.

Found

"Now I know what a ghost is. Unfinished business, that's what."

–Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses

It turned out that Misty hadn't distracted ghost attention so much after all, the other day at the graveyard. She had found out that sorry bit of information at about 4AM the next morning when a sweet young man had nearly wringed her neck in order to get her to wake up.

And today she was on her hands and knees, digging in a stranger's backyard. All the way on the other side of Kanto. She was lucky that Brock had a Crobat that she could borrow, just so that traveling that far wouldn't take upwards of a week. As it was, it still took a few hours, which were only made bearable by a harness that Brock had created for the good of both Pokémon and Trainer. Even still, it was quite taxing on Misty's body.

She'd been there when he caught it as a Zubat. Brock hadn't been able to get away from the Gym a lot once he turned ten and his father ran out on the family. The very few times he could, the farthest he could convince himself to go was Mt. Moon, and even that was only so that he had the opportunity to train with some wild Pokémon. And so that Onix could stretch its joints.

These adventures had led to Misty becoming rather close to Brock's Pokémon, so neither he nor they blinked an eye at doing her a favor here and there. Plus, as Brock would be quick to point out, it would get Crobat some well-needed exercise.

Neither of them mentioned the fact that, in doing this, he was aiding and abetting a criminal misdemeanor. No, Brock knew by this point that Misty preferred not to mention it at all.

Now, Misty would have loved to say that this was the first time that she had played fast and loose with the law's rules about personal property, but alas, it was not. This was also not the first time that she had had to wear sunglasses—in the middle of the night—and hide her well-known red hair under a baseball cap. It didn't exactly look good for a Gym Leader to be seen trespassing on someone's property with a garden shovel, so the disguise was necessary, if slightly poorly constructed.

But apparently spectral beings had little care for her image.

When Misty had gotten over the shock of being awakened by a desperate man in her bedroom, she had recognized him as one of the ghosts from the graveyard. One who had been standing by a tombstone with a fresh bouquet of flowers much like her mother's. But unlike her mother's gravesite, his had had sunken earth all around it, as though the burial had been decades ago and gravity had taken its toll on the settling dirt.

When she had finally gotten him to calm down—which hadn't been an easy task—she had managed to wrench a bit of information out of him. The bouquet on his grave had been from his girlfriend, to whom he had been hoping to propose.

About fifty years ago.

And for some inane reason, fifty years ago he had decided that a hole in his backyard was the perfect hiding place for the ring.

Typical.

He had said something about his girlfriend running a very tight ship and there being no reliable hiding places in the actual house. Not that ghosts always gave many details. Either that or they gave way too many, never shutting up, clearly thrilled about having the chance to talk to someone who, they assumed, could help them. But with a random man in her bedroom, Misty hadn't had anything against him keeping his secrets and leaving a little sooner.

Until she realized that her lovely night visitor hadn't managed to tell her precisely where the ring was buried before he had vanished. No, no, that would have been too easy. So there Misty was, using a dull flashlight in the middle of the night so as not to draw any attention, and digging up every slightly loose piece of earth that she could find.

Luckily, Misty had Noir—whose vision was not inhibited at all by the dark—helping her, providing an extra set of eyes to look for a possible ring hiding spot. And, more importantly, an extra set of senses to calm her paranoia of getting caught.

Suddenly, Misty's hand hit something formed, something square—something tellingly not dirt. Eagerly, she cast her shovel aside and dug her nails into the dirt to wedge the box out of its hiding place.

"Noir, I think I found it!" Misty stage-whispered with excitement.

"Bay!"

Noir hovered over to her, a zippered grin of genuine pleasure on her face. Misty dusted off the lid of the box and flipped it open to find a sparkling engagement ring, shining as though it had been bought the day before.

Misty reached into her sweatshirt pocket for a note that she had written earlier. Now all she had to do was take the note and the ring and push them through the mail slot. Maybe after wiping off more of the dirt first.

"We did it, Noir!"

But Noir was no longer looking at Misty. Her smile had fallen upside-down into a sharp frown and she now was looking around the yard.

Misty instantly got off her hands and knees into a much more active crouch, whispering, "What is it?"

A rustling was heard in the grass from the direction of the house. Misty and Noir spun towards the sound, Misty pointing her light towards the ground, avoiding shining any light into an uncovered window. But the beam was weak, so she couldn't see very far, even upon lifting her glasses.

"What do you see?"

Noir's body reflexively began to glow as she answered, "Banette."

A Pokémon.

"What kind?"

She didn't have to wait for an answer, though, because out of the dark, a figure came to form, accompanied by a growled, "Bulba."

As a shadow, save for its blood-red eyes, the Bulbasaur was slowly approaching, its body low to the ground as though preparing to attack.

"Do you think that this Bulbasaur belongs to the owner of the house?" Misty asked, taking a hesitant step back.

"Nette, bay banette."

She was right. There was no time to find out. Suddenly, soundlessly, vines came into Misty's sightline, going directly for the box in her hand. Misty whipped around, the vines managing only to wrap around her wrist.

Misty struggled against the vines, but their hold was impossibly tight. She clamped the box shut and tried to use her other hand as best she could to wrench the vines away whilst keeping hold of her flashlight. "Banette, use Shadow Sneak."

She didn't want to have to attack a random Pokémon—a Pokémon that was likely only defending its house. But it left her without much of a choice.

A chilling grin appeared on Banette's face before her body turned pure black, disappearing completely into the night. Misty then put all of her focus onto keeping hold of the box, but her arm was starting to lose circulation and her hold was loosening. Maybe if she could manage to switch hands…

Just as she tried, the Bulbasaur gave a strong yank to her wrist, sending her sprawling into the upturned dirt. In an attempt to stay upright she widened her stance, but her foot slipped into the hole she had been digging. As her body was thrust forward by the vines, her foot twisted in the hole, wrenching an aching cry from Misty's gut. She toppled over and both the flashlight and the box fell out of her grasp, the flashlight falling dark as it hit the ground.

Both disappeared into the darkness, and Misty was left on her back, unable to reach far enough to even fumble for them. However, from her upended vantage point, she noticed a pair of dark red eyes glowing in her periphery. Next thing she knew, the Bulbasaur had become completely encased in dark. As the blackness cloaked it, the vines withdrew, leaving Misty free.

Misty grunted as she rolled herself onto her stomach, careful of her now throbbing ankle. Soon enough, the dark went away and Noir returned to Misty's side, leaving the Bulbasaur visibly passed out on the ground.

Knowing that she wouldn't be able to find either object in the dark, Misty made her way towards the Bulbasaur, leaving the task of finding the missing objects to Noir. She hobbled on one foot, only allowing her injured one to tap the ground and try her best to feel around for any of the other holes she had made.

Upon reaching the Bulbasaur's side, she asked, "Are you okay?" The Bulbasaur didn't make a sound, but pulled away from her touch. She cringed, guilt filling her. "I'm sorry."

"Bay bay!"

With a victorious grin, Noir appeared at Misty's side presenting a box and a flashlight to her. "Oh, thank God," Misty said, reaching out for the objects and pocketing them. "Help me with this Bulbasaur, would you?"

Misty pushed her hands under the Bulbasaur like a forklift, giving a groan as she picked it up, trying her best to keep her weight even over her one good foot.

She had to get the Bulbasaur back into the house. It wouldn't be particularly subtle to leave an injured Pokémon in this lady's backyard. The holes were already going to cause enough of a problem. Even after they were filled in they would still look suspicious. She only hoped that the owner of the house blamed it on a wild Ratatta or maybe a Sandshrew. Were Sandshrew even native to southern Kanto? Misty had no idea.

Noir floated towards the house, going right through the back door. The door then flew open, Noir on the other side. "Thanks," Misty mouthed, not wanting to make any noise.

The back door led to a quaint kitchen filled with old pots and pans as well as many clearly handmade knickknacks, perfect for a sweet old lady. Misty placed the Bulbasaur on the tile floor and sat down, eager to get off of her weakening ankle. She felt for her PokéBelt and unclasped a 'Ball. With a flash of light, blinding in the current darkness, Staryu was revealed. Misty hushed it before it could make its nameless cry.

"Staryu," Misty whispered as quietly as she could, "use a little drizzle of Water Gun on this Bulbasaur to revive it."

A light shower sprayed from Staryu's top spine, aiming for the Bulbasaur's slightly withered bulb. The bulb absorbed the water and Misty saw the Bulbasaur's eyes begin to twitch before opening slightly. She reached for it and again the Bulbasaur recoiled from her touch and gave a growl.

"Shh, I'm sorry. Look, I have to deliver this," Misty took the box out of her pocket opened it up to reveal the ring, "to the woman who lives here along with this note. It's a favor. Can you ensure that she gets them?"

The Bulbasaur continued to eye her wearily, almost convincing Misty herself that her actions weren't honorable.

"Look, this is something that will make her happy." Misty flipped the box open and showed the small diamond, sending a glimmering reflection into Bulbasaur's hardened eyes, giving them life. "See how beautiful? And this note just explains it, okay? It says," Misty unfolded the note and read the cursive she had used to disguise her handwriting: "This was intended to you from your late boyfriend fifty years ago. I can promise you that he was sorry that he couldn't deliver it to you himself back then, but hopefully this offers you some long-needed closure."

After a pregnant pause, the Bulbasaur gave a slight nod of its head. Misty smiled, amused by its obvious reluctance.

"Are you gonna be okay?"

The Bulbasaur gave a slight roll of its eyes.

Misty laughed. "Okay. Thank you." She then returned Staryu and pushed herself up to standing on one foot. But then a thought occurred to her. "Hey, you're a Grass Type…is there anything you could do about the holes in the yard?"

The Bulbasaur's eyes narrowed, as if largely grievanced by the task, but it again rolled its eyes, giving a slight nod of assent. Misty had to hold back a snigger. This Bulbasaur had quite the fresh attitude.

"Thanks."

And with that, Misty hobbled out of the house with Noir floating by her shoulder and Brock's Crobat's PokéBall in her hand, ready to be enlarged. The sky was starting to lighten; sunrise was on the horizon.

And…mission accomplished.

A yawn was the first thing that betrayed Misty's tired state the next morning. Or, rather, the same morning. When she had finally returned to the Cerulean Gym in the early morning hours, she had managed to crash on the couch for a healthy twenty minutes' rest before she was awakened by the doorbell.

She wasn't sure how it had happened, but she now found herself on the Battle platform, unsure of exactly what she was doing.

As she let out another wide yawn, giving her crusty eyes a sleepy swipe before she blinked them, trying to bring the Battle back into focus.

"Are you alright?" the challenger asked, calling across the pool.

"Yeah," Misty replied, waving him away. She wasn't surprised that he had asked, though; she was not exactly a pretty sight. Her hair was unkempt and her face showed her lack of sleep with deep purple marring the nearly translucent skin of her undereyes. Furthermore, she had to keep nearly all of her weight on her right foot; her left, while now wrapped, was still tender from the night before.

This challenger, for his part, looked in much better shape, far more presentable than most trainers that meandered their way into her Gym. He had to be about twenty years old, maybe a little older, and was dressed like a nice young man in a button-down shirt and jeans. Clearly not much of a traveler, but it wouldn't surprise her if he had been in his younger days. But the biggest thing that she noticed about him was his purple eyes. She wasn't sure she'd ever seen those before.

In the meantime she had bigger fish to fry. In the form of the Pokémon currently residing on the opposite Battle platform.

A Slowking.

Now that was a unique Pokémon. A Water Type, of course, so Misty was more than well-versed in its Move pool and Abilities, but this was the first time that she was actually seeing one in the flesh.

And already it was beating the shit out of her.

The Slowking stood lazily on the platform, perfectly idle but not sleepy like Misty was. No, it had a fire behind its eyes, showing that it would be able to counter whatever she threw at it without so much as raising a finger.

Maybe without raising a finger at all, since it was a damn Psychic Type, too.

A Psychic Type. That shouldn't have been any problem, since Misty's current Pokémon was Frillish. But she had chosen first and yet this guy had still gone with Slowking, so clearly he wasn't worried.

Frillish was okay. A little tired, but not worse for wear. Misty just needed to focus and think, because there was no reason why her Frillish should be losing to a Psychic Type.

Then, in a cruel twist of fate:

"Slowking, use Yawn."

Misty could have rolled her eyes at the irony. Why Yawn? "What, did I inspire you or something?" Misty called across to the Trainer.

He smirked at her. "Something like that."

"Frillish, dive into the water and shake it off."

Just like that, Frillish's blue form disappeared beneath the watery depths, blending seamlessly into the pool's blue tint.

Great, that would give her a second to think. Misty yawned again.

Alright, sluggish brain, maybe more than a second.

She had already tried some of her token Ghost moves, and they hadn't dealt much damage, despite their Type advantage. So she needed another angle that wasn't just brute force.

Think, think, think. Psychic Types were weak to only Ghost, Bug, and Dark. Those were all things that people are commonly afraid of, Misty ascertained as vivid memories of childhood nightmares flew through her mind. So if that's where the weakness came from, then maybe that's what she needed to tap into.

But as she looked at Frillish, making him out as best she could under the water, he just didn't look all that frightening. Sure, he was a Ghost Type, but he was adorable. So squishy and cute, with its flowing, veil-like arms. What was there to be afraid of?

Maybe what she needed was a different tactic. When had she been most afraid in her life?

Then it hit her all at once.

"Frillish! Take Slowking!"

The challenger narrowed his purple eyes. "What does that mean?"

His response was water flying at him from the pool. He reeled back, coughing a little. Frillish appeared out of the water, floating in the air behind Slowking. His arms went around Slowking's eyes, carefully avoiding the spiny shell on his head and his lower tentacles enveloped the body. All at once, the two of them fell into the pool, going deeper and deeper into the watery depths.

The element of surprise gave her the advantage. Surprise fed to fear, and one could always rule under fear.

"Use Absorb!"

All that could be made out of the two of them was a faint green glow. Before long, the glow faded and a blotch of pink grew in its place, larger and larger until Slowking broke the surface of the water, floating and unmoving.

The challenger grimaced. "Nice work, Slowking. Return." As he pocketed his PokéBall and enlarged a new one, he looked at Misty. "Wow, you are ruthless."

"Only because you're a good challenge," she said. "I try to play to the skill of my opponent."

"Well, I'm flattered," he replied back as he threw his PokéBall. "Go!"

It seemed as though her second wind was hitting her and Misty could not have been more thankful. She was in the lead now, but Frillish was exhausted; that much was obvious to her. And since her opponent seemed to be pretty smart, it was probably obvious to him as well.

So she kept her eye on the Pokémon forming out of the PokéBall and after a moment, her stomach dropped. An Emolga.

Misty looked at Frillish painfully. Well, this would be quick.

And it was. A simple Thundershock was all it took and Frillish was down for the count.

Misty flinched, returning Frillish and holding the PokéBall close to her. "You did a great job, Frillish."

With the defeat, she felt herself slowing again, hesitating over which Pokémon to choose. She had no grand plans on how to beat a Pokémon that was so obviously advantaged over her. She really only had one choice.

"Dewgong, go!"

He wasn't hers. He belonged to her sisters, but they let her use him on behalf of the Gym so that he got some good battling every once in a while. But right now, she just needed an Ice Type and this was her only option. Dewgong dove into the pool with a splash, looking excited to be called out to battle.

"Emolga, Electroball!"

Wow, he didn't waste a moment.

Immediately a ball of bright electricity came barreling towards Dewgong with impeccable aim. Panic gripped Misty as fast as the ball hurtled towards the pool. She couldn't tell Dewgong to dive, as that would only send the electricity all throughout the pool, electrocuting him either way.

"Dewgong, try to climb onto the platform!"

Dewgong struggled to get its flippers onto the slick floor, only managing to heave its body up a brief moment before the ball hit, striking him back down into the pool.

"Dewgong!" Misty cried. A few shocks coursed over Dewgong's body, crackling as they trailed off into the water. "Are you okay?"

Fortunately the ball had only skirted him, not hitting full-force. He shook off the Attack and began to swim a bit to get his movement back. Misty glared at the Emolga. It was payback time.

"Dewgong, use Icy Wind."

Dewgong opened its mouth and the room suddenly was cold as a mountaintop, gales filled with tiny ice particles swirling about. Emolga moved higher and higher, trying to follow the dwindling heat, but eventually the ice managed to find its way into its fine fur, weighing down its wings.

"Emolga, you're gonna have to land," the challenger called, a shiver adding a light tremolo to his voice.

Misty wasn't immune from the cold either. She was shaking in her bones, wishing that she were at least wearing pants instead of shorts. At least it was keeping her awake, though.

Emolga glided to the opposing platform, skidding a little upon landing. As the last of the ice rained down Emolga gave itself a little static zap to dry its fur and shake off all of the ice crystals. "Alright, Emolga, let's get back in it with Double Team."

Suddenly the pool was overtaken with many an Electric sky squirrel. They were making a perfect circle on the field, shifting, blurring in and out of focus and there was no way to know which was which.

She needed an Attack that would hit a wide breadth of space. The ice had been a good idea; now to hit even stronger: "Dewgong, use Hail!"

"Agility."

The Emolga copies faded away, but it was still impossible to ascertain exactly where Emolga was; it was moving too fast to keep an eye on. And the pelting hail wasn't slowing it down either, nor was it able to cling to its wings at that speed.

Misty cursed. Dewgong couldn't get any effective hits against this Emolga. She would only be able to whittle down its health while it would likely manage to get a good amount of Electric Attacks to hit Dewgong. This was not good.

"Dewgong, Dive!" Misty commanded, at a loss for what else to do.

"Big mistake." The challenger grinned, giving his hair a little toss as the hail fell off as fractured sparkles. "Emolga, Shock Wave."

Misty's heart fell to the depths of the pool with Dewgong. God, she hated Electric Types. "Dewgong, as fast as you can, leap out of the water and try to get Emolga with your horn!"

"Not that again!" the challenger shouted, almost before Misty could even get the command out. Before Misty could even think about the falsity of that statement, he called out, "Acrobatics, now!"

And again the Emolga seemed to move at the speed of light, not only deftly avoiding Dewgong's horn, which threatened to pierce Emolga's thin, membrane-like wings, but deliver many hits itself, knocking Dewgong right back into the water.

"Dewgong!" Misty shouted as Dewgong let out a cry of pain.

"Now Shock Wave."

The water was then filled with electric energy, conducting it over the surface, the platforms, and over Dewgong as hail continued to fall, now reflecting yellow in the bright light. Misty knew it was over before the ref even lowered his flag. That had been a direct hit, and strengthened by the water. Dewgong hadn't stood a chance.

"Dewgong, return," she said, apologizing to the poor creature in her mind. He had put up a good fight, but she'd been off her game. Exhaustion was hitting her again full force now along with a salty wave of defeat. Apparently her mind had not been quick enough to handle an Emolga like that.

Still, she had to be the bigger person.

"Hey, great job, Benji," she said as she approached him. "That was one of the best Battles I've had in a long time."

"Me too," Benji said with a cheery grin as his Emolga flew and landed on his head, tousling his hair, letting it fall over his purple eyes.

"You might even be as good as your mother."

"My mother?" Misty was taken aback. This man had known her mother?

"Yeah, I challenged her when I was ten." He laughed. "I think I remember you. You must have been only four or five at the time, but you watched the whole Battle. Your mother asked me to challenge the Gym again after more training, so here I am."

"Wow," she blew out. It was all coming back to her. "After ten years? That's a lot more training, I would say."

"Yeah, well," he looked up at his Emolga, "we had to wait until the Gym was worthy of a rematch. And we've heard good things about you, so it seemed to be time."

Misty blushed. "Well, I hope that I met your expectations…despite the loss."

"It was everything I'd hoped for," he assured. "I'm sure you would have won had you not tried the exact same technique that Fleur did with her Seel against Emolga, here. I was prepared for that one this time."

"Wow, really?" she asked. "Exactly the same technique?"

"Sure was."

A smile grew on her face. She was turning out to be like her mother without even trying. She dug into her pocket and pulled out a shiny blue pin. "Here's your well-deserved Cascade Badge."

"Thanks," he said, pinning it to his coat. "I've been waiting for this one for a long time."

Misty nodded. "Apparently."

"Come on, Emolga."

Benji put his arm out and Emolga scurried off his head and down his arm, taking flight, leading the way out of the Gym with Benji behind. Misty looked at them with fondness, her smiling not having yet fallen.

As much as she hated not winning, never had a loss been so sweet.

Truth be told, after the Battle, all Misty wanted to do was sleep. But she just couldn't bring herself to. This was a normal day, after all, and she needed to keep working. She compromised by telling herself that she would just turn in earlier and maybe sleep in a little the next morning. So after a quick trip to the Pokémon Center, she went off to her next task of the day.

Training.

Generally, Misty trained at the Gym, utilizing the various pools and aquariums for her Water Pokémon and occasionally going to the ocean north-east of Cerulean. But about once a week, she liked to bring out the big guns.

That was how she found herself now in the Cerulean Cave, climbing her way up a familiar path to a short, rocky plateau above the water early in the cave. This was a harder workout for her team, so she could spend a little less time out there, adding up to more sleep later. "Alright, guys, come on out!" she called with a huff as she tossed her PokéBalls into the air. Out came Staryu and her other Pokémon, save for Frillish, whom she had left in the Pokémon Center.

Instead, there was one other Pokémon. Misty smirked. "Show 'em what you've got, Noir."

It was only a moment after Noir appeared out of the darkness of the cave that a huge ball of dark energy blasted from her marionette hands straight towards water. Misty's Gyarados raised its tail into the air, glowing a chilled blue before smacking the shadow out of the air, giving a mighty splash to the water below.

Misty smiled. "Great job, Gyarados." Then she looked at Noir. "But what about this?"

Noir shot through the air, fist first like a spectral shadow of Superman towards Staryu. Misty heard flapping and looked up at one of the many Golbat in the cave.

"Watch out for the Golbat, guys!"

Misty trained in the cave for how secluded it was—she couldn't have people seeing her training with Noir, after all—but what the cave lacked in people, it made up for in very strong wild Pokémon. Most were deeper in the cave and those that weren't kept away from her. Most of the time.

But as Noir sent a Sucker Punch into Staryu's Rapid Spin, this Golbat was flapping wildly in their direction.

Scratch that. In her direction.

Misty put her arms up to her face and bent her knees, trying to find her best stance on the uneven flooring. "Noir, can you get back here and help me?"

In an instant, Noir flashed beside her and sent the Golbat her best menacing grin. It, however, only bared its fangs before breaking into a strange cackle. It fell back, and dropped a piece of paper that swayed as it fell towards the damp floor.

Misty reached for it, clapping what ended up being an unsealed envelope between her hands. When she looked back up, the Golbat was nowhere to be seen. If it was still around, that maniac Golbat blended perfectly with the rest in the colony hanging from the stalactites.

Except that that Golbat must have had a Trainer.

"Alright, who's there?" Misty called out, her voice echoing roughly off of the stone walls.

Not a single sound, save for the dripping of water returned to her.

Furrowing her brow, Misty flipped open the envelope. Inside was a piece of lined paper, folded many times until it was tiny, almost lost in the small envelope. Misty pinched it out and unfolded it, revealing black scrawl off-center from the lines in an ominous message:

I know what you are.

A Spinarak epitomized her thoughts as it sent an creepy feeling creeping up her spine and shivers running down it. Few things triggered that feeling, and it made her want to get out of the suddenly dank, eerie cave as soon as possible.

But not if this person was still here.

"Okay, guys," Misty said to her Pokémon, clapping her hands together, "go disperse and see if you can find any person who might have delivered this note."

As the Pokémon gave their calls of affirmation and took off throughout the cave, Misty looked at the note again, reading it over and over. I know what you are. It wasn't a threat, just a statement.

Just the same, she didn't like it.

Had someone seen her training in here? It was possible, theoretically anyone could be in the cave and catch her with Noir. Even still, though, there was no reason for them to know anything other than the fact that she had a Banette. That didn't qualify as something that she was.

Regardless, she was always careful. She would have Noir scope out that section of the cave before they would get started and all the Pokémon were on high alert anyway—that was what they were training for. Furthermore, the inhabiting Pokémon would scatter and be disrupted as they were whenever she came in to train. That would give away the entry of a new human.

It just didn't add up. She'd been careful her whole life. No one could have found her out. It had to be a bluff.

But unless that Golbat was truly the jokester that it appeared to be, and literate, but then that didn't seem likely either.

"What else could I know what you are mean?"

Noir sort of shrugged, looking as hopeless as Misty felt.

Maybe it was a mistake? Maybe this was just some random note and it wasn't intended to her? Maybe this Golbat had just found it and had no idea what it said. Who was to say this Golbat even had a Trainer?

Misty looked at the note again. It sure didn't seem like a mistake.

"Alright," Misty said slowly, "if this is what we assume that this is, then what do we do?"

Noir put on her most mastered sinister grin and widened her eyes. "Nette banette."

Move out. Misty rolled her eyes. That was always the solution with her. Move out. Well, it wasn't so easy for a Gym Leader to just up and pack her things and leave the Gym to three moderately capable models. "Now's not the time for jokes."

Noir just shook her head. Not a joke. Typical.

Misty sighed. "Let's just wait for the Pokémon to get back and hope that they find someone."

The walk back to the Cerulean Gym was unsettling. There had been no one to be found in the Cerulean Cave and now every person that Misty passed by seemed suspect. People generally seemed to act like they knew her better than she knew them, as she was a town celebrity of sorts, but never had it seemed in any way malicious before.

But now she just couldn't wait to get home.

When she finally made her way back, she closed the door behind her, locking it carefully.

"Hiya, Misty! How was training?" Daisy asked as Misty made a beeline for the kitchen, hoping some cold water would calm her nerves. All three sisters were in the kitchen, an odd occurrence, but convenient for Misty if she wanted to talk to them about that day's events.

"Well…" Misty looked subtly at Noir—now cloaked in her ghostly glow—who shook her head vehemently.

Was it smart to tell them? No, probably not. But that weight needed to get off her chest before she started acting truly paranoid.

"I got this strange note today," she finally admitted, taking the letter and presenting it to them. "What do you think this means?"

The girls read over it, turning to her with perplexed faces. Daisy turned to her. "Well…do you have a secret?"

Violet and Lily leaned in closer, looks of interest obvious on their faces.

"No," Misty immediately said. "At least, I don't think so," she amended to make it more believable.

"Maybe they meant," Lily had to pause as giggles were threatening to erupt out of her, "that they know that you're a loser. Since you lost today and all."

The three sisters all burst into hysterics. "Oh, Lil, you're so bad," Violet said to her, giving Lily a playful swat.

"I know, but I just had to!"

Misty's face turned red. Suddenly, the vigor she had been feeling after the match was completely stomped out like a dwindling fire under a heavy, heavy boot. She felt tired and beaten in a completely different way from earlier that morning. "I don't think that's what it meant."

"Aw, have a sense of humor," Daisy said, putting a hand on Misty's shoulder as she wiped a tear of mirth from her eye. "She was only kidding."

"Well, sort of," Violet added. "Like, you did lose today's match, after all."

That hadn't seemed like such a bad thing an hour ago. But now, as her high spirits were shattered at her feet, she couldn't help but feel like a loser. Was being a Gym Leader just a dead end of good days and bad days? And were those fueled by the matches or her sisters' reviews? Reviews that they stamped upon her as they sat back, incessantly casting their shadows over her. Suddenly, she could see what the next twenty years of her life would be like and, while that had once been her aspiration, now it felt like her prison.

Misty snatched the note back from Daisy, instantly wishing that she had listened to Noir. Noir, whom she felt hovering over to her other shoulder. Misty turned to her, daring to look at Noir for longer than she had while in the sight of her sisters in years, seeing the precise expression that she had expected in those red eyes. "Well, maybe I'll just leave, then."

The words simply tumbled out before she even had the chance to think about censoring them. She had intended the words as a threat, with regret to falling on the heels of them, but instead she felt rather empowered by the truth in them. She could absolutely move out and end everything right there. And that would also nip the mysterious note in the bud. Probably.

That knowledge caused Misty to stand a little straighter and cock her chin out at her sisters, who were now looking at her as though she had two heads, almost daring them to deny her this one right that she had.

"Wait, really?" Daisy asked after Misty didn't back down.

"Yeah." She took a wider stance. "Yes, I really mean it."

"So, like, you want us to be the Gym Leaders again?" Lily asked, twirling a piece of hair around her finger.

"Yes. I think it might be good for you guys." She took Dewgong's 'Ball off of her 'Belt and placed it in Daisy's hand. "You know what to do."

And she walked away. Just like that.

Her packing was getting the brunt of it. As Misty was stuffing items into her bag, they each got their own personalized little punch…and then another one for good measure.

At least it was helping everything fit.

Each punch represented every time she had been angry, or cried, or wished that her sisters would go away and never come back. They fueled the anger, but this time it didn't all die in a wish that couldn't come true. Rather it fueled the fire of the ambition of a real solution. A solution that had been there all along, dangling in front of her, but that she had never taken because of her responsibilities.

Well, screw responsibilities. Let her sisters have a taste of that for a change. Yes, they'd stepped up when their mom had died. Temporarily. But as Misty had grown older, it seemed to completely vanish from their personalities. She'd quickly become the only adult in the house and had been since she was twelve, to be exact.

She was keeping her bag light, so it was only a few minutes before she was tightening it and strapping it to her back. With Noir beside her and her other Pokémon strapped to her 'Belt, she began walking with purpose towards the door when she was given pause by something materializing in front of her.

"Please, don't, Misty."

Misty sighed. She had seen this coming. "Mom, I know what you're going to say."

Standing in front of her was Fleur Waterflower, ethereal as always, but now with the effervescent glow around her to match. Still wearing a sundress that she had worn all the time when she'd been healthy. And her hair was long, red and flowing like it had been before.

"Well, I'm going to say it anyway," Fleur said. "Your sisters love you. You know they do; they just have a strange way of showing it. They have a different relationship with you than they have with each other."

"Yeah, a worse one," Misty muttered. Noir let out an utterance of agreement.

"Not worse, just different," Fleur corrected.

"Okay, mom, if that's what you think, then tell me this," Misty countered. "Do you think that you and I have a better relationship than you have with them, or is it just different?"

"Well, that's not really fair, sweetheart, because they can't see me or talk to me."

"So, are you saying that our relationship is better because we can see each other and converse?" Misty smirked, knowing that she had her mother on this one.

"Well…yes."

Ah, sweet satisfaction. Misty shared a smug look with Noir as though they were conspirers against her mother's wicked plans of sibling harmony. She knew that all her mother wanted was for the four of them to get along well like siblings are supposed to as they age, but it just wasn't happening. Not enough for Misty's taste, anyway. They were just too different.

"But that doesn't mean that it's not worth it to foster a healthy relationship with them." She gave Misty a particularly meaningful look. "While you have the chance."

While you have the chance. Man, that was a low blow. Misty cringed at the insinuation her mother had weighted those words with. Especially coming from her.

"Look, I'm not even actually moving out. I'm just going on a journey. I never got the chance to do that," Misty stated, trying to ignore the chill of the words. "It's not like I'm cutting them out of my life."

"But doesn't the fact that I'm even here tell you that you should be thinking this through a little more?" Fleur offered.

Misty sighed. That was quite possibly true. Her mom had been around a lot shortly after she'd died. Since then, her visits had become sparser. She only seemed to appear when Misty really needed her help. Neither of them were completely sure why. But it stood to reason that if Fleur was here now, then maybe Misty needed her help.

"Maybe you're here just because I was thinking about you," Misty offered.

Fleur reached out and touched Misty's cheek. "You've always been my stubborn baby, Misty."

Misty rolled her eyes before giving a hopeful smile. "So you understand my leaving?"

Fleur sighed. "I understand. It just makes me a little sad. I like to watch the four of you all here together."

"You'll still get to."

There was silence for a moment as Fleur pulled her hand away. Then she said, "I don't know. I'm seeing you less often. I'm not sure how much longer we have."

That surprised Misty. "You mean you think you'll be going away for good?"

"It's always been a possibility, Misty. Neither of us really know how this works."

Assisting ghosts in moving on to the next world—or whatever came "after"—had been Misty's job outside of her real job since she'd been a child. And she was pretty good at it. She'd given up on trying to figure out why her mother couldn't seem to move on years ago. She'd practically forgotten it was even an option.

"You still pop in every few months, mom. I'm sure we still have time."

Fleur smiled again. "Always my stubborn baby."

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes again, Misty reached out and hugged her mom. "Done with the guilt trip yet?"

Fleur squeezed her tightly, the way she had when Misty was little and she could pick her up and swing her around. "I'll see you soon."

"See ya soon."

Fleur pulled away and waved to Noir, who had silently watched the whole exchange. "Bye, Noir."

"Bay."

As Fleur faded from the very spot whence she stood, Misty tried to swallow down the little lump of sadness that entered her throat every time her mother disappeared in front of her. She knew that she was lucky, though. Her sisters had just had to deal with their mother's death like anyone else would. The crushing realization that she was really never coming back had taken them all months to recover from.

Misty had been young when Fleur had died, so perhaps it hadn't affected her quite as much as it did her sisters. She hadn't understood it quite as well. Still, she had followed in her sisters' strides and let them explain everything to her.

Therefore, it had surprised a young Misty enormously to see her mother in the flesh again. Of course, it wasn't actually in the flesh because, while Misty could touch her, her body glowed and passed through walls. Not exactly the common qualities of a temporal being, but something Misty had gotten increasingly used to seeing.

These were the secret people, as she had come to think of them when she was younger. The people that she couldn't recognize, that she saw and wouldn't acknowledge to other people. Others never knew what she was talking about and they would think that she was crazy. So she had learned quickly to keep these people to herself.

Of course, before they had always been strangers. Seeing her mother as one of these glowing secret people was wholly unexpected.

But she was so thankful for it. Together they'd figured out that these people were ghosts, they had died and she had the special ability that most people didn't have to see them. She answered the questions that Misty had been dying to know.

When Misty had asked why she could see them and no one else could, that's when Fleur's answers fell short. She didn't know and probably never would. Misty had accepted that. All that mattered was that that was the way things were and she would have to learn to deal with it.

"It" meaning pesky ghosts that realized that she could actually see them and made her do their bidding for them.

Getting to see her dead mom was nice. Constantly having to run errands for the dead of Cerulean City, however, was not so nice.

Still, the good outweighed the bad, even if it meant that Misty would have to watch her mother leave, potentially for the last time, over and over again, as she was now.

Misty took Noir's hand and squeezed.

"Time to go, Noir," Misty said, a light quaver on her vocal chords.

Noir grinned hugely and Misty couldn't help but roll her eyes as she slid the other strap from her bag onto her shoulder and make her second break for the door, not looking back.

Time to move on.

A/N: Thank you C'sMelody for always pointing out the things I'm too dumb to even consider. Brock's Crobat now has a backstory for this AU.

Hopefully you guys liked this one. I actually really love the first half of this one. The second half is only alright.