Ash, Yellow, and Rui were sitting by a fire that Ash started with Vee just using [Mimic] to copy a weak [Ember] he had seen before. As they did, Ash cooked a little something, just a simple curry. Yellow was sitting by Ash playing with Chuchu, while Rui was sitting on a log, crossing her arms and looking away.
She said she wasn't hungry and didn't know why he insisted on cooking when the scent could give them away, but now that it was almost ready, Ash could see her sneak a few peeks every now and then.
And now that they had time to sit around together, Ash finally got a good look at her. Yeah, it was definitely Rui. She was a young girl a little older than him and Yellow, and even though she had a cloak most of the time, under those cloths she had an actual normal pair of clothes for a teenage girl, complete with a jacket and skirt.
Rui herself, however, wasn't all that...let's say bright-eyed. Ash knew from the original game that Rui was kind of an optimist. She basically saw the good in the hellscape that happened around them, but the current Rui hadn't smiled once. She seemed more jaded.
Which just made Ash wonder: what was the story between her and Wes? What happened? Because apparently Wes was evil now, and Rui was...well, he didn't actually know what the heck she was doing. Something told him that if he asked, she wouldn't be too keen on sharing.
And since Rui was being like this, and they had time, she asked why Cipher was after them. But Ash could tell she meant specifically why Wes was chasing them, since Ash knew her and her ability. He had no reason to lie to her. In fact, maybe they could use her to help.
So they explained the situation: how they got led there into the cave, how they were attacked, and that as far as they knew, their friend was currently being held hostage and being used to read more of the monoliths.
Rui looked visibly angry and worried as she clenched her fists, "Dang it…" she muttered.
Yellow looked at her, then quickly cleared her throat, "So, um...can you tell us more about it?"
Rui sighed, calming down. She had a plan; she just needed to get through this, "Okay, yeah. So this all happened months ago, when the first monoliths were found. All these monoliths have a strange power. Inside them, they have some weird ancient evil Pokémon that they call 'Black' Pokémon."
"Okay…" Ash muttered, but he knew that information was wrong. After all, the Black Tyranitar incident happened more than a year ago.
"So do you know how they know about this, and why they want them?" Ash asked.
"According to what I found and what I read myself, there are a total of eight of these Black Pokémon. Not all of them are in Orre, but Cipher wants to get all of them. And then, when they are all together, they want to capture the Legendary Pokémon Lugia, Ho-Oh, then Raikou, Entei, and Suicune, and finally Arceus...and take over the world," Rui revealed.
She then finally looked up at Ash specifically, since she didn't think Yellow had any other Pokémon other than Chuchu.
"That's why I need your help. I want to stop them, but I'm not a trainer. I need you to be my bodyguard."
But then she was surprised, seeing that Ash and Yellow really didn't seem all that affected by her explanation. She immediately thought that it must be because they didn't want to help, so she quickly clarified.
"We have the same enemy. I want to stop them, and you must want to save your friend."
"Ehhh," Ash shrugged, "Gary is fine, probably. No torture they can do to him is as bad as what Green does to us on a random Tuesday."
Rui stared at him, "...What?"
Ash scratched the back of his head, "I said Gary's probably fine."
"You-" Rui blinked, "You don't sound worried!"
Yellow awkwardly smiled, "We're...kinda used to things like this."
"...Used to your friend getting kidnapped?"
Ash thought about it, "I mean..." He started counting on his fingers, "I've been kidnapped...seven, maybe eight times. Gary's been kidnapped...three? Green got kidnapped twice. Yellow got kidnapped once."
Yellow quietly raised a finger, "Technically twice."
"Oh yeah, but do we really call the Molly situation a kidnapping?" Ash asked.
Yellow shrugged, "That's why I said maybe."
Rui simply stared, "...What."
"The second time wasn't that bad," Yellow tried to reassure her, "I even got to drink tea."
"That...doesn't make it better!"
Ash shrugged, "It wasn't ideal."
Rui opened her mouth, closed it again, then pinched the bridge of her nose, "...You people are insane."
"Yeah, we kinda are, aren't we?" Yellow admitted.
Ash continued stirring the curry, "And besides..." He casually added, "Gary getting captured was kinda the plan."
Rui slowly turned toward him, "...I'm sorry."
Ash blinked, looking back at her, "Hm?"
"I must have misheard you." Rui tried to process this.
"You didn't." Ash tasted the curry, then added more spices before looking through his bag casually, finding a bag of mixed mushrooms, "We let Gary get captured."
Rui's eye twitched.
"..."
"..."
"You WHAT!?!"
That scream made Ash jump, and he accidentally dropped the entire bag of mixed mushrooms into the curry. He looked at it and sighed, taking the bag out and adding some more Nomel berries.
"You LET your friend get captured?!"
"Yeah." Ash said, mixing the pot.
"WHY?!"
"It was his plan," Ash said.
Rui still couldn't believe what she was hearing, "They're dangerous!"
"Probably."
"They could kill him!"
Ash gave her a doubtful look, "Nah."
"HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?!"
"Because they need him."
"They could change their minds!"
"They won't."
"You don't KNOW THAT!"
Ash pointed his spoon toward her, "Those idiots admitted it themselves. They need Gary because he's the only person they have found that can kinda read them. Besides, he can get out whenever he wants."
"I mean, yeah, even I knew that," Yellow nodded.
Rui looked between the two of them like they had completely lost their minds, "You..."
She laughed once, "This is my life, my only hope is these two. Why me?"
Ash continued with a shrug, "If it makes you feel better, I could probably beat them right now. Plus, that Primeape was pretty weak." Ash said this while holding out the spoon over to Yellow so she could taste test it.
Rui heard this, and while she did see the fight between Ash and Wes, then she remembered Ash's Aggron, and now Ash was telling her that he could have beaten them already, but he chose not to.
Rui finally snapped, "IF YOU CAN DO ALL OF THIS, THEN WHY HAVEN'T YOU STOPPED CIPHER ALREADY?!"
Ash stopped. He and Yellow looked at each other, then back at Rui, who was breathing hard. Ash sighed and put the spoon down.
"Alright, but let me ask something first."
Rui crossed her arms, "What?"
"You know Cipher's plan, right?" Ash asked.
"Yeah," Rui said, still angry at him.
"Wooooowww, good, good," Ash said sarcastically, "And you know Professor Es Cade is Evice. You must have known that for a while, right?"
Rui nodded again, "...Yes."
Ash nodded once, and he looked her directly in the eyes, "So, why haven't you stopped them yet? Why haven't you marched right down to the police and told them everything if it's so easy?"
Rui froze. She slowly opened her mouth, "Because—"
But Ash cut her off, "You can't prove it."
The words immediately stopped her. She slowly looked away as the anger started draining from her.
Ash continued speaking in the same calm tone, "So let's say tomorrow, I use the tracker I put on Wes and Gary, find their base, beat them up, beat Wes, and then beat Evice, and I hand every single one of them over to the police." He leaned forward slightly, "Then what?"
"..."
Rui frowned, "They're arrested?"
"Sure, but for how long?" Ash asked, "After all, in case you forgot, Evice broke out before. Or more accurately, he was broken out by someone else. Do you know who that other person is? Do you know everyone involved? Do you even know where they learned about the monoliths? Or how they make more Shadow Pokémon?"
Rui stayed silent, then looked down, "No..."
Ash nodded, "Neither do I."
"So tell me, if I kick their teeth in and throw them in jail, what's stopping them from getting broken out again? And this time they know about me, and that they can't beat me. So we're right back where we started, except they wait until I leave. And no, I can't just stay here all my life. I actually have places I want to go," Ash said, crossing his arms.
"So instead..." He poked the fire with a stick, "We're doing it differently. Like I said, Gary volunteered himself, and believe it or not, I may not be panicking, but that does not mean I'm just fine with it."
"So why are you so calm?!" Rui finally asked.
Ash stared into the fire for a moment, "Because worrying is useless. We have a plan, and if I panic, then Gary is actually put in real danger."
Rui still sat there, not looking up at him. Then she finally let out a long sigh, "...I hate that your answer actually makes sense."
Ash smiled a little, "I get that a lot."
"No." Rui rubbed her forehead, "I still think you're crazy."
"Also get that a lot."
Yellow giggled, "Trust me, our friends say that all the time."
"I just..." Rui looked into the fire, "I've been running for months. Every day it felt like if I didn't do something immediately, then everything would end."
Ash nodded, "I know."
"...Do you?"
"More than you think," Ash said, shaking his head, "But that's not for now. Look, I'm fine with helping you do your plan, I'm even fine with being your bodyguard, but you need to also understand, we're gonna do this our own way."
Rui didn't answer immediately. She simply stared into the fire, watching the flames dance while everything Ash had said settled in her mind.
Eventually, she let out another tired sigh, "...Fine."
Ash raised an eyebrow, "That's all?"
"What do you want me to say?" Rui muttered, "You've clearly thought this through more than I have."
"I have."
"I noticed."
Yellow looked between the two before smiling softly, "So...does that mean we're partners now?"
That word, Partner, brought back memories of simpler times, back when Wes and her were friends, back before everything went wrong. Rui looked over at Yellow, and in a way, Yellow reminded her of herself when she was younger.
"...I guess," Rui said slowly.
Yellow beamed, "Yay."
"Don't celebrate yet," Rui said.
"I was going to anyway."
Ash chuckled quietly, "She's impossible."
Yellow puffed out her cheeks dramatically, "I'm very possible."
Ash reached over and patted her head, "Sure you are."
She immediately tried fixing it with an offended huff. Meanwhile, Ash chuckled. He forgot how fun it was to tease Yellow, much different from the reactions he could get out of May.
Then Ash stood up and pulled the pot off the fire. He took the lid off, and the smell hit the girls first.
Yellow's stomach answered first. She immediately covered it with both hands, "...That wasn't me."
Ash looked at her, "Really?"
"...It was Chuchu." She quickly pointed at Chuchu.
"Pika?" Chuchu looked around in confusion before pointing at herself.
Yellow nodded very seriously, "Mhm."
Ash laughed, "Sure."
He reached into his bag, pulling out three simple wooden bowls, filling them with rice and curry before giving the first one to Yellow.
Yellow accepted hers with both hands, "Thank you!"
Ash nodded before filling another, then he walked over toward Rui. She looked at the bowl, then at him.
Ash simply held it out, "...Take it."
"I said I wasn't hungry."
"You also haven't stopped staring at the pot for the last five minutes."
"I was making sure you didn't try to poison it," she huffed.
"...By smelling it?"
"...Maybe."
Ash didn't argue. He just continued holding the bowl out.
Eventually, Rui sighed in defeat, "...Fine."
She slowly accepted it, "...Thanks."
"No problem," Ash said as he walked over and served Pikachu, Vee, and Chuchu bowls. He didn't do it with the other Pokémon he had in their balls; they were in hibernation mode, so they didn't need to eat right now.
Rui, meanwhile, looked down at the bowl. She didn't know when the last time she had a meal this big was. Usually, here in Orre, people really didn't just share their food with people they had just met, and especially not this much. Most people in their own homes didn't take such big portions from dinners that they make.
Slowly, she grabbed a spoonful and took a bite. When she did, she tasted how delicious it was. She had never gotten to taste anything like this, and Ash just gave it to her. He didn't have to, but he did. And in this situation, slowly, without her even realizing it, a teardrop fell from her eyes and landed on her hands. She didn't even realize when she started crying.
Rui quickly wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand before anyone could say anything, but another tear slipped down anyway.
She clicked her tongue in annoyance with herself and took another bite of curry, "...Stupid..." she muttered under her breath, but this time it was more directed at herself.
In this situation, out with someone else, being vulnerable...she hadn't been like this since...since Wes. And thinking about that made more tears start falling from her face.
Yellow looked over, her smile fading into concern, "...Rui?"
Rui froze for half a second before immediately looking away, "I'm fine."
Yellow tilted her head, "You're crying."
"I'm aware."
"You don't look fine," Yellow said, but she could see how much just being here was affecting her.
Yellow shuffled a little closer, Chuchu climbing into her lap, "...You don't have to tell us."
Rui didn't answer.
Yellow continued quietly, "But...sometimes crying after everything you've been holding in feels better than trying not to."
Rui gave a dry laugh, "...I didn't even notice."
Yellow smiled sadly, "That happens."
For a while, the only sounds were the crackling fire, spoons against wooden bowls, and the occasional happy "Pika" from Chuchu.
Eventually, Rui spoke, "...This is the first warm meal I've had in..." She honestly couldn't remember, "...A while."
Yellow looked surprised, "...Really?"
Rui nodded, "I've mostly been living off whatever I could buy quickly before moving again. Sandwiches, dried food, and sometimes nothing."
She took another bite, "...Stopping somewhere long enough to cook wasn't exactly an option, or it was too expensive."
"How long have you been traveling alone?" Ash asked.
"I don't even remember anymore..." Rui said.
"And...you don't have anyone?" Yellow asked.
"I used to have my grandparents, but...I lost them..." Rui said, looking down at the bowl, "Then the one person I trusted became Evice's second-in-command."
As she said that, the tears started falling again as she closed her eyes and kept stuffing her face, like the food was going to disappear. This...it was normal. She almost forgot what it felt like. She ate like eating could make the pain in her chest go away.
She only stopped when she heard the scrape of the spoon against the bowl. Then, when she opened her eyes, she saw that it was empty. Every last grain of rice was gone.
Her face immediately turned bright red. She hadn't meant to eat that fast. She slowly lowered the bowl into her lap, suddenly becoming very interested in looking anywhere except at Ash and Yellow.
Yellow noticed first, "Feeling better?"
"...Maybe a little."
Yellow smiled warmly, "I'm glad."
Rui looked down at the spotless bowl, "This is embarrassing."
Finally, with obvious reluctance, Rui slowly raised the empty bowl toward Ash without making eye contact, "...Can I..."
She cleared her throat, "...Can I have another bowl?"
Ash looked at the completely clean bowl, and he got his smirk again, "I thought you weren't hungry."
Rui's ears turned red, "S-Shut up."
Ash couldn't help smiling, "That's not a no."
Yellow covered her mouth, trying, and failing, not to laugh.
Rui groaned, "...Please stop making this worse."
Ash chuckled, took the bowl from her hands, and walked back over to the pot, "You know," he said while scooping out another generous helping, "asking for seconds is usually considered a compliment."
He handed the now full bowl back to her, "So thanks."
Rui carefully accepted it with both hands, almost like it was something fragile, "...Thank you."
And a slow, shaky smile appeared on her face.
—
{Meanwhile}
The Cipher agents that were chasing down Green's group with everyone else ran through the trees. They were the ones that were tasked with following Michael, Jovi, Lily, Krane, Ein, and Green to capture them and bring them back, but they lost them.
"Damn it!" one of the agents shouted, slamming a fist against a tree as they stopped for a moment, "We lost them!"
The others slowed down behind him, equally frustrated, "They were right there!"
"We're dead," one agent muttered.
Everyone went silent.
"Boss is going to kill us."
"He's not going to literally kill us."
Everyone looked at him, and he coughed, "...Probably."
That didn't make anyone feel better. The group slowly moved forward, trying to find any clue, but their confidence was completely gone.
Then one of them stopped, "...Wait."
The others looked over.
"What?"
The agent pointed ahead. At the edge of a small cliff overlooking the forest was a girl sitting casually with Green. She was sitting with one leg crossed over the other, her arms resting behind her head, looking completely relaxed.
Like she had been waiting there the entire time, which she had. The agents froze, and Green opened one eye. She smiled, "Wow."
She looked at the group, "Took you long enough."
The agents immediately reached for their Poké Balls, "You!"
Green tilted her head.
"Me?" She looked behind herself dramatically, "Is there another Green standing around here?"
The agents glared, "Oh, you think you're cute," one of them said.
"Bitch, I'm adorable." Green flicked her hair and stood up.
You see, Green is here alone since she knew they were being followed, so she told the others to go off. She gave them a place where they could meet up before splitting up again, and she came here and waited for them.
"You guys have been chasing us for a while now, and honestly?" She sighed, "I expected better."
One of the agents stepped forward, "You're surrounded."
Green looked around, then back at him, "...Are you sure about that?"
The agent's expression changed, "What?"
Green lifted her hand and snapped her fingers. For a moment, nothing happened.
The Cipher agents looked confused. Then the ground behind them exploded with movement. A massive shape rose from the bushes behind them, and before any of the agents could react, thick vines shot forward.
"What?!"
"Behind us!"
Vines wrapped around their arms, legs, and bodies, lifting them off the ground. Their Poké Balls were ripped from their belts before they could even reach them.
"Let go!"
"Impossible!"
Green hopped down from the cliff edge, landing smoothly in front of them as Venusaur appeared, having been hiding in the trees.
She walked over casually, picking up the stolen Poké Balls, "Hmm." She examined them, "One, two, three..."
She looked at the group, "You guys really carry a lot of stuff."
One agent struggled against the vines, "Give those back!"
Green looked at him innocently, "Why?"
"Because they're ours!"
Green blinked, "Really?" She looked at the Poké Balls in her hands, "Because from where I'm standing, they look like things I found."
The agent's eye twitched, "You stole them!"
Green gasped, "I would never." She placed a hand over her chest dramatically, "I'm just temporarily borrowing them."
The agents looked horrified, "You can't just rob us!"
Green smiled, "Actually, I can."
She walked through their belongings, checking their bags and pockets, "Let's see..." Some supplies, some money, then she found something else: a small device.
"A tracker?" Green looked at it, then looked at them, "You guys are really bad at this."
She crushed it between two fingers, "How unoriginal." Green sighed, "Honestly, I was hoping for something more impressive."
She continued searching. A few moments later, she had gathered everything useful. The Cipher agents looked defeated. But then Green turned back toward them.
And her expression changed. The cute, playful smile returned. She clasped her hands together, "Aww, don't look so upset."
This was somehow more terrifying to them.
She stepped closer, "Now..." She put on the sweetest voice she could, "You big, strong men will tell little old me everything you know, right~?"
—
{The next day}
Ash, Yellow, and Rui got to the next place. Rui explained that she knew the general area where the monoliths were, so they could go and try to find them first. They stepped into Gateon Port.
"Wait, so is there one of those here?" Yellow asked.
Rui shook her head, "No, not here, but there is one on Isla Citadark. I remember reading it in the newspaper. We'll need to catch a ferry here to Isla Citadark."
But as she was talking, a large, muscular man was walking by, and he bumped into Rui's back, pushing her as he walked right past her, "Move it, brat."
Rui immediately got annoyed and stomped her foot, "Hey! You bumped into me!"
"Hey, just leave it," Ash said calmly.
She scoffed, glaring at the man's back, "Clumsy buffoon!"
He stopped and glared behind him, looking at her, "What did you call me?" He turned and glared at her, "I dare you to say that again."
Yellow quickly waved her hands frantically, "She didn't say anything!"
But Rui, having had a lot of, let's call it, experience dealing with people like this all over Orre, doubled down, "I called you a buffoon! A big giant, stu—"
But he didn't let her finish. He turned and started running toward her, reaching out to grab her, then to punch her across the face. But Ash was there, and as his hand came close to her, Ash caught it, stopping him.
"You're gonna lose that hand, buddy," Ash said, looking at him, "We can both walk away now. Just let it go."
But the man wasn't going to just let go or get intimidated, "Trying to defend your little girlfriend, runt? Find your first!" He tried to use his other hand to punch Ash, but Ash was not amused.
He twisted his arm, pulling on it and causing the large man pain. So much that he fell to his knees. Ash put his arm on his back, pushing him down, "I said, walk away. I'm being very nice right now. There won't be a third warning."
Then Ash threw him back, making him land on the street. The man fell on his back and grabbed his arm. He glared at Ash, "Fine, I was going easy on ya anyway, brat." He got up and walked away.
After he was gone, Rui let out a breath, and Ash looked over at her, "You really should have just let it go."
"Hey, he's the one that bumped into me. Besides, I could handle it. I've taken care of myself this long all on my own," Rui said stubbornly.
"Then why did you ask me to be your bodyguard again?" Ash asked.
"I-well, that's different," Rui defended herself, "Point is, I could deal with it."
"You sure you weren't just going to get yourself beat up?"
Rui opened her mouth to argue, but nothing came out immediately, because unfortunately for her, he had a point.
She crossed her arms and looked away, her face slightly red, "I...would've figured something out."
Ash raised an eyebrow, "Uh huh."
"I would have."
"Sure."
"I mean it."
"Rui."
"What?"
"You were literally about to call a guy twice your size a 'stupid giant' to his face."
Rui's face went even more red, "Because he was being rude!"
"And?"
"And he deserved it!"
Ash stared at her.
Rui looked back at him, "What?"
Ash snorted and got a smirk, "You don't have to fight every person who annoys you."
Rui frowned slightly, "I'm not."
Ash gave her a look. She paused, "...Okay, maybe a little."
"A little?"
"Fine. A lot."
Ash laughed quietly, but Yellow wasn't as quiet. She was full-on having to cover her mouth to stop herself from laughing.
But Rui, looking at them, after spending so much time just trying to survive here in Orre, where everyone was either after something or wanted something, saw that here were Ash and Yellow, who talked like all the bad things around them were nothing.
They laughed, had fun, and even talked about random stuff sometimes. And for some reason, Rui was starting to enjoy it. It was comforting, like after these long five years, she could slowly be herself again.
But before she could add anything to this, they all heard a loud horn.
Yellow tilted her head, "What was that?"
But Rui didn't answer. She had gone completely still. Her eyes widened, "No..."
Ash noticed immediately, "Rui?"
She looked toward the ocean...the ferry. The ferry that was supposed to take them to Isla Citadark was leaving, "Oh no." Her face drained of color.
"What?" Yellow asked.
Rui suddenly turned, and then she ran. Ash and Yellow exchanged a confused glance.
Then Ash sighed, "Guess we're doing this."
They immediately chased after her.
"Rui!" Yellow called.
But Rui didn't stop. She pushed through the crowd, running as fast as she could toward the dock, "Wait! Stop!"
But when they reached the edge of the pier, it was already too late. The ferry was already several meters away from the dock and sailing off. She was too late.
Ash and Yellow caught up behind her, "Rui?"
She didn't respond. She just stood there. Her hands slowly clenched into fists, "This is my fault."
Yellow immediately frowned, "What?"
Rui shook her head, "If I had just listened..."
Ash looked at her, "Rui—"
"If I hadn't stopped to argue with that guy..." Her voice became quieter, "We would've made it."
Yellow stepped forward, "Rui, that's not—"
"It is."
She looked down, "I knew we were running late."
She swallowed, "I knew we couldn't waste time."
Her fists tightened, "But I still..." She closed her eyes, "I still had to prove I was in the right."
"If I had just ignored him..." A tear slipped down her cheek, "We would have caught it."
Yellow walked over and gently grabbed her arm, "Rui, it's okay."
"No, it isn't."
"Yes, it is," Yellow said, trying to get her to look at her, "We can just catch the next one. When is that?"
"...Next month..." Rui revealed.
Yellow sputtered, and even Ash was surprised by that one, "Literally how?"
"There is only one ferry operating around Orre at a time. Orre can't afford to buy or build another. That's kinda why I'm so upset."
Ash sighed, "It's more bad, but it's still fine. It's just a boat. We can find another way. For now, why don't we go to the next closest one?"
She wiped her eyes. She didn't even really know why she cried there. She cried more in these two days than she had in the last three years combined, "I guess we have to go to Mount Battle instead by using the Metro Line on Route 139. There's a monolith there."
"Alright, sounds great to me. Let's go." Ash gave her a thumbs up, and Yellow gave her two. That made Rui's bad mood improve a little.
—
Meanwhile, with that guy from before, he scoffed while still holding his arm, "Dang, can't believe I ran into those darn kids." He was standing in front of the door of a club he went to.
But as he was trying to go inside to cool off, the door opened, and a man with blue hair walked out and bumped into him.
Already agitated from before, he turned toward the blue-haired man, with blue sunglasses and yelled, "WATCH WHERE THE HELL YOU'RE GOING!"
But the man with blue hair stopped, looked at him, and narrowed his eyes. Looks like a pest needs to be taken care of, this shouldn't take too long