Chapter seven as I promised, and it's longer than the previous one, so enjoy ;)

The reason Ruby doesn't have Pidgey as her very first starter Pokémon is because Pidgey is a family Pokémon, belonging to predominantly her parents so she had to get a starter from Professor Oak if she wanted to go on the journey, not expecting that Pidgey would go along with her.


The gym was pretty impressive but I didn't go there straight away. First I went to the Pokémon Centre to heal up my Pokémonm was shocked to find that the nurse was called Nurse Joy and looked exactly the same as the Nurse Joy in Viridian City, then I ate out at a Pokémon friendly restaurant because I was getting kind of tired of travel food.

"Hello! How many are you today?" The waitress that met me at the waiting point asked and I smiled shyly.

"Just the one with two Pokémon, thank you." She smiled brightly.

"No problem! A table has just opened up over here, if you'll just follow me." I did so, easing my way carefully around the Pokémon that filled the room, sharing meals with their trainers and I smiled. This was such a nice place. "Here you are!" The lady trilled and I looked to her as I slid into the booth meant for two.

"Thank you very much." I said to her as she handed me a menu.

"Please keep all special attacks to the minimum, if by any chance your Pokémon accidentally destroy or set fire to something, then please do not be alarmed, it happens all the time and you'll only be asked for a small consolation fee to repay any damage. There is a fire extinguisher under your chair for the safety of everyone in the restaurant should any fire Pokémon happen to set something alight. When you're ready to order, give me a holler!" She recited brightly then walked away.

"Okay guys, it's time to eat. Come on out!" I let Pidgey and Charmander out of their Pokéballs and Pidgey instantly chirped.

"Pidgey!" She landed on my shoulder then looked around her curiously, observing her surroundings before twittering in excitement, flapping her wings and began to flutter around my head, pecking at my hair playfully and making me laugh as Charmander looked around him then lifted his nose into the air, taking a deep breath to inhale the scents before rubbing his belly hungrily as it rumbled.

"Char!" I giggled as he began to lick at the leather of the chairs, his mouth watering as he lifted his nose and sniffed all the wonderful smells that poured from the kitchen once again.

"Okay guys, I'll order us an entire feast! How about a bird feed salad for Pidgey, some spicy sushi for you Charmander and a burger for me?" I questioned and the two Pokémon instantly nodded their heads, calling out eagerly so I placed the order then waited with them for the food.

When it came out, even I was drooling as the delicious smell of food swept over us. Pidgey chirped happily at her bird feed salad, which was basically a load of seeds and worms, her favourites. The spiced fish went down a treat with Charmander and he wolfed them all down pretty quickly, he had finished before I had even taken a bite out of my burgers! I had ordered two, because I was pretty hungry but now Charmander was sniffing the air and watching me with his large, beautiful brown eyes.

"Oh, you want some?" I asked him then parted a piece of the burger patty to share with him. "Here you go, try some of that." Charmander nibbled on it then his eyes seemed to sparkle.

"Charmander!" He crowed then gobbled it all down before leaping onto the table, flaming tail swinging wildly and almost hit Pidgey, making her snap her beak at him in annoyance.

"Be careful!" I laughed, smiling to him. "Here, have some more then." I shared my burger with him, letting him hold it in his little hands and he sat down happily on the table, munching through it as I did the same.

He wore a happy expression as he ate his way through the burger, licking the crumbs and sauce from his lips as he finished up the last of it. "I guess you like that don't you?" I smiled to him. "I do too, burgers are great. They're one of my favourite things to eat." Charmander nodded his head in agreement.

"Char! Char!"

"I tell you what, if we see a stand then I'll buy you a hot dog. You should try one, they're just as good as these burgers." Charmander's eyes sparkled hopefully at me and I couldn't' help but admire how cute he looked. "I promise."

"Charmander!" He sprung up then began to dance, kicking up his feet and waving his hands with his tail swinging around wildly. He was so lost in his own happy dance that his tail knocked against a painting and set it on fire.

"Agh! No!" I yelped then instantly beat it out, blushing furiously as I whacked at the flames with my jacket until they were successfully doused. "Phew."

"Ha, nice one." A satire voice commented and I blinked before groaning.

"Oh no, not you." I turned and put my hands on my hips, looking at Gary with an arched eyebrow. "What do you want?" He smirked.

"Well, I came here hoping for something good to eat when I saw you. Thought I'd come over and check up on you." He stepped forwards then sat down opposite me, tapping his jaw thoughtfully. "You only caught two Pokémon?"

"For a matter of fact, yes. But only because I haven't yet seen another Pokémon that particularly attracts my attention." I answered back snottily. "How many have you caught then?"

"Oh, around twenty or so." I chocked on my burger as I had just bitten in and swallowed some. I coughed and rasped for breath, hands covering my mouth and Charmanded frowned at me before slapping me on the back and dislodged the piece that had stuck in my throat.

"Thanks Charmander." I gasped then looked at Gary. "Twenty!"

"Yeah, some Pokémon I've captured more than one of, I like to have a wide variety of Pokémon for when I go challenging gym leaders. Have you tried Pewter Gym yet?" I shook my head.

"No, I'm going to go tomorrow afternoon once we've all had some rest. It's been a long day and we're pretty tired." I answered then looked up at the waitress who smiled.

"Oh no, this won't do at all! You're all completely crowded in here, you can't even let the rest of your Pokémon out! Follow me to a bigger table, we'll set you and your girlfriend somewhere more comfortable!" She trilled brightly and my mouth dropped open.

"I am not his girlfriend!" But she didn't appear to have heard me as she was already ushering me forwards with Gary following behind with a lazy smirk on his face. Pidgey looked to her food then sighed, flying after me and Charmander blinked.

"Char!" He yelped then leaped off the table, hurrying to catch up with us. The waitress showed us to a massive booth which was much quieter and had a lot of space, a long table for many Pokémon to sit at with blocks for any smaller ones to be able to reach the table.

"I'll have your usual brought right over Mr Oak, and something for the lady too!" The waitress giggled, blew a kiss to Gary then trotted away. I stared after her then to Gary.

"You're a regular?"

"Of course, my parents used to bring me here all the time." He shrugged. "I'm a rather special guest, they always reserve this table for me." He gloated before picking up his Pokéballs. "How about I show you my team, Rubes? They're quite impressive." I made sure to continue a blank expression as six Pokémon were brought out from their Pokéballs.

"Squirtle!" I looked to the Squirtle and smiled.

"Hey there, remember me?"

"Squirt! Squirtle, Squirtle!" He agreed with a nod of his head and waddled over, blowing bubbles from his mouth to surround us and I giggled, unable to hide my amusement at the cuteness of the Pokémon. Squirtle wore a smug look on his face as he breathed out another wave of bubbles and I popped a few.

"Char." Charmander snorted then looked away, unimpressed. Gary also had a Nidorino, which I uploaded into my Pokédex. He's the evolved form of a male Nidoran and if I was right, he would later evolve into a Nidoking.

There was also a Rattata, a Spearow, a Pinsir and finally a Horsea. The little water Pokémon looked up at me. "Sea?" It squeaked softly and instantly my eyes sparkled.

"Oh it's so adorable! Can I hold it?" Gary smirked then nodded his head.

"Be my guest. I caught Horsea with a fishing rod. You should get one, they're great for getting additional Pokémon who won't turn up on land, though this was a pretty impressive find. Technically Horsea are only found out at sea but this one must have been abandoned by a previous trainer to be so far inland." I ignored him, however, as my arms were now holding the cutest Pokémon I have ever seen, smiling and tickling its belly which made it trill happily. "Sea! Sea! Horsea!"

Charmander watched the interaction with a frown before snorting out a flame and turning its back. "Sir…Pinsir…" The Pinsir inched closer and I beamed at the Pokémon.

"Hi! I'm Ruby. It's nice to meet you all. This is Pidgey and Charmander, my own Pokémon." I introduced them, trying my best to ignore Gary completely, which honestly wasn't all that difficult.

"Nido!" Nidoran puffed out his chest then crawled under the table to rub my legs, making my giggle.

"That tickles!" Rattata bounded across the table and sat before me, its nose twitching before it smiled broadly, closing its eyes.

"Rattata!" It jumped onto my shoulder then sat down there, nuzzling into my hair and I giggled further, turning my head into him to stop his whiskers from tickling my neck. Gary watched me interact with his Pokémon in silence, leaning back to observe. My Pidgey and his Spearow didn't hit it off well, they clicked their beaks and spread their wings threateningly at one another but I quickly whistled, getting both their attention.

"We'll have none of that in here, thank you very much." I informed them both sternly. "We're in a public place so I want you on your best behaviour, especially you Pidgey, you need to set an example." Pidgey puffed up her chest then drew herself up proudly.

"Pidgey." She agreed firmly. I looked to Charmander who was sitting on his own at the end of the table with his back to everyone.

"Hey…Charamnder, why don't you come and meet everyone?" I invited him but he ignored me. "Charmander?"

"You still having problems with that Charmander?" Gary questioned, his smirk easing off his face as he simply looked at Charmander with what seemed like sympathy. "That's too bad."

"He wants to go home." I sighed, stroking Rattata as I set Horsea in a pool of water to have a splash around. "Professor Oak told me he was found on Cinnabar Island so that's where I'm taking him so I can set him free." Gary looked at me with surprise and I hung my head. "I must really suck as a trainer if he doesn't even want to stay with me." There was a little silence before I suddenly felt the Pokémon all move closer to me, cooing sadly and trying to comfort me. Pidgey landed on the opposite shoulder that Rattata sat on and they both nuzzled into me. "Thanks guys."

"It's not necessarily you as a trainer that's the problem." Gary said to me. "My grandpa told me once that sometimes Pokémon are just not meant to be with people, so it's not your fault." I looked at him curiously. Why was he being so nice all of a sudden? I've known Gary for a long time and have only ever seen him be a mean bully.

However I had no time to answer as a wave of waitresses came to our table and began to set food down on the table and floor, letting our Pokémon mingle and munch happily together. I stared at all the food, some of it things I had never even seen or smelt before. "Uh…I can't afford to pay for all this." I gushed, looking to Gary who was already tucking in. "It's way too expensive!"

"Just eat, you look starving." My belly rumbled in agreement so I slowly began to pick and nibble at things, glancing around nervously before giving into my hunger and diving straight in. Charmander wasn't eating still, so I swallowed my mouthful of pizza then took a burger, removed the salad then shifted closer to him.

"Hey, Charmander, look what I have." I tempted, waving the smell towards him. Charmander sniffed, opening his eyes and turning his head slightly.

"Char?"

"Uh huh, would you like it? There's plenty more but you'll have to come and get them." I smiled. "Come on, I know you're hungry." Charmander looked at the burger then back at me before turning around and grunting. "Char." Shoulders sagging I sighed.

"Okay, I'll leave it here then, in case you change your mind." I set it down then shifted away again, looking to the Rattata who squeaked softly then licked my fingers, making me smile weakly.

"In any case, you've done a great job with your Pidgey. It looks pretty strong." Gary observed, trying to pick up the mood. "I bet it'll evolve soon."

"Oh no, I don't think so. Pidgey has been with us for years and has never evolved. I don't think she wants to." I reached out and stroked her feathery head. "And if she doesn't want to then I won't make her."

"She'll only become stronger if you let her evolve. Like my Pokémon, I'm working on gaining them experience so they can evolve as quickly as possible." I rolled my eyes.

"Training Pokémon isn't all about evolving, it's about learning to understand the way they think and feel, that way you can become more tuned when in the middle of a battle. Strong bonds are necessary to make a strong trainer and Pokémon." This time is was Gary who rolled his eyes.

"I don't have time to work on bonding, we are a dedicated team and we take our training very seriously. Isn't that right guys?" All his Pokémon all stopped eating and nodded their heads affirmatively. "You see? They're all happy." I gave a short sigh.

"I suppose that's all that really matters." Tucking into some more food I was practically full when everything was cleared away, only to be further tempted with deserts. There was no way I could pay the bill now. I hope Gary intended to go halves with me.

"You know, we never used to talk in school." Gary noted to me and I laughed.

"That's because I used to think you were an arrogant jerk." I retorted simply then smirked as he had the decency to look slightly embarrassed for a moment before his smirk returned.

"What's changed your mind now then?" I waved a hand as I shrugged.

"Oh nothing really, these days I think you're just an insufferable jerk as well as arrogant." Gary rolled his eyes, shooting me a sour, irritated look before scooping up some ice cream from his multi-flavoured sundae. There was chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, mint chocolate, toffee, raspberry and several other flavours that all looked delicious.

I pulled towards me the chocolate fudge cake with gooey sauce, one of my favourites. "Here, try this one. It's one of my favourites." Gary said to me suddenly then scooped up a particular flavoured part of his sundae then held it out to me. I blinked at him. What was he doing? Why was he being suspiciously nice to me?

"Are you after something?" I asked him cautiously. "Some sort of information that you think that only I have or are you planning something?" He laughed. Strangely, it wasn't his usual mocking laughter but a nice, ringing sound which made some of the younger ladies in the room swoon.

"No, just try it." He invited again then gestured with the spoon so I slowly inched closer, watching him continuously to make sure he didn't do anything to humiliate me. I tasted the ice cream, taking it from the spoon then pondered on the flavour carefully. It tasted like blackberry cheesecake, it was delicious!

"It's nice." I told him. "Thank you." He nodded his head with an unreadable expression then continued to eat.

"Char." I looked up with surprise to see Charmander standing on the table, carefully watching my chocolate cake with interest, especially the sticky fudge sauce. "Charmander." He licked his lips then noticed I was looking. He made to spun around and face his back to me but I spoke quickly.

"Would you like some? I'm more than happy to share if you like." I said to him and he paused then watched as I scooped a large portion onto my spoon then offered it to him, cupping my hand underneath to catch any drizzling sauce.

Charmander sniffed it curiously, glanced at me then licked it carefully. His eyes bulged and his eyes shone as he gasped then quickly ate the rest of it. I had to rescue the spoon from his mouth before he could swallow it. "Char! Char!"

"You like that? It's one of my favourites too. Here, have some more." I went to cut another piece off for him when I felt his head smash into my side. "Hey! What have I told you about ramming me! It hurts!" I yelped at him as he picked up the plate.

"Char." He snorted, stuck out his tongue then licked up the sauce, his tongue slathering the cake which he left, obviously not wanting that part.

"Oh great. Thanks a lot." I muttered under my breath, rubbing my arm where I had been hit by that greedy little Pokémon. I think another one to one talk was due.

"Hey, are you okay?" Gary asked me with concern, up on his feet and already moving towards me. "Here, let me help you."

"I'm fine." I grumbled but he'd already taken my hands and was pulling me up to my feet. Behind me I felt several heads push against my back and legs and I looked to see Nidoran, Pinsir and Rattata helping me to stand whilst Squirtle was facing Charmander and giving him a good telling off.

"Squirt, Squirt, Squirtle. Squirtle-Squirt, Squirtle!" Charmander growled then snorted, rolling his eyes then turned around. His tail whipped out and smacked Squirtle across the face, making him yelp. "Squirtle!"

"Hey!" Both Gary and I called out and I blinked when I realised he was still holding my hands. Blushing with humiliation I pulled away then grabbed Charmander as Squirtle tried to Skull Bash him. "Say you're sorry to Squirtle or we're leaving this instant!" I snapped to the Pokémon who shook his head then looked away. What am I going to do with this Pokémon? "There was no need to be so rude and unkind, you have a lot to learn about manners, mister and I sure am going to give you a lesson or two. Now, if you want to go home then you had better start treating both me, other Pokémon and people with more respect, or you can make your own way home!" Charmander gasped then looked at me in shock, whining in a pitiful voice.

"Chaaaar!"

"Yeah, good luck crossing the ocean on your own. Now, are you going to say that you're sorry?" Looking down sullenly Charmander nodded so I put him down on the table then turned him around. "Right, now shoot." Charmander looked up at Squirtle who was glaring at him, arms folded and foot tapping on the surface and I noticed how similarly he stood and looked to Gary, who was doing practically the same thing.

"Charmander…" Charmander apologised so Squirtle sniffed.

"Squirt." It nodded its head in acceptance. Deciding that Charmander needed some time out, I returned him to his Pokéball.

"I'm so sorry." I gushed to Gary. "I just can't control him." With a sad sigh I looked away and turned around. "Maybe I should never have left home."

"It's okay, you disciplined him pretty well in any case. Come on, there's still all this food to be eaten and I can't eat it all on my own." Gary said, sitting back down with Squirtle in his arms who he set on his lap.

"Why are you being so nice?" I asked him with a frown, placing a hand on my hip as Pidgey swooped forwards then settled on my shoulder. "You're mean to Ash, always putting him down, you always used to ignore me ever since preschool and you gloat about every tiny victory you ever had, so why this sudden change?" Gary smirked.

"Maybe I like to be unpredictable." He inclined his head to the seat beside him. "Sit down, relax, live a little."

"Nidoran!" Someone agreed then butt into my legs, causing me to stumble a step forwards and I looked to Nidoran who smiled cheesily up at me before sitting down to take a nap, Rattata bounding over to curl up next to him and have a snooze also.

"Okay." I decided. "Just a few minutes." Sitting down I went to reach out for a plate of biscuits when Gary pushed his massive sundae to sit between us then handed me a spoon.

"Come on, I'll fight you for the best bits at the bottom." I blinked at him then grinned.

"You're on!" So we shovelled the ice cream into our mouths, trying our best to hide the brain freeze so we could reach the treats at the bottom like gummy sweets, chocolate pieces and I was surprised to even found some popping candy too, making me giggle as it suddenly crackled in my mouth. "So where're your fan club?" He grinned at me.

"You're still welcome to join." He told me so I arched an unimpressed eyebrow at him. "They're out shopping, I think, or doing whatever they do. Just don't tell them about this date, you'll end up breaking a few hearts." He told me and I dropped my spoon.

"This is not a date!" He laughed.

"Looks like one to me. Fancy restaurant, private booth, sharing ice cream…" With horror I realised he was right. Blushing furiously I turned my head away.

"Still, it isn't a date. We just happened to uh…bump into one another." I turned back to him. "So there." He smirked then gave a shrug.

"Whatever." We finished the ice cream with full bellies. I personally felt like I was going to burst. Our Pokémon were all napping, their soft snores rumbling and I chuckled, looking to Pidgey and Spearow who were nestled down happily together, their heads resting on one another's necks. "Perhaps I'd better take them all back to the hotel. We're pretty beat." Gary mused so I sighed and nodded.

"Sure. Thanks for the company. You weren't as bad as I thought you would be, though I'm still not convinced you're not a jerk." I shot at him as I went over to Pidgey and gently woke her up.

"Pidgey?" She fluffed up her feathers slightly then looked at me.

"Time to go I'm afraid. Don't worry, you can have a nice long rest and I won't disturb you until tomorrow." I promised her, lifting my Pokéball then let her return but only after she had said goodbye to Spearow, who clicked his beak then rubbed heads. They're so cute, I almost didn't want to break them apart but Pidgey looked more than happy to return to her comfy Pokéball.

"Thank you for dining with us, I hope you come again! This is the bill for both your previous meal and your ever so lucky dine in with Mr Oak here." The waitress trilled to us then presented me with the bill. My eyes practically burst out my skull at the price.

"Wha…?" But then it was plucked out of my hand and Gary handed over the money in cash. Who in the world had that much cash on them in paper? Just…how?

"It's alright, it's on me." He said to no one in particular as he began to summon back his Pokémon, though they all ran to me first and nuzzled against me to say goodbye.

"But…oh! Bye all, I hope I see you again soon." I told them, rubbing their heads as one by one, they were summoned back.

"Squirtle." Squirtle called then sent me a gift of hundreds of bubbles, making me giggle.

"Thank you Squirtle, they're really pretty." I told him and he nodded his head with a proud look on his face before Gary returned him to the Pokéball.

"Sea! Sea! Horsea!"

"Aw, I didn't forget you!" I assured her, stooping down and picked her up. "You take care now, don't let all those other big guys scare you, you're just as strong as any of them." Tickling her belly I then set her down as she trilled with happiness until she was also returned to her Pokéball. "Gary I can't let you pay for all the bill, it's not fair. It's way too much." I tried to tell him but he merely shrugged, arms folded across his chest.

"Don't sweat it. I can afford a little luxury." He answered then nodded to me. "Good luck with your gym battle tomorrow. If I'm around I might come and watch you." I stared at him. Watch me? He can't come and watch my first gym battle! What if I massively screw up? "But hey, depends how busy I am. See you around Rubes." I glared at him.

"It's Ruby." I corrected him haughtily then blinked, remembering that he had just bought my dinner for me. "But thanks for the food."

"Sure, whatever." He paused in his exit to turn a dark smirk back on me. "Rubes." I growled after him, clenching my fist. No one called me Rubes except for my parents. Why did it agitate me so much when he took the liberty of nicknaming me? Sheesh, I think I seriously need a good night's rest.