Trainer Troubles
The windy weather kept everyone indoors but didn't stop the most dedicated trainers from training. Despite appearing plain both outside and in, the Petalburg Gym was a more rigorous training experience than any outdoor field. The exercise helped the group forget about the awkward lunch and they split up throughout the Gym for the rest of the day. Kai had naturally chosen to be on his own and later that night while the rest of the group retired after dinner at the Pokémon Centre he went back to the Gym. Magikarp seemed to be on some kind of adrenalin high even after all of the beatings she'd taken that day. The constant twitching of her Pokéball was going to irritate him all night so he thought he might have to help her burn some energy.
It was too late to do much useful training though. Most of the trainers had gone home as soon as the sun set but the Gym remained open late. Kai found that he spent most of his time at this hour walking aimlessly through empty rooms. The maze structure was confusing and the samey rooms were hard to keep track of so even trying to get out of the Gym was a trial. He slid open a set of doors, expecting another training room. He blinked.
This room wasn't a training room, it was a full sized battlefield. Several doors were leading into this room, indicating different solutions to the Gym maze. There was more decoration in this enormous room. The ranma had whimsical carvings instead of slats and at the other side of the room were two doors with tassels hanging off the handles and a series of black panels painted with natural scenery. At that end of the room were two people talking quietly but urgently. One of them looked like an official, wearing a business suit with a government badge on the breast. The other was a bespectacled man with navy blue hair. He was dressed more casually in a short-sleeved button-up shirt that he left untucked from his dark slacks. Kai's footsteps were loud and clear as he crossed the room and the two men turned to him.
"Good evening," the navy blue-haired man said. "Unusual that a trainer is still around this late at night. Usually by about this time I start to close the Gym since everyone's already gone. Or were you lost in the maze."
Kai just frowned, unwilling to admit he was right but the man seemed to know judging by the smirk on his face.
"Anyway, congratulations on making it this far."
"Are you the Gym Leader?" Kai asked bluntly.
The two men were taken aback slightly but then blue-haired man laughed. "That I am. My name is Max, Gym Leader of the Petalburg Gym and a specialist of normal-type Pokémon."
"A specialist?" Kai whispered to himself. He could feel Magikarp splashing about restlessly in his pocket. "Then I challenge you to a battle."
"Max…" the official said shyly.
"I know," Max replied. "What's the news currently?"
The official checked a small computer that looked like a phone. "No decisions or agreements have been made yet but the meetings have been paused, scheduled to reconvene at ten o'clock in the morning."
"Then I'll fly through the night and take care of this challenger first," Max decided. He turned to Kai. "What's your name?"
"Kai."
"Alright, Kai. Do you know about our Gym's rules and prerequisites for setting a challenge?"
"I know that this has to be a three-on-three battle."
Max nodded. "Can already see that you have one."
Togepi yawned and Kai shook his head. "I won't be using her. You'll see my other three."
"Oh?" Max raised an eyebrow. He sure was an interesting kid. "You do realise that there are more rules than that, right? This is a three-on-three match and the loser is the first trainer to run out of able Pokémon. Choose any Pokémon you wish but once three Pokémon have been released into the arena you'll be restricted to using those three. You're allowed to switch Pokémon out as you like but I'm not and I'll also be restricted to using the normal-type."
Kai scoffed. "Then this is a waste of time." Max and the official looked at him in surprise. "It's not a fair fight if your opponent has more freedom than you. A battle like that doesn't have any legitimacy. What would it say about me as a trainer if I won with such an advantage?"
He turned on his heel and started to walk off.
"Newbie trainer, aren't you?" Max asked.
Kai didn't stop walking. "Yeah. So?"
"Wasn't sure at first because you're a lot older than most newbies but you still have that same level of unworldliness about you." That made Kai stop. He turned to look over his shoulder at Max. "Let me tell you something: I've been training and battling Pokémon probably before you were even born. My level of strength and experience compared to yours right now is worlds away. If I battled you and other fresh trainers like you at full power, you'd simply never win. However, there's another side to this that I, as the custodian of this Gym and the Balance Badge, feel the need to point out. Think of this in reverse: what would it say about you as a trainer if you lost?"
Kai stood stock still and the room fell so silent that he could hear the ticking of the official's watch. He turned around completely and expanded a Pokéball. That was all the response Max needed to see. He adjusted his glasses and turned to the panels behind him. He pushed the two in the middle apart and they opened into a cupboard with two shelves of Pokéballs. There were twelve in all and Max carefully selected only three to use in the match.
"I thought trainers were only allowed to have six Pokémon," Kai said.
"It's illegal to carry more than six but you can keep as many as you like so long as they stay in one location," Max explained, "such as the Gym. Since you're new and this seems to be your first Gym Leader challenge, I'll use these three. Do you mind being our referee?" he asked the official.
The man shook his head and took his position on the referee's podium. He started up the computer beneath it and the screen on the opposite side of the battlefield came to life, ready to graphically display the battle statistics. The referee announced the battle and then Kai and Max released their first Pokémon at the same time.
Back at the Pokémon Centre, the rest of the group was starting to turn in. Max was asking Mari about how to call a Pokégear because he'd gotten a number from someone named Christa at the Petalburg Gym. Tyson firmly told him not to call that number. They all disappeared upstairs. The only person left in the lobby was Hilary, who was indulging in some TV time with Ralts before bed. There was a program she'd discovered back in Oldale Town that aired at night called 'Hoenn's Hottest Contests'. It was basically a highlight reel of Pokémon Contests that seemed to happen daily. There was a similar show that ran during the primetime hours but it was highlights from the daily happenings of a place called Battle Frontier. The highlights of that were a lot more power-packed. Terrifyingly large and powerful Pokémon faced off against each other in ferocious battles where every attack was powerful enough to actually break part of the arena. Some battles even saw the architecture around the arena being demolished! And that happened daily! The Contests by comparison were simply tame. They weren't about whether Stealth Rock could take out the opponent's Charizard in one fell swoop, or which Pokémon's Hyper Beam was more powerful. Contests rewarded subtlety and creativity. The battlers' Pokémon usually had smaller move pools of moves that were extremely effective in their strategies. The coordinators' Pokémon used more moves that were much less powerful but were choreographed with such grace that it was hard not to be impressed.
However, Mari and the boys weren't interested. Battle Frontier excited them but contests held no appeal. On the other hand, Hilary found Battle Frontier terrifying. She imagined herself being one of those trainers, staring at the opponent's fire-breathing dragon with nothing between her and it but her own Pokémon. The scenario had already haunted her in a bad dream.
The program was running through appeal highlights when the strong wind blew through the lobby briefly as someone ran through the doors calling for Nurse Joy. Hilary turned around nosily and was shocked to find Ruby running up to the front desk. He had a bag with him as if he was going somewhere. Nurse Joy stood up to ask him what was wrong while he caught his breath at desk. Then he took a trainer ID card out of his pocket and asked for a bed. Joy obliged him and he took back his trainer card, along with a key for his room. He headed straight for the stairs, trying to smooth down his dishevelled hair.
"Ruby," Hilary said, making him stop and look. "What are you doing here? Did you change your mind about travelling?"
He smiled at seeing her friendly face and went to join her instead. "No way, rough travelling is absolutely the worst. Just needed to get away from home for a little while."
"Are you and Sapphire still fighting?"
"Don't wanna talk about it." Ruby put his bag down and flopped onto the couch. "You watch this program too?"
Hilary nodded. "Nobody else is interested though."
"They just don't appreciate the classiness of this kind of thing," Ruby mused. "But you seem interested in Contests."
"I just like watching them," Hilary replied, looking at the screen where a green Pokémon with roses instead of hands was spreading petals everywhere.
"You should get into them," Ruby advised. "They're much better than battles. Grooming Pokémon is heaps of fun and some Pokémon are even dressed in the cutest outfits! You should see the ones I made for my Pokémon. Nana has this little hat and she looks so proud of herself whenever she wears it."
"Wait, so you actually have Pokémon?" Hilary interjected.
"Already have three."
"And you had a trainer ID too, so that means you're really a trainer."
"Prefer the term coordinator, even though technically I am a trainer. But telling people that makes them want to battle me. All the rolling around ruins their fur and hair, gives them split ends and makes them filthy. Battle-ready Pokémon always have this physique that is big and muscly while Contest Pokémon need to be sleek and nimble to pull off appeals. Not to mention that being in a Contest feels more like a team effort because the conduct of the trainer has an impact on the judges' decision. The big-time coordinators who compete in Ultra and Master Ranks are always so stylish and glamorous. One day I want to be as well-dressed and cool as they are."
"You seem really passionate about Contests. I'd like to try it but I've already come this far. I wouldn't want to quit before I even get ahead."
"That's the best time to quit. Pokémon battles are just the worst, why do people enjoy them so much?"
"Yeah, 'brutish' and 'barbaric', right?"
"And scary."
Hilary turned to Ruby in surprise. Ralts leaned against him, comforting him with her psychic pulse. He pulled his knees up to his chest, keeping his eyes on the screen as it ran through more appeal highlights. "Battling is scary as well as ugly but Emerald and Sapphire are too dumb to realise it."
"I know exactly what you mean," Hilary said, smiling empathetically.
As Ruby turned to give her a smile he noticed a flash of green hair and a flash of purple hair as the program moved on to the interview segment. His eyes sparkled with excitement. "Omigosh! It's Drew!" he squealed.
The interview was taking place in a very nice garden somewhere with an impeccably dressed green-haired man who had a Pokémon beside him – the same one that had been on the show earlier spreading petals. The interviewer was the same purple-haired man who seemed to MC almost every event with his talking cat Pokémon.
"Is he famous?" Hilary wondered.
"My idol!" Ruby swooned right into Hilary's lap. Ralts scrambled to get out of his way before he lay on her. "Ah, when his Pokémon do appeals it's just… wow! Such finesse. Such pizazz! And the outfits he wears put every catwalk to shame. One day I want to be just like him."
"You want to be absurdly flamboyant and mildly arrogant?" Hilary joked, picking up the cues from the interview.
"Yes. Contests are all about absurd flamboyance, mild arrogance and extraordinary sass."
She wasn't sure if he was being sarcastic or not. They fell into silence and paid attention to the rest of the interview. Drew actually turned out to be charming and intelligent as well as interesting; Hilary could see why Ruby looked up to him. His face also had a mysterious quality to it that Hilary couldn't quite put her finger on. They watched the rest of the show together. Hilary let Ruby lie on her lap and cuddle Ralts. At the end of the program he got up as she began to search the cushions for the remote control.
"Did you ever consider becoming a coordinator?" he piped up.
Hilary turned off the TV and looked at him. "Not really… well, a bit. I didn't know about it before I started out so I was aiming for the Gym Challenge too."
"Try for the Pokémon Contests. Bet you'd be good at them. You know, when your friends are done getting into beat-ups at the Gym there are two ways you can leave Petalburg City. One way is to sail down Route 105 to Dewford Town or you can go through the Petalburg Woods to Rustboro City. I don't personally recommend hiking but Rustboro City has a Contest Hall as well as a Gym, so if you're still confused about what you want to do by the time you get there you can try both."
"Then you should go there too," Hilary suggested. "You can travel with us and participate in the Contest in Rustboro. You're at least sure of what you really want."
Ruby blushed. He fidgeted with his fingers as he replied, "Uh, well… dreaming about being in a Contest and actually being in a Contest is totally different. What if my Pokémon isn't groomed well enough? Or I mess up my instructions during the appeal? Or what if I make an outfit that looks bad or has loose strings or it rips during the performance?"
Hilary giggled. "Sounds like someone has performance anxiety. You're making it sound like it's a lot worse than it probably will be."
"You think?" Ruby yawned and rubbed his eyes. "Need to take my contacts out and bathe my Pokémon."
"Bathe your Pokémon? What have they been doing?"
"Good daily grooming is a must for good Contest Pokémon," Ruby told her, holding a finger up to punctuate his point. "Come and I'll show you a good grooming routine for Ralts."
"You'd do that?" Hilary said happily, picking up Ralts and skipping after Ruby as he headed upstairs. "Come on, Ralts, it's bath time!"
Ralts made a small whine of displeasure.
That night the trainers were glad to be inside a cosy Pokémon Centre as the storm started to get more intense. The lightning flashed more frequently and thunder rumbled more ominously in the dead of the night. It had even started to drizzle a bit. Tyson passed the stairwell and the window above it on his way back from the bathroom in the middle of the night. He mused that tomorrow would be a good day for a day off. It would probably be easy to convince the others too. He was about to move on, thinking only of getting back into a nice warm bed, when he heard footsteps running up the stairs and someone panting hard.
"Tyson!"
He looked down the steps. It was Emerald but his clothes were damp and he looked worried. Had he been running out in this weather? At night? Tyson wouldn't have put it past him, he thought Emerald seemed a little bit eccentric.
"Hey, buddy, what's going on? It's almost midnight."
"Past midnight," Emerald corrected him, getting to the top of the stairs and stopping to catch his breath. "Have you seen Ruby and Sapphire by any chance?"
"Your brother and sister? Ruby came here at some point and he was doing a bunch of dumb girly things in the bathroom with Hilary."
"Is he still here? What about Sapphire?" Emerald demanded desperately.
"He's still here," Tyson replied, a bit taken aback by Emerald's demeanour. "He booked a bed but I haven't seen Sapphire. Did something happen?"
"Oh no," Emerald moaned, holding his head in his hands. "She's run away! Took one of my Pokémon and left!"
"In this storm? Are you sure?" Tyson inquired. His brain woke up a bit more as the urgency of the situation sank in. "Maybe she went to a friend's house."
"Already went to all of her friends, my friends, our parents' friends, even Ruby's friends and she didn't go to any of their places. I need to find her before something terrible happens."
"I'll come with you," Tyson offered.
"Are you sure?"
"Two heads are better than one," Tyson said, running back to his room to get changed.
As soon as he was ready, Tyson and Emerald hurried down the stairs and out into the storm on the search for Sapphire. Neither of them had noticed the person spying on them from one of the dorms down the hall.
The wind was ruthless and the drizzle made a misty blanket that obscured many of the surroundings. Bright lightning flashes lit everything up stark white. Emerald and Tyson left the Pokémon Centre and ran out into the storm. When they reached a main road Emerald made them stop.
"Let's split up," he suggested. "We'll cover more and probably find her faster. Here." He handed Tyson a device that looked like a flip-top mobile phone. "You can borrow my Pokégear. If you find her, just call a number listed in my contacts as 'Me2' and send a message to my PokéNav. You search down Route 102 and I'll go to Route 104."
"Are you sure she left town?" Tyson asked.
"Kind of," Emerald replied. "Figure she might want to catch her own Pokémon or at the very least head to Littleroot Town and try to talk grandpa into giving her one."
"All by herself? Geez, what happened between now and when we left?"
"Things got pretty bad," Emerald admitted, looking at his feet as stressful memories of the afternoon looped through his head. "Sapphire and Ruby are always fighting about Pokémon. Their personalities and dreams are pretty much polar opposites. Sapph's always had this dream about travelling with Pokémon and becoming the best trainer and battler ever but she got so excited after meeting all of you guys and seeing all of your Pokémon. She got so fired up about Ruby telling her she couldn't go on adventures and then she said: 'screw the League! I can go on my own Pokémon adventures all by myself!' Didn't think she was serious so I just let her be but now…"
"She said that, huh?" Tyson chuckled nervously, recalling that little outburst.
Emerald nodded grimly. "Ruby runs away from home all the time but he always goes to the Gym or to the Pokémon Centre since he hates camping. Don't know what Sapph will do, though. Hope she isn't trying to catch a wild Pokémon, she'll get hurt and my parents will be so mad!"
"Where are your parents in all of this anyway? I didn't see them."
"They had to leave town for work," Emerald explained. "Mom should be on her way back – she flew to a different region for a festival – and dad was supposed to be taking care of my siblings until then but a couple of days ago he called me and said that his work had something really urgent come up so he had to fly to Ever Grande City and leave me in charge. It was only meant to be a few days so I thought I could handle it."
"Don't worry, Emerald. We'll find her before something bad happens," Tyson promised. On the outside he put on his best confident face but internally he hoped he could back it up. He clapped Emerald on the shoulder and then took off in the direction of Route 102 without another word.
The wind was harsh, the rain was cold and the ground was muddy but Sapphire didn't mind so much. Hard travelling like this was part of the experience of an adventure. Every hurt and hardship was something to be worn like a badge of honour and her blood got pumping by having the feel of nature all around her. It didn't seem so bad so far. What did people have against letting a child under ten go on their own adventure? She'd packed everything she thought she would need, including a number of spare Pokéballs (which she had filched from Emerald). In her hands she carried the only occupied Pokéball in her arsenal.
There was a rustle in the bushes to her right that made her look. A little red nose poked out of the leaves and sniffed around. Soon the rest of the little grey body slipped out from under the bushes. Sapphire's eyes lit up. She'd stumbled across a wild Poochyena! It looked about half as big a regular Poochyena but it was still an opportunity to catch her own Pokémon and she hadn't expected a chance like this so soon.
"Alright, now I'll show them!" she grinned. She expanded the Pokéball in her hands and raised it for a throw. "Mom and dad will have to let me go on adventures if I can catch my own Pokémon. Go! Skarmory!"
A steel-clad bird appeared with a shriek accompanied by a flash of lightning. The wild Poochyena yelped at the sight of such a fearsome creature.
"Now, use Steel Wing," Sapphire ordered.
Skarmory glanced at her out of the corner of its eye and then turned back to the Poochyena. The little puppy backed up, shaking in fear. It let out a loud, high-pitched yowl. Skarmory rustled its feathers and instead unleashed a deafening screech. The Poochyena dropped to the ground and clamped its paws over its ears.
"No, don't use Screech, use Steel Wing!"
Skarmory jabbed at the Poochyena with its beak, sending it rolling away. It curled up, protecting its injured side and yowled some more.
"Ugh! You're supposed to listen to what I say!" Sapphire snapped. Skarmory rolled its eyes and sat on the ground to preen. Sapphire growled and took off her bag to get out an empty Pokéball. "Whatever! It's probably weak enough for me to catch it anyway."
She threw the empty Pokéball at the little Poochyena but just before it hit was a swatted away by a bigger, blacker, shaggier paw. A louder deeper growl emanated from a grey and black Pokémon with a red nose and gleaming red eyes. Sapphire gasped and shrank away as it lowered its body and stalked towards her. From under the bushes two more little Poochyenas peeked out into the open out of curiosity. Sapphire backed away even more when she realised what situation she was in.
"Uh-oh, um… nice Mightyena," she pleaded timidly. "Sorry about trying to catch your puppy. You can totally have it back."
The Mightyena lunged at her, going for a high-powered and reckless tackle. Sapphire screamed and shielded herself with her arms. Luckily, Skarmory leaped in front of her in the nick of time. Mightyena's attack wasn't nearly enough to dent its steel feathers. It didn't care to take orders from a green sprout like Sapphire but that didn't mean it would let any harm come its trainer's sister. The Mightyena crouched and began to circle the pair menacingly. It lunged.
Before Skarmory could intervene the Mightyena stopped in its tracks when a barrage of little fireballs hit it in the side. It turned to growl at its new adversary. Tyson ran towards the fray with Torchic scurrying out ahead of him.
"Damn! Fire-type attacks aren't going to be any good in this drizzle," he muttered. "In that case… Torchic! Get in close and use Peck!"
Torchic sprinted out ahead. The Mightyena ran up to attack but Torchic pecked it hard in the nose, making it flinch. He got in a couple more beak jabs for good measure, not heeding Tyson's warning to pull back. Mightyena swiped at Torchic and knocked him aside.
Not wanting to be left out of the fight, Sapphire commanded: "Skarmory, let's help. Use Fury Cutter!"
Skarmory gave her a deadpan looked and pecked her on the head. It thought it was being gentle but to Sapphire it really hurt. She rubbed her head and tried not to cry from pain. Meanwhile, the Mightyena advanced on Torchic. This little thing would make a good midnight snack, it thought. Torchic tried to use Scratch but Mightyena moved its face out of the way and he missed. With one paw the Mightyena pinned Torchic down. He cheeped frantically in a panic. Tyson instructed him to use Ember but the attack still wasn't very effective. Mightyena shook the little sparks off it face and opened its mouth wide, preparing to crunch Torchic's head in. Tyson quickly returned Torchic to his Pokéball. The Mightyena howled indignantly and glared at the trainer. It began to creep towards him. Tyson was about to rerelease Torchic but a white light suddenly swam out of the blue and moulded into a Pokémon right before him. It was definitely a Poochyena but it was the most elegant-looking Poochyena Tyson had seen thus far. Its fur seemed to shine like a dark chrome surface and its tail fur was so well cared for that it had grown long and silky and trailed on the ground just a little bit.
"Nana, confuse it with Swagger!" someone called out from behind them. Tyson and Sapphire both turned around.
"No freaking way!" Sapphire exclaimed.
"Ruby?!"
Nana's body was enveloped in a bright red aura that pulsed outward as she snuffled sassily. The Mightyena's eyes also pulsed briefly with a red glow. It growled and raised its hackles in offense at the Poochyena's cheek but it couldn't quite lunge. It tripped over its own feet and veered to the left, smashing its head into a tree.
Ruby caught up to them, eyes sparkling behind his glasses and gushing over his Pokémon's move. "Oh, Nana, you execute Swagger so elegantly, as always!"
Nana barked happily.
"Let's scare it off now with Roar."
Nana let forth a tremendous sound from deep in her chest but it lacked the ferocity that a roar should have. It was certainly the most melodic roar that Tyson had ever heard, though. The Mightyena shook its head and stumbled towards Nana, still pissed off and not terrified in the slightest by her composed move. It lurched forward and tackled her hard. Nana yelped and was immediately knocked off her feet. Tyson's head dropped forward in disbelief. He'd seen Kai's Poochyena take more damaging hits than that.
"Oh no! Nana!" Ruby cried. He looked to Emerald's Skarmory, standing guard in front of Sapphire but refusing to join in. "Skarmory, disarm it with Metal Sound." Skarmory hesitated for a moment but then acquiesced. It made a horrible sound like several pieces of metal scraping together. Mightyena hunched over and clamped its ears with its paws. "Hit it with Steel Wing!"
Skarmory's wings took on an ethereal shine. It flapped its wings and swooped at a phenomenal speed. It slashed at the Mightyena with its razor sharp wings. Nana rose to her feet and shook her fur out. It had gotten wet with rain and mud. Being dirty was not something that she was used to and frankly didn't like. She wasn't as hurt as she'd let on previously.
"Good job, Skarmory," Ruby praised. "Nana, put the finishing touch on this battle with Assurance."
Nana slipped between Skarmory's legs and leaped to strike under Mightyena's jaw with her purple-glowing paw. The burst of power was quick and sharp. Migthyena lost its footing and collapsed. It raised its head and growled at the trainers and their Pokémon but the world was still blurry and spinning. It looked towards the bushes. The puppies had disappeared and dragged their wounded sibling off with them. Mightyena crawled away, deciding that this was not a battle it could win.
"Good, it gave up," Ruby said. He picked up Nana and held her at arm length, cooing sympathetically to her: "Aw, Nana! Look at how dirty your fur is! Don't worry, we're going back to the Pokémon Centre now and I'll give you another nice, warm bath." Nana grinned and wagged her tail excitedly upon hearing that.
"What are you doing here?" Sapphire demanded from Ruby. "You hate travelling."
"Travelling rough," Ruby corrected.
"That's basically travelling!"
"Whoa, chill!" Tyson interrupted. "Ruby just saved our butts. A little gratitude would be appropriate right about now. Even so, why are you here?"
Ruby harrumphed and rolled his eyes. "Okay, I might have overheard you and Emerald in corridor and maybe was only a little bit worried…" Ruby admitted.
"Worried? About what?" Sapphire snapped.
Tyson laughed. "He was worried about you, Sapphire. So is Emerald. You really shouldn't scare your brothers like that."
"I wasn't scared!" Ruby objected.
"Bet you were," Sapphire teased, grinning slyly.
"Can you guys just not for ten minutes?" Tyson sighed, taking out Emerald's Pokégear and activating it. "And could one of you show me how to use this thing?"
Emerald burst into the Pokémon Centre and his eyes swept the lobby, which was still lit but not so brightly since it was almost two o'clock in the morning. In his agitation it took him a couple of sweeps before he finally caught sight of Tyson, Ruby and Sapphire. They were waiting on one of the couches and Ruby was still in the middle of combing Nana's fur. She was dozing off in his lap. Emerald ran over to them and finally allowed himself time to take a breather.
"So glad you're both alright," He panted. He pulled Sapphire into a tight hug. "Don't ever scare me like that again, okay? Promise me!"
"Ack! Only if you don't kill me," Sapphire choked out. Emerald let her down. She settled down on the couch again and pouted. "Wouldn't have come to this if you would just let me go on Pokémon adventures."
"Stop going on and on about 'Pokémon adventures' as if that's an actual thing," Ruby said brusquely. "Nobody calls them that except you."
"That doesn't mean it's not an adventure!"
"Guys, come on," Emerald moaned. "Let's just go home and get some sleep, okay?"
"Not even going to ask her about all the Pokéballs she stole from you?" Ruby asked snidely, scratching Nana behind the ears when he was satisfied with her fur and returning her to her Pokéball. Sapphire went bright red and looked down and her hands, which were fidgeting in her lap. She braced herself for a scolding.
"That's not important just this minute," Emerald said. "I was really worried; thought you might get torn apart by a wild Pokémon!"
Ruby's jaw dropped. "Really? Not important? She nicked Skarmory! That's got to mean something to you."
"Rube!" Sapphire shouted at him angrily.
"Sapphire-sparkle," Ruby retorted.
"Pretty angry about that," Emerald confessed yet it didn't show in his facial expression, "but right now I'm just glad you two are fine. If you keep fighting, though, I might just get really angry at both of you. What happened? Tyson mentioned something about fighting a Mightyena in his message."
"Yeah, that," Tyson interjected. He recounted his version of the story with Sapphire butting in most of the time to add to it. At the end of it Emerald looked absolutely stunned and turned to Ruby in awe. Sapphire and Tyson looked at Emerald confusedly.
"Ruby, you commanded Skarmory in a fight?" Emerald clarified. "And he listened to you?" Ruby crossed his arms and legs and looked away as if it was no big and it was absurd that Emerald seemed to think it was. "Skarmory is so stubborn and headstrong – he wouldn't go along with just any trainer's orders, he'd have to feel like they were worthy of his respect."
"Ruby was really good in battle," Sapphire said, so wrapped up in telling the story accurately that she allowed Ruby this one compliment, "even though his Poochyena's attacks were so weak and she sucked."
"Excuse me!" Ruby exclaimed, looking scandalised. "And 'my Poochyena' has a nickname! Call her Nana!"
"Don't be rude about other people's Pokémon," Emerald scolded. Tyson was amused that after all that had happened this was the thing that finally got Emerald to actually look angry. "You can't go travelling unless you learn to respect all Pokémon, even if you don't like their trainer."
"What Nana lacks in strength, she more than makes up for with grace," Ruby said.
"Grace doesn't win Pokémon battles," Sapphire argued.
"Wins Pokémon Contests," Ruby rebutted.
"Enough!" Emerald groaned. He was starting to look exhausted and that was just from dealing with his siblings. He smiled and tried to put it behind him. "That's great to hear, though. Ruby, why didn't you tell me you could battle well? If you like, you can travel around Hoenn with me and earn some badges of your own."
"Hey!" Sapphire whined. "Why won't you let me travel with you?"
"Oh, please!" Ruby scoffed. "As if I'd ever want to participate in something so oafish. Battling is for fools and barbarians who can't appreciate anything more than the baser aspects of life."
"Why do you hate battling so much?" Sapphire asked. "It's not even a weird thing but you just act like it's the worst thing in the world. What's the matter? You scared?"
Ruby suddenly glared at her so darkly and intensely that Tyson was so glad the phrase 'if looks could kill' was only an expression.
"Bet you're just scared," Sapphire continued. "Scaredy-Skitty!"
"Shut up! You just have no idea!" Ruby prickled. "Pokémon battling is stupid and even when you were about to get your jugular ripped out by a Mightyena you still think it's great. Battling really is for oafs and brutes."
"Hey, hey, Skarmory was there the whole time," Emerald said. "He wouldn't have let anything seriously hurt you."
"That's not even the point!" Ruby growled, standing up and walking briskly towards the staircase. "I'm going to bed. Goodnight."
"Uh, don't you want to come home?"
"No!"
"Well then goodnight. Sleep well and if a Pokémon tries to eat your dreams, try to wake up," Emerald advised.
"I know that!" Ruby impatiently called down the stairs.
Emerald put a hand to his chin worriedly. There was a short moment of uneasy silence that was rudely broken by Sapphire jumping onto her brother's back and demanding that he take her travelling with him. Tyson stood up and yawned widely.
"Do you want me to go up and talk to him?"
Emerald shook his head. "Ruby's emotional like that a lot. He'll be safe here until he cools down and he won't do anything dangerous… unlike this little Mankey!"
Sapphire didn't expect Emerald to suddenly lean forward and yank her off his back by the ankle. He swung her around to the front and held her upside-down by both ankles as she laughed and laughed and laughed.
"Seriously, though," Emerald said in a more severe tone, "when mom gets back I'm gonna tell her what you did."
All of a sudden it was less funny and Sapphire gasped. "No! Don't tell mom!"
"Telling mom," Emerald said, putting Sapphire down on the floor. "Stealing things and Pokémon is wrong and running away from home is stupid and dangerous. So I'm telling mom and you are going to be so grounded."
Sapphire whined loudly as Emerald picked up her bag. He turned to Tyson with a grateful smile. "Thanks a bunch. Appreciate it."
"No worries," Tyson grinned back. Then added a little more nervously: "Hey, is it true what you said about some Pokémon being able to eat your dreams?"
"Yep," Emerald confirmed. "Some Pokémon feed harmlessly but there are others that can suck out your life force because they drain so hard and eat so much. Wouldn't worry about it here. Petalburg City and the surrounding area aren't known for dream-eaters. You'd know if you were in a dream that was being eaten because it feels like you're in a tug-of-war with a Tauros. Anyway, might see you around the Gym tomorrow, ne? Goodnight. Sleep tight."
As he dragged Sapphire away she paused in her whinging to whisper: "Don't let the dream-eaters bite."
Tyson found it very, very hard to get back to sleep that night.
A/N: OMG, Kai, no! Don't do the thing. The thing is not going to go well, I can feel it. And before I say anything more, a special note:
I have an exam next week so there will be no update. There will be an update in the following week for sure.
Continuing my usual ramblings for a bit: I love writing out the relationship between Emerald, Ruby, and Sapphire, so I'm pretty sad that this is the last we'll see of all three of them together for a while. However, what I didn't quite notice was the special way in which I'd unconsiously alluded to something in canon. I was only able to realise it because I was explaining this story, its future chapters and the characters to one of my friends and she spotted it and pointed it out. Now I have so much more that I want to do with these three! You may actually see more of them than I originally planned.
Please review! It makes me happy.