*Hi~ I'm back, with another chapter for all of you! ;) Are you all ready? XD I don't have much to say, so I guess I'll just end this author's note here!*

Chapter 23

"Silver!" cried Blue, quickly crawling back over to where her boyfriend lay still on the ground, ignoring the fact that Kyogre was preparing another attack. "Silver!" Her voice was more painful than any injury Yellow could imagine. She thought about how she'd feel if Red had pushed her out of the way of an attack- and taken the force of the blow. She thought about how Silver had just pushed her out of the way as well, saving her life, and immediately felt guilt and sorrow. "Silver, open your eyes! Move, please!"

"Blue," said Yellow, voice strained and worried, running over to her not crying senior. "We've got to get Silver out of here, we all have to get out of here. Kyogre is trying to kill us!"

"Feraligatyr!" called Blue. She didn't have the strength to carry Silver as he did to carry her, though she remembered the days when she once could. The days when it had been her protecting him from danger instead of the other way around. When had things changed so drastically? "Help Silver, please."

Silver's Feraligatyr of course obeyed without question, easily lifting its master and walking quickly away, out of Kyogre's sight. Blue and Yellow followed it, Yellow carefully watching to make sure that they would not be blasted head on again by the legendary. It seemed to ignore them, thinking it had done its duty- after all, it was kind of hard to see through the trees, and it looked as of Kyogre was in a hurry to find someone. Its master, Rei.

They ran for a good couple of minutes, and then Feraligatyr stopped suddenly, causing Yellow to ram right into its rough, hard back. Blue clenched her fists as she stated through the burnt foliage. She could see Rei standing in the middle of the clearing, Kyogre flying in lazy circles above his head. She could hear loud, tree crushing footsteps approaching- Groudon.

"Red!" breathed Yellow, about to charge forward, but Blue caught her by the wrist. "Blue, let-"

"Yellow, stay quiet. We'll just distract them and give Rei an easy target if we do that. Look- Rei's paying the least attention to Gold. It looks like he's hurt. Once we're sure Rei doesn't see, we'll go join from where Gold is."

"I can't just wait here and watch!" whispered Yellow fearfully, hungry gaze glued to the back of Red's head, watching as he dove in and out of the battle. "Rei's going to have the legendaries attack any minute now, and Red- Red- he could end up like Silver. Or worse."

"Yellow, try and heal him, please," begged Blue suddenly, motioning for Feraligatyr to lay Silver onto the ground. He lay still, the only sign of life his painful rasping breath. "I think a few of his ribs are broken. I know you healed me, and I know it's hard for you, but if there's only one thing that you'll ever do for me again, make it saving Silver. Please."

Yellow looked over at her seemingly sleeping junior. He looked as if he were- but the pale tone of his skin, the painful gasps, and the fact that he had been knocked unconscious and unresponding by Kyogre showed that he was not.

"Of course I'll try and save Silver," said Yellow, walking over and laying her small hand on Silver's chest. She felt a break in one of his ribs. " I would do anything for family."

Blue breathed a sigh of happy relief. " I'll go get Gold then. And I know Silver will be safe with you, Yellow."

It sounded awfully like a farewell of sorts. "Blue, are you going to-"

"Fight?" Blue finished for her, azure eyes shining with anger and sorrow. "I can do nothing here but wait. I'm useless here. But if I fight- I can help Silver so much more than just standing here and trying to keep from crying. I'll make sure to protect Red. You'll be watching through here- there's nothing to worry about."

If only, thought Yellow despairingly. But Blue's right- she should fight. I'm no good at battling compared to everyone else. I'll just get in the way. If I'm here though, I can save my friend. "I know," answered Yellow, oddly subdued. "Go, Blue. Help Red, please."

Blue nodded, sneaking off as only she could, towards where Gold lay. Even Yellow, who watched her entire trail, lost sight of her before Blue had reached her target. She could when her brown-haired senpai did though- Gold almost jumped into the air- luckily, Rei's attention was focused mainly on the other, not yet injured Dex Holders. As Yellow looked closely, she saw how pale Gold was- evidently from blood loss. There were deep cuts running along his skin, on his arms, his legs, and a slice in his shirt that left the nearby threads coated in dark crimson. And the injury was still bleeding.

"Get him over here," was what Yellow wanted to say. Gold's injuries, she knew she could fix. They were skin wounds, minor compared the injuries she could feel on Silver. Fractured bones, bruises everywhere, not to mention that many of the bone fragments came awfully close to piercing his lungs and heart. She could simply sense the full extent of his injuries, as if reading from a book of them. She wasn't sure how much she could do. But she had to try.

It was hard to describe what healing was like- Yellow didn't truly understand what she was doing. Closing her eyes, she let the healing light course through her body as if it had replaced her blood, feeling it leave her hands into another force, one currently weaker than her own. It was like transferring a bit of your own energy, own life- which was why she always felt exhausted after reviving a Pokemon or human. For Silver, she wasn't sure how much energy was left to give.

It was enough for him to wake up in any case- he hadn't been exhausted to the same extent as Blue, but Yellow felt guilty for waking him. After all, now he could feel the pain, and Yellow wasn't an anesthesia. He had to lie still and suffer.

"Where's Blue? Is she okay?" Those were the first words out of Silver's mouth. He sounded hurt, but more worried than anything else. Yellow felt like smiling, just a little. No matter what happened, her junior was always strong, putting someone in front of himself no matter what else he may say.

"She's fine. She's battling," answered Yellow, stifling a yawn. She was starting to feel the relentless lethargy.

"Battling?" Silver sat up quickly, making Yellow recoil in shock. His eyes were wide and alert with fear. "Yellow, she's still hurt, how could you let her-"

"She wanted to," answered bluntly, pushing Silver back into a lying position. "And get back down! You have broken ribs."

"I've had worse. Will got me pretty bad back when we were fighting near the shrine, but I still fought."

"Well I won't let you," said Yellow stubbornly, letting out Kitty despite the rain. "I can make Kitty put you to sleep with Sleep Powder, or you can stay awake and stay still."

"Fine. But I can't see anything from here," complained Silver tersely, trying to turn to a better angle. "If something happens to Blue though, I swear, I am getting up and fighting no matter what you try and do to stop me. Sleep Powder can't get far in the rain," he said triumphantly. "I don't care if I have a broken rib."

"Are all of you boys like this?" asked Yellow, sighing. "Gold's hurt bad, and it looks like he's bleeding everywhere, but he's trying his best to keep fighting."

"That's how we all are, Yellow," said Silver laughing. "We're Dex Holders. It's our job. You know you'd fight too if you weren't here caring for me." Silver's tone strongly hinted that he didn't need to be cared for. Yellow wondered how he sounded so energetic.

"I know." Yellow yawned, a big yawn, continuing to heal Silver. Humans healed so much slower than Pokemon. His bone was only just beginning to mend. "Tell me if it hurts."

"I don't feel a thing. Just let me up."

"Liar." Yellow poked him firmly, but not hard, above his bone.

"Ow!" Silver bit his lip, glaring. "That was cheap."

"You didn't want Blue fighting right, because she's hurt?"

Silver nodded, looking rebellious. In that instant, he reminded her of Red. Red coulnd't stay out of a battle either. Would he try as hard as these two were to protect Yellow though?

"That's how she feels about you. And I'm listening to her, because it looks like she's better now."

"And I'm not?" challenged Silver.

"I only had to heal her fever. You? A bone. I don't think you get it, Silver. Lucky you weren't hurt too badly by Kyogre's Hydro Pump. You would have been killed if you'd hit the ground on the base of your neck. You landed on your chest," explained Yellow, patience and energy wearing quickly. She felt like passing out and sleeling for a month, hitting Silver- hard- wasn't such a bad idea either. Why did he choose today to become talkative?

"Miracle, isn't it?" said Silver, tensing. "I thought I was going to die, but I didn't care. I could die now, but I won't care as long as I get my chance to fight."

"Silver-"

Silver jumped up and performed an agile backflip backwards. To the untrained eye, he looked fine, but Yellow could see how his breath was uneven, the pain hidden behind his bright gray eyes, how he was slightly hunched over, obviously hurt to her.

"Silver," she started again, releasing Kitty. "Down." She felt as if she were trying to command a disobedient Pokemon. Silver would only ignore her, as would the Pokemon. "Right now." She didn't sound very convincing. "Kitty, use Sleep Powder!"

"Feraligatyr! Use your water to aim the Sleep Powders at her!" commanded Silver, and his Pokemon quickly shot a huge spray of water, knocking the little spores out of the air, and right back down onto Yellow, who fell to her feet, already exhausted, asleep.

"I'm sorry, Yellow, but it's my choice." Silver sounded a little regretful as he placed her under a bush, far from the sight of even an observing eye, but he started running off all the less, one hand placed on his still broken rib."Feraligatyr!" His starter twisted its head to follow his master. "We've got a battle to join!"

"Blue! Silver!" Red looked around towards where his friends had suddenly appeared. Both had already retrieved their Pokemon and actively fighting. "Is Yellow-" He stopped, looking up at Rei's obnoxious, mocking expression. Saying her name was enough for the man to go off on a torturous tangent.

"That little blond girl is simply adorable," commented Rei, laughing. "Yes, tell me, Blue, Silver, how is she? Which one of you did Kyogre manage to kill off? Her?"

Silver snarled, feeling a twinge of searing pain in his chest. Yellow was fine. But Rei's condescending tone, his obvious disregard for life, annoyed the hell out of him. "No one!" he replied, anger written clearly across his face. "So why don't you try some other cheap trick? Because employing one of the strongest Pokemon on earth against three teenagers with two regular Pokemon between them can hardly be regarded as fair. In fact, I'd say it's cowardly."

"And I dismiss your words as jealousy. And the product of emotion. Pointless, stupid emotion. Emotion leads only to weakness," declared Rei coldly. "They only give me another weapon to hurt you with."

"Don't give me that shit!" screamed Silver, surprising even Rei with his intensity. "You've loved too, haven't you? We know. We've heard of her. Ame-"

"You have no right to say her name!" yelled Rei, instantly furious. His dark gray eyes had flared to life in anger. "And that is different. She is dead, she is not a living target. And I know. How could I not?"

"After all, you were the one who killed her, that's what you were going to say, weren't you?" Silver gave Rei the same arrogant smirk the man had always given them. "You can play with my emotions, but I can play with yours too. Never underestimate us."

"Amethyst is dead. You can't hurt her. Even when she was, I was the only one who could. She would beat you all into the ground!" hissed Rei, struggling to maintain his cool composure. He put his hand on the orb again. "It's time for you all to burn! You can die the same way she did! Salamence!"

The dragon Pokemon roared despite looking fit to collapse, stumbling over and lifting itself into the air where it could put the full power of the sun, unhampered by the presence of any shadows, into its attack. Silver moved his finger, gesturing for his Feraligatyr to counter the Salamence before it could do anything. At the same time, Blue asked the same of her Blastoise. Rei was too distracted to notice.

"Any last words?"

"I'm kind of sick of hearing those kinds of words," sighed Gold from the sidelines, causing Silver to roll his eyes despite himself. "After all, it usually ends up being the bad guy's- AKA you- last words. At least, last words before we kick your ass. Or implode, like Archie did."

"Gallade! Psycho Cut!" Gold didn't even have time to blink and the psychic-type, which had been protecting Rei all the while, came at him with the speed of a bullet, wielding its invisible blade, this time- aiming to kill-

"Your emotions really do distract you," commented Gold as Ataro pulled the Gallade back with one of its tails, using the other one to pummel the Gallade- the Psycho Cut instead shredded off a few leaves of the tree above them. "I knew you would send your Gallade over here."

Surprisingly, this time, no one thought he was lying. Well, if he is, thought Silver, then he's got a way better reaction time than I thought.

Rei gritted his teeth- it was obvious that he was losing his concentration. He turned to his Gengar, smiling. "Gengar, show them who to fear! Nightmare!"

Gold suddenly whiffed the smell of blood and looked down to see he was covered with it. His clothes, his skin, cut and painted over with blood, Gold's own blood. The Gallade's invisible sword hit him again and he curled to the ground, hoping to avoid the pain, the death blow-

"Gold!" yelled Crystal, shaking him awake. "Gold! Snap out of it!"

"What- what was that?" Gold stuttered, afraid to look at his body, afraid to look at wear his fingers clenched Crystal's arm, afraid that he would see a trail of blood along her white sleeves... "Nightmare doesn't work on people when they're awake."

"That's what you think. Your blue-eyed friend experienced that too- though I had her suffering for far longer than you," commented Rei, able to hide his emotion in his Poker Face once again. "I wonder where she is now. It would be a shame if she were still trapped on my island."

Before anyone had time to reply, two familiar people stumbled onto the battlefield. One had black hair, red eyes, and was viciously shoving his captive, a girl with brown hair, blue eyes, into the middle of the field. Rei looked over with a smile.

"She's right here," announced Ruby triumphantly, presenting Sapphire to Rei, using his hands to hold her wrists together. Sapphire was struggling hopelessly. "I brought her, master. I ran into her when I was healing my Pokemon."

There was an intake of breath from the other Dex Holders as they saw Sapphire, held captive, by their possessed friend. It was one thing to attack an enemy, but if that enemy had a hostage so dear to their hearts-

"Really," said Rei, voice slow and measured, calculating. "Hand her over. She's quite the hostage." Sapphire tensed, fingering the Pokeball hidden in her wrist. Ruby kept him grip firm- when he squeezed, it would be the signal for Sapphire to attack.

Ruby stepped closer, still holding Sapphire, trying to avoid eye contact with Rei. He waited until he was right in front of the loathsome man, about to squeeze Sapphire's wrist when Rei grabbed him instead, caught Ruby's neck in a vice grip, a dagger suddenly in Rei's hand. Ready to slit Ruby's throat.

*I looooove cliffhangers. (if you haven't noticed yet.) Only two more chapters left after this one, and then we have an epilogue! ;) There's still plenty of action to come! Now for Review Replies...

blazelight790: That's a lot of Lvl. 100s... O.o Though, I would imagine Rei's Pokemon are pretty close to that level. XD (though I'd like to see him take on my Dragon Dance Dragonite... (Glaceon goes down to Brick Break. XD)) There's going to be a Blue/Silver oneshot soon, instead of a Frantic or Special one. But I might write them anyways if I get bored. XD

wolfeclipse25: I don't think so, but who cares? Fake words are fun! Rooreeloo!

Natural Athlete: Thank you! ^^

Guest: Hah, I probably do read too many books where the bad guy dies. XD It just feels more fitting that way~ This story is a bit darker than the manga, and I'm the kind who likes the epic ending where the bad guy dies and the characters are all celebrating and there's angst and all that~ Just my kind of thing.

e: Sure thing. ;)

ZXCVBNMEM: I love evil cliffhangers. I'm an evil, evil person who leaves cliffhangers on every chapter I possibly can! :D I dunno, I just like that. It's my style. XD (probably should change that, but whatever.)

Guest: I don't see what my being in CU has anything to do with the story, nor why a story about DarkSacredJewel would apply to me. Please figure a bit more about what CU does before leaving a pointless flame.

FireMightyena: Agencyshipping has a ton of love! Fanart, fanart EVERYWHERE! (though, I guess there aren't that many fanfics on them...) Chosenshipping definitely needs more though! I love Chosenshipping! They are just so cute! I just need to think of a good idea for a oneshot and I'll be all set... *racks brain* It'll come eventually, I'm sure of it. Hopefully... (it'll probably focus on Silver, since I love Silver)

By the way, I published a Franticshipping oneshot yesterday for a contest on deviantART. It's a songfic of sorts, with no lyrics in the fanfiction. net version because song lyrics are not allowed on this website. If you'd like to read the version with lyrics, head to my deviantART account- just get rid of the spaces. www. iluvshadowclaw. deviantart. com Thank you! Please check out that story and leave me a review here as well!*