How do I get just the last page number, not the link that comes with $this->Paginator->last(), but the actual digit itself?
This link will help you to achieve the same.
<?php echo $this->Paginator->counter('{:pages}');
//counter() method with all options
//echo $this->Paginator->counter('Page {:page} of {:pages}, showing {:current} records out of {:count} total, starting on record {:start}, ending on {:end}');?>
You can call the counter() method into your view to get the last page number.