Saphiria walked behind Riku by a fair bit. She carried Lust with the others behind her. Riku turned his head to her.
"So, what do you plan to go through?" he asked. Saphiria looked into the sky.
"Contests of course, I don't want to fight anyone," she replied. Riku smiled and kept walking. Sandshrew was fast asleep just like Lust. Riku stopped and saw a little bush. On it hung Shuca berries. Riku knelt beside it and picked one.
"We should grab some of these," he smiled placing it in his bag. He began picking more. Saphiria helped Riku pick them. "This way if I can't buy dinner I have something to eat. You, too, can eat something. I'm sure you've eaten berries before."
"Yep, all the time," Saphiria replied. Riku wasn't surprised. He finished packing his bag with the berries and stood up. He continued down the path and Saphiria followed. She looked at Riku, sizing him up. He was taller than her, but also skinnier than her. She always thought it was the man's job to be muscular or fat. Well, at least beefy would be nice. But he was boney, like he would be blown away at any moment. He turned and looked at Saphiria.
"Something wrong?" he asked. Saphiria blinked for a while, recollecting herself.
"Why aren't you fat?" She exclaimed though there were high expectations. Riku stopped and began trying to figure out what was just said.
"What?" he asked. Saphiria frowned and tried to rephrase that.
"You are so skinny, why don't you have any meat on you?" Saphiria questioned. Riku looked at his own body. He hadn't realized how skinny he looked.
"I don't have a lot of money, unfortunately, so I don't eat a lot. And berries may fatten up a Pokémon but are no good for fattening up people," Riku replied. Saphiria felt slightly sorry for Riku and shuffled back and forth. Riku peaked over to her from the corner of his eye and saw the sorrow that rested in her.
"It's really nothing to worry about. I'll be fine," he said bearing a wide smile. Saphiria smiled meekly and began walking over to him slowly. She stopped when she heard a noise, like a bird cry or something. Out of nowhere a motorcycle popped out of the book with a boy screaming in joy. Riku flung himself out of the way before the cycle had a chance to land on him. The boy propped up his goggled and looked at Saphiria, releasing a long whistle. Riku sat up and looked at the boy.
"Are you insane? You could have hit me!" Riku snapped. The boy threw a Pokéball at Riku and hit him square in the forehead. Riku got knocked over and his Sandshrew crawled out of his hood.
"Oh, so you aren't just an ugly Pokémon!" The boy gasped. Riku bolted back up.
"That's just ru-" before he could finish the boy threw another Pokéball at him. Riku rubbed his forehead and slowly sat up. "I thought we already established I wasn't a Pokémon," he growled.
"I know, but that's just fun," the boy snickered. He turned back to Saphiria who was watching, slightly confused and spooked. The boy grinned.
"Hey, what's your name?" he asked. Saphiria swallowed and looked at Riku who was getting onto his feet. She looked back at the boy.
"S-Saphiria," she replied. She straightened up a little. "My name is Saphiria!" The boy raised his eyebrows.
"Like a sapphire, eh? That's a pretty name for a smoking girl," he crooned. Riku rolled his eyes at the boy and walked around his parked bike. He stopped beside Saphiria.
"Let's go, this guy is only going to be trouble," he whispered. Saphiria nodded then another Pokéball hit Riku in the back of the head.
"Hey, I wasn't done talking to the pretty lady. You need to learn some manners, like how not to inturupt a conversation!" the boy barked. Riku rubbed his head and turned to the boy. He gritted his teeth and Saphiria backed away a bit.
"You wanna go?" the boy asked. Riku looked at him.
"Depends on which "go" you are talking about. No fists, then yes, I only do Pokémon battles," Riku replied. The boy laughed.
"I could use a Pokémon, I guess," he snickered. He took out another Pokéball and Riku covered his head, just in case. The boy released the Pokémon from the ball. It was a Dodrio. Riku swallowed hard. For it to be a Dodrio, it had to have been strong. Riku pulled out a Pokéball.
"Go-" before Riku could say anything the Dodrio was charging him. He leapt out of the way and Saphiria ran to the side.
"Hey, I didn't get to call my Pokémon!" he exclaimed. The boy laughed as he perched comfortably on his bike.
"Who said you got to summon a Pokémon? I never said it would be Pokémon on Pokémon, just that I'd use my Pokémon instead of my fists," the boy explained. Riku was slightly worried.
"Then let's not battle, I mean it's not your fault that I almost got ran over or anything, right?" Riku asked, trying to avoid the fight. The boy squinted at him.
"Are you a coward?" he asked. Riku shook his head, despite the want to nod. He didn't want to be marked as a coward, just didn't want to get hurt either. The boy chuckled, "Yes you are, you don't want to fight my Pokémon."
"No, I just don't want anyone getting hurt," Riku replied. The boy shook his head and pointed at Riku.
"Too late, it's my game now. Dodrio, attack!" He cheered. Dodria turned to Riku and began charging an attack. Riku could feel a mixture of things, it was warm, damp and sharp. Riku quickly leapt away just in time to miss the Tri attack of Fire, Water and Lightening. Riku missed his footing and toppled over. The Dodrio jumped onto Riku and began pecking at his face. Riku held up his arms defensively. The boy laughed and Saphiria was shuffling. She was scared and unsure of what to do. Riku was in trouble but she couldn't bring herself to do anything.
"Once this is over, I'll be taking care of your girly, give her a nice ride. You ok with that?" the boy asked. Riku clenched his teeth. His arms were sore but if he lowered them it'd be worse. "Let's finish this, shall we?" Dodrio gapped open its mouths, charging a beam of light. "Don't worry, you will only be burnt up a bit but should pass out before then!" the boy added. Riku closed his eyes, scared.
"No!" Saphiria shrieked. Kai instantly reacted to the shriek and leapt out. He fired a Thunder bolt at the Hyper Beam that Dodrio was firing, knocking it off course. Riku could feel the heat and the static discharge coming from the collided blasts. He slowly opened his eyes and looked the side, where the blast had hit. He sighed in relief. Sakura ran over and tackled the Dodrio off Riku. She used Flame Thrower and Kai used Thunder. Dodrio cawed at them and began pecking. Sakura took a deep breath and Kai ran away from her. She released an extremely hot, scorching fire. The Dodrio screeched and fainted.
"W-Wow!" The boy exclaimed. He was flabbergasted and returned his Dodrio. He was amazed by what he had just seen. Saphiria trotted over to Riku and dropped down beside him.
"You ok?" she asked. Riku carefully sat up, arms still sore. He looked at Saphiria and nodded. The boy growled deeply. He sat on his Motorcycle comfortable and started it. Riku looked over as the boy drove straight at them. Riku tackled Saphiria out of the way in time for the boy to pass by. The boy stopped and turned.
"No one takes down my Pokemon, not without some pain," he growled. Riku sat up.
"Yeah, we already did the pain part," he muttered, remembering the feeling of Dodrio's pecks. The boy charged at them again. Saphiria watched as Riku stood in the way of the bike and Saphiria, wanting to protect her. Before the Bike could reach them, though, a large bird swooped down, knocking the boy over. Riku turned to the landing bird. It was a Staraptor, and on top of it was a man. He wore a black fedora and a blue buckle jacket. He looked at the others. The boy began panicking.
"I'm out of here!" he exclaimed getting back on his Motorcycle and driving off.
"Wow, that's timing," the man whistled. He wasn't much older that Riku, but definitely an adult. The man looked at Riku and smiled. "Well, see you later!" he exclaimed taking off again. Riku watched him fly away, thankful. If he hadn't shown up, he'd probably be hospitalized.