Pokémon Heroes of Hoenn

Rocking Roxanne

I stormed through Petalburgh Woods, beating every trainer I met effortlessly along the way. Sometimes I don't like my father. He always seems be looking down on me. I'm a lot more than what he sees in me. I'll prove it to him.... by becoming the strongest trainer in Hoenn, the Hoenn Champion!
"That'll show him..." I muttered to myself, glaring ahead as I pressed on.
"What did you say, Ruby?" Sapphire asked warmly.
"Nothing, shut up." I growled, shooting a glare at her.
"Okay." Sapphire chirped cheerfully. I rolled my eyes as I turned away from her.
How insufferable can you get?
"You doing alright, Ruby? You've been kinda tense since that little encounter we just had." Emerald called, staring at me curiously.
"I'm fine, dang it, just leave me alone!" I snapped harshly, glaring back at the green eyed Pokémon Ranger. Emerald raised her hands up defensively as she pouted at me.
"Alright, jeez!!" she exclaimed defensively. I huffed, storming
ahead to put some distance between us.
I don't know if I'll last another second traveling with these two.
I noticed a man up ahead, seemingly searching for something, though what he was looking for was beyond me. I wanted to squeeze past him, but he spotted me approaching, much to my displeasure.
"Hi there, young lad!" the man called.
"What do you want from me?" I muttered bitterly.
"Have you seen a Pokémon called Shroomish around here? It's my favorite Pokémon." he stated cheerfully.
"No, no I have not. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got somewhere to-" I was interrupted randomly by a suspicious looking man.
"That's it! I was gonna ambush you, but you've been in here forever!! Hand over those papers and nobody gets hurt!" the suspicious guy called to the man beside me.
"Oh come on!! Why does everybody in this region insist on getting in my way?!" I snapped, glaring at the thief as I took a few steps in front of the man beside me.
"You wanna fight? Then let's go! Poochyena, Bite!" the thief ordered as he released his Pokémon.
"Torchic, just fry this loser. Ember." I ordered carelessly. His weak Poochyena didn't stand a chance against a few mere Ember attacks, fainting almost instantly after just one, the next two finishing the job. The thief returned his Pokémon with a growl, glaring up at me as he did so.
"Fine! I'll retreat for now. Besides, we of Team Aqua are also after something in Rustboro." he said with a smirk before dashing off in the direction he first came.
"There! Now let me get to the next town already!" I exclaimed impatiently, preparing to storm off.
"Wait! What does he mean he's after something in Rustboro?! I've gotta stop him! Come back, thief!" the man beside me exclaimed, giving chase to said trainer. I rolled my eyes as I began to drag myself forward before I was stopped for the millionth time.
"Ruby!! Hey, Ruby! You ran off so fast, we almost got lost looking for you!" Sapphire called cheerfully.
Why don't I ever notice when I finally lose them?
"Yeah, if it weren't for my sweet jumping skills, we sure would've gotten lost!" Emerald stated cockily as she jumped out of a nearby tree. I let out an exasperated groan.
"Ok, whatever! Let's just go!" I exclaimed, stomping ahead in aggravation.
After what felt like forever, we finally reached Rustboro City. I wasted no time in getting to the Pokémon Center and resting up, afterwards heading out to train. Torchic, Poochyena, and I trained til I saw fit before deciding to head for Rustboro City Gym. Sapphire and Emerald followed close behind as I navigated my way through the bustling city. Rustboro may not be Goldenrod, but at least I feel more at ease here. Most don't like big city life because it's so noisy and everyone's in a rush, but I differ greatly from them. The silence in small towns seems eerie and unnatural to me, like something's about to go very wrong at any moment. I always feel lost in small towns, but in large cities I can somehow navigate my way anywhere even without directions from a person or map.
Speaking of which...
Spotting my destination, I stopped directly in front of it, staring up at the Gym with a serious gaze, ready to get my battle over with. "Hey, whatever you're name is! I challenge you!" I called out as I threw open the Gym doors. A girl about my age with the weirdest pigtails turned to face me, giving me a quizzical look.
"And you would be...?" the girl asked calmly.
"Ruby. Now come on, we don't got all day!" I exclaimed impatiently, taking my side on the battlefield and releasing Torchic from its Pokéball.
"Wait... you're challenging me..... with a Fire type Pokémon?" she asked like I was some kind of idiot. I glared up at the young brunette girl, losing the little good left in me.
"Do you have a problem with that?" I asked rudely.
"No, it's just.... well... this is a Rock type Gym. With, you know.... a one match battle. I don't think a Fire type is the best choice." she stated in a matter of fact. My eyes widen for a second before narrowing back to normal size as I considered what she said. I didn't bother finding out the type of this Gym before barging in and demanding a match. And to top it off, my type is weaker than hers.
Great, now I look like an idiot.
"Ah, who cares about that? If the kid wants to use a Fire Pokémon, let him use a Fire Pokémon. Who are you to tell him not to? Besides, type ain't everything. Who knows, he might even win." a blond haired boy with a light brown cowboy hat said with a smirk. He wore a green bandanna around his neck over his jean vest and long sleeved red shirt, his light brown boots coming over his jeans a bit. I noticed the brown belt he had around his waist had little pockets for Pokéballs and items. When he had come in was beyond me.
"Oh, you again. I gave you your Badge already. Why are you still here?" the Gym Leader asked with a tone of annoyance.
"Well I was gonna head outa here to Dewford Town but I don't got a darn way to get there! So I was hanging around tryin' to figure myself out when I saw these three run in here. I thought watchin' a good match woulda helped me set my mind straight, ya know?" the boy stated cheerfully, his smirk unwavering from his face.
"Um, excuse me, who the heck are you?!" I snapped at the blonde haired cowboy kid.
"Me? I'm Leaf. Who are you?" Leaf asked cheerfully.
"Ruby of Goldenrod City. And as much as I'd love to sit and chat, I've got a Gym battle to win. Hey, Gym Leader chic, are we gonna Duke it out or what?!" I called out, losing the last of my patience.
"My name is Roxanne!!" she snapped back in annoyance.
"I don't care, just face me like a Gym Leader!!" I yelled, signalling Torchic to take a stance.
"Fine then! Nosepass, let's go!!" Roxanne called as she released her own Pokémon. I had to say, that name was pretty dumb, but who am I to judge one of the creatures that never judge me?
"Finally!! Alright Torchic, use Scratch!!" I ordered, watching closely as Torchic shot forward and slashed at Nosepass.
"Nosepass, Rock Tomb!!" Roxanne commanded. I gasped as large boulders started to fall down towards Torchic.
"Torchic, dodge it!!" I called. Torchic hastily jumped left and right, using the fallen stones to push itself forward.
"You can do it Torchic!!" Sapphire called out, standing in the bleachers and cupping the sides of her face to project her voice.
"Look out, above you!!" Emerald cried. Torchic shot its gaze up, barely managing to jump out of the way of the final boulder.
"Ember!!" I ordered swiftly. Torchic leaped up, shooting balls of fire at Nosepass.
"Dodge, then Rock Throw!!" Roxanne commanded. Nosepass jumped back, creating a large boulder out of nothing and flinging it at Torchic. It was hit, falling to the ground at blinding speeds.
"Torchic!! You alright?" I called as Torchic forced itself to its feet.
"Not so fast, Rock Tomb, Nosepass!!" Roxanne cried out.
"Torchic, move, quick!" It was no use, Torchic was too exhausted to move and was hit directly with a powerful Rock Tomb, a large boulder forcing it back. "Torchic!!" I cried out, thinking this was the end of the line when Torchic suddenly began to glow. It began to change shape, and when the light flashed off of it, Torchic was a whole new Pokémon, crushing the large rock with its sharp claws as it glared at Nosepass.
"Will ya look at that... your Torchic evolved into Combusken!" Leaf called out cheerfully. I smirked up at my newly evolved Combusken after checking its data and moves in the Pokédex.
"Oh yeah... this is gonna be good. Combusken, Double Kick!!" I commanded loudly, my smirk widening as Combusken shot forward, spinning around just in time to land two powerful kicks on Nosepass. It fainted almost instantly, leaving Roxanne to stare in shock, completely dumbfounded.
"Yeah, great job, Ruby!!" Emerald cheered as Sapphire and Leaf gave each other a high five.
"Nice one, partner. I think you and I actually make a pretty good team." I complemented to Combusken, lightly shaking him by the shoulder. Combusken cried out joyfully as Roxanne began to approach us.
"Well, you won. That means I have to give you this, the Stone Badge. It was an admirable victory. I've got to go, I must research this strategy of yours. Til we meet again, farewell." And with that, Roxanne left us rather quickly, embarrassed by the loss. I pinned my Stone Badge to my bag strap and approached the others as the rush of battle calmed down.
"That's a really pretty Badge, Ruby! Great job!" Sapphire exclaimed cheerfully. I nodded calmly, the tenseness in me from the battle now completely gone.
"Phew!! Man, you're stronger than I thought! Hmm... whaddya say I call you my rival now?" Leaf asked, a confident smirk on his face.
"Rival...?" I questioned, turning to give Leaf my full attention.
"Yeah! I'm out to be the best in Hoenn too, ya know! So we'll compete to see who's stronger!" Leaf exclaimed competitively.
"Sounds too good to pass up, Ruby. Rivals are pretty fun to have." Emerald stated with a wink. I smirked, reaching out a hand to shake with Leaf.
"Finally, something good came out of today!" I exclaimed as Leaf shook my hand.
"Right! So, now we're rivals! I don't plan on losing to you though!" Leaf teased. I was about to respond to that when we heard a cry for help outside.
"Give me a break!!" I exclaimed with a groan, dashing out of the Gym with everyone close behind to see what was wrong this time.

But of course there's a problem when I'm feeling better about my day.