:GIFT: Frantic Fanservice

Sapphire was staring. Her eyes were fixed intently on the male a few feet away from her and they didn't seem to be shifting at all. Emerald had tried everything, from a gag blowing up in her face to a sucker punch from his sleeves. Nothing worked. Sapphire had become a virtual statue with her only movement being her head when her target moved around.

Emerald didn't get it. Nothing normally held Sapphire's attention for longer than fifteen seconds. Yet ever since Ruby came back from whatever he was doing over at the Pokemon Center, Sapphire had gone quiet and wouldn't take her eyes off him.

"What's with her?" Emerald wondered. It wasn't as if Ruby had suddenly got the measles or something.

He decided to just ignore Sapphire's strange mood swing and went over to Ruby. The contest trainer was grooming his Mightyena, who looked quite pleased with the attention her master was giving her. Ruby was entering another Cool contest with Nana, just for fun, and he had decided to look the part today too. Sapphire and Emerald had come out to support Ruby, although Sapphire wanted to make it clear she still thought contests were for sissies.

"Hey Emerald."

"Sup Ruby? Ready for the contest?" Emerald asked.

"Just about," Ruby said as he tied a red scarf on Nana's neck. "Nana and I will knock 'em dead with our new routine. I've taught her a few new moves that have been appealing to judges in Sinnoh lately. If they work in Sinnoh, they'll be even better in Hoenn," he added confidently.

"That's great," Emerald said genuinely. "Uh, by the way...you might want to take a look at Sapphire."

"Why? Is she complaining about being at the contest hall?"

Emerald laughed. "Surprisingly, no. Just...look at her and tell me if she seems different."

Ruby put down the brush and glanced over at the wild girl. He shrugged and said, "No different than usual."

"Dude?" Emerald said incredulously. "She's staring at you as if you're the next coming of Arceus!"

"She always does that whenever I enter a contest with a different costume," Ruby said nonchalantly. "I'll let you in on a secret, Emerald. Sapph would never bother coming to my contests on her own free will. But I find it better for me to have her around. So I have a secret weapon that never fails in holding her attention when I do my contests."

"And what's that?" Emerald asked suspiciously.

"Shirtless costumes," Ruby said with a snarky tone in his voice. He stood up and shot a sexy grin at Sapphire, who immediately turned red from embarrassment. It was then Emerald realized just what Ruby was wearing. True to his words, he had no shirt on. His entire outfit was designed from the waist down with blue jeans that had a black lightning bolt stitched into the sides, from the hips down to the bottom. He still wore his favourite running shoes but he decided to forgo his hat, letting his scar out into the light. It gave him just the right touch for a dangerous edge that really worked in the appearance appeals in contests.

Not to mention it held Sapphire's attention. That in itself was an accomplishment.

Emerald just rolled his eyes. "Typical Ruby. Has to provide fanservice. He's got no idea that Sapphire's not the only one eying him," he thought, noticing a gathering of other girls.

Well, at least he had Sapphire to double as a crazy bodyguard