Pokémon Heroes of Hoenn

The Journey Begins

I awoke to the bright rays of sunlight hitting my face. I shakily opened my eyes, only to find two pairs of blue and green orbs staring back at me. I screamed, pushing myself back too much and hitting my head on the wooden bedpost. I yelped again, putting a hand behind my head in an attempt to ease the pain.
"What in the- Emerald?! Sapphire?! What are you doing here?!!" I hissed, glaring at the two unwanted guests.
"We came to get you!" Sapphire said cheerfully.
"What?!" I blurted out in shock.
"We asked your mom if the three of us could go on a journey together, and she said yes. So we came here to get you." Emerald explained flatly.
"You can't just force me to go on a journey with you!" I snapped, aggravated at the thought that no one asked my opinion on the matter.
"Well, your mom told us she won't let you go on a journey alone, so it's either you come with us, or you stay stuck here for the rest of your life." Emerald stated, an attitude hinted in her voice as she crossed her arms and stared at me impatiently. I tried to make a comeback to that, but my words came out as gibberish. I let out a heavy sigh and closed my eyes to keep from punching something.
"Get out of my house. Both of you." I deadpanned, my eyebrows furrowing with rage as I forced my eyes to stay shut.
"But, Ruby-" Sapphire started to whine, only to be interrupted by my finger being held out to her.
"I'll be out there in five minutes, now shut up and get out!" I snapped. Sapphire, unaffected by my rudeness, smiled brightly and gave a small nod, making a beeline for the door. Emerald smirked over her shoulder at me as she follow Sapphire out. I groaned as soon they closed the door.
This was really gonna suck.
I got dressed and packed a bag of essentials for both me and my new Pokémon and headed out the door, not bothering to eat breakfast. Sapphire grinned when she saw me leave the house, giving a little wave.
"Alright, here's the deal, nobody bother me, nobody has any problems, get it? Got it? Good. Let's go." I stated swiftly, keeping my eyes shut as I walked ahead. We only walked about five steps before Sapphire spoke up, much to my displeasure.
"So, Ruby, what's your goal as a trainer?" she asked cheekily as she strolled behind me.
"Sapphire, you're bugging me already." I muttered warningly.
"Oh, I didn't mean to, I just wanted to know what you want to do as a Pokémon trainer." Sapphire stated cheerfully. It bothered me how she remained unfazed by my attitude. How insufferable can someone be without it being too unnatural?
"Fine, you want to know? I'm going to challenge the Gym Leaders so I can get stronger and defeat my father. There." I stated quickly, not at all in the mood to talk.
"So your dad's a Gym Leader? That's pretty cool. I'm gonna be a Coordinator and win every Ribbon in Hoenn!" Sapphire exclaimed joyously.
"What the heck is a Coordinator?" I asked rudely.
"A Coordinator is a trainer who takes on Pokémon Contests instead of Gyms." Emerald stated.
"And what the heck is a Pokémon Contest then?" I asked with a harsher tone than before.
"You really need to get out more." Emerald said with a sigh.
"A Pokémon Contest is where a trainer can show off their Pokémon and their moves. There are five different categories of Contests too. There's Coolness, Toughness, Cleverness, Cuteness, and Beauty." Sapphire explained cheerfully.
"Oh, and there are four Contest ranks too. Normal, Super, Hyper, and Master. If you get a Ribbon from winning the Master rank of each category, you can enter the Pokémon Contest Spectacular, which is where all the Master Class Coordinators get to compete to be Top Coordinator." Emerald added.
"Sounds stupid. What's the point?" I asked bluntly.
"The point is you get to perform and have fun with your Pokémon!" Sapphire exclaimed cheerfully.
"Yep, sounds real stupid." I deadpanned.
Why would anyone want to do something as lame as that?
We reached Oldale Town relatively fast and decided to continue to Petalburgh without stopping. I was just about ready to bash my head into a tree when I spotted the outskirts of Petalburgh City in the distance. "Finally!! We're here! I can finally get a break from all this craziness!" I cried out, picking up my pace.
As I raced by, I heard someone cry out in pain nearby and fall instantly into a coughing fit. Confused, I peeked around the corner, spotting a boy about my age with lime green hair, pale skin, a white long sleeved, collared shirt, and green pants that matched his hair perfectly. He was on the ground, his back against a tree as he coughed uncontrollably. A small white Pokémon stood before him, keeping its defensive stance.
"Poochyena, Bite, now!!" I called, releasing my Pokémon as I gave my command. It followed the order instantly, doing a large amount of damage to the wild Pokémon. I pulled out my Pokédex and pointed it at our opponent. It recognized it as Ralts, the Feeling Pokémon. I pocketed my Pokédex quickly, turning to the green haired kid behind me. "Hey, kid, you aiming to catch that thing?" I asked as he slowly stopped coughing.
"Y-yes." he stuttered. I tossed him a Pokéball, which he caught, much to my surprise.
"Hurry up and throw that at it!" I called. The boy stood up quickly, throwing a Pokéball at the wild Ralts. He managed to catch it rather easily, causing his face to light up.
"I.... I caught it!" he exclaimed joyfully.
"You're welcome." I deadpanned carelessly, turning my back to him to check on my Pokémon.
"Oh, thanks so much! I'm Wally, what's your name?" the boy asked cheerfully.
"I guess I gotta give it to ya, huh? Ruby's the name." I stated calmly, returning Poochyena and Torchic to their Pokéballs.
"Nice to meet you, Ruby. Thanks for helping me." Wally said, his voice seemingly weaker. I glanced back at him and noticed that he was shaking badly.
"Hey, you alright, kid?" I asked, an actual worried tone hinted in my voice. Just as I questioned him, Wally fell forward, almost falling on his face if I hadn't been there to catch him. "Whoa! Hey, Wally? Wally!" I called shaking him lightly. It didn't take me long to realize he was unconscious. I looked around frantically.
What were you supposed to do when you catch a kid who fainted at the edge of a forest?
"Hey, Ruby! Why'd you run off like that?" Sapphire called, running towards me with Emerald by her side. I hadn't realized that I left the girls behind. In any other moment, I would've said good riddance and went on my merry way, but I needed a hand with this Wally kid.
Someday, but not today...
"Hey, you guys! Make yourselves useful and give me a hand with this kid!" I called back.
"Whoa! What happened to him?!" Emerald asked in shock, rushing to my side as her eyes widened.
"He was trying to catch a wild Pokémon and he was failing miserably, so I gave him a hand and then he passed out." I explained bluntly.
"We need to get him to a doctor. Ruby, you carry him from one side, and I'll carry him from the other. Sapphire, go ahead into town and get someone from the Pokémon Center." Emerald ordered.
"Excuse me? Who made you the boss?!" I asked rudely.
"Just do it!!" Emerald snapped. I rolled my eyes and put one of Wally's arms around my neck, Emerald doing the same. We dragged him into town as fast as we could with the extra weight, a doctor for trainers meeting us halfway with Sapphire and helping us with Wally. We stayed in the Pokémon Center and waited for news on his health. Meanwhile his parents were called and informed of the situation. Wally's parents thanked me endlessly, making me very uncomfortable thanks to me having to play the nice guy act.
"You all can come see him now. He's doing just fine." the doctor said reassuringly. Wally's parents rushed in, while I was practically dragged in by Emerald. Wally smile softly upon seeing his parents, but the smile grew ten sizes when he spotted me.
"Hey, kid. You feeling alright?" I asked. I don't really know why I prefer to call him kid even though I know his name is Wally. Just feels right to me, I guess.
"Yes, thank you, Ruby." Wally said softly. His quiet voice made him appear weaker than he should be. "Oh, mom, dad! Check out the Pokémon Ruby helped me catch! Come out Ralts." Wally called as he released his new partner. Ralts came to his side, giving him a worried look.
"Wow, it's so cute!" Wally's mom exclaimed cheerfully.
"You helped my son catch this Pokémon?" Wally's dad asked me.
"Uhhhhhhh...... yeah?" I said nervously, the starstruck look in his eyes freaking me out.
"Oh thank you so very much!! How could I ever repay you?!" the man exclaimed loudly.
"You don't have to repay me." I stated nervously.
No, I was not trying to be modest, I just want this man to get away from me.
"Oh, but I do! You saved my son and helped him catch his first Pokémon!" the man pushed. I took a couple steps back, getting more uncomfortable the longer I stayed in the room.
"Well...." I murmured, trying to think of something to shut the man up.
"We could really use a place to spend the night!" Emerald said, placing her hand on my shoulders and peaking out from behind me. I gave here a sharp look, which she completely ignored as she smiled sweetly at the man.
"But of course! You can spend the night with us if you'd like. I won't be there because I have to take Wally up to Verdanturf Town to stay with my brother." Wally's dad explained.
"Why?" Sapphire asked.
"Sapphire, shut up!" I warned through gritted teeth.
"Well you see, Wally here is very sickly. So we're sending him to Verdanturf Town because the air is very clean there. We think that might help him feel better." Wally's mom said calmly.
"But now I've got Ralts to keep me company." Wally stated softly, hugging his new Pokémon close.
Wally was released from the Pokémon Center quickly and he soon went with his dad to the local port.
We spent the night at Wally's place, but I grabbed Sapphire and Emerald first thing that morning and left after the fastest goodbye to Wally's parents. I didn't want to spend one more minute with those people. They're just too cheerful for my liking.
"Ruby?" I heard an all too familiar voice call just as we reached the outskirts of town. Wincing quietly, I slowly turned around to face him. It was dad. "What're you doing out here?" he asked, walking over to me quickly.
"I'm going on a journey." I stated bluntly, keeping a straight face. Dad looked down by my feet at Torchic and Poochyena, then back at me with a look of disappointment.
"With those Pokémon?" he asked, pointing at my partners as if they were trash. I took a step forward so that Poochyena and Torchic were behind me, shooting me curious looks as I glared up at dad.
"Yes, with these Pokémon. That's not a problem, is it?" I asked defiantly. Dad glared back at me for a moment, but after taking a glance back at Emerald and Sapphire, he decided to stay calm. He probably didn't want to make a scene in front of possible challengers.
"Not at all. Train hard, you're gonna need to." dad said bitterly before turning away without the slightest goodbye. I glared at him until he was out of sight, turning around to continue towards Petalburgh Woods. I noticed Sapphire and Emerald staring at me blankly when I turned back to them.
"What?!" I snapped, growing sick of their dumbfounded looks.
"Nothing, never mind..." Emerald muttered. Sapphire shrugged it off, skipping ahead like a four year old girl.

Honestly, how did I get stuck in this mess?