Updated later than usual, mostly because I was drawing a picture of Gary Motherfuckin' Oak and ths got a little… sidetracked. Yeah… I'm a fangirl.

Thank you to Rat2rrj, Catrina7077 and mellowzxc for following and/or putting this in your favorites. And, of course, thanks to my lovely reviewers:

jjmara: I tried, I really did. Touchy scenes leave me mentally exhausted, though.

POKESPE-FAN: Once you do, do tell me, 'k? ;) Aha, thanks for all the compliments, they really do mean a lot to me :D Backstories are – might – um – oh, shoot, when was I going to put those in –

pfeffi: I'm glad you like this as much as I do :) It's hard, getting all these characters to fit together, so I'm glad I'm doing a decent job of it.

joystersm: I know, fast, right? But this isn't going to be that long. And I don't think it was rushed… right?

Kidd Icarus: I do my best ;) Glad to see you like it!

blazelight790: Ah, fluff, one of my many skillz XD I was thinking of putting more Franticshipping in this chapter, but I decided against it because next chapter – weeeeell, you can guess what happens. I'll try to update faster than once a week, but no promises.

PikaMewGirl: Thank you! Seems someone has a sweet tooth :D *hands you molasses cookie*

Glaceon1362: I was thinking the same thing when I wrote that line XD

This chapter is a little… hm. I'm not too pleased with it, and I really should go and rewrite it… but…

Oh, yeah, before I forget – there's more swearing in this chappie. Just a warning.

I don't own Pokemon because otherwise Leaf would be on Mt. Silver instead of Red in HeartGold/Soulsilver. I mean, seriously, people? She is, pardon the profanity, badass.

Silver had tried to steer them out of its path. He really had. He'd plotted out alternate route and had been instructing Red and Green on how to follow it. They'd done exactly as he ordered. He had had Pearl and Ruby adjusting the sails as necessary. He'd even had Black shout the commands for him because he didn't like shouting.

But in the end, it was all in vain.

"We're done!" Pearl shouted, and he and Ruby shimmied down the ratlines as quickly as possible, rain pounding their bodies. They had just finished rolling up the sails and were not eager to remain so high up; the wind was strong and the ship was tipping side to side. Ruby shivered, not daring to breathe until his boots slammed the Zaffiro's decks.

So this was a storm at sea…

"No one goes below deck!" Sapphire bellowed, somehow being heard above the pounding rain and howling wind and the explosion of waves. "She might go under, we can't risk anyone!"

"She might sink?" That was Cheren, his tone several octaves higher than usual in his panic. "But – the records! Everything we have! It's – "

"We're not going to get it back!" White and Black shouted at him, at the exact same time.

Pearl tossed a rope at him, and Ruby caught it, staring at it blankly before looking back up at the blonde. "Tie it around your waist," he ordered, "And get Zuzu. Quickly!"

Ruby realized snapping his fingers wouldn't work in this weather as he tied the rope around him, so instead he cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, once, sharply, "Zuzu!" The result was instantaneous; his little Mudkip was by his side in a flash, and he scooped up the tiny creature, cradling its shivering body to his chest.

"Infernape, return!"

Ruby turned just in time to see Pearl pocket a – Pokeball? "I thought you didn't – " Ruby began.

Pearl made a shushing gesture at him. "We all have one for emergencies. Green!" he called, throwing the other end of his long rope to the brunette. Green quickly tied it around his waist before giving the last length to Platina, who also attached herself to them and looped it around her Empoleon. It took Ruby a moment to remember that her Empoleon was a powerful swimmer; if they went overboard, it would help them stay afloat.

A particularly violent tilt of the ship caused all four of them to tumble against the railing. Ruby held onto it with one hand for dear life, and Zuzu knew better than to try and adjust the death grip the boy had on it. Green shouted, "Where's Sapphire?"

"I'm fine!" As soon as she said this a wave pummeled the deck, and she screamed as it sank back to the water, bringing it with her. "Or not! Shit – "

And that was the last of it. Ruby would've panicked, but then something slammed his head. Out of the corner of his eye he could see a barrel, even as his vision turned black at the edges. "Aw, fuck!" Pearl yelled, scampering over to him. "Ruby, now is not the time to pass out, you hear me? You hear me?"

After a moment the blonde realized he was unconscious. Platina screamed as another wave pounded the decks. The captain was gone, who knows where, he couldn't see Dia, in fact, he'd lost track of the four Unova natives too.

Red, from somewhere else on deck, summed up everyone's feelings in a single word.

"Dammit!"

He woke to soft light on his eyelids.

He was lying on something… soft, and his clothes were glued to his body, and there was something nudging his face and squeaking in his ear.

He jerked upright with a gasp, and then proceeded to cough, Zuzu nosing him worriedly all the while. Ruby didn't look at what he'd hacked up, instead casting it far into the sea. Then he looked around, murmuring to Zuzu and stroking its head to tell it he was fine.

Green was conked out nearby, and Platina and Pearl were stirring a little distance ahead. Ruby chuckled; Empoleon had one flipper on each of them. No doubt it had protected them during the entirety of the storm.

The storm!

He slowly got to his feet, observing his surroundings more carefully. Sand, blue waves, shining sun – a deserted island, perhaps? Funny, he'd only read about adventures like these, who would have guessed he'd be living one… "The ship!" he exclaimed, seeing it looking worse-for-wear, moored out deeper into the ocean. He could do something about that…

He looked at his friends. They weren't getting up anytime soon. Well, at least, he thought they wouldn't, but they would be in view even while he did what he was about to do.

"Zuzu?" The little Mudkip looked at him. "You think you could get the ship over to the beach?" The squeak was affirmative. "All right, then. Let's get a little closer."

Once he had determined they were as close as they could get, he dug his boots into the sand and patted the Pokemon's head, telling it, "Go get it, buddy."

Mudkip bounded into the water, disappearing under the water's surface. A few minutes passed; then, slowly but surely, a wave nudged the ship closer to the shore before disappearing. This happened a few more times, and then it glided slowly, groaning all the while, to Ruby, grinding into the sand. Then Zuzu popped his head up from somewhere in the water, squeaking as it trotted back to its master.

The ship slowed to a stop on the sand, and Ruby grabbed and hugged the Mudkip close. "I love you, little guy," he told it as he walked back to where Green and the rest were now beginning to sit up. His Mudkip snuggled closer, before scrambling up to balance primly on his shoulders.

"Where are we?" Green asked as soon as Ruby was close enough. He was quickly standing and stretching his back, bending down with his hand on his knee. His hand held a shrunken Pokeball.

"I'm not sure," Ruby replied as Platina and Pearl made their way toward them, Empoleon waddling slightly behind them.

"It does not have a human population, I think," Platina said as they neared. Pearl had a bloody gash above his eyes, and it must have reopened when he'd gotten up; it was slowly oozing blood, inching down his temple to his ear. Platina also sported a few nasty bruises on her arms, while Green was unmarked and Ruby could feel a bump on the side of his head. As his fingers examined it, he could feel his black hair was caked with his blood.

"Water first," Pearl said after a moment. "After we find that, we can relax."

"Right," Green echoed. He looked at Ruby, and a questioning look came into his eyes. "I didn't know you had scars."

Crap. Ruby felt for his headband and indeed, it was missing. "That's why you wear the headband, right? Well, that explains some things," Green mused, mostly to himself. Ruby looked up and was about to speak, but the older boy cut him off. "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to."

Ruby nodded numbly, looking over at the ship. "Zuzu managed to push it to shore," he said to change the subject, pointing. The other three followed his gaze. "It seems fine, but it does have a hole somewhere, I think."

"Zuzu pushed it?" Ruby nodded and looked into Pearl's orange eyes. "He's tiny! How'd he do it?"

"I'm not sure. I think he used Surf, and then maybe Hydro Pump. I wasn't there to see."

After a moment Platina repeated, "Hydro Pump?"

Zuzu let out an offended-sounding squeak and Ruby huffed, "I did tell you he was strong. He could take on any of your Pokemon, easily."

"I am sorry I doubted you," Platina apologized, gazing earnestly at the Pokemon on his shoulder. She then looked around, brow furrowed in a delicate expression of mild confusion. "Obviously the seawater serves us no great purpose… though we could boil it for salt. Green, do you suppose you could fly around on your Charizard? Perhaps our crewmates will be here."

"I was just about to suggest it," Green replied, releasing his Charizard from his Pokeball. He patted the creature's neck and murmured something in its ear, something Ruby didn't quite catch, before mounted onto the creature's back. "The ship will be our meeting place if we get lost."

"Okay," Ruby agreed as Pearl and Platina nodded. Green voiced a quick command of "Fly" and, after a bit of general flapping, he and Charizard disappeared over the trees.

Wait… trees? "A jungle?" Ruby asked no one in particular, looking from the sea to the trees. What sort of creatures lived here, he wondered.

"Looks like it. Let's hurry and find water," Pearl said, reaching into his pocket and drawing out the Pokeball Ruby had seen earlier. Wordlessly he released the Pokemon within, giving the Infernape a good pat on the shoulder before tromping off into the foliage.

"Do not get lost," Platina called after him. Then she sighed and looked over at Ruby. "I suppose – one of us should stay here. You should rest; you look utterly drained. I will look for sustenance and will return shortly." She gave a quick gesture to Empoleon, who nodded and waddled after her as she slowly walked along the beach.

Ruby dragged himself to the ship and sank onto the sand, sitting with his legs straight out and his arms supporting him. Zuzu leapt up onto his lap and curled up there, letting out some sort of growl-purr when Ruby stroked the lithe Pokemon. Arceus, he was tired. His body was not used to being tossed around by ten-foot waves like a rag doll, and he was aching.

And what about everyone else? Red, and Blue, and Yellow, Gold, Crystal, Silver, and – and Dia, and White, and Black, Cheren and Bianca, and – and –

Sapphire.

"Please don't let her be dead," he whispered to himself, leaning forward and resting his forehead on his folded hands. "Please, please don't let her be dead." Because if she were dead, she would never know it was him… He was the one she'd known all those years ago… Because if she were dead…

He let out a slow, shuddering breath. He loved her. He couldn't lose her.

In just one night, his world had been turned upside down, all he knew was going up in flames, it was too soon, too quick, too sudden… why did he lose sight of her so easily?

Zuzu squeaked and bumped its head against his hand. Ruby exhaled slowly, leaning back and starting to pet the creature once more. "You're right, Zuzu," he murmured, mostly to himself. "There's nothing I can do right now, so there's no use worrying." His Mudkip nodded in agreement. Ruby slowly got to his feet, wincing as his legs protested violently.

"Find a way into the boat?" Ruby asked his Pokemon. His Mudkip squeaked and splashed into the water, looking back once and obviously wanting Ruby follow it. Ruby did, ignoring the scratches along his legs that burned as the saltwater seeped in. Soon enough, Mudkip had found the hole in the ship, bobbing in the water and indicating he would have to dive down.

Ruby sighed, grabbed Mudkip's offered back paw, and dove down, keeping hold of the Pokemon and following him blindly. After a moment of kicking, Mudkip led him up, and there he was, inside what looked to be the sleeping quarters.

Hammocks, paper, chess pieces – everything was scattered everywhere, looking very much like a very wet tornado had gone through. Hurricane, that was what it was called. Ruby ignored the clutter, going through the slightly tilted ship until he stood up on the deck, sunlight blaring down at him. The sails were still rolled up, but the ratlines looked to be ripped and torn. They would need more rope, and Ruby cast his eyes to the trees on shore. The plant stuff would be thicker than he was used to and harder to shape as he wanted, but it would make a sturdy rope if he braided strands of the fibrous palm together.

"At least I'm not entirely useless," Ruby said jokingly to Zuzu, picking up the small creature and placing it on his shoulder. "It looks like we have a lot of work ahead for us." Ruby descended back to the destroyed sleeping quarters, diving back through the hole and staggering onto the beach.

He was peeling long strands of the leaf off when Platina returned, toting what looked to be some sort of berry. "It is not much," she admitted as she got closer, her Empoleon carrying more behind her, "But at least it is food."

Ruby took the one she handed to him and peered at it. He had seen it before, somewhere – most likely in a cookbook. He took a careful bite and almost immediately started to gag. "Does it taste bad?" Platina asked him, metallic eyes wide.

Ruby coughed a bit, holding his elbow over his mouth. "Not really," he said hoarsely as soon as his coughing fit was over. "The taste just kind of surprised me." He took another bite, carefully chewing and swallowing, and then took another. "It's fine. Not a lot of water, though, so hopefully Pearl will find the source soon."

Platina plopped down on the sand, holding a pale hand to Zuzu. The Mudkip sniffed it once before letting the girl pet its head. Ruby continued to stand, looking around the island. It was truly paradise here; soft breezes, shining sun, lapping waves…

Voices came to him then. Familiar ones. Both he and Platina turned to the noise when a whole party of people burst through the foliage, talking and laughing. Green was walking with them, his Charizard tromping along next to him. Once he spied the pair, he went over to them, a huge grin on his face.

"Look what I found," he said with a note of pride, gesturing to the group. Ruby counted with his eyes: Blue, Red, Yellow, Silver, Gold, Crystal – everyone was here.

Everyone – everyone, except – "Sapphire?" he asked, his voice pathetically small and shaky.

Green's smile faded and he shook his head once. "No one's seen her."

Ruby turned away, sitting down on the sand with one graceful motion, doing his best effort to control his breathing and the tears that threatened to spill. Sapphire couldn't be dead. She just – couldn't.

Arceus – if she were dead… where would that leave him?

"We'll keep looking," Green was saying, barely penetrating Ruby's numb mind. "Knowing the captain, she's probably cursing and muttering and chopping her way through this with her Blaziken."

Platina chuckled. "No doubt."

Zuzu butted his master's leg, instantly gaining his attention, and purr-growled as the boy mechanically scratched behind its head fin. Ruby took in a shuddering breath, clamping down on his sadness and twisting it away into a small corner of his mind. He couldn't lose focus now. He'd pulled through the beatings and his father's betrayal; surely this, though the gravity of it was far worse, couldn't be much harder.

After a moment, he resumed braiding again, fingers moving quickly and efficiently. He was proud to see they barely shook, and while the tears remained, they did not show. He was heartless, all for the sake of survival.

He pricked himself and scowled, staring at the drop of blood welling up on his fingertip.

Arceus damn it.

But what Ruby meant by that, he didn't know.

Arceus likes to make my life shit, doesn't he?

She just had to go get herself separated from everyone. Now she was all by herself. Again.

She shivered. She would even be going through woodlands – well, a jungle, but close enough. Déjà vu.

She took out the Pokeball from her trouser pocket (Thank Arceus it didn't fall out) and released Toro from its ball. "First things first," she said to it, brushing sand off of her clothes. "Water."

Her Blaziken nodded, and together the pair went into the jungle. It was alive with sound, and Sapphire's sharp ears could detect the flutter of bug-type Pokemon and the stomps of more land-dwelling ones. She and Toro steered clear of them, not eager to exhaust themselves in a fight.

Only a few minutes later they came across a spring, and when Sapphire tasted the water she did not taste any salt. "This isn't a bad place to stay, for the moment," she mused, looking across the small body of water. If they kept a fire going they should have no problems with the native Pokemon, and luckily for Sapphire her Blaziken could do that easily.

"Shelter next," Sapphire murmured, and after she instructed Toro to fetch short, sturdy branches she began to find thick leaves she could layer for the roof. As much as she liked rain, it wasn't a pleasant experience to sleep in it, and she had awoken with a bad cold the one time she had tried. Gold had made fun of her for weeks.

She had amassed a rather large pile of the strangely fibrous leaves when Toro returned, toting a number of long branches over its shoulder. It efficiently chopped them into equal lengths, and Sapphire wasted no time in finding somewhere to lean them against, finding a large, relatively flat stone that would suit her purposes (there must've been a waterfall here a long time ago, Sapphire noted, running her fingers over the smooth surface).

The lean-to was only large enough for one human, so Toro agreed to stay in its Pokeball if it ever rained at night. The pair then layered the leaves on the lean-to, Sapphire easily tying them in place with fibers she had peeled from other leaves. This place was teeming with supplies, especially considered it seemed to be unpopulated by humans…

Sapphire placed the leftover branches in the shelter; it was always wise to have dry wood on hand. Then she prepared a fire pit, carefully laying stones in a circle so the fire wouldn't spread, while Toro gathered more wood to burn. Sapphire had to laugh at how efficiently the two did everything they needed to. Toro was her best partner, the one who knew her best and worked perfectly with her.

Toro carefully used a small Ember attack to light the kindling, and soon enough Sapphire had it into a blaze. It was absolutely stifling in the already warm, humid air, but with this, someone could see the smoke and maybe, just maybe, come find her.

She clasped her hands together, closed her eyes, and prayed to Arceus that her crewmates were still alive, concentrating on each of their faces: Red with his easy grin, Green with his quick scowl, Blue with her evil smirk, Yellow with her soft brown eyes… She had just moved on from recalling Cheren's annoyed look when she frowned. She was missing someone… who had she skipped over?

Oh, right. Of course. Her newest member, Ruby – she blinked when she remembered his face. It was – he was – it – he – what – when – when –

When had he suddenly become so important to her? She rubbed a knuckle against her forehead, half-aware of Toro rising to scavenge for food to give its trainer some peace. When had his scarlet eyes captivated her, when had his light (albeit rare) laugh entranced her, when had his snarky personality grown on her?

Why did he have to be so similar to the boy from all those years ago? If she hadn't sworn to find the boy from her past she would've let herself get closer to Ruby. And then she remembered: she had. She'd already told him everything about herself. His reaction, though – his reaction bothered her. It was like he knew what she had felt, almost, but that was impossible. He was the son of Norman, the richest man in Petalburg City! It was impossible for him to have experienced something as horrible as she had.

Still… something about him…

She huffed a frustrated sigh, absently accepting the berry Toro offered her as it sat across from her, throwing more wood on the fire. She bit into it; an Oran berry, far more delicious than she was used to, probably because it grew in the wild.

She lay flat on the rock, eyes looking up at the sky above, munching on her berry. With any luck, someone would see the smoke, that someone being a fellow crewmate, and come to her.

Though with the luck she was having, she wouldn't be surprised if she got run over by a Steelix.

My life is just not fair.

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