Ruby ~Beginning
Ruby had always wanted more...she had wanted more to her life then what she had. She didn't want to have her existence doomed to rummaging and scraps and scrounging in dirt to survive...she wanted to be like the ones she saw walk by...ones who got by with no effort, because someone cared enough to help them along the way. Ones dripping with jewels, with healthy fur and confident smiles. Ones who were happy.
Ruby had always felt as if she deserved more. That was something that was almost taboo among her group. Everyone knew this was all they had and all they should want...they would never get any more then this. This was all. But Ruby wanted more...and she knew that she shouldn't.
Ruby wanted to be loved...she wanted to feel as if she was important. She wanted to feel as if she was all that existed in someone's life. Someone who would take care of her. Someone who would do whatever she wanted.
"Stupid..." Tsume had said after she mentioned her admiration of the rich ones that walked by her everyday. "This is all you have and all you ever will have, so live with it." Then she walked away. Ruby was left regretting her foolish dreams, but she was not able to forget them. She felt inside as if she were a princess that had been placed in the wrong body.
So she decided that it was her right to choose her trainer, not have them choose her. She wanted a nice person who would treat her with respect and dignity. Preferably one where she would never have to battle, only lay around and be pampered.
"Human!" the warning call went through. Tsume jerked and stood.
"Everyone, this way!" she called. Instantly, Ruby and her companions instinctively began to follow Tsume down the streets which they considered their home. But Ruby hung back...she wanted to see this human herself.
She waited as the rest of her friends surged by her, and climbed aboard some boxes. She looked down carefully at the human as they ran by.
"No! No! Come back! Come back!" the boy shouted. "I need you to complete my Pokédex!"
Of course her friends weren't listening to him and kept running. The boy, frustrated, stomped his foot and scratched his head. Ruby watched him carefully. He was dirty and had bedraggled clothes with a backpack and some Pokéballs on his belt. He called out a Pokémon.
"Growlithe!" it called. The boy glared, panting from his brief running. Ruby lowered her ears at the dog Pokémon and felt herself snarling. "Go...go after them and bring one back...and do it quick, you dumb mutt."
"Growl!" the Growlithe began to run down the alley. Ruby decided that this trainer wasn't for her...and it wasn't for her friends either. She considered running off, but thought about the Growlithe. She didn't want it to hurt any of her friends. So she decided it was up to her to first distract the trainer, then cut off the Growlithe.
She leaped from her boxes down and began to lick her paw busily, much to the astonishment of the boy.
"You...you! Go, Pokéball!" he shouted, throwing one of the devices at her. Ruby easily side-stepped it, much to the boy's annoyance. He threw another one which was dodged similarly.
"Fine! You want to be difficult, fine! Tentacool!"
The water Pokémon appeared and blinked it's eyes at her. Ruby sniffed in disdain.
"Wrap it with your tentacles!"
The Tentacool's Tentacles reached out for her, but Ruby easily avoided them. Viewing this as more of a game then a battle, Ruby was beginning to get bored.
"You stupid Tentacool! Wrap it!"
The Tentacool tried to comply, and Ruby was getting angry at this boy's attempts to capture her. Extending her claws, she slashed the tentacles of the Tentacool viciously, causing some to fall off. The Tentacool gave a mangled version of a scream and then was returned.
Ruby, finding this a good opportunity, pulled down her lower eyelid and stuck out her tongue out at the boy. This made him furious.
"Don't make fun of me! Oooo, I'll catch you myself!"
Finding this slightly redundant, Ruby licked her paw. The boy, this disdain making him all the more angry, began to throw bottles and other debris at her. She also side-stepped these, then began to walk away.
"No you don't!" the boy shouted. He leaped clumsily after her and Ruby easily avoided him. Marveling at how ungainly humans were, Ruby ran down the alley, leaping from box to box. The boy tried to follow her, but only succeeded in getting himself lost in a pile of boxes Ruby knocked down on him. Pleased with this excercise, Ruby began to run to where her friends usually hid.
It was a dead-end alley full of boxes. This was good for her gang because this gave them many places to hide. If the human could pursue them this far, then he would appear to find a empty alleyway. But a Pokémon could not be so easily fooled. In that case, her friends and Tsume, who together totalled about twenty, could easily defeat it. It was a easy and sneaky tactic to avoid capture. So they would go to this alleyway whenever they sensed trouble near.
Ruby knew this was trouble. She was on the rooftops, looking down, when she saw Tsume. She was facing against the Growlithe.
"Leave us alone..." Tsume snarled at the Growlithe. Her fur was raised in a threatening manner, but the Growlithe could not be dissauded.
"My master told me to find you and bring one of you back." The Growlithe barked. Ruby tried to tune in, moving lower and lower. Having tuned into the Growlithe, she could now understand what it said.
"You won't take any of us back. Tell your "master"," Tsume spit on the ground, "that he can go somewhere else."
"I can't take no for a answer. I will take one of you, whether you like or not."
Ruby hopped lower, standing on top of a pile of boxes. Her friends were all behind Tsume, all as angry as she was.
"We won't go. You can die trying to take one of us, but we aren't going."
Instead of replying, the Growlithe opened it's mouth and fire poured forth. Tsume was too alert and skilled to be caught by a trick such as this and leapt to one side. Extending her fearsome claws, Tsume leaped at the Growlithe's side, who growled and snapped at her. The two rolled around the alley, biting and clawing at eachother. Ruby watched from atop the boxes nervously.
Again the Growlithe breathed fire, and this time Tsume could not dodge in time. She took it full on and slammed into the wall, slumping down motionlessly. The Growlithe turned towards the others, who were gathered around their fallen leader. It lept at one of her friends.
Ruby decided this was the time for action. Surprised at her wilingness, she lept from the pile of boxes onto the Growlithes back, screaming. She dug her claws into it and refused to let go.
The Growlithe gave a cry of surprise and turned to see her. But Ruby's position prevented the Growlithe from biting her, and Ruby closed her eyes and hung on tight. She wouldn't let the Growlithe get her or her friends.
"Get off, you brat!" the Growlithe barked at her. She refused to withdraw her claws. In a moment of pure selflessness, Ruby realized that she was willing to give her life right now just to get this Growlithe. Ruby felt a growing anger within her at the Trainer who had sent this Growlithe at her. How could he be this cruel to send a Pokémon here to take one of her friends?! She wouldn't allow it! She would die first! The Growlithe bucked furiously, trying to dislodge it's attacker. It slammed into a pile of boxes, nearly knocking the breath out of Ruby. A small box fell from the top and landed on her head, clicking open.
Ruby felt new and strange power surging through her body. Feeling strange fury going through her, her fur rose on end and she dug her claws deeper. Then she screamed to the sky, unsure of what she was doing.
The Growlithe was surprised at this and stood still for a moment. The sky began to cloud over and rumbling clouds came above the alley. Ruby's eyes glew a bright red and she kept her high-pitched cry going. With a crack, a large lightning bolt flew from the sky directly into Ruby.
Her friends gasped and ran away from the strange sight. Ruby glowing a bright yellow, her eyes flaring red, standing on the back of a Growlithe.
"I am RUBY!" she shouted, and sent the electricity into the Growlithe, who screamed. It fainted instantly, slumping downwards.
Ruby slowly detached herself from it, feeling rain beginning to fall around her. Her friends had all dissapeared, fleeing for their lives. Ruby limped to Tsume's side and licked her fur, trying to wake her. The rain kept falling in the dark alley, and Ruby stayed by her friends side. As soon as she was assured that Tsume was breathing, Ruby stood on her unsteady paws and stumbled out of the alley. She felt weak and wounded. She was emotionally drained. She crawled into the street and collapsed.
Radic had not expected a storm when he had walked this way. It had come so suddenly, without warning, that he was not prepared. As he hurried along, trying to stay under the eaves of the buildings, he saw a vague white shape laying in front of him. He stopped at it, noticing the bedraggled, dirty fur and weak paws. He knelt down, picking up the Pokémon and holding it within his coat in a attempt to warm it.
"What are you doing out here?" he asked uselessly. The Pokémon was unconcious and could not hear him.
~~~
When Ruby awoke, she found herself in a Pokécenter. At least, that's what she thought. She had never been in one before. It seemed like a friendly place, but she wasn't about to trust it. She never trusted humans and she wasn't about to start now. She wasn't favorably disposed to the boy whose arms she was placed in shortly after. Wondering whether this boy was the same as the one who had sent the Growlithe, Ruby tensed her muscles, prepared to slash the boy if he tried anything.
"Here, Radic. I suggest you capture it quickly, or it will run away."
The boy shrugged and walked away. Ruby watched him carefully as he placed her on a table. He smiled at her.
"My name is Radic." he said cheerfully. "I found you in the rain. Most trainers would of left you, because you're just a street-"
Ruby hissed loudly. Radic retracted his statement.
"But you seem special. So I was wondering if you would like to accompany me. You remind me of my other Pokémon."
"Can I see them?" Ruby asked, not sure if he would understand or not.
"Do you want to see them?" Radic asked. Ruby rolled her eyes as she realized the answer to her previous question. Radic placed the four Pokéballs on the desk, releasing each in turn. A Squirtle, A Vulpix, A Pikachu, and a Paras stood before Ruby.
"This is Accident, Kitsune, Nova, and Callima. Everyone say Hi to...um...do you have a name?"
"Ruby." Ruby said quickly. Callima turned to her trainer and spoke quickly.
"Ruby!" Radic said cheerfully. The other four regarded her carefully.
"Oh, here's another addition to our merry band. An Alley Meowth." Kitsune said cruelly, narrowing her eyes at Ruby. "I bet Radic will have to spend extra to keep your Pokéballs clean. Is it true that you have to eat through dumpsters?"
Ruby was overcome with fury and shame and was about to say something when Accident did something un-expected. His paw descended on Kitsune's head rather harshly, knocking her to the table. The other Pokémon gasped at this un-characteristic display of violence. Accident glared at Kitsune.
"Kitsune, stop being so cruel to those you don't even know. Ruby could be a nice Pokémon if you would give her a chance."
"Accident! Kitsune! Don't fight!" Radic said uselessly. Kitsune stood up, glaring at the Squirtle, her breath coming in flaring gasps of fury.
"Don't ever lay a paw on me again, or I swear I will leave this pathetic bunch of losers. I don't need to take this from someone called 'Accident'!"
In a instant, Kitsune was back in the Pokéball, Radic having hastily recalled her. Both Ruby and Accident were confused. Radic shrugged apolegetically.
"I'm sorry, Kitsune has a slight...attitude problem. Anyway, Callima, Nova, Accident, try to make Ruby feel welcome."
Ruby cringed away from them.
"Yes, I'm a street Meowth. Is that what you wanted to hear? Is it?" she said, pained. Accident shook his head.
"No, it's okay. Our beginnings don't matter any more. We're a team. It doesn't matter that I'm called Accident or anything. If you want to come with us, we'll be willing to forget about everything."
"Really?"
"Sure!" Nova said brightly, smiling. He adjusted his jacket busily. "I don't mind, afterall. It would be interesting to have someone else useful on the team."
"Would Radic take care of me?" Ruby asked softly, wondering whether her dream could be coming true. Callima nodded.
"Radic, no doubt, already cares about you more then anyone has in your life. Give him a chance."
Ruby looked at Radic and felt a surge of pride go through herself. She sat herself as straight as she could, trying to look dignified. She felt Radic's hand gently stroke her back and felt herself purring. She decided that his human would do for her.
"I'll go." she said to Radic. Radic smiled at her and held out the Pokéball. Ruby touched the button slowly with one claw.
