*So sorry I'm late... ... decided that it didn't like me, and refused to let me upload Chapter 5. :P But here it is! And those of you who have been hoping to see other Dex Holders have had your wish granted. ;) You get to see them in this chapter! :D (I didn't include B/W or Sinnoh though, because they've never met canonically.)*

Chapter 5

Sapphire's Pokegear started ringing, and she quickly covered the sound before it could wake up Ruby, walking out of the room to answer the call. "Who is it?"

"Sapphire!" cried an all too familiar female voice. A particular senior that always had to be annoying someone. At the moment, it was her. "The rest of us just arrived on a ferry, you know, us 'dex Holders. Do you and Ruby want to meet up with us?"

Sapphire felt the urge to pop her senior's happy, bubbly, well, bubble. So not possessing much more self-control, she answered Blue in an icy voice that made even the cunning thief shiver. "I apologize, but Ruby nearly drowned on da way here, lost his memory, and we're stuck in da hospital. I don't think we can make it today!"

"Sapphire, slow down! What happened?" asked Blue worriedly. "How did he nearly drown? Is he okay?"

"We got caught in a huge storm on the way here. He got knocked off Walo by a giant wave, and if it weren't fer Zuzu, he'd have- have-" Suddenly, Sapphire envisioned the other possible result. Ruby's body, cold and completely still, floating atop the waves, beautiful eyes closed together. It wasn't the first time he'd nearly died in front of her... But this was hitting her the hardest. Because most of time, he'd be up and as peppy as usual the next day, either laughing or complaining the disaster and worries away. This time around, his silence and vulnerability was scaring her. So it wasn't so hard, wasn't so difficult, for her to suddenly break down in tears. "-died," she finally choked out.

Blue was silent for a few minutes, and Sapphire could hear traces of conversation between her and other faint voices, like Green's cool drawl, sounding slightly worried, the young man's way of expressing serious concern, Gold's hot-headed outburst of "Of course we have to go! That's my kohai in the hospital!", and Blue herself trying to explain without everybody jumping with questions at every word.

"So... Are we allowed to come in and visit? I'm sure a nice visit from all of us is bound to trigger something!" said Blue, trying to cheer Sapphire up, her tone light and eager. "What harm can it do?"

"He's supposed ta be resting. And ya guys would wake him up. Also, if he woke up and saw eight strangers in da room, he might panic." And I don't think it would be right if they saw him vulnerable like this... It just seems more... private. "So, no. We'll pass on that offer."

"How about tomorrow then? Take him to the festival with you and we can meet up, have some cotton candy, chill out, and have some fun!"

"He has a concussion. He's not supposed ta strain himself," said Sapphire, making another excuse, though Blue's idea did sound appealing.

"So we'll take it easy," the older girl amended, still persistent. "Come on, Sapphire! Let's make a deal. If he can be let out of the hospital tomorrow, come with us! Take his Pokemon too. We'll reserve a private picnic ground and you can help him get reacquainted with all his lovely Pokemon. Just give it a chance, please Sapphire?"

Sapphire hesitated, starting to cave in. After all, she had been planning to call up her seniors and invite them to go to the festival with her and Ruby before disaster struck. And Ruby most likely would have fun... "Fine."

"Awesome! Call me tomorrow once he's ready to go and we'll come up with a place!" declared Blue happily. "Don't worry, everything will be absolutely fine!"

"Who are we meeting again?" asked Ruby, tugging at his collar, looking nervous as Sapphire dragged him lightly through the festival crowd.

"Friends from different regions. Pokedex holders. Like us." Sapphire took out her Pokedex, an invaluable tool, and waved it, remembering that Ruby's was still in his bag, waterlogged and barely functioning. Salt water+Pokedex=Pokedex in urgent need of repair. "I'll help you figure out names later. I promised Blue we'd get there by ten, and it's already nine fifty-five!"

"Who's Blue then?" inquired Ruby, hungry for information. "How do I know her?"

"She's yer senior by four years or so. Ya first met her at da Battle Frontier where we fought off Guile, who turned out ta be da head of Team Aqua, Archie, who we thought ya got rid of half a year before that. Am I confusing you?"

"Yes," answered Ruby bluntly. "Start over and slow down please."

"Fine... Blue is an annoyin' person who loves ta tease da both of us. She loves to put us in awkward situations. Like the time she made one of her Pokemon use Attract on ya ta make ya temporarily fall in love with me." That had been... surprising, and completely embarassing for the both of them. For starters, a thirteen year old pinning his best friend to the ground and attempting to kiss her before waking up from the Pokemon attack simply looked wrong. Both of them had attempted to strangle Blue after that. But their senior had mysteriously disappeared on them that time.

"Want me to do it again? And who are you calling annoying?" Speak of the devil, and the devil shall appear. Wearing a mini-skirt and with pink Pokemon on either shoulder of course. "Admit it, you've missed me," teased Blue, giving Sapphire a quick noogie, completely messing up her hair.

Ruby looked at the young brown-haired woman tentatively, trying to figure out what to make of her. As his hat could not be found, Sapphire had resorted to patting hair over his double scar, hoping it would at least deflect attention from it. She mentally promised to buy him a new hat. Of course, Blue's eyes were some of the sharpest around.

"Ruby! When did you get that scar? Poor thing. Are you okay? Your big sister Blue has been worried," said the woman, figuring familiarity was the way to go. After all, approaching Ruby like a stranger wasn't bound to do much, was it? Nope, I'd she acted normally, it was more likely to get results. Hopefully.

"Um... I'm not sure. But I feel.. okay I guess? Dizzy?" he replied weakly, cowering under the onslaught of Blue's... big sisterness. Or just Blue in general, it was hard to tell.

"He's had da scar since childhood," brushed off Sapphire, skillfully skirting off the topic. It was a story that didn't really belong to other people. She'd tell it to Ruby later. "Where are the others?"

"Ferris Wheel. They should be getting off right about-"

"Blue!" called out Red, running with Green right beside him. "Have you found Ruby and Sapphire yet?"

"Here," she presented, signaling to her underclassmen with a flourish of her arms. "Remember that Ruby isn't... his normal self."

Like you bothered ta try... thought Sapphire, rolling her eyes. Ruby still looked slightly nervous, pulling uncomfortably at his collar. Ya scared him... Can't ya see that at least? Even I haven't been that open…

"Hey, Ruby!" said a shy-looking blonde, a small smile on her face as she stepped up to the boy, holding her hand out for him to shake. "My name is Yellow! Nice to see you again!"

Ruby seemed relieved that this shorter girl was not attacking him. "Hello... Yellow," he said quietly, taking her outstretched hand and giving it a quick shake. "You seem like a nice person."

"Gee... Thanks!" The girl replied, her bright smile growing wider. "You're a nice guy too, Ruby! You helped groom all my Pokemon once! They looked do pretty afterwards!"

Yellow and Blue were the only ones who didn't really mind Ruby smearing make-up all over their Pokemon. Yellow simply didn't care and simply laughed as her Pokemon were brushed under Ruby's skillful hands and Blue enjoyed the chance to give her Pokemon some more pizazz. After an unfortunate incident involving Charizard, Pika, mascara, and lipstick, Red and Green refused to let Ruby bring his bag of Pokemon make-up anywhere close to them, especially seeing they'd said 'no' beforehand. Gold, Silver, Crystal and Emerald simply followed suit. Blue filmed the whole thing.

"I'm good at grooming Pokemon?" asked Ruby, in more of a 'I see' way than a 'Really?' "That's... interesting."

"I have a picture!" piped up Yellow helpfully, pulling a camera out of her small gold purse. "After Blue told us what happened yesterday, I looked through my computer for any pictures I had of you or your Pokemon! Look! This is you and my Chuchu! See how pretty she looks?" In the picture, Chuchu had been given an adorable look (not that she hadn't already been absolutely unbearably adorable), her cute eyes striking with long lashes that looked natural, a bit of dark gold eyeshadow around the rims, and a cute hat Ruby had sowed on whim, completing the image.

"It's really cute!" he commented, taking the camera from Yellow. "But I like doing make-up? That seems a bit... weird."

Sapphire chuckled weakly. Funny that Ruby would finally realize that once he'd lost his memory. He'd usually fiercely defend his less-masculine hobbies and refuse to admit they were completely girly in nature, but it seemed he hadn't retained that part of him either. So... strange.

"It's not that bad," comforted Sapphire, taking her place alongside Ruby once more. "Alright! Introduction time! Ready, Ruby?"

"I guess?"

"This is Red, he's a Pokemon League champion, and is our senpai by four years, like Blue." Red waved, turning away from his active discussion on Pokemon battle tactics with Green. "And this Green, he's da same age as Red, and he's a Gym Leader!" Green looked over and gave a nod. Then he turned back. "He ain't da most friendly guy," she whispered to Ruby, who cracked a grin. "And this is Blue, who ya already know. These two are Gold and Silver. Gold's da one holding da big stick and with da goggles on his head-"

"It's a billiard cue! It's not a stick!" interrupted Gold as Silver rolled his eyes.

"Let Sapphire get on with it." Silver shifted his red hair out of his steely eyes. "Continue."

"Um..." Sapphire cleared her throat as Ruby started to look somewhat confused. It probably was a lot to take in at once. Eight new faces when he was still adjusting to her's and his parents'. "And this is Crystal. She's caught every Pokemon in da world? Ain't that right?"

"Not all of them," said Crystal modestly. "I couldn't catch the legendaries, at least not all of them."

"Close enough, Crystal! The amount of Pokemon you've caught is amazing!" said another small blond, except this one had green eyes, abnormally long eyebrows, and a bright viridian gem stuck in the middle of his forehead. He smirked as he looked over to Ruby. "And I'm Emerald! My Sceptile beat your Milotic once! It was a really close battle though! I'd love to do it again. Do you remember how to battle?"

"I- I'm not sure..." answered Ruby, hesitant as usual. "I can remember some moves and stuff, but everything's a blur."

"How about we go at it then?" asked Emerald. "A casual battle! Maybe you'll remember something! Whaddaya say?"

"Emerald, he has a concussion," started Sapphire, not sure that she should let Ruby participate in something as intense as a Pokemon battle.

"We'll go easy. Just one Pokemon. And I'll give him a type advantage. What do you say, Ruby?"

"Sure? Now which Pokemon should I use?" He held out his Pokemon, which Sapphire had given to him, allowing Emerald to carefully look over each one.

"Use your Mightyena. I'll use Dusknoir. Ghost-types are weak against Dark- types."

"My Mightyena... eh... Neh, Sapphire, what's this one's nickname again? You told me but I forget. My head was hurting when you were talking yesterday," said Ruby apologetically, releasing the wolf-like Pokemon from the ball.

"Her name is Nana. Ya've had her since you were really little." I'm pretty sure at least... "Yer Dad gave her ta ya"

"Nana... She looks really cool, don't you think? Hey there, Nana." He patted his Pokemon's fur, smiling as it barked happily, happy for its master's attention.

Cool... thought Sapphire. Does he remember that, or is it just a coincidence? I didn't talk about Nana's category... At least I don't remember talking about it...

"Let's head to an open place," said Emerald. "Like our picnic reservation. Crystal packed tuna salad sandwiches!"

"Sure. I'm starving!" said Red, and beside him, Green rolled his eyes. "Just because some of us forget to eat for a day because of training doesn't mean all of us do, Green!"

"It's called fasting! Fasting! It makes you stronger! I didn't forget! I did it on purpose!" argued the brown-haired boy. "Some of us aren't wolves when it comes to eating, that's all."

"Those two love ta argue with each other," said Sapphire, recalling how often the two senpai would enter a friendly verbal spar. As far as she could remember, they were some of the only times she'd ever hear her green-eyed senior talk.

They love ta argue... Just like us, Ruby, she wanted to say, but it felt too solemn for such a happy moment, buzzing with energy. All of her friends were trying to make things happy and upbeat- she should be trying harder to do so as well. Everyone worked better in a happy atmosphere, and Sapphire was sure that applied to memory recall.

"Dusknoir, go!"

"Go, Nana!"

The two Pokemon were released from their Pokeballs in a brilliant flash of light, spinning to face each other, the luminous gold of Nana's eyes glaring into the Dusknoir's single red eye as the two circled slowly, waiting for their trainer's command.

"Do you know your Pokemon's moves?" asked Emerald across the field, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Do you need to borrow a Pokedex?"

"Take mine, Ruby," said Sapphire, handing him the red device. He turned it over a couple times in his hands, turning it on with a click of a button. "'kay, now ya gotta hit this, and now it'll show ya how Nana is doing and how much she's hurt and what moves she can do. It can also show ya status conditions and everything, so it's really useful. You got it?"

"Yeah," replied Ruby, summoning up his knowledge of Pokemon battles. It seemed to be one of few- if not the only- thing that he could remember well, just not the Pokemon involved. He could feel the confidence soaring through his veins, the power he held in his command, and knew that he could win the battle as long as he remained focus. "I know what to do."

"Then what are ya waiting for? Give Emerald's Dusnoir a nice blow ta da face!" cheered Sapphire as Ruby finished looking through Nana's attacks.

"Nana, start off with Howl!" commanded Ruby, and the Mightyena arched its back, letting out a vicious roar, making the hair on everyone's neck tingle with surprise and fear. In the midday sun, Nana's black fur shone like light on metal, the kind of look that would have had Ruby stop the battle and take a few minutes to take pictures. But not now. This Ruby wanted to fight. Sapphire could see it in the fire that had erupted in his eyes. "Now, use Odor Sleuth!"

Sapphire nodded her approval. Dusknoir being a Ghost-type, many of Nana's normal-type moves would be unable to damage it, including its strongest attack, Hyper Beam. With the Mightyena's increased attack and ability to use any move to take down Emerald's Pokemon, Ruby had the advantage from the very start of the battle.

"Dusknoir, freeze Mightyena with your Blizzard attack!" shouted Emerald, not willing to be outdone. With his Pokemon's large variety of powerful attacks, he was sure he could beat Ruby, even if his opponent was incredibly strong. In fact, Emerald could feel Ruby's power, the strong aura emanating from the teen, so much different from the last time they had fought. Emerald forgot he was supposed to be going easy. He was going to go all out to win.

Nana was swept up by the freezing winds, buffeted by snow and ice while Ruby quickly formulated a plan to counter the Blizzard attack. "Nana, use Roar to clear out the Blizzard and to knock Dusknoir back!"

The Mightyena opened its mouth wide, revealing sharp teeth (shining white of course- Ruby never failed to brush its teeth to keep them in 'perfect condition) as it let out another powerful Roar, this one more forceful, pushing back the winds and even causing the Dusknoir to stumble back a couple of feet, now surrounded by its own Blizzard attack. "Now, Nana! Hyper Beam while it's unable to dodge!"

It took barely a second for the move to charge, and the solid beam of energy struck Dusknoir right in the center, sending it flying backwards, hitting the ground with a thud. To all the onlookers, it looked like Ruby had already won the battle, but both Ruby and Emerald knew that Dusknoir wasn't done yet.

"While Mightyena's recharging, use Will-O-Wisp to burn it!" To everyone's surprise, the Dusknoir rose immediately, sending the bright blue flames to the temporarily frozen Mightyena, surrounding it and singing its fur.

Ruby would normally immediately call the battle quits and fuss over the now burnt edges of Nana's fur, taking scissors and expertly cutting off the hair that couldn't be saved, carefully brushing the strands that could be salvaged until they were back to normal. Sapphire almost expected it to happen, Ruby's usual 'sissy fit' as she had dubbed it, seeing it happened every time Toro went against Nana in their daily training battles, but Ruby was unfazed.

"Nana, use Sucker Punch!" Quick as a flash, the Mightyena was already at Dusknoir's side, clubbing it in the side of the head with a powerful paw, claws extended, leaving slashes as the Dusknoir fell back, severely damaged by the Super Effective attack.

"It's not over yet! Dusknoir, Fire Punch while Mightyena's still close!"

"Dodge and use Take Down!" Nana swiftly jumped over the flaming fist, launching itself at the ghost Pokemon and tackling it to the ground, where it remained still.

Sapphire counted in her head, wondering if the Dusknoir was still capable of fighting. Ten, nine, eight, seven…

"Dusknoir's down," sighed Emerald, plopping down the ground, obviously upset. "Dang it! And I thought I could win for sure! This sucks!"

"Well, you did give him the type advantage," Crystal reminded him, patting him on the head like an older sister would. "And you probably underestimated him as well. I didn't realize Ruby was so strong. The last time… Well, it was five years ago. Probably not a good way to judge."

"Is anything coming back ta ya, Ruby?" asked Sapphire, looking over at his smiling face. "Anything at all?"

All of a sudden, his smile faded, replaced by an apologetic grown. "Not really... But this battling... feels familiar. Did I really hate battling? Because it's quite fun." He held his hand out and Nana bent her head, letting herself be rubbed with a toothy grin. "I also feel like I know this Pokemon really well if that helps. I just don't remember anything about it."

"Well, progress is progress!" encouraged Sapphire heartily. "Don't worry, Ruby, we'll get ya back ta normal in no time! By da way, here's a potion for Nana. Ya probably don't feel like runnin' ta a Pokecenter right now, do ya?"

"Thanks," he replied, spraying the healing liquid over the areas where Dusknoir had burned Nana, the wolf letting out what sounded like sighs of relief.

"Who wants sandwiches?" offered Crystal, taking out a whole box of them. "Take as many as you want! I packed plenty!"

"We should get shome fair food too, Krysh," said Gold, his mouth filled with bread and tuna salad. "I mean, we're already," he took another bite, "here, sho we should get shomething schpecial!"

"Don't talk with your mouth full!" scolded Crystal, rolling her eyes as he simply chuckled. "It's rude and disgusting."

He gulped down his food, the sandwich completely disappearing into his stomach. "Fine. Come on, Silver, let's get some food."

"Get your hands off me," argued the red-haired boy, pulling his wrist free. "Go by yourself. I'm only going when I'm ready for dessert."

"Come on!" whined Gold annoyingly. "Didn't that Gyoza stand we passed earlier look great? And what about the Sausage stand? Those don't count as dessert."

"But Hoenn's famous Lavaridge cookies and Tropius fruits do. So go by yourself."

"Fine, be a jerk," said Gold disappointedly, heading off on his own.

"I really feel like battling after watching that," commented Red, walking over to Ruby. "How about we have a quick match after lunch? One Pokemon each."

"Sure, you're on!" said Ruby before Sapphire could think about it. "Which Pokemon are you going to use?"

"That's a secret," said Red, winking. "Your Pokemon'll be a secret to me too."

There was suddenly an explosion; one that caused the earth itself to rumble, and Sapphire swore she could see cracks running across the ground. Fire burst inside the festival, merry sounds of celebration turned to screams of fear.

They stood frozen for a second, watching as the fire started to devour everything in its path, sending the occasional spray of red into the air as it found something flammable to destroy.

Then Crystal's shocked cry broke through their stupor, "Gold! He's in those flames!"

*ZOMG Long chapter. O.o I'm surprised at the length... It all started out so merrily... And then... Disaster strikes! :D Teehee! XD Review Reply time(literally, there's one review. :P)!

paintersmurffan12: Thanks so much. :3 I'm glad you like it. :D Hopefully you liked this as well. ;)

See you guys next week! (in the hopes that I regain 's favor. :P)*