How would we stop a bomb? Scizor wasn't doing much damage to it. It would continue to climb until it ran out of fuel and then it would come crashing down, using gravity to help speed it up and if we stayed all of us would die.

"Gengar!" I released him from his ball. "Greninja, you're the only one who can jump high enough. Go tell Scizor to get out of here. Gengar and I will cover you long enough for you to escape as well."

Greninja didn't move.

"What's wrong with you?" I demanded.

Greninja looked over his shoulder and commanded Gengar instead. He was telling him to run. Gengar gave me a sad look.

"Greninja, if you stay here with me you may not make it."

Greninja nodded. He knew and understood the risks and he was willing to make them. He couldn't run away and he wouldn't. "Gengar, you need to get Scizor out of here."

Gengar nodded but there was something in his eyes that made me wonder if he would really obey me.

It felt like a boulder crashed into my back, right between my shoulder blades, but it felt sharp too like a knife. I flew forward and into Greninja's back, he scratched his arm on a rock. I moved off of him but the movement itself was so painful and it felt like I was choking on something. I coughed into my hand and pulled it away to inspect but I closed my fist when Greninja tried to see what the discoloration was. I had pulled my hand away with my saliva tinted pink.

"I'm fine," I sputtered. I wasn't fine, though. Something in my back felt like it burst and was tearing me apart from the inside. It felt like my lungs took a major hit more than my spine did but I couldn't understand why. Humans weren't ever supposed to fight with pokemon and now I knew why.

Lysandre couldn't help but laugh at me as he approached confidently. Greninja stood in between us but he was easily knocked down by Mienshao's acrobatics. "You aren't fine," Lysandre informed me as I tried to stand. He punched my stomach and more blood spat out of my mouth and onto the baby blanket. I fell onto my side and stared at the horizon. Gengar's shadow ball struck at the rocket and then there was Decidueye trying to help them destroy the bomb but it was all in vain. The rocket started to fall.

Was this it? Was this...the end? Would all of my pokemon die because of me? I didn't have the energy or the hope. So this is what hopelessness felt like. I'd never felt it before. I'd always hoped and dreamed for one thing and because of that one thing I was here? How did I get here?

I closed my eyes and behind my eyelids I could see Oaky, smiling and happy, and I imagined my life with Oaky if I'd only been braver. I opened my eyes again. If I could go back in time, knowing what I know now, would I jump off the cliff after Oaky? Knowing what I know now, would I choose to change my fate and Oaky's?

The sky opened up and out came a pokemon I've only seen in my dreams. "Arceus," I whispered. Arceus's mirror-like slates came from its body as it got in the way of the rocket. Something about seeing Arceus made me feel a spark again. This was hope. This was the light at the end of a very dark and dizzying tunnel.

"But…how?" Lysandre seemed amazed.

"Arceus knows when the earth is screaming for help." I informed Lysandre. "So it looks like you've failed." Greninja helped me to my feet. I leaned against him but I could feel him trembling. He was very weak right now.

Arceus' slates surrounded it and it stood in the path of the bomb. From this distance and from the way Arceus charged at the bomb, it looked like a ball of light. It only took one hit and the bomb exploded but we could feel how devastating it could've been. It wasn't only loud but it forced the tallest trees to snap at the trunks. The air rippled with its power. This one was a bomb that could've wiped Lumiose right off the map.

One of the slates flew right over our heads missing us by less than a mile but a slate wasn't the only projectile. A piece of the bomb flew straight at us. Greninja fell to his knees, too weak to move. Lysandre had no problems moving with his pokemon right behind him.

I couldn't hear Greninja's voice. Actually, I couldn't hear anything. The object wrapped in fire was all I saw as it hurdled toward us. I was just as weak as Greninja and so I closed my eyes tightly, waiting for the impact. Waiting for everything to end. I could see the light behind my eyelids.

If I could go back in time, knowing what I know now, would I really try to save Oaky? What opportunities have I missed because he wasn't at my side? What opportunities would I miss if he were?

When people describe "the light" the part they leave out is that it isn't a bright white light and it isn't warm either. It's more like a dream but it feels so real that I guess it's more like a room, and so, when you open your eyes, you may have my reaction when you see a loved one.

I saw Oaky, still a Froaky. I recognized him because of his eyes and because something in me told me it was Oaky but I also recognized something else. A very slight difference between male and female Froaky that I only noticed because most of my pokemon have been male. Not for any particular reason, only because they happened to be when I caught them. In pokemon with no visible gender differences, you can tell by how soft the eyes are. Males often have harder eyes, ready to protect and ready for battle, and females have softer eyes, ready to nurture and ready to heal.

"Oaky," I whispered, not believing it at first.

Oaky smiled and hopped into my arms. She felt real! She felt the same.

"Oaky! I can't believe it's you!" I tried shouting but it wasn't loud enough to be a shout. I knelt down and allowed her to jump down, though the ground only appeared as air it felt like ground. "Are you really female? Everybody let me think you were a male."

Oaky shook her head, explaining away that it was a common mistake that humans made but pokemon knew the differences. It was easier for them to tell.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I didn't try to save you," my voice broke between sobs. My whole body was shaking. "There's so much I want to tell you."

She explained that there wasn't time and that it was best if I listened instead. It was time for me to move on. It was time to let go of the feelings of regret and guilt. It was time to start living my life. Oaky went on to explain that she didn't regret my decision, even if it was out of fear, because in the end I was safer than if I had fallen with her and now I was much braver than when I was a child. She noted how much I've grown up and that this in itself was worth it. Her life had been fulfilling in the end, and she wouldn't have changed it for the world.

I wiped my eyes and hugged Oaky tightly. "I miss you," I whispered and felt the hot tears run down my cheeks. "Can't you come with me to Alola?"

No, she answered.

I didn't understand at first what I saw. I thought this had been a dream. The bright light disappeared taking Oaky with it and I was left in darkness.

When I opened my eyes there was sunlight. Arceus stood over me, its forehead against mine. The pain in my side was gone. I felt warm and lightheaded and somehow I was still standing in the same position as when I saw that ball of fire that had been hurtling toward us. "You saved me," I croaked.

You tried to save the forest. This was only the least I could do.

Pokemon were returning to the forest slowly but they all were saddened at the sight of their home. Standing around me were my pokemon, even Greninja, who looked like he had all of his strength back and his wounds were gone. Treecko stayed on my shoulder, smiling for the first time.

Behind Arceus was Xerneas. The bits of blue that made up its antlers were now different colors, brighter than any other colors I've seen. "Where's Lysandre?" I asked.

Decidueye answered that he had escaped but not with the baby.

"Where's the baby?"

She will be fine, Arceus explained to us all. I have only saved her as a favor to you, Alessandra. Consider it an apology that you shall never see.

My forehead scrunched up and my eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

The favor comes with conditions. Do not ask where she is because we will not tell. Do not try to seek her out because you will never find her. How she is raised and where she lives is no longer any of your concern. She has been given a name and a new home, away from humans, and somewhere she will be accepted.

"Do I at least get to know her name?" I already knew the answer before I asked it.

No. Arceus answered sternly.

It didn't seem right. It didn't seem fair, either but I didn't argue partly because I was too exhausted and partly because I could see the silver that lined the cloud of despair. She was alive. It was better than being dead. I could only hope she lived a very long life