Hello once again everyone, I'm back with chapter 8 and I hope this will be better than the last. For once they'll have help going around and doing things and much will be explained in this chapter. I would like to apologize once again for the short chapter last time. Granted the shortest was the first chapter, but still that was a pretty short one with not that much action in it. I would like to thank Sailor Taichichi Vegeta again for commenting on every chapter. Now, without further interruption, chapter 8

Sailor Taichichi Vegeta: First off thanks, I appreciate it. You're right they aren't ninjas, they actually have a reason for wearing the masks. I could say more, but you're going to find out who they ares in this chapter so I don't need to. Also what do you mean by enhanced-interrogated?

Chapter 8: The Magma Core

"What the fuck do you mean by that?" Ash demanded from the still kneeling Ruby. Ruby stood up and looked at Ash, some confusion written on his face.

"You don't know who she is? I thought you smarter than that Ash" he said and looked back at May "She's the daughter of King Norman, she was taken away from the castle to Saffron where she has stayed for a lot of her life. It was Giovanni's insurance plan. As long as he has Miss Maple, the king wouldn't dream of attacking the castle or openly rebelling. But it appears that she is now out and about. No doubt with the guards on your tail"

Ash turned to May "Why didn't you tell me? Did you think I would back out? That I couldn't handle escorting a princess around. Or was it something else? Did you think I would try to get more out of you, maybe turn you back into Giovanni for a bigger reward? Yeah well I'm starting to wish I had" Ash said angrily

"I just didn't think that-" May started

"I don't want to hear excuses. You should've told me from the start" Ash said before turning around and storming throughout the woods. Pikachu began to run after him but Ash turned and glared at Pikachu before saying "Don't follow me Pikachu" with that he turned back around and walked angrily out of sight.

You would've never seen a Pokemon so depressed before in your life. Pikachu sat where Ash left, head down, looking sad and in pain. Ruby walked up to Pikachu and patted him on the head lightly. "Cheer up buddy, he'll be back soon. He just needs to blow off steam"

"How do you know that?" May asked

"Because he left Pikachu here. I know Ash on a personal level, not something many people can say. And of there's one thing that guy is, it's loyal. He's loyal to his friends and would die for them no matter how pissed he gets. He'll be back for Pikachu when he calms down"

"So that's his name, Ash" May said in wonder

"He didn't tell you? That makes sense actually, and it means you're even. Follow us back to our campsite, we have all our thing there Princess" Ruby said turning to his comrades. May nodded and began to follow them but stopped for a moment and turned to look at the spot where Ash disappeared, Pikachu now trudging after Ruby, before turning back and following everyone else. No one noticed the local Normal type take off after Ash soon after he left.

-With Ash-

He had been slashing up a tree for a while. It wasn't just this little discovery that made him want to kill something, it's just how he vented. He would build up a lot of anger from a month or something and one day let it all out on something. He usually did that during training, which helped him improve immensely, but this was what drove him over the edge, being doubted was the worst. When he was with Meowth everyone thought he wouldn't get the job done. they doubted him so much as to the point of telling him to go home. Meowth would have to accept the job and Ash would do the dirty work and Meowth would bring back the results and just give Ash the money. And she doubted him, she doubted him a lot. He couldn't care less if she was a princess. She was a client and anything that would affect the job should be told to him immediately. It was the number one rule in his business.

Soon the tree he had been mercilessly mauling had all of its bark torn form the a large area from the front. The wooden part of the tree showing clearly from each slash. Ash stood in front of the tree, slightly out of breath before sheathing his sword and turning to find a new target only to come "face to face" with May's Eevee.

He looked at it with a bored expression "Leave me alone" he said and turned to find something to vent upon. But Eevee just ran in front of him and sat in his way. "I said leave me alone" Ash said again, this time allowing anger to seep into his tone. Eevee just shook her head again.

Ash walked till he was looming over Eevee, casting a shadow over the small normal type. "Leave me alone" he said once more, venom dripping in his voice as he slowly redrew his sword. Eevee jumped up causing him to death his half unsheathed sword and catch her in his arms. She nuzzled her head into his chest and despot his anger, he smiled.

"Why didn't you say anything?" he said a little sarcastically, placing Eevee on the ground in front of him and sitting cross legged a few feet opposite of her, knowing that Eevee wouldn't have said anything if May didn't want her to. Eevee just shrugged and looked at him. "Couldn't you have said something? Like as a favor to Pikachu, you're like in love with him or something right?"

Eevee looked a little embarrassed at the his jumping to love so fast. "Vee vee" she said. Ash had some trouble figuring put what she meant, but after a second of think he responded with "Apology accepted" he sighed and looked art the ground, tearing some grass continuously "I was a real dick to Pikachu wasn't I?" Eevee nodded.

He sighed again "I better apologize when I get back. But I owe May no apology, if anything she owes me one" Eevee just cocked her head to one side. "Damnit stop looking so cute" Ash said "You're actually making me regret leaving".

Eevee laughed at that before jumping into his lap and nuzzling in his chest again. "Alright I get the message, I'll go back now" Ash said with a chuckle, bringing his arm up towards his shoulder which Eevee jumped on. He began to walk back in the direction that they came form. "Hey doesn't get get uncomfortable being carried by May? I mean, she got you paws over her forearms, but other than that your just dangling". "Vee!" Eevee said "Alright, alright I'm sorry" Ash said. "Vee vee vee" Eevee said with a sly loos on her face 'Oh you're one to talk about checking out other people's bodies. You can't accuse me of checking out May while you cuddle with Pikachu ever other second" he said in a joking manor

-With May-

It was a small campsite, nothing too special. Ruby's bedroll was set up underneath the roots of a giant tree and the others had various spots of their choosing. The one called David had his in a tree and was currently resting on a makeshift hammock that was created through the use of various types of rope making a not so pretty looking hammock. Functionality over beauty though. She was currently sitting with Ruby and Pikachu who was sitting in Ruby's lap, still looking sad. "So what do you want to know about Ash that I can tell you about without him getting pissed?" Ruby asked

May hesitated for a moment, thinking about what would be off limits and what wouldn't "Why don't we start with how you two met" May said

Ruby nodded "It was a couple of years ago, we were in Hoenn at the time.

-FLASHBACK-

Five years ago

Ruby had been practicing for hours. This is what he did when he had too much on his mind, he would train and train and train. And recently, he had a lot on his mind. It was so much easier to forget about his problems by hacking and slashing his sword, firing arrow after arrow at his target. Doing push-ups till he collapsed, crunches till he couldn't bend, running till he couldn't stand, or punching a tree till his knuckles bled. These rhythmic things, these painful and strenuous thing kept his mind of of all the other problems he had.

Sapphire

The name that plagued his mind like flies to a corpse. She was rash, proud, arrogant, and self centered, so why the fuck did he have to like her. She always caused him pain, whether it's physical abuse, or she teases and makes fun of him for being a girl. He had never been a girl. She liked to tease him about that because she was one who always beat him at everything, hence making him the weaker one and a "girl" in her eyes. He usually let her win too, it was just how he is. Other times she would win no matter how hard he tried, but that was to be expected. She was determined to beat him at everything, but she would never know that he held back when they trained together.

Determined. That is a good word to describe her, she was determined. Recently her determination was to join the Aqua Guard. They protected King Norman personally and we're the best of the best, using their water types to perfection, only rivaled by the infamous Magma Core. They used their fire types exemplary, they're earned their names the the flames of hell. They were known for going deep into enemy lines on suicide missions and either coming back with their heads held high and their brothers on their backs, or being sent back as a pile of corpses. Their bravery was known throughout the world, and their leader was one of the greatest heroes there was. Maxie was his name, while a renowned hero he was also the one who personally selected the Magma Core members.

His most recent choice was Ruby

Ruby didn't know how Maxie even knew he existed but one day he came home and their he was, sitting on his couch with his mother and father sitting across from him. His dad was beyond happy, his son was going to become a Magma Core member, something he himself had wanted to be since he could talk. His mom however looked about ready to cry. He heard them shouting later that night, he never wanted to hear them shouting. But the next day after training Maxie was in his room, the hero of Hoenn was sitting on his bed, in his room. He should feel honored, but he only felt sad. They had a long talk, mostly Maxie talking to him and Ruby nodding his head a few times. He had wanted to be with the Aqua Guard, with Saph. It's all he trained for, but it looks like that training was what caught the attention of Maxie. And now he was a core. That's what the members of the Magma Core were called. It seemed rather fitting, people said they had a "fire in their hearts that is unmatched throughout the world". Yeah, he didn't have a problem being called a core, just what came with it. Maxie ended our little talk with some philosophical crap about "we are all embers to a larger flame". I guess he was right.

He never told her that he was chosen, he faked his smiles, fakes his laughs and just continued to be the machine they wanted him to be. Soon though she left, she finally made it in. She had asked him why he didn't even try to get in, but I didn't respond. She would figure it out soon. The members of each faction faced each other off. Each leader if the faction showed off their members to the king, Maxie always bragged about his soldiers fearlessness, and the Magma embers had the right to brag that they were hand chosen by the hero of Hoenn. If you could see the look on Saph's face when she saw me at Maxie's side, him praising me about what I am doing now. Doing push-ups till I collapse, shooting arrows till the tips break off, slashing till my blade dulls, and working till I can't stand anymore. She was shocked that I, Ruby, the loser and weakling she knew her entire life was getting personally praised by the hero of Hoenn. Man, she was pissed off to say the least. I didn't have to deal with it though, I honestly would have preferred to rather than not seeing her at all.

But our training ground we exact opposites, we trained at Mount Chimney, they trained at Lilycove City. I hadn't even had the chance to say goodbye. Then again, she left without saying goodbye. She must've been really pissed, usually she would take it out on me. But the entirety of the new magma recruits were taken to Mount Chimney and we trained from dusk till dawn or until we couldn't move. I was one of the few who hadn't collapsed from exhaustion. Sometimes, like now, I would come back in the middle of the night and train even more. Some say its crazy other say it suicidal. My joints seem to agree with them. But i do it because of her. She haunts my dreams like a Gengar. Will I ever be able to make this up to her? Why was she so pissed in the first place? These were the things that gave him nightmares.

So he continued to swing away this poor tree stump. Its bark was almost gone on all sides, some from him, some from others now and in the past. But it was one of the few things that helped calm him, keep his mind from her.

"You know I think that tree has seen enough punishment to know not to mess with the Magmas" a voice said

Ruby's head snapped up to look at the boy sitting in the tree a few meters away, his back against the tree, one leg stretched out along the branch he sat on and the other swing lazily back and forth below the tree. Ruby silently cursed himself, he had been so absorbed in his training that he hadn't noticed this person.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Ruby demanded, pointing his sword at the stranger

"Well I'm a person who's been coming here to train, but every time I come I see you here. Slicing away at that poor tree for hours before you start with the push-ups and crunches and so forth. As to what I want, I want a training partner. And by the way you've been training I'd say you're a little worse than me" the stranger said.

"Not interested, I'm a Magma Core member. I have all the retraining partners I need" Ruby said

"Ah but none that can keep up with you" He said with a smirk

Ruby just glared at the fact that this man was right "Look I appreciate the offer but I can't abandon my training for a total stranger that could be dangerous and leading me into a trap"

"Smart, but if I wanted to kill you I would've done it last week when you fell down that slope while running and dislocated your shoulder and then shoved back into place before going on like nothing ever happened" Ruby's eyes widened at that. "You see, I'm not here to hurt you. I just want someone better to train with"

"I still can't abandon my training" Ruby said. "I'm not asking you too, just come here every night like you have been doing since you got here" the man said

"How did you-" Ruby started "Because I've been camped out around here longer than you guys have been staying here" the man said

"Who are you?" Ruby asked again

The man smirked once more "I'll tell you if you can beat me. Hell I'll tell you my while godamn life story if you can beat me"

Ruby got into a defensive stance "I'm ready when you are"

"Not now, you've been training for hours, you're too tired. Just go back to sleep and be back here tomorrow, then we'll have our match"

-END FLASHBACK- (Note Ruby never said the part about him thinking about Sapphire)

"Did you beat him?" May asked

Ruby smiled and shook his head "I was good but he kicked my ass" Ruby went into his pack and brought out a black book. He opened the book and went to a certain page before giving it to May.

"What is this?" May asked. "It's called the Black Book. It's a collection of every person that is considered an immediate threat to someone. As you can see Ash is ranked number thirty four out of the top one hundred. I'm ranked number seventy seven"

May looked back at the boom that held all the information on Ash.

Name: Unknown, referred to as the Ranger

Occupation: Mercenary, does jobs for hire in all regions. Commonly found at the Obsidian Onix located in Saffron City, Kanto

Description: Black hair, brown eyes, usually wears a hat similar to that of an Aura Guardian, dressed in a black cloak wight here straps to adorn weapons, wields a sword, four knives, a bow with arrows, and a Pikachu with advanced combat skills

Warning Level: B to a high C. If seen, proceed with caution. Do not attempt to attack without back up or a higher ranking.

"What's his full name?" May asked

Ruby thought for a moment "I don't think he'll get mad if you know his name, it's Ash Ketchum"

"Ash Ketchum" May repeated "I like it"

"Do you now" Ruby said with a smirk. May blushed a little and looked embarrassed "Don't worry, he tends to have that affect on people. Giving them a sense of awe and wonder"

"But wait, you're part of Hoenn's Magma Core?"

Ruby nodded "We all are. This is all that's left of the once mighty Magma Core" he said while gesturing to his companions that went about their business around him

"What happened?" May asked

"We all went on suicide missions that failed. Butch and Thomas were sent on an attack on Saffron that failed completely. Their entire force was wiped out and only they survived. Samantha was in charge of taking out an enemy base close to Saffron but all those under her command died so she left her post after sending word of her failure back to the castle. Matt was one of the archers in the Magma Core. He lost his squad while they were coming back from a mission in deep Johto and his wife took a sword for him, he lives in shame of himself now. David was in my squad. We were charged with attacking an enemy garrison all the way in Kanto. We went with some Aqua members because it was rumored there was a traitor giving information away which was a direct threat to the king hence their involvement" he paused for a moment, not wanting to remember.

"The Magma Core was left to fend for ourselves while the Aqua Guard retreated. They didn't even lose a single man while we lost our hero and leader. Maxie died laying next to me, passing on the chain of command to me. I am the current leader of the Magma Core. David is a witness to that. We got cornered at a rock. We helped the Aqua members up first and they were supposed to help us up after but they turned and left because they saw the enemy appear around the corner. I had almost made it, but the person who was helping me up had the choice of me or the last Aqua member and she took the Aqua member. That left me and the rest of the Magma troop to fight a small army. Only David and I made it out along with my Blaziken. And in some way or another, we all came together to form the last of the Magma Core"

"If you're the leader than Maxie must have given you the crest" May said

Ruby nodded and reached into his pocket and pulled out a solid gold medallion that formed a circle with the ends of the cross imprinted on it sticking out on the ends a little, its obsidian M covering most of the the indented cross.

"I've only seen that once. Is it true that the M is made out of Groudon's hide" May asked

Ruby smiled and nodded "It must've been a pain in the ass to get though. Both finding and getting the material"

Suddenly a Blaziken jumped down from seemingly nowhere. "Blaz blaziken" it said.

"Thank you Blaziken return to your post" Ruby said. The Blaziken nodded and jumped onto a tree branch and headed from the direction May assumed it came from. "He said that Ash is on his way here, with your Eevee on his shoulder"

May gasped having not even noticed her friends missing absence. "I knew something didn't feel right when we got here"

"Well they should be here any second-"

"Now" Ash ended

Ruby looked up and smiled "Hello Ash, done massacring some trees?" he said jokingly

"It was more of a mass genocide but yeah I'm done" Ash responded in the same joking manor. Ash's smile disappeared before he turned to Pikchu who was looking up at him. "Pikachu I'm sorry about back there, I was being a dick and I apologize" Pikachu's mood did a complete backflip and he jumped at his friend's unoccupied shoulder and rubbed his cheek against Ash's causing Ash to laugh and scratch Pikchu behind his earning a soft cu from his friend.

When he turned to May he looked at her with a straight face and said "I owe you an apology too, but if there's one thing I hate, it's being misled. So I apologize to you as well Miss Maple"

May stood up and laughed a bit "It okay Ash and I'm the one who should be apologizing for keeping that from you. I just wasn't sure if you'd turn me in or not. And please call me May"

Ash raised an eyebrow when she said Ash but said nothing, only glancing at Ruby who just shrugged from his sitting position.

"So Ruby, do you mind if we stay here for the night and set out tomorrow?" Ash asked

Ruby shrugged "Sure. Princess Maple can have my bedroll and you and I will sleep in the trees like the good 'ol days" Ruby said, saying the last part with sarcasm.

Ash nodded, "Alright, thanks though. I owe you one"

"Oho, a favor from the infamous Ash Ketchum. This is something I'll look forward to using" Ruby says deviously

Ash rolled his eyes "Whatever, what should I make for dinner?"

Ruby shrugged again "We can go down to the town and get some supplies, or eat at a tavern and come back here. I just earned some money at the ring"

"You earn money by fighting?" May said. Samantha joined the conversation at that point, "Yeah, one of the few ways we gain money is by fighting in the ring. Mostly the boss does it though. He has an undefeated record although he almost lost once. Which reminds me, how did it go today? I'm not seeing so much as a scratch on you so I assume it went well"

"It went on without a hitch. The guy was a bitch through and through. He was all talk and no skill. Why James sets me up with guys is beyond me" Ruby said while sighing

"Hey at least you're winning and bringing back coin" Thomas said. "We hardly get anything anymore. All the rich Kanto people don't come around here"

"But neither do the soldiers. I don't know about you, but I'd rather live a life where I eat scraps rather than eat living Pokemon in one of Giovanni's prisons" David said from his hammock. "But we should go get supplies from the town, I don't like to stay any longer then I have to"

"Hell no. We haven't eaten a decent meal in months. Let's go to the town and eat in the tavern" Samantha said. "I agree with Samantha" Butch said and Thomas nodded next to him. "Well I agree with David, and so does Scorch" Matt said while patting the Slugma that had been with them

"Bullshit, the Pokemon don't count" Samantha said. The Slugma angered at that and shot a weak flamethrower at Samantha but she docked and it hit Butch. Butch roared in anger and you could see Thomas backing away slowly. Just as Butch was about to lunge at Matt Ruby stood

"Enough. Ash and I are going to the town to get supplies and that's final. If the Princess is seen then any chance of Ash getting her home is gone" Ruby said. The effect was immediate, everyone instantly calmed down and accepted his orders and went about their business again while Ash and Ruby began walking away

Later that night only Ruby and Ash remained awake. "I never knew you knew how to cook Tauros so well" Ruby said

"That's what happens when you have a tavern keeper as a mentor" Ash responded. "But he wasn't always a tavern keeper. He was just like you at one point" Ruby said

"Yeah, he was. And those were some of the best days of my life" Ash said. Ash's face turned serious suddenly "How's Sapphire?"

Ruby looked down at that, shadows covering his eyes "I wouldn't know. Last time I saw her she was running away hand in hand with her new boyfriend and leaving me behind to die" He said darkly

"Come on. It wasn't her boyfriend and you know it" Ash said "I understand the fact that hold a grudge, I mean who wouldn't. But you still love her don't you?"

"I know that it was her boyfriend. I saw them on one of the days we were traveling. So unless she makes out with every teammate she's with they're dating" Ruby said

Ash flinched at his tone but regained himself and put a hand on Ruby's shoulder "I'm sorry, I didn't know"

"You have nothing to be sorry about. But that bitch said she loved me and then goes ahead and does that" Ruby spat out the word love

Ash just stayed silent. "Ash why don't you just gland get some sleep. I'll take first watch, I don't think I'm going to be sleeping tonight" Ruby said

Ash gave Ruby a sympathetic look before nodding, catching the hint that Ruby wanted to be alone. He jumped to another branch and pulled his hat over his eyes. He knew that Ruby probably had nightmares very night because of her. And he didn't blame him. All he knew is that just gave Ruby another reason to stay up that night

Well that was chapter 8. Not much happened and the last chapter was so short that I figured I'd just do the next chapter to make up for it. Anyway though thanks for clicking on the story and I hope you enjoyed it. Encouragement, criticism, suggestions, hate and anything else are always welcome.

-novaking2832