I've been notified that Crystal and Soul are the same person. Thanks for letting me know, but this was a fact that I was already very, very, very x100 well aware of. I am also aware that before Crystal appeared in the new outfit (blame her crazy mother for that attire), there were arguments of picking Crystal over Soul and vice versa. I, for one, think that it may have been better if both were present. Why pick one over the other instead of picking both? There's no reason for Soul to not exist because Crystal exists. Which was why I made Gold say "Can't you and Soul just get along?" in Surprise Gift.
But thanks for letting me know, and by all means, point out places where you'd like clarification/explanation, and any and all existing flaws that you'd like fixed, and I will explain them or fix them during the next update.
Primary: Ruby & Sapphire.
Memory Loss:
"Blast Burn!"
A Blaziken jumped into the air and thrust its arms forward, shooting powerful flames from its wrists. The girl behind the Blaziken, Sapphire, quickly ducked to avoid an attack from behind. Realizing that the attack was a Sludge Bomb, she jumped and hid behind her Aggron.
"Iron Defense," she ordered.
The immunity to Poison served well and Sapphire intended to use that time to heighten her Aggron's defense. Once the smoke from the attack cleared, she glanced around to look at her attackers. Sapphire was supposed to head to Slateport City where two other Dex Holders were waiting, but on the way, a bunch of muggers attacked. They were aiming to kidnap her in order to get something from Prof. Birch. But they had underestimated her, and what was supposed to be a quick and silent kidnapping has turned into a fierce battle… and they were losing.
But Sapphire was also getting tired and she was outnumbered by quite a bit. While the entire gang of muggers was distracted, she had sent her Tropius to Slateport to get help from the other Dex Holders. She now just had to wait and try to defeat as much enemies as possible. Another wave of Pokémon was defeated by Blaziken and Aggron. Sapphire's two Pokémon continued to attack the remaining enemy.
"Boss, we're going to lose if you don't do something!" one of the muggers yelled.
Sapphire suddenly heard a Pokéball opening from behind and turned to prepare for another enemy. But upon seeing the Pokémon, she gasped in shock and started to tremble… She was looking at her worst nightmare… Salamence. Scenes from that dreaded event many years ago started to flash in her mind… getting attacked by Salamence, watching Ruby fight it… watching him get hit by a Dragon Claw in the process…
Sapphire tried to focus on the ensuing battle but couldn't. Noticing her distraction, the muggers' boss attacked first. Sapphire couldn't hear the order the boss gave, as she was still in shock and fear. She gasped again when the Salamence roared loudly and flew towards her, preparing to use Dragon Claw. Sapphire dodged the attack just in time, but instead of swiftly jumping out of the way like usual, she simply dropped to the ground, using her arms to protect her head. Suddenly, she heard a thud and felt the ground shake. Still trembling, she looked up and saw Salamence looking straight at her…
She backed away slightly at the intimidating glare…
"Look, I've chased away the Salamence!"
"… Scary… so scary…"
'Scary…' Sapphire looked up at the Salamence; she never felt this scared before… But she suddenly remembered her vow after the first Salamence event… 'I must get stronger… I must learn to protect myself and others…' She clenched her hand into a fist as determination ran through her veins. '… Yes… I can beat this… I can win…'
Sapphire quickly got back up to her feet. Seeing the fast movement, the Salamence roared loudly. Surprised, Sapphire covered her ears to minimize the effect of the loud roar. Taking this time, the Salamence lunged forward with another Dragon Claw. Sapphire tried to back away, but she was too close to the attack. Even as she jumped backwards, the Dragon Claw hit her in the stomach, tearing through the outfit Ruby made for her and leaving a deep wound.
She screamed and started to stagger backwards, her arms wrapped around her stomach. Her Blaziken and Aggron heard her scream and both quickly ran towards her. Sapphire dropped to her knees and gasped for air as Salamence prepared another attack. Before the Blaziken and Aggron could get to their trainer, the Salamence had hit Sapphire on the head with an Iron Tail, knocking her out cold. Her Pokémon froze in their tracks as she simply dropped to her side.
"Make sure she's not dead," the boss said.
One of the muggers quickly ran towards her and checked her pulse. "She's still alive."
"Good," the boss said. "Take her, and deal with those two," he said, pointing at Blaziken and Aggron. The two Pokémon glared at him and prepared to fight on their own…
Meanwhile, Crystal paced around the Slateport City's Pokémon Center, waiting for Sapphire to arrive. She was given a task to explore around Hoenn and document various natures and characteristics of the wild Pokémon. Of course, she couldn't do it alone, so she needed Sapphire to guide her around, as the guide herself was experienced in studying Pokémon habitats. And, to ensure that nothing bad happened, Gold had to tag along…
Crystal sighed… she'd rather work with Emerald than Gold… she had enough of his complaining already. But unfortunately, Prof. Oak had already sent Emerald on another mission. Crystal had tried to ask for a different Dex Holder to work with, but conveniently, none were available.
Red was always missing, Green too, was always missing despite his Gym Leader work, Blue was with her parents, Yellow was somewhere in the Viridian Forest, and Silver was also missing, most likely somewhere in Johto. Meaning, the only Dex Holder available and accessible for help was Gold, who wasn't doing anything in particular, as always.
After another sigh, Crystal left the Pokémon Center to look for Gold. Instead of simply waiting, he had decided to head to the farmer's market to try some of the food there. As expected, she found him near a food stall, and also as expected, he bought a bunch of different food for himself, without even offering her any. She wasn't going to eat, but she would appreciate an offer…
"Hey, Super Serious Gal," Gold said, noticing Crystal. "Did she arrive yet?"
"No… … did you buy all this food just for yourself?"
"Well… yeah," Gold replied. Noticing Crystal grumbling, he swallowed the food in his mouth and tried to be as serious as he could. "Do you want some?"
"Of course I don't. I don't like to eat random food all day long."
"I figured you'd say that," Gold said with a smirk. "So then why are you complaining?"
"I'd appreciate the offer."
"Well, I offered some only to be rejected. Happy now?"
Crystal was about to reply to the last comment when she saw a Tropius quickly flying towards her. She recognized it as Sapphire's.
"Finally… Gold, she's here."
Crystal crossed her arms and waited for the Tropius to land. She was going to give her junior a hard time for not being punctual. But to her surprise, the Tropius didn't land. More surprisingly, there was no one on the Pokémon… and it seemed to be in a big hurry.
"Hey Gold, something's wrong with Sapphire's Tropius," she said in a slightly alarmed tone.
Gold looked up, and upon seeing the Pokémon expression, he quickly put all the food in his bag and stood up.
"It wants us to follow," he said. "Something must've happened to Wildchild Girl. Let's go, Crys."
Crystal quickly sent out her Xatu and flew up. Gold sent out his Mantine and using Remoraids' Water Gun, propelled himself forward and followed Tropius. A minute later, Gold and Crystal arrived where they could see Sapphire's Blaziken and Aggron still fighting. They seemed to be protecting something, and upon closer look, Gold and Crystal could see that they were protecting Sapphire, who lay unconscious.
Once they were close enough to the ground, Gold and Crystal jumped off and ran towards Sapphire's Pokémon to help them. Blaziken and Aggron relaxed a little, recognizing them as friends.
Gold sent out his Typhlosion and prepared to fight. Crystal sent out her Meganium and quickly checked on Sapphire's condition.
"Gold, can you take care of them? Sapphire needs help," Crystal said, noticing the big wound on her junior's stomach.
"No problem. Alright then, let's see Blast Burn and Frenzy Plant!" Gold yelled, pointing at the gang of muggers with his billiard cue.
The muggers quickly scattered from the attacks and sensing that they were no match, started to run away.
"They're getting away! Don't let them escape!" Crystal yelled.
"Yeah, yeah. I know, Super Serious Gal."
Gold sent out his Mantine again and flew towards the direction where the muggers ran away, with Typhlosion and Meganium following. Crystal carefully lifted Sapphire onto the Tropius and headed to the nearest hospital as fast as possible.
Next day, Sootopolis City…
"Good, Ruby. You're becoming better and better," said Wallace, looking at his disciple practice. "Now, let's see your practice for the Cool segment."
"Yes, Master! Alright then, let's…" Ruby trailed off when something vibrated in his pocket. "Excuse me, Master, my Pokégear is ringing."
"Very well then. Let's take a short break."
Ruby put the Pokégear up to his ear. "Hello, you've reached Ruby. If you see me in a Contest, remember to vote for me! VOTE RUBY!"
"Cut the crap, Fashion Boy," came Gold's voice on the other line. "Your girl's been attacked by a bunch of muggers and their Salamence. She's still not awake, so get your ass over to… …" he trailed off for a moment. "Yo, Super Serious Gal, where are we? … … Ah, right. Yo, Fashion Boy? Go to Mauville Hospital right now."
"Wait, who do you mean by my girl? You don't mean Sapphire, do you?"
"Yes, her. So get over here on the double!"
Ruby turned to look at Wallace. "Master… a senior Dex Holder just told me that Sapphire had been attacked… I have to get to her right now. She's in Mauville Hospital…"
Wallace nodded. "Alright. Training is over for today. Let's go to Mauville." He jumped into his air car and started it up as his disciple hopped into the side seat. "As a question… is that how you answer all your calls? Vote Ruby?"
"Well… yes. More voters the better."
Few hours later, Mauville Hospital…
Ruby barged into Sapphire's room in the hospital. All the other Dex Holders were there, and Sapphire was still lying on the bed with bandage wrapped around her head. From the sound of the door breaking open, Sapphire woke up.
"Hey, you're awake? Are you okay?" Ruby asked, approaching the bed.
To his surprise, she looked at him curiously. "Who are you?"
"Very funny, Sapphire," Ruby said. "But how are you doing?"
"How do you know my name?" Sapphire asked. She tried to sit up and winced in pain coming from her stomach and head. "What did you do to me?"
"Please try to relax," came a voice.
Sapphire looked up and saw a younger girl looking at her with a worried expression. The younger girl had dark blue hair and a mix of gold and silver as eye color. She had a long red scarf, and from her elegant looking attire overall, seemed quite… 'important'…
As quickly as she could, Sapphire kicked out of her bed and grabbed the younger girl as hostage. "Stay away from me!" she yelled, with her arms wrapped around the younger girl's throat. "Who are you, and what do you want? You attacked me, didn't you?"
"Sapphire, calm down!" Ruby yelled, slowly approaching her. He had his hands open to show that he meant no harm. He looked at the other Dex Holders for help.
"You need to see if you can make her remember you," Blue suggested.
Ruby thought for a second. "We first met 10 years ago, in Johto. My dad was there for a Gym Leader qualification test, and your father was there to watch. And…" he sighed and he removed his hat, revealing the mark left by Salamence's Dragon Claw all those years ago. "A Salamence attacked us, and I got this scar trying to protect you…"
Sapphire didn't seem convinced. She kept choking the younger girl but kept her eyes on Ruby.
"I think… it is working…" the younger girl gasped out. "Keep… trying… senior…"
"You have to say something that she would always remember. You know, something… special that she would never forget, I suppose…" Blue said.
'Something that she wouldn't forget…' Ruby thought to himself. "Uh… we helped stop the rampage of Groudon and Kyogre," he said. "And… we fought against Archie and Maxie together."
Still nothing.
'Damn… Looks like there's only one thing left…' "In Mirage Island," he started slowly. "Before we returned to the outside world, you said that you liked me…"
Sapphire's grip loosened, and the younger girl gasped for air.
Ruby could see that it was working so he continued. "And… once we did return, I pushed you off of your Tropius and locked you in Master's air car because I didn't want you to be involved in the dangerous final fight, and I said that I liked you too."
"Is… is that true?" Sapphire asked.
"Yes. Yes, it's true. And I do like you."
Ruby sighed and looked at Sapphire. To his surprise, she was… smirking?
"Ha! So you do remember!" she yelled, letting go of Platinum.
To Ruby's greater surprise, Platinum looked perfectly fine, as if the whole choking thing was…
'Oh…' "This whole thing was a ploy?" he yelled.
"The part of me losing my memory? Yes. Again, you do remember what happened in Mirage Island! I have witnesses this time!"
Ruby looked at the other Dex Holders.
"You fell for it. She got you," Gold said with a laugh.
Ruby looked back and forth between Sapphire and the other Dex Holders for a few seconds. Without warning, he bolted out of the room through the broken door, running as fast as he could. He made a note to himself to never trust Sapphire again…
"Damn… I should've blocked the doorway…" Sapphire muttered. "At least I have witnesses."
"And this whole conversation has been recorded," Blue said, with a Memory Firelighter in her hand. "Something I stole from him a few days ago," she said, tossing her junior the item.
Sapphire laughed as she caught the firelighter and put it in her bag. She climbed back onto the bed and relaxed, as her injuries were still hurting.
"He ran away, so what now?" Platinum asked.
"Where's he going to go? He'll be back. Besides, I know where he lives, and if he's training, then through Coach, I can find out where his Master is as well. He won't be able to escape it this time," Sapphire replied. "Sorry for choking you too hard, though."
"It was nothing, senior. But… you do need to relax, still."
"I'll be fine," Sapphire said. "Now that I know that he still likes me, I'll be fine…"
Two days later…
Sapphire arrived in Littleroot Town. Her injuries have healed enough that she could now return to her regular activities. After visiting home and ensuring her father that she was perfectly fine, she went over to Ruby's house. But he wasn't home, and his mother had no idea where he was either.
But lucky for Sapphire, she could see Ruby returning home from Route 101. She ran up to him, and he waved at her.
"Hi, it's been a while," he said with a smile.
Sapphire stopped right in front of him. "So, you do remember?" she asked with a smile of her own.
"Hm? Remember what?" Ruby asked.
"What you said at the hospital? And more importantly, what you said to me upon leaving Mirage Island?" Sapphire said, crossing her arms.
"Oh, that. You know, while training yesterday," Ruby started with an apologetic look. "I was running and I accidentally hit my head on a tree branch. Because of that, I can't remember a few things. Things like… what happened two days ago, and where I put my Memory Firelighter…"
"Really?" Sapphire said with a laugh. "Then perhaps this will help you remember."
She reached into her bag and pulled out the Memory Firelighter. After looking at it for a few seconds, she activated it and looked at Ruby.
"… Hey, you're awake? Are you okay?" came Ruby's voice from the Firelighter.
Ruby looked back and forth between his Firelighter and Sapphire, realizing that someone had stolen his Firelighter and used it to record everything in the hospital… As fast as he could, he tried to snatch the Firelighter away, but Sapphire wasn't going to let that happen. She pulled her hand back and smiled.
'Now… what can you do, Ruby? I have hard evidence,' she thought to herself.
'There's only one way out of this,' Ruby thought, as if he heard Sapphire's thoughts.
He ran. He activated his Running Shoes and bolted away as fast as he could. Sapphire, gritting her teeth, chased after him with all her might, but there was no way she could catch up.
"You can't run forever!" she yelled. "One of these days, Ruby!"
After a minute, Sapphire stopped. She put a hand on her stomach and looked at the direction in which Ruby ran.
"But I know you like me…" she muttered. "And that's enough for now…"
With a satisfied smile, she returned home, reactivating the Memory Firelighter and listening to the events at the hospital once more.
Next up: Diamond & Platinum. Again, reviews and suggestions are appreciated.