At that final moment, the mist faded, and Luke and Lucario were surrounded with light.
When the light faded, they found themselves in the clearing of Felicity Forest, where the pond was.
Surrounding them were all of SIRS, Shaymin and her crew, Tornadus, Mewtwo, Genesect, Volcanion, the Swords of Justice, Landorus, Giratina, and Groudon, all in their normal forms. Right next to them were Luna, Kira, and Kuro.
Luna embraced Luke. "Brother! You're awake!" Then she turned to Lucario and gasped. "Dad? Dad!" She hugged her father with tears in her eyes as Kira and Kuro helped Luke to his feet. The agents of SIRS came over to embrace their friends in the wake of this miracle.
After the embrace had broken, Shaymin, looking around, said, "Wait…where's Pikachu? He was right where Lucario appeared before."
At that, Luke bowed his head and tears rolled from his eyes. Luna, Kira, and Kuro stood by him.
Lucario, holding back his tears, stood tall and said, "Pikachu traded his life for mine. Because of his connection to Zygarde, who's gone now, he didn't have much time left, so he stayed behind…on the other side…so I could come back and care for my children." He paused as everyone took in the sad news, as some, including Luna, Kira, Kuro, and Shaymin, began to weep. "Everyone…let us not forget the sacrifice Pikachu made, nor the lesson he teaches: as long as we have love in our hearts, we can overcome the bitterest hate; with love in our hearts, we can always turn around and change our direction, abandoning the path of darkness and walking the path of light. So, in memory of our dear friend, let us not hate each other for our differences, but care about each other, looking past our differences. I think if we do this, we can truly cleanse and beautify our worlds. Can we do this?"
Everyone firmly cried out their agreements.
Shaymin, recovering from her sadness with a new determination, said to her gang and the legendary Pokémon she'd worked with, "We've done so many bad things. Let's follow Pikachu's example and turn ourselves around! Let's truly protect nature by caring about each other, rather than letting hate ravage it!" She looked at Luke, Lucario, Luna, Kira, and Kuro, and SIRS. "On behalf of me and my friends, I can't apologize enough for everything. I guess…we didn't want to see the truth. After the things Zygarde did, and how we helped him…we don't deserve a second chance. But thanks for letting us have it. We won't let you down! Let's go, guys!" Before leaving, she looked at Luke. "And…Luke…that day we met…I could honestly feel the gratitude everyone gave you for helping them. Even now, the gratitude everyone has toward you…I have toward you….is off the charts! Keep doing great things for people, and I'll try to do the same, always thankful for what you've done."
Luke smiled and nodded. Thank you, Shaymin…my friend.
With a smile, Shaymin and her crew left, and Groudon lumbered away as Giratina sunk into the shadows.
Landorus soared over to Tornadus and Thundurus. "Take care of yourselves, guys. Don't make me have to interfere again!" He chuckled and winked, then said, "You two were right. True strength lies in our friendships, not the amount of power we have. Thanks for showing me that through your actions." He soared away.
Once they'd left, Lucario looked at Mewtwo, Genesect, Volcanion, the Swords of Justice, and Tornadus. "Thanks so much for all of your help."
"Anytime, friend," Volcanion said, lumbering away.
"Farewell," Mewtwo said, flying away.
Genesect soared away and the Swords of Justice bounded off.
Tornadus, remaining, said, "I don't feel like leaving JUST yet."
After everyone else had left, Lucario said to SIRS, "Everyone, I can't thank you enough for your contributions to this investigation. Heracross, Thundurus, Psyduck, Hippopotas, Porygon2, Togetic, Munchlax...and Luke, thanks to each and every one of you, we have closed our biggest investigation ever and saved not just this world, but the human world as well!"
SIRS cheered and celebrated, thanking their leader for leading them.
This celebration was interrupted by the arrival of Arceus from the sky and Giratina from the shadows.
"Hello, everyone," Arceus said. "Luke, Lucario, we've already been acquainted. Everyone else, I am Arceus, creator of the Pokémon world."
"We're here because everyone's gotta make things right their own way," Giratina said. "With Arceus's help, I need to fix all of the distortions in both the Pokémon and human worlds."
"This means that the connections between these worlds will be permanently cut off," Arceus said. "Luke, Luna, Kira, Kuro, Lucario…all of you are humans, so you must return to the human world. Once this is done, the distortions will be closed…and you'll never be able to come back."
There was a long, sad, pause. Then Munchlax broke the silence.
"If Lucario has to go…who will lead SIRS?" he asked.
"As second-in-command, leadership of SIRS transfers to Heracross," Lucario said. Walking over and embracing his friend, he said, "I wouldn't trust anyone else to this. I'll miss you, my friend. Thank you for everything all this time."
"Thank YOU…for SIRS," Heracross said. As the newly appointed leader of SIRS, he turned to the group and said, "Operations will continue as normal, but the vacancies must be occupied. I'm thinking…another legendary, at-large agent?" He smiled wryly. "What do you think, Thundurus?"
"I'm fine with that," Thundurus said, turning to Tornadus. "How'd you like to join SIRS?"
Tornadus joyfully laughed. "The two of us hanging out just like the old days. I like it! Let's do it!"
"Very well," Heracross said. "After this, come with me to the Challenger's Dungeon and I'll test your mettle. While it's no question you're strong enough, gotta stick to tradition!" He winked at Lucario, who smiled.
Lucario shared his individual farewells with the agents, then Luke said goodbye to Heracross, Psyduck, Hippopotas, Porygon2, Togetic, Munchlax, Thundurus, and Tornadus.
"So long, Luke. You're just like your father in every way."
"Don't worry, Luke! I'm always thinking, and I'll never forget you!"
"Farewell, Luke! I'll miss you dearly."
"GOODBYE, LUKE. YOU'LL ALWAYS HOLD A PLACE IN MY EMOTIONAL DATABASE, OR 'HEART.'"
"Bye, Luke. I had lots of fun with you."
"Bye bye, Luke. Thanks for all the fun times Togetic and I can remember!"
"See ya around, Luke. Well, I won't, but in my memories, I will. I always enjoyed fighting with you, as your opponent and as your ally!"
"Goodbye, Luke. I may not have known you as long as Thundurus or everyone else, but I still value you as a dear friend nonetheless."
The humans looked at Arceus, and Lucario said, "We're ready. Let's go."
A flash of light changed the scenery from the Felicity Forest pond to the pond in the human world, undistorted.
All of them were human again.
Luke's father hugged all of them and said, "All of you. You were so wonderful, so strong, so brave. Thank you so much. Now, let's go home."
As they walked, Luke, Luna, Kira, and Kuro embraced.
They got home and found Luke's mother still exhausted from the fight with Giratina but healthy and happy. They recounted everything that happened, mainly Zygarde's defeat and Pikachu's sacrifice, and they told her both worlds were safe.
Life returned to normal for them. Luke and Luna adjusted back to life with their mother and father quite happily, content to spend their days with their parents and playing with Kira and Kuro.
However, none of them ever forgot their friends in the Pokémon world. They'd reminisce happily and wonder how they were doing, missing them but remaining content that they were just as happy as they were.
Sometimes, when no one was looking, by himself, Luke would return to the pond. He'd stare in the pond and recall all of his adventures, with his father, with SIRS…but most of all, with Pikachu, his brother, his friend…his partner. Remembering his adventures and how much he missed them would cause Luke to tear up, and his tears would fall into the water. From the ripples where his tears splashed, Luke imagined that he saw Pikachu smiling back at him. Seeing this, Luke would smile.
He and Pikachu were such good friends. They had a friendship that crossed worlds, the line between humans and Pokémon, life and death, the line between good and evil; Pikachu had changed for Luke and ultimately sacrificed himself for his sake. And Luke knew that one day, because their friendship was so strong, they would see each other again.
THE END
