A/N: Hello readers. Sorry for the long wait for this chapter, but it is finally done. It's finally time for the battle between Ren and Ryota. I hope you all like it.

Lucarionite: Pokemon only can't die if the battle is an official trainer battle requested through the menu. Since they were in a fight to the death, Ren and Thoron didn't use an official battle request so their pokemon's hp bars weren't safe.

The crowd roared with excitement as the announcer called out to the crowd, getting ready for the match that every player in the game was dying to see. Out of the ten thousand players that originally logged into PWO, one fifth of those were sent to the Sinnoh region of the game. From those two thousand people, approximately 1300 were still alive. There was no info on how players in the other regions were doing. But now after all this time, the final battle of the Sinnoh tournament would be held. The winner would get a secret on how to escape the game.

Several rumors had been flying around ever since PWO started about what the "secret" the winners in each region would get. Some thought the winner would be the person to save everyone. Others believed that the winner would be the only person to escape, leaving the rest trapped in the game. One thing was for sure, I had no intention of abandoning anyone and going home alone. I had made far too many friends that I cared deeply about to do that. No respectable trainer would abandon the people that had fought so hard to stay alive for all these months we had spent here.

"It's time for the final battle to begin!" the announcer yelled. "Are you ready everyone?!" The crowd gave a deafening roar of cheer as a response. "Alright then, let's get this party started! Give it up for your two finalists, Ren and Ryota!"

The crowd roared louder than ever as Ryota and I walked out onto the field. As the two of us stood on the field, the cheers of the crowd slowly quieted, ready for the battle to start. I clenched my fists tightly. It was finally time for my battle against Ryota. Words couldn't describe how psyched I was for this. I looked across the field, expecting to see the same anxious feeling in Ryota's eyes. But what I saw was entirely different.

Ryota's eyes seemed gray and clouded. There was no fire or passion in them. It was as if he didn't even care about the battle. It seemed like he was an entirely different person.

'What's going on with him?' I wondered. 'He seemed so excited for this fight the other day. Now it's like he doesn't have any emotion at all'

I shook the doubts from my mind. Whatever was going on, now was no time to be distracted. I had to put all my focus into this battle if I was going to win.

The announcer finally declared the start of the finals. "Now then trainers, begin the battle!"

I grabbed a pokeball and tossed it into the air "Alright, let's do this Scizor!" The capsule device opened up and the bug and steel type appeared. Scizor let out a loud cry, showing it was just as excited as I was.

Ryota simply took one of his pokeballs and gave a weak toss. "Go, Garchomp." The dragon type exited from the pokeball and let out a powerful roar, showing the eagerness that its trainer was mysteriously lacking.

The three pokeballs on each side of the monitor lit up. The health bars of the two pokemon appeared and the 'Battle Start' sign appeared in the center of the battlefield. I started the battle off right away.

"Scizor, use metal claw!" The two claws of the pincer pokemon lit up with a metallic glow and it charged at its foe.

"Dragon claw" Ryota commanded, still showing no passion in his voice. Regardless, Garchomp obeyed and sped at Scizor, intercepting the attack with its own claws. The two attacks connected, each taking out a decent chunk of their target's hp. A dust cloud whipped up, showing the intense power behind the attacks.

"Keep it up, Scizor!" I yelled. "Bullet punch!" Scizor began a devastating assault on Garchomp, with a series of powerful blows. Usually, bullet punch was a move that didn't do much damage, but Scizor's technician ability made up for that. Garchomp's health bar gradually got lower and lower with each hit. Just as I thought Scizor was about to deal a finishing blow, Ryota called out another move.

"Fire fang."

My eyes opened wide with shock as Garchomp's mouth became veiled in flames as it bit down on one of Scizor's claws. The incredibly effective attack made Scizor's hp skyrocket into the red. Garchomp threw the bug type at the wall, with all its power. Before Scizor could make impact, it spread its tiny wings, barely saving it from colliding with the wall.

'Phew. That was way too close' I thought as I wiped the sweat from my forehead. Both pokemon's health were near their limit. One last attack would decide it. Ryota and I both called out a move.

"Flash cannon!"

"Draco meteor."

Scizor and Garchomp each fired their attacks. Flash cannon collided with Garchomp, knocking out the rest of its hp and forcing it to return to its pokeball. Scizor wasn't spared either, as the meteor shower fell down on top of it. Scizor's health hit zero and it returned to its pokball as well.

"This is incredible folks!" the announcer cried out. "This battle is neck and neck! Push and shove! Neither Ren nor Ryota has a decisive lead! The two are dead even!"

Ryota and I each grabbed our second pokeball. I couldn't get over the fact that Ryota seemed incredibly different from his usual self. Just what was going on?

"What's the matter Ryota?" I asked the black haired trainer. "Where's all the excitement you had yesterday?"

"I will complete my mission" Ryota said in a hollow voice as he weakly tossed out his next pokemon out. The normal type powerhouse Regigigas stomped on the field, letting out a powerful cry. I threw out my next pokemon as well, Deoxys in its attack form. The two legendries stared each other down.

'Mission? What's he talking about?'

As I struggled to comprehend what the black haired trainer was saying, a distortion in the field around us started to take place. Everything around us began to get a static-like appearance. Suddenly the word 'Error' appeared in the center of the field and a window opened up before me. An electronic voice echoed out the words on the window for all of us to hear.

"Battle safety net disabled. Trainer battle terminated."

Words of confusion were heard all around the crowd, with people wondering just what was going on. What was with this sudden glitch? In any case, the battle was over now. It wasn't safe to continue. As I reached for Deoxys's pokeball to return it, I heard something my ears couldn't believe.

"Regigigas, use stone edge."

I watched as Regigigas obediently listened to its trainer's command and fired a barrage of rocks at Deoxys. Barely reacting in time, the psychic type flew out of the way of the attack. I lunged my body to the right, avoiding Regigigas's attack as well. One of the stones grazed by my head, nearly making impact.

"Ryota?! What the hell are you doing?!" I shouted. "Neither of our hp is safe! We can't continue this battle.

My words didn't seem to reach him. He called out yet another attack, this time pointing towards me. "Mega punch."

My eyes opened wide with shock as Regigigas charged towards me, threatening to kill me with its attack. Deoxys moved itself right in front of me, ready to block the attack.

"Deoxys, protect!" The DNA pokemon generated a barrier in front of it. Regigigas's fist collided with the barrier, showing its tremendous power as it forced Deoxys to use all of its focus to keep the shield up. A small crack was forming though.

"Ryota!" Misaki yelled out right behind me from the crowd. "Are you an idiot?! You could have killed Ren with that!"

"Misaki, get down!" I warned. I quickly got out of the way of the incoming punch as Regigigas broke through the protect move and sent Deoxys flying back and crashing into the wall. Misaki got out of the way just in time before the psychic type made impact.

"What's gotten into you, Ryota?!" I yelled. "This isn't like you!"

"I will complete my mission." Ryota said in the hollow voice that hadn't left him since the battle began. "I will… kill… Ren."

My eyes opened wide with shock at his words. Ryota was many things, but he definitely wasn't a murderer. As I tried to comprehend what was going on, I noticed him hold his hand to his head, as if it was aching in pain.

'That's not Ryota' I realized. 'He's being controlled!' I couldn't just leave him like this. I had to do something to snap him out of whatever trance he was in. I turned my head to Misaki. "Get everyone out of here! I'll deal with Ryota!"

"Are you crazy?!" Misaki yelled back. "That's way too dangerous! You could die!"

"Just trust me! I have an idea! You need to evacuate everyone though, or else they could get hit in the crossfire!"

Misaki struggled, not wanting to abandon me to such a risky situation, but she finally gave in and nodded. "Alright, Ren. You better not die on me though, you got that?!"

In response, I gave her a thumbs up. "No worries. I'll make sure to bring Ryota back to his senses. Until then, there's no way I'm dying."

Misaki began leading players outside the stadium. Relieved that I didn't have to worry about anyone else, I turned back to face Ryota. "Alright Ryota, let's do this." The two of us called out our moves.

"Focus blast!"

"Stone edge."

The two legendary pokemon fired their attacks with all the power they could muster. The moves collided in a furious clash, creating a powerful shockwave that threatened to blow us away. Even still, the two of us stood our ground. By the time the two of us caught our breath, everyone had been successfully evacuated out of the stadium.

"Alright, whosever controlling Ryota get out here!" I called out. "Show yourself!"

In response to my request, a soft chuckle was heard all around me. A small distortion occurred next to Ryota and a masked figure appeared. "So you realized that he wasn't acting on his own free will? Impressive deduction."

"So you're the madman that trapped us all in here."

"I see nothing gets past you, kid. Yes, I am the creator of this world. You may call me Kagutsuchi"

"Why are you doing this?" I asked. "Trapping us all in here, brainwashing Ryota, all of it. Why?"

The masked creator laughed at the question. "I don't see how it really matters. You're going to die here after all. But if you must know, I first created this world to be able to have control."

"Control?"

"Yes. In the real world, no one has any real say in their life besides the ones in control. Your destiny and life is decided for you based on society's laws. Don't you find that all so completely annoying?" he asked. "It's different here though. In this world, I have full control over everything! I decide what happens! I decide everyone's fate! I AM A GOD!"

"So you brainwashed Ryota and used him like he's one of your subjects?!"

"Well Ryota is a special case." Kagutsuchi grinned. "But enough about that. Right now you have a funeral to attend. Yours that is. Ryota will kill you right here and now."

"That won't happen." I said firmly. "Cause I'm going to bring Ryota back to his senses."

Kagutsuchi raised an eyebrow at Ren's amusing comment. "Really? And just how do you plan on doing that?"

"Simple." I smirked. "I'm gonna knock whatever brainwashing thing you did right out of him."

This caused the masked creator to start laughing hysterically. "That's it? That's your master plan?"

"Yep."

"Well then, let's see where your strategy gets you" he said. "I'll be watching from the best seat in the house." With that, Kagutsuchi disappeared, leaving just Ryota and me alone once again.

'Well here goes nothing' I thought. 'But how am I going to pull this off? If I go all out, I could end up killing Ryota. What should I do?'

At that moment, time slowly began to slow down, almost freezing completely. My vision became white and I found myself in an empty space. As I wondered what was going on, Deoxys and Regigigas manifested in front of me.

"Deoxys?" I asked. "What is going on?"

"I have created a temporary space inside your mind so we can talk to you." A voice said in my head. From what I could piece together, it seemed to be Deoxys was talking to me via telepathy.

"Deoxys? Is that you?"

The psychic type legendary nodded. "In this space, the three of us can talk about how to free the trainer of Regigigas of his mind control."

"Ok, so how do we do that?"

"I have a plan that could work." Regigigas said. "However, it would involve a great amount of risk."

"What do you mean?"

"If Deoxys gets close to me and uses its psychic power on my mind, I may be able to take control of my body for a brief moment. If I can do so, I can use the fail safe move every legendary has."

"Fail safe move? What move is it?"

"Explosion"

"What?!" I exclaimed. "But if you use that, neither you, Ryota, nor Deoxys would survive!"

"Trainers are not effected by moves used by their own pokemon, even if the safety net is disabled. It is true however that Deoxys would be caught in the attack and most likely not survive. The force of the attack would be able to knock Ryota out of his brainwashed state though."

"I agree" Deoxys said. "That is probably our best chance of success."

"No!" I yelled. "Absolutely not! Out of the question!"

"We don't have much choice in the matter. This space will soon dissolve. Our best plan is to use the explosion move to knock Ryota back to his senses."

"I'm not sacrificing you or Regigigas! There has to be another way!"

"I'm afraid there isn't." Deoxys said. He returned to its normal mode and put a hand on my shoulder. "Every pokemon in this world has a mind of its own. They are not simple NPCs. When you first caught me, I thought you were weak. You had used others to weaken me and fought me when I had a small portion of health left. However, I came to realize I was wrong. You gain strength from your friends and use that power to protect them. If anything, you are one of the strongest trainers in this world."

"How can you call me strong when I can't even protect my own pokemon?" I asked with tears rolling down my eyes.

"The fact that you are so hesitant about this plan shows that strength." Deoxys said. "Remember this. You are and always will be… my trainer."

The empty space around me shattered apart and I once again found myself back on the battlefield with Ryota. Deoxys looked at me and gave a reassuring nod. It killed me inside to do it, but like Deoxys said, this was our only option.

"Go Deoxys!" I yelled. "Do it!"

The DNA pokemon sped at its opponent. Regigigas threw a punch, but Deoxys evaded it and clung itself to the colossal pokemon. Regigigas started thrashing around, but slowly stopped as Deoxys's psychic attack took effect. The legendary pokemon's eyes flashed. Then it happened.

The explosion only lasted for a few seconds, but it felt as if it was several hours when it occurred. The gigantic ball of fire engulfing both legendary pokemon. The force of the blast, knocking both me and Ryota back. And finally, the polygon shards from the two legendary pokemon dissolving into dust as the smoke cleared.

"… Deoxys… Regigigas… thank you."

I looked over on the other side of the field to see Ryota lying down from the blast. The black haired trainer slowly got to his feet.

'Did it work?'

Ryota held his hand over his head. "Ugh… my head. What happened?"

"Ryota!" I called out. "Is that you? Are you back?"

"… Ren?" Ryota said, looking my way. He slowly began to recall everything. "That's right… I was being controlled by my father… and then… Regigigas…"

It seemed that the black haired trainer was back to normal. It had taken a lot of sacrifice, but he was back.

"No!" a voice yelled out. Kagutsuchi suddenly reappeared. "How is this possible?! I will not be shown up like this!"

"Shut up!" Ryota yelled at the mask man. "You lost! Give it up!"

"Don't do this Ryota." Kagutsuchi told him. "You can still kill Ren and become the strongest trainer in the world!"

"I said shut up!" Ryota said, punching the masked man in the face. Kagutsuchi fell over and the mask came off of his face. Looking at his face, he seemed to be in his late thirties. He had messy black hair and gray eyes.

"You ungrateful brat!" Kagutsuchi yelled. "After all I tried to do for you!"

"Get out of my sight!" Ryota yelled. "I don't ever want to see you again! Let us all go! The battle's over! Ren won! Now keep your promise and let us all out of here!"

Kagutsuchi chuckled to himself. "Poor delude Ryota. Did you really think this was the end of it all? No, this is just the beginning!"

"What?!" Ryota exclaimed. "You lying piece of-"

"Oh I didn't lie" he explained. "I planned for this next part from the very beginning." He then glanced my way. "Although I wasn't expecting you to be the champion of this region, you have won. Take your prize."

Before I could say anything, my wrist glowed with a bright light. When it finally died down, a black bracelet was strapped around my wrist. A rainbow colored stone was set in it.

"If you wish to free everyone from this game, you will have to unlock the power of that item" the game master said. "See you when the fate of this world is decided." With that said, Kagutsuchi vanished, once again leaving us alone.

The next thing I knew, my vision turned white.

A/N: Phew. This chapter took a long time to finish. A lot of secrets revealed. The next chapter will introduce a whole new adventure in PWO, so look forward to it.