[attr="class","rubyw"]

Ruby probably wouldn't be able to imagine a taciturn Isaac, especially since he still kept up his quips despite his shell-shocked state. As much as she said that his jokester personality annoyed her, part of her was jealous of being able to hold onto that part of himself despite what he'd been through. It'd be a cold day in Hell before she admitted to being jealous of any part of Isaac Merlo, though.

[break][break]Ruby tried to give Isaac the usual death glare, but it was hard when she knew damn well she'd started this. What would her customer service smile even look like? She needed a mirror after this.

[break][break]"You're different," was all Ruby said to Isaac's question about looking strong. She wasn't even totally sure what she meant by that. All she knew was that Isaac had to have something going for him to stick around Rocket. He seemed more like the resourceful type than the tough, intimidating type. Maybe that was it.

[break][break]He was preaching to the choir about how a service Pokémon would make him—and anyone else—stronger. But it was about appearances, and appearing with a service Pokémon just gave people a target to aim at. It was total bullshit, but that's the way it was. For a moment, Ruby's fist clenched. Her heart stirred with a memory of fighting to erase the stigma of service and therapy Pokémon and even disabilities in general. It was still selfish, given that she mostly did it for Jade's benefit, but it was one of the only times she'd fought for something bigger than herself or her family.

[break][break]She had to resist every urge she had to hit something in frustration when the stark contrast between that and where she was now slammed into her.

[break][break]"Assuming they're even given a second chance," Ruby spat bitterly. "And even if they are, that still leaves at least three other problems." Certification, starting a business, and actually being decent at customer service. There were probably other obstacles that Ruby wasn't considering, too.

[attr="class","rubyw"]

Ruby had expected most of the music to be playing to be crappy pop, but she was pleasantly surprised to find some good rock tunes being performed. Yet when TERAVOLT started their next song, Ruby scowled. Yeah, these are horrid times for damn sure. But the themes of coping with a vice reminded her too much of her mother. She tried to tune out the lyrics and pay attention to her sister, who also had a pensive look on her face. Ruby put a hand on her shoulder in a flimsy attempt at solidarity and comfort, over which Jade placed her own hand.

[break][break]Jade noticed the change in the air first, gasping and tightening her grasp on her sister's hand when she did. A moment later, Ruby, too, tasted the static. She looked up to see violet strokes being painted across the sky. She'd never seen a space-time distortion in person, but she'd seen the news enough to know what they looked like and just how dangerous they were. She didn't have time to think about why this was happening here and now; she had to get Jade to safety.

[break][break]"Shit, it's a distortion!" she shouted above the swell of the panicked crowd. Security was acting fast to evacuate people, but Ruby wasn't just going to sit idly by. "Atlas, follow me!"

[break][break]Jade's Machamp grabbed the push handles of his trainer's wheelchair and followed Ruby toward the edge of the distortion. But then, with a flash of light and a crack that left Ruby's ears ringing, a Pokémon appeared before them. It reminded Ruby of a Stantler with thick, white fur and bigger antlers. The deer-like Pokémon reared up with a bellow, distorted light glinting off the gemstones in its antlers.

[break][break]"Get Jade out of here!" Ruby shouted. "I'll hold it back!"

[break][break]"But Ruby—!" Jade started.

[break][break]"I'll be fine! Just go!"

[break][break]She tossed Grimm's Poké Ball into the fray. Sensing the danger, the Scyther lunged forward with Fury Cutter without even waiting for a command. Atlas hesitated for only a moment before taking the opportunity to push Jade to safety. Her cry for Ruby only steeled the older Garcia's determination to get this thing out of the way.

[break][break]The Wyrdeer's gemstones glowed as it was surrounded by a barrier of Psychic energy, and then it lowered its head and charged forward. Grimm was knocked back, forcing Ruby to sidestep to avoid a collision. "Come on, Grimm, you've got th—urgh!" Ruby was interrupted by the feeling of gravity pressing down on her, forcing her to her knees. Grimm, too, knelt down; the only one seemingly not affected was the Wyrdeer itself, which snorted and lowered its head again, this time aiming at Ruby. No, no, not like this, she couldn't go down like this...! Yet try as she might to struggle against the pressure above her, she couldn't bring herself to stand.

[break][break]There was a white glow in the corner of her vision. She turned toward it to see it was coming from... Grimm? Was she evolving? But the shape was too blocky to be a Scizor. The still-shifting Grimm launched herself forward and slammed her growing scythe down on the Wyrdeer. But it wasn't a scythe anymore; it was an axe made of sharpened black stone. The Wyrdeer bellowed with pain as the Stone Axe from a fully evolved Kleavor cut right through its Psychic armor.

[break][break]Gravity began to lighten again, allowing Ruby to struggle to her feet with a grunt. What the hell had Grimm turned into? Was this a result of the distortion? Whatever it was, it had saved her ass and given her an opening to escape. "Grimm, let's go!" she shouted. Luckily, this strange evolution hadn't changed Grimm's loyalties, and she promptly followed her trainer out of the distortion.

[break][break]Ruby didn't care who saw her embrace her worried sister once they'd reunited outside.

[attr="class","rubyw"]

And here Ruby had thought that Aurelie was secretly some expert burglar. Not like Ruby was much better with the actual "breaking" part of breaking and entering. It was a shame they couldn't just smash a window or something, but with a well-guarded facility like this, that'd just be asking to get caught. Ruby may have been more hot-headed than Aurelie gave her credit for, but she wasn't an idiot.

[break][break]She glanced back at Aurelie as she muttered to herself and dug through her bag. Then, Ruby also heard the sounds of a guard and their Pokémon approaching. Fuck. She packed the picks away and reached for Cerberus's Poké Ball, but it seemed Aurelie had a different idea. The smith tossed the beef jerky and empty water bottle to the side of the building. There was a silent pause, then an excited "ruff" from the Arcanine as it spotted the jerky.

[break][break]"What the—hey, come on, girl, we're working!" the guard exclaimed as his partner grabbed the jerky in her mouth. He noticed the discarded water bottle, as well, and picked it up with a sigh. "Damn kids leaving their trash everywhere... Do we look like a dump?"

[break][break]Ruby took the offered hammer, a bit confused at first, but when Aurelie mentioned using brute force, she grinned. "Now you're talkin'," she whispered. The bit about leverage was a bit out of her league, but she got the concept well enough to nod in understanding. On Aurelie's signal, she tapped the top of the crowbar with the hammer. Still locked, but it felt like she was making progress. She gave it a couple of more hits, and with a noisy clack, the lock popped open.

[break][break]"Got it. Let's hurry; they probably heard that."

[break][break]She yanked the lock off and pulled the door open. For a moment, she froze, worried that she'd just carelessly tripped an alarm, yet there were no shrill sounds greeting her. A silent alarm, maybe? Screw it, she didn't have time to worry about that. She hurried inside and closed the door behind her once she and Aurelie were past the threshold.

[break][break]Only a few dim lights shone down like spotlights on an otherwise-darkened stage. At least they wouldn't be fumbling around in the dark. Ruby had no idea what to look for, so she was going to have to rely on Aurelie to find the metal they needed. But then she heard footsteps. Shit. She crouched down and beckoned for Aurelie to follow. They needed a place to hide and figure out their next move.

[attr="class","rubyw"]

Hell yeah, this Clamperl actually had a pearl! Ruby scooped it up and directed Arachne toward an undisturbed patch of sand.

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[attr="class","rubyw"]

Ruby gave her knuckles a good crack before it was her turn to throw. She wasn't trying to be intimidating or anything; it just felt good. She picked up the ball and tossed it, trying to dunk @symon.

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[attr="class","rubyw"]

Jade relaxed a bit now that the potential danger had passed. As much as she truly loved her sister and appreciated everything she did—everything she sacrificed—for her, her temper wasn't exactly the best. At least with people who weren't Jade. Sometimes, she felt like Ruby was harboring anger toward having to take care of her little sister and took it out on others. And though she knew, logically, that Ruby had no reason to be mad at Jade herself... sometimes she couldn't help but wonder.

[break][break]"Aren't Jolteon normally, what, two or three feet?" Ruby asked. "That one must be huge."

[break][break]At least she seemed to be in a better mood now. As annoyed as she'd seemed by Isaac's unexpected appearance, he had a way of lightening the mood. Even if, ironically, he'd been the cause of Jade's own dampened spirits.

[break][break]"They're fast, too, aren't they?" Jade asked. "Riding it must be quite the challenge, as well."

[break][break]Once Isaac had pulled up his hard-fought catch, Ruby burst into laughter. "That tiny Remoraid gave you all that trouble? Hey, just goes to show you shouldn't underestimate the little guys, huh?" She gave him a playful punch on the arm. "That or you really need to work out more."

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[attr="class","rubyw"]

Ruby jerked her hand away before the Clamperl's shell could clamp down on it. She glared at the offending creature, unable to speak her insults to it. Arachne, too, took offense to its assault on her trainer and Lunged at it. Ruby held on tight as the two scuffled. In the end, Arachne was victorious, though she did look apologetically at Ruby for the rough ride. Ruby gave her a pat on the head before tossing one of her newly acquired Poké Balls at the Clamperl. Something that feisty deserved a spot on her team.

[break][break]With that out of the way, she reached for whatever the Clamperl had been hiding under itself.

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[attr="class","rubyw"]

Who the heck let their kid do the dunk tank?! Ruby almost felt guilty about trying to dunk Hideo Kino, but she knew he was up there of his own volition. Guess some lessons had to be learned early.

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[attr="class","rubyw"]

If only Ruby could say the same as Isaac about her Rocket associations. Sure, she'd worked with a few she'd gotten along surprisingly well with, but that was... well, mostly business, at least. The closest thing she had to a mentor was a Rocket Beast who was probably going to beat some sense into her Garchomp. But to her, that was the way it was supposed to be. Letting people get close would just give them an opening to stab her in the back or, Arceus forbid, find out about Jade and try to get her involved in all this. Hell, Ruby was already planning just what to say to Isaac once Jade was out of earshot. It was something along the lines of, "If you mention my sister to anyone, I'll rip your guts out and strangle you with them." (Hey, just because she tolerated Isaac didn't mean he wasn't immune to her Protective Big Sis Instincts.)

[break][break]She was too deep in her own thoughts to hear Isaac's muttered declaration. But Jade, with her sharper hearing, gasped in a sharp yet quiet inhale through parted lips. At first, she was worried Ruby had heard and that she would lash out, overcome by anguish that she only knew how to redirect to anger. But it seemed the sounds of the ocean had drowned out the words in her older sister's ears. The tension was pressed out of her by the weight of momentary grief. It had been two years since their father had been taken from them, but it still stung all the same.

[break][break]"Holy sh—crap!" Ruby exclaimed. "That thing is huge!"

[break][break]Jade forced herself back to the present, drawn back by that exclamation and a gentle hand on her shoulder from Atlas. The Machamp had been specifically trained to help Jade with physical work around the house, but he had a knack for picking up on her feelings, too.

[break][break]"What is it?" Jade asked.

[break][break]"It's a giant Gorebyss! I bet the little guy over there is jealous."

[break][break]Indeed, the tiny Huntail looked straight-up offended by the Gorebyss's mere existence.

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[attr="class","rubyw"]

Who was Ruby's target today? Aidan Hereford? Never heard of 'em. They all sunk, anyway!

[break][break]

[break]Assuming she could actually hit the damn target, of course...

[attr="class","rubyw"]

Ruby groaned as she dug up another Poké Ball; if she hadn't been underwater, she would have outright screamed in frustration. I guess I'm going on a hell of a catching spree after this, she thought.

[break][break]Huh? What was that thing over there? Was it... moving?

[break][break]