"The only time a Pokémon Trainer can cry is when it's all over. No matter how tough the battle… no matter how bitter the memories… they always fade over time. Then you file them away and eventually forget them."

My father said those words to me ages ago. Dad said that you have to keep up your strength if you want this to be the case with anything and everything in life.

Mum became a pillar of strength for me in the months when Pikachu became ill. Pikachu was almost dead. According to Nurse Joy and Uncle Brock, it was a miracle that it hadn't happened sooner. Dad made him fight one too many battles. He had been beating himself up about it for months.

I didn't blame my Dad for feeling the guilt. What I did blame him for, however, is retreating into a shell. Doing what a tortoise does when it's upset. But to say my Dad ignored my mother, my little sister and me might be going a little too far. I love him. And I just want to battle him like he promised me. And have a tag battle between him and Mum and me and Rosa.

None of us were lawyers. But I wanted to be one.

It was a friend of my sister's who first showed me what lawyers are capable of. Lilian introduced me to the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney trilogy. I came across those same words at the end of the second case of the third game. So I asked my Dad about it.

"When I was your age, that video game wasn't a video game," he said. "It was one of those adventure books where you read a page and you make a choice and the choice determines the outcome. I adapted that quote from Diego Armando. If it weren't for him, well, who knows what would have happened to Mia and Maya's mother? Besides the fact that he killed her."

"But you've been crying all the time lately, Dad. Pikachu's not dead yet. And knowing Pikachu, he'll pull through. So emulate Diego Armando!"

"You're right, Hilda."

We hugged briefly, just before there was a knock at the door. I went to open it. "Aunty Dawn! What a nice surprise!" We embraced briefly and her little blue penguin Pokémon jumped into my arms when I pulled away. "It's nice to see you, too, Piplup," I laughed.

Though Aunty Dawn isn't related to me at all, I like to call her that because of the fact that she, Uncle Brock and Dad travelled all around Sinnoh together and became really close.

"How are you?" Aunty Dawn asked.

"I'm good, thank you. I wish I could say the same for my Dad, though."

"Still beating himself up about Pikachu, I take it?"

"Yeah… we haven't battled even once since Pikachu's hospitalisation. Mum had to battle his Pokémon for him."

"Well, I have some terrific news for the four of you. Pikachu…" her voice trailed off, but I could still hear it.

"Come on! Dad's this way! Mum, Rosa, come on down!"

"Why?" came Rosa's impertinent voice.

"Just hurry downstairs, will ya?"

I led Aunty Dawn, Mum and Rosa into the living room where Dad was. We sank into the wonderfully refreshing corner couch and Aunty Dawn told us the news.

"Pikachu is awake."

"No way!" Rosa squealed.

"You've gotta be joking, Dawn!" Mum cried.

"I'll believe it when I see it," Dad mumbled.

"Would I have come here all the way from Sinnoh to tell you all something if it wasn't that your beloved Pikachu is awake?"

"Guess not. But how can I tell if it's not a hoax?"

"Ash. Seriously. As if you need to ask me that. There is no way on this Earth that I would lie to you about Pikachu! Mate, listen, prayer works. So do those little Santa Claus thingies that your daughters used to wish upon."

"I knew it!" I whispered under my breath.

"Dad, what are we waiting for?" Rosa asked. "Let's go to the Pokémon Centre now!"

"Please? Can we, can we, can we?"

"Which Centre is he at again, Dawn?" Mum asked, quickly fixing up her long orangey-red hair into the loose bun she always wears at the nape of her neck.

"He's at the one where Brock works at, Misty. Pewter City."

"Then to Pewter City we'll go!"

Mum dragged Dad into the car and the rest of us followed suit. We got our shoes on and bundled ourselves into the car, with me on the right behind the driver (Mum), Rosa behind Dad, and Aunty Dawn in the middle. Piplup was on her lap.

Mum sped off away from Pallet Town and drove us along Route 1 and into Viridian Forest.

"Is there anyone else at the Centre, Dawn?" Mum asked as we drove through Viridian City.

"May and her husband, Brandon, Max and his girlfriend, Julie, my husband, Lucas, Iris and her boyfriend, Hilbert, Cilan and his wife, Hannah, some guy with a single letter for a name and his wife, Hilda, another kid from Unova — I think his name is Hugh — and his girlfriend, Rosa, Brock's fiancée, Sheila (I know, I was shocked as well) and all the Professors."

"What about all the kids?"

"They're there already."

"Dawn, how old are Venus and Saturn?"

"My two little rascals are five and two, respectively. And there'll be another one on the way in a few months."

"Congrats!"

"Thanks."

There was a little silence, where we knew Pikachu would say something had he been there.

So I asked the question for him.

"Hey, Dad, how long has it been since you came back from Unova?"

"I believe it's been sixteen years since my journey across Unova," Dad answered monotonously.

Poor, poor Dad. He's not even remotely excited about seeing Pikachu awake and alive. "Dad, why are you still upset?" Rosa asked.

"I just can't bring myself to believe it until I see it. Is that a good enough answer for you, Rosa?"

"Not really."

"Ash, listen to me," Mum added. "Pikachu is fine. He's awake. Isn't this the best Christmas present for you?"

"I know it should be. But I still feel awful after what I did last year…"

"Stop your reminiscing and help me look for a parking spot. We're here."

Mum parked us in the one closest to the doors of the Pokémon Centre and the six (and a half) of us scrambled out of the small Mitsubishi Lancer and hurried through the doors.

Aunty Dawn hurried to the front desk. "Nurse Joy, I've brought the family of and the Trainer of the comatose Pikachu who woke up an hour or so ago. Is Pikachu ready for visitors?"

"Yes, he is," Nurse Joy answered. "Right this way."

We followed Nurse Joy into the Intensive Care Unit. There was only one incubator. And Pikachu was in it.

When Dad saw the tiny yellow fluff-ball of wires and tubes, he stopped dead in the doorway. "Oh, Pikachu…"

My sister and I went up to the incubator and pressed our hands and faces up against the glass. Pikachu had indeed woken up! His eyes were darting around the room and when they rested on our faces, he smiled, yawned and stretched. Rosa hurried to our Dad, grabbed his hand, and pulled him over.

"Dad, never mind the tubes and wires stickin' outta him, it's still your same Pikachu!" she exclaimed. "As a Trainer myself, I order you to come and see your Pokémon!"

"If you insist…"

While I watched my Dad almost break down, I took in my surroundings. Despite the heavily falling rain, and the fact that it was lunchtime, golden light streamed into the ward through an open window on the far side. The walls of the ward were painted pale pink, sky blue, bright yellow and soothing lilac. There was a lovely view of the majority of the Kanto Region, including the beautiful Mt. Moon. All in all, I simply felt at peace. And I felt that the only reason Pikachu was still alive was the highest of all the High Powers — Whomever it was that created Arceus. But I kept this feeling secret. For a time, at least.

While Rosa and I were looking out the window, Uncle Brock came into the ward.

"Hey, how's everyone doing?" he called.

Rosa and I turned and these massive grins appeared on our faces. "Uncle Brock!" we yelled, running to the lab-coated stethoscope-strung doctor.

"It's good to see that you two are all okay," he said, patting our shoulders. "Can the same be said of your Dad?"

"I know I should be, now that Pikachu's awake, but I'wm just not," Dad replied, coming over to us. "But I trust anything you have to say, Brock."

Uncle Brock shook Dad's hand and Rosa and I stepped back. "I will tell you the results only after I examine the patient. But my best guess, Ash, is that he'll be coming home before the year's end. In other words, within three weeks. This I promise. He's pulled through every other time, hasn't he?"

"And there is no reason why he shouldn't this time."

"You'll all have to get out and wait in the lobby. Pikachu will be fine."

"Are you sure, Brock?" Mum asked.

"Misty, it's Brock we're talking about here," Aunty Dawn answered. "Since when has Brock ever failed to help a Pokémon in need?"

"You've got a point there, Dawn."

"I'll see you later, Buddy," Dad whispered. "Hang in there."

"Chu…!" Pikachu smiled.

So we left the newly awakened Pokémon with Uncle Brock, and waited out in the lobby. Everyone was there. Nurse Joy and Chansey went all out in preparing a delicious feast of tidbits and drinks. There were small little sandwiches and pots of berry tea, flagons of wine (obviously for the adults only) and bowls of soup, fairy bread and caramel butter Anzac biscuits.

But, unusually for me, I gravitated not to the food, or to Aunty Dawn's kids, or Aunty May's kids, but to my namesake. I knew what she looked like only because they (N and Hilda) had given each of their wedding guests a photo of the two of them together. I was born a week after their wedding.

"Wow, Hilda, you've grown so much!" she said to me. "Granted, the last time we saw each other was ten years ago."

"Yeah, it's been a while, Mrs Gropius," I answered.

"It's actually Harmonia-Coalbrand, but anyway, how's school? You've just finished Year Ten, right?"

"Sorry, Mrs Harmonia-Coalbrand! Yeah, school's good. I aim to study to become a Pokémon Professor, like Professor Oak, or Professor Elm, or Professor Birch, or Professor Rowan, or even Professor Juniper. Professor Oak is helping me get the qualifications. I plan on doing this for at least twenty years, once I am qualified and licensed. Then I'll use what I researched in my writing and publish it."

Hilda blinked. "Wow, you've got it all planned out already!"

"I like to be thorough," I shrugged.

"That'll take you very far, Little Miss Ketchum," the pale green-haired Mr Harmonia-Coalbrand chimed in.

"I wish people would stop calling me that!"

"How come?" Mrs Harmonia-Coalbrand asked.

"Well, for one, I'm not little. I'm fifteen, for crying out loud! And ever since I was little, that nickname has been the cause of all kinds of teasing at school. You know the nursery rhyme, 'Little Miss Muffet'? I actually used to enjoy singing it before Blue's daughter, Odile, pointed this new edition out.

"Little Miss Ketchum sat down on her ottoman,

"Eating her curds and whey.

"Along came a Spinarak and sat down beside her

"And frightened Miss Ketchum away."

"Hilda, it's in the past! Give it a rest!"

"I wish I could, but the past is what makes you who you are."

"You couldn't be more wrong."

"Mr Harmonia-Coalbrand?"

"It's not the past that determines who you are, but your reaction to it."

"You need to tell your Dad that. Ouch!" Mrs Harmonia-Coalbrand clutched her stomach, which, as I noticed for the first time, was quite engorged.

"Are you okay?" Mr Harmonia-Coalbrand made to grab his wife's shoulder.

"Yeah."

"Is it another miscarriage?"

"Honey, I'm afraid so."

"What do you mean, 'another one'?"

"I'll ring for an ambulance." Mr Harmonia-Coalbrand grabbed his mobile out of his pocket, dialled One-One-Nine and hurried outside.

I asked Nurse Joy and Chansey for some help and they got Mrs Harmonia-Coalbrand onto a couch in the lobby.

"Hilda, are you okay?" Mum asked, noticing the small commotion. I could tell she was asking Mrs Harmonia-Coalbrand (for once).

"A miscarriage, Misty," Mrs Harmonia-Coalbrand answered.

"Not another one!" Mum hung her head down and sighed. "Oh, why did that man have to curse your union from beyond the grave!?"

"Who are you talking about, Mum?" I asked.

"Have your parents told you stories about a man called Ghetsis?" Mrs Harmonia-Coalbrand asked me.

"Yeah…?"

"He cursed our union with miscarriage after miscarriage after miscarriage. We've been trying to have children since we got married fifteen years ago. And this is now my fourteenth miscarriage. I was so close with this one! We'd just come up to six months. I feel almost like Catherine of Aragon."

"Have you tried seeing Chansey and or Audino? They may be able to help." Mrs Belrose suggested.

"Thank you for the suggestion, but I doubt there is anything to be done to help me carry a living child to term."

"We'll all pray for you." Mr Belrose added.

"Thank you."

Still on the phone, Mr Harmonia-Coalbrand came back in and found his wife. "Hilda, my sweet, the ambulance will be here soon," he said soothingly.

While we were waiting for the ambulance, Uncle Brock yelled out for me and my family to hurry into the recovery ward.

So hurry we did. Pikachu was walking! He walked over to us, climbed onto Dad's shoulder, and zapped us with his Thunderbolt. That was the best indication for Dad that Pikachu was 100% okay.

"Pika, pika pika," he said to Dad.

"What? We have to see the Harmonia-Coalbrands?"

"Chu!"

"Why?"

"Mrs Harmonia-Coalbrand is having another miscarriage, Dad! I think Pikachu is saying that he can help her!" I butted in.

"Then let's hurry!" Mum added. She led us to where Mrs Harmonia-Coalbrand lay on the couch, sweating and bleeding between her legs.

"It can't be too late to save it… can it, Mum?" Rosa asked.

"No… I'm afraid it is. Once the bleeding begins, the life of that child is over. In this world, at least."

"Mrs Harmonia-Coalbrand, is there a way to end the curse?" I asked.

"The only way to know is to pray. Unless you have an idea?"

"Pikachu does."

"Pikachu, do whatever it is you have to do to help the Harmonia-Coalbrands," Dad commanded.

So Pikachu climbed onto Mrs Harmonia-Coalbrand's stomach and spoke to Mr Harmonia-Coalbrand.

"Hilda, Pikachu's saying that our baby is still alive," he said.

"And he needs to use Thunderbolt on us both."

"Do it, Pikachu!" both of them commanded.

Pikachu used Thunderbolt at full blast. The lights flickered and the yellow jolts of Pikachu's electric power hummed. When he stopped, their hair was defying the laws of gravity.

"Ha!" Mrs Harmonia-Coalbrand exclaimed.

"What is it?" Mr Harmonia-Coalbrand asked.

"I felt it kick. It's alive! N, our baby is alive!"

A great cheer rose up in the centre for the two of them, as they lost each other inside a beautiful kiss.

"We're here to take Mrs Hilda Harmonia-Coalbrand to hospital," a voice called out from the doors to the Pokémon Centre.

"Yes, Officers, over here," Dad said, bringing them over.

"Hilda, it'll be better if you go," Aunty Dawn said, squeezing Mrs Harmonia-Coalbrand's shoulder. "Just in case there's anything else that's wrong with the baby."

"Okay, Dawn. And Ash, make sure you reward Pikachu from me, okay?"

"Okay," Dad answered.

The paramedics helped Mrs Harmonia-Coalbrand onto the wheel bed and wheeled her outside and into the ambulance. Mr Harmonia-Coalbrand went with her.

As we waved them off, Uncle Brock said, "How strange life can be. We were all here to welcome Pikachu back to the land of the living, and now we are witnesses to the breaking of a sixteen-year-old curse."

"And so begins a new life — in all senses of the phrase," Mum added.

"I hope that that Ghetsis bloke forever feels the pain in Hell," I said. "Who actually killed him?"

"I did," Mrs Belrose answered. I was shocked. I knew she was strong, but I never thought she could take a man's life! "I know you're shocked, but I had no choice. Killing my twin sister and cursing N and Hilda wasn't even an eighth of what he has done. And now, I'm not too sure if he is actually dead…"

I'm not too sure if I am going to make this story into a novel. I know the ending makes it seem like there will be more, but if there is, I promise to let you know. Before I add the next few chapters, I will finish The Story of Damos, Rosa's Sixteenth Year and Trapped in Unova.