deceit, fear, vanity - hugh

[RUBY]

He had to keep reminding himself why he had chosen to come here in the first place. But he had no better reason for choosing to go over Mt. Coronet instead of through Mt. Coronet. Both paths were perilous, even even more so to a boy like him more used to the softer life. His survival skills, however great they were, were just short of being enough to take on the dangerous snowstorms and blizzards found deep in the mountain range splitting Sinnoh in two. Even Popo's Sunny Day power only lasted a few brief moments before the snow clouds moved in again. In time, the weather had exhausted all of her weather changing moves, and had to be returned to her pokeball to rest. The lone boy could now see the city in the distance. This crazy journey had all been taken just to reach the city on the other side of the mountains.

"You'd think they would have built a train or something through the stupid mountain by now." He growled irritably between breaths of exhaustion, sending a cloud of water vapor into the air before his face. He could hardly feel his fingers that he now clenched and hugged against his body for warmth. Just a few more hours of walking before he came down the mountain to be greeted by warmer climates. He could of gone through the mountain, but to a clean freak like Ruby, the image of being underground and dealing with all those graveler and geodude didn't sit well with him, who preferred not to dirty his pokemon fighting the rock and ground types. His pokemon had lived with him long enough that they too preferred the cleaner path to the dirty ones. He no longer had to tell his pokemon to stay out of puddles or dirt.

But traveling over the mountain had taken longer than Ruby had expected. He had already had a few run-ins with some wild pokemon living in the area, but with his pokemon, was able to protect himself. It was just that he was too stubborn to continue the perilous journey until his pokemon were all cleaned up after every battle with a wild pokemon. Inevitably, all supplies had run out. The outcome wasn't looking so good for Hoenn's top coordinator. Tucking his hat lower on his brow and shielding his face from the stinging winds, he kept going on with nothing left. This was the point in which Ruby began feeling sorry for himself. Why wasn't Sinnoh colonized enough that there were not any quicker, efficient modes of transportation across the region!? Did they really think that everyone had a flying pokemon to transport them? Ruby just happened to be one of the unlucky ones that didn't have his own flying pokemon, but he was too picky to go looking for one either. His own pokemon were enough as it was, as he saw it.

Ruby's knees buckled weakly, and he stumbled for the uncountable-th time. In response, a beam of red light flashed and Nana was at his side, licking his numb face with her warm tongue, urging the pitiful boy back to his feet. Ruby brushed off the dirt and snow from his clothes with a sour look on his face, but he was too exhausted to scold Nana for licking him, something he usually didn't approve of. Without a word, he returned Nana to her pokeball. It would be no good for his pokemon to get themselves dirty on his account. Now he was being masochistic, humbly letting himself go on alone, getting dirty, as long as his pokemon were warm and clean in their pokeballs. He was willing to fight alone for the well being of his pokemon who also needed to rest at a pokemon center.

For what really was hours, Ruby continued his hike over the dreaded mountains. If it weren't for his devotion to contests, he would certainly not be here. But Hearthome city was famous for its contests, and with the next contest in less than a few days, Ruby intended to be there. He had originally come here for purposes of tracking down the group known as the Knights of Arceus, but saw no better opportunity to enjoy himself than to win all of the contests in Sinnoh. Maybe it was karma that led to this. Feeling pathetically sorry for himself wasn't doing him any good either. But Ruby wasn't stupid enough to give up completely. If not him, than who would protect Hoenn, and Sapphire? He had to live and complete this quest. He wasn't going to let this journey kill him, but at this point, he was beginning to hope on passing out and waking up at the pokemon center, somehow.

The warmth of the climate nearing the base of the mountain was as great a relief as being cradled in your savior's arms. It was so good, Ruby was tempted to find a grassy, clean spot and lie down to rest, but even he knew that he was getting dehydrated, and needed to move on quickly. He had already sworn several times never to cross Mt. Coronet again without something like a guide, train, or proper transportation, and now he swore it again. He wasn't interested in catching and training a flying type for contests. His own pokemon were more than enough for his contests. Ruru could teleport him to other places, but she couldn't teleport him to places they had never been before. But Ruby was too stubborn to give up on this journey and have Ruru teleport him back to a previous destination. The Hearthome city Pokemon contest was in a few days, and he had to be there!

Ruby held his bruised right hand over a scrape on his left elbow as he walked, his shadowed gaze down at his feet which were dragging on the ground. At this point, Ruby hardly realized that he was walking half conscious, and felt like he was only falling into a blissful sleep as he stumbled over a jut in the ground, and watched the steep side of the final hundred meters of mountain fly up at him...

WORDS 1031
TAGS hugh
NOTES --

LAIKA OF GS!

[HUGH C. TREASACH]

SHIZUKA as RUBY

The teenager shivers as the wind outside the little cave he's holed himself up in whistles across the opening as though someone's right beside his ear making the same sound. It's late afternoon and he can feel his muscles complaining at him for the insane amount of hiking he's done with just the daylight he has now. Good thing I pulled off when I did. Hugh thinks before he drops his bag against the ground, leaning the backpack against a rock and placing his hip-pouch right next to it. It's been windy all day, a fine reminder of the winter season pounding at the mountains, and just how bad the weather could potentially get. Otherwise I might have been blown off the peak. He smirks slightly, turning back to face the outside. He can see Hearthome City from his current hideaway, and just this morning he was toward the very top of the same mountain, but on the other side. There was nothing quite like winding your way up and down a mountain for no reason more than simply wanting to get some exercise.

He crouches down and pulls a pokeball from his belt, releasing the Chandelure within. The overly-affectionate ghost-type instantly hovers near him, half-hugging her trainer by pressing her warm face against his cheek and gluing her lamp-like arms to his chest and back, careful to keep her flaming "hands" off of him. "Cut it out, Azar..." he says gruffly, though not unkindly. "With this wind you'll singe my hair off." The pokemon backs away with a startled sound, looking abashed with her actions until he reaches out to tickle the spot between her eyes with his finger. "Don't worry about it. Could you warm this place up some while I get some wood?" It would be easier to cook over a non-pokemon fire if wood was present. The pokemon nods and retreats toward the center of the cavern, the purple flames on her four arms and head blazing closer to a light shade of lavender than the deep purple they usually are.

"Thanks." He turns his back and pockets a knife, glancing to her once more before walking away. "Watch over things until I get back."

He steps off the path beaten into the side of the mountain by the few brave (or foolish) enough to take the more rugged terrain than the internal and mapped-out route. Hugh's knees bend while he crouches closer to the side of the mountain, keeping his balance while he slides down about six feet to the path just below. He raises his gaze just in time to see another person - a boy, it looks like - only a few feet in front him with their back facing him. Hugh opens his mouth to call out to them when the boy's feet seemed to lose their grip on the earth and cause the rest of the person's body to fall forward, down the beaten side of the mountain.

"Hey!"

He darts forward, covering the couple yards of distance between them in a flash and lunging for the other boy. One knee and shin plant firmly behind a rock next to the path, while his free hand clings to an outgrown root of a tree coming out of the slope just above them. The other gloved hand had reached out to grab the other boy's. It closes tightly around his wrist and tenses as Hugh looks back up, thinking of how to get back up if he has to trag him.

"You conscious?" Tired, maybe. But has the other boy fallen into a light slumber from his exhaustion? It will be a pain if he has to do the work on his own. Not to mention he'd be dragging the other against the side of the mountain until he got back to flat ground. Hugh feels his muscles clench, and he knows he'll need to move sooner rather than later. "If you are just say so or move. Or something. Don't freak out though, otherwise I'll probably drop you."

CODED BY ELECTRIC OF GANGNAM STYLE

[RUBY]

He hated what the world was coming to, and wanted nothing more than to fight back with all of his strength, for if he didn't, the evil that was brewing in pokearth would certainly put all of his friends and family in danger. But maybe, for once, had he done more than even he could handle? Oh, why were there no proper means of transportation over or through Mount Coronet!? Although if he were in his right mind, he would have quickly rejected the idea of throwing it all away like that to collapse on the stupid mountain, defeated by the very extremes of the mountain. Although he disapproved of survival skills like as if practicing them would bring him down to the level of a homeless hiker with no life, he also was too proud to let something like a mountain defeat him. That would have been his answer any other day, so why now did he feel like none of it mattered?

Well, for all it was worth, Ruby had ended up becoming one of those homeless hikers, and a pathetic one at that. No, his place was not here, nor fighting reckless battles, but out there on the stage in a Pokemon contest. But did that even justify the situation now of where he was, just about to throw away everything that mattered. Although now his mind was in a daze, he would surely regret every thought he thought now later if he even survived. He would scold himself for the rest of his life for even thinking such thoughts! He had too much to lose, and there were tasks that only he could accomplish at the risk of everyone else's lives. Whatever the truth was, he was to find it, and stop the organization that was behind it all.

Ruby felt a very rough jerk that brought him back to consciousness more out of curiosity then for physical reasons. He almost, not quite, but almost leaped out of his skin at the sight of the rest of the mountain side swaying below. Luckily he was too exhausted to move much even if he did decide to freak out. Although his mind was jerked halfway out of its emotional fog of depression, Ruby's physical self still couldn't be helped much. He had been traveling, climbing over these mountains for who knows how long. A hiker could have easily done it in almost a day or two by taking the quicker route through the mountains, but this was Ruby here who had little to no experience whatsoever in hiking, and had taken the long, more treacherous way over the mountain. In a terrain of mountain, snow, and more mountain, his water pokemon were at a territorial disadvantage.

Ruby's namesake eyes widened, and he happened to have the strength, or the adrenaline, to glance up and see who was holding him by his wrist. Ruby blinked, though could not clear up his blurry vision. If he had enough mind to recall, he would have remembered that he wasn't wearing his glasses, and neither had his contacts in. ...A quillfish? Was the first thought that came to his mind. Was he dead, or dreaming after all? As far as he knew, the spike blue water pokemon didn't have any appendages good for grabbing. Ruby was still too speechless to actually say anything, but in his foggy mind, he could register that words were being spoken to him as well. Yeah, pokemon couldn't talk, so it had to be a strange dream, or a strange afterlife where pokemon could talk. Oh, he just didn't know nor care anymore.

Well, looking at his surroundings, he could probably have guessed, if it were not a dream nor the afterlife, that he was still on the stinking mountain, but he still couldn't make sense of the quillfish with arms and legs, and, with his vision clearing up a little more, though without his glasses, he still could only see nearsighted, a body. Oh, it's just a person... Ruby quickly adjusted his thinking. This conclusion made so much more sense that in his mind, he was giving himself a punch for being so clueless sometimes. A person with very spiky blue hair was saving him, and if all other conditions held true, he was alive. Not kicking, but alive nonetheless. Though Ruby still didn't feel like moving any time soon. Either this strong-armed person would decide to drop him, or actually save him. Ironically, now Ruby's life was in the hands of the spiky blue haired person holding him from his death.

WORDS 767
TAGS hugh
NOTES --

LAIKA OF GS!

[HUGH C. TREASACH]

SHIZUKA as RUBY

The silence that has set between them after Hugh's half-dive to save the other boy's life strains as he spares precious seconds to wait for a response before he notices slight movement of the other's head. "Well at least you're not entirely deadweight..." Hugh grumbles audibly, though more to himself than the other person. He looks up again at his clenched hold on the branch jutting from the side of the mountain and the rock he prays to Arceus will stay rooted as firmly in the ground as it appears to be.

He glances down where his other leg has fallen against the rocky mountainside, letting out a breath of relief as he sees a nature-made crevice in the side of it he can use as a strong foothold. Gotta make sure I don't lean too far back though... he thinks, shifting his weight as he stays staring at it. I could snap my foot in half.

Hugh shudders with the thought before he slides his free leg to the crevice, wedging his toes between the two parts of the mountain that have been split from the crack. The teenager adjusts his weight before giving an experimental tug on both the branch and the person whose arm he hopes hasn't dislocated yet. "Alright, come on..."

He jumps, "Haah!" It's an unconscious exclaimation, but it's an entertaining idea that a hearty shout has effect on power in some way nonetheless. The Dex Holder manages to hook his entire arm over the branch by jumping and standing on his toes against the side of the mountain, having dislodged his foot at the right moment. The branch wedges in his armpit, and he grimaces with the feeling of numbness that almost instantly begins to crawl to his chest and arm.

He stretches slightly, sliding to balance on the branch with the side of his ribcage and using his second hand to grab onto the other's hand for extra support. "Come on...!" He flexes his leg against the rock, curving his back and rolling to the side slowly, bracing against the earth so that his pulling to bring the other boy upward has an opposite effect than what's desired.

With vast amounts of luck and some sort of strength that surprises even Hugh, he manages to roll almost entirely over, having pulled the other's arm across his body and getting at least the top half of the other boy's body more or less on the same level where Hugh lay. He releases one of his hands in a rapid motion and reaches down, grabbing the other by the waistband of his pants - the embarrassment could come after he wasn't staring death in the face - and hauling the boy's body beside his own, practically on top of him at first considering how close to the edge they are.

Once he knows the person he's saved is flat on the ground, he promptly rolls away to give both of them some room, face-down against the rocky path and breathing heavily. His body screams at him - it had been sore, stiff, and tired from the day and then he goes and does something like that.

He's too exhausted to even care for the time.

"W-wake up..." Hugh weakly raises a hand and drops it without looking, hoping to land his half-clenched fist in the stomach of whomever it is for a good wake-up call. He pants between his words, "...hurray, you're..." he coughs some, "...not dead. Now gimme some sign of that."

CODED BY ELECTRIC OF GANGNAM STYLE

[RUBY]

In all honesty, he did now begin to feel a bit of stubborn guilt that he had to be rescued in such a humbling way, and now that he had gotten himself into this situation, he was unable to do anything about it. Although it was quite difficult due to this predicament and his dark mood, Ruby could at least take note of the good things that had happened. His hat, for one, had somehow not blown off or fallen off in his fall, or even at all during the course of this entire reckless journey. He was a city boy, born and raised for city life and self-taught to perform on the stage. He was far from a hiker or a traveler. He was running low on excuses, but his pride was hurt. He was completely helpless, and he didn't like it one bit.

Even though his mind was not yet completely there, he was thinking, and his thoughts were his conscious self. His body felt weaker than it had ever been in a very long time, as if he had traveled himself to death, which he actually had. Well, almost had. He wasn't quite dead weight, but he wasn't going to be much help in helping himself. The quillfish hair person's grumble reached Ruby's ears, but he could do little about it, and simply let the course of events take their place with a pout on his face. If he died, had let his emotions take over and plummeted to his doom, he would have lost more than he could have forgiven himself for, and he wasn't very pleased with the thought. He stubbornly shoved it away, not wanting to accept the humbling fact: he had almost lost everything.

It was still too early to feel safe though. What if the quilfish hair boy decided to let him go? What if he dropped Ruby, or his foot slipped and they both plummeted down the mountain side to their doom? It was all still present in the chances. He heard the other person breathing hard, giving all his effort to save him. Ruby sincerely hoped that the outcome would end with them both safe, but he knew he couldn't guarantee it. Already, he owed this person a little more than gratitude. A lot more than he would have allowed if he had the choice. He was a city boy, but he had wanted to believe that he could always take care of himself just fine on his own. He wouldn't get over this blow to his pride for a while, possibly a long while.

Ruby felt the hand grabbing his arm pull hard, and he was being hauled upwards, but from the grunts and sounds of the quilfish haired boy, the struggle was very real. Ruby actually did see his legs move weakly to try and assist in the struggle, but that seemed not to help much at all. He was just dead weight in this struggle, yet another frustrating blow to his pride. He had used up all his adrenaline too, so there could be no more exertion from him today. Still, he feebly tried, tried to help himself along as well in the climb back up the side of the mountain. He had gotten himself over the side of the mountain in the first place. The guilt was strong. He still was half conscious, being dehydrated and nearly starved from his journey. He had no energy left and had used up all his adrenaline in his last stubborn struggles to cross the mountain.

He didn't even have the energy or strength to pant from exhaustion. He had long since crossed the line from exhaustion to... who knows what. But petty words like exhaustion weren't dramatic enough to describe Ruby. Although he knew better, he was very tempted to close his eyes and drift back into unconsciousness. The temptation to do just that was as physical as it was mental. But moving if not only a little made him feel a little better than just simply hanging limp. He heard the other boy grunt again with the effort, and hauling Ruby up, though tugging him against the earth uncomfortably. Ruby managed to grunt from the impact, though in a few seconds of heroic struggle, progress was being made. If he had the energy to yelp or the mind set to have a good, clear idea of what was happening, Ruby would have been completely humiliated and angered at being picked up by the waistband. Maybe back then, he would have just shouted in embarrassment and finished the event with his pride somewhat intact, but now he was no longer a child, and would never have let it happen in the first place.

But instead, he just let himself be dragged to safety, his pride warring hard with humility. Then he was lying safely on solid earth. Now he just wanted to fall asleep and wake up in the Pokemon Center in Hearthome city. The thought was like a wonderful, pleasant dream. He was lying face-down on the ground, and his cheek was resting against the earth, though he would have never let himself get dirty like this if he had the choice and a sane mind. He lay almost deathly still, and was feeling like a good rest, when suddenly a half-clenched fist landed heavily on his stomach, almost making him give up the remaining liquid in his stomach. "Oof...urrrghh..." Ruby groaned in protest, then somehow managed to curl his body from the pain of the impact. Ow. He thought sarcastically. You save me, then you try to kill me? He thought before seriously considered falling unconscious again.

WORDS 947
TAGS hugh
NOTES --

LAIKA OF GS!

[HUGH C. TREASACH]

SHIZUKA as RUBY

Hugh's head drops back to the ground when he gets some form of response from the other person. He doesn't even bother to move his fist from the other's stomach even after the complaint-sounding noise he receives in response to practically punching the other in the stomach. They're both exhuasted, and Hugh knows that dark will fall soon, undoubtedly summoning the noctournal (and undoubtedly more dangerous) pokemon from within the mountain to the outside to have their waking time.

...five minutes.. It's a weak thought, and it hardly registers in his mind. Hugh lets his hold on alertness fade for the first time in the past ten minutes, and quickly he slips into a sleep.

---

He jerks awake after his sleeping mind realizes he is, in fact, sleeping. The teenager pushes himself upright, half-scrambling around on the gravel path for a moment before everything comes rushing back to him as though it were a dream.

Hugh looks around, guessing that only about thirty minutes have passed since he rescued the other boy. It's darker, and definitely colder. "Hey." Hugh says, his voice cracking slightly before he clears his throat, speaking again more clearly. "Hey!"

He jabs sharply at the back of the other's shoulder, hoping to garner some form of a reaction from him. "Wake up man! It's dark and cold and somehow I think you'd rather be in shelter!" He proceeds to jab at the other's back until he wakes up.

CODED BY ELECTRIC OF GANGNAM STYLE

[RUBY]

Ruby soon was passed out as well. He had been travelling without enough sleep for too long. He was still dehydrated and starving, but he, or his body more specifically, was happy to accept a chance to rest for once. It seemed like only moments before he was jabbed roughly in the shoulder back to consciousness. Ruby grumbled as he opened his crimson colored eyes again. "Ow! Ugh...!" Ruby groaned in response to the sharp jabbing at his back. Finally, he was awake enough to sit up and shoot a grumpy glare at the other boy. "Stop that! What did you do that for? That hurts!" Ruby rubbed his sore shoulder and back. Oh yeah, and his stomach was still feeling that punch. Ruby looked at his torn and dirtied clothes. There were a few blood and dirt stains. "Those stains will never come out." He grumbled more to himself than to the other boy, thinking that he would have really liked to go home, get a shower, and wash his clothes and pokemon. The situation was anything but going nicely for him. Of course, for the prissy city boy, his pokemon and clothes were the biggest problem, being dirty and all. 

Ruby turned his attention back to the other boy to finally get a better glimpse at him. The sky was darker and the atmosphere was colder, but at the very least, the sun wasn't evaporating what little energy he had left. Ruby, though asian, didn't tan very much, but neither did he burn. Instead, the sun just made him sweat, ruining his makeup and getting his outfit dirty again. But what optimistic thoughts anyone could come up with even now were not at the surface of his mind. He knew that he owed this spiky blue-haired person a 'thank you' for saving his life, even though he thought he deserved a few apologies for being punched and jabbed several times. Yes, that quilfish was indeed a hairstyle. Not that he wasn't used to seeing rather unusual hairstyles. Well, before he thanked the other boy, he decided to ask for his name. "So who are you? Where are you from?" Ruby's face was calm and serious again.

WORDS 372
TAGS hugh
NOTES Wow it's been soooo long and I am sooooo sorry for the wait. I just kind of had no idea what to write about for a while. Anyway, AP Calculus AB exam is over, and now I can rp a little c:

LAIKA OF GS!

[HUGH C. TREASACH]

SHIZUKA as RUBY

Hugh’s hand falls back to his lap when the other shows signs of life, and an unimpressed glare from the spiky-haired teen meets that of the one he rescued, red eyes making careful note of any change in the other teen’s expression, in case for whatever reason he was gutsy enough to attempt aggression against his savior. The teen doesn’t reply to the complaints, figuring he can get away with silence at least once more before he’s obligated to explain his actions. Besides, what could he say to somebody that was clearly fretting more about their clothes than the fact they had almost fallen to their death? Not much that would be encouraging, or earn him anything beyond a punch to the face.

The teen huffs and pushes himself to his feet and stares down at the other over the top of his funnel-collar. ”Well at least you seem more sentient than you were earlier. Almost falling down a mountainside. Feh.” He rolls his eyes before allowing his tone to scale down slightly from how harsh it was just moments earlier. ”If you’re not in shape to do some hiking, a word of advice? Stay out of the mountains.” After some consideration he leans over slightly, a gloved hand extended as an offer to help pull the other boy up. ”Hyu. Treasach.” He blinks once, glancing over his shoulder upward toward the small cave he’d left his pokémon in with the promise of returning. Undoubtedly the Ghost-type was beginning to grow restless. ”I’m from Unova. You?”

He allows his red eyes to drag across the other’s clothing, making a mental assessment of the person he’d rescued. He didn’t appear unsuited for the environment...entirely, at least. But still, ”You don’t really look like you dressed for falling off a cliffside. What gives?” He isn’t going to ask for some kind of thanks for saving this guys’ life. That would just be immature.

Sure as hell would be appreciated, though. It's not like you're light as a bag of berries on top of my own weight. His eyes narrowed - unintentionally - as he thought, as though a near accurate representation of what was on his mind.

CODED BY ELECTRIC OF GANGNAM STYLE

[RUBY]

Ruby only received silence from the other teen about his complaints. Well, as much as he didn't appreciate it, he was getting used to other people not sharing in his same concerns or values. It still didn't stop him from getting offended whenever others expressed disdain for the things he cared about. But Ruby simply wasn't in the mood to argue now. Resting for a bit had helped him regain his senses at least for now. Ruby proceeded to straighten his hat once more, making sure his shiny black hair was well kept beneath it. He checked that all his pokemon were still with him, even though they were exhausted and in great need of a night at the pokemon center.

Ruby leaned his chest against his knees and looked back up at the blue haired boy who now stared down at him from behind his collar. Ruby's expression was still bitter, for previously stated obvious reasons: this whole journey, exhaustion, getting saved, and getting punched awake. "Hmph." Ruby only grunted softly in reply to the other's remark. Ruby stared with defensive and like-wise crimson eyes at the stranger who rescued him. "It'd sure be nice if there were another way to Hearthome city. Like a train...or a proper road." Ruby grumbled bitterly. He would have continued to ramble on with complaints if not for his lack of motivation right now. It would have continued something like: How long has Sinnoh been a major region? Wouldn't they have built a proper road going through the mountains by now? Hearthome is a very popular city, and it's really inconvenient that they haven't made any attempts to built an actual road through the highly inhospitable mountains!

Ruby listened to the other boy give his name. It didn't ring a bell nor sound like anyone he'd ever heard of. What was even more interesting to him was the mention of a place he had only begun hearing about. The far off region, Unova, was known for containing pokemon completely foreign to Kanto, Johto, Hoenn or Sinnoh. Well it was about time for him to finally introduce himself to his rescuer. "I'm Ruby. I'm from Hoenn. I'm going to Hearthome city to participate in a competition held there, since I'm a coordinator." Ruby paused for a moment, then added humbly, "Uh, thanks, Hugh, for saving me back there." The words were slightly strained with his unrelenting pride, but his tone meant it, since Hugh had indeed saved his life.

While the silence stretched, Ruby glanced up toward the small cave that Hugh had looked at before. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, Ruby looked back to see that Hugh was eyeing his outfit. "This is my usual outfit for competitions." Ruby answered simply. Back in Hoenn, he could wear this outfit for anything. Travelling, competitions, fighting off Team Aqua and Magma... Why couldn't he keep wearing his outfit even when travelling over the mountains? Maybe one thing he had gotten so far out of all of this was one thing: a first impression of the region. Sinnoh badly needed to build a road over its "famous" mountain range. Ruby slowly got to his feet as well. "Well, you know where I'm going from here." Ruby announced, implying that he was planning on continuing his journey out of the mountains, and the sooner he was out of these mountains, the sooner he was happier.

WORDS 566
TAGS hugh
NOTES 

LAIKA OF GS!

[HUGH C. TREASACH]

SHIZUKA as RUBY

A proper road or a train? What was this guy, some spoiled city brat that didn't know what kind world lay outside his front door? If you wanted to get places you were going to have to get your shoes dirty. "Somehow I think the pokemon would have an issue with a road being plowed and rudely inserted through their mountain." the teen says drily, not making much of an attempt to hide the bias that slipped into his words. Personally, he likes having pokemon to encounter on the mountainside, and an actual challenge to hike rather than taking a flat road half the way.

Ruby? That name rings a bell, and Hugh can't entirely prevent his eyes from widening slightly. The hand that had been offered to pull Ruby to his feet fell back to its owners' pocket, and he brought his gaze in the general direction of Hearthome. He gives a quiet grunt in response to Ruby's gratitude, a bit more content to stand in his presence now that he knows the person he saved isn't totally stuck-up.

"Welcome." he says a bit roughly, voice cracking (embarassingly so) over the word. The split reminds him of how glad he'll be when his voice finishes changing. "Well, for Hearthome you were definitely on the right path. I'll give you that much." Crimson eyes turn back to meet the ones of same color lower than his own.

"Outfit for coordinating? Did you expect to cross the mountain in a single day?" Sure, it wasn't impossible, but it would take at least half of it. Something told him the other before him wasn't the sort to be pleased with dirt and sweat on such clothing.

"It's too dark for you to continue as you are," the Qwilfish-haired teen assessed, almost certain the other didn't have anything like a flashlight. "I have camp set up in that cave." A gloved hand jerked where they'd both taken turns looking. "And the path to get there isn't bad compared to the rest of the mountain. Stay for the night and continue in the morning."

CODED BY ELECTRIC OF GANGNAM STYLE

[RUBY]

Ruby stared back at Hugh wordlessly, not really able to argue that, except for the argument he had already given. After sighing softly, he just replied, "Well it would sure be convenient for the civilians." He only enjoyed arguing as much as the next guy - he used to do it all the time with Sapphire anyway. He wasn't a fan of it, but he would always be the one to stand up for his beliefs. He and Sapphire used to nearly get at each other's throats when it came to their beliefs about pokemon and life in general, and their beliefs were nearly the opposite, making them the worst possible people to try and get along with each other. The complete lack of sympathy from the blue-haired teen beside him now though demotivated him from starting an argument now. The situation just wasn't right. Neither of them could afford to try and make enemies of each other, but there were a few things the two of them couldn't just let go.

Hearing the crack in the other boy's voice made Ruby wonder if Hugh was a few years younger than him. The probability wasn't very guessable, but he knew that his voice had finished maturing more than a few years ago. His voice used to crack and squeak all the time, especially when he was yelling at Sapphire back when they were fighting Team Aqua and Magma. But he was appreciative that his voice hadn't become too low. He wanted it so that he could have a strong, yet smooth voice. It would sound much better when he was on stage for a contest, announcing his pokemon's arrival onto the stage.

Ruby just nodded slightly at the half compliment from Hugh. He didn't expect Hugh to be the type to give many compliments anyway, and half guessed that as much as he, Hugh's pride probably made it difficult to do things like that, especially when putting on a serious, "tough guy" attitude like that. "So this wild, rugged mountain is the right path? Is everyone in Sinnoh a professional hiker or something?" Ruby remarked, unable to let it go just yet. Over in Jubilife City, there were paved roads and wide streets for people and cars to get around in, but now it looked almost as if all the civilians simply never traveled from one side of Sinnoh to the other.

"I don't know, I've never crossed these mountains before! How should I know that since the beginning of human civilization, nobody has tried to settle Mt. Coronet or at least build a road over it?" Ruby answered Hugh's question stubbornly hanging on to his eternal complaint. He crossed his arms and turned back away from the direction of Hearthome City, his hopes cast aside now that he had to stay in the mountains, out in the wilderness far from any human civilization whatsoever. He wouldn't get to sleep in a nice hotel and work on sewing his pokemons' outfits for the competition. Ruby had made sure to plan his trip several days before the actual Pokemon contest day, so he wouldn't be late, but he would be losing an extra day or two to sew his pokemons' accessories. At the very least, he could trust his lifesaver to know better than himself how to survive out in the mountains. With an emotionally agonized sigh, Ruby agreed."...Fine, then."

WORDS 571
TAGS hugh
NOTES 

LAIKA OF GS!

[HUGH C. TREASACH]

SHIZUKA as RUBY

Hugh simply bites down on the inside of his lip to prevent himself from delivering a snarky retort at every possible moment while Ruby was speaking. The guy's complaints make it way too easy to find something in his words to turn on its head. A sigh leaves the younger teen's own lips shortly after the other consents to sharing the cave.

Not being the type of person to let something go so easily, Hugh decides to have the final say in their small session of bickering for now. He doubts it will be the last they have prior to the both of them falling asleep, but it will still be a one-up in his book.

"Well, in case you didn't do any research, these mountains are pretty important." Hugh jerks his jaw upward, an indication to start moving toward the cave.

"Follow me and where I walk. Otherwise I might be saving you again."

He begins upward on the narrow path that would lead them to the cave, and steps carefully and quickly. The sooner he'd get Ruby into the comfort of a cave with Azar's warm flames, the sooner he probably will get less complaints from his senior.

"Hoenn's pretty flat except for Mt. Pyre and Mt. Chimney, right?" he asks, continuing his topic from earlier. At the very least Hugh can prove that he had done his research. "Mt. Coronet has uh...really significant value in Sinnoh's history and legends. Think of it as a place comparable to where Kyogre and Groudon fought before you and Sapphire could stop it."

Crimson eyes glance sharply back at Ruby, his choice of words more than enough to prove the younger teen knew well about who his senior was.

"Only a few years ago, Sinnoh's Dex Holders fought against Team Galactic over there..." A gloved hand outstretched to point toward the middle of the mountain range, quite close to where they were. Where the peaks of the mountain seemed to touch the sky, there was a great black vortex. "And that happened when Galactic's boss tried to mess with time and space itself."

With a quiet grunt, Hugh steps onto the small plateau the cave opens inward to, and he is instantly rushed by his Ghost-type, who traps her trainer against the wall. "Sorry!" he apologizes quickly to the Chandelure, whose pupil-less white eyes stare angrily at him. "We have company - I kind of had to save him so...be nice, m'kay?"

CODED BY ELECTRIC OF GANGNAM STYLE

[RUBY]

Ruby was probably well known by Sapphire for his instinct to keep arguing back and for being unable to just let an argument go, and he wanted to give a retort for everything Hugh said. He and Sapphire could easily argue back and forth until it came to bringing out their pokemon and having a pokemon battle to settle it. Ruby knew that if he complained by asking how could he, a foreigner to the Sinnoh region, know all about research behind Sinnoh's mountains that made them oh so special that they had to be a huge inconvenience to every civilian in the region? But then he remembered that Hugh also mentioned that he was from that newly discovered region in a land far away over the seas called Unova, and was also a foreigner to this region.

By this time, Hugh had indicated that they start moving toward the cave, and Ruby hadn't thought up a sharp remark in time, so he just grumbled silently and began to follow the other teen. He was still weary as he began to follow Hugh up the narrow path to where Hugh said there was a cave to stay in. He wasn't too keen on having to go through treacherous land conditions again. He could easily see how one misstep could cost him his life. He watched Hugh's footsteps carefully, and mimicked them as best he could with his own feet, trying his best to keep up.

Arriving at the cave, Ruby let out a breath of relief. At least he was somewhere significantly more hospitable than the rest of the mountain. Though he did his best to hide it, Ruby was hit with the realization that Hugh had even done research on his own region. "Uh... yeah. The region is part land and part islands and ocean." Ruby himself wasn't really all that into history. But he had to know at least the basics about his own region. It was definitely a necessity back when he had to face off against Groudon and Kyogre with his father and Rayquaza. He had gotten more history lessons up close and personal than any other child in the entire region, probably.

Acknowledging Hugh's reference to his own history with Sapphire, Ruby nodded, quietly realizing to himself that Hugh was familiar even with what he and Sapphire had done. So we're heard of even in Unova..." He thought to himself. It was a little surprising; about as unexpected as anyone would feel it was when they discovered that they were famous. A small smile appeared on his face as he slowly began to grin with a bit of pride. "Ah, so you're one of my fans? Well, no need to be so shy! Would you like an autograph?" He was beside himself with pride. Maybe he could even begin his own fan club for his Pokemon contest career! It sounded like a great thing to him.

Most of Hugh's history lesson on Sinnoh was unknown to Ruby. He had heard of how an evil organization known as Galactic had tried to take over the region or something like that. Ruby was also aware that he, one of the Hoenn Dex Holders, hadn't even met the Sinnoh Dex Holders. Following Hugh's hand with his gaze over to the peaks of the mountains, Ruby suddenly noticed the giant evilish looking vortex was. He must have been really not himself to have failed to notice that! Or maybe all the other times that he would have laid eyes on it, he would have just passed it off as a storm cloud. Rubt remained quiet as Hugh told him about this. A foreigner... teaching another foreigner... about the Sinnoh region's history? He hadn't expected it to come to this. What he had expected was to just win all the contests and then move on.

As Hugh went over toward some sort of plateau, Ruby casually commented, "So that's what happened with Galactic. I see..." At the very least, his mood was brightening up. Ruby then decided to let his pokemon out a few at a time to check their conditions. Nana appeared from his pokeball already lying on the ground, too exhausted even to pant. He stroked her dirtied fur solemnly. "Ah, Nana, your fur is all messy." He spoke to his pokemon with genuine concern in his voice. It was a contrast to long ago when he used to only see pokemon for hoe valuable they were in contests. Now pokemon were his precious partners. He went through all of the pokemon. They had cuts, scrapes and bruises, and were likewise all exhausted from endless battles with geodudes, gravelers, zubats, and golbats. They all needed to get to the Pokemon center as soon as possible.

WORDS 803
TAGS hugh
NOTES Ruby fanclub XD

LAIKA OF GS!

[HUGH C. TREASACH]

SHIZUKA as RUBY

As much as he hates to think of admitting something of the nature to somebody he’d been bickering on and off with for some time, the idea of Islands and a large ocean were appealing. The closest Unova got to something like that was Undella Town, but even then it was mostly beach-side mansions of people with more money than they knew what to do with. He’s intentionally held off on responding to the “autograph” part of Ruby’s question. Although it’s perhaps, rude to do so, there was a time and place for a more proper introduction of himself – and still-climbing after needing to save Ruby’s hide wasn’t that place.

Hugh had been, however, grateful that his senior at least seemed to pay attention during the summary of Sinnoh’s fairly recent history. Such an explanation wasn’t one Hugh particularly enjoyed repeating, but it seemed to be a necessary evil in this case. While a junior Dex Holder to be teaching an older one something at least vaguely amusing in its own sense, the Qwilfish-haired boy felt an odd sense of responsibility. At one point in time, all Dex Holders had done something along the lines of fighting evil in their respective regions, and even if they didn’t mingle with the conflicts of the others, being familiar with what had happened wasn’t exactly a bad touch.
---
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From where he’s now pinned against a wall, Hugh’s crimson eyes turned to Ruby when he finally stepped into the light cast by the purple fire from the pokemon keeping her trainer ‘prisoner’ for the time being. The pokemon followed the gaze of her trainer to examine the newcomer. The expression in her pupil-less white eyes went from angry to blank as normal within seconds, and the pokemon backs away slowly. ”Sorry, Azar…” Hugh murmurs quietly as Ruby releases his own pokemon. ”No wood. D’you mind being our fire for the night?” The pokemon gives him a reproachful look, before moving toward the center of the overshadowed plateau making their little “cave”.

…more of an alcove, really…

Although the purple light draped everything in a strange color compared to what any eyes were used to, it was undeniably better than any normal fire in terms of how much they were able to see. From where he stands, with his back still against a wall, Hugh can see the damage on Ruby’s pokemon. He sighs quietly to himself, before walking to the back of the cave and rummaging through his backpack, pulling the medicine case from it. ”Oi…” the teen walks forward, until he stands beside his senior and his pokemon laying on the cave floor. ”Use this. ‘s too dark to get to Hearthome for you.” Whether or not Hugh would make it to the large city without incident was up for debate, however, he needed to attend to his guest.

”In the second pocket there should be a number of Hyper Potions.”

He turns away, not waiting for some kind of thanks before pulling a pokeball of his own from his belt and releasing Tallulah. The Samurott made a sound comparable to a grunt as her eyes opened after being released. ”It’s alright…” he murmurs to his starter, ”They’re company for the night. And I know you prefer sleeping out here rather than in your ball.” With a snort, the Formidable pokemon lay beside the fire, chin lowered to the cave floor, red eyes watching Ruby carefully. At last, Hugh takes a seat between she and Azar, leaning back against the Samurott’s side.

”As far being one of your fans goes, sorry to disappoint. That’s not how I know of you.” Arms cross over his chest before he sighs again, chin sinking behind the raised collar of his jacket as he looks over at the other trainer. ”You’re one of my seniors. I’m a Dex Holder, too.”

CODED BY ELECTRIC OF GANGNAM STYLE

[[ooc; sorry this took so long! school is a beast]]