[attr="class","rubyw"]

Ruby was so remarkably out of her element that she might as well have had a glowing neon sign pointing to her that read THIS DOESN'T BELONG, complete with flashing arrows. For fuck's sake, she was a Rocket member just waltzing into Ever Grande City, the front steps of the League's headquarters, like it was the most natural thing in the world. It wasn't like she was wearing a big red "R" on her chest or anything, and she'd been careful about staying masked during missions so that no one would recognize her face, but it still felt like she was walking into fire instead of a city blessed by flowers and lush meadows. No, it wasn't just because of Rocket that she felt so out of place, was it? Nowhere this beautiful could ever welcome her, even without that conflict hanging over her head.

[break][break]She huffed out a sigh. She wasn't here to be welcomed; she was here on a personal mission.

[break][break]It wasn't hard to find the garish carnival grounds on the city's outskirts. Arceus, she knew the League splurged on their precious Gym Leaders, but making a whole amusement park? Couldn't spare any of that money for the downtrodden, no, they had to make their own little festival to show off how great they were. She had to fight back her scowl lest she draw suspicion. Today, she was playing the part of a fairgoer here to see how her "friend" was doing, and though she'd never be able to plaster on an awe-filled smile, she could at least try to look like she didn't want to burn the place to the ground.

[break][break]Unsurprisingly, there were security checks at the entrance. Theme park or not, this was still a League facility with an oh-so-important person heading it, and after the reported assassination attempt on Josh Devlin of Mauville Gym, a lot of Gyms had bumped up their security. Ruby had made the difficult decision to leave her knives behind for this one. She felt naked without a weapon, even if she had six Poké Balls with battle partners she could trust to kick some ass for her.

[break][break]As she waited in the queue to enter, she noticed just how many people were there with dates or families or something. Maybe Ruby should have brought someone with her. But who? This place might have been a bit too overwhelming for Jade, and her fling with Aurelie Lefevre was too casual for a whole-ass carnival date. Maybe Isaac Merlo would have been a good fit? Nah, it was probably best that she didn't bring any other Rockets with her. If anyone asked, she was meeting someone here and just checking the place out beforehand. Not like that was a lie.