A/N: Sorry about the late update for this story everybody. But we're getting down to the final battle of this fic, so I can assure you there's going to be plenty of excitement and action.
Hundreds upon hundreds of players were gathered together in front of Sunyshore City's lighthouse. From what Ren and the others were able to tell, all of the trainers that had originally been in Sinnoh at the start of PWO had been the ones teleported to Sunyshore City. Luckily, with all of the regions on one map, they were able to message their friends from other regions. After they had made sure everyone was alright, they had all decided to gather a meeting between the regions to discuss a plan of attack.
"Alright, can I have everybody's attention?" Ren asked the group of trainers standing before him. As he asked this, the whispers amongst the crowd died down. "Good. Now I'm sure you're all wondering what exactly is going on-"
"You better believe we are!" one of the trainers asked, followed by a couple other shouts of agreement.
Ren continued his speech, knowing that the outburst just now would be nothing like the one that would come once these players found out the full extent of Kagutsuchi's endgame plan. "Listen, I know this is all really weird and suspicious, but I'm going to need you to listen and stay calm. Our current situation is grim. Very, very grim." Ren could see a few players tense up at this. "As you know, the creator of PWO gave us two months in Kalos before a deadline. As some of you may know, that deadline is in three days. As for what that deadline is for…" he braced himself for the reaction that was going to follow. "It's when Kagutsuchi will kill every single remaining player in PWO."
Silence. That was all that followed for the next few moments. Ren let this information sink into everyone's mind. But what followed was a gradual outcry of anger and confusion.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"
"Why would he do this?!"
"How do you know all about this?!"
"Quiet!" Misaki's shout silenced all of the players there.
Ren glanced at Misaki, giving her a quick "Thank you" before continuing on. "To answer the question of how I know this, both myself and each of the region champions received a message about this after we were all teleported out of Kalos." In truth, this was a lie. Ren decided not to disclose the details of the raid he and the others had done in Lumiose City, as it would only raise more questions to the players and time was of the essence. "I don't know all of the details, but I do know this much. Kagutsuchi, the creator of PWO, is most likely in that tower in the center of the ocean. If we want to make it out of this game alive, then I think the choice is clear. We have to go and make Kagutsuchi pay for everything he's done to us! We have to go and take him down, so we can get out of this death game once and for all!"
Cheers of agreement roared throughout the group of players. Ren was glad they were willing to cooperate. No doubt Kagutsuchi had some form of cheap method to try and overpower them like usual. They would need every trainer they could get if they were going to pull this off.
"Ok now listen closely. The champions of each region are gathering trainers for this mission. We only have three days to pull this off." Ren explained. "For the rest of today, get yourselves prepared. Stock up on items, do some last minute training, whatever you feel is necessary to increase your chances of survival when we raid the tower. There's no telling what's waiting for us there. The other champions and I will spend today and tomorrow creating a plan of attack. We'll storm the tower at the break of dawn on the final day. Does everyone understand?" No objections came, so Ren took that as a yes. "Alright then. Everyone is dismissed."
The players gathered slowly began to disperse to do whatever preparations they needed. Clair leaned over and whispered to Misaki. "Where's Ryota? Shouldn't he have been here?"
"He went over to Johto. Something about helping Kaitlyn out." Misaki explained.
Ren let out a sigh. "This is going to be our toughest battle yet. I just hope we can pull this off."
"Don't worry. We've got practically every player in PWO on our side. We've got this." Misaki assured him.
Ren prayed to Arceus that Misaki was right. He had no idea how ironic that would be though.
Several flying pokemon all flew through the air, each with trainers on their backs. The group was made up of twenty or so trainers, all heading straight towards the tower in the center of the ocean.
"Screw those champion guys. They probably just want to act in charge so they can hog the glory for themselves." one of the trainers said. "We'll take down this creator loser and show everyone how strong we are. Then they'll praise us as heroes."
"Yeah, with this many players there's no way one guy can beat all of us." another one said.
"Heh, betcha he thinks everyone's gonna be shaking in their boots and won't do anything." one more trainer grinned. "We'll show him."
As they approached the tower, they all ascended further into the air. It didn't take too long for them to reach the summit. A circular area that had a diameter about the length of a football field was what they saw. Four pillars were raised up, forming the corners of a square.
"Heh, the fool doesn't even have anything guarding the outside. This'll be easy." one of the trainers said with a smirk.
"Oh? Easy? You think so?"
The sudden voice caused all of the trainers to gasp and turn around. They were met with a masked man floating in the air. The very same man that had trapped them all in this game. The creator of PWO.
"You… You're that bastard Kagutsuchi!" a trainer growled, though he couldn't hide the fact that his entire body was shaking.
"That's right. I am this world's god." Kagutsuchi said. "I saw a few trainers approaching and thought it was the champions. Then I come out here only to find a sorry ragtag group of weaklings. How annoying."
"D-D-Don't underestimate us!" the trainer that uttered that cursed himself for stuttering. "W-We're gonna beat you and free everyone from this crazy game!"
"Oh are you now?" Kagustuchi asked. "Well then, allow me to introduce you to the final boss of PWO." With a snap of his fingers, a pillar of light shot up from the top of the tower. The group of trainers turned around to see a pokemon emerge from the light as it dimmed down. A majestic white pokemon with green and red eyes. An almost complete golden circle was around the center of its body.
"That's… Arceus…" one of the trainers gasped.
"Holy crap… It's a legendary pokemon…" another one said in disbelief.
"Whatever! It may be a legendary, but it's all alone! We can beat it! Let's go guys!" the leader of the group said.
Kagutsuchi chuckled to himself. "You pathetic little fools. This is Arceus. It's not just a legendary pokemon." he said. He brought his hand to his face and removed his mask, showing a mad grin. "It's a god."
As the group of trainers all flew down and attacked the legendary pokemon, Arceus let out a cry. Light shined from its body and engulfed all of the trainers near it, along with their pokemon. Before any of them knew what had happened, their bodies shattered into tiny fragments.
Kagutsuchi let out a laugh as the light dimmed down and the polygons that had once been the trainers that had challenged him just now blew through the wind before disappearing altogether. "This is what will happen to every one of those fools still left in my world! I can't wait to see the look on their faces when they realize how hopeless their situation is! Hahahahaha!"
"Alright so that's the situation everyone, got it?" Akio said. He was currently addressing all of the trainers in the Kanto region. "We're taking out that bastard Kagutsuchi two days from now. So let's show him what we can do."
Multiple players roared in agreement. But a large majority still felt it was odd at who it was addressing them.
"Where's Kaede? She's the Kanto champion, isn't she? Shouldn't she be the one telling us this?" a player asked.
"Did you PK her?!" another one accused. "What, being champion of one region wasn't enough for you?"
Akio shot an annoyed glare at the player that asked that. "I'm not some cowardly PKer, got that? And for your information, your region's champion is still alive. She just had some other stuff to take care of and asked me to fill in for her."
"And what proof do you have of that?! For all we know you could be lying!"
Slowly, more and more players in the crowd began to feel suspicious at all of this. Why was a different region champion telling them all this with their own region champion nowhere to be found.
"That's enough!" the sudden shout caused everyone to fall silent as they looked behind Akio and saw Kaede standing. Akio turned to her with a raised brow, wondering why she had suddenly decided to reveal herself after asking him to do this for her.
Kaede walked forward, standing before the large crowd of players. Her legs were shaking slightly, all of her nervousness rushing in. But still, she had to do this. She wouldn't let Akio get yelled at because of her cowardice. Besides, this was her responsibility as the Kanto champion.
"Many of you may remember me as Kaede, the player that won the Kanto tournament." Kaede said. "Everything Akio said to you all is true. Everything except my reason for originally not being the one to tell you all this." She lowered her head. "The truth is… I was afraid. Afraid of facing all of you. Afraid of being heckled for being a girl playing this game." Several whispers of confusion followed as Kaede continued. "When I was younger, I used to be heckled for being a girl and playing Pokemon. And I was afraid of facing that same ridicule. That's why I pretended to be male during my time in Kanto. What's worse… I ended up falling for Kagutsuchi's trick and became a pawn for him because of that fear." Finally, she lifted her head back up to look at everyone, tears in her eyes. "I can never apologise for all the hurt I caused while under his control. But that's why we need to stop him! If we don't everyone in this game will die! So please! Lend me your strength!"
At first, everything was quiet. Then one player stepped forward. He walked up to Kaede. She recognized him as the player she had fought against in the final round of the Kanto tournament.
"None of us here care whether or not you're a boy or a girl. Frankly, we've all been worried about where you were. The second we all saw who you were for the first time, we were teleported away and found ourselves in Kalos." he said. "All we want to know is are you ready to lead us into this battle?"
Looking behind the trainer, Kaede saw several nods of agreement and reassuring smiles. She didn't know what to say. This was more than she had ever dreamed. More than she felt she deserved frankly. She nodded her head. "Yes. I'll lead you. And together, we'll win this fight."
"That's all we needed to hear."
As the players all parted to get ready, Akio and Kaede were left alone. The Hoenn champion let out a sigh. "Geez, you ask me to come out all this way and then you just steal the show anyway."
"I'm sorry." Kaede said. "I know you should have been in Hoenn, telling this to everyone there."
"Nah, I don't really care about all that stuff. I messaged a guy in knew there with the details and had him explain things to everyone." he said. "But seriously, are you okay? You looked like you were going to fall apart there for a second."
Kaede nodded her head. "Yes, I'll be fine. Although I do admit that I was worried there for a second."
"So that fear you mentioned was what Kagutsuchi used to control you?" Akio asked. "The thing about being afraid of people knowing you're a girl?"
Kaede nodded her head with a slight blush on her cheeks. "Yeah."
Akio rolled his eyes. "You really should have gotten over that before now. Who cares what you are? Your a trainer, that's what's important."
A small smile came to Kaede's lips. "Thanks. That means a lot."
Akio and Kaede took a seat on the grass they were standing on. "So you must have been a real pokemon fanatic to keep up with it for this long." Akio said. "What made you love it so much?"
Kaede thought to herself. "I guess it just clicked with me. Plus the thought of travelling and going on an adventure sounds like so much fun, doesn't it? What about you?"
"Truth be told, it was my parents." Akio said.
Kaede raised a brow at this. "Your parents?"
Akio nodded his head. "Yeah. They were big time fans of the old games when they first came out. They would always play them together, competing all the time. Eventually their friendship turned into love and they started dating and eventually got married."
"That's… pretty romantic honestly." Kaede said. "It's amazing how games can change people's lives."
Akio nodded with a nostalgic smile. "Yeah. To be honest, I'm hoping pokemon will help me find love someday, just like my parents."
Kaede looked away, hiding a blush on her face. "Yeah… maybe someday."
"Well, first thing's first. We gotta get out of this game." Akio said as he stretched his arms out. "And to do that, we're gonna have to give that Kagutsuchi jerk an ass kicking."
Kaede nodded her head. "Yeah. It's payback time." she said. "Hey Akio… when we get back to the real world… you wanna meet up? We can play a game of the older pokemon games. You know, a battle without our lives on the line."
"Sounds like fun." Akio said with a grin. "But I'm warning you, it'll go just like our battle in here."
"Don't bet on it." Kaede told him. 'Akio… maybe you will find love through this game. And just maybe… I'll find it with you.'
"Alright everybody! Let's show some spirit!" Kaitlyn said with a large amount of enthusiasm. "Let's join together and kick Kagutsuchi's sorry behind!"
Several cheers of agreement roared throughout the crowd. A few were somewhat off put by how carefree the Johto champion seemed to be taking what was essentially going to be the biggest fight for their lives yet. But at the same time, her cheery attitude and demeanor seemed to lift the spirits of the more worried trainers.
"I know we'll all survive and go home together. So let's be sure to kick butt." she said. "I'll see you all for the raid meeting tomorrow night." With a wave goodbye, Kaitlyn left the group, skipping happily away. The Johto trainers all dispersed to do what needed to be done.
Waiting for Kaitlyn as he leaned against a building was Ryota. "You sure seem to have rallied them all together pretty nicely."
"What can I say? Maybe it's my cute face." Kaitlyn replied with a giggle. "Try not to get too jealous Ryo."
Ryota rolled his eyes at the girl's comment. "Whatever. So what's the plan? You're going to be strategizing with Ren and the other champions to figure out a plan of attack, right?"
"Yup. We're hoping to have it down before tomorrow. Then we'll spend tomorrow explaining the plan to everyone and forming into groups so everyone is familiar with who they'll be working with."
"In the end, all we have to do is defeat Kagutsuchi and we're free." Ryota said. "But knowing him, he'll have a bunch of cheap tricks to try and stop us."
"It'll be tough, but we can win this for sure." Kaitlyn grinned. "I'm gonna start planning things out with the others. You wanna come and join?"
"No thanks. I think I'm going to spend some time to mentally prepare myself for the final battle." Ryota said as he turned to walk away. "I'll see you later, Kaitlyn."
"Got it. See you in our room later, Ryo!" Kaitlyn called out as she waved goodbye. Ryota walked away with a blush on his face as some of the trainers still within earshot looked at him with surprise from the Johto champion's parting comment.
Walking alone back to his room at the pokemon center, Ryota thought to himself. Within a few days, this would all be over. They finally had their chance to go home. This was the moment they had all been waiting for. But for Ryota it meant so much more than a chance to go home. This was his chance to settle things with his father once and for all.
He didn't know much about his father. All his mother had said was that he was a scientist. But even after their marriage, all her husband would do was pour himself into his research. According to her, he left the two of them back when Ryota was still a baby. But after all this, Ryota felt that it had probably been more along the lines of her leaving him. He couldn't blame her after coming face to face with the man himself.
There was also one other thing that made a lot of sense. His mother's arguing against him getting a copy of PWO. He didn't know why back then, but she had told him explicitly not to play that game. In the end though, he had secretly gotten a copy due to his love for the game series. He doubted that his mother knew this would happen, but now he understood that she most likely knew who had created the game.
'Mom… I'm sorry about worrying you all this time.' Ryota silently thought. 'But I promise you, I'm going to put an end to this. For both our sakes.'
Ryota didn't know how long he had spent in the room thinking to himself, but before he knew it a knock was heard at the door. He watched as Kaitlyn came in. "Phew. It took some time but I think we finally have ourselves a game plan."
"Mind filling me in?"
"It can wait until tomorrow." Kaitlyn said as she took a seat on the bed next to Ryota. "For now, let's just stay here. The two of us."
Kaitlyn leaned her head on Ryota's shoulder. The two of them stayed silent, simply being near each other and feeling the other's warmth.
"Ryota… when the time finally comes, we're gonna fight your dad together, right?" Kaitlyn asked. "You promised me, remember?"
Ryota nodded his head. "Yeah. I did."
"Good. Cause I can't let you go back to acting all solo player on us again." Kaitlyn said with a bright smile. "I want to be by your side to protect you."
"I know. And I'll be there to protect you too." Ryota told her.
Kaitlyn closed her eyes and smiled to herself. "A knight in shining armor and his princess riding into battle."
"Don't make it weird." Ryota said with a sigh, though a small grin was on his face from how cheerful Kaitlyn seemed to act. He let out a yawn. "Well I think I'm gonna get some sleep now."
"I think I'll join you." Kaitlyn said. She laid down in bed with him and wrapped an arm around him, snuggling up close. "Good night Ryota."
"Good night." Ryota said back as they both drifted off to sleep.
Or at least Kaitlyn did.
Hours went on as Ryota stared at Kaitlyn's sleeping face. It seemed so serene, so peaceful. One looking at her wouldn't believe she was one of the best players in the game. It was that genuine ability to smile in such a dangerous situation that he wanted to protect more than anything.
'I'm sorry Kaitlyn.' Ryota silently thought. 'But I won't be able to keep my promise with you.'
He slowly got out of her embrace, making sure not to wake the girl. He put on his white coat and let out a sigh, knowing what had to be done. He walked out of the room and left the pokemon center, the blackness of night shrouding the sky. He couldn't involve his friends in this. He couldn't involve Kaitlyn in this. This was a fight he had to settle on his own. He couldn't allow those he cared about to risk their lives because of his father.
'It's time Kagutsuchi.' Ryota thought to himself as he threw out his Honchcrow and took off into the sky with it, flying towards the tower where his father was waiting. 'Let's settle this once and for all.'
A/N: Hope you all liked the chapter. As you can tell, there's gonna be a big fight next chapter. See you all then.
