As a young child, Sapphire had a childhood friend named
Ruby that she played with. One day, Ruby fought a
Salamence that attacked them and won, but was injured in the process. Terrified from the experience, Sapphire broke down crying. Believing that Ruby got injured because of her own weakness, Sapphire vowed to become stronger.
Sapphire, five years before the
Ruby & Sapphire chapter
Sapphire's original outfit
Sapphire debuted in
Making Mirth with Mightyena. She rescued
Ruby from a pair of
wild Mightyena at
Route 101 and took him to her
Secret Base to recover. When Sapphire tried talking to Ruby later, he mistook Sapphire for talking Pokémon due to her leaf cloak. Ruby's
Poochyena,
Nana, bit Sapphire, angering her into removing the cloak and attacking him with her
Torchic,
Chic. Overhearing the incident on his
Pokégear, Professor Birch revealed to Ruby that Sapphire is actually his daughter. Though the misunderstanding was cleared, Sapphire and Ruby were attacked by a wild
Seviper. Ruby refused to fight as to not risk dirtying his Pokémon, forcing Sapphire to defeat the Tail Snake Pokémon by herself. Afterward, the two began arguing over their interests, which ended with Sapphire deciding to make a bet to see who could conquer their respective goal within an 80-day time limit. After Ruby agreed, Sapphire fainted from the injuries she received from protecting Ruby from the Mightyena earlier. Ruby healed Sapphire's wounds and modified a spare set of his clothes for Sapphire to wear.
In
Distracting Dustox, Sapphire went back to
Littleroot Town and returned the items and
Treecko Ruby had accidentally taken from Professor Birch earlier with the exception of his
Pokédex. Later that day, Sapphire changed into the clothes Ruby made for her and set out with Chic and
Rono to begin her journey to conquer all of Hoenn's Gyms.