Chapter 18

"What a beautiful day!"

Dawn turned to her little sister and smiled at her enthusiasm as they walked along on the sand of the beach towards the shoreline. They stopped some distance away to set up their spot: three chairs, a blanket, an umbrella, and a cooler with food and drinks for the day. Once they were set up, they went off to change into their swimsuits, returning a few minutes later when they were finished. Misty and Dawn wore one-piece suits, while Serena wore a two-piece.

Misty and Dawn started walking towards the water as it lapped the shoreline. Serena came up behind them, but quickly recoiled when the water nearly lapped her feet.

"Careful, girls!" she said. "We almost got wet!"

"Almost?" Misty blinked, giggling as the water lapped her feet. "Serena, that's why we're here."

"Come on!" Dawn smiled. "The water feels great!"

"Are you kidding?" Serena exclaimed. "I spent the past 21 years trying to get out of the water, and now you want me to get back in?!"

"Serena, come on now," Misty rolled her eyes. "We're just getting our feet wet. Besides, even if we wanted to, what harm would a swim do? Humans do this all the time!"

"Yeah! No need to worry!" Dawn agreed. "It's not like we'll turn back into mermaids if we get wet!" She waded into the water so that it was up to her ankles now.

"Eugh!" Serena squealed in disgust. "No thanks! I never wanna touch the ocean again!"

Misty and Dawn looked at each other in annoyance before sharing a smirk. They promptly bent down, scooped up some water in their hands, and threw it at Serena, splashing her. She shrieked and recoiled from the splashing, desperately trying to get the water drops off of her while Misty and Dawn laughed at her expense.

"Looks like some things never change."

The two sisters turned, surprised by the sound of a familiar voice. "Ash!" they exclaimed.

"Ash?" Serena blinked, looking back in surprise.

Their old friend was floating with his head and shoulders above the water as he swam towards them. As he arrived at the shoreline, he had to crawl to get closer to them. "Hey, girls," he grinned. "What's up? Getting back in touch with home?"

Serena ran up, forgetting all about getting wet, before kneeling down and hugging Ash. He happily returned her embrace, though not for long, as she realized she was getting wet. "Augh!" she cried, jumping away and trying to brush the water off her skin. Misty and Dawn just chuckled and knelt down to hug Ash.

"So, how's everything back home?" Dawn asked. "Same old life under the sea?"

"Actually, no," Ash said, pulling his blue tail completely out of the water. "A current storm completely destroyed the kingdom of Alola, so her Majesty decided to take in some of the refugees. We've spent the last few weeks building new homes for them, as well as for the next torrent coming in."

Misty's eyes went wide. "Mother opened our domain up to help refugees?" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, she did," Ash nodded.

"Wow," Dawn smiled. "I knew she was kind and loving, but I never imagined she would go that far."

"Um," Serena said, coming forward somewhat timidly, "I'm sorry to interrupt, but...Ash, I was wondering something…"

"What's that?" Ash asked, turning to her with a smile.

"Um...how do I look?" she asked. She placed one hand on her hip and the other behind her head as she struck a pose. The morning sun shone on her body, accentuating her curves and illuminating her long, slender legs. Misty and Dawn rolled their eyes and chuckled at their sister's hopeless attempts to win him over.

"Uh," Ash blinked, confused. "You look like you...just with legs...and a different top. And...did you get a haircut?"

Serena dropped the pose and pouted a bit. "Yeah, I got it cut. I wanted to show everyone that I've started a new life up here." She sat down on the ground and laid back on the sand. "It's so beautiful up here: so much more beautiful than it is in the ocean."

"I guess it has its charms," Ash shrugged. He turned back to Misty and Dawn. "You got a haircut too, Misty?"

"Yeah, I did," she smiled, fingering the small ponytail on the side of her head. "Serena and I both wanted to mark a new beginning in our lives."

"It looks good," he smiled back, then turned to Dawn. "What about you? You gonna get a haircut, too?"

"Actually, no," Dawn shook her head. "I'm keeping my hair as it is. I like it better that way, and...it reminds me of home."

"Home?"

"Yeah. I mean, this is my home now, and I love it up here...but I wanna make sure I always remember where I came from: my first home, if you will."

"If you will?" Serena repeated, sitting up slightly with one knee slightly bent. "Why would you want to remember where you came from?"

Before Dawn could answer, the four of them suddenly heard a small ruckus from not far away. They turned and saw some boys leering at them, making strange noises that confused Ash. Misty rolled her eyes and stood in front of them, glaring back at the boys, who promptly ran off on seeing her.

"Idiots," she muttered, turning back to them.

"What was that about?" Ash asked.

"Cat-callers," Misty grumbled. "They only want one thing from us girls."

"Oh, jeez," Ash grunted in disgust. "Are all human boys like that?"

"No," she shook her head. "Just the stupid ones."

"I guess that's a relief," Ash shrugged. "They don't do that all the time, do they?"

"No," Serena shook her head, sitting up fully. "They only come out when we're at the beach. They like staring at us in our swimsuits."

Ash turned to her and looked her over, confused. "Why? What about that makes them –?"

"Humans have a different dress code from mermaids," Misty explained. "Serena's swimsuit may not look much different from typical mermaid attire, so we're all used to her dressing like this, but by human standards, she's showing more skin than is usually acceptable."

"If that's the case, then why is she dressed this way in the first place?"

"Well, when humans spend time by the water, they usually put on special clothes designed for swimming," Dawn explained. "Human girls either wear what Misty and I are wearing right now, or a two-piece suit like Serena's wearing. They tend to relax their dress code standards in situations like this."

"That right?" Ash blinked, confused. "Huh. Humans are really strange."

"Yeah, they kind of are," Dawn agreed.

"We kind of are," Misty added, prompting them to chuckle.

"Are you kidding?" Serena said, getting to her feet. "Humans are amazing! Have you ever seen humans running along the shore? Or leaping and dancing in a theater? Or even climbing up the tallest mountain? I much prefer legs and feet to a tail!"

"Eh, to each his own," Ash shrugged, looking down and admiring his tailfin.

Serena noticed this. "Ash?"

"Yeah?" he asked, turning to face her.

"Have you ever considered becoming human?"

"Eh, not really," Ash shrugged, looking back out at the ocean. He pulled his tail close to himself and hugged it close. "It's fun seeing the things humans can do, and I can see the benefit of having legs and feet. But for me, the ocean is home: the merfolk, the Pokemon, the open ocean where we can swim freely...it's where I belong."

"But Ash," Serena said, "why would you want to live in the sea when you could live on land?"

"I just told you," he chuckled, turning to her, "it's my home, Serena. It's where I belong. Not that it's not nice visiting the surface every now and then, but I much prefer the waters of the ocean to the sands of the shore."

"Are you serious?!" Serena exclaimed.

Ash blinked, confused. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

Serena opened her mouth to reply, but she was cut off by the sudden sound of splashing. The four of them turned and noticed something dive into the water, as though it jumped out for a moment.

"What was that?" Ash wondered.

"Was it a Pokemon?" Misty mused.

Dawn started wading further into the water towards where the splash came from. She was waist-deep when she arrived at the spot. There, a Pokemon's head popped out of the water.

"A Popplio?" she said, her eyes widening slightly. Popplio nodded and swam towards the shore, with Dawn not far behind as she waded back to the shore.

"It must've gotten lost," Misty thought out loud as the Pokemon skittered up and nuzzled Misty's leg.

"Separated from its pod, perhaps," Dawn agreed.

Ash looked intently at the Pokemon, who turned to him and smiled, coming up to nuzzle him as well. It looked up at him and opened its mouth, letting something small fall out of its mouth. Ash winced a moment at seeing it, but Popplio pushed it towards him, and he reluctantly took it.

"What is it?" Misty asked as he wiped it off on his tail.

"It looks like a fish scale," he muttered.

Dawn looked closer, then her eyes went wide as the sun shone on the beautiful red scale. "That's...a scale from May's tail!"

"What?" Misty exclaimed, looking at her.

"May?" Serena wondered.

"How do you know?" Misty asked her.

"It looks just like her tail!" Dawn said, a smile breaking out on her face.

"She's right," Ash agreed, turning the scale over in his hand. "It's got the same shine and smoothness that her tail has. It's got to be one of hers."

"She must've sent it up with Popplio to deliver a message!" Dawn realized.

"Really?" Serena blinked. "Gee, that's lazy of her. Why doesn't she come up and deliver the message herself?"

Her sisters looked at her, annoyed. "You're kidding, right?" Misty asked.

"Don't you remember what happened the last time she came up to the surface?" Dawn asked.

"Of course I remember," Serena said, rolling her eyes. "Calling it an overreaction would be an overstatement."

"An overreaction?" Ash blinked, confused. "You mean when she nearly suffocated when she swam up here with you?"

"She wasn't gonna suffocate," she muttered. "She just wasn't used to the feeling of air in her lungs. If she would just take a little more time to let it settle in –"

"You just don't get it, do you?!" Dawn cried suddenly.

Serena stopped, startled. "Don't get what?"

"Maybe it's not a matter of getting used to the air up here," Dawn said. "Maybe it wouldn't make a difference how much time she spent up here, or how much air entered her lungs. Maybe it's just as she said: she can't breathe air like other mermaids can, like humans can."

"That's ridiculous!" Serena snapped at her. "There's no such thing as a mermaid who can't breathe air like humans!"

"Or maybe there is," Misty mused. "Otherwise, she would've come up herself to deliver her message."

"Oh, don't tell me you're starting to believe this nonsense!" Serena groaned at her oldest sister.

"I believe it," Ash said. Serena turned and glared at him. "May isn't exactly one to overreact, at least not when she's thinking clearly. So if she really feels like she suffocates on air, then she's probably right when she says she can't breathe it."

Serena clenched her teeth in frustration. "Even if that was truly a problem," she muttered, "then she could probably fix it by becoming human herself."

"What?" Ash blinked, confused.

"Air is meant for humans to breathe, so it only makes logical sense that becoming human would make it easier for her."

At this, Ash narrowed his eyes at her. "Why do you care whether or not she becomes human?" he asked. "She loves her home, and she has no intention to leave it behind any time soon."

"He's right," Dawn nodded. "The ocean is where May belongs, Serena. Maybe it would be best if we let her choose what she wants...just like we got to choose what we want."

"So what then?!" Serena snapped at her angrily. "You want me to act like May's happy?! That she's somehow happy drowning in the ocean, flopping around with that hideous tail of hers?! How can any of those freaky fish people find happiness in the ocean?!"

"Serena!" Misty exclaimed angrily.

"Why can't you understand?!" Dawn cried. "May might not understand what we love about the surface, but she chose to accept our choice to live up here. Why can't you do the same for her? She was born in the ocean; she's lived her whole life in the ocean, and as far as she's concerned, the ocean is her home: it's where she belongs."

"We were all born in the ocean," Serena growled, "but we all left it to live on land."

"Because that's what we wanted!" Dawn shot back. "We chose this life because it's what we always wanted! May chose life under the sea because that's what she wants! Is that really too hard to understand?!"

"Yes, it is!" Serena shot back. "Only a freak would choose life in the water over life on land! Right, Misty?" She turned to her eldest sister, only to find her giving a disapproving glare. "What?" she blinked, confused. "Oh, don't tell me you agree with her!?"

"To be honest, I don't know," Misty shrugged, closing her eyes reflectively. "I don't know why a mermaid would choose life in the sea over life on land, but maybe it's not my place to understand that. Maybe there are things in life, in or out of the sea, that I will never understand." She opened her eyes and glared at Serena. "However, I think you should be more concerned about what merfolk think of what you just said."

"Why?" Serena grumbled. "It's not like they know what I said just now, is it?" Misty said nothing and just folded her arms across her chest, waiting for it to sink in. Serena blinked, confused. "Is it?" she repeated. When her sister still didn't respond, she glanced to the side in confusion and noticed Ash still sitting there, glaring at her. At first she was confused, but only for a moment as the realization of who just heard her words hit her like water bursting through a dam.

Without a word, he turned and started pulling himself back towards the water.

"Ash?" Serena blinked. "Where are you going?"

"Well, based on what you just said," he replied, turning back with a bitter glare, "I'm going back to the water to flop around and drown with the rest of the freaky fish people." He started to move past the shoreline.

"Wait!" Serena called. "I didn't mean –!"

"No, I think you did," he replied right before diving in. His head and shoulders popped back up above the waves. "And just to clarify, they're not just freaky fish people," he said, glaring at her angrily. "They're my freaky fish people." With that, he turned back towards the ocean and dove back down into it.

Serena stared at the place where he dove under the surface, looking stunned and crestfallen. Misty just shook her head and sat down in her chair underneath the morning sun.

Dawn was about to join her when she felt something rub on her leg. She turned and found Popplio looking up at her with begging eyes. Seeing this, she smiled down at her and went over to rummage through her bag.

"What are you doing?" Misty asked.

"I'm going for a swim," Dawn winked as she pulled out a small breathing device. She walked over to Popplio. "You want me to follow you?" Popplio nodded and skittered towards the water. Putting the device in her mouth, Dawn waded to the water and dove in after the little Pokemon.