*I ain't forgetting this time! :D Here's your update, on time as it normally should be. XD (I was going to say always, but that's not true, unfortunately. :/) Have fun reading! The battle starts... now!*
Chapter 21
Emerald watched with wide green eyes as the fiery star came towards him at overwhelming speed, seeming to glow larger as it fed off the fuel of sunlight and the surrounding flames. He was frozen to the spot- it wouldn't have mattered if he tried to run, the attack was simply too fast, and too big for him to escape. Unwilling to close his eyes, he watched each individual tongue of flame, the way they danced as if eager to consume him in their embrace, so close that the light seemed to blind him-
And then it was blown into nothing by a mighty roar that knocked him to the ground. Rei had covered his ears, but the man and his Salamence had been pushed back a good couple of yards as well, though he seemed unfazed, not a single white-blond hair out of place. Though, if anything, he looked even more excited.
The roar ended, and Emerald looked up just in time for Rayquaza's shadow to block out the sun, and as if on command, the flames around them started to die down without the extra heat to fuel them. Crystal had climbed on its back, and from where he lay, she was but a black shadow, too far overhead to be seen clearly. He could imagine her hard determined frown- that was the expression she'd definitely be wearing.
"Rather soon for you to be putting all your cards on the table," said Rei, utterly amused. "I knew you'd go and find Rayquaza- I hope you enjoyed my little challenge."
"Your words mean nothing to us," spat Red, venom flowing through his crimson irises. His hand rested on a Pokeball- ready to release the Pokemon inside. "We'll win, and we'll stop you- nothing you say can change that."
"Really? You might think you have power on your side, but do you really?" His silver eyes twinkled enigmatically. "Even all the Gym Leaders and Elite 4 of Hoenn combined could not even take on Groudon and Kyogre- I am the greatest trainer on this earth." His voice dropped low, to a whisper. It had gone quiet, with only crackling of flames like static, filling the aid with tension. "Never in a million years will you be able to defeat me."
"We'll see about that," replied Red, and Rayquaza plunged down like a bullet, a green blur of lightning, Crystal clinging tightly to the horns on its head.
"Rayquaza, Hyper Beam!" she screamed, and the dragon tilted its head back, opening its mouth wide. The rows of sharp, jagged teeth were clearly visible, outlined with the startlingly bright lighf from the white orb of energy that was forming in the middle of Rayquaza's mouth. It looked like fire, with little orange and red and yellow flames swirling like colored oil on water. Rayquaza released the attack with a mighty roar.
The effect was similar to what Crystal imagined a meteor slamming down into earth would be- it sounded as if a bomb had detonated right in the middle of the battlefileld, and looked it too. The flash of light and energy had disappeared as quickly as it had formed, and dark gray smoke had replaced it, the tendrils of shadow hiding where Rei had stood.
"Nice try- but you can't beat Teleportation." Rei's voice came from behind Gold, who swiftly jumped at the man, ready to throw a punch or two or twenty, and his Pokemon launched themselves as well, attacking with brutal force.
"Your tricks are getting on my nerves," declared Gold, grabbing Rei, who smiled, by the collar of his black cloak and bringing his fist back, ready to drive it into the man's pale face. "Go to hell!"
"Gallade, Psycho Cut!"
"Agh!" Gold stepped backwards, feeling the shallow slice of the invisible sword across his chest, placing his hand onto his wet shirt and taking it away, fingers stained with blood. Another slice, this one across his cheek- across his back, his leg, each deeper than the last. He had no idea where the attack was coming from, there wasn't time in between them to breathe, to command his Pokemon-
"Outrage!" Gold heard Crystal yell from above, and looked up, yellow eyes right with pain.
There was a coil of vibrant green and the yellow rune-like markings on Rayquaza's scales as the legendary whipped back and forth, claws lashing out almost randomly, biting with strong gnashes of teeth, head thrown back, eyes wild. Crystal jumped off with timed precision so she landed next to Gold, who was trying to stop the bleeding from the deep cut on his calf.
Crystal tore off her jacket, ripping off a portion of the white cotton with disregard, tying it tightly around her boyfriend's leg. "Don't do that again," she warned, obviously shaken. She had watched as the Gallade had prepared its next Psycho Cut, it was aimed towards Gold's throat... "He'll kill you."
"I figured that out." Gold smiled sheepishly, looking back to where Rayquaza was currently rampaging. Rei's Salamence was attempting to stop the onslaught, but even it was overpowered by the much larger, fiercer dragon. "One down."
"But how many more to go?" wondered Crustal aloud, withdrawing her Arckee and Bonee from her belt. "Come on, Gold, get back into the fight."
"Will do."
"Glaceon, Blizzard!" Rei had released another of his Pokemon. The Glaceon opened its mouth, revealing little fangs set against a delicate pink tongue, a giant storm of blue and white ice building up inside. It growled- an eerie sound that sounded like music played by dropping shards of ice shattering onto the ground, and the storm had enveloped it, completely hiding its small, lithe body.
Rayquaza, confused from the end of its Outrage and lusting for more fighting, charged at the snowstorm, frozen solid as the Glaceon unleashed the Blizzard, burying the dragon under a mountain of ice and snow.
"Rayquaza!" screamed Crystal, looking at the mound of snow that covered the legendary, the clawed hand of the dragon which stuck through stiff and cold. "No!"
"And that's why I wasn't afraid of you acquiring such a powerful Pokemon. Because I had such a lovely counter- isn't this Glaceon beautiful?" Rei leaned down to stroke it, ignoring the battle around him. His Gallade was shielding him from each attack they tried to launch, the invisible blades of Psycho Cut unpredictable and deadly. "Your friend Ruby loved it so- powerful, yet so delicately beautiful. It's like a rose- you cannot touch it, for it will make you bleed."
"Bonee, False Swipe!" The Cubone jumped up to hammer the Gallade with its hard bone club, twisting at the last moment, avoiding a Psycho Cut and hitting the Gallade hard on the head, causing it to stagger backwards, its next Psycho Cut cutting a slit in Rei's sleeve, drawing blood from the sliced-open skin.
"Watch it!" The man snarled, pushing his Pokemon back at the Cubone, commanding his Glaceon back into the battle as well. "Glaceon, use Blizzard on them!"
"That's not going to work!" taunted Gold, a smirk on his face at his Explotaro and Green's Charizard having already painted the ground with flames, a mixture of Fire Spin and Flame Wheel. "Can you freeze fire?"
"Actually- yes, I can. Glaceon, show him." Rei's smile was as deadly as the edge of a blade, and Gold shouted in alarm as he jumped up to avoid the Blizzard, which instantly quelled the flames and froze over it, unaffected by the searing heat. "You should have figured it out by now- I only use the best Pokemon on my team. This Glaceon was trained to fight Rayquaza, one of the strongest Pokemon alive. It has no fear of fire."
"Really?" said Green, surprising everybody else. He hadn't really been talkative during the battle. "I find that a little hard to believe- let's test that, shall we, Charizard?"
His Charizard roared its approval, letting out a burning stream of fire from its mouth, a powerful, mighty Blast Burn. The Glaceon quickly froze the air around it, attempting to protect itself with tiny crystals of ice that looked like diamond dust, but it was no use. It was too slow to dodge the attack, and it fell to the ground, burned and fainted.
"No fear, not no weakness," clarified Rei, looking at his Glaceon with distaste. "Still, I'll let you know that your defeat is still imminent. No matter how many of my Pokemon you defeat, you still cannot defeat me."
"Words aren't enough to defeat us- how many do you think have stood before you?" challenged Red. "How many do you think have fallen?"
"They are nothing like me- I have true power, and I am not afraid to use it. They lied to themselves, thinking themselves just, that they were doing it all for others. I know better, I tell myself no lies. I do this all for myself." Rei's silver eyes flashed. He drew the Amethyst Orb out of his cloak. "And I am done with the fun and games. It is now clear that you are all nothing but an annoyance. Groudon, Kyogre, your master calls! Come to me, my servants. Ruby too-" he added, almost as an afterthought. Twin roars split the air, and even Red looked a little paler. "I'm sure you'll have fun fighting him again. Kyogre is rising. Do you know what that means, Red?"
Red shook his head, but his mind was instantly on the beach, where Silver and Blue were hiding, where Yellow was. No. Not Yellow. Not her.
"That's right, Red. Your friends can drown a second time, in fact-" Rei closed his eyes, focusing his energy onto the orb. "Kyogre, kill them."
The kiss seemed like it lasted an eternity, but that was fine to Sapphire. She would gladly stand here forever, Ruby's body pressed against hers, his lips locked against her own. His smell, of ice and fire and refreshing water, filled her mind, and it was like his kiss. Filled with power, passion, desire- but it was filled with joyful relief as well, happiness that he was freed.
"Sapphire." Ruby's voice was hoarse as he pulled away, and his breathing ragged. His eyes were filled with sorrow. "I'm so sorry- I didn't mean those things, it wasn't me-"
"I know, Ruby. I will never blame you for what Rei did. It's not your fault." She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he hesitantly placed his hands on the top curve of her hips. "I can't believe that worked."
"That what worked?" Ruby asked curiously.
"Coco's Safeguard and Ruru 's Psychic," answered Sapphire. "They saved you."
"I know my Pokemon are fantastic and beautiful, but you're the one who saved me, Sapphire. They are forced to listen to me, to Rei, but you managed to make them listen to you." Ruby looked over, to his Pokemon, with sudden horror. For a second, Sapphire thought he was going to throw a fit over the state of their fur like he always did. Instead, he broke free from her grasp and bent down, face filled with regret.
"Ruby?" said Sapphire with alarm.
"Mimi, Ruru, Coco, Nana, Popo, Zuzu, I can't believe I said those things to you guys." He had released all of his Pokemon, even the fainted ones. "Even with my memory wiped, to you guys, I can't believe-"
Mimi looked at him sympathetically and nuzzled his cheek with her head, causing him to laugh. "Mimi, that tickles!" Coco and Nana, who was starting to regain her energy, leaped up onto him, Nana licking, Covo purring. Popo jumped up onto his head, a large smile on her little face. Ruru smiled gently, and Zuzu smiled as well, being too big to jump upon his master without injuring him.
"There's no way they wouldn't forgive you," said Sapphire, a smile settling onto her face as well. "They missed you just as much as me and everyone else."
Ruby froze, staring back at her even more horror than before. "They're fighting Rei right now. And I- I fought them too. Sapphire, we need to go back. They can't beat him without our help-"
"Wait-Ruby-" Sapphire grabbed at his arm, right before he passed the border of Coco's Safeguard. "What happens if you leave this shield? And what are we supposed to do? We need a plan."
"I've got one- kick Rei's ass." He tried to pull free, but Sapphire held strong.
"I'm not losing you again- not this soon. And a better plan- we trick Rei at his own game."
"How? The guy's freaking crazy- but he's smart. Very smart," said Ruby, eyes flaring. "Beat him? Brawn will beat him better than brains."
"If you can make him think you're on his side, but really on ours, you could catch him off-guards," explained Sapphire excitedly. "That would be the perfect opening for Red-senpai and the others to-"
"Kill Rei, right? I hope that was how you going to end the sentence. Because that's how I want to end it." Ruby face was full of hate. Sapphire simply looked shocked. Kill? She knew they had to stop Rei somehow, but to kill him...? "There is no other way," said Ruby gently, apologetically, though with no true remorse. "And I want to, for what he made me to you, to everyone. If may sound cruel, but it's the truth."
"You would never have said that two weeks ago."
"Two weeks ago, all I wanted to win the Pokemon Contest here. And ask you out once we both won flawlessly," he added sheepishly, blushing a little bit. "Look what happened instead. How could anyone go through that without changing even a little bit?"
"But... death?" repeated Sapphire dubiously. It just sounded so... evil. To kill someone was the ultimate punishment, ultimate crime. There was no undoing it, it was final and eternal.
"You don't have to like it, Sapphire," said Ruby sadly. "I'm a little surprised at myself as well. But I'm sure that our senpai know that that's the only way. I'm just not sure they can do it without us there right now."
"If we charge in recklessly, you'd get hurt. And maybe Rei'll be able to control you once you leave this Safeguard."
"That's ridiculous- I'm sure I can fight it off..." Ruby trailed off, suddenly unsure. He didn't want to return to Rei's control, to be a puppet once again.
"Exactly." Sapphire thought for a second. "Fight it off..." she murmured, thinking hard. Ruby looked at her with impatience and curiosity. "I got it!"
"Got what?"
"How we're going to defeat Rei. You're going to control him!"
*Will Sapphire's plan work? *shrugs* Well, you'll have to wait until next week! By the way... I finished the last chapter. I'm working on the epilogue now! :D And I have a little present for Ruby's birthday, and I'll release it tomorrow. Franticshipping one-shot sound good? (has no relation to this story, but figured I might as well advertise.) Keep an eye out for it!
spiritgurl21: Tomorrow shall be even more fluffy. :V Seeing as the one-shot is a fluff dedicated to our fabulous Ruby's birthday. ;) Is Rei's name a Vocaloid reference? Sadly, when I started writing this story, I had no idea what Vocaloid was. So, no. His name is based on 'king' in Spanish (rey), which I thought looked cooler as Rei. ^^ (also, I named a bunch of Raichu's Rei, so... I like the name. XD)
Light-Sakura: Far from. It crashes every five minutes in Safari and once it went into an endless cycle of death after I tried to download something from the App Store. I hate the Apple apps... So I've stopped touching them, jailbroke my iPod, and play Pokemon on it and write Memories Lost on a slightly illegal app I got by using Cydia. XD Thanks! ^^ I'll need it- this epilogue is draining my concentration. :P
Cache Ame Pour le-Filles: Why, thank you! ^^ It's good to know I wrote it well~ I spent a lot of effort on that chapter. Here's your update! (though, it's not nearly as fluffy. :P)
blazelight790: Popcorn can never go wrong! XD (however, I prefer chocolate. :P It works wonders~) Rei interrupt? Eh, not now at the very least. He's too busy battling all of the others. It takes all of your concentration to fight that many people with only eight Pokemon! XD And since he likes holding back for fun, it makes it even worse...
ZXCBVNMEM: So he has! :3 It took him a while, but I guess it ended up working! XD Though I miss possessed!Ruby... He was fun to write...
Fire-Shiell: And because of your reminder, I wrote a one-shot for Ruby's birthday. So, thanks for reminding me! It wasn't very random, at the very least, it inspired me. BTW, Rei doesn't appreciate being hit on the head. I wish ff. net had dA Muro so I could draw his reaction for you, but just know he's pissed and wants to kill you. XD He's a bit violent today.
wolfeclipse25: If you think about it, Pokemon are kind of always possessed, aren't they? They're almost forced to obey their trainer's commands, the only thing is that they usually love their trainer, thankfully. Hm, I wonder if Rei's Pokemon love him...? They probably do in their own way. (random tangent. :P) Suspenseful? Good. Those were my intentions! XD
mangaluverjc: Rage mode? Sounds scary. XD Wonder if Rei's scared...
~Aeyra: Rei, are you scared?
-Rei: STOP ASKING ME STUPID QUESTIONS, OF COURSE I'M NOT!
~Aeyra: Sheesh, it was just a question, not a whole Q&A, you're crazy...
FireMightyena: I might write it someday, perhaps in the epilogue or something... *evil cackles* My plans will remain unrevealed! XD A Red vs. Ruby battle would be epic... Who would win that fight? ... *goes to Smogon Damage Calculator* Or I'll just use my fangirl brain and say Ruby. XD
Random Visitor Girl: I guess I don't? XD I'm glad you liked it!
NOTICE!- I hope that caught your eye. The review count before this chapter was 98- I trust you guys can raise it to over 100, no? If we go over 100 this chapter (which is pretty likely), I want you guys to suggest your present! I won't give out spoilers (because there's only a few chapters left, not much point... though, I have something to say when we get to the epilogue.), but most other things are up for grabs! I can write a couple of one-shots about anything to related to Memories Lost or just something completely unrelated if that's what you all really want! So, ready to hit that review button? Go!
See you all next week! ^^ I hope you help reach the goal of 100+~*