.
"I honestly wasn't expecting this. I mean, it's been how long now?" Marshal questioned, reclining in his chair as he gazed over at the woman across from him.
"Seven years," Ruby replied, a small smile gracing her lips as she took a sip from the coffee mug in front of her. "It's been seven years, Marshal. I have to admit, the last thing I expected was for you to be running a restaurant."
Marshal rubbed the back of his head, a small blush of embarrassment running up to his cheeks as he did so. He had changed so much since then. Long gone was the bowl-styled haircut and white with gray uniform. He now had slicked-back, slightly balding brown hair. He had put on quite a bit of weight as well, probably a sign of the life he was now comfortably living in Solaceon Town. Ruby had changed a bit too since then. The bowl-styled cut was never her style, but it was a requirement for the grunts back then. Thinking about it made her a bit nostalgic, but there were more important matters at hand to be focusing on than remembering the past.
"So what actually brought you here, Ruby?" Marshal questioned, leaning forward in his chair. "You were always one to get straight to the point... and I highly doubt that you came for just a social call."
"Right as usual..." Ruby sighed. She paused to finish the rest of the coffee in her cup before answering. "I'm looking for some contacts. I wanna get some of the guys together from our days in Galactic."
Marshal raised an eyebrow. "...For what?"
"To rebuild. To start over," Ruby answered quickly. "We had a good thing going... for a while, anyways. You know, before Cyrus and the other admins screwed it all up. You and me... We were two of the best, Marshal. Some of the others too! We could make a new organization. Pick up where we left off and actually succeed. We have the brains and capability to do it, you know?"
Marshal frowned, a heavy sigh escaping his lips. Ruby watched as the older man slowly picked himself out of his chair and walked across the restaurant, stopping only too look at the door at the town before him. There was a distant look in his eyes, as if the events of the past were all coming back to him. Slowly, he turned to face his former comrade once more before he began to shake his head with a sad smile.
"Afraid I'm going to have to turn you down, Ruby. I have a good thing going on here," Marshal mused. He rubbed the back of his neck with a sigh. "Those days... they were interesting, but once everything fell apart and came to an end, I had to reevaluate my life. Make changes, you know? I have a family now, Ruby. I'm a father. You can't really expect me just to drop it all and go back to how things were..."
"I guess not," Ruby replied, rising from her seat. "At the very least, it's good to know you're one of the few still around. I haven't had much luck in tracking down the others. Keep well, Marshal."
Marshal watched as Ruby began to make for the door. A look of hesitation stretched across his features as he began to wring his hands. Sighing, Marshal reached out and grabbed the girl's shoulder.
"Wait a minute, Ruby..." Marshal began. "I don't know about most, but... I saw Dirk earlier. I think he was just passing through, he only hung out for a bit before making his way towards Route 210, but... I guess if you hurry you could possibly catch up to him."
"Aveton?" Ruby questioned, glancing over her shoulder at the restaurant owner.
He nodded. "Yeah, the very same. But I'm going to be frank, Ruby. I think you need to forget this whole idea. If things were meant to work out like this, then Galactic would have succeeded."
"I'll be fine, Marshal. Just take care of yourself, yeah?" Ruby replied. "And thanks for the tip."
Without another look at the man, Ruby Cosgrove stepped out of the restaurant and out into the afternoon air of Solaceon Town. Outside, the residents of the town were going about their usual routines. Farmers were busy tending to their crops. Children were busy playing games of tag. As expected, various trainers were leaving and coming into the town. All most likely rookies, not really worth her time. Besides, the first thing Ruby wanted to do was locate people she had passing familiarity with to form her team before looking for strangers. Sighing, Ruby knelt down to a Houndor that was taking a small snooze in the afternoon sun.
"Well... looks like this was a waste of time, Nova," Ruby began, gently petting the dog Pokémon. A lazy growl escaped his lips as he stretched out. "Well, not completely. Aveton is somewhere out there. I'm sure we can get him to join us. But for now, I guess we better get hitting the road."
Nova slowly crawled up to his feet, letting out a small yip before starting to follow behind Ruby. Seven years. That's how long Ruby had been planning this move. Seven years. That's how long it had been when Team Galactic rose to power in Sinnoh, only to be toppled over due to their leader essentially going crazy and the admins underestimating the potential of two kids and the champion of the region at the time, Cynthia. It was foolish on their part. But even before then, Ruby had found their to be several problems with the group. A good number of the team members were literally just thugs. They could barely order their way around a Zubat, much less handle themselves properly in battle. So it was for good reason that Ruby herself had no intention in tracking down most of her former comrades. She had hoped Marshal would join her, but now that she had visited the man, Ruby could tell he had grown weak and soft. He was definitely not one she wanted to have backing her in the forming of the future Team Scarlet.
"I only hope he was right about Dirk... and I hope he hasn't gone soft either," Ruby mused. She glanced down at her Houndour as she walked, offering Nova a small smile as he began to pad out ahead of her a bit. "Of course, we can't do this with just contacts of the past... or without money. I guess for now I'll have to play the part of a trainer... make my moves when the opportunity finally presents itself. I guess it'll give me a chance to scope out some fresh blood for the team. Plus, having more Pokémon would always be a good thing."
Stepping out onto Route 210, Ruby looked ahead as she heard some rustling in the grass. A small smile crept to her lips as she noticed a large, green insect rustling about in the tall grass. The afternoon sun set a glimmer of reflection on its bladed hands. Nova also seemed to take note of the creature, as he began to quietly growl, a thin layer of smoke exiting out of his snout.
"You notice it too, huh?" Ruby questioned. Nova let out a small bark in response. "That's good. Because I have every intention of catching this Scyther and making him our first teammate. Don't wait for it to notice you. Go, Bite. Now."
Nova took off running towards the Scyther, leaping into the air and snapping its razor sharp teeth onto one of the Scyther's wings. The bug Pokémon was taken by surprise, letting out a feral screech as it suddenly began to flail, shaking the Houndour off of its backside. Houndour landed on the ground with ease, but he wasn't quick enough to dodge the incoming attack from the bug. Scyther quickly slashed at the Houndour, knocking him back and away from the Bug-type. Houndour shrugged off the attack, slowly climbing up to his feet and starting to growl again.
"It's strong," Ruby said, a broad smile stretching across her lips. "That's good. That's very good. Nova, use Howl and then Bite it again."
Nova leaned back, letting out an ear-piercing howl that seemed to take the Scyther by surprise yet again. The bladed-Pokémon shivered as it tried to regain its senses. It was a moment that gave Nova just the chance he needed to unleash another attack of his own. The dog took off charging towards the Scyther, once more opening up his mouth to reveal his sharp fangs as he leapt into the air to snap down on the bug once more. Scyther managed to recover just in time, however. The bug quickly brought its blade-arms forward, using them as a shield of sorts to protect its face from assault. Nova latched onto his left blade, a move which put him in a rather bad spot to say the least. As if on instinct, Sycther began to thrash about. It slammed the blade which Nova held onto towards the ground, once more trying to shake the dog off of it. Ruby seemed to be unphased by this sudden attack, however. Rather, a husky giggle of determination escaped her lips.
"Nova, Ember!" she shouted.
Nova quickly released the blade of the Wild Scyther just before he would hit the ground for a third time. A spark of flame escaped his snout, shooting forward and scorching around the Scyther's eyes. The wild Scyther began to flail and swipe its blades blindly, trying desperately to land an attack against the Houndour. Ruby had other plans, however. She quickly ordered Nova to Bite the Scyther once more, an attack that the Houndour was all too pleased to follow with. He quickly bit onto the Scyther's left leg, causing it to fall to stagger forward and fall to the ground in pain. Ruby was not about to let this opportunity go to waste. Without a single delay, she quickly grabbed one of her empty Poké Balls and tossed it at the Scyther...
