In the lobby of the Sycamore Lab, the smoke from the explosion finally cleared, revealing a ruined crater and Garchomp unconscious at its center.
Professor Sycamore hurried forward to check on it.
"Are you okay, Garchomp?!"
After recalling Garchomp and sending it to the treatment room for machine-assisted care, the very first thing the Professor did once he relaxed was thank Ash.
"Thank you, Ash! If you hadn't been here, there's no way this whole mess would've been resolved so easily."
Ash could not help looking awkward when he heard that.
If he had not come here, Team Rocket would not have shown up either.
"Professor, about how much did the damage to the lab cost?"
"Hm... the only things damaged were the floor, walls, railings, ceiling, and dome. None of the expensive equipment was destroyed. Aside from the dome being a bit pricey, the rest won't cost much. At most, two hundred thousand."
The moment he heard that, Ash pulled a bank card from his bag and handed it to the Professor.
"There's one million on this card. The PIN is six zeroes."
Professor Sycamore blinked in surprise. "What's this for?"
"Please take it, Professor. If I hadn't come, those people wouldn't have shown up here in the first place."
"How could I do that?" the Professor said, frowning slightly. "And if the repairs only cost two hundred thousand, why are you giving me a million?"
Seeing the awkward look on Ash's face, the Professor gradually caught the implication, that if Ash came again in the future, he was basically paying in advance, and the confusion on his face slowly gave way to horror.
There were going to be four more explosions?!
In the end, after Ash repeatedly insisted, showed that his finances were more than enough to make a million no big deal, and added that if nothing like this happened again later, the Professor could simply return the money and Ash would not refuse next time, Professor Sycamore finally accepted it.
That let Ash breathe a sigh of relief.
The truth was, Ash was being so generous not just because the lab had been damaged, but because he had already snatched away part of Professor Sycamore's Mega Evolution research before this. If he did not at least make some kind of compensation now, even Ash himself would feel guilty about it.
...
By the time they finished dealing with Team Rocket's attack, evening had already fallen.
It was too late to keep traveling, and unless they wanted to spend the night in a pitch-black forest, they would have to wait until the next day to continue anyway.
Professor Sycamore took the chance to invite Ash, Serena, and the others to stay, and even reserved a big dinner for them at the best hotel in Lumiose City.
The dinner sounded fine.
The lodging was another story.
After Ash inspected the abandoned guest rooms in the lab, which had clearly been left untouched for years and had never been cleaned, he made the decision himself.
They would stay at the nearby Pokémon Center instead.
After seeing the state of the guest rooms for himself, the Professor was too embarrassed to insist. He just reminded the four of them to sort out their accommodations and then come back for dinner.
Clemont and Bonnie naturally chose to go along too, but when it came time to assign rooms, a small incident came up.
"There are only two rooms left?"
Clemont frowned slightly. "Then maybe Ash and I..."
Before he could finish, Bonnie cut him off.
"Nope, nope! I want it, I want it! I want to sleep with my brother!"
Bonnie's unfortunate wording instantly plunged the lobby into dead silence and painful awkwardness.
Clemont did not say a word for a long moment.
It was only after more and more strange looks started turning their way, beginning with Nurse Joy, that he finally realized what had just been said. His face turned bright red and he nearly lost it.
"Bonnie!!! Can you please say that normally?!"
As he shouted, he lunged after Bonnie, clearly planning to teach her a lesson.
Unfortunately, a guy who never exercised, had terrible stamina, and was carrying a heavy mechanical backpack had no chance of catching an energetic little gremlin like Bonnie.
The chase ended in total failure, with Bonnie dodging him easily.
After luring her brother around the corner of the hallway, Bonnie slipped back the other way and out of his reach, then turned around and flashed Serena a subtle look of encouragement.
For a kid, she really knew what she was doing.
That was Ash's honest evaluation of Bonnie.
That scene also made Nurse Joy, who had originally been ready to call the police, quietly set the phone back down.
Instead, she began eyeing Ash and Serena with openly curious, gossipy amusement.
Checking in required identification, so Nurse Joy had naturally already recognized Ash's legendary status as a five-time champion.
And at that point, Serena finally snapped back to reality under Bonnie's encouragement and Nurse Joy's obvious curiosity.
Once she realized that the other room had already been taken by Clemont and Bonnie, she understood exactly what that meant for her.
They had only reunited that very day, and now she was already going to be sharing a room with Ash.
Serena's pretty face flushed bright red on the spot.
By the time she followed Ash into the room, she was so flustered she barely even remembered how she got there.
"I'm going to call home for a bit. Want to do the same, Serena?"
After setting his things down, Ash turned back toward Serena, who was still standing stiffly in place, and gave her a small smile.
"Don't be nervous. I'll sleep on the couch tonight. The bed's yours."
"How could that be okay?"
Noticing the strange look Ash gave her, Serena tightened her fists in panic and quickly tried to explain.
"...I mean, we can both sleep on the bed. We can put a blanket between us."
"Okay."
Ash did not think much of it and nodded right away.
He agreed... He actually agreed that easily...
Inviting a boy to share a bed...
What am I even saying?!
Serena was so embarrassed she also found herself looking forward to it a little, and the mix of feelings left her completely frazzled.
Thankfully, her attention was soon pulled away by Ash dialing the call.
In the corner of the lobby, Ash started a video call home.
Technically, his portable phone could do video calls too, but the screen was smaller, and old habits died hard, so he still preferred using the Pokémon Center's large-screen video phone when calling home.
He first gave Delia a quick update, letting her know he had arrived in Kalos safely.
Delia, meanwhile, had already noticed Serena in the corner of the screen, fists clenched, clearly fighting a war inside her own head.
The moment she realized this was a new candidate for daughter-in-law, the corners of her mouth immediately lifted.
Well done. That's my boy.
Delia warmly greeted Serena, and once she realized Serena was the little girl Ash had met at Professor Sycamore's summer camp, she personally stepped in to help things along.
"So it's you. I really remember you, you know. After that trip, Ash kept coming home saying things like how he wanted to marry you when he grew up."
"R... really?"
Sweet, earnest Serena instantly blushed scarlet, her face full of nervous hope.
'That's obviously not true. Even if I did think something like that, there's no way I would've gone around saying it out loud like some little kid.'
Ash definitely wanted to say something, but he also knew that exposing his mother's lie right now would be an awful choice.
So when Serena instinctively looked over at him for confirmation, he gave the tiniest nod.
That was not really a lie either.
After all, even if he had never actually said it, he really had thought that way.
And without question, that single nod only made Serena react even more strongly.
Her cheeks turned rosy, and she got so nervous she was nearly unable to speak.
By the time Serena finally managed to calm down enough to call her own family, the one being tested had become Ash instead.
Unlike Delia's warmth and obvious delight, Serena's mother, Grace, was much less happy when she saw Ash.
Her expression carried much more dissatisfaction than it had back when Ash had been traveling alone, when she had treated him with nothing but kindness.
Part of that was because, in this life, Ash and Serena had never really lost contact, so over time Grace had already realized her daughter had a teenage sweetheart. Without even meaning to, she had started treating Ash more like a future son-in-law, which naturally made her more demanding.
The other reason had everything to do with all the romantic gossip surrounding him.
Cynthia, Elesa, and even Kalos Champion Diantha, not to mention that Hoenn dance star and the Unova prodigy Rosa...
If they had just been a few pretty ordinary girls, Grace, as someone from Kalos, would not have cared much. On one hand, she had confidence in her daughter. On the other, she knew Serena's bond with Ash had lasted for more than ten years, and that was not something an ordinary person could shake.
But those women were on a completely different level.
Especially Cynthia, a woman every other woman had to look up to. Figure, looks, family background, strength, she dominated the field in every category. She was just too overwhelming.
Still, after seeing Serena constantly speaking up for Ash, Grace felt a wave of bitterness in her heart, but she also understood that making things hard for him was not going to change her daughter's mind.
So in the end, she let it go and put on a smile instead.
After asking Ash to take care of Serena, she pulled Serena aside and gave her a few extra reminders of her own.
Watching Grace smile as she said goodbye to both Serena and him before ending the call, Ash fell into thought.
So... did this count as passing his future mother-in-law's first round of approval?