Ruby

Makiko's son would be arriving in Littleroot Town today. Sapphire felt that the name Ruby sounded familiar, but she could never remember why. Her father also said that she knew Ruby, so she had always been curious about him.

"Dad, how did I get to know Ruby? Can you tell me?"

Sapphire kept pestering Professor Birch, making it impossible for him to work properly. Left with no choice, he told her. It was not as though the two of them were enemies.

"When you were five, I took you to Goldenrod City in Johto. You ran into a Salamence that was throwing a huge tantrum, and Ruby was the one who saved you. He even got a scar on his forehead because of it."

"So something like that happened." Sapphire rubbed her head and muttered to herself.

"I heard he'll arrive in Littleroot Town today. He's the same age as you, so you and Zeno should go see him." Professor Birch had already received a message from Norman, asking him to look after them.

Ruby was already eight years old. Today, he had taken a ship with his father to Littleroot Town, but because his father was rushing off to work in Rustboro City, he had no choice but to take the car to their new home by himself.

Actually, he was happy to be moving to Hoenn. This was the birthplace of Pokémon Contests, a place every top Coordinator in the world dreamed of visiting. He was fascinated by beautiful things, and his dream was to become a Pokémon Coordinator.

Hearing the car pull up, Makiko hurried outside to greet her son. After such a tiring journey, and with her husband being so careless, she could not help worrying about how her son was doing.

"Ruby, that trip must have been tiring!"

"It was okay, Mom. Is this our new home?"

"That's right. Your room is on the second floor, and we've already put all your things away."

"Thanks, Mom. Oh, who are those two?" Only then did Ruby notice that there were two guests in his home.

"They're children from next door. They came over to help. Thanks to them, Mom had it much easier."

"Thank you both!"

"No need to thank us. We're neighbors, after all. I'm Sapphire, and this is my senior, Zeno. You're Ruby, right?"

"You know me?"

Ruby was surprised by her attitude. The name Sapphire also seemed somewhat familiar to him, as though he had heard it somewhere before.

"I heard Auntie mention you."

Since he did not remember her, then forget it. Otherwise, she would owe him a huge favor. Since he had saved her before, she would just be nicer to him.

"I just moved here today, and I don't know anyone around here. Can you be my friends?"

"No problem. You've got a good eye, kid. This whole street in Littleroot Town belongs to this young lady—"

Before Sapphire could finish, Zeno covered her mouth, afraid that her fierce manner would scare him off.

"We spend most of our time at the research lab over there. If you have time, come play with us."

"Sure, no problem."

"Senior, what are you doing? I wasn't finished yet!"

Sapphire was unhappy with Zeno's behavior, but she was busy looking at Ruby now and could not be bothered to argue with him.

"Huh? Why is your hair white? Did you dye it?"

"What kind of look is that? This is a hat!"

"Why are you wearing a hat in weather this hot? Want to take it off?" Curious, Sapphire reached for his hat.

"I don't want to!" Ruby shoved her hand away, then ran upstairs with a dark expression.

Makiko happened to see the whole thing. Seeing her son angry, she felt helpless. As the atmosphere froze, she worried that her son would fall out with the new friends he had only just made, so she hurried over to explain.

"I'm sorry. That child has always been like this. He never takes off his hat in front of others. He has two scars on his forehead, and he cares about them very much. Auntie hopes you won't take it to heart. Can I apologize to you on his behalf?"

Hearing that, Sapphire suddenly felt terribly guilty. Her father had said that Ruby's injuries were from being scratched by Salamence while saving her. She had not expected him to care so much about it, and she had accidentally touched a sore spot.

"Auntie, you don't need to apologize. It was all my fault."

"Good child, it isn't your fault. As long as you don't blame him. He wasn't always like this. He used to be a confident, cheerful child, but because of those two scars, the children at school mocked him. That's why he became so sensitive."

Makiko became especially troubled whenever she spoke of this. Watching her son become like this broke her heart as a mother, yet she could not do anything to help him.

"Actually, we didn't move here solely because of his father's work. That child really hated life over there. He didn't have a single friend and was far too lonely."

Though she could not remember it, Sapphire felt that all of this had been caused by her, and she blamed herself deeply.

"Auntie, do you know what Ruby likes? I want to give him a gift to apologize, and welcome him to Littleroot Town."

"Thank you. That's very thoughtful of you. He seems to really like pretty things. Because of that, I even used to tease him for being like a girl."

He liked pretty things? Sapphire thought for a moment. It looked like she would have to part with something precious. The two of them ran back to the research lab to prepare a gift for Ruby.

Ruby sat in his room on the second floor, feeling a little regretful. He had finally made two new friends, and now it seemed things would probably fall apart again. Thinking carefully, she had not meant any harm. She had only been curious.

As soon as Makiko came upstairs and saw his expression, she knew that he regretted it.

"They left, didn't they?" Ruby's voice was filled with disappointment.

"Mm, they left."

Hearing that, Ruby felt even worse. So it really would not work. He was destined never to make friends.

"Don't worry, they aren't angry. Mom explained it to them."

"Mom!" Ruby became agitated. He did not like his mother telling others about his privacy like that.

"They don't mind, so you don't need to be so sensitive. Real friends wouldn't care about your appearance. They went back to prepare gifts for you. Come downstairs and help Mom. We'll treat your new friends properly when they come over."

Hearing that, Ruby was delighted. Although he always pretended not to care, he desperately wanted friends.

"Okay, I'll go right now."

"When they come over later, remember to apologize. What you did just now was very rude. And remember to prepare return gifts for them."

"I understand. Thanks, Mom!"

Makiko had not seen her son smile in a long time. Coming here had truly been the right choice.

After hearing that Ruby liked beautiful things, Zeno figured he must be interested in Pokémon Contests, so he picked out several related books for him. Sapphire really went all out this time, giving away her beloved limited-edition deluxe Milotic stickers. They were already out of print, and she treasured them so much that she had not even been willing to use a single one herself.

Ruby loved the gifts, and his return gifts were exquisite as well. For Zeno, he gave a set of beautiful Pokémon cards from Kanto. They were especially difficult to collect, particularly the final two cards, Mewtwo and Mew, which had an incredibly low chance of appearing. For Sapphire, he gave a life-sized Clefairy family plush set. It looked soft, pink, and adorable.

After exchanging gifts, all three of them were thoroughly satisfied and quickly became very close friends.