I stood facing my opponent with a hard expression, though inside I was so nervous I could hardly breathe. This was my first league competition. What if I didn't have what it takes? What if I let all of my Pokémon down, then I'd never be able to face them again.

But, looking at Ash, he'd already won all three of his screening battles, which put him with a pretty good chance of getting through to the semi-finals. If he can do it, then so can I. "Begin!" The ref called and I took a deep breath. I had been selected to go first, so I had to make this a battle that counts.

"Alright, Jigglypuff, it's show time!" I called and she appeared with a twirl, giving a bright smile for everybody who was watching.

"Jigglypuff!" She called out warmly then landed on the ground, giving a bow to the ref who blinking in surprise. My opponent, some guy called Trent, smirked then burst out laughing.

"What do you intend to do with that little fluff ball, Charm your way into the finals? Ha!" He roared but I just folded my arms and glared at him as Jigglypuff inflated her body and gave him a similar expression.

"If it's alright with you, I'd like to start kicking your butt in a battle now." I said to him but that only made him laugh harder.

"Fine! Feraligator, you're up!" Trent called and sent out his tall, powerhouse Pokémon who roared at Jigglypuff but she merely looked away with an unbothered expression. "Huh? You're meant to be afraid you little pipsqueak!" I smirked.

"Alright Jigglypuff, let's show them how we roll. Double Slap!" I began but Trent merely sniggered and chortled with laughter again, clutching his belly.

"Hydro Pump!" Feraligator opened its huge jaws and a powerful jet of water shot out but Jigglypuff was unfazed, facing it down and not moving an inch so I instantly felt calmer. Hey, if Jigglypuff wasn't bothered, then why should I be?

"Jigglypuff, inflate and jump out of the way, then use Sing!" I countered and Jigglypuff instantly carried out my commands, avoiding the Hydro Pump altogether then once she was high in the air, let out her breath with a sweet lullaby, letting Feraligator have a full blast of her charming voice which instantly sent him to sleep.

"No! Feraligator! Wake up!" Trent wailed, starting to cry as I placed a hand on my hip then tipped my hat in a salute.

"Jigglypuff, Ice Beam and then use Double Slap." I said to her and she instantly dove forwards, freezing Feraligator's entire body in an ice block but left his face free whereby she began to slap it repeatedly.

"Jigglypuff! Puff! Puff!" She growled then leaped back once she was finished, folding her arms proudly and looking away as Trent burst into tears, sobbing as Feraligator groaned.

"Feraligator is unable to battle! Jigglypuff is the winner!" The ref called so I punched the air.

"Yeah! That's awesome Jigglypuff. You finished them off without even breaking a sweat." I cheered as Jigglypuff leaped at me with a smile and we high fived in mid air.

"Jiggly!" She danced around in front of me, celebrating her newest victory so I smiled and picked her up, cuddling her close.

"People should learn not to judge based on appearance." I said with a pointed look to Trent who continued to cry like a little baby. Puh-lease. Now that's just pitiful. With a chuckle to myself I turned and walked out of the arena so that the next battle could take place, pitching Trent against someone else.

"That was great Ruby!" Ash said to me as I walked over to them all. "And you were awesome Jigglypuff, you can really pack a punch." He laughed as Jigglypuff nodded her head proudly in agreement.

"Jigglypuff."

"If you can just win your next two matches then you'll have a great chance of getting into the semis." Misty said. "And with your Pokémon, I know you'll do just fine."

"Yeah, your Pokémon really look up to you, so they battle hard because they trust you so much." Brock added and I hugged Jigglypuff tighter.

"Thanks guys. You're all the best."

"You know, that Jigglypuff really is something." A familiar voice said and I blinked before spinning around, my eyes widening in horror.

"Gary?!" Ash and I both yelped as we saw Gary leaning casually against the fence, looking down with a smirk on his face but then he stood up and walked over to us.

"Hi guys. Long time no see." He said with a nod to me. "Great battle Rubes. Exactly what I expect from someone who comes from Pallet Town." He said and I blushed, hiding my face in Jigglypuff's fur who blinked at me in surprise.

"Jiggly?"

"Thanks Gary, I didn't know you were watching." I mumbled before pulling myself together. "How are your matches going?"

"I won all three. No sweat. It was almost not worth turning up." He shrugged casually. "My team are all ready to go, we're going to win this competition without even batting an eyelid." Suddenly there was an ear wrenching giggle from behind and we all looked to see a girl with a frilly pink dress, big bows and a sadistic smirk on her face.

"My, aren't you quite the character?" Sophia giggled again as she gave a dreamy smile to Gary. "And very competitive too. I've been looking for a rival like you for a long time. What do you say? How about you and I have dinner tonight?" She suggested as she looped her arms around Gary who looked completely dumbfounded. My blood boiled way past a hundred degrees.

"Uh…"

"Get your slimy paws off of him!" I yelled without thinking and Jigglypuff glared at Sophia.

"Jigglypuff Puff!" She agreed and Sophia turned a victorious smirk on me.

"Jealous are we?" She asked and I backtracked slightly, going bright red in the face but shook my head.

"No! But even Gary doesn't deserve to be stuck with a lowlife brat like you. Why're you even here?" I tried to quickly change the conversation but Sophia only shrugged, sidling closer to Gary who stared at her, unsure of what to do.

"Oh nothing much…I just saw this handsome stranger and thought I'd say hello." She answered and fluttered her eyelashes up at Gary. Stupid Gary Oak, why isn't he pushing her away? She has to be contaminated with something! Like…oversized ego syndrome! "What about you? What are you doing here? I thought you had to be good to enter these leagues." Sophia said to me and I blinked slightly.

"I…I am good. Good enough to earn eight badges." I glared at her.

"That's right." Misty said, stepping to my side. "Ruby won all her badges with the Pokémon she caught and raised herself. Not with a team bought by her rich daddy." Sophia gave a dramatic sigh, letting go of Gary's arm then tossed back her hair.

"Oh you poor thing, having to raise Pokémon so badly like you do. It's completely boring and I have no time for it." She smirked then turned around to Gary. "I'll be seeing you around soon, sugar." She said then rose up onto her heeled tip toes and kissed his cheek, lingering a moment, winked then turned around, but not before my patience snapped.

"That's it! Come here you little spoiled brat! I'm going to make sushi out of you!" I yelled, letting go of Jigglypuff as she leaped out my arms and together we tried to attack Sophia who merely laughed and walked away as Ash held back Jigglypuff and both Brock and Misty had to restrain me though we kicked and struggled all the way. "Get back here!"

"Jigglypuff!"

"Stop it you too, or you could be disqualified from competing!" That got my attention. Good call Brock, though next time it won't work.

"Argh! Stupid girl, thinks she's smarter and better than me with her fancy Pokémon and stupid pink ribbons…" I muttered under my breath as I stormed away with Jigglypuff following at my side, growling just as darkly as I was.

"Jigglypuff. Jiggly Jigglypuff." We took a long walk to clear out heads but I just couldn't get that Sophia out of my head. Something about her just set me off. Maybe it was the fact I knew she treated her Pokémon completely wrong.

With a sigh I sat by the fountain then picked up a Pokéball. "Come on out Vaporeon, the water is really nice here." I said and she appeared with a flash, sitting in the pool then instantly splashed around.

"Vaporeon! Poreon Poreon!" She cheered and began to dance and swim around in the water as I watched with a pensive smile, running my fingers through Jigglypuff's little curl as she sat in front of me.

"Jiggly…" She sighed sadly so I looked at her.

"Don't let that silly little dweeb get you down Jigglypuff." I said to her, forcing myself to brighten up. "We'll just ignore her. That way, we can focus on doing our best here, and when we defeat her in battle, then we'll have a real victory to score against her." I reasoned and Jigglypuff instantly brightened, gasping then closed her eyes as she beamed.

"Jigglypuff!"

"Poreon?" Vaporeon questioned as she lifted her head out of the water.

"It's nothing Vaporeon." I promised. "Just a little lose ends to tie up." She nodded her head in understanding then licked the hand I was trailing in the water, shifting closer to I rubbed her head then chuckled. "It's all good."

The others left me alone for a while, deciding it best that I just cool off but they were there waiting for me at my next battle as I marched in with a smile. "Hey Ruby, are you okay?" Misty asked with concern but I merely laughed.

"I was born ready! Who dares challenge Ruby Bates to a battle?" I called then faced my opponent. It was a breeze after that. Vaporeon defeated a Quagsire and Pidgeot defeated a Kadabra, which meant three straight wins.

Feeling great about our success, we all celebrated with a feast and ice cream for dessert at our apartment which we were all staying in for the competition, however late at night, still unable to sleep, I got up, got dressed and went for a walk.

The moon was full and beautiful tonight, so I let out Latias as I knew she loved the moon and the stars. I knew she couldn't wait to be big and strong enough to go flying up there with them. I think she planned on actually trying to fly to the moon one day.

"Hey there Latias." I said softly as she circled around me then settled in her usual spot on my shoulder. "How about you come for a walk with me?" I suggested and she nodded her head.

"Latias." So I continued to walk, hands deep in my pockets as I watched the ground. "Latias? Latias La?" She worried, flying around to face me with a concerned expression, asking me what was wrong.

"I don't know. I just feel nervous I guess." But she persisted, making me chuckle. "I just can't hide anything from you, can I?" I joked softly so I sighed, looking down then up to the moon, taking a few steps towards the lake edge to listen to the waves lapping against the bank and gaze out across the glittering water. "I'm nervous. Scared even." I admitted finally and Latias listened. "The world just seems so big, and I'm only one person. There's a lot of people here with strong Pokémon wanting to become a champion, and I'm only doing it so I can get closer to my Pokémon." I continued to gaze up at the moon, admiring its perfect and serene beauty.

Latias nudged my cheek, urging me to continue. "But I'm starting to realise that it's not the winning that brings you closer to your Pokémon. The bod depends on who you are and how much you love your friends. And you guys are all my friends." I said, starting to smile. "But it just really gets me down when I see other people missing out on such a great experience such as raising a Pokémon and becoming its greatest friend it could ever have."

"Latias…" She cooed in understanding, nodding my head so I gave a laugh then caught her in my arms, tickling her belly to make her squeal.

"Stop it you, you're growing up too fast. You're not meant to be this smart until you're at least too big to carry." I teased before letting Latias go then sat down as she flew over the water, soaring up into the sky in a loop then landed in my lap, curling up to watch the stars with me. "You know Latias, I never asked you how you got to be in Kanto as an egg." I said to her, looking down as she turned her sweet little face up to me. "Do you have any idea?" I asked and she nodded her head.

Suddenly my mind was filled with the image of darkness, however I could hear the truck's engine as it moved. So Latias had been transported here to be sold, taken from her nest before she could really understand what was happening. After that the truck got blown off the road in a storm and the egg was lost in the woods, but then it was picked up by a Pidgeotto and carried to the forest where Professor Oak did some of his research, and that's where Latias was kept in a new nest with the Pidgeotto, however the next storm blew everything away, which was then where I came in.

"Wow, you've had it rough." I said then hugged her. "But don't worry. I'll always be here for you. You and I are a team now, which means we'll look out for one another."

"Latias!" She agreed with a smile so I chuckled before lifting up her Pokéball.

"But right now young lady, I think it's time you got back to sleep. It's getting late." I said and she nodded her head, allowing me to return her to her Pokéball. With a yawn I stood up and stretched, giving one last smile up at the moon and turned to leave, but as I did so something caught my eye.

Two people were walking towards me, and as they got closer, I could see who they were. That lowlife Sophia and backstabber Gary Oaks, taking a moonlit stroll together. How romantic. Though I couldn't help but notice how much it hurt to see them together like that. I thought Gary was better than that. Obviously I was wrong.

When they both looked up and noticed me, I blinked and quickly looked away, clenching my jaw as the water glittered before me, showing my less than appealed reflection of a tired, messy and frumpy looking girl. Great, even the world is against me. Well forget them. I don't need either of them. I'm going to bed.

"Hey Rubes!" Gary tried to call out and move towards me but Sophia clung onto his arm, stopping him from moving and he didn't fight back. I shot him a glare then walked away, lifting my head proudly. "Rubes, wait!" But I ignored him. Why should I wait? There's a trophy with my name written on it, and I'm going to win it.