.

High Spirits

"No ghost was every seen by two pair of eyes."

–Thomas Carlyle

Misty had decided to leave Ash and Pikachu alone at Oak's lab, figuring that they might want some privacy or some more time with his Pokémon. It had been tough to appear disaffected when she'd found Professor Oak to thank him for the afternoon. Misty had no way of knowing if her eyes were red or if her cheekbones had the flush that they sometimes got when her emotions got the better of her. But without a Pokémon Center, there was nowhere to stay in Pallet for the night, unless she wanted to impose even more on poor Professor Oak. So she, unlike a ghost like Ash, had to leave and make her plans for the evening.

There was a tiny restaurant owned by a nice, old woman where Misty was able to grab a late lunch, and then go stock up on supplies. It turned out that Pallet really was a small town, though, and she ended up buying more natural remedies than standardized products that she was used to buying in the big cities. She'd been desperate, though, because she had forgotten to replenish her healing items in Viridian—rookie mistake. And then she'd used a good portion of her supplies on her Pokémon after they'd spent themselves trying to drown out that fire, not to mention the healing that Goldeen had needed just after being captured. After that, it seemed the best choice was to head just out of town and set up camp like she had outside of Cerulean on that first night.

The next morning Misty woke up truly alone for the first time in a while. Noir was gone, she hadn't seen Ash and Pikachu since leaving the lab the previous afternoon, and, of course, Molly had left. So Misty took her time rolling her sleeping bag back up and skipped breakfast, thinking she could grab a bite in town, saving her from another meal out of a can or foil wrapper. And then, she could head to the south side of town and find some boat tickets. Besides, some time to sort through her thoughts might do her some good before seeing Ash and Pikachu again.

What the three of them had gone through together the previous afternoon had been intense. Incredible. In her experience, ghosts were unusually emotional beings. Fay and Daniel's rage, the inarticulate insistence of the guy who'd had her dig the ring out of that backyard—this was par for the course. But Ash's tears…that was new. Misty felt quite sure she'd never gone through something intimate like that with anyone before, ghost or alive. It had laid Ash so bare before her that she wasn't certain how to look him in the eye the next time she saw him.

Not that she didn't want to. What they'd been through had been extraordinary and, to be honest, it was probably the best thing Misty had ever done. And, well, she didn't mind being around the person who brought that out in her.

As Misty meandered through town, she kept on getting distracted. It was easy when she was feeling as leisurely in her mission as she was. But every time she saw someone middle aged or older, she wondered if maybe they had known Ash like Professor Oak did. Pallet was a small town, and most people who lived there had lived there a while. Their families had probably been there since the war, if not before, then been part of the rebuilding effort. It made sense that some of them might have known Ash. But Misty didn't have the courage to ask anyone. Anyway, it had already been quite a long couple of days on the Ash front. She hadn't forgotten about him bringing Fay and Daniel back, nor what she'd promised them.

So Misty traveled south until the smell of sea salt, so much like home, hit her nose. She heard Wingull and Pelipper calling, birds that had come over from Hoenn after the embargo and now thrived in small groups in Kanto. They weren't common since they'd only been in the region for thirty years, only ever found on beaches, but maybe that's why Misty loved them. They were equivalent to the beach for her, so what wasn't to love? Maybe she'd even catch one someday.

Misty fingered Goldeen's new PokéBall, now warm with life. She didn't need a new Pokémon right now. Maybe when she made it back to Cerulean. Whenever that would be.

That wasn't what was on her mind currently, though. Usually the beach was a good place for Misty to escape her thoughts, her troubles. But right now, she wasn't troubled. Just a little introspective. And it felt right to sit with that for the moment.

This beach, unlike the beaches of Cerulean, didn't have very many people. But perhaps that was just the time of year; it was only early spring, after all, and the water was still freezing. The air was pleasant enough, only a cold wind was enough to raise goosebumps on her bare legs, but the water wouldn't be pleasant enough to splash in for at least another month or two.

That didn't stop Misty from walking right up to the water's edge, though—low-tide from the looks of it—and bending over to press a hand into the deeply saturated sand. Misty pushed her hand in until it disappeared and felt heavy with the cold. The coarse granules of sand scratched against her, not as soft and fine as the sand in Cerulean. This was the kind of sand that made marks in your feet when you ran on it.

Still, it was pleasant to Misty. When her hand began to hurt, she clenched the loose sand in a fist and pulled it out, clenching it so tightly that only a thin handful remained, curved against the lines of her palm. Misty stuck her hand above the freezing water, letting the low waves lap at it, bringing goosebumps all up and down her skin.

When all the sand had been licked off, Misty took her wet hand and ran it down her bare neck, enjoying the cold feeling against her pulsing arteries. Maybe she was strange, but Misty liked the cold. When she was little, she had always called herself cold-blooded when she was in the water, claiming that she was the same as the cold-blooded Pokémon that lived there.

Her sisters would tell her that she was being silly and that she wasn't cold-blooded. Then she'd have to settle for pretending to be a Seel, who was warm-blooded like her. That was alright, though, because she loved the Seel too. And it was easier to imitate how they swam than, say, a Magikarp anyway.

Misty raised her tight camisole a tad and pressed her hand to her stomach, nearly gasping at the cold. It felt like ice. She wiped the water off and lowered her top, seeing the slight mark of the water bleeding through the thin fabric.

Putting her hand back on her neck to warm it up, Misty walked along the water's edge slowly, both to savor the beach, and to keep from kicking up any sand. She might like the sand, but she didn't enjoy it being in her socks any more than the next person. The harbor was visible from where she was, and Misty figured that it had to be the place to buy a boat ticket.

There were only a few boats, but as soon as Misty got close enough, she could see a rickety ticket booth, wooden and built into the dock, with a single person manning it.

"Can I help you, miss?" the man asked as she approached.

"Yes. Is there a boat leaving for Cinnabar today?"

"Sure is," the man answered with a nod. "One hour, give or take."

"Not that one?" Misty asked as she caught eye of a boat in the distance.

The man turned to look and shook his head. "Nah. That one's private owned."

"Is it?" Misty asked, shielding her eyes from the bright sky. "How can you tell?"

"The size. That's way too small to be a passenger ship. Well, at least the kind that gets you any money."

"Oh, okay. Well, I guess I'll just wait around here, then."

Misty began walking back up the pier to return to the beach. She should probably wait by there for Ash and Noir anyway. Misty had told Ash and Pikachu her plans before she'd left and she knew that Noir would show up soon enough.

Boat, beach, water, Misty…yeah, it wasn't a challenging one to figure out. Even if Noir had been too quick in disappearing to be able to make plans about where to meet up.

Once in the sand, Misty spotted a Wingull standing on a clump of grass not too far away from her. She decided to approach it cautiously, taking slow but deliberate steps in its direction. When she was only feet away, she crouched down, so that her size wouldn't be so off-putting. The Wingull was eyeing her carefully, but it wasn't making any moves to leave either. Its feet moved about on the grass, but its wings stayed carefully folded.

Misty had always thought that Wingull looked uncomfortable when they weren't flying. It seemed like their wings were too large for their bodies and it weighed upon them to hold them still, since they couldn't fold into their bodies in any streamline kind of way.

Ever so carefully, Misty reached out her hand, palm up, and aimed for under the Wingull's beak. It was non-threatening, but the position also didn't make it look like she was asking to get her fingers bitten off. The Wingull relaxed when Misty finally made contact, as though the soft touch communicated more than any of the cooing sounds that Misty was making.

"Pretty bird, yeah, pretty bird," Misty mewled as the Wingull closed its eyes and Misty moved her hand down to the side of its neck. "Pretty domestic, aren't we?"

The bird gave a short caw, proving to be a very polite conversation partner.

"I'm glad I was able to help Ash yesterday," Misty mused, the words pouring freely as though she were talking to an old friend instead of a Wingull on a chilly beach.

"Gull?"

Misty giggled a little, not sure if the Pokémon understood what she said at all and was asking her a question or if it was just confused that she was talking at all.

"It makes me wonder if I could have been doing a better job with ghosts this whole time. I always thought they were the bad ones. Well, not the bad ones but, you know, not nice for interrupting my life and demanding something difficult from me. But maybe I've been meaner than I should have been, you know?"

The Wingull blinked and Misty smiled despite herself.

"You don't know."

Eventually Misty lost track of time as she sat caressing the bird and it gave short, guttural honks that sounded like growls, but Misty knew that they came from content rather than contempt. Otherwise, the Pokémon assuredly would have flown away.

"Whoa, is that wild?"

A bolt of surprise shot through Misty, making her jerk as she started. The Wingull, though, took flight immediately, smacking Misty in the face with its wide wingspan.

"Oh, I'm sorry!"

Misty turned around, rubbing her cheek, and saw a girl wearing a sarong and large flowers in her hair, one of which she was rubbing between her fingers.

"I didn't mean to scare it away," the girl said. "Sometimes I just get a little excited."

"Oh, that's fine," Misty said, standing up and putting her hand to her forehead as her vision went in and out with a head rush. "Whoa."

"Are you okay?" The girl reached out and steadied Misty. "Is something wrong?"

"No, no." Misty waved her away, taking deep breaths. "I just didn't realize how long I was crouched like that. Cut off all of my circulation. Thanks for the help."

"No problem. It's the least I could do after scaring your bird away."

"Oh, that's no big deal. I'm surprised it stayed as long as it did."

The girl smiled. "You must be really good with Pokémon if you could get a wild one to be that comfortable around you."

Misty blushed. "I don't know about that. I just like Water Types a—"

"Hey, wait!" the girl interrupted. "If you're a really good Trainer then we should battle! Are you a really good Trainer?"

Misty's eyebrows rose. "Um, I'm the Gym Leader of the Cerulean Gym."

"A Gym Leader!" the girl exclaimed. "Perfect! That'll make this interesting. Wait, did you say that you like Water Types?"

"Uh, yeah, I did."

"Oh, okay, then I have the perfect thing!"

Misty was taken aback as the girl immediately darted away, running barefoot over the coarse sand in the direction of the pier. Not knowing if she was supposed to follow or not, Misty walked slowly behind her, trying to gather her wits about her. This girl was very…high energy.

By the time Misty made it to the pier, the girl was coming out of the small boat that was there, carrying what looked like a large mattress that barely fit through the door, even though it was folded in half. Before Misty could ask what she was doing, the girl tossed it overboard and Misty heard a flat splash from the water.

Then, before Misty knew what was happening, the girl climbed up the wooden railing and jumped over. Misty gasped and the old man at the booth even looked over.

"Hey, you don't wanna do that, miss!" he called out.

"It's fine!"

Misty and the man looked at each other, twin looks of confusion on their faces, and Misty shrugged, shaking her head. Returning her gesture, the man sat down again mumbling something about crazy kids.

Not knowing what else to do, Misty walked over to the edge of the pier and looked over to see the girl standing on the mattress-like object and tying a chain around one of the pier's posts.

"This is to keep it from floating away," the girl called up once she caught sight of Misty. "Now jump down!"

Misty's eyes bugged. "Are you crazy?" she blurted.

The girl laughed. "No, but I get that a lot."

No, seriously. Was this girl crazy?

"Well, why would I possibly jump down there?"

"This is a battling platform!" The girl knelt down and patted it. "It's for water Battles. Now come on! You get the platform and I'll battle from the land. Okay?"

Before long, Misty was rolling her eyes and climbing up the railing. Oh, what the hell?

The girl, fortunately, moved to the side and Misty aimed for the middle of the platform as she took her leap. She landed in a crouch, relieved that the whole thing didn't tip over the moment she made impact. As the girl had implied, it was surprisingly sturdy.

"Great!" the girl exclaimed, clapping her hands. "Wanna make this a two on two?"

"Sure," Misty replied, not knowing what would happen if she dared say no.

"Alrighty, then!"

The girl tossed a PokéBall into the air and before the Pokémon had even fully materialized, she jumped into the air. The moment it formed in the air, it caught her and began carrying her over to the land without so much as a single command.

"Thanks, Dusknoir!" The girl smiled, patting the Pokémon fondly when it dropped her gracefully in the sand. "Okay, since he's already out, Dusknoir will be my first Pokémon. And you?"

Misty didn't know what a Dusknoir was. Obviously it wasn't native to Kanto. But, from the looks of it, she would bet that it was likely either a Ghost or Dark type. Not wanting to risk either type, Misty knew that Frillish was out. And she couldn't use Gyarados in this shallow water. So that left…

"Staryu, go!"

Misty released Staryu, who burst out with a flourish into the air.

"Ah, good, very watery," the girl commented. "Dusknoir, use Hex!"

Black and purple energy came rushing out of Dusknoir's hands towards Staryu. Misty didn't know if it was the way that the colors swirled together or if it was the rocking of the platform she was standing on, or both, but instantly she began to feel a little seasick. But at least she knew now that this Pokémon was probably a Ghost-Type. And like it or not, that gave her an advantage.

"Dive, Staryu!"

The Attack wouldn't dissipate upon hitting the water, but it would weaken and be less likely to find Staryu, especially the deeper it went.

Once it looked as though most of color of the Attack had dispersed, Misty called Staryu back. "Okay, now Water Gun!"

Staryu popped the upper half of its body out of the water and sprayed a strong blast of water towards the beach. Misty couldn't exactly make out the girl's face due to the distance, but she could have sworn that she saw a smirk. Apparently this girl had a different personality when she battled.

"Dusknoir, you know what to do."

Before Misty's eyes, Dusknoir began to glow and Staryu stopped its Attack cold. Misty, however, was the one who really froze.

Dusknoir was in second plane. She wasn't supposed to be able to see him. But she knew that that had to be her strategy to winning this match. Otherwise she'd likely have to force herself to lose just so that she didn't raise suspicion.

Quickly, Misty thought back to her training lesson with Staryu and Noir in Viridian Forest. She just needed to hit Dusknoir once; it didn't have to be strong. So if she could guide Staryu just a little, it should be okay.

"Staryu, use Hydro Pump…and aim more to the right," she added quietly, hoping that it was quiet enough that only Staryu could hear. Misty could see Dusknoir moving in a wide perimeter around Staryu, in the opposite direction from the pier. And as Staryu began spinning, water coming from all five spines this time, Misty hoped that the wide range of the Attack would land a hit.

Staryu began circling, slowly making its way to the right, closer and closer to Dusknoir, despite its aim being completely blind. Finally a single spray hit Dusknoir, enough to knock him out of second plane and into first where Staryu could see it.

"Hit it full force now!"

Dusknoir put an arm up to shield himself from the Attack, but the onslaught was too much for him to be able to disappear again. So all he could do was defend.

"Go into it," the girl commanded daringly. "Then you know what to do."

Misty watched with surprise as Dusknoir floated straight towards Staryu, who was spinning as fast as it could and hitting Dusknoir will a full-strength Hydro Pump. That was no small task.

"Watch out, Staryu," Misty warned, though she didn't know what to expect.

Nevertheless, when Dusknoir got close enough, he pulled a single arm back and thrust it forward, knocking Staryu out of the air with a spark.

Misty gasped. That wasn't just a normal punch—it was a Thunder Punch. She'd had no idea that this Pokémon would have an Electric move in its arsenal.

"Staryu, are you alright?"

Staryu's center gem was pulsing, but not slowly enough to cause worry. Misty took a breath, steadying herself. She wasn't sure about this girl's personality, but it was obvious that she was an amazing Trainer. It would take all of Misty's skill to pull this one off.

"Okay, then use Recover!"

"Oh, come on!" Misty heard the girl exclaim. "I've always thought that was such a cheap move!"

"The only people that think that are those who don't have it!" Misty shot right back, not going to let this girl criticize her technique for a minute. "Okay, Staryu, Power Gem!"

A beam of energy came from Staryu, heading straight for Dusknoir. He didn't look as fresh as it had looked at the beginning of the Battle, but for a Pokémon that had taken a long, direct hit of Staryu's Hydro Pump, he looked damn peachy. Like he had only been hit by a Bubble instead of Staryu's strongest Attack. He must have been at an incredibly high level.

Fortunately, the Power Gem was another direct hit, knocking Dusknoir back. Unfortunately, he seemed to bounce back within seconds.

"Dusknoir, let's speed this up. Use Shadow Ball."

Dusknoir put his hands together, manifesting a growing ball of dark energy pulsing with power. It grew huge; larger than anything Noir had ever been able to form. Misty knew that if this Attack made contact after that close-range Thunder Punch, even with Recover, Staryu would be done for.

"Dive, Staryu!" Misty called desperately.

Staryu obediently dove the moment the Attack was released. But to Misty's horror, it slammed straight into the water and Misty could see its shadowy form holding together as it followed Staryu down.

Misty shook her head. It was all over.

Moments later, Staryu floated up to the surface, gem pulsing with a pitiful noise.

Misty sighed, taking out her PokéBall. "You did a great job, Staryu."

Okay, that Dusknoir's Ghost moves were powerful. Misty knew now more than ever that there was no way she could send Frillish into the match. He had never fought against that strong a Ghost opponent and wouldn't be able to take a hit. That left her with one choice. And it was a risk. But it was the only thing she could think of to do.

"Goldeen, go!"

As Goldeen materialized in the water, Misty was just grateful that she had managed to get in one good training session with him before this. At least she had an idea of his Attacks and capability. Unfortunately, Goldeen had more Normal Attacks than Water, but that wasn't enough to dash Misty's hopes just yet.

"Water Pulse!" Misty called out.

Dusknoir promptly faded into second plane and moved just a few feet to the left, out of the way of the pressurized stream. Misty grit her teeth. The one thing that she hadn't been able to do with Goldeen was train him with Noir. That left her in a much weaker place than she had been with Staryu.

"Move it to the left," Misty called out as Goldeen's stream continued, throwing caution to the wind and just hoping that the girl couldn't hear her from all the way out there.

Luckily, the Attack made contact, knocking Dusknoir back farther than it probably would have before just out of sheer surprise. The girl looked surprised as well.

"Nice shot!" she commented. "Dusknoir, use Shadow Ball again."

Dusknoir, however, did not begin to form another orb of destruction. Rather, he wobbled a little, like he was fighting for balance. This was strange, though, because it was floating; there was nothing to balance on.

"Dusknoir, what are you doing?"

Misty shot a fist up into the air. "Yes! It's confused! Great job, Goldeen!"

A sigh of relief flooded from Misty's lips. This was going better than she could have hoped. This was her shot.

"Use Peck!"

Goldeen swam quickly through the water towards Dusknoir, who was clearly trying to form a Shadow Ball, but kept failing, shocking itself with the stray bits of dark matter unraveling from the ball. Aiming carefully, Goldeen shot out of the water, hitting Dusknoir directly on the yellow mouth on its stomach.

"No!" the girl cried out.

The direct hit caused Dusknoir to flail, smacking wildly at the artisan of his pain. In its anger and confusion, Dusknoir put its hands together in one last futile attempt at creating a Shadow Ball. This time a small orb was able to form, but it exploded in its hands, knocking both Pokémon back.

Misty knew that a Shadow Ball of that size shouldn't have done much to either Pokémon, but it must have been potent. Extremely potent. That combined with the close-range was enough to keep either Pokémon from getting up.

Both Misty and the girl were gaping at the result. Breaking the silence, Misty called Goldeen back, congratulating it on a job well done. Eventually, the girl followed Misty's example and called her Dusknoir back.

After standing pensively for a moment, Misty felt a cold breeze bring goosebumps to her flesh, strong enough for her to rub her arms together. She then remembered pointedly that she was stranded in the middle of the water and her only way out was either to scale a wooden pier or to swim through freezing water.

"Um, can you help me out here?" Misty called, hoping that this girl had thought through her plan enough to be able to get her out of the water.

"Oh, sure," the girl called, a giggle carrying on her tone. She reached for another 'Ball and tossed it into the air. Misty abruptly turned around, trying to hide her shock, hoping that hiding her face wouldn't be as weird as gaping at the girl's Pokémon.

Because it was a Banette.

After the shock wore off, Misty turned back around in time to see the Banette fiddling with the chain that the girl had tied, but struggling with it.

"Here, I've got it," Misty said, leaning over, careful not to throw too much of her weight to one side of the platform, still wary of it capsizing, despite its proven sturdiness. She undid the chain, trying to force all of her energy into the task so that she wouldn't focus on how this Banette looked literally exactly like Noir.

After finishing, Banette floated to the back of the platform and began to push it through the water to the shore. That surprised Misty and she abruptly sat down to ensure that she wouldn't fly off the platform. Misty heard a laugh coming from the shore but ignored it. Sitting wasn't weak; it was the sensible thing to do.

"That was a really good match!" the girl said when Misty managed to jump off the platform and on to the safety of sand. "I'm impressed. Especially since that Goldeen seemed like a new capture."

"He is," Misty drawled, curious as to how the girl knew that. "But it wasn't that good of a match. I never even got to see your second Pokémon."

"Oh, well, here she is now!" the girl exclaimed as her Banette floated to her shoulder with a smile pulling at her zippered lips. More of a cheerful smile than Noir ever seemed to wear.

"You know what I mean," Misty said. "I haven't lost a match so badly in ages."

"Well, you can't be surprised," the girl said, putting no effort into removing any trace of confidence from her tone. "I am an Elite Four member, after all."

This time Misty didn't even try to hide her shock. "What?"

The girl giggled. "Yep. Hoenn chapter."

"Oh," Misty drew out. "That's why I don't recognize you. I'm sorry, I never got your name."

"The name's Phoebe. And yours?"

"Misty." Misty put a hand out to shake. "I'm so pleased to meet you. Thanks for the Battle."

"Oh, screw all the formalities," Phoebe declared. "It's not like I'm technically your superior or anything. I'm the one who asked for the Battle, so thank you."

Misty laughed. "Okay, you're welcome."

"Much better."

Misty gestured to the boat still at the harbor. "So that boat's yours?"

"Oh, shit, yeah! I gotta get that out of the way!"

Phoebe darted for the pier but a second later turned around, reaching for the platform.

"Forgot about this!"

"Let me help you," Misty said, grabbing one end of the platform. She grunted. It was heavier than Phoebe had made it look earlier.

"Thanks!"

Phoebe and Misty made their way down the pier, carrying the dripping platform all the way, earning a judgmental look from the ticket booth man. Misty remembered then that she had never bought her pass to Cinnabar.

"Oh man, I still need to buy my ticket!" Misty exclaimed.

"Ticket?" Phoebe grunted.

"Yeah, I'm going to Cinnabar," Misty huffed. "The boat should be here really soon."

"All the more reason to move my boat," Phoebe said, quickening her pace, nearly causing the platform to slip out of Misty's hands.

"Easy there!" Misty called as she quickened her pace as well.

"Sorry! Okay, drop it here!"

Not waiting to hear it twice, Misty eagerly dropped the platform at the end of the harbor. Phoebe leaned over and folded it in half before picking up her end again.

"Okay, now we need to get it into the boat."

Misty sighed, leaning over to pick up the platform again. Luckily, this time instead of steering the platform into the inner-cabin of the boat, Phoebe allowed them to flop it on the deck, saving the effort of having to fit it through the door.

"I think it looks fine here, don't you?"

"Looks great," Misty agreed, trying to catch her breath.

"Great," Phoebe echoed, absentmindedly lifting a PokéBall and returning her Banette, who had followed them lazily the whole way there. "So you said something about Cinnabar?"

"Yeah, I have to get a ticket, like, right now."

Misty made to get off the boat, but Phoebe grabbed her arm. "Or you could just head there with me."

Misty cocked her head. "What?"

"I was only dropping anchor in Pallet for a bit. Then I wanted to island hop. I was thinking the Sevii Islands, but Cinnabar is an island, right?"

"Right…"

"So why not go together? I could use some company anyways!"

Misty took stock of Phoebe's wide, blue eyes, sparkling with hope, and she didn't know how she could say no. Phoebe was a little much, but she was an Elite. That made her trustworthy if nothing else. And this way she didn't have to pay for a ticket, so it was a win-win, really.

Why was she even thinking about it?

"Sure, why not?"

"Oh, yay!" Phoebe cheered, jumping up and down and clapping her hands.

Misty sweat-dropped at the gesture, but was amused nonetheless. Until she heard someone shouting.

"You girls better get the hell out of this harbor if you don't want that boat to smash you in two!"

Misty turned back to see the old man wagging his fist at them and laughed before catching sight of the boat that, indeed, was on its way to ramming them down.

"Yeah, we should probably go."

Phoebe grinned. "Full speed ahead!"

She then proceeded to all but skip to the wheel, ready to navigate. Misty followed, shaking her head. She went over to the railing and rested her arms on the metal, feeling the chill through her cardigan. Neither Noir nor Ash and Pikachu were there yet. Misty knew that they all had the capability of catching up with her, but she would feel better if they were there on the boat now, before she was in the middle of the ocean.

Nevertheless, the boat's motor began to hum and it lurched forward, beginning to move away from the dock. After setting the boat in approximately the right direction, Phoebe stepped away, turning to Misty. Misty was surprised to see that a frown had landed on her lips, an expression that, up to that point, Misty had figured wasn't possible for Phoebe.

"Misty, I don't mean to freak you out," Phoebe started, "but there's a Banette right next to you. And it's not mine."

Misty turned around to look at Noir, who was looking at her wide-eyed. A second later it registered why.

Because Noir was in second plane.

A/N: *blows off dust* Uhhh, hi? Honestly, my stomach is in knots rn, but that might just be the McDonald's I ate as a reward for doing this. How's everyone's last three years been? Not great? Hmm, wonder why...

I'm gonna give the tl;dr on the situation, as I've spewed a fuller version on my profile. Basically, at the time the previous chapter was published, Sept 2018, I was writing multiple fics at a time. I realized that I needed to focus on just one, and I chose Zenith. (Probably the wrong choice, tbh, but I'm still pleased with that story so #noregrets.) Then, as that fic was being published early in the pandemmy, I finally turned back to this story, ready to delve into it with the same single-minded focus I did Zenith, and, well, that worked. For a few months. And then I discovered another fandom, started using another penname and writing totally different content and figured I'd come back to this fic whenever this other fandom had sort of run its course.

That's...not what's happening. This isn't a return; it's a closing of a chapter. Pokemon is the love of my life, and it has the most incredible fanfiction in the universe. But, the truth is, that I love the new fandom I'm in. I have a new otp, I have a tattoo for them, I'm in deep. It's not a phase. But. I'm a completionist. This fic has been on my plate since 2015 (er...minus most of 2019 and all of 2021). I have to finish it. I will finish it.

I'm putting a pin in my current projects, and I'm gonna do to this fic what I shoulda done over a year ago and stick it out until it's done. I'm impulsively posting this chapter without even reading it as a promise to do it. It's my New Year's resolution. As my profile says, I have the next 10 or so chapters done, though they haven't been beta'd yet (btw, you can blame ALL of this on my delightful beta, C'sMelody, who beta'd this chap for me a year and a half ago because she introduced me to the new fandom IT'S HER FAULT). And then we're gonna power through and finish. I'm going to do my best to give you the best fic possible. We both deserve that.

Thanks for reading this if you did! I bet no one who was here in 2018 is here now, but I had to say my piece regardless XD Wish me luck.