Here is SE #028. As mentioned in the previous SE chapter, this is the SE version of the Ruby & Sapphire moment in SA #013: The Storm. This moment is currently the first (and only) moment that has two separate versions.

But… this took so damn long because this whole chapter didn't work out nearly as well as planned.

Primary: Ruby & Sapphire.

Chapter 28: Retirement

"What?" Ruby exclaimed. He looked at Platinum with a surprised expression. "Sapphire's doing what?"

"Senior Sapphire is trying to return her Pokédex," Platinum said with a worried expression. "I have tried to convince her to change her mind, but it did not work. I am afraid that only you can change her mind, senior Ruby…"

"But… why's she trying to return her Pokédex?" Ruby asked. "She loves being a Dex Holder…" He jumped to his feet and prepared to go. "Where is she?"

"Senior Sapphire is currently at home, senior. I believe she is trying to convince her father to take her Pokédex."

Ruby looked at his watch. It was currently just before 1 pm, and because he was in Lilycove City, it would take a while before he could get to Littleroot Town. He needed to take the ferry that would take him from Lilycove to Slateport (that would take roughly an hour and twenty minutes), then he would simply run from Slateport to Littleroot, using his Swampert to cross the water in Route 103. Ruby estimated that he would arrive at Sapphire's house in… 3 hours.

He reached into his pocket and took out his wallet. Unfortunately, he didn't have enough money to buy the ticket for the ferry. He looked at Platinum.

"Hey… uh… can I borrow some money?" he asked with an embarrassed expression. "I need to take the ferry that would take me to Slateport, and… I can't afford it right now."

"Of course, senior," Platinum replied. She reached into her bag and withdrew her wallet. The smallest bill she had was worth 100 000 PKD. "Would this suffice?" she asked, looking at her senior.

"Uh… yeah. That would do…" Ruby replied. 'Sometimes, I wonder how exactly she has this much money…' He received the bill from Platinum and stuffed it in his pocket. "I'll pay you back the next time I see you, okay?"

The heiress nodded. "But please hurry home, senior Ruby. Senior Sapphire needs you."

"Right. I'll see you later."

Ruby activated his Running Shoes and headed straight towards the port. If he was lucky (or fast enough), then he would arrive quick enough to take the ferry that leaves at 1 pm. If not, then he'd have to wait for the 1:30 one. He intended to spend the duration of the trip to Littleroot thinking about what to say to make Sapphire change her mind. The first thing he needed to do was… find out what was bothering her.

What could have possibly happened to her that would make her want to retire as a Dex Holder? Unfortunately, Ruby had been in Lilycove City for the past week (Contest related) and Sapphire had been… somewhere. Ruby sighed and wished that Sapphire carried around a Pokégear so he could call her every now and then. How the hell did she manage to live so long without a portable communication device?

4 hours later…

Sapphire simply stared into the television screen in her Secret Base while lying comfortably on the couch. She didn't know how the television worked in the Secret Base, but Ruby must've done something. She didn't know, and didn't really care either. On the television's screen, she could see the news anchor finishing with a story.

"… the Skitty played with the ball of yarn all night long. In lighter news, a man was found dead in his house after his heart grew 3 times the size of normal upon witnessing the most heartwarming scene in his life. Initial reports say that his death was caused by his heart crushing his lungs as it tripled in size. We'll bring you more information as it comes."

Sapphire shut off the television and yawned while stretching. There wasn't anything worth watching (then again, she never really watched television to begin with).

"What do you want, Ruby?" she suddenly asked.

"Knowing you, I'm surprised you didn't notice me for this long," came Ruby's voice from behind.

"I noticed the moment you entered," Sapphire said as she rose to her feet. She turned around and could see Ruby leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. "So what do you want?"

"Why, Sapphire?" Ruby asked instead. "Why are you giving up your Pokédex?"

"That's none of your business," Sapphire said coldly.

"It is. As your neighbor and friend, it's my job to stop you from doing anything bad." Ruby slowly walked towards her. "So, why are you trying to retire as a Dex Holder?"

"I have my reasons," the Hoenn girl said as she sat back down on the couch. She crossed her arms and looked away from Ruby.

Ruby sat beside her and cleared his throat. "And they are?"

Sapphire suddenly sighed. She looked at Ruby and stared into his eyes. "I… I went to visit Coach yesterday, and… the people of Fortree City… they keep… avoiding me. I overheard some of them talking, and they think I'm some kind of freak!"

'Well, that's not very surprising…' Ruby thought to himself. "Why?"

"They think I'm only capable of fighting… like some kind of a battle freak."

Ruby simply stared at her. "Well… you are."

Sapphire sighed in exasperation. She rose to her feet and took a few steps away from Ruby. "You don't get it… Everyone in Hoenn knows me because of what I did as a Dex Holder. But at the same time, they all know that I'm focused on Pokémon battling. I spar with Chaka, I love training with Red and Green, and I like holding practice battles with Platinum. That's not going to change. I'm not going to participate in Pokémon Contests, ever. But that doesn't mean I should be avoided by everyone…"

"And you think giving up the Pokédex is going to help, how?" Ruby asked.

"If I'm no longer a Dex Holder, then people won't hear from me ever again," Sapphire said rather sadly. "I won't be there during Dex Holder meetings or ceremonies, and in time, people will forget me, and I'll be able to go places without being avoided."

"If you would stop doing barbaric things, I think this whole problem would be solved," Ruby said.

"Battling is not the only reason why people avoid me…" the Hoenn girl said with a sigh. "They know almost everything about me… They know that I can lift up Ronono… and that's one of the main reasons why people think I'm a freak. It's not my fault I can lift up Aggrons without much difficulty…"

"You can lift up your Aggron?" Ruby asked. "I never heard that before…"

"Well… I can't run while carrying it, but yeah, I can lift up Ronono."

Ruby shook his head. "Anyways… You know, it could just be a small group of people in Fortree City that doesn't like you. You can't give up the Pokédex just because of that."

"No… I stopped by Mauville, Slateport, and Oldale on my way back to Littleroot," Sapphire muttered. "Same reaction… … Even people from Littleroot avoid me… I can't stand it!" She turned to look at Ruby again, and the ex-Johto boy was surprised to see tears in the girl's eyes. "I've been called a freak twenty times in five different cities and towns yesterday…"

Ruby tried to think of a solution to Sapphire's problem, but no ideas came. He then tried to think of comforting phrases to say to the girl, but again, no ideas came up.

Sapphire suddenly calmed down. "… I'm glad you came though… I wanted to talk to you…"

"Huh?"

"I want you to make me a new set of clothes," she said. "So people don't recognize me. And I'm going to stay away from every Dex Holder from now on and do whatever I can to remain hidden from the public. So… I want you to apologize to the other Dex Holders for me… especially to Red and Platinum…" Sapphire suddenly wiped away a tear. "And I wanted to say goodbye…"

Ruby looked very surprised. "What?"

"I'm going off to a faraway region where people won't recognize me. I'll be staying away from every Dex Holder… including you. I… don't know when I'll be able to see you again, so I want to say goodbye." Sapphire suddenly hugged Ruby. "Good bye, Ruby… I'll miss you…"

Ruby simply watched Sapphire as she started to walk away. He quickly snapped out of his shock and desperately thought of a way to get Sapphire to change her mind. Then an idea suddenly came…

"Wait," Ruby said. "I'm going with you."

Sapphire turned to look at him. "What?"

"I'm going with you," Ruby repeated. "You know that Dex Holders are widely known for their battling talents. As you might imagine, that image doesn't sit well with me." He cleared his throat and thought of what to say from there. "Remember, I just… ended up with the Pokédex. The only reason why I kept it all this time was because… well, I'll be blunt. It was because of you." He carefully examined Sapphire's expression. His plan seemed to be working… "But now, if you were to relinquish your Pokédex, then there's really no point in me holding onto mine, now is there?"

"But… you can't give yours up too! Our seniors need you," Sapphire said.

Ruby shrugged. "They need you more than me. You know that Red relies on you, Gold, and Platinum whenever some evil team arises. And Platinum looks up to you as her role model. Are you going to abandon their trust?"

"Platinum doesn't look up to me… She looks up to Blue and Red," Sapphire replied. "And as for Red, he has Gold to help him. They work great together, so me being there doesn't really change anything."

"Red and Blue are 7 years older than Platinum," Ruby said. "She needs someone closer to her age that she can look up to. But whatever. It's your decision. If you leave, I'm going with you."

Sapphire groaned. "Don't be like this… please… It's my decision to leave, but… I can't make you give up your Pokédex too… Our seniors need you… Hoenn needs you…"

"Again, our seniors and Hoenn need you a lot more than me."

"What do you want me to do, then?" Sapphire asked. "People of Hoenn think I'm a freak and avoid me. If I stay as a Dex Holder, then I'll remain famous and be avoided forever. I can't just give up the Pokédex and go away because you'll do the same. So what do you want me to do?"

"You should focus on trying to change everyone's views instead of hiding. From what I heard, our seniors are going to start appearing on television shows. If you were to appear with them, then you could eventually get people to look at you differently. It would be rough at first because you'll be seen by people everywhere, but if you keep appearing and doing things that don't involve battling, I don't see why people would still hate you." Ruby put his hands on Sapphire's shoulders. "In the meantime, I'll stay with you wherever you go so you don't feel alone and left out. And I'll see if I can get Master and your coach to remind everyone in Hoenn that you saved them from evil teams in the past."

Sapphire sighed. "Do you really think that would work? Appearing on television? What if I screw it up and people hate me more?"

Ruby looked into her eyes. "… That's not going to happen. It's not live broadcast." He gave her a pat on the shoulder and satisfied that he managed to change her mind, he sat on the couch again with a smile. "And what happened to your old confidence? Come on, when did you ever worry about screwing up? If anything, you were always enthusiastic about everything."

"… I guess I lost confidence when everyone started calling me a freak…"

"Well then, I'll help you regain that confidence," Ruby said.

"How?"

"Well… All I need to do is lighten your mood. You won't feel any more confident about anything if you're sulking like that. So, I'll help you do 3 things that you've always wanted to do. Any 3 things."

"Any 3?" Sapphire muttered. "Um… I think I'll feel a lot better if you take me to Mirage Island…"

'Mirage Island? … I should've seen that one coming…' "Sure, why not." Ruby rose to his feet and headed out of the Secret Base. "Come on, then. Let's go find Grand Master so we can find out how to get there."

Sapphire smiled and quickly followed. "Thanks Ruby. I feel much better now."

Ruby grabbed her hand and looked at her. "Do you still want to give up the Pokédex?"

The Hoenn girl shook her head. "Nah… I think I'll be happier to know that we're both Hoenn Dex Holders…"

A short chapter uploaded after a long time… This didn't go as well as planned… not at all… Oh well… at least the upcoming chapter is almost done…

Next up: Diamond & Platinum.

After the Diamond & Platinum, I have two choices…

Choice 1: have SE #030 ~ SE #032 form a Black & White burst; the not-so-recent to recent developments in the BW arc provides ample Black & White moments. SPOILER ALERT! From White's fall from the Ferris Wheel (could people always open the door like that?) to her miserable attempts at Pokémon capture to her farewell with Black at the Battle Subway station, there are lots of Black & White moments that I could put in SE.

Choice 2: go as planned; SE #030 as Black & White, and future SE chapters to be decided at random. I still have some leftover chapters-in-the-works, so…