In spite of falling off of a Mantine for the ninth time that day, Bea was smiling and laughing, which was a rare occasion for her. She considered going back for round ten, until she spotted her younger brother sitting on the nearby shore. He clearly was not having fun, as she noticed that he was the shade of a Corphish and mindlessly dragging a shovel through the sand.

"Hey Alli, do you want to go back to the room?"

"But you're still having fun mantine surfing…"

"I could use a break. I've inhaled too much seawater today." Allister took her hand but felt guilty, knowing she was only stopping for his sake. He trudged back to the motel room and gathered his pajamas, as he was jetlagged enough to warrant a nap, before hitting the shower.

"Hey Alli, what do you want to eat once you're done? It's vacation, so you can have whatever you want."

"Umm… I don't know yet. Can I think about it?"

"Of course! Think of any snacks you want as well so I can bring some groceries back." Allister quickly showered and got dressed before flopping on the bed next to his sleeping Mimikyu.

"Is there a pen and paper I can write things down with?" Bea nodded and handed him a notepad. He smiled as Allister carefully pondered what he wanted and she eventually got a list back.

"Alright, let's take a look."

For dinner:
chicken nuggets and a chocolate milkshake
Snacks:
fruit gummies
Marshmallows
Boo berry cereal
Magikarp crackers (the colorful kind)
Popcorn
Cheese sticks

Bea quickly added aloe vera to the list.

"Okay Alli. I'll be back soon and the other gym leaders aren't that far away if you need someone. I love you."

"Love you too sis. I'm going to rest a bit."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Thanks for your help Machamp. It would be a lot more work if I carried these back myself." Bea walked to the checkout lane with much more than she had anticipated buying.

"Mim mim!"

"Hey Mimikyu, I thought you were napping with Allister." The pokemon tilted its head in confusion before dropping a brochure for the thrifty megamart. Bea took a closer look and noticed that this site was on a different island, as well as the paper itself looking very worn.

"Are there more ghost pokemon there?" The Mimikyu trilled happily and made its way back out of the store. Bea quickly paid and walked back to the motel room with Machamps help. She walked in to hear Allister quietly crying in his sleep with Mimikyu doing his best to comfort him.

"It's okay Alli. I'm back now." Bea rubbed allisters back and he slowly relaxed. He woke up a few minutes later and snuggled up to his sister.

"I wanna go home…"

"I know change is hard for you and you would rather be at home to relax. Just try to make the best of it, okay?" Bea slid over the brochure to her little brother and saw his eyes light up from behind the mask.

"Want to go today?" Allister eagerly nodded and grabbed the belt containing his team's pokeballs. He scooped mimikyu into his arms before rushing out the door.

"Wait Alli, it's on another island and you forgot to eat dinner. And you're still in your pajamas."

"There you go, Alli. Want me to hang out around here, or would you rather just call me once you're ready to go back?"

"I can do it by myself. I know you don't like ghosts very much if I haven't tamed them." Allister took a few steps toward the building before backtracking to hug his sister.

"I love you too, Alli. I promise I won't be far." Bea watched Allister enter the abandoned store and took a seat on the dark sands of the beach. Out of sight from her brother, but close enough in case something happened to him.

The automatic doors slowly slid open and Allister took in the gloomy atmosphere with a grin behind his mask.

"Master, would you be willing to let me down and socialize? I sense other mimikyu in the building."

"Yeah, it's your vacation too. I'll let everyone else out too." Allister continued to explore and play with various abandoned items while his ghost pokemon enjoyed a reasonable dose of uninterrupted mischief. He was so caught up in exploration that he didn't notice footsteps slowly approaching behind him.

"HI! It's nice to meet someone who likes ghost pokemon too!" Allister shrieked and jumped, quickly running to another aisle to hide.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you! Please wait!" The chase continued until Allister's legs were too shaky to support him and he hid behind a pile of boxes.

"Are you okay master?" A very familiar Mimikyu made its way over to Allister. Allister said nothing but allowed mimikyu to crawl onto his lap.

"I have encountered an absolutely beautiful mimikyu that my heart longs for. Her master is very nice and kind too. You should come out and meet her. She has tried to introduce herself but startled you."

"S-so I'm not in t-trouble for trespassing?" A nod from his beloved pokemon gave him just enough confidence to come out of hiding. He shakily took a step forward and felt his gengar push him towards the girl at the end of the aisle.

"I… um… my n-name… uh I m-mean… I'm Allister…S-sorry 'b-bout earlier…"

"It's okay. I'm sorry for scaring you. My name is Acerola! I think I've already met all your pokemon. I've never seen some of these before. Can you tell me about them?" Allister started giving out stuttering explanations about Polteageist, Cursola, and Runigerius. A rumble from his phone interrupted his speech and he saw a text from Bea.

Are you doing alright Alli? It's been a few hours.

"Is everything okay Allister?"

"Y-yeah. My sister was just ch-checking on me to make sure I was okay." Acerola nodded as Allister let Bea know that he was fine.

"Does your sister like ghost pokemon too?"

"N-not really. She only tolerates them for m-my sake. She prefers fighting types." Allister looked out of the front of the store and saw the figure of his sister approaching.

"T-that's her right there if you want to meet her. She looks sc-scary and off-putting, but she's actually really nice once you get to know her." Acerola grabbed Allister's hand and started running for the front of the store.
"Well let's get going then!"

"Hi Allister's sister!"

"H-hi Bea!" Bea had to do a double take to confirm it was actually her brother who was having fun with another living being. The duo skidded to a halt and almost crashed into her as they were barreling down the hill.

"Hi sis… I made a friend… Her n-name is Acerola and she likes ghosts just like me!" Bea let out a small smile and ruffled her brother's hair.

"Well it's nice to meet you. Thank you for playing nicely with Allister. We will be here for two weeks, so hopefully the two of you can get together and play before we have to leave."

"That sounds great! Do both of you want to see where I live in case we decide to hang out there?" Allister looked between Acerola and Bea while letting out a small nod.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt. Lead the way you two."

"Please tell me you're kidding me…" Bea had second thoughts of letting Allister come back when it turned out the guardian of an orphanage was an Oranguru sitting behind a receptionist's desk.

"Well Allister has grown up a lot in the past year. He is a gym leader now and can survive a day trip without me." Bea smiled as her brother continued to cling to his new friend's hand as they toured the facility.

"Well that's all there is to this place. You can come back anytime you want to!"

"Is t-tomorrow okay?"

"Yeah! Also you're really cute!" Allister turned even redder than his sunburn had made him, and he started stammering while looking at the floor.

"Thank you Acerola. I'll drop him off tomorrow and you can spend as much of the day as you want to together." Bea led her short-circuiting brother out of the door and let herself smile.

"You have a crush on her, don't you?" Allister's blushing continued as he nodded slightly. "It's nothing to be ashamed of Alli. Just let me know if I need to make wedding plans anytime soon." Bea heard Allister let out an embarrassed groan, but noticed he kept looking back and waving to Acerola.

Two weeks passed way too quickly for Allister's liking. He spent almost every day with Acerola, playing and talking about ghost types. He could tell that his time with her was almost up as he saw Bea approaching the building.
"Sis, I don't want to leave!" Allister firmly sat down on the floor of the Aether house, highly displeased that it was time to head back to the motel and prepare for the flight back to Galar.

"I know you don't Alli, but we need to go prepare for the upcoming league season."

"I can walk to the airport with you if you aren't ready to say goodbye. If you give me your phone number, we can video chat anytime you want to!" The compromise was enough for Allister to pick himself up, albeit with a decent amount of tears pouring out of his mask. Acerola gently took him by the hand and slowly walked with him back to the motel in a comfortable silence.

"Well Allister it was very nice to meet you and I hope I can see you again soon." Acerola leaned forward and kissed Allister on his mask.

"Uh…. Ummm…. Uh…." Allister's face had flushed with embarrassment as he tried to stammer out a reply.

"I think Allister is short circuiting again, but I'm sure he returns the sentiment. Thank you for being so kind to him," Acerola waved goodbye and Allister returned a shaky wave as he tried to process what just happened.

"So do you have a ring picked out yet?"

"Sh-shut up sis!"