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When fern delaney invited Yumi to a poolside catch-up session, there was absolutely no way she was going to miss out on it. She showed up in a daring pink swimsuit and oversized floppy hat, her things carted behind her by henchmen.[break][break]

And she'd brought all the goods: two enormous picnic baskets full of delectable finger foods, sliced fruits, and bite-sized desserts; a cooler with two large bottles of wine; and a bartender she'd hired to mix cocktails, just in case.[break][break]

Yumi lay back on a pool chair with a strawberry daiquiri in hand. "Hmm, well…"[break][break]

She launched into several sordid tales, each one more salacious than the last. None of them were about higher-ranking Rocket operatives, however; she knew better than to spread rumors of the upper brass.[break][break]

By the end of the conversation, she had finished her daiquiri and was laughing fit to burst.[break][break]

"What about you? Anything fun happening lately I need to know about?" she asked as her Popplio hopped into her lap. Her fingers stroked the sea lion's fur.

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[attr="class","text"]Yumi certainly knew how to treat her friends well. Fern was practically basking in all of the foods and drinks. Suddenly, their two person pool party had become far more decadent. Which they were completely okay with, honestly. It turned the day into a real vacation.[break][break]
Fern was practically on the edge of their seat, sipping drinks and popping bits of mango into their mouth as Yumi caught them up to speed. Occasionally injecting their commentary on each story until they were both in stitches.[break][break]
“Mmmm, work is so boring,” they complained. Though that wasn’t necessarily true. Plenty of juicy things happened among the upper ranks. The simple problem was the layer of secrecy that everything was conducted with.[break][break]
Though, they supposed, perhaps they could at least let Yumi in on one thing.[break][break]
“Actually,” they shifted toward her in their chair, sitting up slightly as they paused to take a slip of their second, maybe third, sort of oversized pina colada. (Okay, maybe their need to share something was fueled by the heat and the steady flow of alcohol. Bless Yumi’s bountiful and generous provisions. Bless them.)[break][break]
“Do you want to know a secret? Like, this is a big one. At least for me.”[break][break]
There was a slight, slight shift in the air. A static seeping into the humidity that told Fern that arrival was impending. So really, like, did It matter if they spilled this one? The little pigeon had finally figured out it had been ditched for the day.[break][break]
It was totally gonna make itself known anyway.

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Yumi sat up a little straighter when Fern teased her with a secret, though with the alcohol in her bloodstream, she overshot and leaned hard against the table set up for their poolside picnic. Suimei yipped in surprise, wriggling in her arms.[break][break]

"Of course I do!" Yumi exclaimed, eyes gleaming over a curved grin. "Is it about work or something personal? Oh—wait, don't tell me. Did Jayden propose?"[break][break]

Not that she could see the stony-faced jayden cross doing such a thing, but she didn't know the man. According to Fern, he had a private soft side.[break][break]

An electric current coursed through the air, slight but noticeable in the way the hair on Yumi's arms started to stand on end.

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[attr="class","text"] Fern leaned forward further still. Liable to tip himself into the pool if he wasn’t more careful. “Well. Both, sort of. It happened at work, but it’s more about meee–” His rambling was temporarily derailed with the distraction.[break][break]

His face fell in an expression of pronounced, forlorn woe. His chin drooped into his free hand. “No, I wish,” he lamented, turning big, mopey eyes on his friend. “I don’t know how much you’ve been briefed about that mission that got us stuck in that alternate reality, but would you believe– we were married practically the whole time!”[break][break]

With a dramatic huff he fell back in his pool chair, a hand pressed to his forehead in lamentation. “And now he doesn’t even remember.” But Fern couldn’t just forget too, oh no. He had to be the keeper of that memory, apparently.[break][break]

His bottom lip poked out morosely.[break][break]

A slight darkening of the sky above him cued him in, though, and just like that–his drunken whining was forgotten. “But no! That’s not it!” Fern lurched upward as an orange and black blur zoomed down from the sky. Arms outstretched in presentation.[break][break]

“Yumi! Meeeeeeet Tapuuuu Kokooooo!” What was he? The Price is Right host, or something?

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Yumi's eyes widened at Fern's first of two reveals. "I'd read the reports, but it's so hard to believe. I only believe it because of Hitoshi. He doesn't lie to me," she said. "You and Admin Cross were actually married?"[break][break]

But it was obvious they weren't in the present timeline. Yumi's expression changed then, adopting a note of offense.[break][break]

"I can't believe I missed your wedding!" She shot Fern a sharp look, though her tipsiness softened its edge. "You better invite me to this next one! Your real one!"[break][break]

The darkening sky and her friend's sudden exclamation diverted her attention away from her lamentation. She gasped, eyes even wider, as a Pokémon descended upon their pool party. Never before had she seen anything like it, but the name…[break][break]

"Tapu Koko? Isn't that a Legendary Pokémon?" she exclaimed, incredulous gaze darting to Fern. Then understanding dawned on her. "Wait—Fern? Are you an Avatar?!"

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[attr="class","text"] “We were,” they sighed, wistfully so. “It’s all terribly surreal. Time really hasn’t moved here at all. I’d think it was a hallucination if so many people hadn’t reported on it.”[break][break]
Their eyes went comically wide at her offense, and the back of their hand pressed against their forehead. “I know, I know. It was tragic.” Despite their joy at the time, it was true. There had been something a bit bittersweet at people such as Yumi and Marza Volchitsa not being present on that day. Their mouth twisted into a grin again. “You’ll be the first on my invite list. The very top.”[break][break]
They didn’t know how to convey the fact that it had still felt real, even if in a dream world. That they’d carried back the physical reminder of it in two rings dangling from a chain on their neck. But the arrival of their more mercurial half soon became a welcome distraction.[break][break]
Fern lifted a finger to their lips, one eye closing in a mischievous wink as they mimed the impression of shhh, it’s a secret to her. “Maaaaaybe,” they drawled, eyes darting from her to the deity and back to gauge her reaction.[break][break]
Tapu Koko popped up out of the water, eyes blinking curiously at Yumi, this person who Fern had decided to share with. Not that Fern would’ve had much choice in the matter—it had decided to show up as it had pleased. Fern scooted over to the edge of the pool, stooping down so that they could plop down and stick their feet in the water.[break][break]
“It’s not been disclosed fully yet,” they explained, hands bracing the cement edge as they looked back over their shoulder at their friend. “I came across it on an expedition. Or, really, it found me and followed me out.”[break][break]
Still tipsy, they kicked a little splash of water at Tapu Koko with their toes. Offended by this, one of its pinsirs came up and then smacked down on the water to send a greater splash at Fern.

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Yumi's eyes widened at Fern's confirmation. Of all the news they could have shared with her, this one was most expected. A mixture of pride and envy flashed through her, but she was sober enough to hide it behind a courteous smile as she moved to Fern's side of their picnic table.[break][break]

"It's a pleasure to meet you," she told Tapu Koko. "I'm Yumi, Fern's friend."[break][break]

She turned back to Fern, her smile taking on an edge of controversy.[break][break]

"So what are your powers? You have some too, right? I heard every Avatar has unique ones."

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[attr="class","text"] If this news was unexpected to Yumi, it was to Fern as well. Separated from Tapu Koko throughout the duration of their time in the dreamlike Galar, and with the connection so young at that, the deity had faded from their mind in a fabricated severance throughout that twenty years.[break][break]
The return of the bond upon reawakening in Hoenn?[break][break]
Shocking, to say the least. Literally and figuratively.[break][break]
Tapu Koko observed Yumi curiously, first at a distance and then up close as it zipped up to her. It shakes its head, the plumage atop it ruffling lightly. Like it was preening for her in an attempt to look its best for the elegant woman.[break][break]
Fern, however, considered her question. “I don’t really have a good grasp on them,” they admitted. “But they’re all electricity based—I know that much.”

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Electricity-based powers made sense, considering the legends surrounding Tapu Koko's typing and abilities. "I want to see!" Yumi exclaimed, excitement stealing into her expression as she grinned at Fern.[break][break]

And then she paused, her dark eyes flickering to the pool. Her friend dangled one leg carelessly over the cement edge of it, their foot submerged in the clear, blue water.[break][break]

"After the picnic," Yumi decided, scooting back to her side of the table. "When we're all dry and a safe distance from any water."[break][break]

She uncorked a bottle of champagne, then poured it into three glasses: one for her, one for Fern, and one for Tapu Koko.[break][break]

"Come and eat with us!" she said to the Legendary Pokémon, gesturing with a hand while stretching out the glass intended for her newest guest. "We have plenty of food."

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