Chapter 7
When we arrive at the Aether Foundation, Lillie and I are nervous because Mikasa is with us. When we arrive at the office, we greet Professor Mohn and Ms. Lusamine.
"Mother, Father. Here she is." Lillie says in a nervous tone as she shows Mikasa. Lusamine says, "I was just joking when I said not to make me a grandmother this early, but I was surprised..."
"So it is just like you said through the phone, she's both of your children from another world, where the two of you were probably older and were killed by Team Rocket?" Mohn asks.
"That's what Arceus told me." I reply. "Lillie and I are not going to let her go, because she already suffered a lot and she deserves a happy childhood."
"Of course, you won't. She is too cute to abandon." Lusamine says with a smile.
"Mother..." Lillie sighs, probably becuase she's embarrassed at the fact that her mother is not acting like a mother but a child.
"Papa... Mama... who are they?" Mikasa asks with a scared and shy tone, Lillie smiles at her and says, "This is your grandmother and grandfather."
"But... I thought grandma and grandpa were killed...they tried to protect me..." Mikasa starts to have tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry..."
Now this is something that we're not expecting, Mohn asks, "So in her dimension, we were killed trying to protect her... That's what I've got from the girl's story?"
"Maybe." I say with a frown. I kneel and hug my daughter, "Mikasa, they might not be the same people that died to protect you, just like the two of us, but we're still your family, and we aren't going to leave you as we did."
Mikasa can only look at me and nod. Lillie says, "She is still too young to understand the concept of coming from another dimension, so it will be better not to ask her about what's going on there."
"I see." Lusamine says. "But I must say that she is really cute. Though I suggest we do some DNA testing... I'm not exactly sure if she really is your blood-related daughter."
"I don't care if she is blood-related or not." I say. "But if you really want to do it, then we'll do it."
And then we decide to do a blood test, and after the results are out, Lillie hugs Mikasa and asks, "Are you hurt? Sweetie?"
"Compared to before, it doesn't hurt that much." Mikasa replies.
Mohn says, "It sure is surprising, they matched both of your DNAs. Meaning that she really is your daughter, though I wonder how it is possible..."
"Miracles can happen." I reply as I carry Mikasa in my arms. "I lost my mother three months ago, and during this, I've been in a depression to the extent that I didn't want to travel like I used to. But just after I met Lillie again, and then Mikasa... I feel like I have a new purpose for living, and I want to protect all of them through my heart."
"I'm glad to hear you say that." Lusamine smiles. "Lillie will become a perfect mother."
"Mother!" Lillie blushes with embarrassment.
"There you are, Mohn. I have been looking for you." I notice a scientist walking towards Mohn, and the name tag says Xavior, meaning that he is the scientist who created Serena.
"Xavior. Were you trying to find me?" Mohn asks.
"Ah yes, I want to talk about the project that we're working on." Xavior says.
"I see. By the way, Xavior, this is Ash Ketchum, the current World Monarch, and my daughter's boyfriend." Mohn says. "Ash, this is Professor Xavior, he has been working on creating artificial human beings."
"It is nice to meet you, Professor." I shake hands with him.
"Likewise." Xavior says, "I heard a lot about you from both Serena and my wife. You are an amazing person, you know."
"I heard that Serena was made from Lillie's stolen memories, how was that even possible?" I ask.
"That is an interesting question, memories are the medium for learning new things, it adapts to all kinds of beings. By learning from the memories, they will be able to act as humans and also think like one."
As he explains the principles and other stuff, I feel dizzy since I don't think I will be able to understand a thing. Lillie notices my dizzying face and says, "All right, Professor Xavior. Ash is already confused enough..."
"I'm sorry, not everyone is too devoted to science and technology." Professor Xavior apologizes.
"Anyway, so what do you want to talk about? Let's go to my office." Mohn says while turning to us. "What about you three? What are you going to do then?"
"We're going to Aina's Kitchen for lunch." Lillie replies. "Mikasa's request."
"I see... Good luck on your journeys." Lusamine says as we leave the Aether Foundation.
When we get to Aina's Kitchen, it is really crowded since it is always the best restaurant on Melemele Island. The three of us get a seat as Mallow comes to take our order.
"May I take your- Ash! Lillie! What a surprise!" Mallow seems to be excited to see the two of us again.
"Mallow!" Lillie hugs Mallow first, and then I also hug her. Mallow says, "It has been so long since our last meeting. How are you guys?"
"It is quite complicated." I reply. "We're here because our little one wants to eat your cooking."
"Little one?" Mallow is confused until she notices a girl sitting between the two of us. "Oh my, who is this?"
Mikasa says, "My name is Mikasa Ketchum, it is nice to meet you."
I say, "And Mikasa is... you may not believe us... Lillie and my daughter."
Mallow widens her eyes as she looks at her and the two of us. "Oh my gosh! When? How? What?"
It takes us a while to explain everything to her, and she seems to understand what we're going through. "If that's the case, then I'm definitely going to cook something great for you guys."
After she leaves to cook, Lillie turns to me and says, "That goes pretty well."
"Yeah, Mikasa, is this your first time trying the food here?" I ask.
"No, Papa you usually bring the take-out for me because we were fighting bad guys..." Mikasa replies.
"Take-out, huh?" Lillie says. "It is true that Aina's Kitchen has the take-out service...but to think that we've never brought her here before... it feels so sad."
"I know." I reply. "But we already promise to make Mikasa happy again."
After our meals are on the table, Mallow decides to sit with us. "So does anyone know about Mikasa?"
"We only visited my parents and did some blood tests." Lillie says, "And you were the first one to know other than that."
"So not even Gladion knows about this? Ash, you better hope that he isn't trying to kill you." Mallow warns me.
"I know, I'm prepared for the worse." I sigh.
Mallow looks at the Pokemon and says, "But to think Snowy evolved, and you also have a nice Sylveon as well. She seems to be close to Pikachu."
"She was shy as an Eevee at first, but after a double battle teaming with Pikachu, she evolved and also they get closer." Lillie says.
"Is that so..." Mallow says. "But Lillie, you seemed to be a lot different from before. I mean, you usually wore white clothes, but you were now wearing pink and red. Not to mention that the blue ribbon on your shirt looks nice."
Lillie touches the blue ribbon and says, "Ash is the one who gave me the ribbon."
"Is that so?" Mallow turns to me, and I say, "Yeah, I got the ribbon from an event and I decided to give it to Lillie."
And now I really calling her Lillie instead of Serena...for some reason, it feels right for me. Mallow then says, "By the way, Ash. Are you still taking a break? Since you seldom come out of the Kanto Region these months."
"I was a little depressed after my mother died, but I'm trying to move on." I say.
"I know what it feels. My mother also left me because of sickness when I was younger." Mallow says.
"So how did you bear with that?" Ash asks. "I mean, after her death, how did you manage to cheer up?"
"That's because I always remember that I'm not alone, I still have friends and family who cares about me." Mallow says, "It's a good thing that Lillie was here to cheer you up, and you'll know what I mean."
"Mallow!" Lillie pouts with a slight blush, and I admit that every time she does it, it is really cute.
"Yeah, Lillie and I are actually dating." I reply, and Lillie also smiles as she nods.
"Wow, what takes you so long to finally confess to each other?" Mallow smiles.
"I was facing a double crisis." I sigh. "When I was traveling in Kalos, I had a travel companion named Serena, and I had been in a dilemma to pick either Serena or Lillie."
"I've heard of her, she was really close to becoming a Kalos Queen on her first try, and she also become a Contest Idol along with May and Lisia in the Hoenn Region. But she just disappeared a month ago and her parents only reveal that she retired and she quit being an idol. It causes a lot of uproars back then."
"The thing is, Serena is not actually a person, to begin with. It is a robot made from my memories and the technology of the Aether Foundation." Lillie says. "My parents were really mad when they found out about this a month ago, that's why they decided to terminate the project and transfer all of Serena's memories inside me."
"Is that so? So this Sylveon is really the famous Sylveon who was with Serena this whole time?" Mallow asks.
"Yeah. It's the same one." Lillie says. "As for the whole idol retiring thing, it was quite a shame, but I already decided that I'm going to spend the rest of my life with Ash."
"And I'm going to spend the rest of my life with you as well, Lillie." I say to her with a smile.
"Okay... I think I need to get used to the two of you being lovey-dovey..." Mallow chuckles.
"Papa and Mama are going to be together no matter what!" When Mikasa suddenly says this, we jump a little as we thought that the girl is having a conversation with Pikachu. And I think I know why... Damn Pikachu with his addiction to ketchup.
"Pikachu... did you ignore my daughter for a bottle of ketchup?" I sigh.
"Ketchup is delicious! And she doesn't know what to ask me, so I just decide to leave her alone." Pikachu replies.
"How good is the ketchup taste like?" Snowy asks, and just before Pikachu can hand over the ketchup, Lillie grabs the bottle and says, "Pikachu... you're not going to make Snowy become an addict like you."
"I was just trying to show her how good the ketchup is..." Pikachu groans.
Lillie sighs as she pours some onto Snowy's paws, and just as she licks it, she spits it out and says, "Yuck... why would you ever like this..."
"Snowy..." Lillie sighs as I decide to clean up the mess, and the others just chuckle at the funny comedy.
Here is a new chapter, Mallow finally gets to know the truth about Mikasa and the fact that Lillie is Serena. I hope you like this chapter and the next chapter will be meeting Kukui and Burnet.