.

Too Little, Too Late

"The memories I couldn't make haunt me."

–Amna Dhanani

"I really think reconciliation is the only option," Phoebe informed Misty while she stirred pancake batter in the Cerulean Gym's kitchen. "Don't you think, Ash?"

"Hmm?"

Misty rolled her eyes as she watched Ash tear his lusty gaze away from the blueberries Phoebe was dropping into the batter. He likely hadn't heard a word of the discussion.

"Don't you think that Misty should be doing everything she can right now to rectify hers and Noir's relationship?" Phoebe repeated.

"Of course! I mean, I don't understand why she didn't just do that yesterday when me and Brock told her to."

"Uh-uh," Misty finally interjected, not appreciating being spoken about right in front of her. "You guys told me to talk to her. I did and everything's fine."

Phoebe looked at her pointedly. "If everything's fine, where is she?"

"I don't know," Misty reluctantly answered, glaring at Phoebe. "Things aren't perfect right now, but they're as good as they're going to get for the moment."

Phoebe shook her head and went back to cooking breakfast, putting her fingers under the faucet to get them wet and then flicking the water droplets onto the oiled griddle, earning herself a delightful hiss. She began ladling out the first pancake.

Misty turned away from Phoebe, knowing by this point that her lack of response wasn't because she felt she was losing the argument, but because she was trying to utilize the silence to make Misty sink into guilt on her own. And Misty wasn't about to fall for that.

She noticed, once again, that Ash was staring intently at the remaining blueberries. There were just a few left in the container, but, apparently, they were enough to garner interest from both Ash and Pikachu, who had been sitting on the counter. He was now approaching the blueberries as if to sniff them. Misty was about to grab Pikachu and place him on her lap—even though Pikachu couldn't touch the berries, she still didn't like the idea of him treading all over them.

Before she did so, Pikachu's focus abruptly changed, looking at Ash. Misty followed his gaze and noticed that Ash was glowing just a bit brighter than usual, still staring at the blueberries. Misty was about to open her mouth to speak when she saw, out of the corner of her eye, the plumpest blueberry of the bunch begin to wiggle, before taking flight into the air.

"Oh!" Misty exclaimed, shifting Phoebe's attention away from the stove so that everyone present was staring at the floating blueberry.

The berry moved unsteadily in the air towards Ash, who, with great focus, opened his mouth and led it straight towards his mouth. Misty watched with rapt attention as the berry made it into his mouth and disappeared as he closed his lips.

Then, a moment later, the berry fell through his chin and landed back on the kitchen counter.

"Dang it!" Ash exclaimed, slamming his fist against his thigh as he eyed the villainous berry.

"Oh, man—I thought you were gonna do it," Phoebe bemoaned.

Misty, meanwhile, was still bewildered. "What did you just do?"

Ash, recovering quickly from his disappointment, threw Misty a lopsided smile, not even trying to hide his pride. "I've been practicing the psychic thing that Fay talked about."

"You've been practicing telekinesis?"

"Yup! Sure have!"

"For how long?"

Ash stared at Misty like she had something in her teeth. "Duh, since Fay mentioned it. I wanna be a psychic!"

"So, what's it like?" Phoebe asked, stepping between Ash and Misty and looking up at Ash with big eyes.

"Uh," Ash put a hand up to his head, "it takes a lot of concentration. Until your head feels like it's gonna explode."

Phoebe nodded with rapt interest.

"Pika pika!"

Misty turned to Pikachu, who was pointing at the stove frantically. "Phoebe, the pancake!"

Phoebe blinked and turned back to the stove. "Oh, oopsie!" she flipped the pancake, berries oozing and backside a very dark brown. "This one'll be mine."

"Will somebody please eat that blueberry?" Ash pleaded, looking at it like it was his forbidden lover. "I feel like it's mocking me."

Misty shook her head. "Nope. That thing was in your mouth."

"Yeah, but not really." Phoebe reached over and plucked up the berry before tossing it into her mouth and going about her business at the stove. "No spit or anything."

Misty grimaced. "Nope, still weird."

By that time, Phoebe was flipping the overdone pancake to a plate and moving onto another batch, putting three fresh circles of batter on the griddle. While they were cooking, she picked up the piping hot pancake and blew on it before taking a bite. "It's still good," she declared with a full mouth.

Ash glared at her. "Don't brag."

At that moment, Misty heard a sound separate from the sizzling of the pancakes, Phoebe's and Ash's bickering, and Pikachu bathing himself on the countertop. The sound of footsteps descending the stairs and high-pitched chattering.

Phoebe too turned her gaze upwards, obviously hearing it too. "Guess your sisters are up."

Just then, the three of them rounded the corner, completely made up and hair done, despite it only being mid-morning.

"Hello, ladies. Making breakfast?" Daisy greeted, while tossing her yellow-blond hair over her shoulder.

"Yeah, do you want some?" Phoebe offered.

Lily waved her off. "Nope. Too many carbs."

"Are you guys going somewhere?" Misty asked, taking in the high heels that all three girls were wearing.

Daisy shrugged. "We were maybe gonna go shopping later, but not right now."

So they were just done up for the heck of it. Typical.

Misty immediately chided herself for the negative thinking. She needed to get better at giving her sisters the benefit of the doubt, training herself out of years of Noir's poisonous thinking. She took a deep breath, preparing herself to try harder.

"So, would you guys like to talk right now?"

Just then, Phoebe was flipping the pancakes, but Misty saw her freeze and throw Ash a meaningful look.

"Oh, that's perfect!" Phoebe cheered with false enthusiasm. "Because I was just about to go and take a look at your guys's Pokémon like Misty and I had just been talking about."

Phoebe began making her way out of the room before Misty called, "Phoebe, the pancakes?"

Half were flipped and the other half were working on becoming as brown on one side as the reject pancake had been. Phoebe laughed and smacked herself in the forehead. "Oh, silly me. I'll do that really quickly and then just let you guys be."

"No, actually, that's really okay." Misty put a hand on Phoebe's shoulder. "I want you here for this part."

Phoebe put a hand to her heart. "Really?"

Misty nodded, taking care to give a brief look to Ash and Pikachu as well. "Really."

"Okay, like, what is going on here?" Lily asked. "Are you pregnant something?"

Misty recoiled, immediately taking her hand back. "What? No! Nothing like that!"

A blush rose so fast on Misty's face that her whole body burned. She heard Ash and even Pikachu sniggering and she just wanted to melt into the floor. Her face felt like it was steaming; she probably wasn't too many degrees away from being able to do so.

"Then what is it, Misty?" Daisy asked.

"I, uh…" Misty felt her breath becoming short, various parts of her body suddenly feeling very light and some parts feeling very heavy, like she was being dismembered by her own psyche. Phoebe came into her vision and gave her a thumbs up, which did little to help, but Misty nodded anyway. "I, uh, you know…have the ability to see ghosts."

Misty held her breath as her sisters just blinked at her for a second, before Violet, who was sputtering with held back laughs, said, "Well, that's certainly nothing like being pregnant!"

All three sisters collapsed into laughs, and Misty felt her face going red again, but this time she wasn't sure if it was in embarrassment or anger.

"Hey!" Phoebe shouted, the foreign indignation in her tone startling Misty. "That's not nice. Misty's telling the truth, and it's very serious to her. Show some respect."

The sisters sobered all at once, nearly as taken aback by Phoebe's tone as Misty had been. "Sorry, Misty," Daisy said, trying to subtly wipe a tear of mirth from her eye. "We weren't laughing at you, we swear. That was just funny, what Vi said."

Misty resigned, too mentally exhausted from telling the truth to be too mad—though she made a mental note to remember later when she needed a reason to be mad at them. "It's okay."

"Like, what are you talking about, though?" Lily asked. "And why are you telling us now?"

"I mean that sometimes when people die, they don't move on right away, and their spirits stay here, kind of like Ghost Pokémon," Misty explained, her voice slow and stuttering. The fact that she'd hardly ever talked about this with anyone meant that she didn't have the words to explain it with. She didn't know what word would make her case and which would break it. "And most people can't see them, just like how Ghost Pokémon can disappear from sight, but I can."

"Okay," Violet drawled. "So, like, how do we know you're telling the truth?"

"I can vouch for her," Phoebe offered, raising her hand. "I can see ghosts too."

Violet narrowed her eyes at Phoebe. "Really?"

Phoebe reeled back, offended. "Are you asking me to prove it?"

"Actually, that would be kind of nice…" Daisy inserted.

"Prove it?" Misty asked in disbelief.

"It's nothing personal," Daisy defended, eyes flicking between Misty and Phoebe as the words came out. "It's just that I've—we've—never heard of anything like this before. And why are you telling us now? Is this new?"

"No, it's not new," Misty answered. "This has been my life for…well, my whole life! And I'm telling you because I thought it might be nice to tell you guys the truth for once!"

Misty's voice was becoming heated with emotion, which she hadn't planned on. But she just couldn't believe that her own sisters didn't believe her when just days before, perfect strangers had believed Phoebe when Phoebe had been making wild claims beyond that of just seeing ghosts.

When her sisters didn't respond after a moment, Misty became resolved. "You want me to prove it? Fine, I'll prove it."

Abruptly, Misty pulled Ash by the arm away from the counter, surprising him and causing him to flail wildly before he remembered that he was a ghost and had no need for balance. He collected himself and stood up straight.

"This is Ash," Misty said, gesturing to him, or, what looked like air to her sisters. "He's a ghost I met in the Viridian Forest that we've befriended. This is how tall he is," Misty put a hand on the top of his head, which was just an inch or two higher than her own, "this is his arm, this is his shirt, and this is his foot."

Along with her narration, Misty lifted Ash's arm, pinched his shirt, and kicked his foot with her own, earning an, "Ow," from him.

"And he just protested to her kicking him," Phoebe added.

"Misty's touching a boy right now?" Lily said suggestively, her eyebrows wriggling before giving a wink.

Misty quickly stepped away from Ash. "That's all you have to take from this?" she cried bewilderedly as her face became red once again. At this rate, she was pretty sure she would be embarrassed indefinitely.

"Here, try this," Phoebe suggested, taking Pikachu from his post ensuring that she didn't ruin the pancakes, and placing him in Misty's hands.

"Right," Misty said, steeling herself to try again. "This is Pikachu. Ash's Pikachu." She ran her hands along his body. "These are his ear, head, back, jagged tail."

Pikachu, unlike Ash, was an eager model and flaunted himself, wiggling his tail and pressing his paws to his cheeks like he was the cutest thing ever.

Misty looked to her sisters and was saddened to see how blank, yet skeptical their eyes were. She was running out of ideas. Then, all at once, it was literally taken out of her hands when Ash plucked Pikachu out of her grasp and said, "Pikachu, Thundershock."

Before Misty could tell him not to, Pikachu unleashed a thin bolt of electricity, aiming right for the fresh round of pancakes that Phoebe had just started. In an instant, they were all sizzling and golden brown.

Misty heard gasps all around, even from Phoebe who clearly hadn't been expecting the Attack anymore than any of the rest of them.

"Oh my God! That's a real, live Pikachu!" Lily squealed.

"Well, 'live' is a bit of a stretch," Misty responded when she regained her wits. She looked at her sisters again and saw how their faces had transformed to astonishment and awe. "So? Do you believe me now?"

Daisy gave a little laugh, though it certainly wasn't one of humor or belittlement. "I guess we have no choice, Misty. Wow."

Violet nodded. "No wonder you've always been so good with Frillish."

"Like, totally," Lily added.

Relief didn't even begin to cover what Misty was feeling. The frustration wasn't wiped away, but it was overshadowed by pride and a heady feeling of lightness. Turning points weren't something one usually knew about until they had the clarity of hindsight, but this moment smacked of that kind of change. It was one of the biggest things that she had ever done. And she had done it with her sisters and her friends.

Daisy approached Misty and put an arm around her, not knowing that she stepped right through Ash to do so. Misty grimaced and Ash sidestepped, neither of which Daisy seemed to notice. "Hey, thanks for telling us, little sis. Why don't you go shopping with us so that we can, like, talk about your double life? Sound good?"

After everything, the offer was still a surprise. She'd rarely been offered to go shopping with her sisters before. "You mean it?"

"Of course!" Daisy smiled. "We just need to grab a quick bite and then we're off!"

"And maybe…" Lily began tentatively, "if we work extra hard to walk off the carbs, maybe we could try those magical pancakes?"

A couple of hours later, the girls all had multi-colored bags leaving heavy lines on the creases of their elbows as they paraded through the mall. Misty liked shopping, though she hardly made an activity of it. However, the last few weeks had taught her that she needed some hardier products—at least some better shoes and maybe something more waterproof than a sweater. Wearing bathing suits every day at the Gym had hardly prepared her.

Nevertheless, it was actually quite nice bonding time with her sisters. They were practically cheerleaders anytime she tried on what they called 'real clothes'—not athletic clothes—especially when it was something they'd picked out.

"Oh, shoot!" Violet said suddenly, stopping in her tracks.

"What?" Daisy asked, turning around to look.

"I, like, totally forgot a gift for our manager! It's her birthday literally tomorrow."

"Oh my God, I totally forgot too!" Lily realized. "We gotta at least get a card!"

"I already got her a little something last week," Daisy said. "So how about Misty and I just wait for you by the fountain, m'kay?"

"We won't take long," Lily assured them.

Once Lily and Violet were out of earshot, Daisy said, "Psh, yeah right. They won't be able to help but pick up a couple of bralets or something in the process."

"Hah, yeah, I guess," Misty said half-heartedly. She just didn't know how to poke fun at her sisters the way they did with each other or even the way they did with her. The jokes she and Noir had quipped to each other at her sister's expense had always been much too critical if not worse.

Fortunately for Misty and Daisy, they weren't too far from the fountain. It was just outside the main entrance of the mall and even had a shallow wade pool on one side for kids. Misty put her bags on the ground and sat on the edge of the fountain, skimming her fingers over the surface of the water. A shiver tremored down her spine; it was nearly freezing. No wonder no kids were in the water today. It was nice, though, shocking her body from the slight sweat she'd built up inside.

"It's strange that there's a ghost and a stranger looking at our Pokémon at the Gym right now," Daisy mused as she let the chilly spring wind blow her hair back from her face.

Misty kept brushing her hand over the water. "A stranger who's a member of the Hoenn Elite."

"Yeah, that wasn't really the strange part, little sis."

"Well, Ash knows a lot more about Pokémon than us. He's been around them a lot longer."

"I'm not doubting him," Daisy said. "It's just funny. Has that happened a lot?"

"No!" Misty responded immediately. "I mean, I just haven't usually made friends with ghosts."

They fell to silence, save for the gurgling of the fountain and the caws from the Wingull circling the mall's parking lot.

"Um, Daisy," Misty started as her fingertips became numb in the water, "do you think that we could have ever been close?"

"Hmm?" Daisy asked. "What do you mean?"

Misty shifted to the side, pulling her knees up to her chest so that she could look at the bubbling water instead of her sister's face. "I mean if I hadn't been so distant, would I be friends with you guys like you are with each other?"

"I don't know," Daisy said simply. "I don't think we can know. But, Misty, do you really think that things have been so different just because you can see ghosts? It doesn't seem like that could have changed too much, right?"

Misty wasn't ready to tell her sisters about Noir. She wasn't sure that she could handle them not liking Noir any more than she could handle Noir not liking them. But she would tell them someday, she resolved. Or, at the very least, they'd find out.

"I'm not sure. It really feels like it has."

"Well, if it feels like it has, then yeah, things would probably be different."

"Oh."

Misty wasn't sure if that was the answer she wanted to hear or if she'd prefer hearing that things would be the same. Neither idea really made her feel better.

"But I'm glad that things are the way that they are."

That was enough to make Misty turn away from the water and back to her sister. "What?"

Daisy was also gazing at the fountain, but she had a light smile on her face. "You've done a lot to be proud of, baby sister. You're, like, super different from us but in a lot of good ways, I think. Look at how you battle. Look at how you are with Pokémon. And you can see ghosts? That's, like, super cool. Be proud, little sis."

Misty's mouth had fallen open throughout the speech and when Daisy turned to her with a shining grin, Misty felt her cheeks becoming ruddy. She nervously turned back to the fountain, a couple rogue droplets chilling her face.

"Plus, you're still a baby. It's never too late for us all to be friends. So what have you really missed? Our awful teenage years? Please."

"Whose awful teenage years?" Lily asked as she and Violet bounded over to the fountain.

"Must have been yours," Violet declared, lightly smacking Lily with an armful of bags. "Your hair was so frizzy."

"Rude!"

"But true!"

"Wow, only one new bag each!" Daisy said as she stood up between the warring sisters, trying to distract them. "That must have been, like, major restraint, huh?"

"Bitch," Lily said, kicking at one of Daisy's bags that she knew only contained clothes. "You have just as many bags as us."

"You'll take that back when you find yourself borrowing all my clothes!" Daisy chortled as she picked them up in one scoop and began walking away.

"Where are your sisters?" Ash asked as he, Pikachu, and Phoebe came from the Pokémon enclosures.

"Doing round two of trying on their clothes." Apparently trying on things in the store was totally different from trying them on at home. "Any challengers?"

Misty walked into the kitchen, getting out some bread to make herself a sandwich. Phoebe helped herself to the same.

"Nope," Phoebe replied as she began opening all the drawers, searching for a knife. Misty handed her one from the dishwasher and pulled out some mustard from the fridge. "And thank goodness, because your Pokémon…"

Phoebe and Ash exchanged a look of concern and Misty nearly choked on her water. Even Pikachu was shaking his head. "What about them?"

The three of them could only keep up the charade for a few seconds before they all burst out laughing. "You should have seen your face!" Phoebe crowed.

"Sorry, Mist—that was just too easy!"

"Pika! Pika!"

Misty just narrowed her eyes, got up really close to Ash's face, and tore a bite out of her sandwich, chewing it vigorously in front of him.

"Well, that's just not fair."

"Asshole," Misty mumbled, spewing crumbs in the process.

"All jokes aside, your Pokémon are doing well. Like, really well," Phoebe said. "Your sisters have been doing a great job."

"The Seel pups look like they're gonna grow big and strong—watch out for the runt, though. Jellicent is gonna need some more time to get used to the pool in his new form, and, uh, Pikachu said that he could beat everyone."

Misty ruffled Pikachu's ears affectionately. "He's an Electric Type and this is a Water Gym. Not the fairest of Battles."

"Oh, like, Misty, are you in the middle of a conversation?"

Violet joined the gang in the kitchen, unable to hide her surprise when she saw Misty touching what looked like air and talking to what looked like more air.

"Ash and Phoebe were just filling me in on their assessment of our Pokémon. They think you guys have done a good job."

"Well, tell him thanks!" Violet said as she reached for a sparkling water.

Misty and Phoebe exchanged a glance. "Um, he can hear you."

"Oh, haha, right," Violet said. "Well, I'm just here to tell you that we have a match scheduled for, like, right now, and we thought you might want to do it."

Misty swallowed a large chunk of her sandwich, nearly getting it stuck in her throat. "What? We have a scheduled match and you were content to let us spend all day at the mall without cluing me in?"

Violet was drinking her water, looking barely affected, but Phoebe and Ash both had their eyebrows raised at Misty and she felt a little shame.

"I mean…thanks for telling me. I'll get ready now."

Just then, a bell sounded through the Gym, informing them that someone had come in through the main entrance. Misty threw Violet a wry look.

"Not to worry!" Violet bubbled. "I'll distract them!"

"Well, that's a Pokémon I've never seen before."

Misty and her crew in the bleachers all cocked their heads at what looked like a Pikachu…if a Pikachu were scribbled haphazardly by a child and then magically turned into a Pokémon.

Their regular referee was presiding over the Battle and had just declared the challenger's first Pokémon unable to Battle after a fierce Horn Attack from Misty's Goldeen. Now they just all stood in confusion, save for Ash and Pikachu, who were floating over to get a closer look.

"It's a Mimikyu!" Phoebe cried out, jumping up in excitement and realization. "It's a Ghost Type!"

"Ghost-Fairy," the challenger corrected. "Mimikyu, use Wood Hammer!"

"Goldeen, dive underwater and use Aqua Ring!"

Defeating the challenger's first Pokémon in this two on two Battle hadn't been that much of a task for Misty, practicing against Phoebe—an Elite—had prepared her well for returning to Gym Battles. Even if this kid was pretty good. Good enough that Goldeen was having problems of his own. He was still inexperienced and the first Pokémon had taken a lot out of him. Any direct shot—much less a high-powered Grass move—would faint him immediately. Hopefully, the Aqua Ring would help, at least for a little while.

"Mimikyu, Hone Claws."

The Mimikyu hardly moved, its body rustling strangely. Misty narrowed her eyes. "Okay, Goldeen. Keep at a distance, and use Water Pulse."

"Double Team."

Suddenly, a shifting ring of Mimikyu blurred across the pool, encircling Goldeen, who swam around in jerkily, unsure which way to go to put the most distance in between himself and the real Mimikyu.

"Fight back with Agility!"

Misty was trying to put herself at the greatest defensive advantage, but this Battle wouldn't be able to go on much longer without either of them calling a real Attack.

"Feint Attack, now!"

…Apparently her opponent had been thinking the same thing.

The Mimikyu appeared out of the ring of fakes, tackling straight into Goldeen before rebounding onto its platform again. Goldeen's body disappeared under the pool before floating up again, its eyes closed.

"Goldeen is unable to battle. Both Trainers are down one to one. The Gym Leader, Misty Waterflower, is to call out her next Pokémon," the referee announced.

"Jellicent, go, and use Ominous Wind!"

The Mimikyu turned around and ducked against the move, its body being buffeted roughly as it was pushed towards the edge of the platform.

The audience wasn't either. Phoebe and Misty's sisters all had to cover their faces as the wind blew through the arena.

"Ugh, that's really strong now," Phoebe wheezed out, eyes watering at the repulsive wind.

"I'm so not cleaning the pool after this," Lily said, blinking vigorously as droplets of water began smearing her mascara.

The move finally let up, and the Mimikyu's head lolled back, its yellow body pulling up and revealing a line of black at its base. At the same time, the water in the pool had become murky and soiled. It couldn't be especially healthy for Jellicent to be swimming in anymore. The move hadn't had quite that strong an effect when he had been a Frillish.

The Mimikyu turned back around, looking rather pitiful.

"Use Play Rough!" its Trainer shouted.

Mimikyu's body moved as if independent from its head as it headed for Jellicent. Despite the Pokémon looking like it was about to fall over, it still managed to move swiftly, as though it hadn't been affected much by the previous move. As Misty was caught off-guard, Mimikyu made contact with Jellicent, bashing the large part of its head that now floated above the water. Misty cringed—that was another thing she'd have to get used to with Jellicent's new form. Less ability to dodge.

"Finish it off with Night Shade!" she shouted.

The air shifted strangely around the two Pokémon. Mimikyu began shivering, then cowering as if in fear of the mirages shown in the air before the darkness descended like a cloak over the Pokémon. When the shadows dissipated, both Pokémon were weaker than they'd been a moment ago but still in the game.

"Wood Hammer!" the challenger shouted again.

Misty gasped as Mimikyu was immediately able to pull off a direct hit from where it was now standing on Jellicent's large head. Super effective. In a state of panic, Misty shouted, "Brine!"

The benefits of being close range worked both ways. As Jellicent's health took a hard hit from Mimikyu's Wood Hammer and Mimikyu sustained its recoil damage, Jellicent sunk below the water's surface, sucking Mimikyu into the small whirlpool that formed. A moment later, a blast of water shot out from the pool, sending a soggy Mimikyu back to its platform, unmoving.

The referee ran to the end of the pool, searching Mimikyu for any sign of movement. When there was none after a moment, a flag was raised in Misty's direction with the words: "Mimikyu is unable to battle. The match goes to the Gym Leader, Misty Waterflower!"

Pleasantries were exchanged and soon the challenger left with promises of better luck next time. Misty let out a breath of air when she saw the front door close. "That was a pretty sad Pokémon to beat."

"Are you kidding?" Phoebe asked. "Mimikyu is such a cool Pokémon! And it nearly beat you."

"I was caught off guard," Misty said. "I just need to do some training with Jellicent's new form. Assuming he's not too strong for Gym Battles now."

"Seriously, Misty, Mimikyu is a super cool Ghost Pokémon. We're lucky to have seen one in action. The lore behind that one is amazing."

Misty rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Phoebe, I think we both know that your lore isn't exactly my favorite thing."

"No, listen to this! That Pikachu getup is something that the Pokémon makes to disguise its body. It's like it's always wearing a Halloween costume!"

"So let me get this straight," Ash said as he and Pikachu floated over to join Misty and Phoebe. "That was a Ghost Pokémon dressing up as a Pikachu, who isn't a ghost. And then here we have a Pikachu who isn't a Ghost Pokémon, but is a ghost, but it isn't a disguise, even though people can't see either of their true forms."

Ash's eyes began to cross as he finished his assessment. Pikachu patted him on the head encouragingly.

"Yes, exactly!" Phoebe exclaimed, reaching forward to pet a floating Pikachu. "Isn't that funny?"

"Alright, Misty," Daisy said as the sisters approached the group, "that Ominous Wind move, like, totally destroyed all of our hair."

"Completely unsalvageable," Violet bemoaned.

"I need to do a clarifying mask, like, right now," Lily said. "Still, a good Battle, though!"

"Yeah, Jellicent is totes awesome," Daisy added.

There was a moment of awkward silence as the girls stood facing Misty and Phoebe, both parties unmoving.

"Um, if you need to go shower, you can shower," Misty said.

"Right, we will," Violet said. "Just, we wanted to talk to you first. Daisy?"

Violet threw her gaze to Daisy, who looked less-than-eager to be given the floor. However, she turned to Misty with a forced—but still gorgeous—smile. "Right. Yeah, so, like, Misty, we were chatting a bit while we were trying on our clothes and stuff. And, you know, we were wondering if…well, we know it's unlikely, but we thought maybe it was possible—"

"We want to know if you can talk to mom!" Lily blurted.

Once again, there was silence over the group. But whatever awkwardness had been felt before paled in comparison to Misty's current state. Her heart began beating increasingly fast, sending hot blood to the veins in her neck and her face. Hot water sprung to her eyes as a contrasting chill spread over her face. How had she not thought about this? How had she not considered that this might be the first thing that they'd ask?

"It doesn't really work like that," Phoebe said, jumping to Misty's aid as the silence stretched on. "Not every person becomes a ghost when they die."

"Oh," Lily intoned, her voice falling to a lower place than usual. There was no cheer or banal vivacity that usually kept her pitch buoyant. "Well, okay. Like, that's what we thought."

"Yeah, it's no big deal," Daisy said, trying her hardest to make her words sound honest. "Nothing's changed."

"Right, and, like, speaking of getting changed, my new outfit needs a wash if it's ever going to recover, so, ladies?" Violet gestured to the door. "Let's go shower before there's irreversible damage."

Meanwhile, Misty couldn't keep track of her temperature. Her ears felt hot but her fingertips were numb. The tears behind her eyes might have turned to steam but her breath froze in her throat. And as the tiniest ice particles threatened to crystallize on her vocal cords as rock candy does on a string, she gasped and choked out:

"I can see her."

All eyes were on her as the words crashed their way out and every molecule of water in her went slippery and spilled out in hot tears and cold sweat.

"I've been able to see her since she died. I've spoken with her before, even just before I left. She visited right before I left. I—she's able to see you guys sometimes, so she's been able to do that. She likes knowing how you guys are doing."

She ran out of words quickly. As it was, the ones she'd used were hollow, echoing off of the hard tile of the room. And with only the pull of words that were weightless and worthless, Misty's sisters walked away.

"Wait!" she cried. "I—I'm sorry!"

The three girls paused in a stutter. Barely turning her head, Daisy asked, "Can you talk to her right now?"

Feeling powerless, Misty shook her head and whispered. "No."

The girls left, as Misty knew they would, leaving the thrice repeated echo of the pool doors closing in their wake.

A/N: Well. Misty messed up. Things were going just a bit too smoothly! This isn't my favorite chapter, but I always thought the blueberry thing was amusing. Ah, and I loved Mimikyu, such a great addition to my team in Ultra Sun. Him and Mudsdale were my MVPs.

Not too much to say about this one! Hope you enjoyed!