Chapter 2

My mind is really fuzzy... I don't really want to get the name wrong. Since she has green eyes and blonde hair, I think Lillie should be my first guess. Please don't be wrong...

"Lillie, is that you?" I ask with a low voice, and the girl stares at me and asks, "Of course it's me, I missed you a lot."

The voice, is no doubt Lillie's voice, but here is another question that I'm confused about. But before I do that, the fact that she's crushing me is not that comfortable, all of my Dragon Type Pokemon are not helping as well.

"Can you please get off me?" I decide to ask with a slight blush, and Lillie's face starts to turn red and she gives the same cute "Eep" before jumping off me.

"I'm sorry, Ash!" Lillie panics, "I... didn't mean to..."

"It's fine... by the way, nice outfit you have there."

Really? This is what comes out of my mouth? I wanted to ask why she has Serena's outfit, but I guess I made things awkward.

"Um... thanks." Lillie is blushing madly. "Actually, I was wearing the same outfit when you came to Hoenn..."

Hoenn? But wasn't Lillie at the Galar Region trying to find her father? "I thought we met in Galar when you found your father?"

"Oh yeah. I guess I'm still getting used to this." Lillie says with a sheepish smile. "I guess you remember Serena, right?"

This is the first I heard her talking about Serena, but what does it have to do with her? Lillie asks, "Do you remember the day when I couldn't touch any Pokemon?"

"I do, what does it matter?" I ask with confusion.

"My memories didn't get wiped out back then... instead, all of them were transferred into a creation Faba was working on... a robot." Lillie says. "When my father found out about this, I'd never seen him angry before... the lab was at the Vaniville Town, and Serena... was a robot created by my memories and the technology..."

I stare at her with surprise. A Robot? Serena? How is that even possible? None of them makes any sense... during this time, Serena was fake?

"I was shocked just like you. The robot... its touch is no different from human touch, and the artificial reality made by the whole thing... it made her able to have emotions just like humans..." Lillie says. "We're scared of what the robot would do... that's why my parents demanded our employees to turn it off, and all of the memories from the robot were flowing inside me."

"So that means... you're not only Lillie, but you're also Serena..." I widened my mouth in surprise, I'm really glad that she tells me the truth. I had been very confused about what is going on with Lillie and Serena these whole days.

"After I got Serena's memories, I wanted to find you and explain everything to you. That's why I come here to Pallet Town, so I can find you, tell you everything, and..." Lillie starts to frown and cry, "I'm sorry... about your mother..."

The mention of my mother's death really brings the memories back... And I was frustrated since I wanted to forget the pain of her lying on her bed before passing away... But when I see her face, I realize I couldn't hate her.

"My mother lived her life to the fullest, she supported my dream and let me travel around the world. It's just... all that traveling must have made her very lonely at home... I never thought about her feelings like this... which is why I had been staying here at Pallet Town for months." I say to her. "You're lucky that you're in my territory, but you have to be careful. My Pokemon have been trained to fight intruders, who know if someone like those Team Rocket people will try to strike again."

"But Team Rocket is no more, isn't it?" Lillie asks me, and that is probably the best thing after all these years of them annoying me every time.

"Yeah... better be safe than sorry." I say. "Do you want me to show you around this place?"

"Of course. So this is where your Dragon Types are living?" Lillie asks me.

"Yeah. We made this place some sort of den so my Dragon Types can live in. If you had Serena's memories, you might recognize Goodra and Noivern here." I smile as I wave at those two, who give me a nod of approval.

After that, I show her every corner of my territory, until we get to my house. Lillie says, "Your house was the same as before, haven't you wanted to expand bigger since you already have a big land?"

"Lillie. I don't have that many employees like your family has. I am the only one living in this house right now, I really don't need that much space to live in my house. Besides, Legendary and Mythical Pokemon will visit here and it will be better if they have more space to move around."

Seeing me talk about Legendary and Mythical Pokemon causally really causes her mouth to open wide, I decide to walk towards the fridge and ask, "Do you want some snacks? I can make some for you."

"Are you sure you can really cook?" Lillie asks, "Do you need some help?"

"Ever since I stopped traveling, I have a lot more time to practice everything, including cooking. I don't know if my skills are improved, but it won't be a disaster like you knew back in Alola."

Well, that was true after all, after my Mom died, I seldom come out of my territory. I still need to find a way for my stomach, and that's why I have been learning how to cook for myself. The first time was really a disaster, but after days of improving, maybe I can compare my skills to Brock, or maybe Mallow.

Besides, baking sweets is easier than actual cooking, all I need is just an oven to heat the food once I mixed the ingredients. After I finished, I place all the cookies on the table.

"Here, and by the way, Pikachu, Sylveon, and Snowy, you can have some too." I say to the three Pokemon.

While walking with Lillie around the area, I also notice Pikachu and Sylveon's interaction, and how they treat the beautiful Ninetales Snowy as their daughter figure of some sort. I always thought Sylveon have some sort of thing with Clemont's Bunnelby, but I guess she enjoys being with Pikachu more.

"Amazing... these cookies are great, Ash." Lillie says with delight.

"I'm glad, however, I still like your cookies more." I say, it seems like I already treat her as Serena and I still remember the cookies that she made for me after the Rhyhorn Race.

"Um... yeah..." Lillie blushes again, and to avoid being awkward, she silently bites the cookie.

"But are you here alone? I thought that Gladion would be here with you..." I decide to ask.

"Gladion is on his own journey, just like before. And I already got my parents' permission to come with you." Lillie says, but then she starts to pout a little, "But I still can't believe my mom... always teasing me when I just told them that I want to see you..."

"All moms are the same." For some reason, when I'm chatting with her, I become to smile more. "But I really miss you."

Lillie stares at me first with surprise, before smiling back at me. "I miss you too."

There it is again, my face is burning... was it because I was just standing in front of the oven and the steam burns my face? No, don't try to make any excuses, I know what I'm actually feeling. Wow. Never thought it would be today...

"Ash, are you alright?" Lillie asks me with concern, and of course, I don't want her to be worried.

"I'm fine... thank you." I reply back. "It's just... I have a lot of things to think about."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Lillie asks. "Maybe I can help you..."

I look at her, the way she is showing concern for me... how can someone be so perfect? She looks like a goddess that is coming here to help me, no, she IS the goddess.

"Pikachu thinks that I've been staying at my territory for too long." I say. "He wants me to start traveling again. But the real problem is that... I'm not sure where to go, and what should I do after going there. I mean, I already challenged all the Pokemon Gyms in the world, I also attended the World Champions Tournament and become the Monarch myself."

"But you didn't want to travel yet because you're not ready... that's what you told me when we were walking in the area of your Pokemon, right?" Lillie asks. "But are you sure you're going to just stay here for the rest of your life?"

"Of course not. If someone wants me to help, I will always go there... but if it's for my free time... maybe I would." I don't know if this is appropriate to talk about, but I still decide to talk about it. "I was also thinking about finding a girlfriend, getting married, and starting a new family...do you think it's weird to think about this way?"

For some reason, I see that Lillie is staring at me, trying to process everything I said, I wave my hand in front of her and ask, "Lillie? Are you alright?"

Lillie's mind returns and she says, "Eek, sorry. It's just... starting a family... I never thought I would hear this from you... that was what Bonnie used to do for her brother."

Now I regretted talking out loud, but then again, the way I acted when I was traveling, nobody would think that I will think this way. "But if you want to find a girlfriend, what kind of girlfriend do you want?"

I don't know if I should be blunt, but what if she doesn't share the same feelings for me? Maybe I should just give some hints to see her reaction...

"I never cared about their appearances, all I care about is what's inside the heart." Ash says. "Ever since I become someone famous, a lot of people think they're suited for me because they have good looks or attractive bodies, but I don't actually care about that. I like someone who is compassionate, supportive but not going overboard, and always optimistic about every challenge that we're going to face."

There it is again, she's staring at me like she saw a ghost, I really want to know what she's thinking right now. Lillie asks, "Did you ever find anyone that matches your description?"

Now I'm getting nervous, what should I do? Should I tell her the truth? Or should I lie to her? Maybe I should tell the truth, but what if I break her heart? But if I lie, will it become worse?

"Actually... I do." After some time of thinking, this is what comes out of my mouth.

And here is the next chapter, it turns out that Serena is a robot made by the Aether Foundation using the lost memories of Lillie. And not only that, Ash is now thinking if he should confess his feelings for Lillie, will he succeed or will he accidentally breaks Lillie's heart? Find out in the next chapter and I hope you like this chapter.