*I like the beginning of this chapter. :V The rest of not so much. *sigh* I have a speech tomorrow, and I'm so unprepared. The words just won't come out, you know what I mean? DX Oh well... Here's the chapter. I'm a little too depressed to say much else.*

Chapter 8

Sapphire's body seemed to be set in stone, her grimace, her fierce, unwavering gaze, the way her arms were locked protectively around Ruby like a cage of sorts. She showed no outward fear towards the Gallade holding its sharp blades arms at her neck, but inside, she was filled with unspeakable terror, desperate to escape, with no exit in sight. There could be no worse feeling in the world, being helpless, about to have your most important person be torn away, unable to save them, and far beyond the reach of miracles. It was a living nightmare, the worst thing Sapphire felt she had ever been through and that was quite a statement.

Her heart was fluttering fast as a Yanmega's wings, unrelenting as it pumped fire-hot but useless adrenaline throughout her body, filling her with the desire to fight her way out, but her mind knew better. She breathed deep and slow; her only way of staying even remotely calm, the steady, controllable rhythm of her own breathing, which was becoming less controllable by the second. In, out, in, out... The only thing she could depend on right now in this impossible, unpredictable situation.

"It's a hard choice, I know," said the man almost sympathetically, his voice low and soothing as he faced Sapphire, even bending down to meet her glare at eye level, examining her emotions with interest, as if she were some specimen under a microscope. "I was young and in love once too, and I'd have given my life for the girl I loved. Back then, someone else meant more to me than my own self. But now I see sense, and know what a foolish thing that would have been. No one is worth more than yourself; especially not if the worth is based on the senseless thing called love. Love will bring a person down to the point of no repair, drive him, or her, to the point of madness, and destroy them. At the moment, the foolish, ridiculous emotion known as love will kill you if you're not careful." His voice was smooth, but Sapphire could have sworn she heard his voice shake in sorrow. She could hear the sincerity, but also the regret. It didn't matter.

She was filled with silent outrage, wanting to shout at him, how her love for Ruby only made her life better, brought her hope for each and every day, made her smile, laugh, dream. How love always put smiles on people's faces, let laughter into the air, spread joy through the world, bringing it up, not down, not to destruction, but creating a thriving, living, joyful world. But no words would come out, she felt as if she were choking, so she could only seethe and think the words in her head.

The man sighed, staring pitifully at her face, which, unknown to her, was written all over with denial of his words, his blasphemy of love. Her rebellious attitude was starting to make him slightly wary, nervous. People did strange, unpredictable things when they were in love. "Then if you will not listen to me, your fate has been sealed."

Sapphire remained silent, staring him down with anger and fear, knowing that a miracle would not happen now. She could stay quiet no longer as the man raised his hands, words escaping her lips, a faint trembling whisper of, "No, please. Don't do this. Anything but this." She could hardly hear herself, let alone know if he heard.

"Power, not love, is what is important in this life. Age will teach you that lesson, and you will learn it well. Let me make this very simple for you. I'll take mercy on you today. Gengar!" The word 'mercy' gave her hope for a second, made her feel like a balloon, but then she plummeted down as she recognized the vicious look in the Gengar's eyes. It was about to attack. Golden rings burst out of its hands, surrounding her, trapping her.

The ghost Pokemon was suddenly all she could see, the purple, translucent body and the glowing, vivid red of its malicious eyes filling her vision, like everything else had disappeared.

Sapphire closed her eyes, waiting for the finishing blow, not able to face her doom. Instead of pain, her body started to feel tired, making her sway as she fell to her knees, unable to open her eyes even though she now wanted to, the struggle only making her more tired. The strength melted out of her body like ice thrown into a scorching desert.

She felt Ruby's warm, limp body being pried from her arms and she let out a meek cry of protest, but I came out slurred and slow, dulled by sudden exhaustion. No, she thought, falling to the ground, unable to lift herself up.

"Good Hypnosis, Gengar," praised the man, and Sapphire heard the happy, creepy laughter of the ghost Pokemon. "I chose the easiest way for both of us, Sapphire. I find it a waste to destroy young life with as much potential as yours. So you can be assured I won't hurt Ruby more than is necessary. He'll make it out alive, most likely. He's young and strong, like you. Our spar is over. This is good bye for us."

Fighting off the sleep as best she could, she feebly opened her now shadowed blue eyes, struggling to stay awake. "At least tell me who ya are?" she demanded, though her words were marred with the mark of slumber, making them almost incoherent.

"You can call me... Rei." He leaned down, pulling down his hood to reveal his face for the slightest moment, smiling. "The king of a new world."

He couldn't be older than twenty-five, just a few years ahead of Green and Red, and his blond hair was almost white in color, but she could tell it wasn't bleached, and his eyes were a contrasting dark silver. They held depths she couldn't see, couldn't understand. His smirk was filled with arrogance, and she could see that confident snide smile even as she fell asleep.

Sirens still sounded around the ruined festival ground, fire trucks come to ensure that the fire was truly gone, ambulances from nearby cities as well as Lilycove's, and a few police cars investigating the start of the fire. From Emerald's testimony, they had the knowledge that it was no accidental fire, but has no clues towards the culprit. It was as if a spark suddenly ignited and lit the entire place with a scorching blaze.

There was a roar from above, and the loud flapping of wings. The orange dragon was an approaching speck in the sky as it raced back to its owner, who was waiting for it on the ground below with the slightest of smiles on his face.

"Looks like Charizard's back," commented Green, watching his Pokemon flying back with an almost indifferent look on his face, the grin only visible if you peeled off several layers of the ice that was Green. While he had been worried about Ruby and was happy to see Charizard had done its job well, his main concern at the moment was helping his Pokemon release people from under burnt rubble. Soot covered his hands and hair, like dark gray dust, the same soot covering his Pokemon, giving his surroundings a washed-out, grayscale look, his eyes one of the only signs of life. "That was pretty quick- like what, five, six minutes? Now he can get started helping me too. Machamp is good at lifting things, but it's not fast enough alone."

The other Dex holders were scattered in a close area, each helping with something, save Emerald, who was still trying to revive his and Sapphire's fainted Pokemon to no avail. They were all covered with the film of gray that was spread across the city by the wind, making the day's tragedy look even duller.

"I hope the doctor taking care of Ruby was still there," said Yellow, fidgeting worryingly, using her healing powers on burnt Pokemon, stifling a yawn, looking behind her at the crowd of medics and ambulances. The ambulances were taking the severely injured back to the hospital, and medical tents were being set up to take care of those in less injured. "After all, there are a bunch of doctors here and that hospital isn't really all that big. It's the emergency hospital after all, and most of those employees are here."

"He has a fever and simply needs some medicine and rest," assured Crystal, helping pitch a medical tent with her Pokemon, accepting a grateful 'Thank You' from a doctor with a smile. "Any doctor or nurse could manage that. I could handle it if you gave me some fever medicine and a bed to put him in. I'm only worried it'll cause him more trauma."

"Do you think the Pokemon Center is still open?" asked Emerald, looking at his wounded Pokemon, and Sapphire's, which were barely conscious in the Pokeballs Emerald placed them in temporarily. In her haste, Sapphire hadn't returned most of her Pokemon, and he was forced to dig Pokeballs out of his bag to contain them. "These guys are hurt real bad, and the potions and revives aren't doing much help. Yellow can't heal injuries this bad either."

Yellow had already taken a look at the ugly gashes ripped across Sceptile's back, caused by Salamence's powerful, vicious Fly, the terrible scratches the same dragon Pokemon has inflicted on Sapphire's Rono; the Salamence's claws had pierced through even Aggron's tough steel armor and rocky scales, not to mention the drop from the sky which had damaged Rono's insides as well, just barely missing killing the Pokemon. Emerald shuddered as he remembered the man saying, "Pity it's raining... I would have used Fire Blast to burn your Sceptile to a crisp otherwise..."

This damage was getting out of the battle lucky. His Pokemon could easily have been killed in such a dangerous battle, but instead, they were now incapable of moving, wounded almost to the point of death, and he wasn't even sure if they'd survive a run to the Pokemon Center.

"Most likely, but I think you should see if there's a makeshift one here," suggested Red, looking around for red and white Pokeball mark that would signify a Pokecenter. He was quietly reeling from seeing how badly Emerald's Pokemon were injured. The young boy had actually managed to beat him in battle once (Red was caught slightly off-guard) and if an opponent could beat Emerald this easily, he'd pose a daunting, perhaps unbeatable challenge for Red himself. And that was unthinkable. But it could be true.

There was a roar, and a rumbling of stomps as Charizard landed hard on the ground with a extremely loud thud, drawing eyes to it from all around the festival. Seemingly on a mini rampage, it grabbed its trainer and tried to speak, only impossible to understand growls coming out.

"Charizard, what's wrong?" Green exclaimed, voice loud and surprised as the Pokemon frantically started to tug him away, flapping its powerful wings and starting to lift its trainer into the air. "Cut it out!"

"Wait, Green, let me talk to him," said Yellow, stepping in and laying her hand on the orange lizard's snout. Closing her light brown eyes, she slowly delved into Charizard's mind, taking in what it had seen and heard, eyes flashing open in panic, her body trembling as she watched the scenes Charizard had watched, the utter horror of it. "No..." she whispered, oblivious to what was around her, Red's hand on her shoulder, trying to call her back. "No... It can't be!"

"Yellow, what happened to Charizard?" asked Red, voice steady and demanding, but betraying fear. "Yellow!" He grabbed her shoulders and shook her gently, trying to revive her from the shock.

"Charizard saw a man knock out Sapphire and take Ruby. He had a Gengar and a Gallade, and he was wearing a dark gray cloak with the hood down but Charizard couldn't see his face well." Yellow stopped, looking towards her friends, her grimace full of horror but also filled with determination and resolve. "We need to get the hospital, now! We have to save them!"

"We're splitting into teams of two," said Green, quickly taking command, all the Dex owners already present and alert. "One goes to help Sapphire and the other goes and tries to find Ruby. Crystal, you have your Arcanine, right?" The blue-haired girl nodded, releasing the dog-like fire-type she had recently started training, its sensitive nose already sniffing Ruby's dropped Pokedex, which was held in Crystal's hand. "Go and find Ruby. Take Gold, Silver, and Blue with you. Red, Yellow, and I will go to the hospital. Emerald, you have to stay and get your and Sapphire's Pokemon healed. No buts, you'd be useless in a fight right now. Once they're taken care of, see if you can track down Crystal." Emerald opened his mouth to protest, but Green didn't even give him a second to start arguing, placing his hand onto his Pokemon's neck. "Go, now! Charizard! As fast as you possibly can!"

Green hopped on, pulling Yellow up with him, placing her behind him, as Red grabbed onto Aero feet, making his grip was tight and secure. The two flying-types flew with equal speed, their two 'pilots' completely absorbed in thoughts of their destination and the potential danger.

If the man was still there with Ruby, in the hospital, would that mean they'd have to battle in such a confined space? It'd be hard to counter the special attacker Gengar, thought Green, and the close-range battler Gallade without suffering the same fate as Emerald. Red was thinking about the same things, but he was trying to turn the confined area into his advantage. Any Pokemon would have limited movement, but Pika was small and fast enough to be unaffected by the unadvategeous choice in arena. Though even Pika couldn't fight two extremely powerful enemies at once.

Green was torn between hoping the man wasn't there, saving his Pokemon from devastating injury while at the same time raring to exact revenge for the attacks and now kidnapping of his juniors, to give the mystery man what he deserved.

There was no sign of anything when they landed a few meters from the hospital entrance, no sound of Pokemon, no ambush, and no one in sight. The three Kanto Dex holders were cautious as they dismounted their Pokemon, taking care to make sure they weren't surprise attacked, in sync as they covered each other's backs even though they said nothing.

Green released all of his Pokemon, Red and Yellow doing so also, so in the case of a battle, it would be eighteen Pokemon vs. at max, two or three. He took caution in approaching the door, using his Golduck's Confusion to try and detect any traps. After all, Gengar had the ability to render itself invisible. Golduck sensed nothing after a moment, and Green barged through the doors, Red right beside him, looking around for a blue-clothed girl, finding her a few meters down a nearby hall close to the entrance, lying on her stomach, eyes closed, on the floor.

"Sapphire!" said Yellow, speeding past Green as she ran up to her collapsed kohai, eyes a panicked blur of browns and golds. The brown-haired girl didn't respond. "Sapphire, wake up!"

*Review Replies!

FighterGirl14: Ah... thoughts... I usually try and go for italics, but since this is all written on an iTouch, that's impossible. :/ Once I send it to my computer, I usually forget or am a little too tired to do it. I tried to put it in this time though. :3 You got Rei's name and looks in this chapter- soon, you'll hear a bit of his backstory. As far as 'true identity', he's an OC, but I guess you could call his past a true identity. XD Thanks for the review!

soraroxas365: Yup. :3 I always make the characters suffer, I don't really know why. XD Maybe because I suck at fluff. Thanks for the review!

Gur40goku: Sapphire took Ruby back to see if she could get him treatment. I don't know if you can really say they 'saved' Sapphire since Rei had left by that point, but I guess that was somewhat close. XD If you're talking about Rei, he just really needs Ruby for some mysterious, currently unknown reason. :3 See if you can figure it out! XD

Please review! They really cheer me up and motivate me to write. It doesn't even have to be a full sentence. I just need some motivation, that's all. Thanks for your time! Check back next week!*