Plot-Scorbunny 5: A Day in the Life of the Silverlock Sisters

It was going to be an ordinary day for Ruby and her sisters.

The trio had all woken up and were at the table eating their breakfast. They were all eating their favourite foods for this breakfast. Ruby had bacon and eggs on toast, Emerald was devouring a stack of waffles topped with strawberries and bananas and Sapphire tucked in nicely to a simple bowl of Bran Flakes mixed with fruit and nuts. Their mother watched them with a content smile on her face. It wasn't often that her daughters were all at home together thanks to their busy lives as trainers so she appreciated days like this all the more. As they ate, the girls talked about what they were doing today.

"I think we're all in for a day off with not much else going on." Ruby observed as she speared a piece of egg and bacon with her fork, "I haven't got any battles upcoming for a while as the new Gym Challenge doesn't start until next month and there's no exhibition matches booked for me."

"I'm not due for any further training to become the next Dojo Master and the Isle of Armour hasn't got a new term for a while so I'm not exactly going anywhere either." Sapphire added as she spooned more cereal.

"And there's no Contests to enter for the time being." Emerald added, shoving more waffles and fruit into her mouth, "And I fancy letting my Pokémon have a break from training for today."

"So that's that then, we'll just have a relaxed, wind-down day together." Ruby said brightly, "It's been a while since the three of us can just chill together with our Pokémon so let's enjoy it."

"I know mine will be up for that." Sapphire said happily, "And given we have the day to ourselves, we can catch up on some chores too."

"Quite so." Ruby agreed, "I think for today we should give everyone a health check-up, a wash and some time to play together. It'll keep us busy and allow us and our Pokémon to have some fun too."

"I second that!" Emerald said eagerly, "I'm all for playing with everyone!"

So after breakfast, the girls got dressed and went outside to greet their Pokémon. Due to the fact the sisters had so many Pokémon on hand, the Silverlock family had had to move to a larger house with a larger garden just to accommodate everyone. They'd moved to this house sometime after their adventures in the Crown Tundra. All three of the sisters had paid for it using money they'd won from their previous Pokémon battles or Contest victories. Their house was twice the size of their old one and the garden was so large that you could've built an entire village on top of it. The house was still in Postwick Town, which the Silverlocks had wanted because they still preferred the countryside setting and didn't want to leave it. Hop had been a little dismayed that they wouldn't be neighbours anymore but thankfully, their new house was still close to Hop's so they would never be too far away and he and Ruby could remain close. The girls loved their new house and their Pokémon appreciated getting the extra space they needed to live about their daily lives.

Ruby, Emerald and Sapphire saw all their Pokémon out in the garden as usual with some of them lying about sleeping, swimming in the lake, running around playing with one another or enjoying a leisurely flight up in the sky. Over the course of their journeys, all three of them had built up a sizable roster of Pokémon between them with Ruby having the most amount of Pokémon with 24 species caught overall while Emerald had 21 and Sapphire had 22, giving the trio between them 67 Pokémon in total to take care of. Some of these even included Legendary Pokémon such as Eternatus, Zacian, the Regi trio and the Galarian bird trio. It may seem a lot to cater for, but the sisters didn't mind. Between them, they thought the work was easy enough. Their mother would also help care for their Pokémon from time to time, especially when they weren't home so there was always someone to provide for them no matter what.

"Good morning everybody!" the girls called to their Pokémon.

All 67 Pokémon called back to them in greeting.

"Guess what everybody? Neither of us has anything important going on at the moment so we've got all day together!" Ruby announced enthusiastically.

"We're going to have some fun together, all of us!" Emerald piped excitedly.

The Pokémon let out a chorus of excited sounds as they took this in. They too enjoyed days like this when it could just be them and their trainers chilling out for the day, no training or battling for any of them.

"First of all, every one of you needs a health check-up and I know some of you don't always enjoy that but once that's over with, we can just play all day." Sapphire added, "Alright, who wants to go first?"

Despite what Sapphire had said, neither of their Pokémon complained too much as they were lined up for their check-ups. As Pokémon trainers, their Pokémon's health was always a top priority and the girls made sure to give them a check-up every month or so. Ruby's roster lined up for her while Emerald's and Sapphire's lined up for them.

Ruby's Pokémon were Bugs the Cinderace, Chomps the Drednaw, Freddy the Toxtricity, Lancelot the Kingambit, Soundwave the Noivern, Vesuvius the Coalossal, Raven the Gengar, Shard the Duraludon, Gene the Obstagoon, Houdini the Noctowl, Sydney the Galvantula, Icepick the Weavile, Spearhead the Barraskewda, Jinx the Crobat, Galvatron the Metagross, Fang the Grimmsnarl, Scorponok the Drapion, Matilda the Gigalith, Bryce the Charizard, Reaper the Ceruledge, Sparkles the Manectric, Doomsday the Eternatus, Shadowblaze the Galarian Moltres and Bonecrusher the Regirock. Most of them had been there since Ruby's very beginning as a trainer and most had been part of her team when she'd become Champion. Some had been caught some time after becoming Champion but had very quickly risen up in the ranks to be as strong as Ruby's first catches. Scorponok had gone into retirement for a couple of years after losing to Piers's Obstagoon in a battle but after Ruby's adventure in the Crown Tundra, he'd since changed his mind and was now OK with battling again.

Ruby started off with Bugs first. These Pokémon health check-ups were as straight forward as they could be with just a quick check of a Pokémon's eyes, mouth, nose, ears and heartbeat while also checking them for any possible parasites. Ruby checked Bugs's eyes, mouth, nose and ears. All were clear. She brushed through his fur. There was nothing hiding in it and his skin was normal. She listened to his heartbeat. It was perfectly normal.

"You're all clear Bugs." Ruby said happily, "Next please."

Soundwave came up to her next. The Noivern got down on all fours so he could be at face-level with Ruby. Ruby held up her throat lozenge.

"OK Soundwave, open your mouth and say "aah" for me please." Ruby requested.

Soundwave opened his mouth and proceeded to let out a loud bellowing roar directly in Ruby's face! He yelled so loudly that Ruby's hair blew out behind her and she felt as if a huge gust of wind had suddenly blown in from nowhere. Everyone looked up to see what the matter was. Emerald and Sapphire couldn't help but giggle a bit as their sister was nearly blown off her feet by the Noivern's loud voice. Soundwave eventually stopped roaring and closed his mouth again. Ruby shook her head and patted him on the snout.

"For goodness sake Soundwave, you don't need to shout like that!" Ruby exclaimed.

"But you told me to say "aah"." Soundwave acknowledged.

"Exactly! I told you to say "aah"!" Ruby cried in exasperation, "Not AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" she screamed at the top of her lungs directly in Soundwave's face.

"Blimey you can shout!" Soundwave said in amazement as Ruby's voice nearly blew his face off.

Emerald scampered over to her sister frantically.

"What's wrong Ruby?! Are we under attack?!" she shrieked.

"No, I'm just telling Soundwave the difference between saying "aah" and screaming at the top of his voice." Ruby said sheepishly, "Sorry if I worried you there."

"Yeah, you really had me worried that somebody was hurting you for a minute!" Emerald gasped, "Please don't do that again, OK?"

"No problem Em." Ruby said kindly, "You just get back to your Pokémon for now."

Emerald returned to do her check-ups. Ruby turned back to Soundwave.

"Now then…open your mouth and say "aah" for me please." she repeated.

Soundwave did so, and this time without roaring in Ruby's face. Soon Soundwave was given all the clear and Ruby moved onto the next Pokémon. She went through a few of them before eventually reaching Jinx. The kooky Crobat was already smiling sweetly as she came over for her check-up.

"This should be fun I'm sure." Ruby chuckled. She knew too well that any encounter with Jinx, no matter how ordinary, was due to be unusual in some way, "Open your mouth and say "aah" for me please." she said politely.

"Which kind? The "ARGH you're so frustrating!" aah, the "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH, I just stepped on a LEGO brick!" aah or the "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH I'M PLUMMETING TO MY DEATH!" aah?" Jinx inquired.

"Just say "aah" normally for me please." Ruby said patiently.

"Aah normally." Jinx said as she opened her mouth.

Ruby giggled. Trust that Crobat to find a way to make her laugh no matter what! Ruby peered inside Jinx's mouth and inspected her. Her throat was clear and her fangs were glistening. But something stunk rotten as Ruby got a whiff of Jinx's breath. She recoiled in disgust and squeezed her nose shut as tightly as she could.

"God! Bloody hell Jinx, what did you eat?!" she gagged.

"Would you believe me if I told you?" Jinx teased.

"Eh…probably not so don't bother answering that." Ruby said, seeing Jinx's point, "Aside from needing a mint or two, you're perfectly fine. Next please."

Meanwhile, Emerald had already given some of her Pokémon their check-ups. Her roster included Kerchak the Rillaboom, Thor the Raichu, Gemstone the Starmie, Vixey the Ninetales, Misty the Corviknight, Percival the Sirfetch'd, Steelclaw the Excadrill, Marinette the Orbeetle, Slasher the Golisopod, Katana the Ninjask, Blue the Seismitoad, Mei-Mei the Pangoro, Razer the Haxorus, Tybo the Rhyperior, Flaps the Butterfree, Abyss the Lanturn, Frostbite the Alolan Sandslash, Baker the Daschbun, Broadsword the Zacian, Freezer the Regice and Dropkick the Galarian Zapdos. She'd already seen to Kerchak, Thor and Gemstone and was on Vixey next. The beautiful Ninetales sat down in front of Emerald and stayed still as she check her eyes, ears and nose. Then she picked up a throat lozenge.

"OK sweetie, open up and say "aah" for me." Emerald cooed.

Vixey did so…only to accidentally give Emerald a face full of fire as she said "aah". The flames whooshed over her trainer's face, leaving her charred and blackened and coughing up smoke. Vixey gasped in shock.

"Oh no! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to do that!" she cried.

"It's OK! At least we can tell you're clear." Emerald spluttered, "Next please…"

She didn't get much further before collapsing on the grass. She was soon back up again and carried on as if nothing had happened.

Sapphire was seeing to her Pokémon. Her roster consisted of James Pond the Inteleon, Elsa the Froslass, Celestia the Galarian Rapidash, Spike the Nidoking, Starfire the Flareon, Stinger the Tentacruel, Sky Bite the Sharpedo, Hercules the Vikavolt, Matilda the Machamp, Bolt the Boltund, Zao the Obstagoon, Phantom the Dusknoir, Merlin the Galarian Slowking, Dal the Magnezone, Terri the Krookodile, Mysterio the Alakazam, Bloom the Venusaur, Kagami the Druddigon, Dipper the Palafin, Iron Fist the Urshifu, Metallica the Registeel and Majesta the Galarian Articuno. Her Pokémon tended to be among the best behaved and most even-tempered of everyone's Pokémon and so she had the easiest time checking them over. As she came to Dal the Magnezone, she nearly told it to open its mouth and say "aah" for her…only to then realize that Magnezones don't have mouths.

"Oh…heh, of course. You don't need your throat checking as you don't even have one!" Sapphire laughed, "Never mind, you're clear. Next please."

Soon all the check-ups were done with. No Pokémon had any health issues to report on for now, which was the result the sisters had been hoping for.

"OK, that's everyone done. Now we can go and play for the rest of the morning!" Ruby said cheerfully.

Nobody was going to say no to such a request. The rest of the morning was spent as Ruby had suggested: with all the Pokémon playing together. All the Water-types naturally dived into the lake to swim to their heart's content. James Pond swam on his back doing as many backstrokes as possible while Spearhead jumped up and down as if he was a dolphin performing for a show. Dipper clapped his hands together and practiced diving, Chomps just floated gently through the water while softly treading it with her legs, Abyss went down to the very bottom of the lake and let his mind wonder as he daydreamed about finding treasures buried underneath, Stinger and Sky Bite raced one another and Gemstone practiced surfing. Blue stayed on the bank and wallowed in some mud nearby. Seismitoads enjoyed a good mud bath and Blue was no exception to this.

All the Pokémon that could fly swooped up into the sky to stretch their wings and enjoy the wind through their feathers again. Soundwave, Houdini, Misty, Katana, Flaps, Hercules, Marinette, Jinx and Bryce were all up in the sky flying around as much as they liked. The Shadowblaze, Majesta and Doomsday joined them as well. Some of the Pokémon would sit and watch them fly around or even call to them. Bryce performed some barrel rolls to practice his manoeuvrability in the air. He spun around several times and weaved over Katana just as she came by. Katana nodded to him, impressed with his aerial skills. Soundwave flew past them both, doing his own barrel rolls. Bryce took it as a challenge and flew after him. Katana watched in amusement, wondering how long this competition was going to last for. Flaps didn't stay up for long and soon came back down again to smell some flowers. It was his favourite thing to do in this garden as well as flying with his friends. Houdini and Misty challenged one another to race. The Noctowl and Corviknight had become friendly rivals since their times living on the estate and enjoyed daring each other to see who was the fastest. Jinx played referee and watched them as they dove down to the ground as quickly as possible. Houdini won that race. By nature, Noctowl were faster than Corviknight but it didn't stop Misty from trying to beat him and improving her own speed. Shadowblaze and Majesta just watched smugly, knowing they could fly circles around both of them. No bird could out speed Legendary birds like themselves!

On the ground, the rest enjoyed some fun time with each other or with their trainers. Ruby, Emerald and Sapphire had brought some balls out to kick or throw around with their Pokémon. Ruby kicked one ball over to Bugs and the springy Cinderace caught it on his head. He then kicked it around from one foot to another as if he was on a football team and preparing to pass to his team mates. Ruby even thought for one moment he was about to use Pyro Ball with it but he didn't. He kicked it back to her and Ruby caught it between her feet. She then kicked the ball towards Sparkles. The electric canine chased after the ball and caught it with her mouth. She made sure not to puncture the ball as she brought it back to her trainer. Ruby patted Sparkles on the head in thanks and then kicked it over to Shard. The Duraludon stayed still and allowed the ball to just bounce off his steel body. After it landed back on the grass, he kicked it towards Freddy. The Toxtricity caught it and kicked it back towards Ruby. While Ruby and the others were playing, Reaper and Lancelot were practicing sword fighting together. The Ceruledge swiped and parried with his sword hands while the Kingambit blocked and sliced with the blade on his helmet. Neither side let up for a second or missed a shot. They successfully parried one another and clashed blades continuously for several minutes.

"I say ol' boy, you're a fine knight of the realm! Such excellent sword play!" Reaper complimented.

"As a Kingambit, I'm the master of the blade!" Lancelot declared, "And you're a worthy opponent indeed, Reaper. Ceruledge are no slouch with a blade."

"Indeed not, honourable knight!" Reaper boasted, "Our sword skills are second to none! Tally ho!" he cried as they resumed their battle.

Emerald was also playing ball with her Pokémon. Rather than football, she was playing catch instead. The girl in green threw the ball and Baker was the first to run after it. Emerald supposed she should've expected that as Daschbun were dog-like Pokémon. Baker caught the ball and brought it back to Emerald. Her tail wagged with pleasure as Emerald stroked her head.

"Good girl Baker! Very well done!" she praised, "You're quite fast on your feet, aren't you?"

Baker yapped happily. Emerald threw the ball again, this time towards Kerchak. Baker chased after it anyway but Kerchak was the one who caught it. Smiling warmly to his friend, Kerchak passed the ball to her next. Baker caught it again and brought it back to Emerald. The Pokémon coordinator giggled as she took the ball back and threw it towards Mei-Mei. The dancing Pangoro caught the ball with one hand and then proceeded to do some pirouettes while throwing the ball up into the air and catching it again with her other hand. Then with a spin on the balls of her feet, she threw the ball straight towards Thor. The Raichu caught the ball with his tail and threw it up in to the air. He caught it again with his tail and passed it back to Emerald. Emerald caught it and threw it over to Dropkick. As the only Legendary bird who couldn't fly, he was down on the ground while Shadowblaze and Majesta were flying. The ball landed at his feet and he batted it softly, curious what to do with it. He soon understood and kicked it towards Emerald…a little too hard and Emerald had to duck to avoid being hit by the shooting ball. It whooshed over her head, nearly taking her hat off in the process! It crashed into a nearby tree and nearly went straight through it. Several berries shook and fell onto the ground. Emerald looked at the ball stuck in the tree and giggled sheepishly.

"Heh, heh…I guess we're not getting that back anytime soon." she laughed, "Try to kick it more gently next time, OK Dropkick?"

The Galarian Zapdos nodded apologetically. It hadn't meant to spoil the game for everybody. But luckily, Emerald had an extra so they were able to keep playing some more.

While that was happening, Slasher, Percival, Frostbite and Broadsword were trading blows with one another to show off how sharp their swords and claws were. Percival and Broadsword clashed blades together while Slasher and Frostbite clashed with their claws. This was their idea of keeping in shape and keeping their weapons sharp for future battles ahead. Even if Emerald had traded Pokémon battles for Pokémon contests, they still liked to keep in shape for any possible battles they might still have. Percival blocked an overhead swing from Broadsword with his shield and jabbed at her with his leek sword. Broadsword took the hit and head butt Percival so hard she knocked him off his feet. Percival stood back up and jabbed back with his sword.

"You're a brave knight, as is expected from a Sirfetch'd, but you lack technique." Broadsword critiqued, "Jabbing over and other isn't exactly the most creative way to use your sword skills. You have to be more flexible and be less predictable."

"Sound advice from Galar's Legendary Hero!" Percival said appreciatively, "I'll keep to that advice and make myself a warrior on par with yourself!"

"I'll be happy to train you towards that goal." Broadsword offered kindly.

Sapphire wasn't playing ball like her sisters were. Instead, she'd climbed onto Celestia's back and ordered her to canter off just for the fun of it. She loved going for rides on Celestia around the garden and Celestia enjoyed going for runs so it was fun for both of them. Celestia galloped as fast as her hooves would carry her. Sapphire held tight to the reigns while Celestia's mane blew all around her. She whooped excitedly.

"Whoo-hoo! Giddy up Celestia! This is awesome!" she squealed.

"Glad you're enjoying the ride." Celestia said kindly.

While Celestia galloped, Bolt began running alongside her, barking excitedly. Sapphire just grinned. She knew that Bolt loved to go for a run just for fun and riding on Celestia often prompted him to do so. The Boltund sprinted ahead of Celestia for he was much faster than her but Celestia paid no heed as she knew it wasn't a race. She kept up her own pace while Boltund ran at his. Sapphire looked around to see what else her Pokémon were doing. She could see Elsa playing a game with Matilda, Spike and Phantom. The Froslass would make ice sculptures and then the others would take turns in breaking them to bits with the idea being whoever broke their ice sculpture into the most pieces would be the winner. Elsa conjured up one ice sculpture for Spike to break. He jabbed it with his horn and caused the sculpture to crack. Then it fell to pieces almost instantly. He'd managed to score a high number that would be tough to beat. Matilda went next, smashing her sculpture to pieces with one solid punch. She didn't score as high as Spike did. Phantom went last and used Shadow Punch to punch his sculpture to smithereens. He managed to break it into more pieces than Matilda, but not as much as Spike so Spike was the winner of this game. Terri was having a dust bath nearby while Bloom sat in a bed of flowers and sunbathed. Grass types such as himself enjoyed soaking up the sun whenever they could. Merlin was sitting by himself practicing "magic spells". Naturally it just involved him using his signature Eerie Spell move but he liked to call it magic regardless.

Kagami was trading blows with Iron Fist. Even if it was everyone's day off to play and relax, she still liked to train and keep herself in shape. She threw several punches and Iron Fist blocked each one. Then she swiped at his legs with his tail but he jumped up to dodge the attack. Iron Fist then hit Kagami in the cheek with a flat-palmed strike that sent her reeling. Kagami felt as if her jaw might come off after that blow. But the Druddigon ignored the pain for now and stuck back with a punch to the gut on Iron Fist. The Urshifu barely flinched but he could see that Kagami was still as strong as ever.

"You really know how to throw a punch! That training really pays off for you." he complimented.

"I appreciate the comment." Kagami said graciously, "I train as much as I do to stay in shape. And with your as my sparring partner, I have the best Pokémon I could possibly train with."

"Heh, you're too kind." Iron Fist replied, "Ready for round two?"

"Always." Kagami purred, clenching her fists in preparation.

Eventually, the morning bled away into afternoon and it was soon time for lunch. Annie had made sandwiches for her daughters and the girls filled up feeding troughs with a mixture of foods. They gave them a choice of either Pokémon food, various berries, seeds or vegetables. As it was a nice day, Ruby, Emerald and Sapphire sat outside to eat with their Pokémon. Once lunch was over, more fun time was had together. There was nothing else to do so the Pokémon were free to just play some more.

"It's days like this that make me wish we could just chill out and play with our Pokémon all day." Emerald said longingly, "It makes me feel so good inside when we can just have fun like so!"

"I love it too Em." Ruby concurred, "It feels like we're seeing out Pokémon at their best and most relaxed when we have days like this. I do love a good battle, but I especially love a good play as well."

"Next time we have a day off, we should invite our partners to join us and bring their Pokémon too." Sapphire suggested, "I bet that'd be fun."

"No arguments there Sapph." Ruby agreed, "Hop, Tony and Ashley are always welcome to come to our humble home. For now, what shall we play next?"

The girls joined their Pokémon again as they played some more games together. Matilda the Gigalith had set up a game of her own for the other Pokémon to play. She would shoot a rock into the sky with Rock Blast and any Pokémon that was playing would try to hit the rock before it fell back down. Ruby was reminded of a game of shooting at the Olympics. She volunteered to keep score by using her Rotom phone to make a tally of how many rocks each Pokémon hit per turn. Elsa went first. Matilda shot the rock into the sky and Elsa hit it with Ice Beam. Then she hit another one. She missed the third shot but hit the last two, giving her a total of four out of five for this game. James Pond gave it a try next and unlike Elsa, he hit all five rocks with Snipe Shot. He would just point and shoot as each rock was fired and he never missed his mark. Nobody was that surprised as James Pond was always a sharp shooter. Sparkles volunteered to go next. She would use Thunderbolt to try and hit the rocks but Thunderbolt wasn't as easily aimed as an Ice Beam or a Snipe Shot attack so she missed most of her shots, only scoring two out of five. Thor was more successful, aiming with his tail and shooting his thunderbolts out through it and he managed to score four. After a few more rounds, James Pond was the winner with a total of 30 points with Elsa in second and Thor in third.

"That was a great game everyone! Well done!" Ruby praised, "And thanks for coming up with that Matilda, that was a fun way to use Rock Blast."

"I'm just appreciative that everyone had a fun time with that." Matilda said gleefully.

She wasn't the only Rock-type Pokémon making up a game. Vesuvius had one of her own and she offered to let the humans play as well. Using Rock Slide, she made a large tower of rocks and explained that anyone who wanted a go could try climbing it as both a bit of fun and a bit of exercise. Scorponok offered to go first, using his strong arms, little legs and powerful tail to climb up the rock pile. Drapion were good climbers and Scorponok was no exception as he effortlessly made his way up. Icepick followed him as did Steelclaw. The small Pokémon used their sharp claws to dig into the rocks and climb up the pile. Razer had a go as well. Her tiny arms weren't very useful for climbing but her strong legs and feet were enough. She used them to climb the rocks, occasionally using her mouth and tail for extra support. Ruby, Emerald and Sapphire watched with awe.

"Look at them go! They're making this look easy!" Ruby chuckled.

"We sure can't climb like they can!" Emerald giggled.

"Nah, but I might see how high I can go anyway." Sapphire decided.

She waited until Sydney started climbing up the rock pile before she had her turn. The blue-haired girl went up to the rocks and slowly started to climb up herself. Ruby and Emerald watched intently, hoping Sapphire wouldn't slip and hurt herself. Marinette even offered to use her psychic powers to catch Sapphire if she should fall. She appreciated the Pokémon's offer and asked her to standby in that case. Sapphire made her way up, carefully positioning her feet and hands as she grabbed the rocks. Any that felt too loose or too unsteady she avoided and stuck to the ones that definitely weren't going to move no matter what. Sapphire made it up half way before deciding that she was too worn out to carry on anymore and the height was starting to make her feel uneasy. Marinette used Psychic to help her back down to the ground. Once Sapphire was down, she thanked the little Orbeetle for her help.

"Always on hand to help others, eh Marinette?" Sapphire said cheerfully.

"It's what makes me glad to have her on the team." Emerald said happily.

Marinette beamed with pleasure.

Some of the Pokémon decided to set up a race with one another. They would run from one end of the garden to the other as their race course. Ruby had ordered her Rotom Phone to stand at the finish line in case there was need for a photo finish. Bugs, Kerchak, Fang, Galvatron, Mysterio, Starfire, Hercules, Vixey and Gemstone were competing. Tybo acted as referee, and as usual he had to overly enforce the rules like the officer he often acted as.

"Any cheating in this race will result in instant disqualification and reprimand!" he insisted, "Now line up and prepare to race!"

"Gee doc, take it easy would ya? It's just a fun race. Lighten up a bit for once, OK?" Bugs said with a roll of his eyes.

"I think we're asking too much of him for that." Kerchak snickered.

"Silence!" Tybo muttered, "Now then, on your marks…get set…GO!" he bellowed.

The race began and the Pokémon all sprinted across the garden as fast as they could. They were all fast movers but Bugs seemed to be the fastest of the bunch as he was currently leading. His nimble legs allowed him to take big fast strides that rapidly opened the distance between him and the others. Gemstone was close behind. Starmie were fast Pokémon by nature so it was having the easiest time catching up to Bugs. Starfire, Hercules, Fang, Vixey and Kerchak ran after them as fast as they could. Hercules's wings moved so fast that they couldn't be seen, Kerchak scampered on all fours as if he was a territorial gorilla charging into battle, Starfire and Vixey ran alongside each other at an even pace with neither one able to overtake the over and Fang sprinted furiously, moving his arms back and forth rapidly as if that would somehow make him go faster. Galvatron tucked in its legs and hovered off the ground as he raced. He proved to be surprisingly quick for a Pokémon of its species as it was creeping up in third behind Gemstone. Ruby, Emerald and Sapphire took a moment to watch the race and see what was happening. The Pokémon weren't far from the other side of the garden. This race would be over very quickly and it looked as if Bugs was going to win. But then Mysterio started to pull up behind Bugs and Gemstone. Like Galvatron, he too hovered off the ground as he raced, using psychic energy to keep himself airborne. This was allowed as the rules of the race didn't say no flying or hovering in order to move. Mysterio pulled up behind the two leads and it soon became a three-way struggle for the lead with Bugs, Gemstone and Mysterio all trying to keep ahead of each other. Starmie, Cinderace and Alakazam were among the fastest Pokémon of all the species competing and as a result, it would be decided amongst either of the tree as the finish line grew nearer and nearer.

"Look at them go! It's gonna be a close one!" Ruby cried.

"Could be a three-way-tie at this rate." Sapphire observed.

"Come on Gemstone! Just a little more!" Emerald cheered.

Bugs gritted his teeth and forced himself to run even faster while Gemstone pressed on and Mysterio used his psychic energy to try and speed himself up a little more. It was very close but as the competitors reached the other side of the fence, Mysterio was just a few inches ahead of Bugs and Gemstone. There was no definitive way to tell so the Rotom phone had to show them who won via a photo finish. Bugs, Gemstone and Mysterio peered at the photo and they could see Mysterio was inches ahead, so he was declared the winner.

"Good race dere everybody! It was really close, wasn't it?" Bugs declared.

"I'm quite worn out after that exercise." Mysterio huffed, wiping his forehead, "It does feel good to be the winner though. I wasn't expecting I'd actually win."

"I say you all won that one." Ruby said cheerfully, "But the main thing is you all looked like you had fun with that race. I do love to see you all having a good time."

"Yes, it was most glorious to be showing off our fitness and speed together!" Starfire said happily.

"I can tell." Sapphire agreed, "Anyone up for another?"

A few hours later, Ruby and her sisters called for everyone to stop playing for it was now time for the Pokémon to have a wash and a clean before dinner time. All 67 Pokémon lined up to get their wash. This consisted of the girls picking a Water-type Pokémon to provide the water and then scrubbing them with a sponge or a rag to clean them. The only Pokémon to be exempt from this were of course those that had a weakness to water so all the Fire, Rock and Ground type Pokémon they had were instead given a good brush instead. Ruby started off by brushing Bugs's fur and getting it to look as neat and smooth as possible. After Bugs was brushed she called for the first Pokémon to get a wash. Shard stepped forward. Ruby ordered Chomps to spray his metal body with water and then she scrubbed him with a soapy sponge. Due to him being half Steel type, Ruby almost felt like she was cleaning a car or scrubbing machinery instead of a Pokémon. Shard was soon cleaned and his metal body glistened beautifully in the sunlight. Ruby called for the next Pokémon to get cleaned next.

Emerald had given Kerchak the first wash with Gemstone providing the water and he shook himself dry. Emerald giggled as some of the water flew all over her. Kerchak always liked to soak everyone else after a wash! After he was done, Steelclaw came up next. Emerald didn't wash him due to being half-Ground type so she instead gave his claws a polish and a sharpen. She always did this for her Pokémon that had large claws like Slasher, Steelclaw and Frostbite. She did this by scraping hard stones against the claws to make the tips sharper and pointer again. All three of them enjoyed it when Emerald did this for it left them feeling ready for another battle again and they hated the feeling of blunt claws. Emerald noticed Ruby doing the same with Icepick too. Weavile also like to keep their claws sharp so Ruby would give Icepick's claws a sharpen after every wash-down. Emerald would also do the same for Broadsword's sword. Although she preferred to do it herself, Emerald insisted she do it as well to be helpful and Broadsword appreciate the gesture so she didn't object.

For Sapphire, she had James Pond provide the water. James Pond would point at the Pokémon and let a steady trickle of water pour from his finger to wash them down. Sapphire scrubbed down Stinger first of her Pokémon. The Tentacruel let out a sigh of content as he enjoyed being scrubbed. Once he was clean, Sapphire moved onto the next Pokémon. Spike, Terri and Starfire were exempt from this of course. Sapphire just gave each of them a brush and in Terri's case, she also gave her teeth a good brush to keep them sharp and healthy. Starfire enjoyed being brushed, especially on her mane and tail and she let out a moan of pleasure every time Sapphire brushed her. The blue-haired teen always found Starfire's enjoyment of being brushed oddly amusing.

Even the Legendary Pokémon were given a wash down. The Galarian bird trio found themselves surprisingly enjoying it when they were washed while the Regi trio preferred a polish instead. Regirock didn't like water so he was just given a brush while Regice and Registeel were polished and wiped clean. Doomsday, Iron Fist and Broadsword were washed as well.

Soon everybody had been washed, cleaned, brushed and dried. Ruby wiped her forehead.

"Whew, that's it everybody. All done." she announced, "Thanks for being so good for us as usual." she added politely.

All the Pokémon welcomed her in response.

"Now it's time for one of our favourite times of the day: dinner time!" Ruby declared.

She wasn't at all surprised that that got a cheer out of all the Pokémon.

"I wanna make the dessert!" Emerald volunteered.

"Not on your life Em. You'll just eat it all yourself." Sapphire retorted, "You can help mum and Ruby make dinner. I'LL do the dessert."

"No fair! I love making dessert!" Emerald complained.

"Yeah…EATING it that is." Sapphire snickered.

"Come on Sapph, be nice." Ruby said sternly, "Em can help you if she wants. I'm sure she'll behave herself if you keep a good watch on her." she added, smirking teasingly at her sister.

"I'll be good!" Emerald insisted.

"I know you will." Ruby said brightly, "As for dinner tonight, who's up for a delicious Galarian curry?"

Nobody objected to that idea so curry it was for tonight's dinner. Ruby and Annie made the curry together with both mother and daughter taking turns to boil the rice, chop up the meat and vegetables and mix everything together. They had to make a lot of curry as there were five people and 67 Pokémon to cater for but thanks to how wealthy the family had become from the sister's Pokémon careers, they always had plenty for everybody. Ruby and Annie made three different flavours of curry as not every Pokémon liked the same thing. One curry was really spicy, one was really sweet and the third was really sour. Each one had a different mix of berries and herbs in it and at least one pot of curry was made with fish instead of regular meat for some Pokémon preferred fish. The next hour or so was spent making these curries and the delicious smells wafted all around the kitchen. It made Ruby feel so hungry that she could eat the smell itself.

While the dinner was underway, Emerald and Sapphire made the dessert. They had learned how to make Poké Puffs, a popular confection from the Kalos region. They were like small cakes topped with icing or cream and they were popular treats for Pokémon, though humans could eat them too if they were just right. Sapphire made the puffs and Emerald iced them. They made one Poké Puff for each Pokémon and made five extra for themselves, Ruby and their parents to have. A very sweet smell drifted up all around the twins as they worked with the scent of Poké Puffs and curry fighting for attention in the kitchen.

"You all done over there?" Annie inquired.

"Yes mum!" the twins replied in unison.

"They're gonna be so good, I can tell." Ruby complimented, "Can't wait to taste them."

"Nor I with that curry. It smells heavenly!" Emerald said in return.

Soon dinner was ready and the whole family was able to tuck into the delicious curry along with all the Pokémon. Michael Silverlock was always back from work in time for dinner and he greeted his wife and daughters warmly as he came in. He'd brought Tiger the Arcanine back with him. He'd once been Ruby's but she'd given him to Michael and Tiger had been his helpful assistant in his flower shop since then. Naturally, Tiger had instantly run over to sit with Starfire as she ate her curry. The two had started a romance and were very much in love even now. The only sound that came from anybody was delighted munching as they tucked into the wonderful dinner. This was one of Ruby's favourite times of the day. Nothing felt more satisfying to her than just sitting down to a lovely meal with her family and all her Pokémon outside enjoying what she and her mother had made too. Emerald and Sapphire were delighted when they offered out the Poké Puffs and they were all enjoyed too. They'd gotten them perfectly for each Pokémon and the ones for themselves were just as they should be.

After dinner was over, the Pokémon all began to settle down for the night. It never ceased to amaze their trainers how 67 Pokémon playing together in one garden all day could suddenly be so quiet and calm when night time approached. For the sisters, they enjoyed a bit of evening television together and their idea of a perfect way to wind down after a busy day was to take a dip in the Jacuzzi together. Upon buying this bigger house, they'd decided they wanted a Jacuzzi to relax in at the end of the day. Being as busy as they usually were, it proved to be just the thing they needed in cooling down and washing away the tiredness of the day. The Jacuzzi itself sat in a spare room to itself in the house and always had plenty of towels nearby should the sisters need any. Ruby, Emerald and Sapphire sat in the Jacuzzi together and sighed with pleasure as they settled down in the lovely warm water. The turned the bubbles on and lay back for a moment as they let themselves go. If heaven existed, they were sure it would feel like this.

"Aaah…I could do this all day." Ruby sighed contently.

"I love playing with our Pokémon and keeping them happy and healthy, but it always feels good to wind down after a day of work and fun like this." Emerald agreed, "I can't think of any better way to relax than this."

"I wish every day could be like this." Sapphire lamented, "It's just so nice when we get to just enjoy ourselves like so. But I do enjoy my life as it is now and I know I'll enjoy being the new Dojo Master when my time to take over comes."

"You'll be great Sapph, I just know it." Ruby said supportively, "I love my life too. Awesome battles with challengers seeking my title, lots of Pokémon to play with, a comfortable place to live in and all with my loving family and friends beside me at all times. I wouldn't trade this life for anything."

"Nor I!" Emerald agreed, "I love my life as it is as well! I think we've all got it great, don't you?"

"Absolutely." Sapphire concurred, "And our Pokémon clearly think so too."

"Let's face it girls, we're very lucky to have the lives we have now and I know I appreciate it more than anything." Ruby said happily, "And I'm sure our lives will only get better as we get older too…"

The sisters lay back and continued enjoying the soothing bubbling water. Their lives were truly perfect and they were more than happy with the lives they had now. As a Champion, a coordinator and an upcoming Dojo Master all with Pokémon by their sides, neither of them could ask for anything more…


And that's pretty much what an average day in the life of Ruby and her sisters is like. It's hard work caring for so many Pokémon but they love it and they can manage it. ^^

Next time, we take a trip to Unova as Ashley Benson wants nothing more than to show her girlfriend where she was born and raised and starter her career as a Pokémon trainer so make sure you don't miss it! ;)

Trivia: The gag of Ruby telling Soundwave to say "aah" but getting yelled at comes from a Looney Tunes cartoon called "The Draft Horse" where a colonel tells a horse to say "aah" but gets yelled at. It was so funny that I had to reference it here. XD

Also much of this story is inspired and based on the episode "Doc Brock" from the Diamond and Pearl series. It maybe a filler episode but it's still one of my favourite episodes of the DP era regardless. ^^

Also as you can see, Ruby still has Fang the Morgrem whom she caught but never used in Knights of Galar and he's since evolved into a Grimmsnarl. You'll see her use him in a planned Plot-Scorbunny I have that'll see Ruby fight Cynthia. Yes that'll happen eventually. ;)

For those who have read Knights of Galar, I imagine you're wondering where the hell Hawk Moth the Butterfree is amongst Ruby's roster? Well, Ruby released him sometime after becoming Champion. I felt Butterfree just didn't fit Ruby's powerhouse team and let's face it, Butterfree isn't exactly the kind of Pokémon a Champion would use, is it? So he had to go. I know Butterfree can be surprisingly powerful Pokémon (just ask pettyartist) but again, Ruby just has better options as a Champion so why even keep one around? In-universe, the reason is that Hawk Moth proved too unruly thanks to his delusional behaviour so Ruby felt he was too much of a wild card to keep around and thus released him. But don't think she's letting him run free to cause trouble elsewhere! By "released him", I mean she's given him to a facility that keeps dangerous Pokémon locked up and out of harm's way. So don't worry, he won't hurt anyone.

Also this Plot-Scorbunny confirms that Scorponok has since come out of retirement and is fully onboard with battling once more. I'll think on when we can see him in action again. :)