Return to you
DISCLAIMER: I Do NOT own Pokémon.
Chapter 7: Web of Encounters
After breakfast, Momo proceeded with her cleaning duties while the rest started with their warm-up for the gym battle at Azalea. Moro and Toro were doing well. The Blaziken held back a bit for her newest teammate, but Moro showed that she shouldn't easily be underestimated. The shiny Mareep was quite the hard worker.
Having finished with her responsibilities and leaving the pot and bowls to be picked up later by whoever left them in the first place., Momo caught up to them so she could join in as well. Sapphire thanked her Minccino and suggested that she and Moro have a friendly bout. The peach-colored sheep gladly approved of the idea as did the chinchilla.
Momo liked the Mareep. For once, she had someone near her size. The Minccino was just a little taller because of her large ears. But she hoped in the future, she'd even bigger so she could match up with the rest of Sapphire's team of giants.
"Moro, Momo, Ya guys ready?" Sapphire acted as the referee as her two pokemon stood anxiously at opposite sides.
"Mincci!" Momo swished her eagerly and grinned at her opponent.
"Maa!" Moro baaed excitedly as sparks shot out of her tail.
"Begin-!"
All of a sudden, Moro glowed all white. Her body changed and she stood up on her hind legs. Sapphire grinned as she saw her pokemon was evolving. She hurriedly got out her pokedex and awaited Moro's full transformation. Momo, on the other hand, just stared in surprise.
After the light faded, a light pink pokemon stood before them with a snow-white fleece adorning her neck and the top of her head. Her golden orb was now a vibrant green hue. Moro smiled and cried out with joy, "Flaaffy!"
Sapphire came over to her newly evolved pokemon. She was really happy, though Moro was still pink. With a smiling face to hide her disliking of the color, Sapphire patted the wool on the Flaaffy's head. "Congratulations, Moro!"
Momo also came over to see her friend's new form. With wide round eyes, she looked up at Moro. The Flaaffy was taller than her now. It was like she was getting left behind again. The Minccino just told herself that when she'd evolve too, she would also get taller.
Sapphire noticed Momo's dampened mood. In order to cheer her up, the blue-eyed lass playfully ruffled the tuff of fur on the chinchilla's head. "Don'tcha worry too much, Momo. I'm sure yer gonna evolve someday too."
The Flaaffy gave a bright optimistic smile to her friend in agreement to girl's words. "Flaff!"
Momo grinned back at them, feeling thankful for their encouragement. "Mincci!"
Looking at their hyped-up energy and the bright shining sun above, Sapphire thought it was time for them to face the Gym at Azalea Town. Though, the one on one battle couldn't be continued, Momo and Moro agreed.
After a refreshing session at the pokemon center, Sapphire, with Momo on her shoulder, headed for the gym. On the way, the Hoenn girl kept glancing at the Slowpokes that were just roaming or lazing around. The people in the town seemed very accustomed to it.
"Hello!"
Sapphire's turned around and saw a girl with dark auburn hair that was tied into twin loops, and beside her was a Slowpoke. The young lass smiled sweetly at her. "You're new in town right?"
"Yeah...?" Sapphire replied, feeling a little bewildered.
"Thought so." The girl giggled. "I'm Maisy, by the way. You should stop by my grandfather's house. He's famous for crafting special pokeballs out of Apricorns. If you have any, you should let him make you some."
Sapphire nodded at the helpful suggestion. "I'll do that. I got a lot of 'em. Thanks for telling me."
"No problem."
Sapphire followed the young girl to her grandfather's house so she could have her apricorns crafted. Momo was grumbling on her trainer's shoulder. The mere mention of the word Apricorn just made her irritable.
Sapphire shifted her eyes to the unhappy chinchilla. "Not again, Momo. Just get over it already, will ya?"
The Minccino puffed her cheeks and avoided eye contact with her trainer. The blue-eyed trainer gave a deep sigh, "As soon as I hand the Apricorns to Maisy's grandfather, we can leave and head over to the gym." Hearing those words, Momo settled down a bit. The idea of getting rid the accursed berries made her think the visit was a good thing.
Inside the house, Maisy introduced her grandfather, Kurt. The old man wore a blue-green Japanese rob and he looked as stern and serious as Ruby's father. Sapphire smiled a bit at the comparison. "Hiyah."
"So you've got some Apricorns for me?" Kurt said without even looking at his customer. He already knew the reasons as to why people come to him so he'd rather skip all the formalities and continue on with his work. "Just leave them here. Come back later."
"Grandpa's always like that." Maisy stated with a sweet smile. "…So like he said, just leave the Apricorns here. We'll make them into pokeballs as soon as we can."
"Mincci-Minccino!" Momo's voice sounded demanding. She was eager to get rid of the berries.
"Alright, already…Sheesh." Sapphire got out the Apricorn box and handed it to Maisy. "Ya gotta forgive Momo. She really hates Apricorns."
The smaller lass gladly received the box and giggled. "She took a bite out of one, am I right?"
"Yup." Sapphire playfully ruffled the grumbling Minccino's head. Then she turned to Maisy again. "Thanks again for tellin' me about the pokeball craftin' thing."
"No worries."
Sapphire was starting to think that it was strange that Maisy kept staring at her and smiling. "Uhm… Is there somethin' wrong with my face?"
"It's not that." Maisy replied. "I just really like your outfit. It's the same color as a Slowpoke."
"A Slowpoke, huh."Sapphire felt a sweat drop. That would explain why those yawning things came to the campsite. They were probably thinking that I was one of them… Cursed pink thing!
"Where did you buy it?" Maisy asked curiously.
"A-actually, my boyfriend made it for me." Sapphire replied with a slight pink hue forming across her face.
Maisy's smile widened even more. "Whoa! That's so great! Maybe next time, he could make me one too."
Sapphire forced a smile to hide the ache in her chest. "Yeah… Next time."
A little while later, Sapphire and Momo left and headed for the Gym. Outside, the sign read, "Bugsy: The Walking Bug Pokemon Encyclopedia."
"Bug-types, eh?" Sapphire couldn't quite read well the Encyclopedia part but the Bug Pokemon was all she needed to know. She shot small grin and took out her Blaziken's pokeball. "Fire-types work really well against them. Toro will come in handy."
"..Mincci."
The brunette patted the puffy cheeked chinchilla. "Ya can help out too, Momo."
Sapphire entered and was awestruck by the dense forest located inside. It was just like the greenhouse in Petalburg Gym, but only bigger, noisier and it had streams of thick silk hanging across the ceiling. From the trees to the short shrubs, the deep foliage was rustling and buzzing with insect pokemon. And some don't even look native to the Johto region.
According to Sapphire's pokdex, there were Caterpies to Wurmples, Spinaraks to Surkits, and even Joltiks and Larvestas. The place seemed to have a great variety of Bug types belonging to different regions.
"Just findin' the gym leader here is gonna be tough."
"Minccino…" Momo agreed. She shifted her head from left to right but only saw bug after bug.
Sapphire scaled one of the trees to get a better view. At the far end, the girl spotted some kind of open area like an arena. Trusting her instincts, her best bet was to head there, but it seemed sections of the gyms were divided by deep chasms and looking around, there was only one way to travel.
"This'll be fun." Sapphire grinned widely as she checked that it was strong enough to support her. Momo was curious as to what her trainer was staring at. She took a quick glance and shrunk back to Sapphire's shoulder just as quick and held on tighter.
"Let's go, Momo!" After untying the scarf on her hair, Sapphire set it between the thick strands of web and zip lined across the chasms. The sleekness of the silk made them move through the area faster and smoother than vine swinging. They zoomed from tree and tree, and finally jumped off at their destination.
Sapphire felt invigorated by the sudden rush and wished that gyms in Hoenn were just as elaborate. Momo, on the other hand, was a little shaken up and remained stiffly attached to her trainer's shoulder, but soon recovered in order to tie back her trainer's hair.
"Oh, hi there!"
Sapphire turned around and saw someone coming out of the bushes with a large insect net in hand. He had lavender eyes and hair, and wore a green scout uniform with a yellow scarf. Behind him trailed a large blue insect with a long sturdy horn, and several Combees.
"I'm Bugsy, the gym leader." The boy greeted as he extended his hand.
"I'm Sapphire Birch from Hoenn." The brunette shook his hand and grinned.
"Well, then. I don't want to keep a challenger waiting." Bugsy gestured for the insect pokemon to stay clear of the arena and then he called for one of the trainers in the gym to act as the referee/announcer. The volunteer bug catcher was carried off by a Venomoth to oversee the battle from the air.
"Each side will use three pokemon that can be switched out anytime. Whoever wins two out of three is declared the victor."
With both Bugsy and Sapphire positioned at opposite sides, the referee announced the fight to commence.
"We need ta know what kind of bug pokemon he uses." The blue-eyed teen whispered to her Minccino and grinned at her. "Ya can do that, right?"
"Mincci!" Momo nodded with eagerness and determination before bounding into the arena.
"This'll give me a chance to test out one of the latest addition to my team." Bugsy took out a pokeball and launched it in the air. "Go for it! Volcarona!"
A large moth with blue compound eyes and white fuzz on its upper body appeared on the battlefield. Its six spotted orange wings buzzed like a sizzling flame as it confronted the red-eyed Minccino.
"Okay! Momo, Let's start off with Swift!" Sapphire commanded.
The Minccino's tail glowed bright gold as it swung from side to side, firing multiple stars at the enemy. The moth-like pokemon couldn't dodge the high accuracy attack and was pushed back.
Bugsy wasn't at all bothered. "Our turn. Volcarona, use Fiery Dance!"
"A fire-type bug?" Sapphire muttered to herself in shock.
The sixed winged insect cloaked itself in flames and danced around the Minccino, releasing intense heat in the area that it could even be felt by the bugs and trainers at the side-lines. Momo panted heavily and braced herself in the inescapable flames.
"Surprised? This is the result of my extensive research." Bugsy declared proudly.
"You're not the only with surprises." Sapphire declared with a sly grin. "Momo, Aqua Tail!"
Momo's tail glowed bright blue as swirls of water formed around it. The heat was rapidly evaporating her attack but the Minccino mustered enough strength to keep it going as she surged through the heat and lashed at the fiery insect, knocking it to the ground.
But it wasn't over. Bugsy's Volcarona was still conscious and able to battle while Momo was covered in burns and breathing heavily.
"Momo, that's enough. Toro and Moro can handle it from here!" Sapphire called back the Minccino, but Momo shook her head and stood her ground. The chinchilla pokemon was resolved to finish what she started.
"I admire that little fella's spirit but that won't get you anywhere in this fight. The Azalea gym leader gestured to his pokemon. "Volcarona, Flame Charge."
The sun pokemon coated itself again with flames and rushed towards the opponent.
"Momo! I said come back-!"
The Minccino's body was suddenly surrounded by a vibrant orange aura, surprising her trainer, yet again. Sapphire decided to put her faith in her pokemon. "Momo, use Façade!"
The Minccino charged at the enemy and both attacks collided in a mix of red-orange light. Moments later, everything cleared up and both pokemon lied unconscious on the ground, declaring the round a draw.
Sapphire rushed to her Minccino and scooped the furry pokemon in her arms. "Momo, ya stubborn rodent…" The chinchilla pokemon opened her eyes weakly and smiled before passing out again.
Sapphire sent out her Flaaffy to tend to Momo while her Blaziken stepped into the battlefield and continue the fight. "Toro, let's win this for Momo."
The Blaze pokemon nodded and clenched its claws, ready to face anything.
Bugsy wasn't threatened by the girl's fire-type. He held out another pokeball and sent out his next pokemon. "You're turn! Masquerain."
Another insect pokemon appeared in the arena. It had four rhombus-shaped wings at the bottom and its tear-drop head had large orange and white antennae. Sapphire knew this pokemon well. She has seen it around Hoenn and knew about its water-type attacks. But she couldn't let that beat her. They were one win away from the badge and so was the opponent.
"Adaptation is a bug-pokemon's specialty." Bugsy commented. "Masquerain, Water Sport!"
The eyeball pokemon doused the whole area with water, cutting down fire-type moves in half. Sapphire and Toro were at an early disadvantage. Not only fire attacks but also the Blaziken's physical moves were reduced because of the Masquerain's Intimidate ability.
"Toro, Blaze Kick!" Sapphire commanded.
The Blaziken leaped into the air with its leg burning with red flames and attempted to strike the opponent but the Masquerain managed to move neatly out of the way.
"Follow up with Acrobatics!'
The blaze pokemon spun backwards rapidly in mid-air and struck a claw at the bug pokemon, knocking it down. But it got air-borne just before it hit the ground.
"Masquerain, use Aqua jet!" Bugsy exclaimed. The light-blue pokemon's body became surrounded rushing water as it shot back towards the Blaziken that was still in the air.
"Hurry and counter with Flame Thrower!"
Toro unleashed a stream of blazing hot fire from her wrists, directly at the Masquerain. The collision released thick clouds of steam in the battlefield. Now, not one of the pokemon was even visible.
"Masquerain! U-turn!" Bugsy's voice pierced through the thick shroud.
"Toro! Stay alert."
The Blaziken stood firmly on the ground and awaited the attack. Just then a shadow zoomed towards the Blaziken and tackled it, but Sapphire's pokemon managed to block the attack with her arms. The silhouette flew off and seconds later it charged again. Toro dealt a quick Slash at the impending enemy but her claw was grabbed a crimson metal pincher.
The steam cleared up. The Blaziken was locking claws with a red metallic mantis. Bugsy had sent out a different pokemon. Sapphire recognized it was a Scizor, having seen her senior Green using a similar pokemon.
"Use Blaze Kick!" Sapphire commanded.
Toro clasped her opponent and swiftly dealt the fiery attack. Bugsy's Scizor broke free of the Blaziken's grasp but not unscathed. Its side had a dark scorch mark.
Bugsy grit his teeth. "Now, use X-Scissor!"
The Scizor crossed his light blue glowing arms and rushed at the Blaziken with tremendous speed. The long battle was weighing down heavily on the blaze pokemon, making it impossible for her to move out of the way.
"Alright, Toro! Let's finish this!" Sapphire signaled her starter. "Blast Burn!"
Toro held out its arms towards the impending enemy and unleashed a massive stream of flames from its wrist, completely engulfing the Scizor in fire and knocking it unconscious.
"That was one heated battle!" The announcer in the sky commented. "And the winner is the Challenger, Sapphire Birch!"
"W-we won…" Sapphire couldn't fully express her joy. The battle in Azalea was far more difficult than she first expected. She was wrong to underestimate it at first glance. Once Toro had regained her breath, she walked back to her trainer. Momo also went over to Sapphire along with Moro, after she finally regained consciousness. The Hoenn teen wrapped her arms around her team as much as she could and congratulated them with a fanged grin.
Afterwards, Bugsy handed over the Hive Badge. It was red and round with three black spots. It was almost similar to a Ledyba. Sapphire had acquired her second badge. She eagerly showed it to her team whose faces immediately lit up with a sense of accomplishment.
Sapphire returned to the pokemon center to give Momo and Toro a well-deserved rest to recover from the hard battle. During that time, the Hoenn lass and Moro paid another visit to Maisy and her grandfather, Kurt.
The pokeballs weren't done. Maisy suggested that she'd have them delivered to her in a day or two. Sapphire took a peek at her map to know where her next destination was so Maisy would know where to send them. Her heart skipped and suddenly ached when she realized the next town was Goldenrod City, Ruby's hometown.
"Is something wrong?" Kurt's granddaughter asked worriedly after noticing Sapphire's abrupt silence.
"I-It's nothing… Maybe tomorrow or the day after, I'll be in Goldenrod City." The Hoenn teen pointed out as she tucked away her map and smiled as if nothing was wrong.
"Goldenrod, got it! I'll have someone deliver the pokeballs to you there." Maisy said as she led the blue-eyed teen out the door and bid her farewell.
While waiting, Sapphire walked around the town to keep her mind off of the subject concerning Ruby. Her heightened energy from earlier had disappeared. She sighed deeply and muttered, "Goldenrod, huh… Why is everything happenin' too damn fast?"
Moro followed her with concern. She wanted to cheer her up but she had no knowledge as to why her trainer was feeling down all of a sudden. It was really troubling. Worryingly, the wool pokemon tapped Sapphire's leg to draw the the girl's attention, "Flaaff?"
Sapphire crouched down and placed a hand on Moro. "I'm fine. Really..."
Moro didn't buy it. Her trainer's sorrow flickered in her clear blue eyes. But there was nothing that the Flaaffy could do.
An hour later, Moro and Toro were back and bounding with health and energy. And by that time, Sapphire's forlorn emotion was completely masked by her strong front. "Let's head over to the next town, guys."
The pokemon trio nodded eagerly. Before Sapphire was about to send Moro and Toro back to their respective pokeballs, the shiny Flaaffy managed to tell Momo about what happened earlier. The Minccino thrust a thumb at herself and wink, as if she was saying, just leave it to me.
In order to get to Goldenrod City, Sapphire had to get through the Ilex Forest. It was a long way to travel and the place was like a dark labyrinth. Large trees grew miles around and the thick treetops allowed minimal light to go through, shrouding the entire place with gray shadows. A wide array of bug-types and grass pokemon inhabited the area. Their little chirps and calls blended well with the rustling leaves.
Sapphire was unusually quiet and her pace was slower than normal. Momo figured out what Moro had meant. The chinchilla jumped down and started walking backwards in front of her trainer. "Mincci!"
Sapphire's mind was elsewhere. She paid no heed to her pokemon and continued walk along the forest path. Momo was not discouraged. She skipped a few times, did a backwards somersault and finally landed with a cute pose. "Minccino!"
Still Sapphire was not paying attention. It made Momo fume. That was it. There was only one way for her trainer to snap out of her gloomy mood. Her mouth curved cunningly as the chinchilla scurried of a tree. It was darker than she expected but she did what she could to find what she was looking for.
Finally, she plucked out a fruit that felt hard as a rock. After jumping down, she scrunched her face and prepared to fling the Apricorn towards her trainer, but there was a slight problem.
"Pineco!"
The Apricorn talked. Momo turned her head and saw the weird berry was not as round as the others and it had eyes—menacing red ones. The Minccino smiled nervously set the pokemon down gently. "…Mi-Mincci…"
"PINECO!" The bagworm pokemon started glowing bright white. Momo didn't want to stay and find out what would happen next. She quickly bolted away from the blue pinecone-like pokemon. And just in time, the Pineco self-destructed.
*boom*
Sapphire's attention shifted to the loud noise. She turned around and was immediately tackled by her panicking Minccino. "Momo?! What's with ya?!"
*poof*
A yellow cloud of spores were scattered into the air, making both Sapphire and Momo weak and dizzy. The brunette had accidentally stepped on a Paras when the Minccino pushed her. The mushroom pokemon released random spores in an effort to protect itself. The fumes were a mix of sleep powder and stun spore that knocked the duo unconscious.
"You're back early. Won your second badge, already?" Ruby was lounging leisurely on a giant Wailmer pillow while holding up the latest pokemon fashion magazine.
"I'm losing my mind, ain't I?" Sapphire commented sarcastically when she found herself back at the secret base with the dream-version Ruby.
The boy chuckled and flipped a few more pages. "Perhaps…"
Sapphire threw a pink cushion at him in anger. "You're not helpin'!"
Ruby picked up the cushion and fluffed it teasingly. "Look pink! Doesn't this color just bring out your eyes?"
A vein popped on the brunette's head as she stomped furiously towards him. Then she hunched over him and growled, "That reminds me. I still have a bone to pick with ya cause of the clothes ya made!"
Ruby wasn't scared. He threw away the girly cushion and grabbed Sapphire's waist, pulling her really close to him on the giant pillow. "Is there something wrong?"
"Lemme' go! Ya Idiot!" Sapphire's face was bright red as she pounded her fists frantically on the cushy Wailer, desperately trying to break free from the crimson-eyed boy's grasp.
Ruby wouldn't release her. He smiled playfully and wrapped his arms around her even more securely. "Why would I?"
Sapphire stopped struggling as she stared into the vibrant red shade of his eyes. Unconsciously, the girl found herself sliding her arms around the boy's neck and leaning closer to Ruby's face. And finally, pressing her lips against his. For a moment, all her worries and sadness went away. Just seeing his sweet face and gentle eyes were enough to make her heart soar with happiness.
Ruby calmly caressed the girl's back and broke away from her kiss. "Take care of yourself, okay?"
"I know…" Sapphire leaned against his forehead and smiled.
Seconds later, the dream ended.
Sapphire's POV
I watched as the vision of our secret base faded away into the light, along with the image of Ruby looking at me with such kind and loving eyes.
If only it didn't end.
If only he'd stay by me, all the time.
If only I could reach out and touch him again.
I want him beside me.
I want to travel with him by my side.
Please…
I woke up, groggy. My head was still spinning around. Nausea, I guess. I opened my eyes, but everything was blurry. I couldn't make out a single thing. I tried to sit up but that's when I noticed something amiss. That's weird, I thought. I was lying on something soft and velvety like short and smooth fur. It surely wasn't grass, nor was it any of my pokemon.
I smell flowers. It's a really strong aroma, but I didn't see much flora in the Ilex forest. Well, not much that could release such a powerful, yet refreshing smell. Also, my numbness and drowsiness are fading away. I could feel my body slowly gaining strength. Was it because of the flowers?
I opened my eyes again but everything was still hard to make out. Where was I? What happened to me after I passed out?
"Looks like you're waking up."
*ba-thump*
A strangely familiar voice made my heart skip a beat.
"Honestly, I can never leave you alone."
*ba-thump*
There was little doubt in my mind. Ruby? Am I dreaming again?
I blinked rapidly and sat up in a hurry.
I wanted to know.
Does that voice really belong to him?
Is it him?
Ruby?
"You're really impulsive. Look what you did to this innocent Paras."
My vision was clearing up. Finally. I shifted from side to side and saw a person with wearing white long sleeves and a sleeveless green collared shirt on top. He wore a green headband that was slightly hidden beneath his jet-black hair. His back was turned as he was crouching down and placing a cross-shaped bandage on the Paras. For a second, the image of Ruby's back on the day he vanished, overlapped with that person before me.
"R-Ruby?"
End of Chapter 7
Exams are coming up, so to all my readers, I leave you guys this really MAJOR cliffhanger.
Maybe, I'll update in a week or two. Give or take. I'm evil. Hahaha…. JK.
Depends on the no. of reviews. I'll post when I'm free.
Next chapter everyone will know who the mystery person is! *0*
I found it really hard writing this gym battle. I didn't know how to make it more exciting since, well, Blaziken can wipe them all out in one blow. So I had to pick out a few bugs. (wew. A pun. sort of)
Anyway, thank you again my loyal reviewers! (novaking2832, Dead Bones Sam)
I really appreciate the reviews! They make so happy. I feel like jumping off a bridge. Kidding.
I hope to hear from others as well. Please Review.
Am I doing okay? Helpful criticisms and suggestions are much appreciated.