"Me… me-le-le-le.. Me-le-le-le-leh… Meh-le-leh-mel-leh-leh-leh~"

A muse's calming chorus played as ambience throughout the dining hall of the Pallet House Inn, squarely in the middle of the lunch rush. Salary workers and homemakers alike convened for some patented Ketchum comfort food, absently nodding their heads to the tune of Meloetta's voice. Postures eased, and appetites were calmed, making for a cozy midday reprieve.

It was the new signature special of Pallet; show up during the lunch or dinner rush, and be treated to the angelic stylings of a mythical Pokémon; delivered courtesy of Ash Ketchum.

The Pride of Pallet had surpassed all expectations he'd set when leaving home, and she was yet another example of that prowess; she was proud to be. Hearing his praises elevated her.

Meloetta sat atop one of the booth seats, absently kicking her legs while she sang. She took pride in the calm she spun; Delia often praised the comments that came from her regulars about how they returned to work or home refreshed and in better moods, no matter what stresses the day brought. She often heard kind words from the patrons, firsthand. It did plenty to soothe her fears about being seen. She had a place in the community. And, that only bolstered her heart's eagerness to share her gift.

Her serenade came to a halt, though, when the jingle signaling a new customer rang. She paused, watching a young, redheaded woman push her way through by her shoulder. Wearing a white midriff-cut tube top and jean shorts, she made no effort to hide her toned arms, legs, and abs; all the strength she'd need to shoulder the tremendous burden on her blue straps carried a huge cooler supported on her she showed just a bit of effort carrying with her as she pulled through the door with only mild clumsiness.

"Miss Ketchum~! Yoohoo!" The emerald-eyed young woman hollered, pulling her burden upright with a grunt of effort. This was none other than Misty; Gym Leader of Cerulean City, and as far as gossip and battle analysis went, arguably the strongest Gym Leader in the region.

"Oh, Misty! There you are~!" Delia stepped out of the kitchen.

Misty smiled brightly at the sight of her best friend's mother, skipping over to meet her. "I told you I'd make it! Sorry I'm running late."

"Oh, don't be!" Delia cooed. "How did you even make it over, carrying all of that?" She gestured to the cooler. "Didn't you come all the way from Cerulean?"

"Oh, Gyarados gave me a ride. Came in through Pallet Bay," Misty explained. "So, in the back?"

"As always!" Delia went ahead, holding the door to the kitchen open for her.

Meloetta was teeming with curiosity. She followed Misty on her way to the back, floating through the door before it shut behind her. "Misty! Greetings."

"Huh? Oh hey, Meloetta." Misty turned to the muse, eyes widening. They'd encountered one another several times, during her premiere year in Kanto. Ash had spoken of her as one of his closest friends, so she'd hoped to extend a hand. But, they'd never spoken directly.

Hence Misty nearly dropped her cooler, clumsily shrugging it back into balance. "Did you just talk!?"

"Would you believe it? I just found this out a couple of days ago!" Delia giggled.

"Of course you can. Your Ash's Pokémon." Misty's eyes narrowed in a sort of exhaustion that Meloetta didn't quite understand, but had a feeling she would, some day.

"My condolences," Meloetta said. "I could have said something sooner."

"No, no. It's my fault for expecting anything less." The redhead huffed, placing the cooler down at her feet. "In the freezer, then, Miss K?"

"If you wouldn't mind!" Delia replied.

Misty opened the heavy metal door to the walk-in freezer, where she popped open the cooler. Many, many fish and various sea species were wrapped up to avoid cross contamination; the sort of dull-eyed fish and fauna that scuttled through the seas that decidedly weren't Pokémon.

It was slightly jarring to see, but that was the circle of life. "Would you like my assistance?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. If you could help me sort this out, that'd be great. Cerulean's waters are full of great catches, this time of year. And if it keeps the bills down here for the Ketchums, I'm happy to help!"

"You're both just absolute dolls!" Delia cooed, holding her face in her hands. "I should get back to the lunch rush, so I'll leave it to you two, if you don't mind~!"

Misty dismissively waved a hand. "We've got it."

~Yes, yes. Don't fret! It would be nice for us to have some 'girl talk,' as it were," Meloetta added.

"Right, then! You two have fun catching up!" Delia waved them off, before returning to the front.

Misty began unpacking. She was immediately happy to have assistance, as her breath became visible inside the freezer. She didn't adore the cold. "So. 'Girl talk?'" She cocked a brow. As incredulous as she appeared, her eyes quickly turned to stars. "Oh! You're going to tell me about those Undersea Ruins, aren't you…!? Oh, I've read about them in storybooks. I always thought they sounded so romantic…!"

"Romantic is… certainly a word to assign to it," Meloetta said hesitantly, rubbing her arm. The altar at which she'd been held captive didn't exactly evoke positive memories for her. "I actually wanted to talk to you about Ash. He deems you a trusted friend. So, I deemed you a good authority on all things him."

Misty's face immediately dropped into a sour pout. It wasn't because of the strong smell of fish plaguing her as she placed another batch onto a shelf. "Oh. Naturally, it's about him."

Meloetta frowned, ghosting a hand over her mouth. In the meantime, she began stocking the shelves with a very casual use of Psychic. "Sorry. Are you… jealous, perhaps?"

"What? Jealous?" Misty did a double take, and then laughed. "Hell no. Well, maybe a long, long time ago." And, she did mean long. "It just figures that all of these things happen to him, particularly lately. He caught fuckin' Zekrom. There was that awesome Greninja I still have yet to see, and now there's a mythical Pokémon who's got their eye on him! It's a little ridiculous."

"...Am I truly, truly that obvious?" Meloetta frowned. "My apologies."

"Nope. Uh-uhn." Misty shook her head, clapping a hand on the muse's back, for lack of a shoulder to hold. "If you have a woman's pride, you have to pursue whatever it is you want. Whether it's victory, or that bonehead!" A beat. "And yes, you are that obvious."

"...Well. It's a good thing that concealing my feelings isn't the goal, then. I don't think Ash has caught on just yet. But whether he has or hasn't, I still want to deliver my heart on my terms."

"Ash has wisened up," Misty remarked. "Maybe a little too much, from what I've been hearing lately. That poor bastard Brock nearly had a conniption when he updated us on his time in Kalos." She shook her head. "But all the same, you're better off having a plan."

"You sound like you have experience," Meloetta remarked. "Pardon my prying."

"I do." Misty grunted as she hoisted up a large bag of prawn up onto a shelf. "When we were kids, we were the first opposite sex company that either of us reliably had. Not that opposite means much to either of us, anymore."

"I was about to query," Meloetta replied. "That would leave a few questions about Greninja."

Misty waved a hand. "When you're a kid and you're fed fairy tales about princes and princesses, you just assume. That aside… Ash was my first real friend." Misty's voice dipped in its usual casual, caustic aggression, she noticed. There was a degree of vulnerability in her tone, and in her eyes, staring off at nothing in particular. "Sure, Brock counts, but he was like our caretaker. Ash and I were both stubborn, hurting lil' dweeby tweens lashing out at the world. Sometimes at each other."

"I find I'm learning new things about him every day," Meloetta replied. "I've seen him sullen and somber. But bitter is a facet of him I've not yet made myself familiar with."

"You missed a lot. He's a shit, sometimes, but he's practically a boy scout, compared to when we met. In his defense, I wasn't exactly easy to get along with. But you didn't hear that from me."

"That song will never pass my lips!" Meloetta swore. "What happened, then?"

"We went our separate ways," Misty replied. "I had to head home to take care of my Gym, while he continued traveling as usual. I took it somewhat well, after crying it out for a couple of days. Ash is a stubborn ass, though, so he didn't let it go. Held onto that pain for the next two and a half years."

"My. For a human, that's quite a duration!"

"Too long. From what he's told me, he totally buried the idea of romance in general. I remember Brock telling me over the phone that he began acting super weird about it. Like he memory holed the idea of falling in love at all. He just kept that pain in his head like it was one of the million things he'd shove in his cluttered backpack."

The imagery of a youth jam-packing his feelings into his travel supplies without concern or care was a vivid one, stocking Meloetta's imagination. She juggled the idea in her mind's eye. All the same, she felt concerned for the boy who was no longer the memory being described. "He has been the type to shut away his pain," she agreed. "It makes me fret for him."

"Yeah, well, join the club," Misty shot back. "But, like with everything else in life, he deals with it eventually. We talked it out, last time he traveled around his home region. I'll never forget it. The dumbass said he was more embarrassed than heartbroken!" The redhead laughed boisterously.

Despite her harsh words, Meloetta could see the relief in the Gym Leader's eyes. She'd never wish Ash pain. Their friendship was one forged in fire, seared as one by its intensity.

"Then he went for Dawn, within the month, give or take," she shrugged. "He heals fast."

"He's very resilient," Meloetta remarked. "But I want to be at his side to aid him when he's wounded, if I'm able."

"Well, good friggin' luck." Misty grunted, hoisting the last of her half of seafood into its proper place. "You're going to need it, Meloetta."

"I have faith in my machinations," she replied, smiling. "And I do believe our little girl talk has brought me one step closer to putting them in place. Oh, how could I ever repay you?"

Misty stepped out of the walk-in freezer, holding her index to her lip in thought. "How could you… Oh! I've got it!" She snapped her fingers.

"Oh, do tell!" Meloetta asked giddily, floating out of the frozen stowaway.

"Here's what you're going to do," Misty lectured, wagging a finger at the mythical Pokémon. "My sisters have been bugging me to lend them a hand with one of their water ballets, coming up. I kind of hate those things, but I draw a crowd, so they yank me along for the ride. So when that comes around, you're going to join me in my act. Between my tomboyish beauty, and your voice for the ages, we'll upstage them so badly, they'll never ask me to join them again!'

"My, dearie me…! Freeze of Lacunosa below." Meloetta gasped, electrified by the scandal. She cupped her note hands over her mouth, floating circles around Misty. She couldn't help but grin. "I had no inkling that Ash's oldest companion could be so petty!"

"It'll stop surprising you eventually," Misty shrugged, and held out a hand. "We got a deal?"

Meloetta took her hand, and shook it. "From our lips, to Arceus's ears!"