliding doors were all a calming creamy white. What Mari hadn't mentioned was the gimmicky layout of the Gym. The doors and walls were difficult to tell apart and there were no halls, only rooms that led into other rooms. Some of those rooms were already occupied by people training or engaged in a battle. Being qualified to challenge the Gym Leader didn't matter to them. Three hours later, they were still wandering around the Gym and getting into fights.

"Mari, what's with this maze-like interior?" Ray asked while most of the group sat on the side and spectated a match between Kai and another competitive battler. His Magikarp was holding up quite well against her Azurill.

"Just the way the Gym is being managed," Mari said matter-of-factly. "Gym Leaders are allowed to manage their Gyms however they like and I find that most if not all of them love a good gimmick."

"Why though?" Max moaned. "This is so frustrating."

"A few of them told me that it's just another way of checking the resolve of a trainer," Mari answered, "but I think the truth is that they just do it for fun."

Azurill finally ended the battle with Swift attack. Kai returned his Pokémon and met the other trainer in the middle of the arena to exchange expressions of good sportsmanship. The rest of the group noticed this and got up, ready to leave this room.

"Fun, huh?" Tyson grumbled. "Yet ironically we're not having fun."

"I agree with Tyson for a change," Daichi added. "This is dumb. What kind of coward hides behind a maze? I'll take him head on!"

"You don't have enough Pokémon to do that," Hilary reminded him.

"And what kind of coward makes up stupid rules like 'you have to have three Pokémon' to stop people battling him?" Daichi ranted, doing a mocking impression of the Gym Leader.

"Put a sock in it! Who knows, the next room might actually be the Gym Leader's arena."

However, this room had two sets of doors to choose from so naturally arguments broke out about which to choose. Mari rolled her eyes and made an executive decision, picking one door at random and simply walking through it. Once inside she stopped abruptly. She'd been here before and knew what to expect in this Gym so this took her completely by surprise. The entire room was filled with rain. Clumpy clouds hung around the ceiling and in the middle of it were a Delcatty and her trainer Emerald… and the only things Emerald was wearing were his hat and pants. The bladers approached the room, stunned by the fact that there was rain indoors. Hilary shared their amazement for a few seconds before her attention promptly redirected to the lean trainer who was already soaked by it.

"E-Emerald!" She exclaimed, blushing vibrantly. "What are you doing here? Half naked, no less!"

"Huh?" Emerald said, looking up from the attentions he was giving Delcatty. "Oh, hi guys! Sure took your time getting here."

"Wait, are you the Petalburg Gym Leader?" Daichi inquired, pointing an accusing finger.

"I'd totally believe it," Hilary said to herself.

"I'm not the Petalburg Gym Leader," Emerald said. "Just came in to do some training. Delcatty is practising using her weather manipulating moves indoors." Delcatty meowed as if to agree. The rain slowed to a drizzle and the clouds began to dissipate, leaking out of the room via ranma slats and leaving the air stiflingly humid. "She's getting better at putting together a solid Rain Dance but we'll need to work on it a lot more."

"That was quite impressive," Kai said, re-joining the group quietly as the other trainer left.

"You were talking to that girl for a pretty long time," Max said slyly, nudging Kai in the side. Kai shot him a glare.

"She gave me a lot of good pointers for teaching Magikarp better moves."

"Oh wow! What's this now?" Tyson asked sarcastically. "Kai's taking advice from another person."

"Why do I even bother with you?" Kai growled.

As Max ran off to see if he could find the female trainer before she left, Daichi blinked and rounded on Emerald again. "Hey, how did you get here before us? We left Littleroot Town before you and we didn't see you in Oldale Town."

"My Pokémon flew me here," Emerald answered.

"You liar."

Mari smacked Daichi on the back of the head. "Don't call him a liar! It's true. Pokémon carry people place to place all the time."

Emerald just laughed. "Didn't bring Skarmory here to show you, sorry. But since you're in Petalburg City you should drop 'round at my place."

"That's right, your family lives here," Mari recalled.

"Yeah. I'd take you on a walking tour of the city but the weather lately hasn't been so great for that. Just hang tight for five minutes and I'll go and get changed."

"You don't have to," Hilary blurted out. She gasped and covered her mouth, blushing furiously.

"Actually, I kind of do. It's really windy out there."

Emerald returned Delcatty and took off to go and get fresh clothes. It took longer than five minutes – during which Max sidled back into the group and tried to pretend that he hadn't left – but he was back as soon as he could and he led the trainers through the maze of rooms and doors. Tyson, Daichi and Hilary were mostly oblivious to this but Ray, Max and Kai cottoned on that Emerald seemed to know the layout of the Gym too well.

The wind wasn't just strong anymore it had gotten cold. When they reached Emerald's house the trainers rushed through the door with tousled hair and shivers. It was a nice, old house with wood and tatami on the floor just like at the Gym. Emerald took them all to a large room with a tatami floor. He and Mari got out a low table and some cushions while Ray offered to make tea if he got directions to the kitchen. The group huddled around the table with a cup of warm tea each listening to the wind howl outside.

"I hope we'll be able to get back to the Pokémon Centre," Hilary sighed.

"You'll make it," Emerald assured her, "but the forecasters are saying that this storm is going to hang around for a few days. Really bizarre."

"Think a Legendary Pokémon could be doing it?" Mari wondered. "Or are we just unlucky?"

"Who knows," Emerald shrugged. "Haven't seen anything weird."

Thunder crashed so loud that it shook the house and caused the lights to flicker. The wind howled hollowly afterward.

"Is it okay if we stay for lunch?" Max asked, not wanting to get back out there anytime soon.

"Sure. Although I wonder if we have enough food to feed those two." Emerald glanced at Tyson and Daichi. "Ah, whatever! Let's make lunch!" Emerald decided, standing up. "Who's helping?"

Hilary and Ray were quick to agree. Mari gave the excuse that she couldn't cook to save her life, which Emerald confirmed, getting a gloomy, faraway look on his face. Hilary tried to force Tyson and Daichi to help but they stubbornly refused until Kai eventually got up and told her that he would go in their place if it meant all three of them would be quiet. He put Togepi down on his cushion before he left. She squeaked and ran after him worriedly but Tyson got a hold of her and put her up on the table.

"Don't worry, he'll be back," he told her. "He's not even going to leave the house."

Togepi looked up at him with a wobbly lip and teary eyes. Tyson gulped and looked to Mari, Daichi and Max for help but they just looked terrified.

"You better do something before she starts crying," Daichi said.

"Um, er," he floundered. Then he had a light bulb moment and released Torchic onto the table. "We can chill without Kai. Why don't you have some fun with Torchic instead?"

Togepi and Torchic looked at each other and Torchic cheeped encouragingly. Daichi released Geodude beside Torchic. "Now you have even more friends."

"Don't put Pokémon on the table!" Mari chided.

"But if Torchic's on the mats his claws will tear them up," Tyson reasoned.

"And Geodude's not even on the table, he's floating," Daichi added. "Besides, you weren't mad about Togepi being on the table."

"Togepi's a baby," Mari argued. "And Kai carries her everywhere so her feet aren't dirty."

"Well, if we're all playing," Max said, "then I'll let Mudkip out too. It wouldn't be fair to let him miss out."

Mudkip manifested on the table and glubbed at the rest of the team. Mari sighed and gave up, releasing Smoochum to join the party. The pink Pokémon gazed down at Togepi and gave her an investigative kiss. Togepi looked to each of the four Pokémon in turn and then laughed joyfully. Being surrounded by lots of friends was lots of fun! She forgot about Kai for a while as she played with the others under the trainers' supervision. They all had a good laugh when Smoochy curiously kissed the teapot and scalded her lips.

They didn't notice that their fun and games had attracted another in the house. A curious little soul had wandered down the hall and peered into the room. Their eyes lit up happily at the sight of numerous Pokémon frolicking around each other. Mudkip's dorsal fin twitched and he froze. He turned around to look at the door nervously.

"Are you okay?" Max asked. He looked at the door. "Is there something there?"

Max got up to go and open the door. The spy behind the door didn't notice him coming fast enough and was caught by the light flooding into the hallway. She blinked and chuckled nervously. She was only a little girl with light brown hair and blue eyes, wearing black three-quarter pants and a blue zip-up shirt. Now that she'd been discovered, there was no point hiding anymore so she invited herself in.

"Sapphire, right?" Mari said. The little girl nodded. "How long were you hiding?"

"A while. Heard your Pokémon playing and I wanted to see."

"Would have let you in if you asked," Mari told her.

"Yeah," Tyson agreed. "You can bring your Pokémon here too and we can have an even bigger party."

"Oh… um…" Sapphire looked down and drew circles on the floor with her toes. "I don't have any Pokémon."

"What? No way!" Mari gasped in disbelief. "Old enough to have them, though, aren't you?"

"Eight and a half years," Sapphire replied to confirm it, "But mom and dad told me I couldn't go on any Pokémon adventures until I turned ten so I said I didn't want any!"

"Aw, Sapphire, you didn't have to go that far."

"But I really wanna travel."

"Why do you want to go so soon?" Max enquired. "There's plenty to time to go travelling after you turn ten. And why aren't you allowed?"

"Ten is the cut-off age," Mari answered. The bladers looked at her, urging further explanation. "Can't go on Pokémon League-approved travels until you're at least ten years old. Probably the strictest rule in the book."

"Then screw the League and go by yourself!" Daichi exclaimed. "What is it with all these rules that stop people having fun and beating Gym Leaders?"

"She just told you, her parents won't let her," Mari said, "and I can see why."

"Why?" Tyson prompted.

"Even if you have to follow rules, it's a lot safer to travel under the supervision of the Pokémon League. They keep tabs on you through your Pokédex and your trainer ID so if your parents get worried the League can tell them pretty much exactly where you are and how you're doing."

"Wait, the Pokémon League is spying on us through our trainer numbers?" Tyson spluttered. "How?"

"Whenever your Pokédex or trainer ID card gets scanned or your number gets exchanged the data gets sent to the Pokémon League. They're not spying on you, just keeping tabs."

"Lunch is up everyone," Emerald interrupted, coming through the door with a stack of plates and cutlery. He caught sight of the Pokémon shuffling around on the table. "Hey! Don't put Pokémon on the table! They're making it dirty."

"It's not really—," Tyson began but upon closer inspection there were dirty marks all over the table top that all looked like footprints. "Whoops. Don't worry, we'll clean up!"

Tyson, Daichi, Max and Mari were tasked with cleaning up and setting the table. Emerald and Sapphire moved some of the mats and stacked them against the wall, revealing a wooden floor that met a stone slab. He declared this was a more acceptable place for the Pokémon whose claws would rip the mats. It was feeding time for trainers and Pokémon alike. Emerald provided Pokémon food for all, even Mari's large Charizard. Meanwhile, the trainers sat down to a meal of vegetable stir-fry with Chinese dumplings.

"Don't you have any meat?" Daichi questioned, picking up a piece of tofu and looking at it distastefully.

"Don't you have any manners?" Hilary scolded.

"We have meat," Emerald replied.

"But Ray insisted on cooking without it," Hilary added. "And no eggs either."

Ray felt the judgemental looks being sent his way and bristled. "It's probably better for you anyway."

Kai kept Togepi nearby, separating some bits of his food for her. Sapphire scooted closer to him with her plate and leaned over his arm to watch Togepi eat. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye but overall tried to ignore her. It wasn't until he noticed Tyson giving him a blank stare that he actually tensed up and nudged her off him. Sapphire pouted and shuffled back to her place. There was one extra plate at the table. Before anyone could say anything about it, Emerald announced:

"Since you decided to stay a while, you don't mind being introduced to my siblings, right?"

"I don't mind at all," Hilary replied, looking at the little girl beside her and smiling. "Sapphire's such a little angel. Do you have more sisters?"

"No more sisters, just a little brother."

Only the sharpest of hearing were aware of footsteps thumping down the hall as Emerald spoke. They quickly got louder and before anyone had time to question them, the door was ripped open by a boy dressed in a fluffy bathrobe and scowling furiously. His hair was wrapped up tight in a towel and his entire face was slathered in a bright green facial paste that was causing his glasses to slip down the bridge of his nose. He brandished a grooming comb at Emerald. It had a lot of coloured hairs stuck in it, as well as a couple of burrs and grass seeds.

"Emerald! You used this to comb burrs out of Delcatty's fur and Shiftry's mane!" he shouted.

"Oh, yeah, sorry," Emerald said, looking a little bit surprised by the outburst. "Meant to ask you but you weren't around."

"You knew I would have said no! This comb is only for fine grooming! That is to say, for the delicate process of teasing out small tangles after a—"

He froze. He took in the room as a whole and shifted his glasses higher to see the rest of the room's occupants in focus. The trainers and their Pokémon gaped at him. The mask hid his face but they saw his neck and ears go red as his eyes went wide. He screamed in mortification and slammed the door shut, crying as his footsteps disappeared down the hall:

"Emerald! You're such a jerk! You didn't tell me people were coming over!"

The house went quiet and they heard another door slam upstairs.

"Drama queen," Sapphire mocked in a sing-song voice.

He didn't come back down until almost an hour later and this time he was much more genteel. He was dressed in a short-sleeved, black and red collared shirt and black skinny jeans. His black hair was pushed back by a wide headband and his glasses had vanished while his eyes – which had been blue before – had suddenly turned red. He even brought with him two large bowls; one bowl of Pokémon-shaped biscuits for the humans and one of little coloured cubes, which he left on the slab for the Pokémon.

"So sorry about what happened earlier," he said, scooping a handful of cubes onto a napkin to bring to the smaller Pokémon at the table. "Would have been more prepared if I'd known you were coming beforehand and you wouldn't have had to see that." He sat at the end of the table and smiled charmingly. "My name's Ruby. Pleasure to meet you."

There was a sound-off of names and greetings as the trainers introduced themselves save for those he'd already met. Max was sitting beside him and scrutinised him for quite some time before asking:

"Are you wearing colour contacts?"

"Ruby red, just like my name."

Emerald rolled his eyes. "Geez Rube, leave some room in here for everyone else." He reached for the Pokémon biscuits. "Thanks for bringing these."

Ruby slapped his hand away. "Don't call me 'Rube'! It's crass. And those are only for people who can respect other people's stuff."

"Aw, c'mon! Don't be mean."

"So if you're Emerald's brother," Hilary said, "does that mean you're the same Ruby who caught my Ralts?"

She lifted Ralts into her lap. The psychic Pokémon peered over the table and her eyes fell onto the pile of coloured cubes. She wasn't so proficient with her psychic powers just yet but she could nudge one towards her gradually.

"Whoa, that's right," Max realised. "Gary mentioned that Ruby caught Hilary and Daichi's Pokémon. Good memory you got there, Hilary."

"From grandpa's lab? Do you like her?" Ruby asked.

"The moment I saw her I knew I had to take her." Hilary cuddled Ralts, unwittingly pulling her out of reach of the green cube she was trying to get.

"I'm so glad!" Ruby gushed. "Regular starter Pokémon are so boring. Thought there needed to be more variety in the selection for trainers with finer tastes."

"I wouldn't call Hilary's taste 'fine'," Tyson teased. "She just picked the cutest Pokémon that was put in front of her." Hilary glared at him.

Daichi chuckled. "So then that means Geodude is a pretty cool Pokémon, right?"

"Oh no," Ruby said dismissively, "only caught Geodude in recognition of the fact that where there may be people of good taste there are also knuckleheaded brutes."

"You're being rude again, Rube," Emerald chastised.

"I told you not to call me that!"

"Ruby's such a princess," Sapphire gossiped to anyone who was close enough to be listening. "And he's so boring. He won't even go on any adventures, even though he's old enough." Ruby caught that and harrumphed.

"Is that so?" Ray said. "How old are you, Ruby?"

"Twelve. But I'm postponing any potential journeys until I'm old enough drive at least."

"I think that sounds responsible," Hilary commented.

"Of course! Travelling on foot or by bike is such a rough way to go. My Pokémon and I will get so dirty. Not to mention all the trainers you meet along the way and they all just want to battle you like mindless barbarians."

"I take it you're not a battler," Ray remarked.

"Absolutely not!"

Sapphire snickered. "Here comes the big drama spiel," she whispered, only loud enough for Kai to hear.

"Pitting Pokémon at each other in violent matches of brutish power to get dirty, sweaty, and scarred is so barbaric," Ruby intoned, illustrating his speech with grand gestures. "Making Pokémon beautiful is much more worthwhile. When I'm ready, I'm going to assemble a party of the most beautiful Pokémon ever and travel the world entering Pokémon Contests. Seeing a Pokémon up on that stage… they're groomed to perfection, their moves are so artful and the judges give merit to the coordinator's creativity, not their brutality. A Contest is the height of dignity and sophistication."

"Contests are for lame, weak trainers," Sapphire deadpanned.

Ruby fumed. "This is why you can't go on Pokémon adventures! Until you've matured enough to appreciate real elegance—"

"Who cares about elegance?" Sapphire interrupted, standing up and putting a foot on the table. "When I grow up, I'm going to be a Pokémon Master!"

"Brute."

"Sissy!"

"Thug!"

"Princess!"

"Stop!" Emerald shouted. "There are people over. Can't you two be nice to each other even for a few minutes?"

"When Rube stops being such a prude!"

"When Sapphire-sparkle stops being such an oaf."

"Don't call me 'Sapphire-sparkle'!"

"Don't call me 'Rube'!"

"Maybe we should go," Max said, looking like he was just waiting for a cue to bolt.

"Yeah, maybe you should," Emerald sighed as Ruby and Sapphire continued to shout insults at each other over the table.

"That's alright, I'm leaving anyway," Ruby said darkly, leaving the room and shutting the door sharply behind him.

"Huh? Ruby, you didn't eat!" Emerald called after him.

"Well Ruby's a princess and a thief," Sapphire growled, "because he stole my idea. I'm leaving too!"

Sapphire ran out of the room and slammed the door loudly. Emerald looked deflated as he turned to the group and put his hands together, bowing his head really low. "I am so super sorry about that."

"You don't have to be," Ray said, trying not to sound awkward. "I mean, some siblings don't get along and that's not your fault."

"But I'm their big brother so I'm kind of responsible for them," Emerald replied, lifting his head. "I'll have to go talk to them but feel free to stay until you're ready to leave."

He left the room in a hurry. The group sat in uncomfortable silence for a while before deciding that they should get some training in at the Gym for the rest of the day. Mari called to Emerald from the front door to let him know that they were leaving but nobody replied.

A/N: I have been anticipating this chapter and I enjoyed writing it so much, mainly just because of Ruby (any Pokémon Adventures fans out there?).