Well, here it is. The end. This is, by far, the saddest chapter I have ever written.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.

Tissue boxes ready? Let's go.

The five friends had been walking for about an hour now when they came across a large black building. There were few windows and a single door. In the center of the structure was a large red P with a slash through it. The entire place screamed, "Stay away or else!"

"We're here," said Lucario shakily. All five gulped.

"You know, I think I forgot to feed Weavile," Kiki stated. She edged away until Umbreon pulled her back.

"Oh no you don't, chicken," she said. Nervously, they all stepped toward the door. Mew knocked.

"Mew!" Kiki looked at her disapprovingly. "Do you think that it's just going to open if we...?" But she never got to finish the sentence. The doors swung open.

"You first," Umbreon said to no one in particular after an awkward silence.

"No way!" Mesprit declared. "If there's one thing I'velearned, it's that self-opening doors are always bad news."

"We've got to!" said Mew. "We've got to save the others!" There was a chorus of shaky agreements, but still no one budged.

"Alright then," she said after a while, "I'll go first, you bunch of cowards."

"No, I will," Mesprit cut in sharply. The four looked at him. Beads of sweat were forming on his face. Shaking madly, he floated through the doors and disappeared into the blackness.

"Ah, true love in its purest form," Umbreon sighed dreamily.

"What?" asked Mew.

"Nothing!" she retorted.

"All clear!" came Mesprit's voice from inside the void. They followed his voice through the doors and into a large hallway.

"Wow, this place is like a prison," said Kiki. The others agreed.

"Which way should we go?" Umbreon asked Lucario. He shrugged. There were five doors to pick from.

"We should take this way!" Mew called, heading toward the door on the far left.

"No, this one looks more promising," said Kiki as she went to the center door.

"I think we should go through this one." Mesprit took the door on Kiki's right.

"How about this one?" Lucario stood at the door to Kiki's left.

Umbreon sighed. "Just to be different," she said, "I'm-a gonna say door number five." With that she walked to the far right door.

"I know how to decide this!" Kiki exclaimed. She stepped back away from the door, closed her eyes, and stuck out her arm.

"Eenie-meenie-minie-mo; catch a tiger by his toe; if he hollers, let him go; eenie-meenie-minie-mo; my mother says to pick the very best one and that is Y-O-U, you; red, white, and blue; you." She opened her eyes to see that her finger was pointing to the door Lucario was standing in front of. "Rock," she added, pointing towards the center. "Look at that! Let's go." The others rolled their eyes.

The five of them gathered in front of the door as Kiki turned the knob. The door opened easily, revealing a large corridor with a bright neon sign hanging from the ceiling: "Prisoner Cells This Way"

"This seems too easy," Umbreon said. They walked down the hallway...

...and straight into an infrared beam. A large cage fell from the ceiling and trapped them. "Way too easy," the black fox muttered.

"How could we fall for something like this?" Lucario shouted. At that moment, the cage started to move down the passageway, dragging the friends along with it.

"This isn't very comfortable," mumbled Kiki, face squished against the bars. Unable to speak, the others simply nodded. The cage made a sharp turn and flung the friends to one side. Then it turned again and they flew to the other side. Finally, they approached a large door.

"We're gonna crash!" Mew screamed. But just before they made contact, the door flew open and the front of the cage opened, causing the five to hurtle into a large circular room.

"Ouch," said Umbreon, rubbing her broken ear. They remained silent for a while.

"Well, that was a bumpy ride!" Kiki suddenly exclaimed. The group burst into laughter.

"Come on," Lucario told them, getting up from the ground. "We've still got to find the others." He walked forward and hit something. "What the...?" The fighting placed a spiked paw in front of him. It touched something, but there was nothing there.

"Invisible walls?" Mesprit wondered aloud. "That means..."

"...we're trapped again," Mew finished. She let out a sigh. "This day keeps getting worse and worse."

"Tell me about it," mumbled Mesprit. Their eyes met, and again they looked away, blushing. Kiki choked back a laugh, but Lucario elbowed her and she stopped.

A door on the outside of the invisible prison opened.

"Jirachi!" Mew shouted. The Destiny Pokémon had appeared in the room.

"Help us, Jirachi!" Mesprit called. He looked away.

"I can't," he said quietly.

Umbreon looked at him, noticing the guilty look on his face. "What do you mean, can't?" she asked him. "Can't as in it's physically impossible for you to help, or can't as in you can, but you won't because someone told you otherwise?" Jirachi didn't answer. The fox knew that she had hit the nail on the head.

"Who, Jirachi?" whispered Mew. Jirachi opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by another voice:

"Me."

Mew gasped. Umbreon scowled. Lucario clenched his fists and Mesprit was silent, too stunned to speak. Kiki fainted.

"Ciar," Umbreon said.

"Wonderful of you to join us," Ciar told them. "So glad you could make it. It's been so long."

"Stuff that fake politeness up your butt, Ciar," shouted Mew.

"Ouch, cold," he said mockingly. "Then I'll cut right to the chase. Give me Lucario and the rest of you will go free, along with your friends."

"Like we're gonna do that," Umbreon shot at him.

"I had a feeling this would happen," Ciar sighed. "Guess I'll just have to..."

"Let us go?" offered Mesprit.

"Rethink your life?" Mew suggested.

"Go crawl into a little hole and die?" recommended Umbreon. Ciar glared at her.

"No," he said. "I'll just have to do this!" From behind him, he pulled out a large bazooka-like gun. Kiki, who had just come to, fainted again.

"This gun," he continued, "does not contain bullets, but instead a large burst of energy. Energy," he said, "drawn from the moves Hydro Cannon, Blast Burn, and Frenzy Plant for my use!"

"I knew those moves were a bad idea," Umbreon muttered to herself. Ciar let out a maniacal laugh.

"Did I mention it's lethal?" he said with a snicker. "But I don't want the cops on my tail if I don't need them to be. So I'm going to add to my offer. Give me Lucario, no one gets shot, and you all go free." He thought a moment, then added, "No loopholes. Lucario doesn't go free."

"Huddle!" Kiki, who had come to again, half expecting to faint again, cried. The five huddled up.

"What do we do?" asked Mew. "I don't want to die!"

"He shouldn't be able to shoot us, though," Lucario said. "Force field."

"Maybe..." Umbreon's head shot up. "Simple test!" she called. The black fox charged an Aura Sphere and shot it through the side of the force field. It kept going, through the invisible wall.

"Darn it," Mesprit said as their huddle reformed. "It allows moves through, but not living things. And if we try to use moves at Ciar, he'll pull the trigger."

"What do we do?" Mew asked again.

"Time's up!" An evil grin was planted upon Ciar's face. "Jirachi," he said, "convince them."

Jirachi hesitated. He knew that this was wrong. He couldn't bring himself to attack them, let alone her.

Mew.

Ciar was obviously aggravated at his hesitation. "Do it or she dies!" he shouted, pointing the gun towards Mew.

Jirachi's heart stopped. "You promised you wouldn't hurt her!" he cried.

Ciar shrugged. "I lied." Jirachi was furious. Rage built up inside of him, climbing to the top of its limit.

"Fine then," he snarled, preparing to unleash a Psychic attack. The captives winced…

...but felt nothing. Instead, they heard a scream of pain from Ciar. He was clutching his head, the full force of Jirachi's attack afflicting him. Struggling to move, he lifted up the gun. "Traitor," he muttered, and, gun still pointed towards Mew, pulled the trigger.

"No!" Jirachi shouted. He flung Ciar aside with Psychic, trying to stray the beam from its path. But it was too late. The huge ray of purple light was already on its collision course.

At that moment, time stopped. Jirachi looked up. He saw Ciar, slumped against the wall; Mesprit, Umbreon, Kiki, Lucario, and Mew, looks of terror frozen upon their faces. He saw the deadly beam, stuck less than a foot from the invisible force field. And he saw himself, mid-shout, a look of anger and fear on his face. Then he realized what he had to do.

The time freeze ended. Bracing himself, Jirachi flung himself in front of the beam.

"Jirachi!" cried Mew. The Destiny Pokémon crashed into the force field, which shattered. The beam disintegrated and Jirachi landed in Mew's arms. "No," she said, tears dripping down her face.

"Mew," he said weakly, "I'm sorry."

"Jirachi," she asked him shakily, "why?"

"The whole reason I joined Ciar," he told her, "was because I loved you. I knew that you liked Mesprit more than me, and I was angry. Ciar offered me power. Power that I thought…" He faltered. "…that I thought would make you love me." Mew gasped.

"Jirachi, you did this…for me?"

"But now I see that I was wrong. I couldn't force you to love me, and I knew that you'd be happier with Mesprit. But I loved you. And I still do." With that he closed his eyes. And Jirachi was no more.

"Mew?" asked Mesprit. "Are you alright?" Mew looked up at him.

"I'm…fine," she answered, and for the first time, neither blushed. There was silence.

"We've got to go," Umbreon said quietly. "Get the others. Come on." They all nodded solemnly, and the group, Mew carrying Jirachi, made their way to the prison cells.

Later that night, after everyone recovered from the ordeal and Jirachi was buried, Mew sat out on a large branch of the Tree of Beginning. She heard a noise behind her. Whipping around, she saw Mesprit. "Oh," she said, "hi."

"Hi," he replied. "Mind if I join you?" Mew shook her head. He sat beside her. The two were silent for a while.

"Remember what Jirachi said?" Mesprit asked at last. Mew nodded.

"About me and you, right?"

"Mmm-hmm," he said. "Well, he was...I…kinda…you know…I…,"

"I love you, too," Mew finished. The two smiled at each other.

"I had hoped so," said Mesprit. They leaned in, and they kissed, forgetting the rest of the world.

Above them, a shooting star flew through the sky, and when it passed over them, it smiled.

That's it, then. Hope it was good. Thanks to all my reviewers, and watch out for the next story!

-Umbreon Mastah