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All the Purpose in the World

"Happiness is a ghost, it's a shadow. You can't really chase it. It's a by-product, a very pleasant side effect to a life lived well."

–Eric Weiner

"Is it just me, or are my hands starting to look like Corphish claws?"

Lily reared back with a gasp, offended and at risk of spilling nail polish everywhere. "Misty Waterflower, you dare not blaspheme in this house!"

Daisy patted Misty on the shoulder while Violet calmed Lily down. "Blue can bring out the redness in your hands. But not to worry, this is, like, a totally beautiful color and totally screams you."

Misty looked down at the shimmering aqua color on her nails, rotating her hands in the light. It was a pretty color. But it was prettier in the bottle where she didn't have to smell it and where it didn't feel like there was a coating of rubber on the tips of her fingers.

"Finish up, Lily," Daisy ordered, smacking her younger sister's head. "You chose the sheerest color we own, so you have to do another coat."

Lily grumbled, "It's not the sheerest."

"Yeah, we have that shimmery pink—"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, Vi, but still, this one needs four coats to reach complete opacity. It was hardly the right color for a beginner like Misty. We should have gone with the crème aqua. Only two coats."

"Well, I guess it's too late now," Misty said with an awkward grin, trying to dispel the tension in the room. She never would have thought that the one time that she'd be in the middle of her sisters would be regarding nail polish, but apparently it was a very heated topic.

"Top coat, Vi."

Violet handed Lily the topcoat and Lily set Misty's hand on her thigh. Misty raised her eyebrows.

"It needs time to dry between every coat and your fingers have to stay warm, otherwise bubbles form. Like, duh. Plus, your hands are like death, so they really need the help."

It was true, Misty's hands were cursed to always be as cold as the Seel enclosure, and Lily's thigh was quite warm.

The nail painting had been her sister's idea. Something that Misty had always been left out of because they'd always done it without her. Now that it was finally happening, Misty wasn't sure that she'd really been missing anything. Still, it was a sweet gesture and it was kind of fun to see her sisters bicker amongst each other rather than with her.

"Okay, so, like, this is the last coat and then we're done," Lily stated as she began painting on a thin layer of the shiny top coat.

Okay. Misty had to admit, while the nail polish felt funny and smelled even worse, it was really pretty. Each finger looked like it was wearing a genuine gemstone as a little hat. She couldn't stop looking at them and shifting them in the light.

"Great! So now just don't touch anything for the next twenty minutes."

Whoa, now.

"Twenty minutes?!"

"At least."

Her sisters were looking down at her gravely as she sat on the bed, waving her drying fingers in the air like she was trying to take off in flight. "I did not sign on to that."

"It's a delightful excuse not to do any physical labor," Lily commented.

Misty narrowed her eyes. "I know."

"Look, a few minutes won't kill you, Misty," Daisy reasoned. "And there are increasingly dangerous activities you can do as they're drying."

"Dangerous?"

"You know," Lily said. "Writing with a pen or pencil is level one danger, sweeping is level two. Cooking is level three, and feeding the Pokémon is, like, six."

"What scale is this on?" Misty asked.

"I dunno."

Misty shook her head. She couldn't really afford to waste much time not being productive right now. Her conversation that morning with Brock had reminded her that April first was less than a week away and the Gym had to get ready for the new influx of Trainers they'd be getting. At least hanging out with her sisters served some sort of purpose—waiting for nails to dry did not.

"So, uh, Misty, we think that it's time now."

"Time for what?" Misty asked Violet.

All of her sisters' expressions were neutral, like they all knew what Violet was talking about. Suddenly, the claustrophobic feeling from Misty's childhood of being locked out from her sisters' conversations came over her. They'd been talking about her. It was fine, it was fine, but the old feelings were there anyway. They didn't turn off just because Misty wanted them to.

"Time for you to call Noir back," Daisy supplied.

That, Misty had not been expecting.

"What?" she asked. "Right now?"

Lily nodded. "Like, yeah. It's been, like, a super long time."

"I don't know…" Misty started. "I'm not sure I'm not done thinking things thr—"

"You can spend, like, forever thinking," Violet said. "But you won't actually know anything until you, like, open the lines of communication again."

That was…surprisingly valid. She'd been thinking in circles. Her conversation with Phoebe hadn't left her knowing anything more than her conversation with Lily had.

But, at the same time, so long as she didn't face Noir, she could live in a fantasy where their first conversation back went perfectly and they understood each other perfectly and everything was…well, perfect.

"You're obviously still hurting," Daisy—the one Misty was most surprised to be hearing this from—said. "So it's probably time to try something new to process all this."

Misty put her hands on her own thighs to warm them up—they were freezing again—and looked down at them. "Yeah…okay. Okay."

"Really?" Lily asked, surprised.

"Yeah," Misty said, gaining confidence, or at least faking it for herself. "Rip the bandage off."

"That's the spirit!"

Before Misty could change her mind, she silently closed her eyes and pictured the room that they were in. It was her own bedroom, she was sitting on her own bed, Lily beside her, Daisy sprawled on her chair and Violet on the floor with an army of nail polishes. Unusual, but a welcome change. She then pictured Noir was in there with them. She held her breath so tightly that it felt like her sternum was trying to split from her body.

Then she opened her eyes. And Noir was there. Misty's first instinct was to hug her, and she'd be damned if she didn't do it, no matter what baggage now lay between them.

"Careful! Your nails!"

"Hush, Lily."

With a roll of her eyes, Misty made sure that her nails didn't touch anything. Luckily, Noir was a tiny girl, so Misty only really needed her upper arms to reach all around her best friend's middle.

"So this is Noir," Daisy said once Misty and Noir released, Misty with her arms straight out, just to make sure she didn't ruin her nails.

"Yep, this is Noir," Misty said with a grin. It then fell as she turned to look at Noir, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. "I told them everything."

Noir looked guilty as she sank down in the air.

"But, we forgive you, Noir," Daisy said, nervously reaching a finger under Noir's chin to lift her up.

"And more importantly, we apologize too," Violet said. "To you, Misty."

Misty looked at her sisters in shock. "Wait, really?"

Violet nodded. "We thought that we were, like, great sisters, because we raised you after Mom died."

"Kind of putting our lives on hold a little bit so that we could do that and run the Gym," Lily added.

"And we thought that we were totally successful because you, like, turned out so well!"

"But we realize now," Daisy started, looking guiltily at Misty and Noir, "that maybe it was you that did a great job raising yourself. Or maybe Noir did a good job raising you. But either way, we were not the best sisters to you. And for that we're very sorry."

Misty put a hand to her chest—which made Lily wince at the danger of her hair dragging through the tacky nail polish—truly touched. "Guys, that means a lot to me. But you really did do a good job raising me. I learned almost everything I know about Pokémon from you."

Daisy began waving her hands under her eyes. "Like, stop it! You're gonna make me cry!"

"Bay bay."

Misty looked at Noir, who looked like there was some honest to goodness emotion misting behind her fuchsia colored eyes. "Noir's sorry too," Misty interpreted.

"That's good," Daisy said, then turned to face Noir. "What's she sorry for?"

Misty saw that Daisy was being serious. For a moment, it had seemed as though her sisters were going to forgive and forget, which was confusing, but Misty was hardly in a position to question. But this was where Daisy was going to be a hard-ass. And it was earned.

Luckily, Noir seemed to have an answer as she began speaking, and Misty did her best to interpret. But even just a week away made her harder to understand, harder to connect with. Or maybe it wasn't the time; maybe it was the distance.

"She says…something about thinking about being born with her grudge, and that she didn't like living with something that she hadn't chosen. So she's sorry for hating you three without reason and for keeping us apart. And—that's not a funny joke!"

"What?" Lily asked.

Misty sighed. "She says that if she's going to hate you guys, she wants it to be her choice—"

"Bay nette nette!"

"But she hopes she doesn't and she'll respect our relationship regardless."

"Okay," Daisy said. "I can be satisfied with that. Girls?"

"Me too," Lily agreed.

"Yes, I hope that you're proud of your reflection, Noir," Violet added.

Noir nodded earnestly and then turned to Misty, speaking with wide eyes. Misty grinned.

"Of course you can!"

Noir surprised the sisters by putting her arms out and one by one, hugging the Sensational Sisters and murmuring words that could only be interpreted as apology. When they separated, Noir looked at Misty for a moment before disappearing, earning various reactions of surprise from the sisters.

"Where'd she go?"

"Can you still see her, Misty?"

"No, she…vanished."

Misty's sisters looked at her in confusion and Misty felt the need to explain.

"Ghosts can disappear to your eyes, but still be in the same place or the same room, floating around like usual. That's when I can see them. But they can also pass through third plane and use it to teleport anywhere. That's how she was able to come instant—oh!"

Before she was finished explaining, Noir popped up, back where she'd been before, but now she was holding a PokéBall in her tiny ragdoll arms.

"What's that?"

"It's a PokéBall, Dais—"

"I know that, but what's it for?"

"Yeah, Noir, what's it for?" Misty asked, looking at Noir with her head tilted in confusion. She picked it up and felt it. It was cold—empty.

"Bay—banette." Noir pointed at herself and then at the 'Ball.

"Really?"

"She wants you to capture her?" Daisy asked, a soft smile on her lips. "That's really sweet."

But Misty didn't think that was right. She shook her head, about to say so, but Noir did it first. She had the same head shake, but then pointed at Daisy.

"You want me to catch you?" Daisy asked in disbelief.

Noir gave a little shrug and gestured at Violet, then Lily.

"I guess she wants any of you to capture her," Misty said, hardly able to believe the words even as they came out.

"Really?" Lily asked. "This seems like a big decision."

"It doesn't have to be," Violet said, her eyes wide with realization. "If we don't like it, we can always release her. And that decision includes Noir, of course."

"Very true," Daisy agreed. "So which one of us should, like, do the honors?"

The three girls stared at each other for a moment before Lily said, "I think it's gotta be you, Daisy. Do you agree, Misty?"

It took Lily asking for Misty to even realize that hers was an opinion that should be considered. Ultimately, she didn't care—she didn't think it would make much of a difference which sister had technical ownership of the 'Ball—but it was the asking that mattered. She turned to Noir with a smile as if to say, "See?"

"I agree," Misty said with a smile. "Do you, Noir?"

Noir matched her gaze with piercing eyes and then she floated the PokéBall over to Daisy. Daisy, who, as far as Misty knew, hadn't caught a new Pokémon in years, looked at the 'Ball with a small amount of trepidation. Then she glanced at Noir and nodded. "Alright, here goes."

She pressed the center button without another thought, Noir turned red and was sucked up into the 'Ball with little fanfare. It didn't even wiggle before the button blinked on and off with a satisfying click.

Misty's eyes swept up to her sisters, eyes wide with excitement and anticipation, like they were all wondering if that had really just happened. Then, like it was the most natural thing in the world, Daisy tossed the 'Ball up into the air before catching it again and pressing the center button. "Noir, go!"

Noir came out of the 'Ball and glanced between Misty and her sisters, her expression vague.

"Well, do you feel domesticated yet?" Misty asked with a chuckle.

Noir shrugged before launching herself into Misty's arms and the two of them collapsed into laughter, Misty's sisters quickly joining in.

Daisy wiped a tear of mirth away before saying, "Whoever thinks that Pokémon aren't meant to be friends has rocks in their head."

Then, a voice through the door: "Ugh, I couldn't have said it any better, Daisy! Come on, let me in—I'm dying!"

Misty couldn't be wholly surprised when Phoebe came tumbling in the room, Ash and Pikachu sheepishly following her. They'd probably eavesdropped on the whole thing.

"Look at this!" Phoebe declared. "This scene is just so beautiful that I had to see it."

"You could have been here," Misty said with a shrug. "You didn't have to creep on the other side of the door."

"Nah, nah," Phoebe said. "This was something going on between the three of you. Well, the five of you. Three parties. Better to keep it intimate."

Misty knew that she didn't understand it quite the way that Phoebe did—she wouldn't have really cared if Phoebe had been there or not—but she got where she was coming from. She appreciated the thought.

Then Phoebe turned to Noir, pointing a finger and looking serious. "Alrighty, girlfriend. I'm not here with the 'If you hurt her, I'll kill you' speech, but you have to know that we're aware of your bad habits and we're looking for backsliding. This isn't an instant failure kind of thing, but if things can't be addressed with open communication, then something's gonna have to give here. Understand?"

Noir nodded firmly and Misty smiled, already seeing the change. During their time in Cinnabar, Noir had never shown fondness towards Phoebe—she'd avoided Phoebe most of the time she was around. But she was listening to Phoebe, not to mention the gesture of allowing Daisy to catch her.

Which was more than a gesture, really. Misty didn't quite understand it—nobody did—but PokéBalls usually changed something about a Pokémon's personality. A Pokémon that was wild one moment went through an instant domestication upon being caught. Their whole essence wouldn't change, and Pokémon and Trainer would still have to put a lot of work into learning to communicate and work well together, but nine times out of ten, a Pokémon would have at least that fundamental change.

It was different for Noir, because Noir had already had an element of domestication before. But, nevertheless, now that bond that had been forged via the PokéBall had been created with Daisy. They had something now, something ineffable. And Noir had known that when she'd offered for one of Misty's sisters to be the one to catch her.

"Okay, well, now that that's done, shall we talk about the other thing?" Violet asked, not only looking at Daisy and Lily, but also at Phoebe. Misty narrowed her eyes.

"What thing?"

"Misty, we think you should go to Johto," Daisy said.

"What?" Misty asked, looking between Phoebe and her sisters again. "How do you know about that?"

"It wasn't Phoebe," Daisy said, seeing Misty's eye line. "Brock called us during your Battle."

"Yeah, and, like, we thought he was just being pervy, but then he, like, fought through the perviness and told us about his idea and how you rejected it," Lily added.

"And then while you and Ash were still in the arena, all five of us got to talking about it, and we think it's a good idea," Phoebe explained.

"But we already talked about this, Phoebe," Misty said. "I've been learning a lot from you, so why would I need another teacher right now?"

"Because I have to leave before April first, Misty," Phoebe said. "League stuff. Elites and Leaders in Hoenn have to do ceremonial stuff when the new season starts."

"What?" Misty asked. "Why didn't you tell me that before?"

Phoebe shrugged. "It never mattered? We've always just been playing things by ear."

"But April first is in a matter of days!" Misty continued. "And, you know, that's exactly why I can't leave. We have so much to do before then! We have to get the Gym ready and probably make more badges and then there'll be the matter of Trainers—"

"All things that we can do, Misty," Daisy said calmly, putting a hand on Misty's shoulder. "Most Gyms only have one Leader. Ours has four. Even without you we can divide the work."

"But—" Misty started, casting about, "But—"

"Are you saying 'but' because you think there's a reason you shouldn't go, or because you don't wanna go?"

The question came from Ash, who, of course, had only drawn the attention of her, Phoebe, and Pikachu. But he was looking at her seriously, and Misty knew he'd been listening attentively to the rest of the conversation.

Misty was quiet for a second, trying to find the truth beyond her impulses. It felt irresponsible to go. It felt like it might be unnecessary. Or maybe that was a fear? A fear that she would go and it would be unnecessary or that Morty wouldn't be as helpful as Phoebe had been. Most of what Phoebe had been teaching her had been about their Connections, not Ghost Pokémon. And that felt important.

But Ghost Pokémon were important too. Phoebe sharing Banette's lore was…well, it had been life changing. Hopefully, now, in a good way.

And, truthfully, she hadn't planned on her return to Cerulean being the end of her journey. But now that she was back, was she beginning to feel too settled to leave again? Was she just the same person who had needed anger and resentment to fuel finally doing something for herself? Could she leave without those things?

"I think I was looking for a reason not to go," Misty said, finally answering Ash's question. "And I wasn't looking for any reasons why going might be the right thing."

"And?" Phoebe prompted.

"And…" Misty thought for a moment longer. There wasn't a reason to stay in Cerulean. She and her sisters could work on their relationship over the phone. And part of that would be trusting them to be competent Gym Leaders, even without her. Misty and Noir could work on their relationship anywhere. She'd be able to see Brock. She could talk to a new Ghost specialist. "And I'm thinking that it's time we take another boat trip, Phoebe."

"Woo!" Phoebe cheered. "Woo!"

"Wow, you'd think this was your life we were talking about," Misty said dryly.

"I don't care!" Phoebe said. "I love the rationale and the impulsivity! That's a perfect marriage. Ugh, this will be so good for you. I can feel it in my bones."

"Okay, well, before we're all, like, feeling each other's bones," Violet started, "don't we have to, like, call Morty? And Brock?"

Misty, as well as everyone else, looked at her personal phone. Then, they all looked at her.

"Alright, everybody out!"

Phoebe and Misty's sisters all shuffled out of the room, Violet and Daisy cradling many bottles of nail polish in their arms as they did so. Before Phoebe closed the door, Lily shouted, "Don't forget about your nails!"

Only Ash and Pikachu remained with Misty in her room. Then Ash turned to Misty and said, "Wow, that was…yep, I'm off."

He and Pikachu were just about to fly through the door when Misty said nonchalantly, "Eh, you can stay? I mean, you won't be as nosy as those four. It's not like you can talk to him."

"Oh, okay," Ash said, floating back. "Whatever you want."

"That is," Misty said, hesitantly backtracking, "you don't have to stay either. It's up to you. I just…I'm not forcing you out."

Ash smiled a bit and nodded. "Okay. I'll hang back here and you can pretend I'm here or not here as you want."

Misty laughed. "Perfect."

Then Misty sat in front of her phone and dialed the operator just like she had when she'd called Officer Jenny the day before. This time, she asked to be connected to the Ecruteak Gym in Johto. As the operator connected the call and the phone began to ring, Misty realized suddenly that she had no idea what to say. No idea what her pitch would be. She didn't even have a real idea of how open Morty was to this. Had he been humoring Brock, thinking that his 'friend' would never follow up? Or was he already expecting her?

Misty's heart stuttered as her video screen came to life. To her relief, a young girl appeared on the screen, obviously not Morty. "Thank you for calling the Ecruteak Gym. How can I help you?"

"Hello, this is Misty Waterflower of the Cerulean Gym. May I please speak to Morty?"

A whole other set of fears set in as Misty let her name dropping do its work and send the young girl hunting for her Leader. If he was open to her intruding upon his Gym, what exactly would she ask of him? Was this something he did often? He'd taught a seminar at Brock's school, so maybe he'd have an idea of what to teach her. Maybe he'd be able to identify what she needed to learn before even she did. But that was a big maybe. A big ask. God, what was she doing?

"Misty Waterflower?"

Misty hadn't even noticed Morty getting comfortable on the other side of the screen. His image suddenly became familiar to her. She remembered the headband that he always wore, the ill-fitting clothes he was swallowed by. Her sisters would have sat him down for an intervention in a moment.

"Morty!" Misty squeaked out. "Hi…I…I'm sure you don't know why I'm calling. But I have a friend attending Violet University—"

"Yes, your friend Brock from the Pewter City Gym. I remember. I just wasn't sure that you would call."

Misty's heart settled a little bit. That made things easier. "That's right. Well…Brock said you would be willing to teach me about Ghost Pokémon. That I could come to Johto for a little bit and that maybe you could mentor me."

"Definitely," Morty said. "I'd be happy to. Should I be expecting you soon?"

Misty's eyes widened. "Um, yes! It'll take me a couple days to get there, but, if it's no trouble, I'd like to come by as soon as possible."

"No trouble at all," Morty said genially. "I'll have a room set up. Will that be all?"

"Yes," Misty said. "I look forward to meeting you in person."

"Likewise," Morty said with a nod. "Goodbye."

The call was over as swiftly and easily as that. Misty slumped with relief, pushing her hair back and turning her head to look at Ash. "Well, that wasn't bad!"

"Not at all!" Ash agreed cheerily. "It looks like you're basically ready."

A noisy breath of air escaped Misty's lips. "Hardly. Look, I trust my sisters to do what needs to be done here, but that doesn't mean that I'm not going to set them up for success. It's the least I can do."

"You mean you wanna do a little bit more than last time when you ran out on them."

"…Yes."

Ash smiled—smirked, almost—and Misty was unsettled. "I think you're nicer than you want to be."

"What?" Misty snapped. "First of all, what does that mean? Secondly, where did that come from? Weren't we just talking about a time when I wasn't nice?"

Ash floated a little higher in the air, his smirk only growing. "Just something I was thinking about," he said, seeming to revel in being out of reach.

"I—" Misty stopped abruptly, realizing it wasn't worth the fight to try to figure out what was in his head if he didn't want to share. So she settled back down and grumbled, "You. I've gotta call Brock now so you…you don't bother me."

Ash got close again, pouting. "But we're allowed to bother you when you're talking to Brock."

"Not today you're not!"

And that was where she left it, turning back around to dial Brock's new Johtan number. She might have kicked Ash out like she had the others, but she'd just have a quick talk with Brock, sorting out when they could meet up and all that, make a few travel preparations, and then she'd be rejoining everyone else downstairs to get the Gym in order before she and Phoebe left much as they'd arrived. Hastily, but with all the purpose in the world.

A/N: Y'all, the amount of self control it took to have Phoebe say "feel it in my bones" instead of "feel it in my jellies." I am so, so strong.

Separately, look. If you were shocked that Daisy is the one who catches Noir, you could not be more shocked than me XD. I was reading that passage like what? WHAT? I have no memory of writing that. And that is such a departure from what I'd assumed-obviously, that Misty would be the one to catch Noir-that I'm kind of like, shoot, do I need to read ahead the rest of this fic before I post this chapter? And make sure I didn't write anything super contradictory to this? But, tbh, I don't think it matters? Ownership is talked about in canon in terms of trading Pokemon, but ownership always seemed nebulous between Misty and her sisters, and it never really mattered who really owned the Pokemon. So? I don't think anything changes if Daisy is the one who owns Noir, except for the symbolic nature of it within this chap. So! We're keeping it! Idk!