Hannah and Arceus appeared on the moon, wrapped in a protective bubble of atmosphere. The world sat silent above them. This was the first time she had seen the terrestrial ball of blue, green and brown from afar. She wiped her eyes.

"Photographs on the Internet do not do this justice. I have never felt so small in my entire life, not even when looking over the ocean. Also, I think I'm going to throw up from vertigo."

"Do you wish to continue?" Arceus asked.

She nodded without regret. "It only looks beautiful from afar. Close up, it's ugly beyond words. Outer beauty is worthless if the core is dead rotten."

"Understood."

Arceus lifted his head to speak. His voice was heard by every human and Pokémon on the planet.

"You will pass through a door. You will enter a new world. There will be no more suffering, no more death. Humans and Pokémon will live in harmony."

Upon the planet, countless trillions of creatures cried out in disbelief at what they were hearing, even though many of them had no ears to hear. A tiny Caterpie chewing a leaf within Viridian Forest had her meal interrupted to ponder the strange and frightening announcement. It was strange because, in her short life, she had not given any thought to either suffering or death. Hidden within her forest home, she had yet to encounter a human being, so she could not understand what all the fuss was about.

On the other side of the country, deep in the underwater trench between Mossdeep City and Sootopolis City, a Cloyster received the announcement with eager anticipation. When this Cloyster had been a wee little Shellder, he had lost family and friends during the near-apocalyptic environmental calamity caused when Kyogre fought Groudon. He had later learned from a passing Wailmer that humans had goaded the god of water and the god of earth and fire to duel. Since that day he had hated humans, and hoped he would see his friends and family again. Now, it seemed his wish was coming true!

The four humans gathered on Sunyshore's northern beach were mortified. Manny and Mint had so much to live for. They had barely begun to explore their planet, much less understand the creatures that lived there. While it was true that Manny's father and mother had suffered in each other's absence for ten years, they had found each other, forgiven each other, and so had found a new lease on life. The Pokémon companions of these four humans, whether within their Pokéballs or resting on the sand, were all of one mind. They all had different histories, loves, hatreds and desires, but they shared a singular passion for life in their world.

The first one to protest was Persian. The elder feline had suffered long in solidarity with Johanna, but did not wish to see the lives of her adopted children snuffed out. She raised her crooning cry, supplicating the heavens for mercy. Manny's father's Vaporeon, shaken to the core by her counterpart's earnest, sorrowful plea, also raised her voice to entreat the Original One for mercy. She had traveled far and wide with her Trainer from the very beginning, had watched him fall in and out of love with Johanna, had dutifully followed him through every region, Gym and League, but had never seen him truly happy until this day. She did not want it to end!

"Arceus," the man spoke, drawing the attention of his wife and child. "Many humans have come and gone during your immortal life. Many sought your presence, seeking to justify their actions with religious fervour. One man even attempted to overthrow you, using the very power with which you saved our world. This day, Arceus, I carved the earth and sea. My Pokémon carved the sky. We oppose you in the name of love."

The man smiled, holding out one hand. Johanna grasped it, holding her son in the other. Manny reached out to Mint, who began to cry as he held his friend's hand. The man reached out his other hand, and Persian placed her paw within his warm, welcoming touch. Persian held onto Tori, whose wing touched Vaporeon, who in turn laid her paw upon Farfetch'd's wing. The man's other Pokémon all connected to each other, then connected to the boys's Pokémon. Togekiss closed the circle, resting one wingtip upon Mint's other hand and weeping with her Trainer for all of creation.

888

Upon the moon, Arceus and Hannah heard the pleas, but were unmoved. Arceus gathered his transcendental energies, channeling them through his voice.

The world ended, not with a whimper, but a roar of triumph. Oceans, continents, crust and magma boiled away into space along with a biosphere of once-living lifeforms as the planetary core detonated, hurling plumes of gold, orange and red into cold, empty, dead space where there had once been a warm globe filled with life.

"Spectacular," Hannah commented. "How silent it is when the world dies."

"Forgive me for not providing sound effects."

"YOU ARE WRONG, ARCEUS!"

Startled, Hannah turned to the sound of the voice. She shrieked. Trillions of ghosts, belonging to both the late Pokémon and human population of the former world, were hovering around them, lead by Giratina herself. She, being the Void incarnate, had been unaffected by something as trivial as the apocalypse. Her draconic brothers, Dialga and Palkia, being Time and Space incarnate, stood with her upon the lunar surface, bristling with fury.

"The dead are NOT silent, Arceus!" Giratina screamed.

"There will be vengeance," Dialga growled.

"The dead shall be satisfied," Palkia snarled.

Arceus laughed in derision. "You have grown attached to creatures whose lifespans are, to you, what a mayfly's lifespan is to a human's."

"Countless billions of humans have come and gone as we looked on, but none as exceptional as our Trainers!" Giratina declared with pride. "Not in the five-billion-year lifespan of that dead planet, have I encountered a living being with such a rare combination of compassion and hope as Manny."

Manny's ghost smiled. It crawled Hannah's living blood.

"He may have been a consummate fool, but his blind, stupid hope that I could have offspring of my own someday gave ME hope. It is a miracle."

Arceus shook his head, one of his great golden hooves pawing at moondust. "Giratina, you disappoint me. You were my first creation, to balance the physical world with the spiritual world. I see that your time presiding over the dead has made you sentimental about the living."

Arceus drew himself up to his full majestic height.

"You have brought your army of ghosts to challenge me. Come, and know the true meaning of 'almighty'."

Part of the great host of the undead made their final assault with all the elements of the universe at their disposal. The others, who wished for the new world, just watched. The energies joined into one supreme rainbow-coloured nova burst that rivaled the moon in size, but Arceus possessed the Creeds; the foundations of all natural elements. The moon was disintegrated under the withering assault, but Arceus and Hannah were unharmed.

"My turn."

Arceus raised his voice: space collapsed, and along with it, time. The Sun was the first to go. To the Sun, over one million kilometres in diameter, the Earth is but a boulder at the foot of Mount Coronet.

The galaxy was the next to go. In the galaxy, one hundred thousand lightyears in diameter, there were more stars than there were grains of sand on a beach.

The local group of galaxies disappeared next. To the local group, ten million lightyears in diameter, one galaxy is but a drop of water in a pond.

The galactic supercluster then vanished. One hundred million lightyears in diameter, a supercluster is to a galaxy what a galaxy is to a solitary star.

There were millions of galactic superclusters within the universe when its grand cosmic entirety swirled into a single point, disappearing into Arceus's mouth. One could count every raindrop that ever fell upon the Earth and not even begin to number the planets and stars that spin within the Cosmos.

A human being is a very small thing. A unique thing, yes, but so small, it can hardly be said that we exist at all.

Dialga and Palkia dematerialised along with space and time. Now, the Void was all that existed; the negative dimension. Giratina remained with the great spectral host that was once the human race and Pokémon species. Those who had fought tasted despair: what victory was there without a universe to stand upon? In the midst of their great sorrow, one Pokémon soul that had refused to attack went forward.

It was the Shedinja of Hannah's childhood. It passed through distorting space-time, filled with sadness. While the ghosts watched, it approached Arceus and Hanny. They began a psychic conversation that everyone heard in their own language.

"'Wonder Guard' did not save your brethren. It will not save you," Arceus informed Shedinja.

"I was dead before this day," Shedinja replied. "However, I plead for the restoration of our universe and planet."

Arceus scoffed, "As the Creator, I am the final authority. No creature can persuade me. It would be like the leaf persuading the wind where to blow."

"Neither leaves nor the winds exist any longer, so I shall plead with Hannah."

Hannah spoke: "Shedinja, you were dead before the world ended. In fact, you were born dead; an empty Nincada shell that a Ninjask left behind. You had no part in life."

Shedinja inclined its head towards her. "Until you came."

Hannah paused. Her face was blank for a moment, but then she frowned. "That was for a brief moment. You were then cast out."

Shedinja bobbed its head. "I did make other friends, as you knew I would. I joined a Shellos, Chatot, Girafarig, Houndoom, and Hippowdon. We traveled all over the world, having adventures together!"

As Shedinja spoke, the five ghosts of its friends appeared beside it. Even without bodies, they glowed with warmth and affection when surrounded by their true companions.

Hannah perceived this, puzzled. She blinked. "How did you travel with Hippowdon's constant sandstorm?"

"Most times I flew above it," Shedinja said, smiling with its friends. "Otherwise I wore goggles and a mask."

Hannah swept her hands outward. "I simply wished to comfort you at that time. I had no idea you would befriend others."

Shedinja wagged from side to side. "You knew. You believed in me."

Hannah balled her fists. "Your friends no longer exist. Belief matters little, now."

Shedinja wobbled on its axis. "On the contrary; belief is all that remains. It is my turn to believe in you, Hannah. I believe you will persuade the Creator."

"Me?" Arceus scoffed yet again. His voice was like a thunderclap: "I am the Beast of Judgement. I am the end of life. I am the death of all other gods! What are YOU, creature?"

Shedinja bowed to its creator. "I am hope."

As the Void dissolved into oblivion, taking Giratina and all other souls with it, Shedinja was the last to fade away.

As the last mortal creature remaining in that universe, Hanny raised her head, contemplating eternity.