Chapter 28
The sun had just risen in the sky as most of the people in town were just getting ready for the day. As such, the beach was mostly empty, with only a few people lounging about. Some came to enjoy the sunrise, while others simply decided to come early for a full day at the beach. Among these were a familiar trio of sisters who had a unique connection to the sea.
"Well, what do you think?" Misty asked. "Should we get in the water while it's still nice and cold? Or should we soak up the sun while it's not too hot?"
"Let's sit in the sun!" Serena said. "The temperature right now is perfect!"
"I say we get in the water," Dawn said. "No one else likes getting in while it's cold, so we can have the entire ocean to ourselves!"
Misty looked between the two of them, then shrugged. "I guess we're doing our own things, then!" With that, she and Dawn walked to the shoreline while Serena kicked back and started soaking up the rays of the sun. They were all wearing two-piece swimsuits today. While Serena's and Misty's weren't much different from what they wore as mermaids, Dawn's was more modest, covering much more skin, although her entire midriff was still visible.
As Misty and Dawn started wading into the water, someone emerged from the water not far away, a mask covering her face. She quickly moved towards a small rock, pulling herself up out of the water and hiding behind it. The gentle breeze bit at her skin again, but it wasn't too uncomfortable. She watched and Misty and Dawn started splashing each other before trying to dunk each other under the gentle waves, laughing all the while.
"That must be a game humans play," she deduced. "Well, I hope they won't mind this mermaid joining in on the fun!" With that, she slipped back into the water and slowly and stealthily started swimming towards them.
"All right, all right!" Dawn exclaimed as she came up, struggling against Misty's grip. "You win!"
"Of course I do," Misty said proudly, her hands on her hips. "Now let's get back to shore. I bet Serena's starting to get thirsty." They giggled mischievously and started wading their way back to shore. As they were currently waist-deep in the water, they moved somewhat slowly. "She really needs to get in the water more."
"I agree," Dawn nodded. "It's nice getting back in touch with our ROOOOOO –"
"Dawn?!" Misty exclaimed as she watched her sister trip over something and fall into the water. She quickly emerged, shaking her head to get the water out of her eyes. "What was that?"
"Now you're gonna get it!" Dawn sneered at her.
"WAAIIIII –" Misty tried to say as Dawn tackled her back into the water, kickstarting their little game once again. Eventually, they emerged again, with Misty unsurprisingly the victor. Once Dawn surrendered, they started wading back towards the shore again.
"That was a cheap shot!" Dawn laughed as they waded.
"What're you talking about?" Misty asked. "I didn't do anything!"
"Yeah, you're hilarious!" Dawn laughed again. "I felt your leg sticking out to trip me; you can't fool me!"
"What?" Misty blinked. "I didn't trip you."
"Hardy har har!" Dawn sneered again. "Like I said: you can't fool me!"
"I don't know what you're –" Misty started to say, but before she could finish, the two of them suddenly found themselves doused in water coming from behind them. "What the heck?!"
"Who just –?!" Dawn started to say, but she stopped as well when she saw no one there. "...splashed us?" she finished, now very confused. She turned to her sister, both with confused expressions on their faces.
"Someone's pranking us," Misty mused.
"So that wasn't you," Dawn realized.
"Told ya."
"Hm," Dawn muttered, putting her finger on her chin as she pondered. "Then who –?" Once again, she was cut off by a large splash from behind them. They turned again to see what it was, but found no one there.
"Okay, seriously," Misty grumbled. "Who's doing this?!"
Unbeknownst to the two of them, a mischievous mermaid floated right beneath the surface, giggling uncontrollably at her little prank. "Who says humans get to have all the fun?" she smirked as she stealthily swam to the other side. She pushed her tail up out of the water and flicked it again, once again pushing a ton of water at them. She then retracted her tail and swam to the other side as their legs turned the other way and prepared to push her tail up again.
"Wait a minute," Misty said, realizing something, and she turned around. Dawn followed suit, and they watched the water closely. Sure enough, a large tail emerged and was about to splash more water on them when they suddenly lunged forward and grabbed it. "Gotcha!" they cried, pulling the animal out of the water. "Now you're gonna – wait, what?!"
To their shock, the "animal" was, in fact, very familiar to them, even though she was hanging upside down by her fins.
"Hi Misty!" May grinned. "Hi Dawn! How are you today?" Her sisters were so shocked that they lost their grip on her tail. She plunked back into the water head-first. The two of them flinched, worried that she would hurt herself, only to sigh in relief when her head popped back up.
"May!?" Dawn exclaimed, rushing to her and throwing her arms around her. "What are you doing here?!"
"Paying my sisters a visit!" May giggled as she returned the embrace. "We've got a lot of catching up to do!"
"I'll go get Serena to come out here," Misty said, looking towards the shore. "She probably won't like getting wet, but I'm sure she'll be happy to see you."
"She doesn't like that?" May said. "Then no need to bring her out here. I'll come over there. It'll probably be easier on her." The three of them giggled and started moving back towards the shore. Misty and Dawn gracefully walked out, water dripping off of them as they emerged, while May slowly pulled herself onto the shore. She grimaced when she felt the sand scrape against her skin, and even against her tail a bit, but it wasn't too uncomfortable.
"Serena!" Misty exclaimed. "We have a visitor!"
"A what?" Serena blinked, standing up. "Where on earth would we get a –" she started to ask, then gasped when she saw a familiar figure sitting not far off. "May?!"
"Hi Serena!" May said, waving. "It's been a while, hasn't it!"
Serena rushed over and looked May over, blinking in confusion. "Yeah, it has," she said, "but what are you doing up here? I thought you didn't like the surface."
"Serena!" Dawn exclaimed, indignant.
"First off, rude," May muttered. "Secondly, I do prefer the ocean to the surface, but I thought I'd come up and pay you girls a visit. It's been a while, and I wanted to see how you were doing."
"But how are you breathing?" Misty asked. "Last I checked, you stayed away from the surface because you couldn't breathe air. And what's with the mask?"
"Funny you should ask," May giggled. "The mask is actually how I can breathe right now. I brought it under the ocean with me, filling it up with water, so now as long as I'm wearing it, I have no trouble breathing out of the water."
"Wow!" Dawn exclaimed. "That's wonderful!"
"To a certain degree, yes," May agreed. "Although I'm still not exactly comfortable with dry air. It feels like it's biting at my skin and scales."
"Ah," Dawn nodded. "Well, I can't complain, seeing how you can actually visit us now."
"I can," Serena muttered, folding her arms across her chest as she looked down at her older sister. "Wouldn't it just be easier to become human? Then you could breathe just fine."
"Serena!?" Misty exclaimed, turning to her.
"Are you seriously bringing this up right now?!" Dawn shouted at her. "Now is not the time to be talking about that!"
"No," Serena shot back. "Now is the perfect time to talk about it! May's finally come to the surface, and now that she knows what she's missing out on, she can figure out what she needs to do!"
"Serena, you just don't –" Misty started to say, but she felt something tap her foot, prompting her to look down.
"It's all right, Misty," May smiled. Even though her sisters couldn't see her mouth, they could tell from her eyes that she was smiling. "She can think what she wants. It'll be her loss, not mine."
"My loss?" Serena said, glaring at her. "How is it my loss?!"
"I've missed you girls a lot," May said, "and I'm sure you've missed me, too. I never thought I would be able to see you again, at least not like this. It's thanks to a friend of mine who found a way to help me overcome my problem that I can see you whenever I want. We can spend time together, just like we used to. If that's not good enough for you, Serena, then that's absolutely your loss, not mine. Besides, even if I can get out of the water without any problems now, that doesn't mean I still don't prefer it to the dry air."
Serena groaned and shook her head in disappointment. "You are impossible, May."
"I could say the same thing about a certain baby sister I know," May smirked. The other two laughed at a pouting Serena's expense.
With that, they all sat down, and the three humans started talking about their lives at the surface, and how they had made themselves at home up there. Misty's familiarity with Water-type Pokemon had earned her the somewhat ironic title of the Tomboyish Mermaid. She had befriended a few Pokemon herself and begun battling with them, establishing a new reputation for herself. Dawn, meanwhile, had met up with the young man she had started crushing on while she was still a mermaid. They had become close since they met again, and while they had yet to make anything official, the other two believed they would be together before the week was out. Lastly, Serena had begun volunteering at a few special events to sing for them. With an enchanting voice transcending what most humans were capable of, many had sought her out to lend her talents to their events.
May then told them about her adventures back home and how she had made friends with some of the Alolan refugees. She also told them how she had finally brought Popplio home, although she chose not to mention the fact that she had found the Oceansong. They likely wouldn't have believed her.
After a long, heartfelt conversation, May yawned and turned back towards the ocean. "Well, I guess it's time I headed back home," she said.
"Now?" Misty blinked, then her eyes lit up as she remembered. "Oh, right...mermaids are nocturnal."
"We're what?" May blinked.
"Nocturnal," Dawn explained. "It's a term humans use to describe animals that are active at night and sleep during the day."
"Oh," May said with a nod. "Nocturnal, hm? I'll have to remember that word." With that, she started pushing herself out to the sea. "Well, it was great to see you girls again. We should get together like this again sometime."
"I agree!" Misty nodded. "So long, May!"
"Bye, May!" Dawn said with a big smile, waving at her as she approached the sea. "See you again soon!"
"Goodbye, May!" Serena called. "Don't go swimming into any trouble while you're out!"
"Later!" May called back. Then she pushed herself up and dove down into the sea, swimming for home with a big grin on her face as she removed her mask and held it close to herself so as not to lose it.
It was, after all, the only way she would be able to see her sisters again.