The Beginning of The End

A few minutes earlier…

"Ash…" May thought sadly as she watched the fighting unfold through the circle. She saw the flash of light aim into the sky, then felt dizzy. She struggled to keep her eyes open to watch, then saw another beam of light come back down into the cloud of dust. The light entered the dust, and she saw herself begin to glow. She watched as her hand slowly begin to disappear, then her arm continued the process. "Ash…I love you…" she thought sadly as tears rolled down her cheek, watching herself turn into nothing. Then a flash of yellow appeared in front of her. She looked up to see it take form of a human. The light dimmed…and she was staring at Ash. "Ash!" she wiped her tears away and tackled the boy in a hug.

"May…I'm afraid…" Ash felt May nod on his chest, and he put his arms around her. "I'm sorry…it has to end this way…" Ash stroked her hair, then she looked up.

"Ash…Remember, I'll always love you…" she saw her legs begin to disappear, and knew she didn't have long.

"I'll always love you, too…." Ash lowered his head slowly, and pulled her into a kiss. May felt a tear go down her cheek, but put all of her love into the kiss. Neither of them wanted to ever move, but Ash soon felt his arms touch nothing. May's head slowly disappeared, leaving Ash kissing air. When he opened his eyes, he saw he was alone in the vast emptiness. He felt a tear go down his cheek, then saw a green light in the distance.

Back to the real world…

Everyone watched as May's eyelids flicker. Soon, her fingers were twitching. Then, her arm started moving. Max felt a tear go down his cheek as he saw his sister's eyes open, then her head lifted off the ground. She looked around for a bit, then looked at her brother.

"Max…" she stopped as he jumped her into a hug.

"May, I thought I lost you! As much as I hate to admit it…I would have missed you…" Max mumbled into her shirt, May could feel small wet spots form where his head was. She wrapped her arms around him tighter, then pulled away.

"Max…I missed you, too…" she smiled, then began to stand up. When she got on her feet, she wobbled to one side, not used to walking. Max helped her stay balanced, then the others walked closer to May.

"It's good to see you healthy, May." Brock pulled the young girl into a hug.

"I can tell Ash really cared for you." Melody smiled, then May looked over at Ash's body. She let a tear escape her eye, but felt a hand wipe it away. She looked back to see Brock.

"We're all going to miss him, May." Brock told her. The legendary pokemon agreed in a quiet pokemon language, surprising May.

"Whoa! So many legendary pokemon!" May gasped as she saw the large group of pokemon around them.

"All of Ash's friends." Lugia lowered his head to May's level. Everyone lowered their heads again, thinking of memories with the young boy.

"I know he will be missed, but we must all move on." Darkrai sadly concluded, earning nods from the group.

"He was the best trainer I knew…and the most caring…" Max fought back tears, then felt his sister put her arms around him.

"He was to all of us, Max." she whispered to the boy.

"OKAY, WE'RE FINISHED." everyone looked to see Reshiram and Zekrom standing over Cresselia's body. They were holding their keys, and Pikachu and Ulgamoth's eyes were beginning to open. Their eyes were back to normal, then they looked around confusingly. Pikachu saw May and ran to her, jumping into her arms and nuzzling his cheek against hers.

"It's good to see you again, Pikachu." she smiled with the mouse, then Pikachu's face turned a worried expression. He looked around, then saw Ash's body.

"Pika…chi….pika-pi? (Did I….Did I do this to Ash?) Pikachu let a tear escape his eye.

"No, Pikachu, it wasn't you. He chose this himself." May hugged the young pokemon. Pikachu jumped down and stepped up beside his body. Pikachu rubbed his cheek on Ash's, then licked the same spot. Pikachu walked back to May, head lowered.

"Come on, Pikachu. He was the greatest we ever knew, but we've got to go on." Max picked up the mouse, then hugged him. Pikachu squirmed out of his arms, then jumped on his shoulder.

"Pika-pi…" (Ash…) Pikachu lowered his head again, along with the rest of the group.

"How touching."

Everyone looked to see Cresselia floating, with a grin on her face.

"He will be missed. But, there is something I must do before I go." she floated towards his body.

"Back away, 're outnumbered…again." Darkrai floated in front of Ash and crossed his arms, purple and blade-extended.

"Oh, Darkrai…you never know what to say to a girl, do you? I'm sorry for your loss, but I must take him." Cresselia continued towards the defensive darkrai.

"We'll defeat you if you come any closer. Trust me, Cresselia…we don't want to." Darkrai spoke.

"Darkrai, Darkrai, Darkrai….you can't defeat me. We both know that." Cresselia didn't stop. She formed a blade of psychic energy, then fired it at Darkrai. The pitch-black pokemon slashed the psycho cut in half with its shadow claw.

"I don't want to hurt you!" Darkrai shouted angrily.

"BUT WE DO." Zekrom stepped beside Darkrai.

"WE'VE GOT PLENTY OF REVENGE LEFT." Reshiram stepped on its other side. Darkrai turned around to see all the legendary pokemon in a defensive group formation around Ash. Darkrai turned back to Cresselia, who now stopped a few feet away from Darkrai.

"Cresselia…you can't let darkness control your ambitions. Come to the good side, and we won't harm you." Darkrai lowered his arms, which returned to normal. Cresselia stared into Darkrai's eyes, then grinned.

"Sorry. Darkness overpowers me." Cresselia fired multiple psycho cuts towards him, which made him flinch. He saw the attacks explode in front of him, then turned back to see Mewtwo, Latias, Shaymin and Giratina, forming balls of energy. Cresselia got any at this, and fired an ice beam towards Darkrai. Giratina screeched, then fired a ball of blue fire, intercepting the ice-attack. Cresselia formed a sphere of orange energy in her mouth, then shot it towards Darkrai. Latias floated in front, and raised her arms, creating a blue barrier. The orange attack hit the wall, then bounced backwards. Cresselia dodged it, then charged towards Darkrai in a pink aura.

"Look out, it's giga impact!" Max pointed at the oncoming Cresselia. Darkrai fired a shadow ball, creating smoke as they collided. Darkrai waited, then saw Cresselia advance though towards him. Darkrai didn't see this coming, and stayed there, frozen in surprise. He saw two beings step in front of him, identities Dlaiga and Palkia. Palkia formed a pink sphere, and threw it at the ground in front of Cresselia. It exploded, creating smoke once more. Dialga roared, then fired multiple yellow beams from its forehead. Cresselia came flying though, only to be surprised by colliding with Dialga's powerful attack. She crashed to the ground a few feet back, but got back up.

"You can't defeat me! You're all weak! Darkness will prevail in the future, and when it does, you'll be sorry!" Cresselia shouted angrily at them, but didn't notice three small pokemon float around her. She looked up to see the sinnoh lake trio with their arms raised and eyes glowing blue, holding her in place. Darkrai hovered up to her, and faced her directly.

"Cresselia…this is your last chance." Darkrai told the crescent pokemon.

"Never! I will never join you weaklings!" She shouted angrily, making everyone disappointed.

"Then I'm sorry…old rival…" Darkrai formed a black sphere in his arm, then tossed it at Cresselia. It enveloped her in a larger sphere of swirling darkness, then released her. Her body fell to the ground, motionless. Darkrai's eyes flashed red, then a shadow came from its body and surrounded Cresselia.

In Cresselia's dream….

She opened her eyes to see a darkrai, floating down a forest path. She couldn't quite see its face, though. Then she noticed a group of small pink pokemon nearby. She tried to attack them, but couldn't summon an attack. She looked closer to see it was a group of Cresselia.

They looked to be a few weeks old, playful and cute. She felt her heart soften, but shook the feeling away. She noticed Darkrai had seen the group, and was hiding in the bushes. She felt a strange sense, like she knew this from somewhere. She saw Darkrai leap out of the bush, and attack the group. She saw Darkrai hit the younglings with dark pulse, knocking them out. But he didn't notice one that was sleeping in the bush nearby. When he began to leave, he heard a crying sound. He turned to see the baby cresselia rubbing her cheek against its unconscious siblings. Darkrai grinned, then charged a dark pulse. He fired it at the young one, then saw it snap its head towards him. Cresselia filched, but something blocked the attack.

Everyone looked up to see a larger Cresselia, looking angry. It was obviously the parent. The adult fired a psycho cut at Darkrai, but it simply moved to the left. It fired a dark pulse, which Cresselia blocked with Protect. When the shield went down, she fired an icy ray towards the pitch-black pokemon. It hit its mark, encasing darkrai in ice. Cresselia moved forwards cautiously, on caution-alert.

But the infant had other ideas, and hovered playfully towards Darkrai. The adult tried to stop the baby, but it stopped right in front of Darkrai. It looked back and smiled at its mother, then the parent saw something horrifying. The ice began to crack. She rushed towards the baby, not noticing a small black sphere of energy forming in the ice. She saw the ice smash and Darkrai immediately fire a dark pulse at the baby. The infant turned around, and froze in fear. The mother knew what she had to do, and pushed the baby into a soft bush. Cresselia watched as the parent became engulfed in the dark aura, then glowed pink. When the light died down, the mother was gone. Darkrai had killed her. The pitch-black pokemon grinned, then floated towards where the baby had landed. he attacked the bush, only to see the infant was gone!

Darkrai looked around angrily, then felt a powerful attack on its back. It turned around to see the baby in a defensive position, with a sphere of ice forming in its mouth. It fired the ice beam, only to get knocked away by shadow claw. Darkrai slashed its long, purple claw at the infant, knocking her into a tree. Cresselia noticed the attack caused a cut on the infant's neck…then realized it. She did know this. She knew it very well. She looked on her neck…to see a scar. This was her past. She was the infant. She remembered how her mother was killed when she was young, but she didn't know who did it or why. Cresselia felt a small wind blow through the area, then remembered something about Darkrai.

She looked at the darkrai, who's white hair was blowing in the wind. She noticed a scar going across its hidden eye, she knew only one darkrai who had that scar. It was the darkrai who teamed up with the meddlesome boy. The one that chased her all those years. The same darkrai had killed her mother, and now foiled her plans for the armies.

She noticed Darkrai had disappeared, leaving the baby alone in the small area. The infant looked at the unconscious siblings, then lowered her head. When Cresselia saw the infant's face again, it was not like before. The infant's eyes had a reading. They showed something Cresselia never really saw before. Revenge. Anger. Hatred.

Cresselia realized this was how she turned evil. Darkrai killed her mother, triggering a nerve inside of her. The infant turned to a tree, and fired a small ray of orange at the tree. It exploded, knocking the tree over. A small flock of podgy flew out of the tree and away from the flaming tree. Cresselia watched her younger self stare at the flames, then float away.

She noticed Darkrai hiding in the bush nearby, holding his claw over his mouth. She could tell he had made a mistake. She knew he knew he created a monster. That's why he followed here all those years. That's why he tried to capture and defeat her. He created the thing that almost took over the world….And he wanted to stop it.

End of Cresselia's dream…

Darkrai snapped his eyes open from what he just saw. He remembered it clearly now. Killing that mother cresselia. Attacking the infant. He remembered he had created the world's biggest threat. He was just lucky enough to stop her. "All those years ago…I thought she was just a plain infant…but I triggered the evil inside of her…and had her reborn evil…" Darkrai thought to himself.

"WHAT IS IT?" Darkrai turned to see the group looking at him with concerned expressions.

"….Nothing." Darkrai replied. He turned back to Cresselia, but saw her body glowing. The glow grew brighter, until anyone could barely look at it. When the lights stopped, Reshiram and Zekrom gasped. There were the stones. Sparking and flaming. The two titans grabbed the stones, and felt the energy boost from all those years ago. Everyone began chattering and congratulating the two. Only one being wasn't completely focused. Darkrai looked back to Cresselia's body, and noticed something strange. Her body began to glow bright blue. Darkrai noticed her eyes opened, and she looked past him. He looked back to see she was staring at the stones. Darkrai looked at her, then back to the stones. Then she looked at him. Her eyes didn't have the hatred they used to have. They now showed caring, and friendliness. She smiled, and winked at him before she disappeared. Darkrai smiled to himself. "Maybe there's hope for her, after all…" Darkrai thought happily as he looked back to the group.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE IT…WE HAVE THEM BACK…" Zekrom said to Reshiram.

"I KNOW…BUT…WHY DID SHE GIVE THEM UP?" Reshiram asked out loud. Everyone wondered, but no one said a thing. Then Reshiram and Zekrom looked at Darkrai.

"…Don't look at me. How should I know?" Darkrai lied to them. When the others gave up, Darkrai smiled to himself, knowing why she had given the stones back. Then he noticed the young female of the humans staring at Ash's body. Darkrai hovered beside her.

"I can't believe he's gone…" he heard May whisper to herself.

"We have to. He was brave enough to save us all." Darkrai placed his claw on May's shoulder, making her look at him.

"I know…but…" May stopped as she was about to cry again.

"You loved each other, didn't you?" Darkrai asked her, replied by a nod.

"We never told each other until this adventure…I just wish I had more time with him…" May wiped a tear away.

"We all want more time with him, but facts are facts. We can't bring him back." Darkrai told the girl in a sad tone. May smiled weakly at Darkrai, then stepped back to the group.

1 week later…

Everyone was crowded around a small spot on the ground. The women were crying, the man were fighting back tears, and the pokemon…were doing both, depending on which species.

"I still can't believe…a week ago…." Brock stopped his sentence, thinking back to the time.

"Yeah..he's in a better place now…" Max added.

"…He was…the best guy I knew…" Misty sobbed, wiping away a tear.

"…He was truly the strongest trainer I knew…" Tracey said.

"…We'll all miss him…" Gary said quietly.

"…I wish… it didn't… have to be… him…." Dawn said between sobs.

"…We all…loved him…" May sobbed quietly to herself. Everyone stared down at the grave, containing their best friend.

Ash Ketchum

Left us at the age of 16

Loved by all, human or pokemon

Befriended most legendaries in human history

Everyone walked away from the grave, sad from the loss of their friend. When they stepped into the Ketchum residence, they saw a woman crying with a psychic-type pokemon.

"I miss him already, Mimie…" the woman sobbed, wiping a tear away.

"Mime, mr. mime." (We all miss him, Delia.) the psychic-type pokemon rubbed the woman's back comfortingly.

"Ms. Ketchum, we're back." Brock said as they stepped in the room. The woman looked up to see the group of kids.

"Oh. Hi, kids." Delia smiled weakly at them, but everyone knew she was faking. They all sat in the living room, except May, who went up to his room. She opened the door and saw the simple room of wanna-be-master, Ash Ketchum. She fell on the bed, and buried her face in the pillow.

"Why, Ash? Why did it have to be you?" May thought sadly as tears rolled down her cheek, absorbing into the pillowcase. May heard a crunch, and turned to see Pikachu walking in the room with its head low. "Hi, Pikachu." May said as Pikachu jumped on the bed.

"Pikachu." (Hey, May.)

May hugged the rodent, never wanting to let go. "Pikachu…You loved him a lot, didn't you?" May asked the mouse.

"Pikachu, pika pika chu." (Yes. I know you did, too.) Pikachu said in a sad tone. May had learned to understand Pikachu quite well in the past week.

"I did, Pikachu….I really did love him…" May whispered. There was a tapping noise in the room, but the two ignored it. "You know, Pikachu…his last words to me were 'I'll alway love you, too.' I will always love him…" May told the electric mouse. The tapping noise got louder, but they still ignored it. "So, Pikachu…what are we going to do now?" May asked the mouse.

"Pika chu pi, pikachu pi chu." (I don' know, May. I just don't know…) Pikachu replied in its native tongue. There was a strange noise, and this time Pikachu was annoyed and looked up with an angry expression.

"PIKA-PI!"

"I'll always love him too, Pikachu…we'll miss him…" May said absentmindedly. Pikachu shook her shoulder until she snapped out of her trance. "What? What is it?" May asked the pokemon. Pikachu smiled, and pointed beside her. May looked, and gasped.

"That's just what I wanted to hear, May."

END