The boat rocked back and forth on the waves. The remaining supervisors were on the top deck, discussing what to do next, as well as enjoying the sunshine. The bodies of the deceased had been placed inside the rooms below deck. They had been arranged by region, leaving most rooms with three or four bodies piled up. One exception to that was the room for the Johto participants, where only two bodies had been placed. The one remaining participant remained inside the final room by the stairwell.

As soon as he had got on board, he immediately sat down on his assigned bed. The first thing he did was put Weaville back in its Pokeball, figuring that it was content as long as it knew Silver was still alive. Weaville didn't put up a fight. Ever since they had been reunited, the small creature had suspected that its owner needed time alone.

From that point onwards, Silver stared blankly at the wall across from him. There was so much for him to process, from Blue's death at the very beginning of the day, to killing his father. Despite all the things he could reflect upon, he couldn't bring himself to think of anything. He suspected it was easier that way. He had been through enough before the program, and if he tried to register everything that had happened during the program, it might have sent him into emotional turmoil.

So, he just sat there quietly instead. He didn't know how much time had passed. It could have been twenty minutes or twenty hours, but he just continued to sit there, waiting for the boat to dock.

Suddenly, the boat came to a stop. Silver waited a few seconds, wondering if it was just a false alarm. Before he could decide for himself whether or not they had docked, the door to his room opened. Even though the door was creaky and slow, it was still enough to cause Silver to flinch and recoil.

Pryce wheeled himself into the room. He looked far less annoyed than he was earlier, but his expression remained far from warm. As he approached Silver, the boy sidled back, realizing that he didn't want to be anywhere near the supervisors. Even though he had convinced himself that he wasn't afraid to die, he realized that he might have been wrong with that assumption.

"It certainly smells unpleasant down here", the old man said, wrinkling his nose. Silver furrowed his brows.

"I didn't notice."

"Really? You should have, considering you're surrounded by dead bodies-"

"Are you going to kill me or not? That's all I want to know", Silver demanded, his tone more snappy than intended. Pryce raised his eyebrows slightly at his tone, but then unexpectedly, he smiled.

"Always right to the point with you. We've deliberated over it, and we've decided to let you live", Pryce told him. Silver relaxed ever-so-slightly, but the man wasn't finished speaking yet. He held a hand up, as if Silver was about to start explaining how grateful he was for being allowed to live.

"You're lucky it was Giovanni you killed. I have been a Team Rocket leader before, and I can easily resume my position. If you murdered someone who didn't have a replacement, our decision might have been much bleaker. Besides, Giovanni foresaw the possibility of being murdered by you, if you won, and I believe he came to terms that. You're very fortunate it was Giovanni you chose to kill out of all of us", he continued.

Silver recalled how Giovanni had been desperate to reassure him that he did care about his son, despite putting him in the program. While he still knew that he'd never forgive Giovanni or any of the other supervisors for what had happened, he still felt that familiar pang of guilt return. Pryce noticed how quiet Silver remained, and continued talking.

"I won't expect words of gratitude anytime soon, and I don't believe you should spare me any either. We've been keeping track of all conversations going on throughout the program, and we know you and that other boy had been talking about revenge. We expect it, naturally! But if my team fights back harsher than expected, don't be surprised. With their former leader dead, they have a right to be angry", he warned.

Although Silver didn't respond verbally, Pryce noticed how his frame became tensed up once more, and he glared at the man in front of him. Besides, he had lost everyone important to him, while the Team Rocket grunts had only lost their leader. Did I say that to purposely aggravate him?, Pryce wondered. He was almost certain that he did.

"Still giving me the silent treatment, I take it? That's fine too. Anyway, I also came here to tell you we've reached the harbour."

Pryce began to roll himself out of the room, and paused briefly. He heard Silver's footsteps behind him, which came to a brief stop upon hearing the old man stop. The exit door was wide open, and there was a plank leading down. He knew that he was free to tell the next part of their plan, and with that, he turned around.

"Oh, one more thing. We have one final condition for letting you live; you're going to be left to fend for yourself. There are going to be several angry families out there, some of whom will suspect you killed them all. This is no longer our issue. We're leaving it with you."

From the top deck, a bird cried out. Pryce briefly stopped talking, and looked upwards. He looked back at Silver once more, who stared back. His face remained blank, as he attempted not to show what he was feeling.

"The other team leaders have begun to retreat to their hideaways. I'll be going too. Once you're able to track us down, we'll be ready to fight back. I suppose I may see you in the near future. For now, farewell, Silver", Pryce said, pulling a Pokeball out of his pocket.

Silver was unable to recognize the bird inside, but he barely thought about it, quickly concluding it was from a region he had never been to before. Pryce rolled himself towards the exit door, before briefly looking over his shoulder at the champion.

"By the way, you served me proud. I truly did expect the girl to go further, but I suppose it can be difficult to predict the exact future. After all, circumstances can be cruel and unexpected", he said.

His mention of Blue caused Silver to look down, as he felt himself begin to tremble once more. He had been dealt many losses that day, but the loss of his pseudo-sister was still raw, in terms of grief. He heard something crack open, and the majestic cry of a bird.

By the time Silver looked back up again, Pryce had already started his journey to the team leaders' hideout. All that was left behind was his wheelchair.

I'm completely alone, he thought, looking around the corridor. The only other company he had were his Pokemon, still snugly kept in a wooden box, and the bodies of all the participants of the program.

That thought brought on a familiar feeling of nausea. Holding a hand to his mouth, Silver stumbled backwards, and turned around. There was a thick, wooden surface leading down to the docking area. Without any further hesitation, he ran down. His footsteps were incredibly loud as he charged down. He kept running until his feet touched sand, where he collapsed to his knees, and dug his fingers into the sand. He took in deep, gasping breaths, even though he had only ran for a few seconds. It felt as if he had been drowning, but finally re-emerged to the surface.

As his gasping came to a stop, Silver slowly raised his head. Night had already fallen. Given how dark it was, he reckoned it was between eleven and twelve at night. A cliff stood several feet away from him, but as he turned his head to the right, he could see a few buildings sitting atop the cliff. A pathway led up to the town. Squinting, he looked up at the sign illuminated under the lamplight, at the very edge of the path. It read 'Ambrette Town', confirming his suspicions; he had no idea where the boat had docked. All he knew was that he was still a long way from Johto.

He tried not to think about how he would try to get back to Johto. Instead, his mind wandered back to Pryce's words before he left: 'This is no longer our issue. We're leaving it all to you'. Silver never expected them to take responsibility for their actions, but he had to now consider the possibility of dealing with the task of telling the other families about their children's deaths.

When that thought entered his mind, he looked over his shoulder at the boat once more. Everyone who had fought on that island was inside there at that moment, and Silver had absolutely no desire to go back. The more time he spent thinking about the fact that they were all dead, the closer he came to bursting into tears once more. Seeing their dead bodies would do nothing for his mental state.

Maybe I don't ever have to see their dead bodies again. Who said I have to? I'm completely alone now. My life is my own to live.

That thought caused Silver to raise his head once more, and slowly stand up. While it hadn't been the first time that he realized he was alone, but he never considered the fact that he had to make his own choices. Ever since he was a young child, he had always been in the presence of other Dexholders, from Blue to Gold, Kris and Green. Nearly all of his choices had been influenced by them, but now, he no longer had any influence over his choices.

There was a lot he could do from this point onwards. He could try and track down the team leaders and carry out his revenge, or find the families of the participants and reveal what happened. Even the thought of trying to carry out Platinum's plan, which Green had mentioned, entered his mind. My choices are still revolving around them, he realized, But what comes next? What can I do after I carry out what needs to be done to put my mind at rest over the program?

The truth was that Silver had no idea. He didn't know how long it would take him to figure it out. He didn't even have any idea about what he should do in terms of revenge. Despite his bitter fight to get off the island alive, he realized that he had no set plan.

Silver realized that mightn't be such a bad thing. He was no longer under any pressure; he could decide what to do when he was ready.

Once more, he looked at the boat. He could go back, and retrieve their bodies, but that wouldn't bring any closure. He decided he needed to do the opposite; he needed to try and move onwards. That was his top priority.

As he turned his head away, Silver decided that he would keep all of them in his memory, including the participants who he came to despise. While he was determined to move on and make his own choices, he wasn't going to let himself forget about the people he had spent the majority of his life around.

There's still so much I have to do before I can even think of getting this horrible game out of my mind. That mightn't be such a bad thing, I guess. As long as I have choices to make, I have reasons to keep on living.

He took in a deep breath, trying to relax his mind. On the first night of the program, he had been contemplating suicide before Gold found him. While his friend had been hasty to act so suddenly, Silver realized that he would never be forgiven if he tried to kill himself, especially after all he had been through.

Even though he had been through hell and back, he certainly had reasons to keep moving forward. He decided that was exactly what he was going to do, for the sake of everyone who had been murdered on that island. He had yet to determine his first step, but he decided to take time to clear his mind, and form a rational plan which wouldn't be heavily influenced by his own desperate, angry thoughts.

I think I'm ready to go, Silver thought, looking at the pathway ahead of him. He felt an urge to look back at the boat one last time, but resisted it.

And so, the one remaining participant ran off into the night, his future still unclear.

THE END


Author's Note: It honestly feels so strange to have this finished. After spending nearly 5 months working on it, it's done! I had no idea whether I'd be able to get it finished or not; I've seen Battle Royale AUs in a lot of fandoms, the majority of which go unfinished. So, getting this done feelings like a huge accomplishment!

There were definitely some times where I felt I couldn't continue, and there were definitely a lot of frustrating scenes to write. So much ended up being changed since I first started planning this, but all in all, I'm really happy with it!

I'll be honest, though, I don't think I'll be writing a sequel. I wanted to take a page from the original novel and leave the ending on an ambiguous note, and I like having it stay that way. I have been playing around with the idea of a sequel, but I'd be much happier to leave things the way they are. But, I'm really hoping to write more fics in the future! (Maybe not as long as this one, though!)

Thank you so much for reading. I've honestly enjoyed reading reactions to my story so much! It would be amazing if you could leave one last review, because I'd absolutely love to hear what you thought of my story overall. Once again, thank you, and I hope you enjoyed the ending!