Ralts.
"Ralts? And there are two of them?" Ash looked at Mewtwo in confusion. "Since when did you have a fling in Kalos?"
Mewtwo: "?"
If you wanted powerful psychic abilities, then exceptional brain development was practically a requirement.
And Mewtwo was a Psychic-type Legendary.
It understood Ash's joke almost instantly.
Dark purple-black energy suddenly gathered at Mewtwo's fingertips, faintly taking the shape of a sphere.
Ash knew Mewtwo was only playing along with the joke and was not actually going to throw the Shadow Ball.
Even so, just looking at the casually formed Shadow Ball was enough to make Ash, a humanoid Pokémon who could shape Aura Sphere by hand, feel a chill run through him.
At the same time, not a trace of that pressure reached Serena, even though she was in the same room.
Mewtwo's power, and its precise control over energy, were obvious.
"So, how did things turn out with that guy?"
Even though Mewtwo knew Ash was changing the subject, it did not press the matter and simply answered through telepathy.
"Officer Jenny was asleep. I confiscated the poacher's Poké Balls and weapons and left them at the front desk. Then I threw the poacher straight into a jail cell at the police station."
Ash instantly pictured Officer Jenny walking in the next morning, finding several Poké Balls at the front desk and a complete stranger in a cell, then standing there in total confusion.
Before leaving on the journey tomorrow, he should probably remember to tell her about it.
Otherwise, an uninformed Officer Jenny might just let the guy go.
With the poacher dealt with, Ash turned his attention back to the new arrivals.
"So what about these two little ones? Can you tell me what happened?"
"Their mother found a new mate and was going to abandon them," Mewtwo replied. "I remembered you seemed to watch Gardevoir videos all the time, so I brought them back for you while I was at it."
"What kind of videos?"
Serena's sleepy, wavering voice drifted over.
She struggled into a sitting position, revealing a little moonlight-pale skin above the blanket as she looked at Ash with bleary eyes.
"Videos of Miss Diantha battling with Gardevoir."
Ash kept a perfectly straight face as he explained, then gently pulled the blanket higher for Serena so she would not accidentally expose herself.
That woke her up a little more.
As her mind slowly cleared, Serena looked ahead and saw Mewtwo standing there, with two tiny little Ralts at its sides.
It looked exactly like a father leading around two daughters.
"Huh? Since when did Mewtwo have two daughters? They're so cute!"
Mewtwo: "?"
It was one thing when Ash joked around with it, but Mewtwo was not especially close to Serena.
So all it could do was shift its irritation onto Ash, shooting him a flat look.
That only made Ash grin.
A moment later, the moving air and the chill on her back and chest finally made Serena fully wake up.
Once she saw the scene clearly, and remembered the nonsense she had just blurted out while half asleep, she immediately flopped back down in embarrassment and covered both sides of her face with her hands, wishing she could crawl into a crack in the floor.
What was she even saying just now?!
Still...
"Why are there two Ralts in the room? And one of them is Shiny!"
Serena's instinctive love of beautiful things made her almost throw off the blanket and rush over.
But reason won out in the end.
She slipped her clothes back on under the blanket first, then finally got up.
By then, Ash had already finished dressing too.
He stood up and switched on the light, and the white glow instantly flooded the room, turning it bright as day.
Mewtwo and the two tiny newcomers came fully into view.
The sudden change in lighting did not mean much to Mewtwo or Pikachu, who were both used to human lamps.
But to two wild little Ralts, it was absolutely terrifying.
The pair moved in perfect sync, stretching out their little arms and clinging tightly to Mewtwo's legs in fear.
"Don't be scared."
Ash's voice was gentle as he comforted them.
Then he explained to Serena, "Mewtwo cleaned up the poacher and rescued them along the way."
Serena walked over softly, crouching down with both hands on her smooth white knees. She gave them the kindest smile she could manage and extended a hand.
"Hi. I'm Serena, and he's Ash."
The two little ones looked up at Mewtwo. Seeing that it did not react, and because the Ralts line could sense the emotions of other living beings through the horn on their heads and resonate with them, they gradually grew braver after feeling the warmth and kindness in Serena and Ash's hearts.
Slowly, cautiously, they each reached out and shook Serena's hand.
Ash did the same, even taking the chance to gently pat both of them on the head.
As the atmosphere relaxed, the two little ones also began showing their different personalities.
The normal green one was much better behaved. It let Serena pick it up and carry it back to the bed without making any fuss.
The blue Shiny Ralts, on the other hand, was much more playful.
In a flash, it Teleported onto Ash's head and knelt there, its white skirt draping over his hair like a hat.
It had apparently decided to cosplay as one.
No matter how much Ash leaned to the side, it refused to come down.
And when it noticed Ash seemed anxious, the little rascal happily lifted one tiny white hand to cover its mouth, a mischievous smile curling at its lips.
Of course, Ash was not really trying to pull it off his head.
He was just using the chance to play with the two little ones and build a bond with them.
Once he was sure they would not run away even without Mewtwo around, Ash recalled Mewtwo.
Then he checked the two little ones' status screens.
Pokémon: Shiny Ralts (♀)
[Type]: Psychic / Fairy
[Level]: Lv. 11
[Moves]: Synchronoise, Misty Terrain, Mystical Fire, Growl, Confusion, Double Team, Teleport, Disarming Voice
[Base Stats]: Total 198, HP 28, Attack 25, Defense 25, Sp. Atk 45, Sp. Def 35, Speed 40
[Type]: Psychic / Fairy
[Level]: Lv. 9
[Moves]: Synchronoise, Mystical Fire, Growl, Confusion, Double Team, Teleport
IVs: 4V, Attack 7, Defense 21
[Base Stats]: Total 198
...
Both little ones were female, and both had Telepathy.
The main differences were their coloring and their individual values.
The Shiny Ralts sitting on Ash's head was obviously the more perfect one.
Perfect IVs still had their own downside, but the difference in raw talent was obvious.
Compared to the other 4V Ralts, it had one extra inherited move, Misty Terrain, and it was two levels higher.
The good news was that even though 4V was not as perfect as 6V, it was still a one-in-ten-thousand kind of talent.
With proper training, reaching Elite Four level within five years was not impossible.
Ash lowered his gaze further.
[Can Be Enhanced]
Ability: Telepathy I (Reads its ally's attacks and avoids damage from those moves; 30% chance to read the enemy's attack and evade it)
[Enhancement Task]: Defeat James's Inkay.
A chance to read the enemy's attack and dodge it...
That effect alone was already unbelievably strong, almost enough to let a Pokémon stand undefeated.
And on a Psychic-type like Ralts, which could fly and manipulate objects with psychic power, it was even more absurd.
It could dodge an opponent's move while launching a targeted counterattack from the air at the same time.
The more Ash thought about it, the more it felt like enhanced Telepathy had been custom-made for Psychic-types.
As for the enhancement task...
You could only say it was destiny working both ways.
Ash turned toward the other Ralts, the one Serena was coaxing into showing off Mystical Fire, nearly setting the bed on fire in the process.
The system had given that one the exact same enhancement task too, defeat James's Inkay.
That definitely made things easier.
When the time came, they could just deliver a righteous two-on-one beatdown.