I sat and ate my lunch in sullen silence. My lunch consisted of a fruit salad and some of Mallow's Pinap juice from her restaurant. It was really yummy, and I was beginning to get full. I stopped eating for the moment, and looked over at my ghostly sweethearts.

Haunter and Froslass were eating with everyone else's Pokemon, and everyone looked happy. I then looked over at Haunter, and watched him happily eat his berries. Now that I actually took the moment to get a good look at him; He definitely hit a growth spurt. Wow.. I thought. He was almost as big as my dad.

"Jeez Emethyst, that Haunter of yours is going to be a monster Gengar." Kiawe said, as he looked over at Haunter.

Rotom Dex then went over and took a picture of Haunter eating. "Wow! Nurse Joy wasn't kidding!" He exclaimed. "Haunter is exactly five foot seven, and the largest Haunter I have on file is five foot three!" He exclaimed.

I felt the blood run to my cheeks. I was very flattered, and I felt I must have been doing something right. But, it was then that I realized something. I remembered my promise that I wouldn't make Haunter evolve unless he wanted to. As much as it was my dream to have a Gengar, I still cared about what Haunter wanted to do, and I couldn't let my own selfishness get in the way of that.

"It is exciting," I began. "But, I only want Haunter to evolve if he wants to." I said. I then looked down at my food, and picked at it a bit.

"What do you mean?" Kiawe asked.

I sighed, as I remembered my promise the day I caught Gastly. "Gastly was my very first Pokemon," I began. "When I caught him, I always vowed that I would never make him evolve for my own selfish reasons. It surprised me enough when he evolved into Haunter." I explained, as I remembered that night when he battled the other Haunter. My heart dropped when I saw him evolve.

"That's so sweet!" Mallow exclaimed.

"Aww!" Lana exclaimed.

Kiawe then began to cry. "That was so beautiful!!" He exclaimed. "The love between you and Haunter burns hotter than Inferno Overdrive!!" I tried my hardest not to laugh at him, but wow. He didn't strike me as the type to cry.

I smiled lightly. "I just want to make sure this is what Haunter wants as well, as exciting as it is." I said. "That's all that matters to me."

My dad, who was sitting next me; hugged me. "I'm so proud of you, Emethyst." He said. "Haunter is lucky to have someone like you who cares about him so much."

I hugged my dad back. "Thanks, Dad." I said.

"I know how you feel though," Ash chimed in. "I've had many chances to evolve Pikachu, but I always ask him what he wants first." Pikachu then jumped on Ash's shoulder. "Pika pika!" He said happily.

I finished the rest of my salad and Pinap juice. "Thank you so much everyone for the support. It means so much to me." I said, as I looked around at everyone. No one had showed this much support since my mom died. It felt genuine, and I was happy.

Haunter then finished his berries, and floated over to the group, including me. I looked over at him, and scratched the middle of his head. "Oh Haunter.." I said.

Lillie then walked over to us. "I would love to work on touching Haunter." She said, as she looked at him. I looked over at her, and had to double take what she said.

"Um, are you sure that's a good idea, Lillie?" I asked, as I stood up. Froslass was a start, but Haunter is a bit wild. That would definitely take time without a doubt.

Lillie nodded and smiled. "Yes," she said. "I want to try. I can touch Froslass.. how would it be any different?" She said.

I smiled at her. "Wow. Well, I say go for it!" I exclaimed happily.

"You can do it, Lillie!" Mallow cheered.

Lillie put her hand out slowly to touch Haunter, and Haunter soon noticed this, as he turned his attention to her. He had a big smile on his face. Lillie began to hesitate the closer her hand got. Haunter then made one of his weird faces, which caused Lillie to jump back in fear.

My palm flew to my forehead. "Haunter.." I groaned. "Can't you stay serious for more than one second?!" I exclaimed. I then turned over to Lillie, who was still visibly shaken. "Sorry, Lillie." I said.

Lillie then snapped out of her scare. "Oh, no worries I'm fine." She said, her cheeks turning pink. "He just startled me is all." She said, allowing a smile.

"That was more than just a startle." Kiawe mumbled.

My dad then approached Lillie. "Still Lillie, that was a good start. Just keep trying." He smiled. "You'll be able to touch him in no time, just like you were with Snowy." He said.

I then gave Haunter a good head scratch. "That's if Haunter can last more than one second without getting weird." I giggled.

It was then that Olivia had walked into the cafe area, with Lycanroc beside her. I had just realized that she was gone again. Oh boy, what now? I thought.

"How was lunchtime everyone?" Olivia asked, as she approached us.

"Great!" Everyone, including myself exclaimed.

"That's good." Olivia said, then smiled bashfully. "I'm so sorry all, but there's been a slight change of plans. I know we were supposed to have the lesson here, but because of the dance being sooner than anticipated, I've been asked to come to Poni Island early so we can get everything ready." She said bashfully. "How would you all like to come and help me?" She asked.

"That sounds like fun!" Lillie exclaimed.

"I'm in!" Ash called out.

"Let's do it!" Lana exclaimed.

My heart sank at the sound of this. How would I be able to train in time to possibly see my mother now? For the next three days, that's all I was going to do. With such short notice, how can I focus now?

My eyes then wandered over to Mallow, who now had a really sad look on her face. I felt my eyebrow raise slightly as I noticed this.

"Sounds good to us." Sophecles then said.

Olivia then smiled brightly. "Alright all, go ahead and grab your things, and it's off to Poni Island we go!" She exclaimed.

The class then broke up and went back to the rooms to retrieve their things. Luckily, I still had my backpack on my back, and never unpacked anything so I didn't have to worry about going back to the room.

It was then that I looked out the window, and saw Mallow sitting on the bench outside, looking like she was crying. It was then that I saw Lana emerge and sit next to her. I was in a bit of a nosey mood, so I took a step outside just far away enough to where they couldn't notice me.

"Your mom..." Lana began. "Would you like to see her again?" She asked.

Mallow looked down at the ground. "No, I don't." Mallow said, stressfully.

It was then that Lana looked over at Mallow unbelievably. "But.. why?" She asked.

Mallow sighed, tears welling in her eyes. "When she got sick, she always apologized. It made me upset that she always would. I didn't understand why she always did. But now that I'm older, I kind of understand now." Mallow sobbed, tears falling from her eyes.

It was then that I understood why Mallow said she wasn't going to go to the dance, or why she didn't like talking about it. It was then that I realized we had something in common. My heart ached for her, for I knew what she was going through. Part of me wanted to step up and comfort her, but then that would have told her that I was spying.

"The last words I said to her were... I hate you." Mallow said, crying her eyes out.

At that moment, I felt my heart drop into my stomach. That story sounded familiar. It was then that I looked down at my phone in my pocket, and I was instantly reminded of that day... That day that would be forever scarred into my mind. Tears welled in my eyes. Not only because of the memories I had, but because of Mallow as well.

"I just can't... After all the things I said... I can't face her." Mallow sobbed. Lana looked down at her sadly, as she hugged her tight.

Lana then sighed. "Mallow.. please cheer up. Come on, let's go back to the room and get our things. I'll be there every step of the way for you." She said, as she continued hugging Mallow.

"I'm just scared, Lana." Mallow sobbed. Lana continued hugging her tight, and then she stood up from the bench and helped Mallow up by grabbing her hand.

Mallow then stopped crying, and stood up from the bench. It was then that I rushed back into the Pokemon Center, before I could be seen. I hurried back to the room, and made it look like I was grabbing something.

It was then that Mallow had entered the room alone, I assumed to get her bag. I looked up at her, and pretended to be surprised.

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked her. I knew she wasn't, but I played it off the best I could.

"Y-yeah." Mallow stammered, as she put a fake smile on her face. She looked around, and noticed we were the only two in the room I had guessed.

It was then that I looked at her, and I looked down at my phone. I then looked back up at her. It was then that I decided to make a gut wrenching decision. I then walked over to the couch, and sat down.

"Will you come sit next to me? I want to show you something." I said, as I motioned for Mallow to sit by me.

Mallow then raised her eyebrow. "Uh, sure.." she said hesitantly, as she sat next to me.

I turned to the side to face her. "Listen... I uh.." I stammered. I really hoped she wouldn't get mad at me for overhearing. "I overheard you talking to Lana, and I couldn't help but listen to your story. I'm really sorry you had to go through that." I said.

I waited for her to go off on me, but instead, Mallow looked at me, sadly. "Eh. Not much I can really do about it." She said, blankly.

I then pulled my phone out of my pocket, and prepared myself for what I was about to do. "Listen, I actually know what it's like to lose your mom." I said, as I unlocked my phone.

This caught Mallow's attention more, as she now looked me right in the eye. "What?" She asked.

I nodded. "I do. You see," I began. I went to my text messages, and brought up my text log with my mom. "My mom told me she was going to be home late from work. I got angry at her because she had been working alot and would come home late almost every night. She promised she would be home early on this particular day, and I lost it. I told her I was beginning to hate her." I said, tears welling in my eyes.

I took my phone screen, and showed the messages to Mallow. "You're the first person I've ever showed these to." I said, as she looked. "Not even my dad has seen these." I said, which was true. "You can scroll if you'd like." I said. I felt like I was showing a big part of myself to someone. But I knew it was doing it for good reasons.

Mallow scrolled through, and finished reading them. "Oh my gosh Emethyst, I'm so sorry. I had no idea." She said, as she looked at me.

I nodded sadly. "Yeah.. it's the reason why I ended up moving here. My mom and dad split up when I was really young, and my mom moved her and I to Kanto." I explained. "I never told anyone I was here because my mom passed away. I didn't want anyone feeling sorry for me." I said. "I wanted to live as normal of a life as possible. When I heard your story, I just felt like I needed to share." I said.

Mallow then looked at me, and allowed a small smile. "Wow. We have more in common than I thought." She said.

I nodded, and allowed a small smile myself. "Yeah.. I just thought maybe sharing my story would maybe help you a bit." I said. "Yours reminded me alot of mine."

There was then a knock on the door. "Come in!" I called out.

My dad's familiar lab coated figure opened the door. "Are you two about ready? We'll be leaving here for Poni Island shortly." He said.

"We'll be there in a few minutes." I said.

My dad sighed. "Okay." He said, and closed the door behind him.

I then turned my attention back to Mallow. "So yeah." I said.

Mallow then smiled at me. "You know what, thanks Emethyst." She said, as she stood up. "I really needed that talk." She said, smiling at me.

"Anytime." I said. "Hey, if you ever need anything, Lana isn't the only person here for you." I said, as I winked at her.

Mallow then froze in space the moment I winked. She then allowed a small smile. "Thank you so much, Emethyst." She said, then hugged me. I hugged her back, for she really needed it.

"Anytime." I said. "Now let's go." I said to her, as I watched her run to the bedroom and grab her bag.