My Lovely Ego [FranticShipping]

I hope you like the first story I've posted on PC, as I'm feeling rather reckless today, in posting threads outside the RP section. This is a FranticShipping RP that follows many events in the manga. Please review and give criticism, as I'm not a very good editor, sooo, yeah...

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

On a bright early morning, the sun is shining brilliantly to a brand new day, a boy is walking toward the start of his adventures, and a girl is walking toward the start of her own adventures.

What more is there to this story?

"EYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!" Came a yell of surprise, as someone quickly stumbled backward in the trees surrounding Littleroot. A boy with blood red eyes had fallen on the ground, having tripped over his own feet in surprise "Monster!!!"

He knew he made a mistake the minute he'd opened his mouth. First off, the yell wasn't really a yell…more like…a girly scream. Secondly, falling onto the ground was a big mistake, which would be revealed to him later. And third…the 'monster' was in fact an extremely offended girl, no older no younger then himself by the looks of it as well.

"WHAT did you call me?!" She asked in an offended voice.

Actually, the boy personally really couldn't blame himself for calling her a monster. She was A. covered in dirt and mud, B. looked like she didn't even know what a bath was C. Didn't look like she'd TAKEN a bath in the past few months D. Was dressed in…were those leaves??? And finally, E. Had THE most disgusting and deformed expression on her face. In other words, a female semi-human monster.

"Oh, sorry, I-I must have mistook you as…as…" The boy stuttered, trailing off and remembering the rustling of leaves that had startled him so quickly. He could've sworn it was going to be some kind of mutated pokemon who had it in for him.

"AS A MONSTER?!" She screeched "DO I LOOK LIKE A MONSTER?!"

A sitting duck for a wild cat who was probably going to eat him if he said anything more. That's what he was at the moment.

He thought instantly after her last quote, 'YEAH, do I look like an idiot?!' But thought better of saying it aloud "N-no, it was just spur of the moment!" He said sweatdropping "Why are you-"

"Dressed like this? So I blend with my enviroment." She snapped, the cuts and bruises on her face didn't seem to faze her at all. Her hair was combed into two 'piggytail' like clumps on either side of her head, unbound by a hair tie and the back, as little as there was, was pulled up into a short ponytail. It was obviously styled to be that way.

"That's why you're dressed like that?! Can't you wear something else?!" He asked standing up and brushing himself off daintily.

"Pokemon won't approach me if I wear synthetic materials!" She said, highly offended by his opinion on her appearance. She didn't seem to think highly of looking good.

Hey, if she was offended already, he might as well continue to voice his opinions.

"And come to think of it, you STINK too! Doesn't hygiene mean ANYTHING to you?!" He asked pinching his nose and waving his other hand back and forth before his nose.

"What about YOU?!" She asked pointing an accusing finger at him, majorly ticked off "Fancy dyeing YOUR hair white!!!"

"It's a hat!" He shot back. She was referring to the hat crammed upon his head, covering all his hair, and most of his forehead.

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

"Ah!" Professor Birch said joyfully as I walked through the door after my unpleasant run-in with that girl "Ruby, it's so nice to see you!"

"Thanks Professor Birch, it's nice to see you too." I said politely.

"Here to get your first pokemon no doubt?" Professor Birch said pulling three brand new pokeballs from a beat up brown side bag "Well, there's Treecko," He released a strange looking green…lizard thing with huge yellow eyes "Torchic," He then released a chick looking pokemon, orange with yellow tufts around itself, and no apparent…wings? "and last but not least, Mudkip. These are just starters." He said, finally letting out a blue pokemon, that looked like a fish turned into a land pokemon…it was a hard decision to make, your first pokemon.

"I'll take-"

"Stop right there!" A familiar voice snapped as I cringed "Torchic is mine, and I'm not letting her fall into the hands of the likes of YOU!"

"Sapphire mind your manners!" Professor Birch said reproachfully.

"What manners?" I mumbled to myself "I was going to take Mudkip so don't get your panties in a knot. If you even wear them." I said rolling my eyes as Professor Birch sweatdropped, handing me Mudkip's pokeball.

"WHAT?!" She screeched "I wear underwear thank you very much, AND, they're NOT in a knot, AND, I have very good manners when I want to show them thanks!" She said snatching up torchic's pokeball.

"Please don't tell me you're going on your journey dressed like that." A feminine voice said from behind me and the monster "Sapphire, you know better then that."

Sapphire was her name. I must've missed it when Professor Birch said her name, because I'm sure he did say it…oh, she's saying something.

"I look fine mom!" She said pouting childishly.

"You won't wear that tonight you won't!" Her mother said, seemingly just as stubborn as her daughter. Sapphire had obviously received her deep navy blue eyes from her mother, her tawny yet rich brown hair from her father.

"Tonight?" Sapphire asked in surprise.

"Well yes, Ruby here is staying for dinner." Mrs. Birch said folding her arms.

"What?!" Both me, Professor Birch, and Sapphire all yelled at once.

"Laramie just phoned me, and said she wants Ruby to experience a real family for just one night. You know Norman's never there to eat dinner with them. Let alone he's never there to BE at home." Mrs. Birch said wiping her hands off on her light blue apron "No excuses you three."

"Where's he staying then?" Professor Birch asked.

"Where else?" Mrs. Birch said "Sapphire's room."

"WHAT?!" Sapphire shrieked "I'm gonna get AIDs or something, the next time I sleep in my bed if HE sleeps in it!" She pointed another accusing finger at me.

"What?!" I retorted "Just what do you think I do in my free time?!"

"Alright you two!" Mrs. Birch said slamming a yard stick down on Professor Birch's desk, making papers jump up and settle down in different spots. Professor Birch was wimpering rather pathetically as his freshly cleaned desk was instantly demolished "Quiet down. Sapphire I want you to be NICE to Ruby tonight, or else I'm taking away your privilege to go on a journey! Ruby, I want YOU to be nice to Sapphire, or else I'm going to phone your mother AND your father, YES, young man your FATHER, and I'm going to make sure YOUR privilege is taken away is that clear?"

"Yes ma'am…" Both me and Sapphire muttered as she glared at me, and I glared at her equally.

~ + ~ + ~ + ~

"I can't believe I have to spend an entire NIGHT with you…" Sapphire grumbled as she rummaged through her closet, tossing out clothes, which mainly comprised of…dresses?

"Woah, you actually wear dresses?" Ruby asked, examining a rather frilly one she just thrown out.

"Shut up!" Sapphire yelled snatching the dress away from him "They're really old, because I don't wear synthetic materials much!"

"How about this one?" Ruby asked picking up on that had landed on the ground dejectedly "It looks good."

Sapphire glanced up at the dress in Ruby's hand and flushed, "GIVE ME THAT!"

"What?!" Ruby asked defensively.

"I'm never wearing that dress again! First off, it's too frilly, Secondly, it's incredibly small, and thirdly, it brings back memories that suck worse then you!" She snapped, thrusting the dress back into the back of her closet. As she continued to rummage for something to wear.

"I was kidding!" Ruby said as he was pelted by randomly thrown dresses.

"AHA!" Sapphire shouted triumphantly "This'll work fine."

Ruby sweatdropped "It looks like a potato sack."

"Who asked you?!" Sapphire snapped "If you're so smart find something that's not too girlish and something that looks okay!"

"Yes ma'am." Ruby said sarcastically as he began to sift through the pile of dusty dresses. Almost all of them were much too small for her, and rather…girlish "You know, I don't think I can match your demands. How about we go shopping for a new outfit for you?"

"Shopping?!" Sapphire asked, sitting cross legged on her bed, "What kind of Man-woman are you?!"

Ruby sweatdropped and said "Well let's go then."

"Wait!" Sapphire said "I don't have any money to go shopping!"

"I do." Ruby said as though it was plain to see.

"I'm not using your money! And I'm not dressed to go into a store!" Sapphire said flushing at the prospect of being bought clothes from a total stranger who was totally offending.

"Too late for that." Ruby said shrugging. He faltered and then stopped entirely. Sapphire was prompt to bump into him at his quick and sudden stop, and snapped "Now what?!"

"Uh, you might want to take a shower first." Ruby said pointing at the bathroom.

"What?!" Sapphire said "Do you know how offend-"

"Just go!" Ruby said pushing her into the bathroom and closing the door.

"But I don't have any clothes to put on afterward!!" She yelled pounding on the door, of which Ruby was keeping shut.

"I'll GET you some from your mom or something!" Ruby said, as the pounding died away. Grumbling was still heard as the water began to run, and he smirked. It was time to domesticate this wild cat.

"She can borrow one of my old T-shirts. I'm sure there's a pair of shorts somewhere in her room as well." Professor Birch said, having come to examine the commotion.

"Okay, I'll go find the shorts." Ruby said heading toward her room.

"I think you should go find a t-shirt instead. I'm not sure she'll be too excited about the prospect of you being alone in her room." Professor Birch said walking past Ruby "My room's further down the hall. Blue closet."

"…Oh…" He muttered "Okay then…"

Sure enough, a few minutes later, Sapphire was yelling for the Ruby to 'get on with it'.

"Coming!" Professor Birch said coming quickly with her clothes.

"Boy am I glad it's you and not Ruby." Sapphire muttered as she took the clothes from her father "This is the most horrible experience of my life."

Professor Birch sweatdropped "I think it'll be an interesting experience."

"Right, tell that to me after I get some new clothes." Sapphire said rolling her eyes and slamming the door shut.

I have read few Pokemon Special fanfictions... and I like reading about ruby and sapphire. Nice to see how you trailed away from the actual manga. Why was falling to the ground for Ruby, a bad idea?

Feebas!
*ish a Franticshipper*

Finally, someone actually starts writing a fan ficceh on this.^^
I too, Feebas the way you made the storyline a bit different from the actual manga. I'm going to enjoy reading this. Nice work so far.^^

Augh, the bad idea thing was an edit-in, and I forgot to put the rest. I think I added it on Serebii, but I'm not sure. Thanks for reviewing, it's taken awhile for me to get reviews on this one! 0_0;;

Anyway, I've held off on posting the more recent chapters of My lovely Ego, so I'll just stick em' all in one big thing here. Just a warning, I changed my point of view a few times in chapter two (the beginning part) so don't let that throw you off m'kay?
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Even dressed in an oversized T-shirt and lime green shorts that were much too short she looked better. Her hair was combed, and the ponytail was completely gone, her cuts looked a little less noticeable, and she looked…halfly domesticated. It was still a long way to go though.

"Well? Let's go then." Sapphire said bitterly.

"Alright then." I said getting up from the kitchen table, and opening the door "After you." I said sarcastically.

"Thank you." She said tight lipped as she walked into the bright sun of Littleroot.

"This is where my mom usually shops." Sapphire said leading me over to a small boutique. Littleroot was certainly as small as it's name suggested, but this would have to do. She entered the shop before me, as though she was excited.

But I learned she just wanted to get it over with.

"How about this?" I asked pulling a tank top and a skirt out from a randomly placed rack.

"I'm a girl, not a model." Sapphire replied bitterly as she sifted through the clothes, and shaking her head in disatisfaction every now and then "Besides, I'm going to wear this on my journey as well."

I raised my eyebrows, and a great idea popped in my head. But, I'd keep quiet for now "Why don't we just get you something for tonight, and go to like, Oldale to get a traveling outfit?"

"What? But that's just more expensive on your side of the story." Sapphire said flushing.

"It's alright, doesn't matter to me. I've got nothing to spend my allowance on anyway. I've been saving up for awhile, and I'm sure I've got enough." I said grinning. Oh yeah, I'd been saving up my allowance since I got my first quarter.

"F-Fine, but I'll pay you back!" She said turning away from me and searching through more clothes to hide her blush.

I nearly laughed, but instead continued to look around. Eventually, she found a plain white spaghetti strap cami and I found a pair of ebony cargo capri's, that were tough, which she could wear during her crazy expeditions in the forest.

"You look cute." I said winking at her when she stepped out of the dressing booth, looking down at herself as though she was wearing a clown suit, before she looked up to glare at me.

"Let's just go already. Did you pay?" She asked, no longer guilty at all.

"Yeah." I said as we headed out of the store.

"These tags are killing me." She grumbled as we walked down the path to the lab.

"Cut them off when we get back to your house. It's as simple as that. Not everybody likes to hear others complain you know." I said, my hands shoved in my pockets.

"Thanks." She said sarcastically, pushing me aside playfully as she stuck her tounge out at me and ran ahead to Professor Birch, who was studying some Taillow outside the lab.

I scoffed in a good, way and slowly caught up to her at my own pace.

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

"See? Meeting Ruby has already done you so much good." Mrs. Birch said as they sat around the dinner table, eating some plain macaroni and cheese, considering Professor Birch didn't have much time to eat before he had to return to work.

Ruby examined the yellowish noodles and asked "Mom never cooked this for me…"

"You serious?" Sapphire asked, her mouth full of macaroni, "Wow, talk about a sad childhood."

"Oh yeah, real sad." Ruby said rolling his eyes "No noodles with cheese on them before! Oh no the world's gonna end."

It was many minutes later in which they'd finished their meal, and argument about…whether never eating macaroni and cheese was sad or not…

"You two are ridiculous!" Mrs. Birch said picking up her plate and dumping it in the sink to clean later. Sapphire followed suit, as did Ruby, who didn't toss the plate into the sink like Mrs. Birch and Sapphire, but instead rearranged it neatly, and put his on top.

Sapphire watched Ruby do this with raised eyebrows "Freak." She muttered shaking her head as she headed back to her room.

"What?!" Ruby asked defensively "It's automatic!"

"Come here already man-woman!" She called from her room.

Ruby grumbled and stomped to her room, to find an air mattress, and her own bed, both on either side of the room. Each had blankets and pillows that were…very Hoenn color coordinated. Black Red and white sheets and pillow cases, the air mattress was black, Sapphire's bed spread was red, and Ruby wanted to puke. Gross. Johto, being his home region, was also a nice place, but you didn't see him painting his walls gold for 'Goldenrod'.

"Why is it all so blinding?" Ruby asked shielding his eyes from the sight.

"Because my blue sheets are in the wash. Be glad the walls are white, not carnival red." She said bitterly on her bed.

For PJ's, it seemed she merely wore a pair of gym shorts and a tank top. It was a horrible clash.

"I thought you said you didn't have any clothes." Ruby said making sure his hat was on before pulling off his sneakers and plopping down upon the air mattress.

"You're going to pop it." Sapphire said in a muffled voice, the palm of her hand supporting her chin as she studied the effects of different items.

"Yeah whatever." Ruby said rolling over to face the wall rather then Sapphire "It's not mine."

"Goodnight Man-woman."

"Goodnight Monster."

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

Ah, but all things must come to an abrupt end.

"RUBY!!!!!!" Someone screeched at the top of their lungs, making Professor Birch drop the stack of papers he was holding, as well as let the phone in the crook of his shoulder and neck.

He quickly picked up the phone and apologized quickly "Very sorry Professor Oak, my daughter is, -erm- frustrated at the moment." He said picking up the papers.

"Ruby you sick little pervert WHERE did you put my pokedoll??!!" Sapphire screamed pulling the half-asleep boy out of bed by the collar and shaking him violently "It was next to my pillow before I went to bed where did it go?!"

"Huh?" Asked a groggy Ruby, who's eyes were starting to droop.

"ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME???!!!" Sapphire shrieked shaking him ever more violently.

"Why do I have a headache?" Ruby asked as he finally woke up "Oh. Remind me why you're face is so close to mine."

Sapphire flushed, but moved her face no further from his, before yelling "WHERE'S MY POKEDOLL?!"

"Oh." Ruby said boredly, prying himself out of her grasp as he slouched back over to his bed "Dunno." He plopped down onto the mattress again and snored peacefully. He was obviously not a morning person.

Sapphire puffed out her cheeks in protest, but quickly gasped when she saw a skitty jump on top of Ruby and begin clawing at his back playfully.

"Ow Ow Aw Ow! Alright already Sapphire I'm up you don't have to kill me in the process!!!" Ruby shouted jumping up as the Skitty was sent flying into Sapphire's arms.

"Jeez." Ruby mumbled smoothing out the bed sheets.

"Hey! That wasn't me! That was this skitty here!" Sapphire said defensively "I don't appreciate that rash generalization thank you very much."

"Coco!" Ruby scolded "How many times do I have to tell you not to do that?!"

"Myaaaah!" Coco meowed from Sapphire's arms before settling herself in, ready to be carried around by Sapphire for the rest of the day.

Sapphire sweatdropped and put Coco on her shoulder before asking the skitty in a baby voice "Do you know where you big bad trainer hid my pretty pokedoll Coco?"

"Nyah!" Skitty replied jumping off her shoulder and burrowing underneath Sapphire's pile of dirty laundry.

"You hid it in there?!" Sapphire yelled at Ruby.

"I didn't hide it! Coco did she likes collecting stuff!" Ruby retorted "But if you're not gonna get it I'll go do it to rest my case 'NOT Guilty!'"

Sapphire grumbled something about 'pervert' again, before digging through the clothes to find not only her pokedoll, but many pencils, erasers, and a chewed up stuffed pokeball. Amongst them, sitting in the very middle of the mess, was Coco, smiling proudly at the fact that Sapphire had found her collection. And when Sapphire picked Coco up onto her shoulder, she jumped nearly five feet high.

Not because of what she saw. Mainly because what she heard. In an abrupt and girlish scream Ruby had pointed and dashed to pick up what looked like…

Glasses. Chewed, broken, and shattered.

"Coooocoooo!" Ruby moaned as he held the glasses wet with saliva in between his fore finger and thumb "That's the third pair this week!"

Sapphire glanced at Coco, who glanced at her.

"Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!" Sapphire laughed as she pointed at Ruby with Coco laughing along with her "Good call Coco!"

"Nyah!"

"What?!" Ruby said "Who's side are you on Coco?!"

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

"You big bad trainer is being mean Coco." Sapphire said shaking her head "Just because you like me better."

Ruby grumbled something before saying "Get over yourself."

They had been on the path to Oldale for no less then 5 minutes, and Ruby couldn't stand her already. Professor Birch oh how blind you are, suggesting we travel together for 'moral' support. How would SHE boost his moral?! She degraded him every other minute!

Of course, he had to admit he wasn't much better, but STILL! She was killing him! He didn't think he could stand this girl much longer, and they still had the rest of Hoenn to go.

Sapphire kept quiet afterwards, but still cooed to Skitty. She was obviously a sucker for pokemon, especially cute ones.

Ruby felt a small smile come to his lips at his realization. She may have been one heck of a tomboy, but inside, she was still just a little girl. He bet that if people could see what was truly inside their hearts, she'd see a little girl wearing that frilly dress she'd thrown at him chasing…butterflies maybe?

But the smile slid off his face quite fast when he thought about what he'd see in himself. He shook his head and turned around to see Sapphire conversing with Coco and her new torchic.

"I dunno Coco, Blaze is so stereotypical, besides when Torchic evolves it'll be a blaziken, and that'll be weird and all around boring. You've got a cool nickname." Sapphire said examining her torchic who was cheerfully marching beside her.

"Tor, chic chic!" The unnamed pokemon chirped happily.

"What do you think Ruby?" Sapphire asked picking up the little bird pokemon in her arms with Coco on her shoulder.

"Um…" Ruby mumbled, continuing to walk after she'd caught up with him "I dunno. Something cool. Tough to reflect the trainer."

Sapphire looked up at the bright skies with a puzzled expression "Cool?"

Ruby flushed he didn't even know he'd said 'cool' "I-I mean, it's not like you're cool, but Torchic's original trainer was your dad, and he'd pretty cool."

"You don't think I'm cool?" Sapphire asked lightly looking at him side-ways, face still toward the warm sun.

"Ah, well, yeah, but you're cool in your own…special way…" Ruby muttered determinedly looking away from the girl walking beside him.

Sapphire looked back up into the skies and smiled "Thanks…I think…" She added "You're cool too, in all your man-woman glory."

Ruby quickly tripped over his own feet in surprise. "I compliment you and you diss me?!?"

"Well yeah, I can't say you're cool, that's like social suicide!" Sapphire said looking down at the boy, with torchic looking down as well.

"I…guess." Ruby said rubbing the side of his head which had collided with the ground first.

"Come on! Let's get to Oldale! Then we might be able to get to Petalburg before dark!" Sapphire said shifting Torchic into one arm and holding out her hand for the Ruby on the ground to take.

It took a long time of staring for Ruby to finally and reluctantly take Sapphire's hand. She couldn't deny she was annoyed, just when she thought they were getting somewhere, but nonetheless she pulled up him.

"Ow!" Ruby groaned rubbing his shoulder "You pull hard!"

"Whatever." Sapphire said shrugging before heading down the beaten path.

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

"Good old Oldale!" Sapphire said when they finally reached the simple sign that said 'Welcome to Oldale'.

"Please don't use that pun." Ruby said sweatdropping.

"Too bad." Sapphire said looking around "Where do you think the pokemon center is?"

Ruby gave a jerk and said hurriedly "No! Y-you don't want to stay at the pokemon center in Oldale-"

"There it is!" Sapphire said ignoring Ruby and running toward it.

"YOU THERE!" Someone shouted in a high nasally voice.

Sapphire froze in mid-step as a small geeky man ran up to her "I have seen you, and now you must accept my challenge." His greasy hair was slicked back to further impose his oily and strangely porpotioned face.

"Okay!" Sapphire said smirking "But hold on a second." She ran back over to me, and rummaged through my pockets.

"H-hey! Who's the pervert now?!" Ruby shouted, but Sapphire ignored him as she found what she was looking for.

"Return Coco, I've gotta battle." Sapphire said as the pink kitty disappeared in a flash of red light "Talk about a walking pimpleville." Sapphire mumbled to me, indicating toward the pokenerd.

Ruby sweatdropped as Sapphire put her Torchic down, ready for her first battle.

"Go Metapod!" The nerd said in the same annoyingly nasal voice "Use harden!"

"Torchic use scratch quick!" Sapphire called out as the torchic ran over to the cocoon pokemon with incredible speed for something that looked so wobbly, slashing at it with one of it's clawed feet.

"Metapod harden!" The nerd called.

"Torchic use scratch again!"

"Harden!"

"Scratch!"

"This is lame." Ruby mumbled.

"Harden!"

"Scratch!" Sapphire called out for a final time before-

"TTTOOOOOOORCHIIIIIIIIIIC!!!!!" Sapphire's Torchic wailed running around in a circle around the now incredibly shiny metapod. It ran toward it's trainer to show her it's injury.

Ruby sweatdropped and said to Sapphire "It's a world record! I never thought I'd see a POKEMON break a nail!"

"Shut up Ruby nobody asked you for your opinion!" Sapphire snapped "Alright Torchic, use ember!"

Round diskette's of fire burning orange flew from Torchic's mouth and onto the glossy surface of the near untouchable Metapod now.

"Pod…" Metapod said boredly rolling itself over onto it's back.

"Wow you're Metapod is more useless then a Caterpie…" Sapphire said to the nerd, who grit his teeth.

"Oh yeah?!" He retorted "Just you wait!"

The nerd's metapod began to glow in a blindingly white light, and the nerds geeky laugh was heard "See, all I needed to do was to find a simple opponent to level up my Metapod, and here we are!" He said as the light began to dim, the Metapod's shell cracked and slowly but surely out came a Butterfly looking pokemon "And now I have what I need to eliminate you! Butterfree, Poison Powder!"

"Uh oh!" Sapphire mumbled "Torchic ember!"

The fine greenish dust that fell from the Butterfly's wings landed directly on the Torchic, which had just fired an ember, but being in the air and not immobilized by the attempt to attack, the Butterfree easily dodged the diskettes with a graceful somersault.

"Torchic!"

The pokemon in question had a purplish color to it now, and it's unbalanced stagger meant the poison power had completed it's job, and the Torchic fell harshly upon the ground, Sapphire running to pick it up and cradle the little bird in her arms.

"Hahaha! We shall meet again girl, and next time, I will have a deadly arsenal in my keep!" The nerd said running away from the scene like a madman with his Butterfree following him.

"Hey, I brought along some item's if you need them." Ruby mumbled to Sapphire, holding out a syringe that had the bold red letter 'A' on the front.

"It's okay, we're in front of a pokemon center anyway." Sapphire said standing up and walking through the sliding glass doors that were polished to a fault.

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

I had lost my very first battle. How wonderful. With Ruby watching no less. But, it wasn't as though the man-woman would really care, considering he obviously didn't like battles. But he would never let her live this down. She'd underestimated her opponent, every onlooker knew that.

"My Torchic is poisoned Nurse Joy, can you heal her?" I asked the pink haired nurse behind the desk that looked like every other Nurse Joy I'd seen.

"Of course. It won't take too long, but you'll want to wait over there, we're rather busy today." She said kindly indicating toward the waiting room that was near deserted. No trainer really stayed while their pokemon was being healed unless it was a terrible injury.

"Hey, nice battle." Ruby said from behind her.

"Thanks." I replied bitterly.

"No seriously, it was good for a beginner." He explained.

"No seriously, I don't care. It's not like you'd know, you don't exactly battle, you told me on our way here." I shrugged, plopping down onto the couch and releasing Coco.

"I said I don't battle." Ruby said shaking his head before sitting on the couch opposite Coco and me "That doesn't mean I haven't before."

"Yeah..." I mumbled thoughtfully stroking the kitten "but I still lost."

"That…doesn't matter." Ruby said, "It just matters that you lost, and you have to accept that. I can't accept it when I lose, which is why I have trouble with everything I do."

I looked up from the coffee table I was attempting to burn a hole through with my angry glare and said "What about contests?"

"Well, I've never really been in a contest…" Ruby mumbled sheepishly.

"…A whole new low Man-Woman." I said shaking my head.

"What?!" Ruby asked "There's nothing wrong with liking something you've never tried! Especially if you don't like the alternative!"

"Whatever." I said standing up as Nurse Joy motioned me over "…Hypocrite."

"Hey!" Ruby exclaimed "That makes no sense! Stop using words in the wrong fashion! Sheesh get a vocabulary woman."

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

Nurse Joy handed Sapphire Torchic's pokeball and smiled kindly "Your Torchic's all better now. I think it would help if you spent time with your Torchic, because seeing as that was your first battle, it's trust in you may have decreased."

"Okay." Sapphire said gripping the pokeball tightly "I'll be sure to do that."

"Let's get out of here before another nerd challenges us." Ruby muttered to Sapphire as she nodded quickly.

Ruby poked his head out cautiously and found that all the nerds had disappeared "I wonder where they went…"

Sapphire held her nose in between her forefinger and thumb and said nasally "To a highly intellectual presentation on the evolution of pokemon and how it's related to their leveling rate."

Ruby snorted and dragged her out of the Pokemon Center "You're certainly the most attractive girl I've ever met."

"I know isn't it great?" Sapphire asked in her newfound nasally voice.

"Not much to do here…" Ruby muttered "Let's get to Petalburg, then we don't have to stay in a pokemon center."

"I'd rather stay in a tent then in YOUR room!" Sapphire said dropping her hand from her nose and stopping in her tracks.

Ruby sighed and said "We have a GUEST room unlike you. I live in a GYM remember?" He shook his head and grabbed her wrist to pull her forward to keep going.

"Oh? Do I hear an implied insult?" Sapphire asked reluctantly letting Ruby drag her away from the Pokemon Center.

"Yes, you do." Ruby said sarcastically "Not. Let's go already! I'm not going to carry you all the way to Petalburg!"

"Aw, why not mommy?" Sapphire asked in a baby voice, promptly laughing at Ruby's surprised and disturbed face "Who's the lucky dad?"

"Shut up!" Ruby said a streak of red dispersing across his face "You are the sickest person I have ever met!" He promptly let go of her wrist and stormed ahead with a disgruntled expression.

Sapphire faltered and pouted with a raised eyebrow "Well fine. Didn't know you were so touchy."

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

"Hello mother." Ruby muttered as he walked into the back of the gym, bypassing all the tricks and traps in the preliminary rounds of the Petalburg gym.

"Hi there Ruby! Brought a friend?" Ruby's mom asked cheerfully.

"No." Ruby replied "I brought a monster home."

Ruby's mom was quick to sweatdrop as Ruby came crashing to the ground as a result of a well-aimed punch from the monster.

"Oh my…" She muttered "I'm Laramie, it's very nice to see you again Sapphire!"

Sapphire blinked "Again?" She had no recollection of ever meeting Norman's family, or Norman himself…

"Oh, yes, I believe I met you a long time ago at a party for gym leaders?" Laramie said holding out her hand for Sapphire to shake.

"Oh yeah!" Sapphire said faking a bright smile, all the while she thought Ruby's mom needed to check in at a mental institute to make sure she was feeling okay. If she couldn't remember something, how could someone 3 times her age remember something? She took Laramie's hand and shook it, before Ruby stood up, rubbing his cheek.

"D*mn I thought I'd be kissed there before I got a slap…" Ruby muttered.

He received another slap on the other cheek and he whined "That cheek too!"

"Alright you two, why don't you go upstairs? Norman's not home right now, he's still training at the gym." Laramie said ushering the two upstairs.

When the two were finally in Ruby's room, the color code not really confined to anything except what Ruby wanted at the present moment, Sapphire asked "Isn't THIS the gym? Your home?"

Ruby glared and said "The reason we say dad's not home is because the real gym IS his home."

"Oh…" Sapphire said, wondering why Norman never returned to the back of the gym "Then where does he sleep?"

Ruby cringed "You're so blind! Of course he comes back at night to SLEEP but he's not here any other time of the day get it?"

"Yeah!" Sapphire chirped "Dad's always been home for dinner, so I guess I just don't get why your dad wouldn't want to come back and spend time with his family, but anyway, do you mind showing me to my room? I'm beat, and Torchic is too."

"No problem." Ruby said showing Sapphire out his room and into the room at the very end of the hall. Ruby's home was merely one elongated hall, with rooms to the side, like one big hotel. The kitchen and living space at the right end of the back gym.

"Thank you!" Sapphire said cheerfully "Goodnight! See you in the morning kay?"

"Sure…" Ruby muttered wondering where her suddenly cheerful attitude had appeared "'Night…"

Sapphire promptly shut the door and locked it, glad that she had been smart enough to keep her items in the beat up side bag she'd received from her dad before she left. So she wouldn't have to face Ruby again. He didn't seem very happy to be in her company anymore...

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

"Maybe he's a little more complicated then I've given him credit for…" I muttered, leaning against the closed door "I wonder why his dad doesn't seem to hang out with his family a lot…"

I guess it's just because my dad's always spent as much time as possible with us, in all of his free time that in the end, it was me who was avoiding him, but I couldn't blame him, I would want to see the family I worked so hard for once in a while too…

But from the sound of it, Ruby's dad, Norman, didn't seem to be home…ever!

"I guess I am pretty blind huh Coco?" I asked cheerfully releasing the skitty.

"Nyah!" the kitten mewed as it looked around a familiar setting, of a room that looked too much like a hotel room to truly be 'homey'.

"But it's certainly not my fault." I added quickly, scooping up the skitty into my arms and plopping down on the plush quilt covered bed "It's not my fault he's emo and depressed whenever his dad is brought up."

"Myah!" Skitty tried to paw at my face with little pink paws and I giggled

"I've already got enough scratches and cuts you naughty little kitty!"

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

"Man, I hate girls Nana." Ruby mumbled as he locked his door, speaking to the poochyena which was burrowed in the very corner of a pile of old blankets and toys.

Nana barked in response and nodded in agreement.

"They think they can butt into your business just because they feel like it." Ruby said throwing himself upon the grey sheets of his metal bed. The creaking springs of an old bed that desperetely needed to be replaced was heard as the bed groaned under Ruby's weight.

"Man, I wish mom had taken the time to replace my mattress." Ruby sighed, poking the no longer fluffy piece of…whatever mattresses were made out of "This really makes home feel like a prison. Not to mention the metal bed in general."

Nana shook it's head with a joyful yip.

<'All you do is complain.'> It had said to Ruby who raised an eyebrow at his pokemon before stuffing his face into the yellow pillowcase and saying in a muffled voice, "Mit's a conshpirishy againsht me."

Nana snorted before settling into a comfortable position, legs splayed up in the air and stomach facing the ceiling which had glowing stars taped all over it.

"Night." Ruby said to his pokemon, dragging his hat off his head and clapping his hands, dropping the white hat off the side of the bed while he did so.

The light's dimmed as Ruby realized he hadn't changed into his pajama's.

Meh, who really cared anyway? The door was locked, it wasn't as though his mom was going to come bursting in saying that it was gross not to change before going to sleep.

But it was a long time before Ruby got his much needed beauty sleep. He kept thinking about the way Sapphire had battled earlier. Such a novice! Repeating the same move over and over, and not even realizing the plan her opponent was going for! No. Bad Ruby! He was thinking about battling again. He had promised himself he wouldn't let anyone see him battle unless it was absolutely necessary! That made a lot of potholes in his promise…he had no choice to accept a battle challenged by another trainer, even if he was a coordinator.

Well, he hadn't promised himself he wouldn't think about battling. Besides, Sapphire needed to see an expert do it.

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

"Well Coco, I'm ready to challenge Norman, and I'm gonna do it soon and I'm gonna win it all!" Sapphire said confidently as she stood upon the bed, with Coco jumping up and down at her feet "But first, let's see if there's anything good to eat."

Coco nodded and instantly ran to the door to scratch at it, wanting something to eat as well.

"Ooh, I just realized how hungry I am…I didn't get any dinner last night…" Sapphire groaned as she opened the door and walked down the hallway "And I just realized how creepy this place is…it really is like a hotel…"

In fact, the hallway looked so similar to a hotel, there were even numbers on the doors, and she half-expected to see a lobby at the end of the hall, with it's cheap couches lined against the wall. But instead she was greeted by Ruby's mother, lounging on the couch and flipping through a number of television channels. It certainly wasn't a lobby, but the couch still looked quite cheap. Coco promptly trotted over to where a bandaged poochyena, which Sapphire assumed belonged to Ruby, was eating from a rather large bowl.

"Where's Ruby?" Sapphire asked politely.

"Oh, good morning, Ruby's probably out in the gym, training with his father. I'd steer clear though, those sessions grow…very verbal and physical." Ruby's mom said rolling her eyes.

"Oh okay…" Sapphire mumbled in a haze of confusion as she timidly pushed the door open to the back room, where the gym leader obviously resided.

"Alright let's finish this pitiful training session Slakoth. Slash!" A man with dark hair and peircing red eyes like Ruby, said coldly. His expression sent shiver's down Sapphire's spine as she looked into eyes of pure dislike.

Those eyes were staring at an already exhausted Ruby, who was standing on the opposite side of the battlefield, his Mudkip also looking as tired as his trainer.

"Sapphire?" Ruby said looking up in surprise, but this moment of distraction left a direct hit to be brutally taken by the mudkip, which soared into the wall behind Ruby.

"Ah- Mudkip!" Ruby exclaimed, startled that his defeat had been handed to him on a silver platter without him even noticing.

"Don't get distracted so easily!" Norman barked, his arms now folded "Not even for impressing someone, like your cheerleaders, your parents, companions tossing you advice, or even a pretty girl!" He jerked his head in notion to Sapphire, who flushed.

Ruby scowled at his father and picked up the fainted fish pokemon "I was surprised that's all…"

"Still upholding your will not to let anyone see you battle?" Norman asked with a disgusted expression on his face, which distorted sharp features "It's holding you back, and it'll hold you back in your petty contests too."

Ruby muttered something and swiftly walked across the battlefield and past the two onlookers with a glare almost worthy of his father's.

"Can I help you?" Norman snapped at Sapphire who jumped, and started to stammer, trying to explain herself.

"O-oh, I-I was j-just looking f-for R-Ruby, a-and his m-mom just t-told me-"

"Enough. I get the picture it's not that hard to figure out." Norman said sharply, unfolding his arms across his maroon shirt "From your appearance I'd have to say you're Birch's issue."

'Issue?!' Sapphire thought indignantly and said sweetly "If issue mean's child then yes, I'm-"

"Sapphire. I look forward to battling you, in the far future." Norman said turning away from the back gym to face a challenger who'd just come stumbling in "You may leave now."

Sapphire bit her upper lip and furrowed her brow before retreating back into the house "Far?"

"Oh, I suppose he just guessed that you didn't have three pokemon. You have to have three pokemon to battle Norman you know." Laramie said with Ruby's mudkip in her lap, as she sprayed super potions and bandaged up her son's pokemon.

"That…would've been nice to know." Sapphire mumbled as Coco skipped over to her to stuff her face into Sapphire's leg, notioning for the girl to pick the pink pokemon up.

Letting the skitty hop into her outstretched arms she watched Ruby mutter to himself darkly, sitting on the couch beside his mother, before looking up at her with a bored glare.

"Oh." Sapphire said with a start, realizing that she'd been staring, "Sorry about- distracting you and all…"

"It's alright. I was losing anyway, and Mudkip couldn't have dodged that attack anyway. It wasn't too much of a blow to my ego it's been deflated quite a bit." He notioned over to the poochyena, with bandages around it's left paws and around it's neck "That's Nana."

"Ah…" Sapphire said looking over to the puppy who glared at her with such intensity that Sapphire began to wonder if it ran in the family.

"There we go." Laramie said, tying a knot on the last bandage "Mudkip should be all better by tomorrow."

"Tomorrow???" Sapphire almost shrieked "W-we have to stay here till tomorrow?!"

"Well yes, my husband would like to do a little training with you." Laramie said folding her hands in her lap now the mudkip had been returned to it's pokeball.

"B-but, I-I don't want my torchic to get all beat up like that!" Sapphire mumbled.

"I'm sure Norman will hear from mom if he beats up YOUR pokemon." Ruby said placing mudkip's pokeball on the counter.

Sapphire was positive, that had she not eaten in almost an entire day, that she would've completely lost her appetite "Um, do you have…something to…eat?" She asked.

"…Yeah." Ruby said as though it was obvious "Kitchen over there where Nana is. You can look through the pantry and the fridge. I'm not sure what we have, we usually have a little of everything…expired." He rolled his eyes and Laramie put her hands on her hips.

"I'm a busy woman! I can't spend all my time cleaning out that fridge! Besides, it's a dangerous place! Can't go into the very back without a gas mask on!" She said defensively.

"Why don't me and Ruby clean it? You know, today while Ruby's pokemon heal?" Sapphire asked, while Ruby made mad notions behind her mother's back signaling her to 'shut up'.

"Hmm, how about Ruby cleans it? You've got training with Norman today after all." Laramie said.

"I thought that was tomorrow…but, that works too!"

Sifting through the second row of the fridge Ruby gagged and nearly screamed in a hysteric "IS THIS FROM SECOND GRADE?!"

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

It ended up that even though Norman was too busy for the day to do any training, Ruby still had to clean the fridge all on his little lonesome.

He had overexaggerated the event by putting on rubber gloves, a rubber apron, and a gas mask, with Norman's old goggles.

"You look like a monster now." Sapphire said raising an eyebrow at Ruby's interesting choice of cleaning clothing.

"Shut up." He said in a muffled voice as he looked through the stainless steel refridgerator he murmured dates to himself "Hey I remember this. I did a project on it in 3rd grade! Something or other on mold…"

Laramie sweatdropped as Ruby tossed random objects into the trashcan and said "The fridge really is like our trashcan."

"…I…see…" Sapphire said sweatdropping, and fully understanding why Ruby had chosen his attire. The smell of something in a plastic tub Ruby had opened to examine was absolutely rancid. Ruby was of course, uneffected, his mask covering his face.

Two hours later, Ruby had finished the deed, and had even cleaned off the slime accumulating on the shelves "You owe me." He said to his mom, tossing all of his equipment into the sink.

"Indeed I do." She said, not really listening to her son as she finished sewing a little jacket for her Kirlia "And I'll probably owe you more after you go to the store to refill the fridge soon."

Ruby glanced back at the sparkling clean fridge and realized that really the only thing left in there was…a can of non-perishable peaches "Yeah that might help…a shopping list would too."

"I've already got one made out." She said pulling out a roughly folded sheet of paper from the rear of her black denim capri's "Sapphire you don't mind going with him? I think a girl would know what the things on the list are more then a guy like Ruby."

"O-Okay…" Sapphire mumbled. To be honest, -and blunt- she'd never gone grocery shopping…unless you count that many many years ago when she used to wear those ridiculous dresses in her closet, but to her, those years of her life didn't count. She took the paper and noticed it was light blue in color. Upon closer examination after opening it up, at each corner there was a pikachu with a surfboard. It was extremely cute!

"Well let's go." Ruby said as he rummaged through his mom's purse "I'll just take fifty pokedollars okay?"

"Oh it'll cost much more then that Ruby, take another fifty with you just in case. Save the reciept as well, I want to check just how much you spent." Laramie said as she pulled her wallet from Ruby's grasp and removed two white pokedollars and handed them to Ruby "And here's a thirty for lunch." She said handing him a pink one now.

"Right." He said jamming the money into his back pocket as he left through the backdoor, which, Sapphire guessed, acted like a front door. It slammed with a heavy metal bang as it hit the wall again.

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

Ruby walked far ahead, so far, that she could only barely see him through the crowds of Petalburg.

"You're hungry right?" Ruby asked as he waited for a few moments.

"If starving my a*s off is hungry to you, then yes!" Sapphire said sarcastically "I for one don't have as little gut as you do!"

"Whatever." Ruby said shrugging it off "Here's 20 pokedollars. I'm not hungry."

"Oh, kay thanks…" Sapphire said taking the bill from him and looking up to where he'd taken her. It seemed to just be a little café, and when she took a closer look through the tinted windows she felt her eyebrow's rise.

"Hey, the food is good. There's a reason I'm not going inside with you." Ruby said "I'll be back later, I have to go get something. Be sure not to get molested." He gave one wave of the hand and disappeared into the depths of Petalburg City.

Sapphire took a deep breath and opened the door. Oh how wise she'd been to do so. It was so heavily perfumed in the restraunt that Sapphire wanted to throw up. Literally. But that wasn't the only thing making her want to puke. Of all places, Ruby had decided to toss her to a couple's coffee café. And he didn't even have the courtesy to come in with her, which made her feel weird under the many stares for she'd arrived alone. Especially since the back's of many chairs were shaped the hearts, with heart shaped balloons floating around on the ceiling, and it felt like a darker version of Valentine's had arrived, the booths color either a hot bold red, or a dirty white. The cast iron tables didn't seem very comfortable, but they were color coordinated along with the chairs that stood around them. All the tables were two person seating only, and the blinding pink wallpaper was just asking to be burnt to a crisp by Torchic's ember.

And then she realized why Ruby had warned her not to get molested.

"Hey there sweetcakes come to get something to munch on? Because ain't nothin' sweeter in here then you." A big burly, and rather stupid looking teenager said with a wide grin in his face.

"Are you drunk?" Sapphire asked bluntly, glaring at the man as she passed by him with a refined air that she didn't normally posess. But her spirits lightened as someone else, who'd apparently come solo as well, began to laugh at the boy's surprised expression.

"Hey that was awesome." A boy no more then three years older then Sapphire said "That guy says that to every solo girl that comes into this place. In fact, said it to me as well." The boy didn't seem to care that the exact person he was talking about was standing right next to him "Sit." He said motioning toward the chair in front of him.

He didn't seem like a bad person, and besides, it was the only table that wasn't close to a french kissing couple. Which, Sapphire had to add, was GOOD.

"What's your name?" He asked ordering a sandwich for Sapphire.

"Erm…"

He laughed, his blonde spikes falling into his brilliantly green eyes "Yeah, why tell a guy when some other guy just tried to get the best outta yah huh? Well, I'm Andante, but don't call me that. Dante's the name, and surfin's my game." He held out a tanned hand for Sapphire to shake, and Sapphire cheerfully obliged.

He truly did hold unto his surfing interest, at least when it came to his appearance. He wore light blue waterproof swimming trunks that double as cargo shorts, patterned with a cobalt hawaiian print, his white sleeveless muscle shirt complimenting his slim, but well exercised body. His skin was tanned, ever so slightly to the perfect tone, not to light that he looked pale, but not so dark that it looked unnatural with his blonde hair. His emerald eyes had a jovial spark to them, which showed that he was all for fun, the plain black flip flops on his feet hanging off his toes.

"Well it's only fair." Sapphire said shrugging "My name's Sapphire."

"Sapphire huh?" Dante asked leaning back "Nice name. Better then Andante. Crazy people in Petalburg, naming their kids after music."

Sapphire laughed and asked "Why are you here?"

"Me? Mmrhm." He rolled his eyes "This shop is my sister's. Over there." He jerked his head to the side, though didn't look over.

Sapphire turned her head and quickly looked back at Dante with a red flush creeping across her face. What she'd seen was a blonde girl, entangled with another boy so tightly it was hard to tell who was who.

"The *****." Dante rolled his eyes "That's gotta be the fifth guy she's made out with today."

"Er…" Sapphire mumbled sweatdropping. How awkward.

"Anyway, why are you here?" Dante asked.

"My friend Ruby said the food was good, even though the atmosphere was weird. He said he'd be back later, and that he had to go get something." Sapphire said shrugging as a waitress with heavy electric blue eyeshadow on placed a turkey sandwich before her.

"Ruby?" Dante asked as Sapphire took a bite into her sandwich "Gym leader's kid Ruby?"

Sapphire nodded, not wanting to be rude around her newfound friend. She would've jammed the whole thing down her throat, but decided not too. Not polite. Not lady-like. Not a good impression.

"Eh, he's a weird one. I hear everyone at school avoids him. His dad doesn't help either. Seen his dad yet? Creepy." Dante said shaking his head.

"Norman want's to give me some training tomorrow. See how much I know." Sapphire said swallowing her half-chewed food.

"Woah, better live life here on out then girl, Norman kills." Dante hissed "Man he totally wiped out my Gyrados with one Slash attack! I don't understand why he's not the champion."

"Wow…" Sapphire murmured "I'd hate to see how good the champion is then…"

"Steven's his name by the rumors. Apparently they've just had the tournament for the new champion awhile ago." Dante said "Never met a girl like you who battled before though. All the cute one's think pokemon are just pet's." He winked at Sapphire who flushed.

She wasn't cute…according to Ruby anyway, but Ruby was a jerk.

"Why're you hangin' out with Ruby again?" Dante asked.

Sapphire felt weird, telling Dante all this stuff about herself when she'd only just met him. But he was talking a lot too, and he was so friendly compared to Ruby! With Ruby's crazy mood swings, it was nice to have someone anchored to one mood.

"Oh, my dad and his dad want us to travel together. He's good at keeping a girl safe, but he's not very easy to get along with…" Sapphire said smiling.

Dante laughed pulling his fingers through his blonde hair "But no kidding the guys good at battling."

"What?" Sapphire asked abruptly, letting her half-eaten sandwich drop from her hand.

"Haven't you figured it out?" Dante asked his green eyes widening in surprise "I mean, he's had to have battled once before you guys getting here right? Especially with all the newbie trainers along these routes."

"No, all the battles are mine." Sapphire said "He only does contests."

"Too bad. I was hoping to see Ruby battle. My sister said one of the guys she made-out with was talking about how he saw Ruby battling Norman one day. Said it was the most intense thing he'd seen." Dante said nodding.

"Hm…" Sapphire remembered the battle she'd witnessed earlier. Ruby was surprised to see her, and stopped for a second. Norman had taken control of his hesitation and attacked…

"Hey." A voice interuppted her thoughts, as she was positive it wasn't Dante's voice "After you guys are done talking about my battling skill's, we have to go to the market."

Sapphire flushed. Being caught gossiping about someone was like being a deer caught in the headlights of a car "Oh Okay…"

"Who's this?" Ruby asked nodding toward Dante.

"I'm Dante. Pleasure to meet you." He said standing up and holding his hand out for Ruby to shake.

"Oh I've heard of you." Ruby said, shaking his hand, though letting go rather quickly "Andante the ocean shredder." Ruby didn't sound impressed, and as Sapphire took a closer look at the expression on his face, it looked as though Ruby was covering his real expression with a passive unreadable face. She couldn't help but wonder why, but she was already being rude enough already…though it was Ruby…she'd just have to ask him later then.

"Well, whenever I go the waves tremble in fear you know dude?" Dante asked with a hand behind his head "Anyway, I guess I'll give you guys your privacy." He winked at Sapphire who blushed.

Ruby watched Dante enter the back of the store with a scornful look before looking back at Sapphire "Ready?"

"Oh, yeah…" She dug through her capri's pockets and pulled out the dollar bill "Dante paid for me."

"Okay." Ruby said without taking the money "Keep it. God knows you need it you're so broke."

"What'd you say Man-Woman?!"

-------------------------

Pro EV: Erm...yeah, that was an edit-in and I explained that in Serebii version but I forgot to here. -.-;; Thanks tho, pokespecial beasts.

ybur_angel:Thank you! I'm enjoying writing it! It seems to be a good outlet for the crazy stuff that happens in my real life.

I'm actually amazed you guys didn't say anything about my horrible description issues. 0_0;; Yes, amazed. Everybody said that I needed to work on that in Serebii, but I'm glad they did. Notice how the end of this huge clump is better then the rest? ^_^

I go to serebii sometimes, and post small stories... the people over there nail fanfictions too hard, they're all waaay to expectant. The first time I ever posted a fanfiction there, the mods locked it up and told me to get a life (not even one warning or advice)...something like that... but that was about 5 years ago... when I was 9.

That's why I visit Pokecommunity more often, they have lenient moderators, allow talks about Pokemon game hacking and ROMS, and they also allow Pokemon Special scans! Much much better than Serebii.

Anyways, another excellent chapter. You have definetely captured Sapphire and Ruby's attitudes. Well, the thing is, with the people who have read Pokemon Special, we already understand the majority of the plots and descriptions and what you mean. So it really doesn't matter to me...

I was like, too eager to read the rest of the fan-ficceh, I figured that maybe you went to Serebii too. ^^;;
Anyways, I'm loving this Feebas story.^^

The part where Coco broke Ruby's glasses was good. And, it seems that the Skitty prefers Sapphire.XD I agree with Pro, Ruby and Sapphire aren't acting too much out of character. Glad to see that. I don't really mind the lack of description, it seems fine[and interesting] to me. But yeah, I'm only one Feebas.^^ *pokes Dante*

Sapphire losing her first battle was another good one, too. Please continue.^^

Sapphire had difficulty catching up with Ruby again, he apparently he had mastered the art of walking through enormous crowds of people.

But she caught up to him after he stopped to wait for her in front of a large white building, with a red roof shaped in a dome, that reminded her of her own home, the lab in Littleroot "This is the market. Let's go then, you've got the list." He said walking into the sliding glass doors. These doors were stained with god knows what, but by the looks of it, it was tomato sauce. One could never be too sure in a place like Petalburg though…

Sapphire looked around in awe as she scanned the rows among rows of food, her deep blue eyes were almost as big as disks when she said "There's so much! Our market isn't even half the size of this place!"

"Yeah and I'm thinking Pacidfilog's market is about a fourth the size of this place." Ruby said snatching the list away from Sapphire and looking it over. The cute and brightly decorated paper seemed not to effect him, and Sapphire guessed it was a routine thing for him "Okay, well, grab a shopping cart and we'll start this journey into the unknown." He said motioning toward the shopping carts, which were large, and certainly not as organized as the shelves were. They jutted out in all different angles, here and there, there and here.

Sapphire raised her eyebrows as a boy, much older then herself, pushed his cart into the very middle of the pile-up, emitting a loud crash as it collided with the blue metal and plastic of the other carts. Brushing his hands against each other the boy returned to his mother who didn't even scold him!

She pulled a cart from the stack and returned quickly to Ruby's side, whom was quietly muttering to himself as he looked around the fresh vegetables "Leeks….Celery…Lettuce….Cabbage…." He muttered as he picked out the freshest of them all and tossed them neatly into transparent plastic bags and handed them to his companion.

Sapphire of which, placed them into the cart, knowing not to bruise them, and also knowing that if she did, she'd have her head chopped off by Ruby, who was putting his keen eye into selecting the best of the best.

"And I think that's that." He said looking over the list one last time before folding it up and jamming it into his back pocket "Let's go then."

He gently pushed Sapphire aside from the handle of the cart and pushed it himself. As he stood in line, he flipped through a nearby magazine. Sapphire saw on the cover three people, two boys and one girl. The girl looked absolutely silly with her peace sign and hero pose. Her white brimmed hat was jammed on her messy chocolate hair, the top of her red pleated skirt was only barely visible underneath her sleeveless tank top, colored baby blue with a black semi-circle around her neck. The one eye that was open was a cobalt blue, the other closed to wink at the camera. Her left arm was linked through the boy with brown hair, keeping him from moving away apparently.

The boys standing beside her, standing with his arms –almost- folded and a disgruntled expression, had spiky hair, only just a shade lighter then her own hair. Her arm prevented him from fully folding his arms, and the contact with her only seemed to make him angrier. His black baggy T-shirt had a fold out collar, two purple sweatbands around his wrists as he glared sideways at the camera. His green eyes weren't anything like Dante's. They were cold, hard, and all you could see was the surface, and then you were sent far from them. Not endless like Dante, and they were a steely green, not a warm emerald. Steely like his gaze, and steely, like his attitude. Or, at least what she guessed his attitude would be like. A grey side pack, sort of like the yellow one Sapphire had wanted so many years ago, sat on his hip, which was covered by baggy pants with a…was that purple dye?

Sapphire made a face at his choice of clothing colors, and Ruby looked up.

"Oh, these are the Kanto pallet trainers. Did a pretty fair job I heard." Ruby said turning over to the front "Apparently they've dedicated about 5 pages of this magazine to them alone. That guy there doesn't look to cheerful about it though does he?" Ruby asked sarcastically, rolling up the magazine and tossing it to Sapphire, pushing the cart along and unloading it onto the light blue conveyer belt.

Sapphire flipped through the pages to find what Ruby had been reading. It was a profile about the other boy! The nicer looking one. She turned back to the front and examined HIS choice of clothing. She had to admit, it was much better then the other guy's.

His jet black hair was spiky and unruly, it seemed all three of their hair would be hard to manage. The black T-shirt he wore underneath the red vest with white lining and a high collar showed only the neckline, sleeves, and barely showed at the very bottom. The rest was covered by light cobalt, washed-out jeans, with a brown belt to house the 6 pokeballs on the side. He was smiling at the girl, sweatdropping, but with his eyes closed she couldn't see his eye color.

Sapphire took a guess and thought that if anything, his eyes would be a warm brown. Like chocolate. Just by looking at him she'd fallen head over heels! He was cute! Especially with the red and white hat, on his spiky hair, the pokemon Silph Co. Logo on the front. Sapphire took a deep breath, and held it close.

"Ma'am?" A bored and nasal voice asked "Are you going to purchase that?"

Sapphire looked up to see a woman with scary long red fingernails and a huge mole on her nose, clumsily 'covered' up with thick make-up. Did everyone in Petalburg wear so much make-up? She wondered as she handed over the 20 pokedollars she'd received from Ruby.

"18 dollars is your change now move, your blocking the line." She said jerking a thick thumb towards the sliding doors.

Ruby glanced at her as he had the groceries to be sent to Petalburg gym "Why'd you buy that?"

"Because I did." Sapphire replied.

"Wasting your money. Now I know why you're broke." Ruby said taking a receipt from the man behind the counter and crumpling it up in his hand "Let's get back home. I hate being out in the streets."

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

It wasn't long before they returned to Petalburg gym, and when they sat down for dinner, Sapphire was surprised to see Norman had returned that night.

Laramie was busy humming to herself as she chopped up the vegetable's Ruby had bought, as they'd obviously arrived earlier then Ruby and Sapphire. They'd taken their time, or, Sapphire had taken her time, passing by the enormous fountain in the park, a Kyogre spitting out water from it's massive jaws.

Norman looked up when he saw the back door slam, as Ruby stopped in his tracks.

"Hey!" Sapphire whined as she bumped into him. She was immersed in the magazine, but when she saw Norman on the couch she hushed up.

"I'm not that scary am I?" Norman asked Laramie.

She laughed and said "Keep your faces like that and go look in a mirror! You look like you just saw a fat lady singing in an opera!"

Ruby rolled his eyes and bypassed his father, by going behind the couch, disappearing within the hallways that led to the bedrooms.

Norman was pulling a bandage across his arms, and Sapphire wondered just how many rolls of bandages this family had.

"One of the cooltrainer's Sneasel decided it was too good for it's trainer and Norman had to get him under control, but not before it used slash on him." Laramie explained, wiping her hands off on a pink pikachu hand cloth.

"Oh, okay." Sapphire said rolling up the magazine in her hand, the cover on the inside.

"Meet me in the Gym tomorrow after breakfast. Don't linger." Norman said releasing a slakoth to help him tie a knot in the bandages.

"Erm-Yes, Mr. Ruby's dad sir…" Sapphire said awkwardly.

"Don't call me Ruby's dad…Norman." He said grimacing as Slakoth's sharp claws accidentally slipped and brushed across the bandages.

Sapphire nodded and walked as quickly as she could to her guest room. Passing by Ruby's room she heard him talking to Nana, the door tightly locked.

"I hate him." Ruby said, his voice muffled behind the door.

Sapphire looked around and slowly inched forward. She knew it was bad to eavesdrop, but she was curious.

"Thinks he's so good when he couldn't even be a gym leader the first try. Got his butt kicked sky high by Erika." Ruby snapped.

Sapphire held a hand against her nose and mouth, to dullen her breathing sounds. But she was really only paying attention to how resentful Ruby sounded. He was his dad after all, no matter how scary he was.

She held her breath as Nana barked something and Ruby snorted "Yeah, like I'd want to show her how to battle. That's like showing the world how I battle. You remember Nana. You were there! I would hate to be that girl!"

The poochyena whined and Ruby sighed "Nevermind. It doesn't matter anymore anyway. It's not like I remember her."

Sapphire let Coco jump into her arms, and shushed her quietly before Coco opened her mouth to meow loudly. But she stopped after seeing the urgency in Sapphire's face.

Glancing at the door nervously, Sapphire ran into the room at the end of the hall and locked the door quickly "Whew!" She said. It was so loud after being quiet for so long.

Okay, maybe not so long. But it was awhile.

"I wonder who 'she' is." Sapphire smirked at Coco who mewed "Maybe…a secret crush?!"

"But he said he didn't remember her. It's like a sad love story!" Sapphrie laughed grabbing the magazine and plopping onto the bed "Speaking of love stories…"

She winked at the boy and said "I dunno who you are, but I'm about to find out!" She quickly flipped back to the page she'd seen at the grocery store, and turning on the lamp overhead, Sapphire began to read.

Name: Red
Age:16
Hometown:Pallet
Eyes: Red
Favorite Color: Red
Favorite food: Dumplings

Sapphire stopped and looked at his name, favorite color, and eye color "Ironic." She said shaking her head.

Red is a very accomplished pokemon trainer, starting out with a poliwag at the ripe age of 3, he lived in Pallet of Kanto until he finally met Professor Oak, who gave him the jump start to the amazing journey he would soon begin. By giving him the starter, 'bulbasaur' a small dinosaur-like plant pokemon, and a pokedex, a complex pokemon encyclopedia, Professor Oak was giving one of the greatest trainers the pokemon world would ever see his beginning. Though Red was already renowned as a master trainer for his age by the locals already, he had much to learn.

This he did learn, and between fighting team rocket, earned all 8 badges, befriending Misty, Blaine, Sabrina, and many other gym leaders along the way.

Along his travels he met his rival, and more recently, best friend. Green, (see pg. 15) a talented trainer, was his companion for many instances, including their fight with Team Rocket at the end of Red's journey.

Not only did he meet one friend he would keep for a long time, but he also met Blue, a rowdy girl who knew all the tricks in the book. Being cheated out of his money the first time he met her, dressing up as a Team Rocket Grunt, she posed him as her 'sweetie' but it was made clear that they were indeed not 'sweeties' later on, during their battles with Team Rocket.

According to both his friends Blue and Green, he is—

"A hard worker, with unbreakable determination and undying loyalty."

He is currently working on Mt. Silver, training his pokemon with another trainer, by the name of 'Gold', though it is said that he is going to be visiting Professor Birch soon too see the exotic scenery of Hoenn, along with his two friends as a favor to Professor Oak.

Sapphire gasped and squealed like any girl who knew that a celebrity was coming to town, but him?! Kanto's elite!

After the high pitched squeal, she heard someone yelp and a thump, of someone falling off their bed.

"GOD WOMAN PIPE DOWN!!!" She heard Ruby shout angrily.

"Sorry!" Sapphire said insincerely "Not my problem!"

As a precaution, she swiftly locked the door, so he couldn't get in.

Turning back she threw herself before the magazine again and turned back a page. Here was a free poster of the magazine's cover art, just full-body.

She had to admit, the other boy, Green was it? Anyway, his outfit didn't look so bad when you looked at it fully. In fact, she wondered how it would look on Red.

Name: Green
Age: 16 (nearly 17)
Hometown:Pallet
Eyes:Green
Favorite Color: Not revealed
Favorite Food: Not revealed

Sapphire sweatdropped at the 'not revealed' part. She was definetly right about his personality, but more so, she sweatdropped at the eyes and the name. She guessed the girl with cobalt eyes had the name 'Blue'.

Green is one of the most talented trainers Kanto has ever seen, and is renowned for his position as gym leader of Viridian city, bearer of the Earth Badge. At the moment he was born he was exposed to the world of pokemon. His well trained pokemon each have their powerful attibutes, as does himself. Green has a selfless personality that is accompanied by a quick-wit and an attitude many would call 'snobby' but what we call 'lone-wolf'.

His grandfather, Professor Oak, is a world known researcher, an expert at anything pokemon related. He also has a sister, Daisy, who does work with Bill, the creator of the poketeleporter.

Green began his journey and studies many years ago, before he was certified as a trainer, and started out with a charmander, received from his grandfather. Being taught everything Professor Oak knew, he was a pokemon prodigy amonst Pallet's finest, and when he became 10, was instantly a successful trainer.

He never fails to tell Blue that she is a pesky girl, and never fails to tell Red that he is a failure at pokemon training, but deep down, they both know he's a good person who's just as kind as anyone else. By the words of 'Blue' (see pg. 14) he is—

"Frustrating to be around, and a party-pooper, but a nice person when the time comes."

Not much is known about this loner, but he certainly is one of the most intelligent of all Professor Oak's starting trainers.

"So he's a b*stard, but he's still an overly intelligent person." Sapphire mumbled to herself, "He'd be a bad boyfriend, but not a bad bodyguard….not that I'd ever let him guard me."

Name: Blue
Age:16
Hometown: Unknown
Eyes: Blue
Favorite Color: Pink
Favorite Food: Anything sweet/edible/good/funny looking

Sapphire stared at her favorite food. Not very picky was she? They were certainly a strange bunch…

Happy-go-lucky and cheerful to a fault, Blue is a never ending fountain of energy and optimism. She may appear cute and innocent, but this girl was once a thieving, deceiving burglar, who cheated people of their money for her personal reasons. (See page 16 for note of her relationship to Red)

As one of the Masked Children, abducted from their parents to serve Neo Team Rocket, she is skilled in pokemon evolution, the subject The Mask of Ice had her learn. She has close ties with a boy named 'Silver' her partner in the training at Neo Team Rocket. She has found new ways, albeit she's still mischievous and a moment around her is never dull.

Starting out with a Jigglypuff, she has nicknamed all her pokemon except for this little one, for what reason's she steadfastly refused to explain to 'Pokemag'. This is just an example of her stubborn personality, and by the words of 'Green' (see pg. 15) She is-

"An annoying nuiscance who's only skill is with pokemon."

After this quote, he received a good punch from the girl, who seems to revert to physical violence after registering an insult.

"Wow. Make that strange bunch double the limit." Sapphire said ripping out the poster to send home.

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

"WHAT KIND OF RETARDED MAGAZINE IS THIS???!!!" Someone screamed from the ranch that served as a lab that belonged to Professor Oak.

"SHUT UP I CAN HEAR YOU JUST FINE-I'M SITTING RIGHT NEXT TO YOU!!!" Someone yelled back.

A girl with vivid blue eyes that were burning red with rage and messy chesnut hair held a ripped-in-half magazine, one portion clenched in either fist "I don't resort to physical violence!!"

A very loud cough emitted from a chocolate haired boy with brilliant green eyes, earning him a glare and a slap from the girl.

"And I'm not a lone-wolf, I just don't like being around those crazy reporters!" Green replied, calming down from his jump start at being shouted at in the ears, "It's not like they didn't tell lies about all three of us…except Red."

Everyone in the small and cramped kitchen looked towards Red, who flushed "It's not my fault I was the only who was nice to them."

"Sure." Green mumbled spreading butter on toast he knew he wouldn't eat…probably give it to Saur in the end.

"Whatever." Blue replied shrugging and pulling on a pink Roxy hoodie over her white tanktop, the shirt she slept in. The baggy light blue happy bunny pants clung to her waist, reading 'I'll be nicer if you buy me stuff'.

"Nobody wants to see you're a*s pull up your pants." Green snapped calmly, sipping some herbal tea Daisy had prepared just moments earlier.

"Aww, you know you like it." Blue said sticking out her tounge and making an incredibly strange face at the boy, climbing up the stairs to her temporary room without another word.

"…What an annoying girl. Remind me why she hangs out with us?" Green said to his best friend, sitting beside him, who sweatdropped.

"Don't forget to pack your things Blue!" Professor Oak called up the stairs "We're leaving tomorrow!"

"Remind me what we have to do Professor Oak?" Red inquired.

"Ah, I merely want you to take a look around for me while I converse with the other professors, capture a few specimens, and all that good stuff." He said cheerfully "Lance would like us to attend a party at Mr. Stone's next week on behalf of Kanto. The other professor's and their newest set, and best set of trainers are to come as well. Gym leaders, Elite four, Silver Confrence, and the Hoenn Elite Four are going too. It'll be a big thing."

"Yeah, and that's not big at all." Green said sarcastically and dumping the rest of his tea into the sink "I'm going to bed."

"Er, I guess I should go to bed as well…" Red grinned, and thanked Daisy for the tea before climbing up the stairs after Green.

"Don't forget to pack you crazy children!" The Professor reminded them again.

"We heard you the first time Gramps." Green called back, slamming his door shut as Red just barely made it inside without getting a seriously broken leg.

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

"Agh! Torchic!" Sapphire squealed as the little bird pokemon hit the ground…hard. It's burnt orange feathers stuck up all over the place and the slakoth on the opposite side of the battlefield was beginning to fall asleep. Scowling at Norman, Sapphire rushed to the pokemon's side. When would she finally win at this stuff??? She'd lost every battle she'd fought so far!

"Keep your focus, and don't let anything distract you. Think of a battle as complex an issue as finding yourself, say, a boyfriend." Norman snapped.

He was good at relating things, she had to give him credit for that. Finding a boyfriend worth being close to WAS hard, as battling was.

"Right." She mumbled returning her pokemon.

"Come back when your torchic is a combusken, and you've got a full party. Then we'll see how much you've improved." Norman said waving his hand boredly, signaling she was allowed to leave.

This was the 2nd day of the rigorous training Norman put her through, and Torchic had learned many new tricks, but she'd never won one. Except for one with a youngster passing by. That was a momentous occasion, but she only barely won. Against a Rattatta too!!!

Torchic truly wasn't into battling anymore, having lost nearly all her battles. But she did renew her courage and self-esteem each time she played with Dante's Poliwhirl, the one who helped him wax his surfboard. Lately, in all her free-time, she'd hang out with Dante. He certainly knew everything about everyone!

He even told her about Red! He'd told her little facts and rumors he'd heard. Half of them she didn't believe, and she knew that half of his stories were probably lies, but it was fun to listen to them either way. It was also fun to watch him attempt to teach her how to surf without being near the ocean, he certainly was very cute, but with Red preoccupying her mind, she didn't think much about it.

"Oh, by the way, I heard it's your birthday." Dante said leaning over the table to confront Sapphire.

The amount of space that had disappeared with his actions didn't bother Sapphire at all, strangely. It seemed that whenever Ruby got too close, she began to freak, and yell at him about her personal space. She wondered why, as she would be spending more time with Ruby in the next few months then anyone else.

"Yup! I'm turning 12." She said cheerfully.

"Awesome." He said sliding a package toward Sapphire who squealed like a little girl. She let down all her barriers when she was around people she liked.

"What is it?" She asked ripping over the colorful paper and opening the box with impatience "Oooo…" She fingered the necklace in her gloves and laughed "Why is there only half of a luxury ball on here?"

"The other half is back there. Give it to the person you never want to forget, and they say you'll always have good luck, as long as both of you have it." He said dumping out another half of the shiny silver pokeball. It's red lining was cut off as the bottom half was in Sapphire's hand.

"Thank you!" Sapphire said grinning at Dante, who smiled, pleased that she liked her present "You're welcome. Anyway, back to surfing 101."

"It's all about the timing, you want to stand up on the surfboard at the right moment, or else it's not going to flow." Dante said next to her, pointing at pictures of himself surfing and his other friends.

"How do I tell?" Sapphire asked, feeling rather self-conscious in the café again.

"It's in the heart girl!" Dante said bringing his fist to his chest with a loud 'thump' "I'll teach you someday on a real surfboard. Maybe we'll see each other in Dewford, or Slateport. Surfin's gonna be lookin' real good in those places for the next few months."

"Okay!" Sapphire said grinning madly "Uh oh, I'm late! I have to go meet Ruby, he's got Torchic healed up from the pokemon center."

"See yah later!" Dante said saluting her off as he downed some water.

"Oh, I'm leaving Petalburg soon, so I guess I should hope to see you at Dewford or Slateport." Sapphire said waving goodbye at the door as the little silver bell announced her departure.

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

"Hey Ruby!" Sapphire said cheerfully "Can I have Torchic now?"

"Aren't you ever going to nickname her?" He asked handing her the pokeball with a mocking look. He had apparently recovered from his anger last night, and was back to cheerful joking Man-Woman.

Sapphire made a face at him, and said "You're one to talk, it's not like you haven't nicknamed your pokemon yet!"

"Says who?" Ruby asked smirking as he began to lord over her the fact he'd had the intelligence to nickname his pokemon first.

"What?!" Sapphire squeaked "When? What name? How come you didn't tell me?!"

"Why should I have to tell you?" He asked "I have no obligations to a monster."

Sapphire puffed out her cheeks and said "What's it's name?!"

"Zuzu." Ruby replied smoothly, and smug look across his features that greatly resembled Norman.

"Fine!" Sapphire pouted "Fine! I'll just have to name Torchic too!"

"Let's see if you can name her good. If you can't I've already thought of a good name for her." Ruby said playfully letting his tounge stick out at Sapphire.

"I will think of a good nickname, and it'll BLOW ZUZU AWAY!" She retorted. Lately, they'd been competing at everything. Every little thing, and Sapphire already regarded Ruby as her biggest rival, even though they weren't even headed for the same goal.

She ran to her room for some peace and quiet, to think. But her breath caught in her throat as she saw two packages in front of her door. She grinned mischieviously and muttered "Dad…"

Sapphire quickly picked up the two and ran into her room not bothering to lock the door this time. Beside's, she was just opening presents. She didn't have anything to hide from Ruby this time. The magazine was stashed safely in her duffel bag, and so were all her personal things.

"I wonder what's in this one." Sapphire wondered aloud carefully ripping off the paper. It looked about the size of a large book, though it was much lighter, and it was thin.

She almost screamed in her joy. It was the yellow side bag she'd wanted! It held everything, Mp3 players, pokeballs, food, clothes, make-up, cell-phones, everything! She knew it was from her dad before even looking at the note, which read, 'Still want this? –Dad and Mom'

Sapphire laughed as Coco pounced upon the other package, and Sapphire said "Of course I do!" But only to herself.

"What's in this one Coco?" Sapphire asked the small kitty which meowed, jumping underneath the bed and disappearing.

Sapphire ripped off the card and raised her eyebrows. Dad hated getting Birthday Cards, why would he give one?

She opened the envelope and saw a big cartoon of a creature with a big blue nose, a mole jutting out right at the tip and crazy red swirly eyes. It's huge clawed hands dragged on the floor of the drawing, and all in all, it looked ridiculous. But Sapphire knew instantly who it was from. "D*mn you man-woman." She said, but she could help but grin as she opened the card.

'Okay, maybe you're not that old.'

That was what the printed text said, but looking further down the card, she noticed neat, yet scrawny handwriting, and she forgot about the present as Sapphire began to read.

'Hey monster. Heard it was your birthday. Now, obviously, since I got you a birthday present, you have to give ME one. It's two months from today, and I expect a good one. Like the one I'm giving you. I spent last night working on it, after you stopped eavesdropping on me. You honestly need to learn how to be silent when listening in on other people's conversations. You've got a lot to learn about modern life, but so far I say you're doin' okay.

Man, I can't believe I'm writing so much in such little space, but I'm just blabbering anyway. I've watched you battle my dad. You're certainly doing better then I did the first few times I battled him. I got creamed in one attack. I also can't believe I just told YOU that, but you've got to win at least ONCE right?

Happy Birthday Sapphire.

-Ruby'

--------------------------
Pro EV-*shot* I'm one a' those hard nailers. Just thought you might want to know. Just check out my anger at 'Events of Drew' and you'll see. And I'd keep your opinions about Serebii off this thread. I personally like Serebii AND Coronis. I seem to be the only one in the world who does. @_@;; Anyway, my theory that probably isn't true, is that Serebii is one of the intensely MAJOR pokemon forums. Nearly the entire computer oriented pokemon population is there, so they'd naturally be more easily nailed for scans then pokecommunity. That's just a theory though. OFF-TOPICNESS! *screams and dies*

ybur-Feebas means like, 'cool' right? ^_^;; I think that Ruby is way out of character, but I've never read the actual manga, so oh well. I'm probably going to wander off the manga and stray upon the anime and my own imagination for awhile as well. You'll see, because I'll add characters that appeared in the anime ONLY. Like Ia, which prolly, nobody remembers. ^_^ Though, I'm having trouble with the most recent chapter, (which isn't this one) on serebii, because...well...I don't have enough characters!

Well, the people I asked aren't replying, so if nebody reading this is a roleplayer, or just plain wants to do a character sign-up, go here!

Sign-up and Character Criteria
(If the URL isn't allowed, just tell me and I'll remove it.)

Yeah, Feebas does.XD

Anyways, the chapters just keep on getting better and better. This one lacked description in some parts, atleast the way I felt it.^^;; But, it was longer.^^
On you not actually getting to properly read the manga, I'd be more than Feebas to scan it for you. Just drop me a PM if you want.^^
I Feebas the way this fanfic is going. The storyline is interesting, if I haven't said that before. Ruby is a bit out of character, but as long as its supposed to happen in the fanfic.*waves My Lovely Ego flags* Glad that he's not totally out of character though.
Ooh, and Sapphire crushing on Red was something I wasn't expecting, nice.
You're improving, yeah.^^

As for the sign-up sheet. I might consider doing some if I manage to get sometime away from actually roleplaying. Good idea though.^^

Agh, I'm so behind. Sorry guys, my laziness prevents me from updating over here. But prepare for a really really long chapter, cuz I'm gonna slap a few together.
----------
I couldn't stop smiling after reading that note. He really could be nice if he wanted to. My eyes trailed to the package with the same monster on the front. I couldn't believe his nerve, and yet, his thoughtfulness! He'd taken the time to figure out when my birthday was!

And judging by the note, it was handmade. I hoped it didn't look stupid, but all those thoughts disappeared as she opened the package.

Pulling out a brand new set of clothing, she fingered the stretchy synthetic material as she breathed at the absolute awesomeness of it all.

The collar folded over a semicircle, much like Blue's shirt, but it had sleeve's, and a zipper down the middle, and was a bold red, like Ruby's shirt. Dark black biker shorts accompanied a white skirt that couldn't possibly worn alone it was so short. Black socks and brand new running shoes that color coordinated with the entire outfit sat on top of the entire set. White gloves with black fingertips sat on either side of the shoes, and tied to the package itself, was a red bandanna with the Hoenn symbol on it, dyed in beautiful off-white.

Sapphire grinned toward the yellow side bag with the new outfit in her lap and knew that she'd be the one to set a new fashion trend.

Quickly locking the door she pulled on the new clothes, discarding the old over her duffle bag, and examined the final result in the full body mirror, or, the closet doors.

"Not bad huh Coco?" Sapphire asked turning around to meet the skitty as she tied a knot in the bandanna. She gasped as the skitty emerged from underneath the bed, a pair of heavily chewed glasses clamped in her jaws.

"No!" Sapphire squealed "Bad Coco!"

"Nyah?" It opened it's mouth and the glasses fell out of it's mouth.

Both Sapphire and Coco grabbed the pair of glasses and Coco quickly let go "Myah!" It said innocently.

"No eating Ruby's glasses!" Sapphire scolded "I should give this back to him. Stop stealing people's stuff Coco!"

The pink cat simply disappeared underneath the bed again, and Sapphire guessed that's where she kept all her stuff.

"Ruby?" Sapphire asked stepping out of the guest room and holding her breath as she heard shouting from the living room.

"It's not my problem you've got issue's with who I am, it's YOUR PROBLEM!" Ruby shouted.

"You probably can't even beat Roxanne, even with a water pokemon you're so weak! I will NOT have you competing in contests!" Norman shouted back, his face red from the fight.

"I could! I bet you anything I could, but you KNOW why I don't battle!"

"Because you're afraid!!" Norman retorted, in his cold anger "You're afraid of showing your skill in your haze of guilt! Forget her!"

"I'm trying!" Ruby shouted back "But nothing's GOOD enough for you!!!"

"That's because you're NOT trying!" Norman shouted punching Ruby right on the cheek.

Ruby shook in frustration as he glared at the TV and yelled "I HATE YOU!!!" Before turning and running out of the back gym.

Sapphire could almost hear her heart pounding in her throat as her wide eyes took in everything slowly. She quickly ran into Ruby's room which was left unlocked, returned Coco and Nana, stuffing them into Ruby's backpack, which was already packed.

She had all her things stuffed into the yellow sidebag already, and she was incredibly glad for that, as when she reached the door, she noticed Laramie talking calmly to Norman as they headed toward their own room, which was next to the guest rooms. She would've had to pass their room in order to go back to hers.

Quietly slipping out of Ruby's room after she heard Norman slam the door shut, shouting something about 'incompetence', Sapphire ran out of the Petalburg Gym, and without a single glance backward she ran after Ruby.

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

When Sapphire finally found Ruby, the sun was already setting, and she was halfway to Rustboro, panting and out of breath.

She caught sight of the boy with his head in his hands, sitting on a large charred boulder next to the main pathway. She slowed down from her frantic run to a slow and nervous shuffle. Where would his mood swing now?

"Hey you." She said gently holding out his yellow backpack, a small smile on her face. She couldn't help it, as she thought that he definetly looked cuter sad. But she'd much rather have him look like cow poop and happy, then cute and sad.

He didn't look up from his hands when he heard the familiar voice and merely mumbled "What do you want?"

"I need that nickname. For Torchic." Sapphire smiled, squatting down in front of him, "Are you going to give it to me?"

He looked up in surprise, his blood red eyes weren't the same as before, and not mischievous and cheerful like always. With a guilty pang that she needn't have felt, she saw that his cheeks had tear stains down the dirt smudged porcelain face, and an angry purple and dark blue bruise was emerging upon his cheek.

"What?" He asked quietly, as though he didn't believe what he heard.

"I couldn't think of a nickname." She said pushing the backpack into his lap forcefully "Want to help me out?"

Ruby laughed softly, ignoring the backpack, but he soon stopped, grimacing as he tried to hold back tears "You're a crazy monster you know that?" He asked, his voice cracking, face smiling, but his tired eyes showing no joy at all.

Sapphire pouted as cute as she could for the moment "Hey, I'm trying to cheer you up and you insult me?"

"My way of saying thanks." Ruby said, as he ran a hand over his face to wipe away the dirt and salt water.

She smiled, and kindly grabbed his arm to stop him from wiping his eyes "It's okay to cry. I would too if…" She paused and thought better of saying what she was about to by the look of resent that had quickly replaced Ruby's somber happiness.

"Anyway, cry all you want, I won't make fun of you…this time." Sapphire beamed with pride at her successful attempt to cheer up her rival and friend.

Ruby snorted and it was obvious that he no longer cared about the salty streams flowing from his bloodshot eyes anymore.

"Thanks though." He whispered.

"You're welcome." Sapphire said standing up and holding a gloved hand out.

"Like your birthday present?" Ruby asked quietly, taking her hand graciously and pulling himself up with difficulty.

"Do I look like I like it? I'm wearing it for cripes sake." Sapphire asked, pulling him up easily "Like the fanny pack? I got it from dad."

Ruby simply picked up his backpack with a smile, shouldered it and continued down the path, not bothering to wait for Sapphire.

"Hey!" Sapphire called to the retreating figure, her hands cupped around her mouth "Do you like it?! Or was I just dissed?!"

She saw a note on the ground where Ruby once sat. She picked it up and unfolded it carefully, as it was wet with tears.

In tear smudged ink in the same scrawny handwriting as the birthday card she'd received from Ruby, it read,

Chaka

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

"Hey Sapphire, I think we should look around to see if there are any pokemon around. You might want more then one pokemon to battle Roxanne with." Ruby pointed out.

"Hn?" She mumbled, preoccupied as she played with Coco "Oh yeah sure. Can I borrow Coco though? Chaka's kind of tired."

"Sure thing." Ruby said enlarging Zuzu's pokeball and looking through the grass for any nearby pokemon.

Sapphire had only just begun to realize how durable and indestructable the clothes she'd received were. When she'd almost cut herself on a twig, the fabric wasn't even slightly affected.

"Ruby, where'd you buy this?" She asked loudly to the red eyed boy on the other side of the field.

"I made it!" He replied as though it was obvious.

"YOU WHAT?!"

But before he could answer, someone shouted in an annoying sing-song voice "Yoo-hoo! Cutie Pie over there!"

Ruby, who'd made his way next to Sapphire to coach her if she found any wild pokemon, froze beside her, and looked around.

"Hiya there!"

Ruby yelped as someone shoved their face right up to his, and crashed down upon Sapphire, who was unfortunate enough to be standing behind him.

"OKAY WAY too much body contact!" Sapphire yelled underneath him.

"It wasn't my fault!" Ruby replied defensively before looking up to see his attacker. A girl who look about the age of 5 to 8, with wide purple eyes and short choppy blonde hair gazed into Ruby's red eyes with no shame at all.

"My name's Larue, what's your's?" She asked in a high girlish voice that matched her summer dress, pink, with a blinding daisy flower pattern upon it. Larue had daisy earrings, and a daisy plastic necklace, with white mary-janes with…a daisy on the strap.

"Erm…Ruby…nice to meet you?" He asked sweatdropping, as he pulled himself off of Sapphire.

"I see you like daisy's." Sapphire said sarcastically.

"Yup! My entire family likes flowers. Well, except for Lara, but Lara's boring, so anyway, I saw you have a skitty!" She said "I like skitties. I like meowths, growlithe, vulpix, and eevee's too. I have an eevee, but it's at home, and Lauren's taking care of her."

"No kidding?" Ruby asked boredly, brushing dirt off his pants.

"Noooo kidding!" She said, unnaturally cheerfully "Lara told me to get out more, then I might be halfly normal, but I'm only out here to collect daisy's. Lauren said she wanted to battle someone, so I found someone!"

"Really who?" Sapphire asked wondering if she would be able to battle them as well.

"Him silly!" She said pointing to Ruby "Lauren says to look at it as a trainer up front challenge."

"M-Me?" Ruby stuttered.

"The man-woman over there doesn't battle." Sapphire interjected.

"But he's got pokemon, so he's gotta battle! C'mon! We're having lunch soon too!" Larue said pulling on Ruby's hand. Being many years younger then him, he reluctantly obliged, being nice to the little girl.

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

"WHY YOU LITTLE MUNCHKIN FROM H*LL!!!" Someone screeched "GIVE ME BACK MY GLOVES!"

Both me and Ruby sweatdropped as we heard something clash against the walls, and Larue explained, "That's Lara. She's probably angry at Damien for stealing her boxing gloves again. Damien lives with us on the other side of the house, along with his 3 brothers." She hushed her voice to whisper to me and Ruby, "I think Derek like's me." With a shrill giggle and a quick skip inside the house, she went to go find 'Lauren', leaving me and Ruby in the front room.

"And don't steal them again!" We heard the same voice shout as someone emerged from the hallways that branched off to different parts of the house.

The girl abruptly stopped, catching sight of me and Ruby, and rolled her eyes "Stop picking up hitchhiker's Larue!"

"Hey! We're not hitchhikers!" I yelled indignantly.

"Hey at least she finally picked someone with a backbone." A boy that looked the same age as us and the loud girl said, poking his head out of the room the girl had just arrived from.

He had limp stringy brown hair, and strikingly neon blue eyes from what I could see so far.

Now as for the girl, her black hair was pulled into two loose pigtails at the nape of her neck, a chunk of her bangs covering her left eye and the tips highlighted yellow. A red choker around her neck she had a red tube top that revealed her stomach and green cargo pants, with two belts hanging around her waist that supported three pokeballs. Her shoes weren't visible under the too-long pants, and her dark purple eyes blazed with constant frustration. Two red wrist bands around both arms completed her look, and all in all, she didn't look too friendly.

"No, I have invited one of them for a battle." Another girl, who looked much older then any of the people in the room, at least in her mid-twenties, said in a smooth rich voice that was like music.

She looked elegent, unlike the other girl. With a lavender blouse buttoned up almost all the way, with only two buttons undone, and a dark purple skirt that reached her ankles, her shoes were also not visible, but she moved lightly and gracefully, so I guessed her shoes weren't very heavy. Silver bracelets lined her left wrist, jangling with each step. Long dark purple hair swept into a side ponytail on the right side of her shoulder was brushed clean, and silky, kind purple eyes also apart of her appearance.

"This is Lauren, and that's Lara." Larue made a face when she said 'Lara' as did the girl with pigtails "I told you Lara's a meanie."

"Larue." Lauren said sternly, and that shut her up "I hope you will accept my challenge." She said looking up to Ruby who had been inching toward the door.

"Oh-Uh, sure…." He said, under the glare of Lara, who looked as though she would rip him up into little bits the moment he made a wrong move.

"Good. Lara?" Lauren said sweeping back into the hallway she'd come from.

"Why me?" Lara complained "Why not Damien?" She pointed to the boy who quickly disappeared.

"Because I said so." Lauren said in a dangerous tone "Now come. Lara will be our judge. Is that okay with you?" She turned her pretty head to glance at Ruby for a moment while he nodded.

It was certainly intimidating to be in the prescence of such a fancy person with such a high and elegant air to herself. And someone who looked like she knew how to kill with a single glare.

"It will be a one on one is that alright with you?" She asked as we entered an expansive….was this a courtyard???

"This is our battlefield. Please try not to burn or destroy the flowers along the walls." Lauren said waving a delicate hand toward the potted flowers, which looked just as beautiful as herself "Lara's worked hard on them in her spare time."

Lara gnashed her teeth, apparently trying to hold an nasty comment back and grabbed two flags, one purple and one red, and muttered "Yeah, my 'spare' time."

Larue gave Lara an innocent smile as she passed, and received a death glare in return. She quickly ran over to me and Ruby and whispered "More like when she get's in trouble."

"Larue." Lauren snapped, "sit."

"Yes Lauren." She replied quickly, sitting down on a nearby cast iron bench, with vines woven through the holes of the back, making it seem as though it had been there for ages on end.

"You first." Lauren said curtsying with a friendball in her hand.

"Uh, okay…" Ruby sweatdropped, wondering whether he should bow in return, but before he did anything, he looked at me.

"What?" I asked.

"Could you go sit with Larue?" He asked bluntly, enlarging a pokeball.

"Oh right." I muttered, flushing as I gingerly sat on the vine covered bench, hoping the vines had no thorns on them.

I saw Ruby's hand shake slightly as he gripped ZuZu's pokeball in his hand. And suddenly, I had the urge to ask why he didn't like to battle. But I bit my tounge to keep the silence as he looked up with uncertain eyes.

"Go Zuzu!" Ruby called, tossing the pokeball as far as the middle of the field, and as it soared back to him, I saw him nearly trip in his attempt to catch it. Why was he so nervous?

Lauren smiled and somehow, it hit me that she was wearing light purple eyeshadow and light purple lipgloss. I wondered how I'd missed that before, along with the light red gloss Lara wore, with green eyeliner. Even when I looked at the girl beside me, who was snacking on Pichu shaped cookies, I realized that even she was wearing light yellow eyeshadow, and shine gloss, though I only saw the gloss because the crumbs were sticking to it.

"Come on out-Tulip!" She said tossing the green pokeball out onto the field with a graceful twirl. The pokeball revealed an Illumise, and instantly, Zuzu had a dazed look on it's face "Sweet scent. Smell's good doesn't it?" Her smile seemed to be mocking now. No longer kind.

Ruby smirked and folded his arms, shrugging "Duh. I knew that when I was 3."

Lauren's smile became slightly strained when she said "Oh really? Well then you must've learned what it does."

"Of course." Ruby said smugly, "Zuzu! Hold your breath and use mud slap!"

The mudkip took a deep breath and after a few moments of more dizzy twirls, it sent mud flying directly at the illumise.

Tulip squealed, and the scent disappeared quickly as it was drenched in smelly mud. It looked up and down itself with a horrified expression, and I guessed it had never been that dirty in it's entire lifetime.

Lauren grit her perfect teeth and her brow furrowed, making her once fine features look like she was about to kill Ruby "Tulip! Use swift!"

"Zuzu, counter with another mudslap, then follow up with a tackle!" Ruby called.

Golden stars soared from Tulip's mouth, as it struggled to move around in the caking mud, and even more of the sticky substance was flung toward the illumise, stopping the stars in their tracks, and closely followed by a quick Zuzu, who was accelerating so fast it looked as though it would break some, if not all, the pots around the walls if he aimed well enough. But instead he rammed straight into Tulip, who was sent flying from the caked mud into the brick walls surrounding the courtyard.

"Miiiiiseeee…" It said in a daze as it danced in circles behind the potted flowers.

"Hey watch it you stupid bug, I spent a lot of time I could've used better on those stupid flowers, so don't you dare knock any of them down!" Lara shouted, the flags being deathgripped in her fists.

"I win!" Ruby grinned, pulling down his on his eyelids and sticking out his tounge.

Lauren raised her eyebrow's at this action, which quickly shut Ruby up, but she merely bowed and said "Good job."

Larue was having a fit "Wow! And then he went POW POW POW! And then, It went SHOOM! And then And then, he said," She switched her voice into a low growl "Mud slap!'" And her voice quickly reverted to the high girly voice as she cried "And then it went Slap Slap Slap! Bam Bam Bam! And then Tulip went KEER-POW! And then---"

"That's enough Larue." Lauren said calmly, returning the fainted Illumise.

"I'll say." Lara said removing her fingers from her ears "What a pest."

"LAAAUUURRREEEEEN!" Larue wailed "Lara's being mean!!!" The little girl pointed an accusing finger at her sister, who brushed the accusation off like an annoying fly.

"Psh, whatever." She said folding her arms as she boredly let a red flag dangle slightly higher then the purple one "Challenger wins."

"It was a pleasure. Please excuse me for imposing myself upon your journey." Lauren said curtsying again.

"Oh, no sweat." Ruby said returning Zuzu and turning to me "Ready to go?"

"Yeah." I said standing up and brushing leaves off my butt "That was really fast you know that?"

"Talent." Ruby said sneering as he let Zuzu's pokeball spin on his finger "Talent that you obviously don't possess."

"Thanks!" I said in a sarcastically joyful voice as I flicked the pokeball off Ruby's finger and left the courtyard gates to enter a familiar Route, the sky turning beautiful shades of pink, purple, and blue.

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

Blip.

I took a deep breath and held it, hoping the sound would go away.

Blip.

Letting the breath out in a heaving sigh I heaved an arm over to the night stand and yelped "COLD!"

Fortunately for me, my hand had landed in the cup of water Sapphire had brought in for the night, and the water which had sat through the night, was freezing cold.

Unfortunately, Sapphire was in the bunk above me, and when I yelped, she awoke with a start, and fell off the edge of the bed.

An angry and half-asleep Sapphire, I learned, was not pretty.

Of course, no longer half-asleep after falling off the top bunk, she was full-fledged pissed off. And the consequences had to be paid. She grabbed the glass of water and dumped it on my forehead and I let out another yelp. Rude awakening much?

Blip.

She muttered a number of colorful profanities under her breath before grabbing the Pokenav off it's spot on the mahogany nightstand and changed her voice from bitter to pleasant within milliseconds.

"Hello?" She asked sweetly.

"How's the journey going?" Professor Birch's cheerful voice came "Where are you now?"

"Erm, I dunno, florist shop en' route to Rustboro?" Sapphire said flopping down on the dry side of my bed "Why?"

"Well, I'd like you to get to Rustboro on the double! That's where I am anyway." Professor Birch said "Got a party you've got to attend. Mr. Stone's place in a few days. Like your birthday present?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah I loved it. Couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it." Sapphire continued "Anyway, what's the occasion for the party?"

I rolled my eyes. I knew she'd read that magazine. And I knew she knew exactly which party Professor Birch was talking about.

"All the regions coming together for one big meeting. I suppose Lance wants to catch up on the things happening in the other regions. A new champion has been chosen for Hoenn you know? Also, Professor Elm, Oak, and I, are opting to share our research on hand. Mr. Stone was nice enough to offer his establishment up for the massive party."

"Why are we invited?" I yawned boredly, stretching as much as I could underneath another bed.

"Well all the newbie trainers are coming, and all the elite trainers as well. Three newbie, three elite. You guys are just two of my newbies. Treecko's trainer will be there as well. He's dying to meet you two." Professor Birch's cheerful voice came from the yellow device that usually sat on my belt.

"S-So, we're going to be the weakest people there???" Sapphire whined "That stinks!"

"Meet me in front of the Rustboro pokemon center today. Try and make it before lunchtime." Sapphire's father said, disconnecting the phone call.

Me and Sapphire sat upon my bed, as she looked up at me. It was rather awkward, as she was sitting on my bed, and well, I'm a guy she's a girl.

"AIDs." She said breaking the silence before standing up "That's all there is to it."

I flushed and shouted "What?!" But she didn't hear it. She was out the door and into the bathroom to get ready before the thought even left my brain.

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

Lauren had warned Sapphire and Ruby that it was difficult to find your way through Rustboro effectively without a map, and so that was just what she did. She provided a map. A human map.

"Why me?!"

Lara stood gaping at her older sister in disbelief "Why not Daisy? Why not Damien? W-Why not you???"

"I'm going to be busy sharpening my skills with Tulip, and you know very well that Larue is much too young to lead two people around somewhere as big as Rustboro. You go there nearly everyday, to fight, you should know your way around." Lauren said offhandedly as she cleaned up the mess Larue had made during breakfast.

"I don't know what I did to deserve this. I'm not a tour guide." Lara grumbled, but she grabbed a dark green jogging coat, with silver stripes down the sleeves, and motioned for Ruby and Sapphire to follow.

Ruby glanced at Sapphire, who shrugged before following the fuming girl.

"So where you two headed?" Lara asked, much more pleasantly after the courtyard gate had slammed shut.

"You seem much nicer…" Ruby said sarcastically, shoving his hands in his pockets as he sweatdropped.

"Man my sister's such a stuck-up, SOMEONE'S gotta bring her down." Lara shrugged, placing her gloved hands behind her head as she let the jacket she brought hang over her shoulder.

"We're headed for the pokemon center to meet my dad." Sapphire said quickly and hurriedly.

"What're you a daddy's girl?" Lara asked bringing her hands down from her head to fold across her chest. In this process, she also turned around to walk backward, and to see Sapphire fully.

"No, he's-Well let's just say I want to see someone who's going to be at the party." Sapphire said stubbornly vague.

Lara smirked and turned around, ready to bolt "Someone, special?" She teased, letting out a ring of laughter that sounded so much like Larue's anybody could've mistook it.

"No!" Sapphire yelled, surprised to find Ruby had said the same, just differently, in more of a mocking snort then an embarrassed shout.

Ruby caught Sapphire's questioning eyes and hurried to explain himself "It's not like you like any guys. You're a monster, and monster's don't like guys. They eat little boys when they're helpless at night. Had any little boys lately Saph?" Ruby laughed and Lara stopped.

"You suck at making fun of people." She said simply and it was Sapphire's turn to laugh and Ruby's turn to stop.

"It's not a common hobby." Ruby snapped "I'm nicer then some people I've recently made acquaintances with."

Lara crossed her purple eyes and fanned out her hands, thumbs connected with either of her two cheeks, and she let her tounge hang from her mouth, revealing that it was a violent shade of blue.

"What happened to your tounge?" Ruby asked, recoiling in disgust.

"God Man-woman can't you tell it's from a lollipop?" Sapphire sighed dramatically, making Ruby puff with indignity as he mumbled a 'yes'.

Lara smirked and said "There's Rustboro for yeh. I'll get you to the pokemon center in a hoppip's hop and a skiploom's skip. Ain't never gotten lost in this Mowdown." She said in a very fake Mauville accent.

"I think she mean's, 'hoedown'." Ruby said shaking his head.

"Who cares?" Sapphire asked, running after Lara, who was starting to disappear in the thick crowds on Rustboro's wide sidewalks. The buildings weren't spread out, they were tall and looked as though they touched the sky. People ran in and out of these skyscrapers with a half eaten lunch hanging in their mouth's, rushing with papers barely hanging onto their suitcases, and there were also other people, with high refined air's, walking at their own pace, not rushed and hurried like the others. They all wore unblemished white's, which stuck out in the black clothed world that Ruby and Sapphire had just entered.

"And here's the pokemon center for you." Lara said pointing at an angular building with a giant pokeball resting at an odd angle on top of the pointy and jagged roof, the entire building was a blinding white, which burned after seeing nothing but dirt smothered buildings and a greying sky, even though it was still lunch hour.

"Sapphire!" A man waved, greeting them enthusiastically from the glass doors.

Lara caught sight of the man and whistled "Another celebrity eh? You never said anything about Birch being you're old man." But she merely shrugged and said "Larue wants you guys to visit. Do it. Or else you'll face the wrath of tears and shrieks." She saluted them as she walked away, off toward the gym which was merely a block away from the pokemon center.

But Sapphire and Ruby had no time to think on it as Professor Birch came up and asked "How's my two starter's doing? Wally's inside, nearly stopped breathing when I said I saw you two."

The two trainers sweatdropped before being lead into the pokemon center like packmules on steroid. Fast, and not by will.

"Wally my boy, this is my daughter Sapphire, and this is Norman's kid Ruby." Professor Birch said, approaching a frail looking kid with light green hair and dark green pants. The irony that he would pick Treecko, the green colored pokemon, was too much too bear.

He smiled shyly and waved "Hi, I'm Wally." He said in a hoarse and crackling voice.

Sapphire now knew why her father had said 'nearly stopped breathing'. He looked as though he was about to die! With a pale washed out face, and tired droopy eyes, she didn't blame him for saying that!

"Yeah, well we've been introduced, and, I'm Ruby, and this here is Monster." Ruby draped an arm around Sapphire shoulder with a mocking smirk.

"No, I'm Sapphire, and this is Man-woman." Sapphire said smiling in a sarcastic pleasantness to Ruby who glared at her "And personally, I have to say," She calmly lifted Ruby's arm off her shoulder, and continued "I'm not a lesbian."

Wally laughed, and Sapphire deducted that making him laugh was a dangerous thing, as the joyful ring turned into a hacking cough that made his entire frame shake.

"You okay dude?" Ruby asked still halfly glaring at Sapphire.

"I'm-fine, I-just get-coughs-a-lot…" He choked this statement out through violent coughing fits, and Professor Birch seemed not to notice as he motioned for Ruby and Sapphire to sit down, with a tense cheerfulness that said, 'shut up, stop making fun of each other, and listen'.

The two quickly obliged, sitting across from Wally and Professor Birch.

"So as I said, there's a party. It's formal, so wear something nice." He paused to gaze at Sapphire for a full uncomfortable minute for Sapphire, then continued "And I'm sure you'll meet plenty of interesting people. I myself am inclined to meet the other professor's newbie trainers. They've relented on informing me of their names and pokemon line-up's, so I have as well. Don't mistake that some people here could very well be those newbie trainers, so don't linger and talk for too long." He said swigging some water from a plastic beat up water bottle.

Sapphire glanced uncomfortably around, and noticed that many of the other trainers seemed to not be very newbie, or at least, not as newbie as herself and Ruby. Many had two or more pokemon, and Sapphire shifted in her seat, and saw Ruby do the same.

Though, Ruby did it for a different reason. He was bored, and needed to find a comfortable position to fall asleep in. Every word Professor Birch spoke flew in one ear and out the other.

"Although it's not hard NOT to know the elite trainers of each region, Professor Oak has informed me that Green, his grandson, will indeed be apart of the three. Ruby jerked awake at the name and said quickly in one breath,

"YoumeanGreentheViridianCitygymleaderwho'stalentforbattlingisknownworldwide??!!" He asked leaning over the table.

"English stupid head. We don't understand retard." Sapphire snapped, but Ruby didn't repeat what he said. Merely flushed and became silent as Professor Birch ignored the interupption and went on.

"Now I want you three to listen when Lance, and the new Hoenn champion make their speeches-"

"Professor, shouldn't you know who the champion is? You are the Professor of this region after all." Wally said politely.

"Well, that issue's been under dispute. It's a looong story. Trust me." Sapphire's father sighed wearily and Sapphire nodded,

"Is Red going to be there?" She asked swiftly.

Professor Birch gave her a puzzled look, after which Ruby sighed and rolled his eyes.

"So is that your special someone? Lemme tell you he wouldn't look twice at you. Not with all the other girls after him." Ruby said smirking.

"I'm sure Blue wouldn't look twice at you either." Sapphire snapped. She wasn't entirely sure if Ruby liked her as well, but judging by the red that crept upon his cheeks…

"Who said I liked her?!"

"The pink on your face did."

Ruby fumed at the girl sitting beside him, but did not pursue the subject.

Professor Birch sighed and said "This is going to be one LONG journey."

"I'LL SAY!!!" A girl screeched, overhearing the last few words Professor Birch had said as she stormed into the Pokemon Center.

"You're making a commotion Blue." Someone sighed, and Sapphire felt her gut twist itself into a knot and her heart leap to her throat, as, in all his, glory –well- near glory, there he was. Red himself.

Blue whirled around, and snapped "I wasn't the one who got us LOST in Rustboro!! I wasn't the one who got SMOKE TRAY ASH, IN MY BEAUTIFUL HAIR!!!"

"Get over it." Another voice came as someone shoved Red into the pokemon center, who quickly ran into Blue who was also pushed into the pokemon center.

"Excuse me?!" Blue screeched, pointing an indignant finger at her chocolate hair strewn with black smudged "Excuse me???"

"Excuse me." The other boy said calmly waiting for Blue to step aside.

She stamped her feet over and over again in protest as he sidestepped her, apologizing to Professor Birch about her loud entrance.

"No problem, these guys entered in more or less the same fashion." Professor Birch said standing up and shaking the boy's hand "You look like Green am I right?"

"Yes sir." He said passively, his hard green eyes sweeping over Sapphire, Ruby, and Wally in one smooth movement before he turned back to Red who was trying to calm down an angry and frustrated Blue.

"And you like to call yourself my friend." She muttered heatedly at Green who merely shrugged the statement off.

"But you're still annoying." He said calmly.

Blue shrieked in indignity, and charged at the calm boy, while Red pulled at the girl's oversized yellow sidebag to keep her from a wild massacre.

"I'm gonna PUNCH YOUR LIGHT'S OUT!!!" She screamed, still trying to move toward Green, and still restrained by Red "Let go Red! Let go let go let go let GO!!!"

"I'd like to see you try." Green smirked lazily tossing a pokeball up and down as he booked a room for the three of them.

Wally was the first one of the three Hoenn newbies to speak "Are you the Kanto Elite Trainers?" He asked timidly.

Blue's expression softened from violent and murderous to sweet and pitying all in one second "Awww how CUTE! Newbie trainers!"

Wally flushed when she stuck her face up close to his "They're so puny!!"

"Aren't you nice." Green remarked sarcastically grabbing the back of her shirt and pulling her away.

"Yes we are." Red smiled, making Sapphire inwardly melt to pieces "I suppose you're the newbies?"

"Yeah, but Monster here still sucks." Ruby smirked and Sapphire prepared to beat him to pieces when Red laughed, making her stop.

"You guy's are just like these crazy people over here. They never stop arguing." He said notioning toward the two people who were in a heated verbal battle…or at least, heated in Blue's prospect.

"Why you arrogant little @$$#0!&!!!!" Blue screeched, before Red intervened

"Why don't we just meet the newbie trainers like the civilized people we should be?"

"Screw civilized." Blue grumbled, but she grudgingly obeyed when Red glared at her.

"Okay, sorry about the ruckus, but I'm Red, that there is Blue, and that's Green, if you haven't already figured it out."

Ruby spoke up "That's Wally, I'm Ruby, and this here is-"

"Sapphire." She interuppted with speed.

"Nice to meet you." Red said grinning, while Blue smiled along with him and gave them a thumbs up, but Green merely rolled his eyes in a bored kind of way, before saying 'sure whatever' after Red dug his elbow into Green's rib's.

"We need some girl time to talk, so, tah tah!" Blue waved to the boys, who were all beweildered. They'd just met, and Blue wanted to girl talk? With Sapphire?

Sapphire's moment of confusion was quickly ended when Ruby started to laugh and choked out "You can't girl talk with Sapphire!-She's hardly a girl!" And that earned him a good kick that shoved him out of the booth.

"Might you know where Professor Oak is?" Sapphire's father asked the three.

"He's with the newbie trainers….somewhere." Blue shrugged "We don't keep tabs around here."

"You mean you don't keep tabs." Green said pointedly, "My granddad's probably out at lunch with the newbie's."

"Thank you." Professor Birch grinned, and took a stern stare at Sapphire "Now the party is tomorrow, and I expect that you find something fancy-yes fancy I know you're capable of it- for the party. Is that understood?"

Sapphire sighed as Blue squealed at her delight of realizing the girl before her hadn't yet picked out her dress and said "Yes sir."

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

After the boys had left to another table, Blue sat down across from Sapphire and smiled.

Sapphire felt herself recoil. She was certainly very pretty when she wasn't in a crazy joy frenzy, or in a blind rage. Certainly incomparable to herself.

"Haven't picked out a dress yet huh?" She asked sweetly.

"I don't really wear dresses." Sapphire mumbled.

"Oh but you must!" Blue said her eyes widening "We'll get you some cash. Hold on!" She quickly jumped up from her seat and dashed over to the boy's table, slamming her hands upon their table with an ear shattered pound, the only person who didn't jump was Green, who remained his cool.

She said something cheerfully and quickly, and Green laughed.

Sapphire noted that he didn't look too bad when he was sullen and cranky either. But she soon realized that he wasn't laughing for good-nature. He was laughing at Blue. Sapphire's detestment for him rose ever higher before he choked out "What makes you think I'll give YOU money???"

Blue quickly punched him across the head, and stole his wallet out of the back pocket of the purple jeans, and fished out 100 pokedollars, and tossed the wallet back to Green, who had toppled off his seat in the process.

"Thanks!" She smiled patting the place where her fist had connected with Green's forehead, before prancing back over to Sapphire, who was sweatdropping at how easily the girl could make a big scene.

"Let's go shopping!" She chirped, grabbing Sapphire's hand and dragging her out of the pokemon center, but not before Sapphire shouted, (mainly to Ruby)

"WHY IS THE WORLD OBSESSED WITH SHOPPING FOR ME?!"

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

Blue was apparently a very hard girl to please. Sapphire swore she'd tried on nearly every dress in the boutique before she was happy.

With her selection in secret, she made sure Sapphire wasn't looking as she let the cashier ring up her purchase. What a drama queen.

"Ready!" She said "And be careful, Green's not gonna be happy when he finds out I stole 100 pokedollars from him to buy a dress m'kay? Better steer clear of him for awhile."

"Why do you annoy him?" Sapphire asked curiously. She seemed pleasant enough…

"Why not?" She answered winking before running ahead "He's fun to annoy."

Sapphire quickly caught up to her and said "Ruby is too. That's pretty much why I annoy him. And the fact that he annoys me too."

"You'd be cute together!" Blue teased clasping her hands under her chin with stars in her eyes, the package hanging clumsily from her clasped hands.

"About the equivalent of you and Green." Sapphire smirked, and received an indignant shriek and a near miss for a broken skull.

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

Blue apparently couldn't hold grudges for long, because when they returned to the pokemon center, she instantly simpered up to Green and said with big puppy dog eyes and her hands clasped underneath her chin again, "But you'll be glad I spent 100 pokedollars when you see Sapphire in her beautiful dress!!! I bet you'll even ask her to dance!"

And with that she earned a silent treatment for the rest of dinner.

Ruby and Red were discussing how best to start off a battle, and it was then that Sapphire realized just how much Ruby liked battling.

He must've really liked that girl to stop… Sapphire thought boredly as she nibbled on a french fry.

"So!" Professor Birch said cheerfully, preparing to start a conversation "Just how did you bunch meet Professor Oak?"

The dinner table went quiet, and Green raised his eyebrows.

"Besides you." Professor Birch added to Green, who's eyebrows returned to their rightful spot.

Blue had shoved a big mouthful of hamburger into her mouth and Red had a hand covering his forehead and eyes, a flush creeping along the bridge of his nose and cheeks.

"…O-kay maybe not." Professor Birch sweatdropped at the embarrassing scene.

"I'll tell you how Blue met my granddad." Green smirked at Blue who glared at him "She STOLE her squirtle from him."

Blue's face turned a magnificent shade of pink mixed with purple, and she promptly began to strangle the boy sitting on her left.

Red, meanwhile, proceeded to calm her, though Green succeeded in dong so before him by glaring at her when people began to stare.

"It's GREEN!!!" A girlish teenager with high blonde pigtails screeched, pointing at the boy who was adjusting his collar after his assault. Green promptly froze and sweatdropped.

"1…2…3…" Red counted to Ruby, Wally, and Sapphire before Green bolted out of the pokemon center, closely followed by a mad hoard of lovesick girls, Blue pointing and laughing at him all the way out.

After their eventful dinner, Ruby got the chance to learn everything Sapphire had. Anytime you were with the pair of Green and Blue, something was bound to happen, in a 10 to 10 ratio.

"You don't pay attention do you?" Green asked moodily, after returning from the massive celebrity hunt by about 25 girls, some older, some younger, but almost none his exact age "The deoxys replica's weren't affected by your Hydro Cannon. It was Saur's Frenzy Plant that did the trick."

"Hmph, must I remind you, that Turtley's Hydro Cannon was much more powerful then Saur's Frenzy Plant, because Turtley is ORIGINALLY mine." Blue replied, more calmly now that it was dark out.

"But I thought most trainers keep their starters…" Wally muttered questioningly to Green.

"I traded my Charizard for Red's Venasaur. For certain reasons. We haven't traded back yet either. It's hard for a pokemon to be traded back and forth." Green answered quickly.

"So do you guy's have your pokedexes yet?" Red asked the three newbies on the opposite lumpy black couch.

"Huh?"

"What the frick?"

"Erm…"

The elite trainers all sweatdropped, and Professor Birch interuppted "Haven't gotten my shipment for your Grandpa yet."

Green nodded and said "Knowing my Granddad, he probably hasn't even sent it out yet."

They all sweatdropped, and Ruby, Sapphire, and Wally, who'd never set eyes upon this 'Professor Oak' got a vague impression of a bumbling old man with swirly glasses.

"Silver's coming too right?" Blue asked Red, who nodded and added "Silver, Gold, and Krys are all going."

"You mean that pervert?" Green asked folding his arms and leaning back against the seat.

"Shut up. That was a disturbing experience." Blue snapped punching him lightly on the shoulder.

"Oh my god." Green said rolling his eyes "I never thought a guy would stoop that low."

"It was rather uncivilized…" Red admitted, while the four Hoenn originated people sat with a puzzled expression on their faces, though a disturbing visual in their minds had formulated.

Blue laughed when she caught sight of their faces, and Red quickly explained, though Ruby stopped him and went to bed before he could finish.

Said something about indecency making him need to puke.

Sapphire found that the more time she spent with Red, the less he became her crush. It wasn't that he wasn't really nice, it was just that he was the kind of guy that you…well…couldn't have a crush on.

She also found that Green had one heck of a temper. Blue had triggered it when she'd stolen his Porygon 2 to go search for something on the net. She accidentally gave it a virus, but Nurse Joy had it up and running around by the end of the hour.

He'd been so angry that he'd even slapped her. Even if it was just lightly, Sapphire saw with a sweatdrop that Blue was plotting his demise. She hadn't struck back though, which confused Sapphire so much she asked Red about it.

"Blue and Green are like riddle's." He explained "Green is like the maze. He's got high walls, and it's not okay to climb, or see over them, like in a real maze."

Sapphire nodded. That definetly made sense. His barriers were so high that Sapphire was near convinced he didn't feel any emotion other then pity, anger, and…nothing.

"Blue is like the riddle that's stopping you from exiting the maze completely. It can go anywhere, but it knows when there's an end to the riddle." Red said as Blue quietly fumed in a corner while Green made sure that all his pokemon were okay "Blue knew that Green was angry with her, as Porygon2 could've been really badly hurt. She also knows that Green could've hit her much harder if he'd wanted to." He sweatdropped and rubbed his shoulder "He hit's really hard too."

Sapphire glanced at Green who was determinedly not looking at Blue, while Blue had stretched out on the couches to nap.

"Green's a nice person after he doesn't feel the need to act cool around you." Red grinned "Hey Blue!" He shouted and the girl sat up, and obviously hadn't fallen asleep.

"What?" She asked in a crisp snap.

"Shouldn't you be getting ready for the party tonight?" Red asked.

She let out a yelp and hopped out of the cushions before dashing into their room. After a moment's silence she poked her head out and motioned madly for Sapphire to come to.

She sighed and trudged along the hallway's to meet Blue.

"Well you've gotta help me get ready!" Blue said expectantly, as she pulled Sapphire inside and closed the door, hurrying to the bathroom "You have to get ready too!"

After they were both showered and smelled like Blue's fragrant apple scented bathing set, -much to Sapphire's disdain-, Blue began to work on her unkempt hair. She frowned at the light pink spot that had appeared from Green's slap, and rubbed at it. But it only made it worse.

"It'll go away soon enough." Sapphire said, having a great deal experience with physical abuse "I get scratched and cuts all the time and they usually heal within half an hour, so I'm sure a little pink'll go away after awhile."

"Yeah I guess so…" Blue muttered, but she didn't sound convinced as she curled her hair into elaborate ringlets.

After she'd finished applying everything to complete her look, she slipped on a dark navy dress. But Sapphire didn't have much time to look at her beautiful appearance, as Blue quickly began fussing over her!

Blue brushed out the ponytail in Sapphire's hair and pulled up the ends of her longer hair up slightly with pins, making Sapphire's hair reaching about 4 centimeters down from her chin. She brushed it so much that it had a sheen like Blue's and she'd practically pulled out everything that was there anyway. Blue neglected to apply any make-up on Sapphire, unlike herself, but merely pulled some Pecha Berry flavored chapstick across her thin lips.

Sapphire could help but note that Blue's lips were full, and the gloss complimented that so that she looked at least 20, but Sapphire's were thin and boring. She bit the thin lips before Blue scolded her for ruining the chapstick.

Blue pulled out a flowing pearly white dress, with dark blue sparkles on the upper half, the lower part slightly fanning out to reach her knees. The upper part was simply spaghetti strapped, and Blue added a white choker with a beautiful sapphire-made circle hanging off the middle, which made Sapphire feel like a queen. The shoes were Blue's and slightly old (something Sapphire vaguely suspected Blue had stolen) but still held their white beauty, after being soaked in bleach.

They were strappy and crisscrossed up her legs up to her mid shin, and Sapphire felt very conscious of the skin that was showing. Like her shoulders.

Blue frowned when she looked at Sapphire in the mirror. Then she grabbed a thick silver bracelet and put it onto her model's wrist.

She nodded and said "Perfecto!" She blew a kiss at the mirror and pushed Sapphire out of the bathroom to show the boys.

Sapphire quickly protested, but sighed when she brought up the point that she would eventually have to face them either way.

And so very nervously, she shuffled into the main lobby, where Red, Green, Ruby, Wally, and her father were already dressed into their suits, and calmly conversing about what they would do that night. Professor Birch of course, was the one who was the most enthusiastic, ranting about something having to do with the Unknown.

"Taa daa!" Blue announced, holding out her hands like a prize announcer as she stood next to me.

The guy's looked up and Sapphire got a very different array of reactions, many of which she would've expected.

Wally laughed and this time, he didn't break out coughing when he said "You look like a million dollars Sapphire."

Sapphire smiled nervously and Red agreed with Wally, also complimenting Blue on a job well done.

Blue smirked haughtily and said "All in a day's work."

Green smirked as well, and said "Nice, but not nice enough for a dance."

Blue was quick to react by pulling her fist back in preparation to punch him, but she stopped when he quickly said "But you look nice too."

Blue was absolutely taken aback, frozen in a half punch and Sapphire finally took a good look at Blue's appearance. And began to wonder why they only complimented herself.

The dark blue dress she wore clung to each of her well developed curves, and it fell all the way to her feet, dragging slightly on the floor, though the halter top fit her just right. Sapphire supposed that it was supposed to drag on the floor, but it didn't seem to bother Blue in the least. She wore white gloves that looked extremely beat up, but mended to look slightly presentable. Bleached as well. Instead of a choker, she wore a pendant that had a black obsidian oval. Her curled hair pulled up into an elaborate ponytail, with two thin strands of curled hair framing her pretty face, which had light blue eyeshadow, and a light pink gloss.

And all of the sudden, Sapphire felt very self-conscious.

"Erm…Thanks…" Blue muttered, eyes wide with surprise.

Green let out a sigh of relief, and Blue's mouth feel open.

"You little CHEAP A*S!!" Blue shouted "You just said that so you wouldn't get punched!!"

"Well I can't walk into a party with a black eye!" Green said quickly getting up and dodging to punch thrown at him.

"You both look wonderful." Professor Birch grinned "If only I was 30 years younger." He joked.

Ruby smiled at Sapphire and opened his mouth to say something, that Sapphire guessed would've been nice until…

"Alright you perverted old man, none of that tonight." A cold voice said behind Ruby. A voice they both knew too well.

Behind Ruby, dressed in a plain, all black suit, was Norman. Ruby's pupil's thinned and he seemed to be too surprised to turn around.

Professor Birch laughed and said "It was just a joke!"

"I'm going to guess you are the elite trainers." Norman said turning to Red, Green, and Blue, two of which were presently in battle, "I'll look forward to be seeing your pokemon line-up. I'm sure it's a little more competent then…" His sharp gaze laid on Ruby for a few second before he continued "The newbie trainers."

"Aw, now Norman, don't be so harsh!" Professor Birch said sweatdropping as Ruby clenched his fists "They've only just started after all."

"Indeed. That may apply to two of your newbie's, but you realize that-"

"Stop it!" Sapphire cried, but not more so to Norman, then to Ruby who'd just stood up and spun around, teeth gritted in fury. She grabbed onto his arm which he'd pulled back, and refused to let go.

"Let go of me Sapphire!" Ruby snarled, while Norman watched him struggle with a mocking smirk on his face.

"Congratulations." He said "I'll be seeing you around then. Ruby."

With that he was gone and Laramie apologized for the ruckus, and quickly followed her husband with a quick peck on the cheek for Ruby.

But Ruby was still fuming "I. Hate. That. B*stard." He said through gritted teeth as Sapphire held onto his arm, which he brought down very slowly.

Blue and Green had stopped attacking each other, and the three were staring at the scene with utter confusion.

Wally sighed and Sapphire asked him if he knew what happened.

"Norman helped train me for a long time. He told me all about it." Wally said flushing like a deer caught in the headlights of a car.

Sapphire shrugged it off and slowly let her grip off of Ruby's arm fall before squeezing his hand once and letting go saying "Just ignore it…Just ignore it…"

Ruby fists clenched and unclenched, but soon Professor Birch had shooed them all to the party.

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

After some more arguments with Blue and Green, most of them ridiculously useless, Ruby was back to normal. Or at least, as normal as he ever got. I was seriously worried that he might cause a scene at the party, but after I made him promise me he wouldn't cause one, I was slightly relieved.

The party was a huge affair, and I felt like every pair of eyes were on me when we walked in.

Mainly because someone name Bill had yelled "Wull whadda we have hare?!"

And everyone looked at him…looking at us. Red sweatdropped and said "Hi Bill."

Green rolled his eyes and said "Hello Grandpa." When an elderly man with a stocky build squeezed through the crowd. He had on a lab coat over his suit, just as my father did.

But he merely waved, notioning that he'd heard Green before rushing over to me Ruby and Wally.

"Your newbie's?" He asked examining us so much that I thought he might as well had a magnifying glass.

"Indeedy. This young lady here is my daughter!" Professor Birch laughed, patting me on the head before Blue shooed him away, snapping something about my hair.

Professor Oak sweatdropped and everyone returned to their business "Now Blue…"

"Hey, I worked a good hour on that hair." Blue said indignantly.

Bill had weaved through the crowd with difficultly and reached the crowd with had sidestepped the grand wooden doors of Mr. Stone's building.

"Haven't seen you in a whale partner!" Bill said, with a casual business attire on.

"I see you didn't dress up for the party." Blue laughed, poking Bill in the stomach.

"Where's Daisy?" Green asked raising his eyebrows with a smirk.

Professor Oak scolded Green, but Bill laughed with pink on his cheeks and said "She insistad on something related to cleanin out the storage room. I dun understand what's more important then a partay, but she wouldn' hear none of it."

Green glanced at Red, who glanced back knowingly.

Professor Oak and Birch went off to find Professor Elm, and Blue dragged the entire group minus Bill to go look for Silver.

I realized who Silver was when I saw a boy arguing with another boy. The long red haired boy with peircing silver eyes that were as cold as Green's, if not colder, had one eye closed, arms folded and the other eye fixed in an annoyed glare at the other boy. The other boy's name was apparently Gold, who was arguing with Silver about some of his previous…actions… and his yellow eyes seemed to stick out from his spiky black fringe.

"I didn't do that on purpose!!!" Gold defended "How could I have known that that was Lorelei?!"

"First off, she was with Lance, Agatha, and Bruno. What other notion do you need?!" Silver replied.

"Silver!!!" Blue chirped in a sing-song voice.

Silver froze in his angry rant and turned his gaze to Blue who was waving madly, dragging everyone behind her. The boy was quick to sweatdrop when Blue latched herself around his neck "It's been FOREVER!!!"

The boy sighed, but made no effort to hug her back. Blue didn't seem bothered by this as she did with Green, and she grinned "How've you been?"

"Okay. Perv over here seemed to have become my responibility-Gold?" Silver was suddenly fuming, and muttered an angry "Hold on." To the group while he pushed up the sleeves of his suit.

He returned with a badly beaten Gold.

"That's what you get for hitting on Riddel." Silver snarled, dumping the beaten up boy on the ground in the middle of the group.

"Riddel?" Red asked curiously.

"Yeah, she's over there with Yellow, Kana, and Julian. She's a Johto newbie." He jerked his head over to the group of people with a red hair boy with a white head band around his head, pushing up his fringe from his emerald green eyes, laughing at something on the ground. The girl with a sharp black ponytail had peircing violet red eyes, and the short black dress she wore made her look not entirely fancy with her goth biker boots, her expression sour and pitiful. The girl's squatting on the ground seemed much more pleasant. One had a pikachu in her arms, with blonde hair let down to be wavy and silky, and a sleeveless turtleneck skin tight orange dress, a cheerful smile on her face.

The other girl had just stood up, holding a minun in her hands and she was laughing as well, with a light blue dress that looked much like the angry looking girl's, but her shoes were strappy, much like mine.

"Riddel's the angry looking one. Perv here got beaten up by her. That's probably why she looks so pissed." Silver explained.

"Oh my god Gold, you can't keep your hands to yourself for even one minute can you?" A new voice asked.

In a sparkly light blue dress with light blue pigtails that spiked forward to frame her face, Blue waved madly to the girl and said "Had any trouble with the boys Crys?"

"Are you kidding me?" She asked, stepping one heeled foot upon Gold's back "This idiot's been running around groping just about any hot girl he sees."

I sweatdropped and noticed that Ruby and Wally had disappeared. I excused myself, much to Blue's disappointment, and proceeded to find the two of them.

I caught sight of the two sitting and conversing at one of the small dining tables lining the walls. But before I'd made it close enough to say something to them, the light's dimmed and all chattering ceased.

"Hello ladies and gentlemen." A smiling man with a billowing red cape and spiky red hair said on the stages "I'm Lance Blackthorn."

I fell silent to listen to his speech.

"I know you've all been eager to meet the new Hoenn Champion." He said in a very business like tone "And after much dispute, we've finally figured it all out. I present to you ladies and gentlemen, Steven Stone!"

I think the man who clapped the hardest was the man in a purple suit standing next to me.

I supposed that he was the champion's dad, because when Steven stepped next to Lance, the resemblence was incredible.

"Thank you so much, but, this day doesn't belong to me." Steven laughed "As the Professor's know." He looked knowingly at the Professor's who hadn't stopped their meeting to listen to the speech, but quieted down when Steven mentioned them "I wonder if this title is really mine. After all the problems that were caused, I wonder if this is really right for me." He said "But, when I looked at Hoenn from atop my Metagross, I know that I wouldn't rather be anywhere but here." He smiled and Sapphire clapped politely.

A girl with spiky hot pink pigtails, climbed upon the stage and I made my way toward Ruby and Wally.

"Hey guys, why'd you leave?" I whispered.

"Commotion was bothering me." Ruby said simply.

"Hi guys!" The girl waved, and Gold shouted 'Boo!' But was quickly silenced by Silver and Crys. After glaring at Gold for a full minute, she continued "Let's dance!"

From her enthusiastic appearance, I thought the music would be modern, but an orchestra struck up a waltz and I jumped. Definetly not modern. But the moment of surprise quickly ended when I saw Blue pull Green onto the dance floor. (rather forcefully)

He looked very relieved that other were on the dance floor as well, because we all soon learned that Blue did not know how to waltz.

I laughed, as did Ruby and Wally, and Green exhasperatedly taught Blue how to waltz. I heard Gold and Red crack up when Blue fell onto her bottom after tripping over Green's foot. Then the girl with the blonde ponytail held her hand out, having just arrived on the dance floor.

Blue took it graciously, but they'd already made a scene, and Green flushed red with a hand covering most of his face.

I yelped when my dad picked me up, feet and all, and put me back down on the dance floor, and taught me how to waltz. I sorely wished I hadn't laughed at Blue, because now she was laughing so hard at me, she couldn't move.

The Professor's were chuckling at me too, and by the time the song was over, I'd known that Waltzing DEFINETLY wasn't my thing.

But Wally would hear none of it. He dragged me out again, and taught me how to waltz, a little slower then my dad did. After a few times of bumping into him and tripping over my own feet, I got into the habit, I was soon vaguely aware that his hand was on my waist. I blushed a light pink but Wally simply laughed, and showed me the next few steps.

Norman was grudgingly dancing with Laramie, and his stiff dance made her smooth one slightly…well. Worse.

Ruby took no time in laughing at me and Wally. He took all his attention and fixed it upon his parents.

But soon, the dance floor was cleared for two gym leaders, one blushing madly, and the other, unafraid in the spolight. I learned from my dad that that was Wallace, and Winona. Winona was blushing, but it was apparently she knew how to waltz very well. Wallace looked professional, and everyone clapped for them, and Winona quickly darted off the dance floor, Wallace laughing as he made his way off as well.

I decided to stay off the dance floor for the next song, and saw Crys and Gold dancing, and prayed that Gold wouldn't do something wrong and receive a concussion for it. But he didn't, instead he danced clumsily, but no perverted things happened. Thank goodness.

Then, with a pang of slight jealously, I saw that Red had begun to dance with the girl with the yellow ponytail. The girl was very fluid and smooth in her movements, but her tomato red face ruined the entire thing, but I grinned anyway. Red was okay at dancing, but when Green was forced to dance with a more knowing Blue, I found that Green was much better then him at waltzing.

Of course, I'd never have guessed it, but he was very patient with Blue, and in the end, Blue was very satisfied with herself, beaming around and announcing that she'd learned how to waltz.

My eyes widened when Ruby held his hand out for me, in a polite and quiet manner. I opened my mouth to say something witty, but he simply gave me a joking look, and I sighed, taking his hand and stiffly standing up.

It was Norman's turn to laugh, but soon enough, the moody looking sailor like man sitting beside him told him to shut up so he could enjoy the dancing.

Ruby was very good at dancing (wouldn't you know it?) and went very fast, so that I struggled to keep up. All his moves were timed perfectly with the music, and when he spun me out, me holding onto his hand for dear life, I was definetly dizzy.

He laughed when he saw my confused look when he waited for me to spin back in. I jumped in surprise when I realized what I was supposed to do, which was spin back and land on his chest. I flushed and realized that I'd done the same to Wally.

"Ew no!" I said letting go of his hand.

He laughed and shrugged "Suit yourself."

And with that he disappeared off the dance floor, leaving me in the middle of a lot of strangers.

I leapt off the dance floor and unfortunately found myself standing in front of four adults.

Four adults, in a more specific manner, the Hoenn Elite Four.

A girl with flowers on either side of her cheerful face giggled and said "You don't like your dance partner?"

"Pheobe…" Another woman said scoldingly, but with a soft smile on her face. Her smooth features showed a calm attitude, but she was quickly interuppted.

"Man that Norman needs to manly up and deal with his kid. Heard he went all pissed when his kid wanted to go onto contests." The sailor man said "I wonder why he seems to hate everyone. I remember that cheerful little man long ago don't you Glacia?"

"Yes I do Drake, but we're not here to gossip about other gym leaders." Glacia said calmly.

"If I was gossiping then I'd bother to keep my voice down." Drake said loudly, and a man with a tuft of reddish hair flinched.

"Could you be a little louder Drake?" He asked sarcastically.

"Calm down Drake, you can discuss this when we get back to Ever Grande City." A calm voice said, and Drake shut up.

It was…Steven!

I melted where I was and he smiled kindly "Are you looking for someone?"

"Er….Uh…Yeah, I'm looking for my dad." I said pathetically.

"Professor Birch should still be with the other Professors. I hear they're talking about the Origin of the Unknown. They're really into it." Steven commented, and yet ANOTHER person walked up.

"Naw, I was just over there. They're talking about Green and Sapphire. Something about 'pesky children'. Scientific meeting my Dragonite's butt." Lance said his arms folded. He stood next to three other people. A woman with a rather large bust, with dainty red glasses, a small woman with a mischevious expression, and a large burly man, who hadn't decided to wear a suit.

My breath caught I realized that I was in with A LOT of famous people.

"That's my dad for you." I piped up "He can't keep his mind on anything for long."

Lance looked at me and his eyes widened "Oh, you're Sapphire."

"I'm sure you totally knew that Lance." The woman with the large chest rolled her eyes.

"Oh pipe down Lorelei, ain't nobody here cept' me could see the girl with all these crazy kids runnin' around." The old woman said.

"Oh is that right?" Lorelei asked, her arms folded "Maybe that's because you're just so short."

The old woman flared and said "I have a much higher mental stability then you thank you very much!"

"I wouldn't call it 'stability'." Lorelei said walking away, and closely followed by a fuming old lady.

"Don't kill anyone Agatha!" The big burly man called.

Lance sweatdropped when more then half the room turned to look at the big man "Bruno, you don't yell things like that!" He hissed.

I skirted away from the scene and found myself in the middle of a glaring contest. Rolling my eyes I grabbed Ruby's arm and dragged him away from his father, but I tripped over Ruby, who was protesting, and with a yelp I fell to the floor in utter darkness.

I heard people all around me, but I didn't see anyone. They were all confused about the sudden power outage, and with another start I realized someone had fallen on top of me and something warm and soft had made it's way to my lips. When someone lit the torches lining the walls, Mr. Stone apologizing for the short-circuit, I nearly screamed.

Ruby, with wide eyes and a red face, was right on top of me, his face so close to mine I could feel his breath, and why would I have screamed? Because I realized, at the exact same moment he did, that the thing that had hit my lips was…his own lips. It may have been a pleasant moment, but it was Ruby, and I squeezed my eyes shut, frozen underneath him, keeping tears that sprang to my eyes from his gaze.

Norman grabbed the back of Ruby's suit violently and pulled him off of me, snarling something about indecency, and I stood up on jelly-like legs, covering my mouth with my shaking hand. I couldn't think for a moment about how glad I was that everyone had their attention on Mr. Stone, who was telling what happened, and the fact that it was very dim.

But the Kanto and Johto Elite trainer's had seen everything, and Blue was squealing in delight, latching herself onto both Green and Silver who both flushed.

"Er-Um…I…I mean…I'm…s-sorry…" Ruby stammered, still in the clutches of his angry father.

Air came to me in short gasps, and before I knew it I'd bolted out the door, Ruby calling after me apologetically to stop. But I didn't. It hurt that he was sorry, and that he cared. And I wished with my entire heart, that he hadn't cared at all. Blue stopped squealing, and loosened her grip on Green and Silver, both of which now had quiet and quizical faces, and everyone heard the door to the ballroom slam closed.

"I kissed a PIG!!!" I screamed my voice cracking and muffled by my hand, tightly clasped around my mouth, the only thing slipping through it were hot tears that burned my cheeks like fire.

Not only was my first kiss with a pig, but it wasn't romantic, it wasn't pleasant, it actually hurt.

My head had collided with the floor, and Ruby's had collided with my head, and it was nothing but painful.

I was nothing but ashamed of the tears that stung my eyes and refused to disappear. I couldn't see anything through the blur of salty water, on my cheeks, in my mouth, and falling from my eyes. But I knew exactly where I was going.

Anywhere but here.

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

It was an awkward situation. Everyone heard Sapphire scream. Everyone heard what she said too. I sighed and realized that Norman had loosened his grip on the back of my shirt.

"Well you've gotten your punishment anyway." He said nodding, and returning to my mom's side.

I guess my face had registered nothing but shock and fear of seeing her again, and Blue scuttled up to me.

"Are you okay?" She whispered, and I felt strange. She was Sapphire's friend, not mine…

"Moron, leave him alone." Green snapped quietly, pulling on her shoulder.

The party slowly resumed, and I felt like I was going to throw up. Not because I'd kissed a monster.

But because I realized with a pang that she really didn't like me. I thought we'd have gotten somewhere within the past few days. It was like my lungs were constricting, and it felt like I hadn't taken a breath in five hours. And after half and hour of wandering around the party seeing people talking to me about something, or just staring, I found that I couldn't stand it.

And with that, I was out the door as well. I didn't want to see Wally's surprised and confused face. I didn't want to see my dad's scornful face. I didn't want Professor Birch's sympathy. I didn't want his explanation for Sapphire's outburst. I didn't want to see Wallace, Steven, Mr.Stone and Lance's confused expressions.

I didn't want to see Blue's worry. Or Green's. What stung the most that everyone was surprised, and that everyone was sympathetic for me.

I didn't want Red's pity. Or Crystal's.

I took in gulps of air when I left the expansive ballroom, and I clutched my hat in my fists. Holding back tears was easy when they were caused by my dad. But when I remembered Sapphire's eyes shining with tears, it hurt more then when Norman had punched me. And so I looked for her. The deserted streets of Rustboro were dark, lit only by lone streetlamps every now and then. I hadn't the slightest idea where to start, and I doubted that she would go to the pokemon center again.

But that was the only place that would give me the slightest clue if she was still in Rustboro. The first place I went was the room I shared with Wally and Sapphire.

And my mind went blank.

I picked up a notecard on Sapphire's pillow. It was scribbled and the ink was smudged with wet tears, and it had a set of numbers on it.

678-1925

Her pokenav number. I looked up at the cleanly made bed and I crumpled the notecard in my fist and threw it into the trash can. I no longer felt sorry for her. Not in the least. Just like that, she'd left. She hadn't bothered to say goodbye. She hadn't bothered to apologize like I did. She was the who'd pulled me in the first place. Tears no longer stung my eyes. And gone was all my feelings of anything toward her.

Did she think I might feel sympathetic for her? I had. And I would no longer.

And vaguely I realized that it would go away in the end. That I was only angry at her now, and in the end, I would wish to see her face again, to argue about something stupid with her. And I thought that I would never wish to see her again.

But instead I grabbed my backpack, and found with a start that she'd also returned Coco to the front pocket of the yellow pack. I looked down at the skitty, which was sleeping peacefully, oblivious to everything, and I sat back down on my bed.

Nana slept next to Coco, and the little dog pokemon was roused when the backpack was suddenly moved.

It looked up at me with a questioning look, and I looked away at the moonless sky, the dark night peeking through the slits from the window shields "So here we are Nana…" I muttered "Starting over at Rustboro already."

And I changed back into my traveling clothes and climbed into under the covers of my bed, underneath Sapphire's.

Before I fell asleep, I felt my hand take off my hat and pull the covers over my head. I could hear people talking. And I didn't want to hear what they had to say.

No matter what I told myself, I felt it.

I would miss Sapphire.

And I hoped she'd miss me too.

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

The next morning Professor Birch attempted to cheer me up by introducing me to the Kanto and Johto newbies.

Riddel, Julian, and Kana were the Johto newbie's.

Riddel had a snappish attitude. It made me smile, remembering Lara's attitude, and she showed me her Totodile, which she'd named 'Killer' as a joke because it was so puny.

Kana had named her Chikorita 'Apple' because it seemed to like apples. And I wondered why I named Zuzu, Zuzu.

Julian showed me his Cyndaquil with so much pride I thought that he might've won it from Lance in a battle or something.

"My Magma can shoot a tree with flames 20 feet away." He said cheerfully, but not before Kana rolled her eyes and told him that he should deflate his head.

"I'm not boasting." He said defiantly "It's the truth."

"Yeah, and that's not boasting at all." Riddel mumbled to Kana who giggled.

Then I met the Kanto newbie's. One had already left, and two were still lingering around.

A very pleasant girl name Jen showed me her Eevee and Bulbasaur, Cinna, and Razr. Cinna was very energetic and bounced all around Killer until her showed her all his pearly white teeth, and she stopped.

Duncan held a charmander in his arms that was looking down upon the scene with bewildered eyes, and he asked to see my pokemon.

And so I showed them Nana, and Zuzu, but I didn't show them Coco. She wasn't mine really anyway.

Nana and Killer compared the size of their canines, and the both of them declared themselves the winner. It looked like a battle until Professor Elm told them that they needed to get back to Johto before they missed the Seaport 2.

And that's when I realized that Sapphire never really left at all.

She stood at the entrance of the hallway, yawning and stretching when she suddenly froze. I looked at her and she looked at me, and it was all quiet for about 5 minutes until I asked Professor Birch if we would get pokedexes.

He jumped with that and rushed out the door to catch Professor Oak.

And with one last glance at Sapphire, who was glaring at me, I returned my key to Nurse Joy and followed Professor Birch out the door.

He'd returned from the pier panting and out of breath, but he jammed a pokedex into my hand before scuttling off to go give Wally and Sapphire their pokedexes.

I examined the red device in my hand and pulled my backpack higher up upon my shoulder. Making sure my hat was securely fastened upon my head I made my way toward the exit of Rustboro.

"Hey!" Sapphire's voice called.

I sighed and turned around, a bored glare on my face.

"What?" I asked coldly. I almost flinched at how much I sounded like Norman, but I kept my cool and she stormed up to me with a calculating look.

"This is yours." She said shoving a box in my hand "Don't open it until your birthday, because I'm not going to see you for awhile, be sure of that."

I stared down at the box and when I looked up again, she'd disappeared in the crowds. I shrugged and stuffed the box carelessly into my backpack before heading off. She'd be behind me, because she needed to earn Rustboro's badge. So I kept a lookout for contest posters.

I'd show her who was best.
---------------------------------

HOLY F***!!! Quadruple post!!! (IS THAT EVEN ALLOWED FOR POSTING NEW CHAPTERS?!?!)

Agh darn I did? Hmph. Well that stinks, because I'm too lazy to find it. =_= I seriously need to catch up to SPPF "My Lovely Ego". There's about 13 or 14 chapters there and 6, 7, or 8 jammed together here. =_=

Prepare for the long-ness.
---------------------------
When Sapphire arrived at the Rustboro Academy, she saw the gym leader, Roxanne as it said on the dirty sign on the front, energetically conversing with two boys. She stood awkwardly as passing students stared at her before continuing on their way.

"And then Brawly freaks out about how my Nosepass could never beat his Makuhita, and I say, 'I believe I just did.'" Roxanne laughed, and the two boys glanced at each other, laughing weakly, and in a rather forced manner, especially so for the boy with the incredibly baggy clothes and the scar along his face. The laugh didn't reach his cold blue eyes, as the contemplative looking Absol standing beside him snorted.

Roxanne trailed off, and said, "But it really is good to see you two again, doing anything special for the Elite Four?"

The nicer looking male, clad in mainly black with messy brown hair, smiled and said "No, just hanging out around Johto and Hoenn." He answered for his friend.

Sapphire yelped as Professor Birch boomed from behind her "CRAZY ELITE TRAINERS!" It was a good natured and very happy tone, but it startled poor Sapphire, who had been unaware of her father's prescence, so much, she nearly jumped out of her skin.

The two boys sweatdropped, and Roxanne nodded "Hello Professor Birch, what brings you here?"

"Just thought I might check in on my elite trainers before they left again. Oak said he was very impressed." Birch said proudly, as the two trainers and question seemed too surprised to react accordingly.

The one who had actually responded to Roxanne seemed to jump back to reality as he quickly said modestly "No, the Kanto Elite Trainers were much more powerful then us. I'd hate to fight them."

"Feh!" Professor Birch said folding his arms "Nonsense. Well anyway, I didn't come here to debate with you and your crazy modesty, -again- Sapphire, why don't you meet the Hoenn Elite Trainer's while they're here?!" He called, and the girl in question flushed. She was glad she was never required to go to school, as her father was incredibly embarrassing. Everyone was now staring at her.

"Erm…o-okay." She stammered.

"Toren, Eliadon, this is my daughter Sapphire. Perhaps you remember her?" Professor Birch introduced.

"You mean that little girl who I mistook for a mankey?" Eliadon said casually.

Sapphire flared, but Toren intervened "I'm Toren, and it's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." She said, thinking about how much Toren and Red could possibly be more alike. Both had messy hair, and a sort of peace-maker attitude "Are you two the only elites?"

"No," Toren explained "Cammy left already. She doesn't like to wait for us."

"You mean you." Eliadon pointed out, Absol nodding in agreement with his trainer. The Manectric that sat quietly beside Toren stood up from it's spot and growled at the other pokemon, the hair on it's neck standing up from the static electricity it was building up. Toren shook his head at the dog pokemon and it reluctantly slunk back to it's sitting position.

"Yes. Me. Whatever." Toren said coolly to his companion, who scoffed "Getting your second badge?" He asked Sapphire who flushed and mumbled,

"Norman wouldn't battle me."

Eliadon wiped something off his mouth, but Sapphire had the distinct impression that he was really just covering a smirk, or something similar to that.

Sapphire opened her mouth to say something rude and snippy to Eliadon, but Toren unknowingly interrupted and said "Well, we should get going. Maybe we'll get some licenses from Steven to cross the Hoenn Border into Orre."

Eliadon merely nodded, before both of them were out the door, with a hasty good-bye from Toren, and a silent glare from Eliadon.

"…Take care!" Professor Birch called after them.

Sapphire fell over at how blind her father could be sometimes.

"It's too bad really. I was hoping that Cammy might be able to show you her Blaziken. Ruby might've been able to see Eliadon's Marshtomp as well." Professor Birch shook his head "Well, I'll leave you to it. I'm to see if I can weasel a license for Blue, Green, and Red. Blue wants to see more of Hoenn, and I've gladly voluteered you to be their guide! Or, mainly, Blue volunteered you, but anyhow-"

"What?!" Sapphire wailed.

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

"Contest…in Fallarbor…but then I have to climb Meteor Falls…then there's also one in Verdanturf…yeah. I'll go there!" Ruby announced to no one in particular as he stared at the contest poster.

"Wait…that means I have to backtrack to Rustboro…" He said dejectedly as he stared at the map underneath the poster "To the Rusturf Tunnel…Why is this journey so complicated?!"

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

"Are you here to challenge me?" Roxanne asked, folding her arms, as she stood at the doorway to a classroom.

"Yes." Sapphire answered, all serious now.

"That's wonderful." Roxanne smiled "Now here, our preliminary is testing your knowladge on pokemon. Most gyms have preliminaries, but some don't, such as Lavaridge Town. Let's get started with this preliminary then shall we?"

She pushed open the door to the classroom and found three trainers. All with overly large hitmonlee, hitmontop, and hitmonchan's. Sapphire felt her knees give way, but the feeling disappeared when Roxanne lead her to another door, and the three burly trainers continued to spar as though nobody had rudely interuppted them.

"This is where you'll do your preliminary." Roxanne said introducing Sapphire to a room that looked…exactly like a walk in storage closet with a desk in the middle.

"Um…so where do I do the preliminary?" Sapphire asked, feeling rather stupid.

"There." Roxanne said pointing to the small desk as though it was obvious "And here's your preliminary."

She placed a three page packet on the desk in front of Sapphire after she'd seated herself in the hard chair.

"You've got one and a half hours, and I want complete sentences." Roxanne nodded and closed the door.

The first thought Sapphire had was 'I'm gonna suffocate.'

The second was 'I wonder if I need a pencil for this'

The third was 'HOLY SH*T LOOK AT ALL THOSE PENCILS!'

Indeed, what lined the walls was what looked like a million different kinds of pencils all in different jars. On one shelf hung a sign that said 'Please return all pencils to respective jars, after re-sharpening them'.

Sapphire sweatdropped and picked out a torchic pencil. Perhaps it would give her good luck! She spotted a sharpener with the distinct and elaborate 'D' that stood for Devon Corp. It was crammed in the furthest corner of the closet and Sapphire looked down at the sheet of paper in front of her.

First Question:

'What is the basic stage of Raichu?'

Sapphire stared down at it and laughed "What a lame-a*s test!" And she quickly scribbled down the answer.

When she was finally down to the last question, she found a meowth clock on the wall, it's coin sized eyes turning back and forth with each passing second. The time showed that she had a mere 10 minutes left. But, then again, she was on the last question.

She looked down and saw:

'What is the time limit for Pokemon Contests?'

Sapphire's breath caught in her throat as her hand automatically flew to her mouth. But she quickly remembered that Ruby had already left Rustboro. She slowly lowered her hand and sighed, wondering if Ruby had ever mentioned anything about Contests. And so she sat, in various positions, (all a bit strange) trying to remember anything about contests. She'd avoided learning anything about them, as she found them girly and boring.

And yet, another image popped into her mind, refusing to let her concentrate. Torchic, with her newfound nickname. Sapphire with her own, as much displeasure it brought her. Ruby, with an angry blue bruise on his cheek, and herself, running through the deserted streets of Rustboro.

So there she was. Trying to remember something her former companion had said, but somehow, not being able to remember anything but the times that they'd had together. Sapphire flushed and growled "What is with this?!"

"What's with what?" A dumb voice asked, as the door opened.

A figure leaned against the wooden frame of the closet, a bored and stupid expression on his face.

"None of your beedrill wax." Sapphire snapped, and the boy put up defensive hands and said

"Dude, no need for the offensive approach…or-I mean- dudette. Roxanne wanted me to tell you times up she'll grade it tonight, and you'll come back tomarrow." He said in a strange slur.

"Er…I didn't finish." Sapphire said lamely.

"Sorry dudette, no more time for the prelims." He said snatching the paper out her hands.

Sapphire groaned and slammed her head down on the desk and with impact yelped, "Ow!"

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

"I can't believe this. I have to wait for Roxanne to grade my test? This is ridiculous." Sapphire grumbled "And what does contests have to do with a gym's preliminaries?"

"I can't believe this. I have to backtrack all the way from halfway up to Fallarbor as I totally got PWNed when I tried to climb Meteor Falls." Ruby stormed "Now I have to go backwards, and then once I get to Fallarbor I've got to go backwards again."

Both stopped in their tracks as their gaze was pulled from the dirty pavement. An odd silence settled itself in between the two as they stood with surprised expressions on their faces, 20 feet from each other. Between the crowds of people though, Ruby saw Sapphire as clear as day, and vice versa.

Sapphire opened her mouth to say something, but before she could say anything, Ruby rolled his eyes and turned onto the path towards the Rusturf tunnel without a word.

She was left with her mouth still open, but this time gaping at his retreating figure in disbelief.

"What a stuck-up fart." Sapphire mumbled, hooking her fingers onto the edge of her mouth and pulling them apart as she let her tongue hang out after him "Meanie."

She turned on her heel, ignoring the looks she was receiving from the passerby's as she stomped back to the pokemon center.

"My boys, you cannot possibly imagine what stress I'm under lately. Two of my newbies are feuding, my third can't catch up with them, and now they're all in different places." Sapphire stopped as she heard her father's voice behind a restaurant door. Eavesdropping was an unexplainable habit that had developed as she began to learn there was much more to the world other then trees and pokemon.

"Don't worry about it Professor, we've all had our arguments, they'll deal it out themselves." Toren's now familiar voice came as Sapphire furrowed her brow "You should've seen how long me and Cammy went without seeing Eliadon for the stupidest reaso-OW!"

Sapphire peered through the glass to see Toren rubbing his shoulder and Eliadon unclenching his fist and saw the boy look up. Straight at her.

She ducked down as fast as someone could with a heart that was going 1,000 miles per hour. And she darted from the scene and swiftly arrived in front of the pokemon center doors. It seemed the only place that she would be calling 'home' for a long time. And home is where the heart is as they say.

"Hi Sapphire." Wally said kindly as he looked up from his booth, a black mask looking thing sitting on the table before him.

"Hi- what's that?" Sapphire asked, pausing to point at the black…thing.

"It's a ventilator. A breathing mask. It helps my cough." Wally said sheepishly, pink creeping on his cheeks "Bad air kills my lungs."

"Then Rustboro's definitely not for you!" Sapphire smiled at him and excused herself, eager to throw herself upon her bed, as though it would solve all her problems. She'd be stuck here in Rustboro forever. She stunk at battling. There was nothing more to it.

And so she slowly trudged to the creaky red door. When she realized she'd nearly passed it, she shook her head and rested her hand on the cold brass knob. But…she paused in opening the door.

Was it really so bad?

The annoying voice in her head asked as she lowered her gaze further.

"Yes." She said, more confidently then she felt as she pushed the door open. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw it was empty. Was she still really expecting Ruby to be lazily lounging on the bunk, chatting with Nana carelessly? She gave herself a quick slap "I'm hallucinating."

And as she sat down on the abandoned bunk, she longed for something, that was comfortably, not Ruby. How she wished she could be stroking a purring Coco right now. But instead she sent out Chaka, holding the warm bundle of feathers close as the room seemed to suddenly grow cold.

"I thought I could take care of myself. But I'm breaking down and it's only been a day at the most." Sapphire muttered down to Chaka who chirped in response "Maybe I'm not so tough." She said sighing.

Chaka nibbled at Sapphire's hand sharply, as Sapphire recoiled, snapping, "Alright, alright I'll stop."

Chaka cooed, content with Sapphire's answer as it settled into a peaceful nap on the girls lap.

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

"What do you mean I can't go through here?!" Ruby snarled at the construction worker "I didn't come here from the base of Meteor Falls to be told no!"

"The whismur and loudred are --so to speak, rather angry at our intrusion on their territory." The man clad in bright yellow explained "They're creating a-"

"LOUUUUUUUUUUUUUDRED!!!" A pokemon roared so loudly that the ground shook and the cave entrance behind the man vibrated, threatening to fall right upon the man trapped in between a bulldozer, and a very angry Ruby.

His knees clanked against each other as his eyes darted from Ruby to the cave behind him, and said "T-Try tomorrow!" He squeaked as a pebble fell upon his helmet.

Ruby folded his arms and glared, deciding it would be no good today as he stepped aside for the man to run off from underneath the entrance. But the man still kept a close watch on Ruby, making sure he didn't enter and make even more of a problem for the construction site.

But he did nothing of the sort, wondering where he'd stay for the night. He steadfastly refused to stay at Rustboro's pokemon center, where Sapphire would obviously be spending the night, but didn't exactly want to camp out in the dirty outdoors. A hotel would be nice, but to be frank, he just didn't have enough pokedollars to spare.

Nana walked beside him, bored and lazy from all the walking they'd done, just to receive no results.

Ruby was in a considerably bad mood, as he was fighting with his first and most probably, only friend, he had walked from Rustboro to Meteor Falls just to realize that he had no chance of climbing the stupid cliff, and all the way back here to realize that they were doing construction. Not to mention that Coco hadn't been entirely pleased to discover that Sapphire was nowhere in sight.

But she wasn't the only one. Ruby folded his arms as he looked around. This journey was getting quite boring without the hourly arguments.

"Gosh darnit where am I gonna stay tonight?" Ruby asked moodily to no one in particular, earning a scornful snort from Nana as the dog pokemon shook it's tiny head at it's frustrated trainer.

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

"You aren't nervous are you?" Roxanne asked with a smirk from the other side of the field.

"Oh hoho well aren't we high on our throne?" I grumbled to myself as I tried to stop my knees from shaking. But I couldn't blame her, my expression was that of a wish to melt into the ground right then and there. It didn't help that Chaka was shaking as well.

"Well, let's get started then. Shouldn't take too long." Roxanne casually tossed out a pokeball and folded her arms, getting rather smug at the fact that I had only barely passed the exam, and the fact that I was shaking like a leaf.

"Nosepass, rock throw!" Roxanne called out as Chaka started to cry, rocks falling all around her as she ran around trying to avoid them.

"Chaka, dodge and use Focus energy!" I called, my voice cracking as Chaka jumped out of the foe's range, a serious look on her teary face now. And my confidence was nothing less but boosted when I saw Chaka surrounded by yellow flame-like balls with a red glow, billowing up and disappearing.

Roxanne seemed unfazed by this, as it made nearly no effect on her own pokemon, but her next move would definetly make a move on mine "Nosepass, use Earthquake!"

And how I wished that Chaka was a flying type when she was shaken off her feet. Without arms, Chaka struggled to get back up as Roxanne ordered a tackle from her pokemon.

But out of pure dumb luck, when Chaka finally got back up, she tripped backwards again, and Nosepass totally missed!

"What?!" Roxanne cried, as Chaka stumbled back to her feet.

"Yes!" I squealed "Go Chaka use ember!!" I pointed at Nosepass, his massive nose making him struggle to get up just as much as Chaka did.

And as fine orange-red diskette's flew towards him, the pokemon was helpless but to let himself get pelted by burning disks of compressed fire.

"And now use Peck!" I called out, Chaka jumping deftly towards her foe, stumbling slightly as she landed, but managing to jam her beak onto the Nosepass, knocking it back onto it's nose.

"Nosepass, use Thunder Wave!" Roxanne said quickly, as a bolt of thunder shot out of nowhere, paralyzing the little chick pokemon into utter frozen stupidity.

As trainer, me, and gym leader, Roxanne, sweatdropped at the scene, one pokemon struggling to get up, and the other struggling to move, I commanded a final blow-Ember!

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

It was merely a blur as the judge held up a green flag, signaling Roxanne's defeat, a blur as Roxanne placed a badge in Sapphire's hand, and a blur when she returned to the pokemon center to the cheering arms of her dad.

The blur? Oh that was just tears. Of joy and happiness, and little bit of disappointment. Ruby would've been really proud to see her win for the first time…against a real opponent anyway. But as she wiped them away, not even her argument with Ruby would dampen her spirits tonight. And she smiled as she clutched Chaka close to her, spreading warmth to every finger and toe.

"WHOOOO!" Sapphire screamed as someone jumped on top of her, cheering about something "You finally got a badge!!!"

"You're making a scene again." Just by the snippy remark and bored drawl, Sapphire knew exactly who the two were. Blue and Green, one in a great mood and the other as sulky as ever.

"Nice." Red pointed out as Blue made a strange face, pulling both lips apart with her fingers and gritting her teeth, crossing her eyes.

Green sweatdropped and folded his arms, turning away as to pretend he didn't know her.

"Your dad got us some liscense's. You have to wait for me and Red to get our badges, but it shouldn't take too long." Blue said grinning at me.

"Hey, what about me?" Green asked peevishly "I'm getting a badge too."

"Really?!" Blue said in mock surprise slapping her hands to her cheeks, "I would've never guessed." She smirked and turned back to Sapphire "He's been grouchy about me dragging him away from Kanto. The guy gets homesick."

Green flushed and snapped "What?!"

Red sighed and interferred before another famous fight broke out, saying, "So, why don't we ask Sapphire what Roxanne's pokemon are, and what moves they use?"

Green folded his arms and snapped "I already know."

Vein pop. Blue folded her arms and glared at Green "Oh? Please do enlighten us your greatest bestest majesty."

"Bestest isn't a word," Green started, "But anyway, Roxanne trains stone pokemon, possesses one graveler and one nosepass, weaknesses to water, and grass for both pokemon, and ground, steel and fighting additional weakness for Nosepass. Roxanne is an honor student at Rustboro Academy."

"Wow, it's like you're studying to woo her or something." Blue stated bluntly, and Green turned red, more out of annoyance then embarrassment.

"I apologize if I like to brush up on information before battles, instead of charging head-on into something with absolute stupidity like yourself." He said coolly.

"Oh?" Blue said dangerously "Well I'll have you know that I knew Roxanne had a Nosepass, and my Turtley can beat that rock pokemon any day!"

"It's a one-on-one battle!" Sapphire piped up "And Nosepass uses Rock Throw, Thunder Wave, Earthquake, and Tackle. That's all I know of."

Blue gave Green a smug grin, and dragged Red and Sapphire off to go celebrate, leaving Green to study and prepare strategy for the gym battle the next day, grumbling about how he hated parties and celebrations.

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

"It's puny." Blue said without shame as she stood behind her blastoise, Turtley, as she stifled a laugh. Turtley however, stood looking down at the Nosepass who was more then three times smaller his own size before Blue commanded, "Go Turtley, use hydro pump!"

Whoosh!

Nosepass lay dripping wet and fainted at Roxanne's feet, who was also soaked to the core as she gaped, more at the fact that Blue had gone to the extent of getting her wet as well rather then the fact that Blue had defeated her in a single move. And the fact that she'd barely gotten a single step of her Nosepass into the battle before it was over. The gym leader in question groaned, knowing she'd be dealing out at least four badges in less then two days as Green stepped up to the trainers box, one of Roxanne's students letting his Macargo and Pidgeotto act as a blow dryer.

In a very smooth and casual way, Green tossed up and down a pokeball, his eyes showing nothing but his absolute boredom and confidence in his victory. Of course, this very cool action was good enough for the lasses and the female students, who were all whispering excitedly amongst themselves, or squealing to cheer on a boy who was doing little more then ignoring them.

Blue rolled her eyes and folded her arms at these ridiculous attempts to catch Green's attention, herself knowing the only thing that would even spark a meager interest or a word of acknowledgement towards anyone's existence would be a girl who was good at battling.

"Geodude!" Roxanne called out, as she was at least half-dry, "Let's rock!"

"Golduck, Go." Green tossed out the pokeball, and after a flood of water caused by surf, Roxanne's geodude lay wet and fainted, blown to the walls behind Roxanne.

Roxanne let out a frustrated cry as she returned her geodude "What is with all these pokemon?!"

"Kanto elite trainer's Miss!" A girl piped up excitedly, ready to recite facts, just like Green had the night before.

"I know that!" Roxanne snapped in a flurry of embarrassment at being seen defeated so easily as she tossed out another Geodude, Red easily stepping up after Green who sat in silence next to a cheering Blue.

"Ready?" Red asked Roxanne before sending out a towering gyrados.

Roxanne sighed and muttered "As ready as I'll ever be."

"Gyara, Hyper Beam!" Red commanded as Green and Blue stood up in confusion. Why not use Hydro pump instead of draining Gyara's energy? Nonetheless, the giant water serpent made no thoughts like the onlooking duo but instead sent a gold explosion glowing red right at the geodude which was blasted into the ground, the hyper beam pushing the mud and dirt everywhere. When the blinding light had disappeared, Gyara appeared untouched, slightly exhausted, and before him, a hole the size of a snorlax with a simple geodude in the very middle.

"Why'd you do that?" Blue asked, interuppting Green as he opened his mouth to ask the very same question.

Red flushed as he mumbled "I haven't used hyper beam in awhile and I just wanted to see how strong it was now."

"Yeah and nearly killed Roxanne's geodude in the process." Green said raising an eyebrow as he folded his arms.

"Er-"

And before the foursome knew it, out the door the flew, everyone but Green literally kicked out of the gym and pelted by three badges. Green of course had left before Roxanne had the chance of kicking him out, but still got a dead ringer badge to the head.

"D*mn she's got good aim." Blue complained as she rubbed her forehead, red from the impact of Roxanne's stone badge.

Sapphire managed a weak laugh as she stumbled to her feet, glad the battling for the day was over.

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

"Augh!" Ruby yelled, slapping his hands to his ears as the puny whismur before him opened it's mouth wide and let out an agonizing cry "Shut up!"

But the comment only made it cry louder, immobilizing Ruby until he was sure he'd go deaf due to the ridiculous pokemon before him.

It didn't help that Nana was howling in his own pain as he covered his ears with paws that didn't really help.

"Nana return!" Ruby shouted, though the words were drowned out by the scream of the whismur, but Nana disappeared in a flash of red, making the whismur cry ever louder.

Ruby felt his face go slack as the whismur stopped crying. With wide eyes he stammered something he didn't even whether or not was a real word or not, but nonetheless, the thing that was coherent, and quite clearly a word was what he screamed next.

"EXPLOUD!!!"

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

"Remind-me-Nana-to-never-catch-a-whismur." Ruby panted as he leaned against the exit to Rustboro tunnel, the sight of Verdanturf near, though as he stared at it he cursed and knew that it was definetly not worth the trip.

"Remind me to laugh at you when you don't look so pathetic." A voice said as Ruby jumped sky high. Could it be? Could be her? Could it be Sapph-Er…No.

"Who're you?" Ruby asked bluntly.

"Mind your manners before you daddy whips you're a*s." The girl sneered, her blue eyes narrowing to get a better look at a dirty and scratched up Ruby. She had chestnut brown hair that reached her shoulders and with her red T-shirt and slightly too-large blue jeans, she had a 'don't mess with me' kind of expression as she stood before Ruby, arms folded.

Ruby scowled and said "Don't ever-"

"Say anything about my dad, yeah I know." She shrugged "Norman told me how bad you were at pretty much everything. No need to explain your daddy's disappointment in you."

She obviously knew she was poking into tender territory as Ruby flared, Nana bared her teeth and she kept calm.

"No need to get into a big hotflash over it, Professor Birch asked me to find you and make sure you didn't get eaten by the Mightyena, speaking of Mightyena…" She whistled, loud and clear as the sun reflected off her gold colored necklace, a simply flat disk that resembled a marsh badge.

It was when she brought her hand up to place her forefinger and thumb into her mouth to whistle when Ruby saw the spiked bracelets on either wrist. What a scary girl. She vaguely reminded him of Sapphire in a different, more bold way.

But Ruby's thoughts were interuppted when a Mightyena came bounding up to the girl, sitting down and waiting patiently for instructions.

"My name is Cammy, and I saw you at the party. Though I sort of ditched Toren and Eliadon, I don't travel with those two bimbo's because they're slow. I'm a Hoenn Elite Trainer, and it would be nice to meet you if you weren't a newbie trainer." She patted the Mightyena on the head, straightened up and planted her fists on her hips "Norman says you like contests."

Ruby had officially deemed the girl 'talkative' 'rude' and 'brash' but he slowly answered "Um…yeah…"

"Good. Cause there's a contest here next week," She jerked her thumb over her shoulder and Ruby was sure the spikes on her bracelets would someday stab her, "Right over there in the contest hall. I'm stuck here with you for awhile apparently, so maybe we should drag Toren and Eliadon around too."

"Who're they-"

"As I said, Bimbo's who managed to become Elite Trainers like me." Cammy said, as she began the walk towards Verdanturf.

"You seem independent." Ruby started.

"Yup." Cammy replied.

"And head-strong."

"Yup."

"So why're you helping me just because Professor Birch asked you to?" Ruby asked stopping and folding his arms, showing his demand for an answer.

Cammy turned around, a bored expression on her face as she answered, "Well, wouldn't you?" And without further ado, grabbed Ruby by the wrist, much like Sapphire used to, and dragged him into Verdanturf, refusing to answer any more questions until they were in the pokemon center.

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

Okay, that's two chapter's put together, I stopped because I want to warn you that the next chapter is DELETED. As in, NO LONGER EXISTS IN THE MAIN STORYLINE OF "MY LOVELY EGO". M'kay? Some people totally missed me last time I said that.

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

Sapphire hated rain.

Green hated rain.

Red hated rain.

Blue on the other hand…

"STOP RAINING YOU GODD*MNED CLOUDS!!!" She screamed at the gloomy skies.

"Blue, could you be a little less-loud?" Red asked "We all hate the rain, and we all know that."

Blue pouted as she sat back down on the plushy blue couches "But I'm bored." She whined, her lower lip sticking out pathetically.

"Read." Green replied simply as he turned a page in his own book, small with miniscule print.

Blue scooted over to Green and leaned her head over so that her head obscured the boy's vision of the text "The theorum of –something- is often referred to as –how do you pronounce that?- because the process of-"

But before she could voice the next word Green grabbed the side of her head and pushed her away grumbling about annoying people.

"I don't get it." Blue said leaning over to read over Green's shoulder again.

"It's talking about evolution." Green said sighing and closing the book, knowing he wouldn't be able to register any kind of intelligent word with that annoying girl around.

Blue pouted, as she glared at him, a rather pathetic combination Sapphire noted, who was currently lazy, bored, and slightly depressed "I wonder where Ruby is." She mumbled, too lazy to lift her head to speak coherantly.

Oh yeah, that shut Blue up. Green and Red to boot.

They were still uncomfortable, talking about someone whom they'd seen the reaction of. Sapphire hadn't had the chance, too eager to leave the ballroom. She still had the dress Blue had gotten. Or, more like, Green had gotten for her. She still hadn't thanked Green for it. Now would be a good time.

"Oh, thanks for the dress by the way Green." She added, in her line of random thoughts.

Blue blinked and narrowed one eye in confusion at Green, who looked like a completely different person with wide and confused eyes "You gave her a dress?"

"Er- not that I remember." Green replied, looking as confused as Sapphire had ever seen him.

"Well the money was yours, so technically you got it for me." Sapphire shrugged, as she continued to stare out the raining smeared window.

"Oooh." Green and Blue chorused.

Green shrugged, returning to his book as Blue returned to her close examination of her nails. Red let out a shaky and nervous laugh as he said, "Wow, I thought it meant something totally different, like, you know,-"

"Don't even say it." Green snapped, his eyes returning to the narrow glare they were always in.

"Amen." Blue agreed, slapping her knees as she got up "Well, I'm dying, so I'm going out."

"But it's raining." Red commented, and Blue shrugged.

"Hasn't stopped me the last time we got caught in the rain. Hey, remember Green's hair-"

"Let us not talk about me. How about we talk about you if we must talk at all?" Green grumbled.

"Sure!" Blue squealed, "Let's play Truth or Dare!"

Green choked on something, and flushed, "That's not what I meant." He said firmly, trying to concentrate on his book as Blue wheedled away at him.

"Awww, but I'm sooo bored! Pleeease Green?! Pleaseohpleaseohpleaseoh-"

"Fine!" Green snapped, "Whatever."

"Yay! Truth or Dare Red?!" Blue said excitedly, shaking the shoulder of her friend.

"Um, why am I going first?" Red asked.

"Because you're too quiet! Even Green is talking more then you today!!" Blue replied, waving her arms around like a madman…woman.

"Yeah Red, do tell us your choice." Green smirked, putting down his book to give full attention.

"What a great friend I have." Red spat sarcastically, "Truth."

"You guys are no fun, but, tell us Red, what do you think of me?" Blue grinned wide and sat cross-legged on the couch, next to Sapphire and across from Red and Green. Sapphire let her eyes turn to show she was paying attention, and Red blushed.

"Who's being no fun?" Red asked, but he answered nonetheless "I think you're a great friend, determined, smart, and decietful. All the qualities of a good person."

Blue's mouth fell wide open as Green snorted, Sapphire letting out a chuckle.

"Fine." Blue said, regaining her composure "Your turn to ask anyone Red."

"Well then I suppose I should get you back." Red smirked, and Blue's moth fell open again.

"You wouldn't dar-"

"So, how do you like Green?" He asked, leaning back, a smug grin on his face as the two people in question flushed.

"The purpose of that question was???" Green asked "Some friend!"

"Oh, hit two birds with one rock!" Red sang, as Blue fumed.

"I think he's a dirty b*stard who's got a big ego." Blue started, a streak of red across her face "I think he's mean, has a metal heart, and doesn't care about anyone. He's selfish, and only likes two people in the world, and that's you, and Professor Oak. His pokemon to boot, but otherwise, nobody else in the world matter's to him. That's what I think." She stopped, and Sapphire had lifted her head from her arms, eyes wide to listen to her rant.

Red sweatdropped and said "Okay, that wasn't the answer I was expecting."

Green was staring at Blue and shrugged, "So much for the thought of us being friends."

Blue's eyes widened and her breath caught, ever so slightly that only Sapphire heard it "What?"

"Well, I'm stuck traveling with you for like the rest of my life I think I'd learn to live around you." Green replied, as though it was obvious.

"And-and you don't care that I just said all those-"

"Don't you say them everyday?" Green asked, raising an eyebrow "Why should it matter now?"

"And you took me seriously?! What is everything you say to me serious? Because if so then you're one heck of a b*stard!" Blue snapped, the red from her face disappearing.

"Some of it's true, some of it's not." Green replied, and Red sighed.

"It's your turn Blue." Red pointed out, and Blue took a deep breath.

"So what do you think of me?" Blue asked with a tremendous glare.

"I didn't tell you whether or not I wanted a truth or a dare, and you didn't pick from me or Sapphire." Green replied, closing his eyes, leaning back and resting his hands behind his head.

"Fine." Blue said stiffly "Green, Truth or Dare?"

He opened an eye and smirked "Dare."

"Fine!" Blue snapped, "I dare you to be nice to me for a single day, tomorrow!"

Green closed his eye and digested the thought, chewing on it for what seemed like forever before saying, "Sure, why not?"

Blue blinked before looking doubtfully at what now seemed like and ex-friend, "Your turn."

"Sapphire," Green said, without much choice, knowing Blue wouldn't let him leave her out "Truth or Dare?"

Sapphire lowered her head onto her arms again and muttered "Truth."

Green seemed unable to think of something that wouldn't make everyone uncomfortable again, and decided, "Just for Blue's gossip side, ever liked anyone more then a friend yet?"

Blue grinned and gave Green a thumbs up, turning all her attention to Sapphire.

"…" Sapphire stared at the abandoned streets of Rustboro, the rain was letting up a bit, but she could respond. How could she when that person was sitting right across from her?

"Yeah…" She replied slowly.

"Who who who?!?!?!" Blue squealed, unable to contain herself, knowing for sure it'd be-

"Red."

Blue fell off her seat as Red's face turned a hefty shade of red "Wasn't expecting that one." Red muttered. Green burst out in a laugh that wasn't quite loud, but wasn't quite like his usual chuckle, as he pointed at Red, who sweatdropped.

"You mean it's not…" Blue trailed off as Green stopped laughing and made cutting motions.

"No, I don't really like Ruby that way. He's too er-girly I suppose." Sapphire muttered, still in her lazy mood.

"And Red isn't?" Green asked, holding out two arm's as if presenting Red as an award to big to hold.

"Thanks!" Red cried in a sarcastic cheer.

"Well, I stopped liking Red after I actually met him. I read about all three of you in that magazine." Sapphire was about to continue but Blue cut her off.

"I am not anything like they said I was. Green isn't either, as you can plainly see, he's not a lone-wolf, he's just moody, and going through a late spurt of hormones at the tender age of 16." Blue folded her arms as though the deal was done and Green sighed.

"Learning a lot about each other today aren't we?" He commented sarcastically.

"The sarcasm runs high." Sapphire added mellowdramatically.

"Yeah, lot's more then I thought." Blue glared.

"Alright, well, Green, what do you think of Blue?" Sapphire asked, and Green sighed, knowing that that would've been coming. Blue had a strong iron grip on this game.

"Fine, just don't ask me if I want truth or dare." Green rolled his eyes "But since it's bound to happen sooner or later, I think that she's a big thinker, always looks at the big picture and generalizes the people around her. I'm the person that's on her permanent negative list and Red's on her permanent good list. I think she's one to talk, calling other people selfish, but otherwise, is a generally okay person to be around. She certainly keeps things interesting."

Red coughed and pointed out "Ten times nicer then your description Blue, you have to admit that."

"That's just because he heard my description first." Blue retorted.

"Yeah but it's not like if you said that you had a deep and passionate hate for me, my aim wasn't to be the opposite, otherwise I would've probably been on my knee's proposing to you." Green rolled his eyes "Considering you're the last person I'd even ask out."

Blue's mouth fell open-for the millionth time "This game is over!" She announced, folding her arms stubbornly "At least I would've considered you if you'd asked me out."

Green gave Red a scornful look and Red smirked at Blue.

"What?" She asked, looking between her two friends.

"It's kinda obvious Blue." Sapphire said for the boys.

"What's obvious?" She asked, as though daring Sapphire to go on. Safe by her "girl code" shield, Sapphire went head on.

"You always pick to bother Green instead of Red, you didn't exactly look at yourself in a mirror when those girls were cheering for Gr-"

"Okay, so I can't get jealous, but it's not like I don't do that for Red! If not ten times more!" Blue grinned, thinking she had the battle won.

"So you like Red?" Green smirked, folding his arms.

Blue flushed and snarled "Everyone is against me!!"

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*slaps self* Augh. I just realized, that a lot of the italics, underlines, and bolds were accidentally taken out of the thing, since I didn't take it from the original. Darn. Oh well, they're not that important. Enjoy!

Btw xXFallenXx, you shalt soon have your Oldrivalshippy fluff. Should be in the next few chapters, since I've caught up so much already, and I'm becoming more inclined to ORS for now, even though it should be franticshipping....but it's that too! XP

>Bell<