Chapter 22

A Family by Any Other Name

*Serena's POV*

Pancakes are a very good thing to wake up smelling. But, I did not fall asleep in the kitchen, did I? I opened my eyes to see my wonderful boyfriend Ash holding a tray of food that indeed had pancakes along with other breakfast food.

"Bonjour, mon amour," He said with a warm smile. He placed the tray of food over my lap as I sat up. "Your mother told me you liked Nanab Berries, and she forwarded the recipe. I hope you like them."

I smiled. "You know," I began. "I was just having a dream about our past life… It was weird. In my dream, everything that has happened since Professor Oak's Summer Camp… reuniting with you in Santalune City, unlocking our memories in Coumarine City… all of it was just that - a dream. And I got really scared… but it wasn't. Thank Arceus it wasn't."

He sat down next to me. "Do you miss being Aila?"

I did not want to lie to him. "A little… But I don't want my time as Serena to go away either… This past year alone has been very precious to me." I took a drink of milk before continuing. "Ash…? I was wondering… Maybe we could take it easy today?"

"What do you mean?" He asked.

I glanced out the window. "I'm scared. I feel like if we get back on the road, something bad's gonna happen. Or maybe I'm just tired of it all…"

"I know what you mean… I guess I am, too." He then leaned over and lightly kissed my forehead. "I actually asked Brock and Bonnie to look after our Pokémon for the day. I wanted us to enjoy the day together… No Pokémon battles, no entourage, no dangerous situations… just you and me, enjoying a mundane slice-of-life day out… What do you think?"

I almost could not believe what I was hearing. A whole day alone with my darling Ash! It was a dream come true! "Okay!"

Our day out started shortly after breakfast, and it was, in a word, perfect. First, we went for a walk through the city. There was this one street we never visited beforehand that had some amazing sites. Among them was the Lumiose Museum. Some of the exhibits actually depicted scenery from regions Ash had visited before, such as Ecruteak City in Johto and Sinnoh's Battle Frontier. I sure would love to visit those places someday.

Next, Ash was kind enough to buy us tickets to a movie. The film we chose was about Aladdin, a kind-hearted 'street Rattata' who rescues a princess from a power-hungry royal advisor. Adventure, romance, some comedy mixed in… it was well worth the price of admission. We even found what I call 'snuggler seats,' so we could sit close to each other without a cup holder coming between us. I personally enjoyed that more than the movie itself.

After that, we enjoyed a picnic in a nearby park. That was sort of a last-minute decision, so we improvised with the snacks. Fortunately though, Lumiose has some of the best foods in Kalos. As we ate, we enjoyed the serene scenery that surrounded us. The colors of the trees, the sound of the Flying-type Pokémon passing nearby, the distant sound of children laughing… so peaceful…

"I've really enjoyed today, Ash…" I sighed.

"Me, too," he smiled. "I'm glad you said yes to coming with me."

I leaned up against him. "You know, we've both come a long way since Professor Oak's Summer Camp. Who knows what would've happened if we never met that day… or what might happen…" I leaned a little closer to him. Instinctively, I started to close my eyes and tilt my head a little, when I could feel his warm breath on my lips.

What happened then, I could not explain. Our eyes just shot open, and we slowly pulled away to look around. I was not sure what it was at first, but it felt like something was calling to us… like it was in trouble.

"What...? What was that?" I asked.

Ash stood up and looked in one direction. "I think it came from this way…"

We traveled in that direction, and it felt we were getting warmer, so to it was, it seemed to have been coming from the outskirts of town… into the forest to the north.

I had my concerns about going out there. "Wait… have you ever heard the rumors about the Phantom Castle that's supposed to be out here?"

He turned my direction. "No. Phantom Castle?"

I nodded. "It says that there's a castle somewhere in one of the forests surrounding the city. And what lies within is so scary, even Ghost-type Pokémon fear to tread!"

Ash on the other hand was not phased. "Uh-huh… would this be like your assumption of that one mansion where we met Brianna's Meowstic?"

"This is different!" I rebutted. "The difference is I'm not making it up. I heard these tales from many different sources."

Ash looked back into the forest. "Be that as it may, someone out there needs our help. We can't just ignore them."

I shivered a little. I did not want to go near that forest, but Ash was right. So I clung to his arm like my life depended on it, and off we went into the woods.

The forest was dark and spooky, even though it was half past noon. Dark clouds loomed overhead and seemed to blot out the sun. The branches cracked as we passed by them.

Then my worst nightmare came to light. We entered a clearing and found… "Uh-oh! A castle!" It looked even creepier than I feared. More to the point it was really worn down. Parts had fallen out, windows were broken, and weeds had taken over in drothes. It looked like no one went inside in a long time.

We could see that there was some sort of light inside. "Then that means, there's somebody already inside." Fortunately, the doors had fallen off their hinges, so I was not worried about being trapped within.

The castle was all but destroyed inside. It was almost as though the castle caught fire. As we traveled down a hallway toward the light we found the wallpaper had been peeling, the decorative urns had been shattered, and the portraits had been torn…

…except for one in particular. I stopped to get a better look at it. "Ash…? Do those men look familiar to you?"

He stepped back toward the portrait and focused on the two heads. One of them had brown hair and blue eyes - the other looked nearly the same but his hair was more blonde… "Damos!"

"Brianna's father…"

"So this is where the royal family should live." There was no doubt about it now. I had to wonder if anyone else truly knew about this place… or if Team Flare wiped everyone's memories of the castle and covered it up with this rumor.

One room stood out from the rest though. The ballroom. There were blast marks and crumbled portions of marble everywhere. But there was also a series of bleachers, flower basins that have completely wilted, and dismantled altar.

As Ash and I walked up through the bleachers, the former realized something. "This was a wedding… maybe Damos and Diantha's?"

"Kinda looks like this was where the disaster struck," I added. "Did Lydos... not want Damos and Diantha to wed?"

"That's one theory," he replied. He then noticed something. "You okay?"

"Sorry," I smiled shyly. "I just feel like something's gonna jump out at us… I guess I'm just paranoid."

"I get it," He then put his arm around me. "But I promise you, if anything wants to get you, they're gonna have to go through me first."

"Ash…" I lay my head on his shoulder, feeling relaxed and sighed blissfully. As I opened my eyes a little, she noticed something… "What's that…?"

Ash then turned where she was looking. In a dark corridor, they noticed the faint glow pulsing. We slowly and quietly moved closer to get a better look. We were a little surprised by what we found…

There, in the middle of the floor, lay a little metal body that vaguely looked like Diancie. It was old and rusty, and some parts were missing. It looked as though it had not moved in a long time. Down in front of it was the source of the glow: a small metal orb. It had four small metal stubs, all surrounding a gold-lined, half-blue half-pink heart in the middle.

"A robot?" I asked.

"Looks like it…" Ash answered, "but there's something strange about her. I just can't put my finger on it…"

As he said that, I picked up the sphere. "I wonder if she still works…" I carefully inserted it into the slot in her chest and locked it into place.

But nothing happened.

"Hmm… Why don't we take her to Clemont? He might know what to do…" I suggested.

"Good idea." Ash agreed. Then we lifted her over our shoulders and carried her out of the castle…

…and directly to Prism Tower.

After being told of the machine's origin, Clemont took a thorough examination of the little robot, inspecting its mechanics and technology. "This is so weird…"

"What is?" Ash asked.

"I scanned this thing four times now. This machine appears to have no operating system, no memory drive, no make or model number - it's just a pile of metal." He then picked up the core piece. "All I can find with this sphere is that it's emitting some form of energy."

"Do you think you can fix her?" I asked.

"I don't know. She looks in worse shape than one of my failed… inventions…" Clemont smiled from ear to ear. "That gives me an idea!" The inventor then typed into a keyboard and a side panel opened.

Inside, we saw what looked like a small girl. It was made entirely out of carbon fiber (so he told me later), even the part that looked like hair. In addition, there were some pieces of it that were disconnected.

"This is the Quantum Technocompanion, or 'QT' for short," Clemont began. "She's an autonomous companion robot I was building as a surprise birthday present for Bonnie. Think of her as a life-sized doll who can come to life and play with you. There's very little needed to complete her. Foremost, it will require a power supply for operation. I think the sphere can supply that, but I'll need to make some major modifications."

"Do you think you can do that?" Misty asked.

"I can;'t make any promises, but it's worth a shot." We agreed to help the inventor to reconstruct the unusual robot.

For the next hour or so, all of us worked to rebuild the little machine. We flushed out its system, tightened some bolts, and removed several internal parts. Clembot scanned the schematics for proper reconstruction, and he added a few extra features, such as a spare vocal processor Clemont had laying around. He also added a few actuators so that the machine could simulate facial expressions.

At last, we were finished. It looked more like a girl with twin-tail hair, and less like a piece of machinery. Then Ash and I inserted the sphere into the android's chest and locked it into place. It took a few seconds, but the eyes of the mechanical marvel finally opened. She slowly lifted herself to a sitting position and looked around, her optical processors calibrating from activation. And she saw the ones who put her back together.

"Thank goodness you're okay," I sighed. "Do you remember what happened to you?"

The machine was silent for a moment, but shook her head in response.

"Okay… How about your name?" Ash asked.

"My… name?" She spoke for the very first time. Matching her appearance she sounded like a young girl, maybe Bonnie's age. "I think… my name is…" she tried to recall, but… "I… I don't know. I can't remember anything."

"Hmmm… her memory may have been corrupted in the transfer." Clemont hypothesized. "I'll try to work on that."

I was a little concerned, but still smiled. "Well, at least you're fixed." I sat down next to her. "Can I call you QT for now?" The robot nodded. "Okay. Then you can call me Serena, okay?"

"Seena…?" She tried.

"It's Serena. Suh-Ree-Nuh."

"Se…ne...na?"

I gently rubbed her head. "Probably a little too hard for you… you just go ahead and call me whatever's easier for you."

QT was silent for a moment, looking as though she were thinking. Then she looked at me and, much to everyone's surprise… "Mommy..."

"Huh?!" I jumped a little.

Then, the mechanical girl looked at Ash. "And you are… Daddy..."

Ash and I looked at each other, slightly stunned. Of course, we were not really QT's parents. We were not truly married either. However, we were the ones who rescued her from rusting away at Brianna's castle. At the same time, we also felt as though the three of us were… connected somehow. We smiled at one another and looked back at QT

"Okay… that works." I told her in a somewhat motherly tone.

QT smiled joyfully. "Daddy! Mommy!" And she got up and embraced us both.

Misty and Clemont were surprised as well, but they decided to play along.

Ash smiled. "How about we find something for you to wear?"

"Okay!"

*Ash's POV*

The bad news was all we could find in the lab was a spare jumpsuit Clemont had lying around. It was way too big for her, but it had to suffice for now. The good news was Serena knew there was a shopping mall nearby. We could easily find some proper clothes for QT

In the middle of a jungle of fabric in a cloth store, QT and I watched as Serena rushed around in the store and found all kinds of different outfits for her to try out. "Oh, there are just so many adorable dresses! You will be so pretty in all of them!" She giggled and grabbed a light purple dress with a short skirt, long sleeves and a small polo neck. She came back to us and added it to my accumulation of clothes. "Let's go try them out!" She said in an eager voice and hurried to the fitting booth,

I laughed a little. "Don't worry. Once we leave, Mommy will be back to normal." I whispered, ensuring to my adopted daughter, who giggled a little by my comment.

Just as I expected, Serena did calm down as we left the mall. Not far away, we found the park where Brock and Bonnie were. Apparently, Croagunk was acting as Brock's chaperone while Misty was with Clemont, so Bonnie was doing most of the care for our Pokemon. When we found them, we introduced them to our newest companion, who really hit it off with Bonnie.

"I know! Why don't you two have some fun while we're here?" I suggested.

"Okay, Daddy!" QT turned her attention to Bonnie. "Would you like to play with me, Bonnie?"

"Well, lemme put it to you this way…" Bonnie then tapped QT on the shoulder. "You're it!" she exclaimed, and ran away in the other direction. QT laughed and chased after her.

As the two girls ran and played, the rest of us sat at a bench and watched. At the same time, I spoke with the others about her, bringing Brock up to speed.

"Is amnesia even possible for a robot?" asked Brock.

"Well," Clemont theorized. "Between the transfer to her new body, and her being inactive for who knows how long, she's lost everything."

"I wonder if there's any way to help her remember…" Serena stated, drying her eyes. "I'm sorry… it's just… I don't…"

Misty placed a hand on her shoulder. "I get it. You want to help her. At least until she gets her memory back."

"Yeah, but…"

"But how can a machine get its memory back?"

I sighed. "For now, we'll do what we can…Maybe Diantha can shed some light on the subject? We could talk to her about it."

"Okay…" Serena agreed, trying to calm down.

I then reached over and pulled her closer to me. "I don't really want to just give her away, either…"

This caught her attention. "You don't?"

"I don't know what it is. I know we just met her and everything but having her here with us… I feel like she already holds a place in our hearts. And you know, this doesn't mean we'll never see her again, but if she belongs to Diantha, we can't just take her for ourselves. If we did, we'd be no better than Team Rocket… I mean, Team Rocket as a whole, not… you know."

"You're right."

"They've probably returned home by now," Clemont commented. "Let's go and see." We all agreed to returning her to the Bellerose family.

Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head. I turned around and found the source of the attack… sitting in front of a rather angry-looking Pikachu. "Did you just hit me with a Pecha Berry pit?"

"Pi. Ka. Chu," he huffed. He was just bitter because I promised him nothing would change from being separated for a day.

"Oh, come on. How was I supposed to know this would happen?" he asked. Pikachu just threw another pit at my forehead. "Seriously?"

Shortly after that, we made our way to Estival Avenue, where Brianna told us she lived. Judging by the lack of equipment surrounding the property, I assumed the plumbers were finished with their work. Thankfully, Diantha told us we were welcome inside - I could only hope they were already home.

While we did not see the Bellerose family right away, we did find Jessie, James and Meowth enjoying a platter of fruit and cheeses in the family room. One of the first things we asked them was if Brianna and her mother were home. "Sure enough," Jessie replied. "They're in one of the other rooms. They shouldn't be too long now."

Suddenly, the sound of an old music box echoed through the house. We all paused to listen to the soothing melody.

"This song…" QT muttered. "I know this song…"

MOMENTS EARLIER…

*Brianna's POV*

It was such a wonderful day full of surprises. A relaxing afternoon at the spa, a new member of my team through Marina the Swanna. But none of that compared to the fact that our family was going to grow by one more. My mother was having another baby, which made little to no sense to me, but I was happy nonetheless.

On our way back, we ran into Jessie James and Meowth, who told us of their little run-in with Team Flare. Allegedly, they were going to unleash a powerful Pokemon onto the city in an attempt to destroy me, but the former members of Team Rocket seem to foil their plan. But when they opened the relic they showed me, nothing happened. How odd…

Shortly after that, we returned home. I was ready to rest my feet from such a long walk. But first, Mother wanted to show me what has changed in my absence. Apparently, she already took some action in preparing a nursery out of my room. A lot of my stuff was untouched, but one section in particular was set up with a crib, diaper station, rocking chair, and many other essentials.

"I've kept a lot of this stuff since you were born," she told me. "Nobody would take it off my hands, and I was this close to just throwing it in the trash. Thank goodness I didn't."

I looked around. "So this was all mine growing up?" She nodded.

Cocoa picked up a certain toy. "Should we talk about the fact that your first toy was a Buneary plushie, and your first Pokemon was a Buneary?"

"It's a coincidence," I giggled.

"I've never been so flattered and creeped out at the same time…"

Shortly, I noticed something resting near the crib. It was made of steel, and it looked like it was older than everything else was. "Oh, hey! I remember this!" Mom stated as she picked it up.

'A box?' Diancie asked.

"A music box," she corrected. "When Brianna was about your size, this was the only thing that would put her to sleep. It was one of the few things her father left for her." She then proceeded to wind the key in its back.

As we listened to the calming symphony, I heard chatter from the other room. Excited by the news of my baby sibling coming, I came out to them to share the revelation. "Hey, everyone! Great news!" But I was immediately sidetracked as I saw a figure I never saw before… "Who's this?"

Ash and Serena were just about to explain when suddenly, the little one spoke up. "Magearna…"

"Huh?"

"It's all coming back to me… Magearna. My name is Magearna."

"You remember!" Serena stated joyfully.

At that instant, James jumped as though he saw a ghost. "Wait! I've heard that name before!"

"You have?" Ash asked.

He pulled a book out of his bag and quickly flipped through the pages until… "Here it is. 'The Artificial Pokémon. A Steel and Fairy-type. Known for its empathic abilities, Magearna synchronizes its consciousness with others to understand their emotions.' But this Magearna looks nothing like the Pokémon in this book."

"What does this Pokémon look like?" Serena asked a little timidly.

He held the book up and pointed to a photo. "Like this…"

Ash and Serena in particular were shocked as they recognized the image… they knew where they saw that figure. The rest of us looked back at the one in question. "Y-Y-You're… a Pokémon?"

So much had happened this one day alone. And crazily enough, I feel as though all of our individual plans led to the re-discovery of Magearna, the Artificial Pokémon Now, all of us cannot help but wonder, what happened to Magearna that turned her into the scrap heap Ash and Serena found? She would have a lot to explain, as the journey continues…