*The last chapter? It's finally here! Ready to see the battle come to an end? ;) I'm pretty sure you've all figured out who wins, but I hope you still enjoy it nonetheless!*

Chapter 25

"Sapph!" screamed Ruby, jumping off of Pilo as he charged for her, filled with as much dread as absolute anger. How dare Rei? How dare he? He couldn't process anything but the anger, the utter rage, and he could hardly feel the grief through the fury. "Sapphire!" He still yelled for her though, wanting to know she'd be there, wanting to know she still had his back-

"She's not going to wake up," said Rei, dark glee turning into maniacal laughter at the hate-filled, desperate expression on Ruby's face. He stood, looking smug and victorious, a cruel tyrannous king in a dark black cloak. "But don't worry about missing her too much- you'll be joining her in just a minute."

"You're just talk," snarled Ruby, almost startling himself. He was always the collected one, the one to think things through and stay on the sidelines until the last possible moment, and now, in this moment of danger, he'd transformed. No, he'd been changed the moment Rei had taken him away. He felt like how Sapphire must have always felt in battle- reckless, daring, and always in front of the front lines. "You say it's just a game, just a game, but in the end, you're going to lose anyways. And you're going to lose to me."

Ruby jumped Rei just like Sapphire had, though instead of trying to claw him, he purposely aimed for Rei's middle, barreling into the man like a full-powered Rollout attack, knocking him over onto the ground. Rei took the attack with grace, letting himself fall, letting Ruby's momentum make the boy tumble past him. Ruby's stumble was not nearly as graceful, and he got up sore and unsteady, unused to this kind of fighting.

"At least Sapphire knew how to fight with tooth and claw- I don't think you know a thing," taunted Rei, and Ruby said nothing, knowing it was true. He'd never needed to fight with anything but his Pokemon, and he hated to get his hands dirty. But right now, his only chance to carry out his new plan unnoticed was hand-to-hand combat. Nana was still tired, and he hadn't spent that much time practicing the technique with her- after all, when would he ever need to use it?

He wished he could go to Sapphire, check on her, try his best to wake her up, but he knew this was a sacrifice she'd want, ask him to make, to let her go in exchange for victory. For wasn't she the noble one? This time, he was going to fight, for her, for the sake of everyone, not run away in apathy. He owed it to her.

I'm sorry, Sapphire, he thought despairingly, feeling the tears bite at his eyes. This isn't how I wanted things to be...

"Well, good thing I learn fast then," replied Ruby, hiding his quickly building grief, not wanting to give Rei another reason to taunt him further. Besides, he only had one chance, he had to concentrate, lest Rei notice what he was about to do.

"Try me." Rei leaned down to pull his silver dagger, now stained red with Sapphire's blood, out of the girl's back, twirling it in his hand. "Are you still stupid enough to try?" The knife flashed in the light of the surrounding flames, bright and deadly. Ruby still didn't feel fear.

"Whether I'm stupid or not'll be decided by whether or not I succeed, don't you think?" Ruby signaled with a flick of his fingers to his Pokemon behind him, gesturing for them to help him. He felt, instead of saw, them prepare to launch themselves into the fight, and was silently grateful for their support. "After all, in battle, stupidity and bravery can be the same thing!"

He charged Rei again, but instead of aiming for Rei's face like the man expected, at the very last second, Ruby twisted so the brunt of his attack hit Rei's legs, his hand reaching up into Rei's cloak, failing to knock away the knife by inches. Rei was pushed back, but he didn't fall, and only sheer reflex kept Ruby from being stabbed- the knife had buried itself up to the hilt in the ground, having been thrown by Rei with lightning speed. Had Ruby been a second slower, it might have pierced his heart.

Wasting no time reflecting yet another near-death, Ruby got back on his feet, wiping away sweat and dirt from his brow, judging how likely Rei was to attack him again. Nonchalantly, Rei plucked the knife from the ground like one would pick flowers, tossing it lightly like a Pokeball, albeit a very oblong and sharp one.

"Do you really want to die this badly? I wouldn't have thought that you had a death wish. Or did your precious Sapphire change your mind?" taunted Rei, gloating.

How sick was he, to torment others over lost love, when Rei couldn't take a taunt over it himself? Ruby had to stop himself from jumping; he didn't quite have a death wish. He'd managed to get what he wanted.

"Ever heard of a pickpocket?" asked Ruby, backing up a safe distant away, careful not to step into any flames or fall down any chasms. Not wanting Rei to be able to foil his plans now.

"Pickpocket?" repeated Rei incredulously, immediately feeling around his cloak, the many interior pockets, discovering the most important item missing. "You-"

"That's right," said Ruby triumphantly, showing the Amethyst Orb he had stolen, holding it out like he had held out contest ribbons. "I've got the Orb. There's nothing tying you to Groudon and Kyogre anymore, nothing tying me to you!"

Rei jerked his head back to see the legendary Pokemon relaxing, ceasing their attacks, and the other Dex Holders, who'd been fighting the mighty beasts, looked back in surprise. There was a gasp or two as they took the time to fully take in the scene- Sapphire's body still on the ground, Ruby's cold, yet sorrowful, smile, Rei's sudden look of panic.

"Gengar, Nightmare!" screamed Rei, pointing at Ruby, as if he could make the attack stronger.

Ruby gave a slight shudder as it passed through him, but strangely, he felt no different. No visions swirled to mind, no terrifying hallucinations. After all, what could be scarier than his reality?

Ruby laughed. "You think you can show me fear now? I've already seen all my greatest fears- one's right in front of me," he said in a quieter voice, looking over to Sapohire out of the corner of his eyes.

Rei gritted his teeth. He had a chance at this still, it was just a game, he could still win. At the very least, he didn't have to lose.

"Salamence, Dragon Claw!" he yelled, commanding his revived Pokemon back into battle. "Glaceon, Blizzard!"

"Rono, Protect!" screamed Ruby in reply, Sapphire's Aggron immediately shielding him with a translucent green sphere of light. "There's no use fighting anymore. I'm putting an end to it now."

"Not if I can help it!" Rei's eyes were alight with the fire of a cornered Pokemon, and as if throwing a Poke Ball, he threw his dagger, which flew as fast and straight as an arrow right as the Protect was breaking.

It brushed by Ruby, tearing another gash in his torn-up shirt, leaving a shallow cut in his arm, burying itself in the trunk of a tree behind him. "Your aim was off," laughed Ruby, finding it strangely funny, despite the situation. "You hardly touched me!"

Rei simply smiled- Ruby would have dodged it anyways. What he'd needed was the distraction.

Salamence's shadow was suddenly looming over the boy, and he'd barely had time to say "Protect" as a Fire Blast flared around the weakening edges of the Protect, breaking it and burning him with the small, but powerful, remains.

"Agh!" Ruby cried in pain as his arm burned, but he didn't flinch, didn't stop. "Mimi, Blizzard! Groudon, Kyogre-"

"Freeze him," commanded Rei to his Glaceon. "Freeze him to death!"

"Toro, Blaze Kick!" The Blaziken delivered one swift blow with a powerful kick of a flaming leg, sending the Glaceon sprawling to the ground. "You can't stop me. You never could. Groudon, Kyogre, destroy him!"

The orb burned in his hands, like lava, and he almost dropped it in pain, then it cooled, becoming the temperature of cold water, a soothing, healing-like effect. Balancing out, destroying the conflict between the two as it shifted back to its normal cool feel. The orb glowed red, then blue, and Ruby stepped forwards to Sapphire and pulled her limo body back, not wanting her to be caught in the blast.

Groudon and Kyogre both roared in unison, both looking down at Rei, starting to charge their attacks. The strange lines on their bodies glowed with the force of command, and with a sick satisfaction that his command had gone right, Ruby smiled, the same twisted one Rei had given them so many times before.

Rei was frozen, staring up at the legendary Pokemon with an awestruck horror, his Gengar at his leg. He started to run, but Groudon and Kyogre still followed his movements, tracking him like police Growlithes. His Gengar remained next to him, like a shadow. However, his eyes were not exactly those of someone cornered; it was more as if he were plotting something, though what it was was beyond Ruby's comprehension.

There was a flash of red, Rei's Pokemon being called back. Strange, thought Ruby, for a man about to die. I would have released them, not doomed them to die with me. But then again, Rei wasn't like Ruby in the slightest. He probably viewed it as "If I'm going down, I might as well take my Pokemon with me."

Then the attack came, and Ruby saw it almost in slow motion. Kyogre's Water Spout was at full power, the swirling orb of storming water in its mouth flattening out to a powerful beam of pressurized water that ate into the stone of the ground. Likewise, Groudon's Eruption was like the Continent Pokemon had taken the sun in its mouth and spat it out at the ground- the light hurt Ruby's eyes, and he could hardly keep his eyes open as the combined attack hit Rei dead center. He might have been imagining it, but he swore he saw a Gengar's smile and a fading shadow the moment the Water Spout and Eruption collided together, causing a frenzy of red sparks of fire to explode, destroying anything that in its way.

Ruby and everyone else was thrust back by the sheer force of the attack, which cleared a good radius of trees and even boulders. Ruby blinked once, and then twice, head dizzy from the blowback and mental exertion of having forced the two legendaries to release such powerful attacks in unison. He hadn't felt it before, but now it hit him like an Iron Ball to the head.

As did the full impact of Sapphire's limp body in his arms. Rei's defeat was second to this, and Ruby felt tears sting his eyes, tears he hadn't let himself cry. Why Sapphire? Why her?

He fell down to his knees with a thump, unable to remain standing, lost in shock and pain. He didn't even hear the other Dex Holders approach him. He only knew they were there when Red lay a hand on his shoulder with regretful eyes.

"Is she-?" he started, not wanting to continue in case Ruby became angered. But Ruby said nothing, not wanting to stir up false hope inside of himself, he wouldn't do that, wouldn't-

Yellow bounded over, and without a word, she lay her hand on Sapphire's heart. Looking at her through misty tears, Ruby wondered what she was doing, surprised, in a way, at her boldness.

Yellow's eyes were closed tight with intense concentration as she pressed her hand down harder, searching for a trace of life. She gasped when she found it, and despite her exhaustion, she immediately placed all of her energy into the healing, giving her strength to Sapphire.

"Yellow-senpai, is she-?" asked Ruby breathlessly, still not wanting to hope, lest he be crushed later, lest it not be true. But he wanted to, needed to believe, anything but this, anything but this. "Please tell me she's alive."

The blond girl said nothing, not even hearing Ruby, feeling all the broken bits of Sapphire and mending them one by one until she was done. She collapsed back into Red's arms, Red having been there to catch her once she fell.

"I'm proud of you," he whispered, hugging her close, his face buried in her hair. "I always will be."

Yellow smiled as she fell asleep, and at that moment, Sapphire woke up, blue eyes wide in panic. Ruby laughed, laughter mingling with his tears, too happy to say a thing. She was alive. She was back.

"Where's Rei? Where is he?" were Sapphire looked around in panic, looking confused when she couldn't see the blond-haired man or any of his Pokemon. She was more confused when she saw the Amethyst Orb lying on the ground beside Ruby and the legendary Pokemon standing still, waiting for orders.

Ruby pulled her into him, placing his lips next to his ear. "He's gone. I defeated him. He's dead."

He heard Sapphire draw in a breath of relief and collapse against him, relaxing her body. Ruby relaxed too, glad it was finally over.

"I was so scared," admitted Ruby, leaning back so he could see her face, which was currently smudged with dirt and caked with blood, and still the most beautiful thing in the world. "I never want to lose you, ever."

The other Dex Holders smiled and Blue even giggled despite herself as Ruby kissed Sapphire, both of them melding into each other. They had all done it- not even this opponent could take down the ten of them. No opponent was unbeatable when they worked together, not even a monster like Rei.

Silently, no longer under control, Groudon and Kyogre started to leave, the former walking with loud thumps to the distant mountains, the latter flying to its ocean home. Red picked the Amethyst Orb off the ground, wanting to smash it himself, but knowing someone who deserved it more.

Ruby and Sapphire had stopped to draw breath, and Red tapped Ruby lightly and awkwardly on the shoulder to hand him the orb. "I was going to destroy it, but you should be the one to do it. It hurt you the most."

Ruby took it almost obediently, and walked over to a nearby rock, Sapphire by his side. Almost reverently, he lifted the Amethyst Orb above his head, where it shone in beautiful soft lilac tones in the afternoon sun. He felt a jolt as he held it, heard the voice, a sudden chill of fear rushing down his spine, but he relaxed, calming himself. Rei's dead. Stop imagining things, Ruby. It's not real. He wouldn't even be able to do that alive. Then he brought it down, dashing it into a million glass shards, scattering it across the ground like diamond dust.

"Now it's over, for real," he said, watching as the wind carried the remains of the orb into the air around, shimmering like glitter. The flames began to die, having consumed all they could, and Ruby closed his eyes, taking Sapphire's hand and squeezing it tight, as if she were a lifeline. At least, it better be.

*And cut! No, it's not completely finished yet. We've still got the epilogue and another project in the works! What could it be? :V My profile page has a hint at the end... ... *is totally not trying to get people to go to profile* XD Okay, Review Reply Time! (it deserves caps. :3)

Killfith: It's fine. As long as you're still reading. ;) XD Yup, silly me... Can't remember the days of the week anymore. X) Except when it comes to my job.

Wolfeclipse25: *high five*

blazelight790: XD Everyone still wants Rei to die~ (while I still like him because he's my evil blond silver-eyed badboy. XD ... ... His character design is totally not based off of Draco Malfoy. :V) I'm pretty bad at incorporating the other Dex Holders... Whenever I tried, it felt out of place. They're fighting Groudon and Kyogre. ^^ (and winning I'm pretty sure.)

Gur40goku: Feel? I am teasing you guys! XD (I love torturing readers and characters. :3)

DCA123: Don't worry, they're not dead! :D Yellow to the rescue~

ZXCVBNMEM: I'm getting better at typing it without looking at the reference. XD Do the letters stand for something? It was more important to defeat Rei than save Sapphire in the midst of the battle, but they all turned out okay. ;)

spiritgurl21: I wanna go to Spanish camp. :V (totally doesn't sound like a nerd.) XD I never did that with my Gamecube... Because I'd never save my Pokemon XD game until it was time to get off. :3 I just thought that the game console in R/S was a Gamecube, so that would be the most likely thing for Ruby to play, right? I can imagine Sapphire dragging him off to 'experience nature.' XD Franticshipping is perfect... I hope your nails survived the wait. XD

FighterGirl21: All part of the plan, my dear reviewer. ;)

Kimiko Heroux: I just wanted to get to 25 Chapters. I dunno why. Maybe because it's such a nice number? Either that or ideas just kept leaping out at me... No, I wasn't drawing the angels while writing the chapters. This chapter has been finished for... almost a month now? The story's been finished for almost a month. So I was just drawing angels. XD

Mimishee Lee: Thank you! I can't help but ask- did you guess right? It would have been more entertaining if you told me your theory. XD

FireMightyena: Oh dear Arceus. O.o He's in for quite a beating... Though you realize his Gengar acts as a bodyguard, right? *is shot* It has Psychic, Focus Blast, Shadow Ball, and Sludge Bomb... (and probably other moves, seeing how in Pokespe they all know more than four. Lucky them...) Who doesn't love Chosenshipping? *is shot* I personally don't like (more like hate) OldRivalshipping... I dunno why exactly. Probably because it looks like crack to me. And I look to Vainshipping (GoldxRuby) for all my crack! (and PreciousMetal, but I wouldn't exactly count that as crack... ... ... it could potentially be canon...)

Thanks to everyone who read up to this point! Just remember, the epilogue will be posted next week! ;) Along with an announcement of my next work, which I hope you'll all read. (and yes, I will publish the BluexSilver oneshot sometime. I'm just keeping it to fill up the weeks after I finish posting Memories Lost. XD That is... if I had it.)*