"Okay everyone, we need all of this equipment unloaded. Don't drop that you dunces!" Faba barked. "That's worth more than what both of you make in a year!"
"Faba, calm down, we're here to make sure our suspicions are incorrect." Wicke said calmly.
"Or that they are correct." Professor Burnett said. "In which case, this gives us a whole new insight into Ultra Dimensions."
"Remember, we are here as guests, be polite even though we know them." Lusamine said.
"Thanks again for letting us tag along." Professor Kukui said.
"Of course, this is an Aether Foundation job, the Ultra Guardian team is always welcome for these." Lusamine said with a smile.
At the Cerise Lab
"Where are you three going?" Eva asked.
Ash, Chloe, and Serena, had towels, umbrellas, and a cooler in hand, right at the front door.
"We were going to go to the beach, did you want to come?" Ash said.
"We have guests coming, specifically for you and Serena." Eva said, looking at her tablet.
"Us, who'd be visiting us?" Ash asked.
"For now I'd recommend wearing actual clothes rather than a coverup and a swimsuit." Chrysa said, "This might be a long day."
Ash came back to the main lab in a pair of high waisted jean shorts, and a white t shirt bunched off to the side at his waist.
Pulling his hair out from his shirt, Ash turned to look at the lab staff.
"So who exactly is visiting us?" Ash asked. "And why didn't we know about it until now?"
"We found out last night, while you two were out, and as for who it is…". Professor Cerise began.
"Alola Ash!" Mallow said excitedly.
"Mallow? What are you doing here?!" Ash said surprised.
"We're all here, to see what you found out in Ultra Space." Mallow said. "Come on, everyone else is outside." She said grabbing his hand.
"Wait what?!" Ash said confused, as he was dragged out of the lab, to see a mini lab being set up.
"Alola!" Ash's classmates called out seeing him.
"Ash! Bzzzrt!" Rotom dex exclaimed flying up to him. "I was told you had changed, but this is amazing! It's like you've evolved into a whole new you!" Rotom said taking photos.
"Good to see you too Rotom." Ash said. "So Lusamine, what's this all about?" Ash asked.
"It's actually about residual energy you might be carrying from your time in Ultra Space." Professor Burnett said. "We believe that if you spend enough time in one dimension, you may begin to absorb some of the energy that the Ultra Beasts put out."
"That, actually makes sense." Ash said.
"Wait, it does!" Wicke said shocked.
"Yeah, let me show you something." Ash said pulling up an article. "This is a photo of my friends in Kalos after we saved Lumiose City from being destroyed. That's me, and that's Serena."
"She's cute, I see why you looked all over for her." Lana said.
"What's your point Ash?" Kiawe said.
"Well, I found her in Buzzwole's dimension, and she doesn't exactly look like this anymore." Ash said.
"In a mosquitoey kind of way or, in a muscley king of way?" Lillie asked.
"The second." Ash said. "What made you guys look into this anyways?"
"They began looking into this, because of what started happening to me?" Lusamine said. "We believe my current health conditions are a result of me merging with Nihilego a while ago."
"But that was so long ago, why is it only happening now?" Ash asked.
"We're not sure, but we've been working at helping her." Mohn said. "Good to see you again Ash."
"Good to see you too." Ash said.
"Sorry about that, we had a minor diaper issue to take care of." Professor Kukui said, walking up with Lei. "Ash, want to take your little brother for a bit."
"At this point he's still more Ashley than Ash." Lana said with a laugh.
"Come here Lei." Ash said, holding the infant. "Serena should be out shortly."
Shortly
"Okay Serena, once we have a control group, we can begin." Sophocles said, as Serena stepped into the giant hamster wheel.
"How about Ash?" Serena offered.
"Probably not a good idea for someone who gets an extreme boost in power when they get an adrenaline rush." Ash said.
"I'd rather not do that." Lillie said meekly.
"Mallow went with Chloe to make lunch." Lana said, "And last time you had me in that wheel, I got stuck."
"I'll do it." Goh said, having finished his therapy session.
"More test subjects the better." Kiawe said, stepping up.
After the three were all hooked up in the wheel, Sophocles and Faba sat down in front of some monitors.
"Ready whenever you three are." Sophocles said.
"I'll watch from over here too!" Rotom dex said.
"This data is incredible!" Faba said, as the three picked up more and more speed.
"This energy output, could it be from Ultra Space?" Wicke asked, looking over Faba's shoulder.
"I wish we had energy readings from Buzzwole to compare this too." Lusamine said, "Then we could know for certain."
After several other tests, the group finally broke for lunch.
"Here." Goh said, tossing Kiawe and Serena water bottles.
"Ash, I'll take Lei back to give him lunch." Professor Burnett said.
"Ashley." Lei said, hugging Ash.
A shocked silence fell upon Ash's Alolan family.
"I did not teach him that." Lana defended.
"Lei, called me Ashley." Ash said dumbfounded.
"His first word." Professor Kukui said in shock.
"All that work trying for it to be mama." Professor Burnett said.
"I guess all that time I spent as Ashley in Alola sorta paid off." Ash said, only a little disappointed.
"I guess this makes you Lei's big sister." Chloe said jokingly.
"We can work on the correct names later." Kukui said. "For now, I'm just happy he can talk."
It was later that night, the Alolan crew had begun to head back home. Serena was back at the center, and Ash was in his room when he heard a knocking at his door.
"It's 2am? Who else is up this late?" Ash asked himself, as he wheeled his chair to the door. "Goh what are you doing up this late?"
"I was hoping we could talk." Goh said.
"And you waited until now?" Ash asked.
"I needed to think about what I wanted to say, can I come in?" Goh asked.
"Fine, but keep your distance, I don't feel like accidentally slingshotting you into a wall." Ash said, opening his door.
Goh walked in, to see Ash in a pair of light blue pajamas, sitting on his bed.
"So what did you want to talk about?" Ash asked.
"Serena, I have to give a vote tomorrow, and I haven't even interacted with her much." Goh said.
"Okay, with the times you have interacted with her, what have been your thoughts?" Ash asked.
"She's a halfway decent battler, and what I saw today, her physical strength and abilities are off the chart." Goh said.
"There's a but, isn't there." Ash said.
"Exactly. She's great, but not versatile. She doesn't have a flyer, or a swimmer, and we're already stretched thin bringing a flyer for Chloe still." Goh said. "Can't you just say you want her, to make this easier for me?"
"Goh, I'm purposely not doing that to make you think." Ash said. "But fine let's say I say yes to her joining."
"Then that's great! You know what you're doing, so she'll do fine." Goh said.
"In that case, I don't think she should join." Ash said calmly.
"Are you kidding? This girl you chased through other dimensions for, is on your front porch, and you're just going to let her go!" Goh said shocked. "Which is what your point in voting last is."
"Yeah, I wanted you two to experience time with Serena before making a choice. Tomorrow you have to make the choice though, it's not fair to keep Serena here on the false hope of a job at the lab." Ash said. "Now go and get some rest, it's late."
"Night Ash, and thanks again." Goh said.