[attr="class","rubyw"]

Taken down by another child... Ruby could feel the water seep into her wounded pride. Maybe it was time for a break.[break][break]

---

[break]When she came back, Hideo Kino was on the seat again. What a cruel twist of fate.

[break][break]"We meet again, kid."

[break][break]

[attr="class","rubyw"]

Ruby did a double-take at Opal's request. "The tug of war?" she repeated, unsure if she'd heard right. "Okay. Sure." It was the last attraction that Ruby had expected Opal to want to visit, but she sure as hell wasn't going to say no.

[break][break]Ruby led the way to where a few people and their Pokémon were facing off against a particularly buff Conkeldurr, which was saying something with how big their muscles naturally were. The challengers were giving it their all, but the Muscular Pokémon hardly seemed to be breaking a sweat as it pulled on the rope. Heck, it looked like it was taking it easy on its opponents; the flag tied to the center of the rope was approaching the challengers' marker line.

[break][break]"Looks like you go against this Conkeldurr," Ruby explained. She looked at the sign listing all the rules. "No weight and... minimal Pokémon limits, whatever that means."

[break][break]"It means my darling Conkeldurr can take on anything!" the tall, thin man running the game said. He looked way out of place in a contest of strength. "But if any Avatars wanted to play, they'd have to leave their patrons out. Don't want to frighten the guests, you know?"

[break][break]"Yeah, sure," Ruby answered, unconvinced. Personally, she would have paid more to see the Conkeldurr try its strength against a Legendary, but she didn't feel like arguing the point. Instead, she turned her attention back to the current game. Just as it looked like the challengers were going to get the flag over their line, there was a tapping sound. The Conkeldurr's muscles and veins suddenly bulged, and it pulled back on the rope hard enough to send its opponents stumbling forward and the flag over its line.

[break][break]"Oooh, so close!" the host cried in clearly staged disappointment. "Tell you what, as a reward for your hard work, come take a consolation prize!" He was really hyping up the lowest-grade carnival prizes possible. The actually decent stuff was probably walled behind the herculean task of beating that Conkeldurr.

[break][break]Herculean, huh?

[break][break]"I bet we could take 'em," Ruby said to Opal.

[attr="class","rubyw"]

Her next find was... some kind of smooth stone. It didn't feel like a natural rock, but she had no idea what it actually was. It was small enough for her to just toss into her bag and keep digging without giving a crap.

[break][break]

[attr="class","rubyw"]

Well, that had been a total whiff. With a scowl, Ruby skulked to the back of the line.

[break][break]When she got back to the front, people were claiming the seat as their throne and trying to depose of false kings. A hollow chill filled Ruby's bones for a moment as a false memory flashed through her mind. She shook it off like the water droplets that still clung to her. It was a dumbass carnival game, not anything to remember that over.

[break][break]And in this dumbass carnival game, it was time for revenge.

[break][break]"I'd say nothing personal, but that'd be a lie," Ruby said with a grin before throwing the ball.

[break][break]

[attr="class","rubyw"]

Holy shit, a Tera Shard! Now this was what she was talking about! All of those Poké Balls were almost worth it now. Almost.

[break][break]

[attr="class","rubyw"]

Did that kid actually manage to dunk Ruby?! Damn, no more going easy on him, then...

[break][break]Unfortunately, her chance for revenge was ruined by kyle lopez. Guess she just had to dunk him again!

[break][break]

[attr="class","rubyw"]

Ruby groaned as she dug up another freaking Poké Ball. Seriously, who the hell was throwing these down here?! She was about to steer Arachne back to the surface when a glint caught her eye.

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[attr="class","rubyw"]

Ruby grinned wickedly when she saw the League's Top Champion in the hot seat. She threw the ball a bit harder than usual, determined to dunk him.

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[attr="class","rubyw"]

Ruby had gotten her groaning and complaining about having The Magnificent Funtasia on her front doorstep out of her system in private. She still wouldn't be able to act all gung-ho about this carnival—heck, doing that would be concerningly out of character for her—but she could at least not act like a total killjoy so Opal could have a good time. They hadn't been able to spend much time together lately, what with Ruby being busy with her "freelancing," so this was a good chance for them to finally have some sisterly quality time.

[break][break]Ruby had suggested heading out early so they could get ahead of the crowds. They were far from the only ones, but it was definitely going to get worse as the day went on.

[break][break]"All right, what do you wanna do first?" Ruby asked. "Looks like they've got tug of war, ring toss, one of those guess-how-many-there-are-in-the-jar things... Oh, hey, they've got one of those Magikarp fishing games." It didn't matter to Ruby that Opal wouldn't be able to see these games. They were all rigged, anyway. And if anyone tried to pull a fast one on her, Ruby would be right there with her hardened glare.

[attr="class","rubyw"]

"So a dictator. Got it." Ruby's voice was nearly flat, tinged with a note of disdain. Xenon's appreciation only got a "Hm" out of the redhead. Ruby's own worldview wasn't quite as "ultramodern," instead stretching out just enough to include the handful of people she actually gave a shit about. Life wouldn't be worth living without them, no matter how much power she had. It was lonely at the top and all that crap. She got the feeling that didn't matter to Xenon.

[break][break]Xenon had zero qualms with what they were doing, seeing it as just part of her grand scheme of... a "mechanical ruin"? "Anyone ever tell you you're insane?" Ruby asked as she watched her partner of the day twirl atop the trash heap. Kiha hissed quietly, unsure of what to make of this display. Humans were weird sometimes.

[break][break]Luckily, the Gothitelle pointed out where the most wild Pokémon were before Ruby had to be exposed to too much of this display. But then Xenon opened her mouth again, and Ruby wished she'd just kept spinning until she flew off.

[break][break]"My ass is—!" Wait, no, that wasn't the message she wanted to get across. "Don't say that to me!" Much better.

[break][break]The Dictator of the Trash hopped, skipped, and jumped to the bottom of the pile she was on and raced toward the center of the landfill. As much as Ruby wanted to turn around and get as far away from this lunatic as possible, she still had a job to do, and she didn't think "My partner is fucking crazy" would fly as an excuse for bailing. So, with a resigned sigh, she jogged after her.

[break][break]Yep, the local Poison-types had found the oldest, smelliest trash in the dump to congregate around... and eat, apparently. Grimer, Trubbish, Gulpin, Koffing, and a handful of their evolutions scooped the garbage into their mouths or absorbed the fumes and runoff. Noxious gas streamed from the Koffing and Weezing, which should have added to the horrid stench permeating the air, but a particularly large Galarian Weezing was taking in the contaminants and expelling clean air from its pipes. That could be a problem for the mission...

[break][break]"You gather the trash or whatever," Ruby said to Xenon. "Kiha, do your thing."

[break][break]On all fours, Kiha approached the group of trash-devouring Pokémon. Many of them stopped to watch the newcomer, some wary, some just curious. Kiha blinked slowly, stood up on her hind legs, and began to sway her lithe body in some kind of dance while beckoning with one finger. Flames flickered to life on her hands, feet, and tail, sending pheromone-filled poison gas wafting toward the group of wild Pokémon. About half of the Pokémon's eyes glazed over, entranced and Attracted. The other half mostly looked confused by this display, but a couple, particularly the Galarian Weezing, looked pissed. Said Weezing clenched its mouths shut and sent some Strange Steam toward Kiha.

[break][break]"Dammit," Ruby hissed. She'd been hoping that Weezing would have fallen under Kiha's control so they could force it to stay behind or something. Then again, maybe they wouldn't have to worry about that. The Pokémon who had been allured by Kiha turned to glare at her assailant. Ruby knew a brewing brawl when she saw one.

[attr="class","rubyw"]

Huh, some kind of shiny thing. It looked valuable, so Ruby pocketed it despite having no idea what it was. What was next?

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