Happy Canada Day! Hope you all enjoy this chapter. This IS the last one and there won't be any epilogues this time around. Will I be making a sequel to this? Possibly. I'm struggling with a bit of writer's block right now but we'll see! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask! Thank you to all of the amazing readers and reviewers for this! You guys are awesome!

Without further ado, here's the last chapter!

Between Time and Space

Chapter Eleven – Truth

There were moments when Ash could see better with his eyes closed. With light blinding them all, sight was useless, but he could still see the warm auras of Misty, Dawn, Pikachu, Ria and the other pokemon. He could faintly see the outline of the towers as the power of Oracion slowly started to fade away – non-living things normally didn't give off an aura of their own, he could seem them when aura from the earth bounced off of them (at least, he assumed that's what was going on). Then, he could see everything else that wasn't there moments ago.

Slowly blinking open his eyes, he was met with the crystal clear waters and the bright blue sky of Alamos Town. The town was entirely in tact, without a single stone missing. A warm, genuine breeze, something that had had been missing during the destruction of the town, rushed by them, and Ash shook both girls' shoulders. "Look."

Misty opened her eyes and gasped in awe. Much to his enjoyment, she didn't move away to look around. If anything, she shifted closer to his side. "Everything's back."

Dawn lurched away from his grip, though he didn't even try to stop her. She looked down, eyes watering a little bit. "Look, even the people who disappeared are back!"

The pokemon all ran towards the edge of the ledge they were all, cooing and chattering happily to one another.

They did it, everything was safe.

...

Brock was the first to open his eyes after light temporarily blinded them all. He perked up, gasping in surprise. "Everything's back!"

Given that she was leaning on him, May heard and reacted first, her sapphire eyes opening as she stared out over Alamos Town. She laughed and took a few steps away from him, stumbling a bit, but it didn't matter since she was going for her Blaziken. She hugged him tightly as she laughed joyously. The pokemon mirrored her excitement as he picked her up, knowing that she couldn't really walk on her own right now.

She grinned broadly a Brock. "I knew they could do it!"

He nodded his head and looked around to speak to Alice or Tonio, but was surprised when his little Happiny jumped into his arms. He laughed and hugged the tiny pokemon. "I never doubted them for a minute." With three completely stubborn people trying to save the day, he always had faith that they could pull it off.

Tonio looked at his laptop before sighing and closing it, shoving the machine back in his bag. "Everything's back to normal on the readings too."

Alice didn't add to the joyous outcries that came from all of the trainers around. Her blue eyes darted around in the sky, a frown slowly appearing on her face. She shifted a bit, before saying something that made them all freeze. "Darkrai didn't come back like everyone else, did he?"

...

None of them wanted to make their way back down the stairs, but there was really no other option at that moment. The only consolation was that going down was much, much easier than going up. Needless to say, they decided to take the stairs in the Space-Tower, since they were actually inside the building.

Ash was pretty sure that he'd have some sort of anxiety attack if someone else fell right now.

Pikachu was perched on Misty's shoulder, chattering to Piplup, who was sitting on Dawn's head. The blue-haired girl led the trek down the stairs, followed by Misty and then him. All of them were tired, about ready to just flop down where they stood an fall asleep. Clothes slightly torn, hair askew, and skin covered in bruises and tiny cuts, they were certainly a sight to behold.

Ash watched the two girls silently. While visibly exhausted, both girls seemed to be a little more at attention than him, and he had no idea why. It wasn't being arrogant saying that he was the most active out of them all, there was very little that could keep him down, but he was honestly ready for the longest nap in the world.

"Your aura's tired," Ria's voice echoed through his mind, not aloud like she normally projected her thoughts. "That's why you're sleepy."

"Hmm?" He mumbled barely audibly, wondering what she meant by his aura was tired. She was sitting on his shoulder though, so she could hear him.

"You used a lot of it when you help time-meanie's owie."

Ash blinked and looked at her, his lip twitching into a smile. Sometimes it was easy to forget that pokemon weren't all just battle ready when they first met. Sometimes they were still just children or babies too, and hearing Ria call Palkia a 'time-meanie' with an 'owie' was more than just a little amusing.

He shook his head, chuckling a bit. Still, he guessed that made sense. He never knew that he could heal something, but in retrospect, that might explain a lot about himself. He was rarely ever sick, and he tended to shrug off injuries much quicker than most people, something he always bragged about to his friends, Gary and Leaf, when he was younger. If he could heal someone else without really knowing what he was doing, self-preservation probably would have let him subconsciously heal himself too.

Ash knew that he had a lot to learn about aura, but until he found someone to teach him about it, he'd have to just take these new discoveries as they came. His eyes flickered to Dawn. He felt a little bad for not telling her, especially after what just happened. He knew she deserved an answer about how he knew what the problem with the two legendary pokemon were, how she was saved when she fell off the tower, and so much more. Ash was never one for silence, he was rather open and straight forward, but sometimes it was better just to stay quiet.

"Blame it on the funny place we were in," Ria whispered to him when he projected his thoughts to her, hoping that the small piece of her that was wise beyond her years thanks to Lucario, would know what to do. Ash mulled that over and nodded his head. That was viable, since they were in another dimension at the time, things could have been different. He'd only bring it up if she asked though. A lot had happened, and she was very much a go-with-the-flow type of person, so if she hadn't brought it up yet, she probably wouldn't any time soon.

"Land!" Dawn cried out as she jumped off the last step, purposely dropping to her knees. Piplup jumped off her head and did the same, though he looked like he was hugging the ground.

"Come one, we need to find everyone else," Misty reminded her, nudging her with her foot. Dawn groaned a bit, but still held up a hand, letting the older girl yank her to her feet.

Their footsteps echoed loudly as they walked through the empty, massive hall and out the large, front doors. Stepping into the square in front of the Space-Time Towers was an odd experience, because everything was there, perfectly in tact like nothing happened to at all.

Ash let out a breath that he was holding, not quite sure what he was expecting, maybe for the world to have come back together upside down or something stupid like that.

"Ash! Misty! Dawn!" They all looked up as Brock's voice echoed across the courtyard. He hurried out of the garden, running towards them with a broad smile on his face.

Despite how tired he was, Ash jumped and waved at his friend. "Brock!" He looked over as Blaziken jumped ahead, getting to them in only two or three bounds, May sitting comfortably in her pokemon's arms. He set her down, and she let out a laugh as she lurched towards them, throwing her arms around both Misty and Dawn at the same time.

"I knew you could do it!" she cried out excitedly as she squeezed them. "I knew you could figure out what Oracion was! And you guys got it to play too!" She took a step back, not putting much weight on her injured leg, but smiling all the while. She turned towards Ash and said, "Looks like you weren't the only one who got to play the hero this time, huh?"

He chuckled at her and said, "No. It was definitely Misty and Dawn who saved the day this time."

"Don't sell yourself short," Brock shook his head as he reached them, clapping his hand on Ash's shoulder roughly and ignoring his protesting whine. "We saw you jump on Palkia. I gotta ask, what the hell were you thinking?"

Ash smiled at him, completely unrepentant for his actions. "I...didn't really think. We needed more time and Palkia needed to calm down. Well, they both did, but I could only jump on one."

"So you jumped on it?" The skepticism in Brock's voice was painfully obvious.

He bristled and pouted at him. "It worked, didn't it?"

"Yeah, but you still almost gave me a heart attack when you fell."

"Wait, what?" Misty spoke up, turning her attention from May to the two boys. Her sea green eyes narrowed at she looked at Ash. "Fell?"

He chuckled sheepishly and May practically bounced on one leg. "Yeah. He was on Palkia's back and everything seemed fine for a minute, then the next he decided to fall off."

"I didn't decide to fall off. I slipped," Ash argued with her.

"Well whatever you said to Palkia must have left an impression, since it decided to catch you before you hit the ground," she argued back.

"Seriously," Misty sighed, "You are either going to fall to your doom or drown! We need to keep your feel on the ground and not let you go anywhere!"

"Everything turned out fine," Ash argued with her.

"Not the point!"

"Guys, we should get our pokemon to the Pokemon Center," Brock interrupted before they could start arguing. "Nurse Joy said she was going to take the pokemon that were battling first. May needs to get her ankle looked at, and we could all do with a shower, some bandages, and maybe some sleep."

Ash's stomach gurgled loudly, getting a laugh out of Dawn and May. "And some food," Brock added with a sigh. "Everything did turn out alright this time, so lets just be thankful for that." His smiled faded a little. "Well, almost."

"Almost?" Misty looked around for a moment, as if trying to spot the problem, and her eyes went wide. "Alice and Tonio! Are they-?"

"They're okay," Brock assured them as Ash and Dawn adopted almost identical expressions of worry. "Well, for the most part. Alice is pretty upset."

"About what?"

"Darkrai didn't come back," May told them, her voice sad as she twisted her hair in her fingers. "We looked a bit but we couldn't find him anywhere." Her sapphire eyes glanced at Ash with an almost hopeful expression, though she didn't say anything.

Ash couldn't read minds, he wasn't a psychic, but he did know what it was that May wanted, just because he knew her. She wanted to know if he could find Darkrai. He knew that the legendary pokemon definitely wasn't around them right now, and it would take a while of searching to see if he was hidden in the gardens again.

Honestly, Ash didn't have the energy to do that right now. He shook his head at May, and she frowned, looking down at her shoes.

"It's not fair," Dawn blurted out suddenly, startling everyone else. Her wide eyes were filled with tears as she hugged Piplup close. "Darkrai – everyone was so horrible to him. Nobody understood him. All he was trying to do was protect everyone here!"

"It's not fair," Ash agreed after a tense moment of silence. "I think Darkrai knew what would happen to him, but he wanted to save everyone here, no matter how they treated him. He wanted people to be happy and I don't think he'd want us to be too sad."

"Well, if anyone tries to paint him as the villain again," May spoke up, slapping her fist into her palm. "I'll kick their butts just like I did with Baron Jerkface. He saved everyone." Her demeanour softened. "I guess, all we can do is remember him. We knew he was trying to do the right thing, and as long as someone knew..." She shrugged. "We'll just have to make sure that everyone knows the real story."

No one said anything else after that, a peaceful, sad silence hanging over them all as they watched the gardens as if the pokemon in question would appear before them if they waited long enough. There was so much to talk about, but so little energy to actually speak.

No one really knew what to say to that, standing silently and sadly together as the sun slowly started to set.

...

Sleep came easily to Ash once they finally got back to the Pokemon Center. His problem lied in actually staying asleep, constantly being jerked out of nightmares just to fall back into his slumber easily, over and over again. With how exhausted he was, it was disorienting.

Finally, he sat up, putting his face into his hands. He was so tired, but he couldn't sleep right. He could hear Brock's snores, and was instantly jealous of his older friend. Once a crisis was over and everyone was safe, Brock was always able to sleep easily though. He was lucky that way.

He shook his head a bit as if that would make his runaway thoughts get under control and actually let him sleep like he wanted to.

Then a very familiar aura appeared in his room without warning.

Ash's bright brown eyes snapped open and his head jerked up. Mouth falling open in shock, all he could do was stare directly at a large, glowing blue eye, the other shielded from view by flowing, white hair.

"Darkrai," he breathed out as he stared at the pokemon, only visibly in the light of the moon. "Are you..." He wasn't sure what he wanted to ask. Was this a dream? Was Darkrai alive? That seemed stupid because he knew he was awake and he could feel Darkrai's distinct energy.

The pokemon nodded his head.

"Everyone thinks your dead!" Ash blurted out, completely forgetting that Brock was in the same room. "Alice was so upset over it and she'd be so happy to see you again! No one is ever going to try to hurt you anymore!"

Darkrai slowly shook his head, his gravely voice coming out low and calmly. "Perhaps it's best for them to think I've gone."

"I don't...if you want everyone to think you're dead, why come to me?" Ash asked him, feeling both confused and upset. He waved his hands in the air. In that moment, he felt like every little frustration that he had came to a peak and burst out. "Actually, why me this whole time? You gave me that dream to try and warn me. You told me that they would destroy everything. You wanted me to stop them. Why?"

Darkrai stared at him with an almost knowing look. "You had a dream of this without my influence, did you not?"

Ash tensed up, not sure how he'd know that. "Yes." For a brief moment, he thought about how strange it was to hear Darkrai talk so much, but quickly shrugged that off and forced himself back to the conversation at hand.

"Then you know the answer to your questions."

He blinked with confusion, feeling so completely unsure about what this legendary pokemon was saying. "My aura."

Darkrai actually chuckled at him. "That may be a part of it, but no, that is not why. You know why it had to be you, Ash Ketchum. You've known since you were young. Others, they have psychic or empathetic powers, or can even link their hearts to pokemon, but you are something different all together. Even from the others who can use aura."

Ash's mouth closed at that. He'd met psychics like Sabrina the Saffron City Gym Leader (amongst many others), and he'd met people who had empathetic links to pokemon like Anabel, but he never thought he was anything special compared to them.

Then again, he did have aura, and that was really shaping up to be all of those things combined. Not that he knew how to actually control it, just doing things on a whim and hoping they worked. So he had no idea what would make him special compared to others who could actually use aura properly.

Darkrai was silently watching him as he mulled his words over. He thought back even farther, back to the first day he left home, sitting on the ground in a hopeless mess, and seeing Ho-oh fly across the sky. Then he pictured Ho-oh's counterpart, and Ash knew what the dark-type was talking about.

"What if I don't want it to be more anymore?" he asked, his voice soft and almost pleading. "Sure, I want to be a Pokemon Master, the best Pokemon Master, but...I don't want to be this." He looked down at his hands as they grasped the blanket that was over him.

He suddenly remembered that Brock was there and turned to say something, completely surprised that his friend was still asleep.

"He cannot hear us," Darkrai whispered. "You must understand, this is just the beginning."

"The beginning?" Ash's head snapped up and he stared at Darkrai incredulously. "Things are going to get worse?"

"Much worse, and that is when the world will need you most."

His entire body was tense before he shook his head violently. "I can't..."

"You must."

"I don't have a choice?"

Darkrai didn't answer, fading into the shadows on the floor. "Tell none I was here. It is for the best." Then the shadow slid away out the window.

Ash leapt out of the bed, running after the shadow. He leaned against the window, his eyes scanning the dark town before him and unable to detect the pokemon in any other way. He wondered if it was even there, or if he was going crazy. He slowly took a few steps back, closing the window and then turning and stumbling back to his bed, flopping onto it face first.

In his confusion, somehow, sleep finally came.

...

"Ash! Get up or you won't get any breafast!" Dawn yelled as she kicked the door to his and Brock's room. "The contest is starting soon!"

He groaned, rolling over on the soft bed that he really didn't want to get up from. He sort-of woke up earlier when Brock did, but his fitful night's sleep and Darkrai's visit exhausted him. He managed to get up earlier and tug on his jeans and white t-shirt, but that was as far as he got before he tumbled back into his bed and dozed off again.

No one bothered him until now.

"I'll be there in a few minutes," he called back. "Go ahead." He could almost picture her huffing before she walked away, leaving him sprawled out in silence. He was tired.

His bright brown eyes fluttered shut, though he was technically still awake. Even if he was in a dead sleep, not much could sneak up on him anymore, which Dawn attributed to him being a light sleeper. If only she knew.

He wasn't quite sure how long he stayed there, but he was broken out of his silent musing when someone knocked at the door. He didn't move to acknowledge them though. Not that he had to, as the keycard was put in the door, unlocking it.

"Ash?" Misty asked him quietly as she entered the room, closing the door behind her. "Brock lent me his key, you missed breakfast." She walked over to where he was laying, taking a seat beside him and tapping his shoulder. "What's wrong?"

He rolled over slightly and stared at her with exhausted eyes. He wanted to talk to Misty, to spill out everything and hope that she'd call all his worries ridiculous, maybe smack him over the head hard enough to forget the conversation ever happened. Too bad she wasn't as violent as she used to be.

Darkrai told him not to tell anyone, but hiding something from Misty felt wrong. Sure, he hid things from his mother (she would have dragged him back home by his ears if she knew all the times he almost died), Brock and some of his other friends, even Misty in the past, but now the idea of lying to her was really unsettling. His mother told him time and time again (even more so in recent months, bless her heart he'd have to get her another good present soon, maybe a new spade to use in her garden) that trust was so very important, and that lying was the seed of all things bad. Yes, he would really have to get her something nice.

"Darkrai's alive." He couldn't lie to her. "I'm not supposed to tell anyone. Not even you. He asked me not to."

Misty's expression changed from surprised, to confused, and then she smiled at him, not saying anything and waiting for him to continue.

Ash realized this, pushing himself up and moving so that he was sitting beside her instead of just flopped out. He stared down at his hands, watching as he subconscious picked at the frayed strings on his jeans. "He said...he said that what happened here was just the beginning, that it was going to lead up to something bigger and...I don't know if I can deal with that." He looked up at her, his face suddenly frustrated. "I shouldn't have to! They're the legendary pokemon! It's their problem! He said that I don't get a choice though." His shoulders slumped again as the anger left as quickly as it came. "It has to be me. I always does."

Misty was silent before slapping his arm lightly, not to hurt him but just to get his attention. He stared up at her, a bit surprised to see that she was regarding him as if he was completely insane. "Don't be stupid. There's always a choice. So some legendary pokemon think that you're some sort of Chosen One, it doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is what you decide you want to do." She tapped his cheek roughly, causing him to whine and rub his face with a pout."What happened to Mr. Stubborn who always got up in my face even though he knew that he was wrong? Who argues with just about everything?"

A smile slowly appeared on Ash's face. "Well..."

"No, I'm not done!" Misty threw both of her hands up in the air. "You never let anyone tell you what you can and can't be. People scoff at you and you just show them how wrong they are! Even me! I thought you were some dense, bullying, arrogant brat of a trainer who would never go anywhere! Then I saw you catch that Caterpie and saw just how much you loved the gross bug and I realized that while you were dense, arrogant and a brat, you weren't a bully, you loved pokemon, and maybe you could go somewhere!" She let her hands fall onto his shoulders, where she grabbed him and shook him. "Come on, don't go soft on me now. The ones who just do what their told are the ones who don't get anywhere! You know that!"

Ash stared at her, his face the picture of what it was like to be stunned.

"Seriously, no one call tell you what you have to do or who to be! Hell, you tell us that all the time! You encourage all of your friends not to give up on their dreams, to not listen to when people say they can't do something or have to do it a certain way. Don't get all hypocritical on me now!" She pouted at him. "Hell, if I knew it was that easy to get you to conform, I'd make you stop dressing like you rolled out of the bushes every morning."

He laughed. It was loud and so powerful that it actually hurt his chest. He leaned forward, holding onto his stomach as the laughter engulfed him. It really wasn't all that funny, but still, there were tears starting to run down his cheeks. After a moment of hysterics, he looked back up at her, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself. He stared for just a moment and said, "I do usually roll out of the bushes every morning."

Misty snorted at him. "Unbelievable. I give you this amazing pep-talk and you pick up on that."

His expression softened, and he reached up, taking one of her hands off of his shoulder and squeezing it instead. "Thanks Misty. You're right. There's just been so much going on over the past few days and I can barely tell what's up and down anymore." He blinked at her. "And thanks for dealing with me even though I always drag you into hair-brained adventures too."

"Eh, it makes life interesting, besides, I like dealing with you," she smiled at him warmly. "So, are you going to be a big pouty baby and listen to a pokemon that barely knows you? Or are you going to listen to your awesome girlfriend who still likes you even though you're a complete goober and you still owe her a bike?"

"You got your bike back!"

"Not from you!"

"So? It's still intact!"

"That's not the point!"

"What is the point?"

"You know what the point is!"

"No I don't !"

"You do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"What were we talking about again?"

"I have no idea!"

They stared at one another, both trying desperately not to be the first to laugh. Misty's lips twitched up into a smile, causing Ash to let out a snort, and then they both burst out laughing. He was still tired, but a bit of life came back to him. Darkrai's words had been dragging him down, but there was no need for that.

"Thanks," he repeated again when they both calmed down, finally grabbing his discarded socks and pulling them on. He hopped to his feet, flipping on his gloves and then his vest. Still smiling, he held a hand out.

She shook her head but let him pull her up. He didn't tug her that hard, but she purposely yanked him forward once she was standing, almost laughing at his surprised look as she kissed him. He was surprised, but kissed her back.

She was right, he never let anyone tell him who he had to be before, and he wasn't about to start now just because of some legendary pokemon.

"Ash! Misty! Come on!" May yelled from outside the door, banging on it and startling them away from one another. "The contest is going to start soon!"

Ash shook his head and laughed, grabbing his hat and putting it on his head before pulling on his sneakers. He opening the door, smiling at the the girl. "We're coming. Go on, you need to get there first. We'll be there. Plus I'm going to buy all the food in the world when we're there."

"You would. Brock's waiting for you!" She turned around and rushed away, not letting her slight limp bother her.

Ash turned and faced Misty, holding his hand out to her. She rolled her eyes at him and took his hand, following him out of the room and down the stairs to get their pokemon.

Brock was leaning against the desk, staring at Nurse Joy with a star-struck expression. He grinned broadly at they approached and said, "I have a date with Joy tonight."

"What?"

"Seriously?"

Brock looked unamused before saying, "You guys are hilarious. Get your pokemon and lets go."

Ria cooed happily and jumped into Ash's arms when she was brought out of the back room. Pikachu waved at Nurse Joy and leapt up onto Ash's shoulder, nuzzling his face.

Ash and Misty were both too stunned by this revelation to really notice their pokemon though, both snapping their pokeballs to their belts out of instinct rather than a conscious decision. Brock had a date with Nurse Joy? That was easily the strangest thing they came across in Alamos Town.

Ash shook his head first to break himself out of the stunned silence. He looked at Misty, who was still visibly gaping at Brock, and then turned his attention to the young man in question, chuckling a bit at how starstruck he looked. There was something about Brock's small triumph that made him think a little more about himself.

Ash had no idea what was coming in the future, but he wasn't going to let that change his goals or who he was. He would keep trekking forward to become the greatest Pokemon Master in the world, and he knew he could do it because he would have his friends there backing him up, even if they weren't actually there with him.

Darkrai was wrong, he thought. He did have a choice, and he wasn't going to let anything else distract him from his dreams.

Ash smiled warmly at Pikachu, who climbed up onto his head, and at Ria, who cooed happily and waved at some of the other pokemon that were around them. He wasn't going to let his worries get to him, putting them all aside for now. He just wanted to have fun with his friends and enjoy the contest like a normal trainer.

As they walked out of the Pokemon Center, a small flash of light caught Ash's attention, making him do a double take. He stared at his reflection in the metal of the door before shaking his head. He was still seeing Dialga and Palkia everywhere he went, or so he assumed.

Why else would he have sworn that there was a pokemon with red eyes staring back at him from the reflective surface?

-The End-

Sky