Okay, so as it turns out, things will get a LITTLE worse for Platinum. Nothing major though. Two things have yet to happen. One of which will not hurt her feelings at all, and the other… will, but just a tiny amount. So little that it won't affect anything at all. She has to be insulted one more time, and she has to get punched in the face ("wait, what?!"). Nothing major, seriously. Really. Not being sarcastic here.

I'm curious. For the last chapter, there were reviews about how it was SO dark and evil and crushing and whatnot. But there were also reviews about how it wasn't as dark as expected or anticipated. So… should I kick it up a notch? "Unfortunately", SL may not have room for any more darkness. So if I do kick up the evilness, it'll be in Destiny. Destiny is supposed to have inherited the evilness from SL and SA, so it should be quite enough as is, but maybe I'll enhance it. It's on profile as a poll.

Segment: Ruby & Sapphire.

Chapter 24: New Rival

April 24, Olivine City, Johto, 11:30 am…

Sapphire stepped off the cargo plane and took a deep breath as she stretched all of her limbs. Ruby and Black stood behind Sapphire, waiting for White to get off the plane as well. The Unova girl was very hesitant, but she did eventually take her first step into Johto.

"Finally!" Sapphire said with a satisfied sigh. "Fresh air!"

"So this is Johto, huh?" Black said as he looked around. "It's like Castelia City, but with a lot less stuff."

"Much more peaceful," Ruby said. "Johto is more of a… rural region. Except Goldenrod, anyways."

"Hey Ruby, you're from Johto," Sapphire started. "So take the lead. You're showing us around! Starting with a restaurant, because I'm starving!"

"You talk as if I know this region inside and out," Ruby said with a huff. "In case you haven't realized, I moved from Johto the day I met you. … In Hoenn. And I'm from Goldenrod. Not Olivine."

Sapphire crossed her arms. "So, are you saying that you don't know where the restaurant is? Are you going to keep me hungry?"

"… There's an eatery nearby," Ruby said at last. "If I remember, it was pretty good."

"Great! Let's go!" Sapphire glanced backwards and spotted White looking down at the ground. She reached over and grabbed her junior by the wrist. "Come on, let's go!"

Ruby led the group towards the eatery according to his memory. On the way there, he spotted a familiar person standing near the railings next to the water.

"Hey, isn't that Blue over there?"

Sapphire looked where Ruby was pointing and spotted her senior as well. "Yeah, that is Blue."

"Who's that?" Black asked.

"One of our Kanto seniors," Sapphire answered. "One of the fist Dex Holders. Come on, let's go talk to her."

The four Dex Holders soon approached the Kanto Dex Holders and immediately noticed that she was smoking. The Kanto Dex Holder turned to face them when they came close.

"What are you two doing here?" she asked with her arms crossed.

"Hi Blue," Sapphire said happily. "Long time no see!"

"You smoke?" Ruby asked, frowning at the smoke blowing in his direction due to the wind. He held his breath and Sapphire began to cough.

Blue took a drag from her cigarette and blew the smoke away from the Hoenn Dex Holders. "Surprise, surprise. You don't know either," she said with a huff. She glanced at the two Unova Dex Holders. "And who are you two?"

"His name is Black, and her name is White," Sapphire answered. "They're Unova Dex Holders."

Black and White gave a polite bow to Blue. The Kanto Dex Holder ignored them and took another drag from her cigarette and again, blew the smoke away from her four juniors.

"So what are you all doing here in Johto?" she asked. "And what are you doing together?"

"Ruby and I went to Unova so that the sissy could participate in some Pokémon Musical thing," Sapphire started. "But the Musical was closed, so we looked for the one who came up with the Musical, and that turned out to be White."

Blue stared at White for a few seconds, looking at her from head to toe. "What's wrong with her?" she asked, pointing to the bandages wrapped around her bare arms and legs.

"She was caught by an angry mob," Ruby said. "Long story, but basically she's being chased in Unova so we came here. We're hoping that you or Crystal would be able to help her feel better and cheer her up."

Blue tossed her cigarette butt into the ocean behind her and crossed her arms. "… Tell you what. Go try with Crys first. If she doesn't help you for whatever reason, then come to me." She took out another cigarette from her bag. "And introduce yourselves to the other Dex Holders," she said to Black and White. "I'm sure they'll like you." She lit the cigarette and took a drag. "Now get going."

Sapphire slightly frowned at Blue's attitude, but decided to let it drop. The Kanto Dex Holder had turned to face the ocean and obviously wanted to be left alone.

The four Dex Holders left their senior alone and soon entered the Olivine eatery. They sat at an empty table, with Sapphire sitting next to White.

"So, what's good in this place?" Black asked.

Ruby glanced at the menu. "I haven't been here in a long time, so I don't know. I know that the Moomoo Milk Ice Cream is really popular, though. So that'll be for dessert."

"Hurry up and pick, I'm really starving!" Sapphire said from the side.

Ruby soon made his selection and his recommendations. Sapphire just agreed with him, and Black decided to take his senior's recommendations. White didn't say anything, so Ruby just ordered for her.

"White, listen," Ruby said once the waiter left with the Dex Holders' orders. "Try to eat this time, okay?"

"I'm not hungry," White mumbled out.

"Miss President, the last time you were like this, you starved yourself for a week," Black said in a worried tone. "And that was just a few days ago. You have to eat up, or you might really be in trouble."

White didn't respond and simply rubbed her cheek where Black had hit her three times in a row yesterday. She winced a little, as the bruises were still there. Sapphire noticed and put a hand on her back.

"Listen, whatever you're feeling, it's going to get worse if you stay like this."

White sighed but slowly nodded. Sapphire gave her a gentle pat on the back. Before long, the food arrived and the correct plates were placed in front of the Dex Holders. Sapphire and Black began to wolf down immediately. Ruby rolled his eyes at the barbaric behaviors and began to eat like a cultured person.

Sapphire swallowed the food in her mouth and glanced over at her side. White still hadn't touched her food. The Hoenn Dex Holder gave her a gentle pat on the back.

"Eat up. It's really good."

White glanced over at her for a split second before she stared at the food on the table in front of her. Sapphire decided to try something a little different. Clearly, this soft comforting thing wasn't working out, so maybe she just had to be enthusiastic and wait until White felt better.

"Hey, come on!" she yelled, purposely sounding very cheerful and happy. As a result, her voice became quite loud. "Cheer up! We're not in Unova anymore."

White kept her head down but nodded. "Yeah… I guess it's finally over."

'It's working!' "So cheer up! Eat something! Come on!"

White put a hand over her chest, where she had been struck hard by the angry mob back in Mistralton. "It still hurts. I don't think I should."

"Oh, don't be a sissy! Eat up!"

"Hey, Sapphire," Ruby said almost in a whisper. "Quiet down, would you? We're in a public place."

Sapphire put a hand over her mouth, suddenly realizing how loud she was talking. "Oh, right. Sorry."

"Excuse me, but could you quiet down?" came a cold, frustrated female voice from behind. "It is difficult to hear my friend who is sitting right in front of me."

Sapphire looked back and spotted a girl younger than her with long dark hair and piercing gold and silver eyes. She looked quite frustrated and a little sad, for some reason. Sapphire nodded apologetically. "Like I said, sorry." She turned to her table and exhaled a little. "Well, that was embarrassing," she said quietly.

"Sorry," White said from the side. "… It was my fault."

"No, it's not," Sapphire said.

White slowly put a spoonful of food in her mouth. "I'll heed your advice."

"That's good."

An hour later, the four Dex Holders exited the eatery. Once again, Sapphire stretched her arms and legs and took a deep breath of fresh air.

"Ah, that felt good. So what's next?"

"We did come here to find Crystal," Ruby said. "So we'll find Crystal. Blue told us to talk to her too, so that'll come first. If I recall, Crystal lived in…"

"Wait, before we do anything," Black said abruptly. "I think it's time Miss President and I split off from you two."

"Huh? Why?" Sapphire asked.

Black cast a glance at White before continuing. "After what I did in Unova, there are things we really need to talk about, in private. And I'm sure you two have people you really want to meet and places you want to go. But what Miss President and I need is time. So I think we should split off from you and meet you up again later with the other Dex Holders."

"What do you think, Ruby?" Sapphire asked. "Do you think they'll be okay on their own?"

Ruby put a hand on his chin as he thought. "We're not in Unova anymore so it's not like they'll be in trouble. And what Black did in Unova is between him and White. So if you two want to go off on your own, you certainly can. There are lots of Dex Holders in the Kanto-Johto area. We're bound to meet again sooner or later."

Sapphire nodded. "Okay then." She faced her juniors and patted them on the shoulder. "We'll meet up again soon. Crystal lives in Violet City, so check your map. The Kanto Dex Holders would be in Pallet Town. That's where we'll be too eventually. So if you want to see us again, you'll know where we are."

Ruby gave them a nod. "Good luck, you two."

"Thanks for everything," Black said with a slight bow. "We'll see you again."

Sapphire noticed that White didn't want to separate yet. She clearly didn't want to be left alone with Black quite yet, but before she could voice her opinion, Black led her away. Sapphire watched her two juniors walk away for a bit before she faced Ruby.

"Alright then. Now that we're alone and in your home region… let's go to places!"

"Such as?"

"Goldenrod City! Your old home. I want to see."

"Sure. It's been a long while, so it'd be interesting to see it again."

Sapphire sent out her Tropius and the two Hoenn Dex Holders hopped on. "Fly low and slow so I can take a look around Johto," the girl said excitedly.

The Tropius lifted off but not too high and began to fly towards Goldenrod City. Sapphire scanned the grounds below and the cities ahead, pointing out and asking about various visible locations. Ruby did his best to answer, while trying to remember where exactly he had lived before moving to Littleroot.

"What's that big building over there?" Sapphire asked as she pointed ahead.

Ruby glanced over her shoulder. "That would be the Goldenrod Department Store."

"Aw, crap," the girl groaned out. "You want to go there, don't you?"

Ruby chuckled. "Perhaps. Maybe they have some cute clothes for you. But later."

The Tropius soon landed in front of the Goldenrod Pokémon Center. Sapphire hopped off and returned her Tropius before looking up at the tall buildings. Ruby smiled as he watched Sapphire excitedly look around. She really liked touring around other regions, it seemed. Perhaps he should take her to new places more often.

"How does it feel to be back in Goldenrod?" Sapphire asked with a smile as she turned to face him.

Ruby took a deep breath. "Ah, the nostalgia…"

"Feels good, doesn't it?" Sapphire asked. She grabbed Ruby's hand and pulled. "Well, come on. Show me your old home and your favorite places."

"Calm down, Sapphire," Ruby said with a laugh. "I need to recall where I lived first. It's been a long while!"

"What do you want to do after?" the girl asked, excitement clear in her voice.

"There aren't any Contests or anything like that around here," Ruby said. "But there's a Bug Catching Contest in the National Park. And I remember something about a Pokéthlon project before I moved here. So we can try those."

"What's Pokéthlon?"

"It's like a sport competition but with your Pokémon. I'm sure you'll do quite well."

Sapphire bounced excitedly. "Well then, come on! Let's get this Johto tour going!"

"Ruby? Is that you?" came an unfamiliar female voice from behind.

Ruby and Sapphire turned around and saw a girl standing a few meters away. She was staring at Ruby quite intently, as if she was trying to remember something.

"Yeah, that's me," Ruby said, suddenly realizing that he recognized this girl from somewhere.

"Ruby! It IS you!" the girl said almost in tears. She quickly ran up towards him and embraced him tight, forcing Sapphire to release his hand. "I can't believe it's you! It's been so long!"

"H – Hi, Emily, long time no see," Ruby managed to choke out.

Sapphire looked at Ruby in disbelief, all of her excitement and happiness shattered. "… Ruby? How do you know this girl?"

Ruby looked into her eyes but didn't say anything. He didn't know what to say. Or how to break it to her. Sapphire seemed to realize that it was not good news for her, as her eyes were open wide and she looked… betrayed. Hurt, even.

The girl called Emily pulled back from her embrace and looked over at Sapphire. "Ruby and I used to be together. Didn't he tell you? Back when he lived in Goldenrod, we used to date." She then focused on Ruby again and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Oh, I missed you so much…"

Sapphire felt something stab into her heart. … Ruby had never mentioned this girl before. If he used to date her, then this was pretty important. Yet Ruby did not mention her at all. … He was keeping the information from her.

Now it made sense why he kept dodging the issue whenever she brought it up. Whenever she talked about her confession, he pretended to have forgotten all about it. He didn't want to talk about it, because he already had a girlfriend. And he didn't tell her.

After all these years… he never really did like her. And she didn't know.

'Ruby… you jerk… how could you do this to me?'

Sapphire felt horrible. Humiliated, even. All these years, she spent time with him because she loved him. She wanted him to love her back. But she was too late. She was years too late. … The least he could've done was tell her… then she wouldn't have stayed around him so much…

She felt like an idiot. How come she didn't think of this before? Ruby kept pretending to have forgotten her confession. Why didn't it occur to her earlier that he just loved someone else?

Emily slowly rocked left and right while holding Ruby tight in her arms. The boy tried his best to look at Sapphire, but the angle just didn't work out. Emily was slowly rotating as well, so until the revolution was complete, he wasn't able to see Sapphire. But her last expression told him everything. He only saw that expression once before, in Fortree City years ago when he said that he wasn't going to help her defend Hoenn. She had a betrayed and hurt expression back then, and she had it now. And it was painful to see it.

Soon the revolution was complete and Ruby could see where Sapphire was. But she wasn't there anymore. Surprised, he quickly glanced left and right. As the revolutions continued, he eventually spotted Sapphire storming away in the distance while occasionally rubbing her eyes.

So, another SL update before 2015, thus falsifying my comments last chapter. I blame ORAS. It's making me want to write stuff featuring Ruby and Sapphire. So here's my 20% accurate update forecast! SL #025 in… mid January.

And no, the ending of this chapter was not influenced in any way by Lisia of ORAS. The update speed was affected, however.

Next up: Ruby & Sapphire. Duh. Each segment gets two chapters in a row.