Ten minutes later, in the Pokemon Center's restaurant, several chefs stood frozen in place, staring at the busy woman who had taken over their kitchen.
"I knew this would happen!" Ash said helplessly, covering his face with one hand.
His mother was really quite something. Although she had asked for permission and paid for the ingredients, temporarily taking over someone else's kitchen like this wasn't something a normal person would do.
"Auntie hasn't changed one bit!" Misty and Brock couldn't help but laugh at the familiar scene, while Yellow watched Delia with a sense of longing. She seemed like such a wonderful, caring mother.
Yellow held Chuchu in her arms and glanced at Ash secretly, making mental notes of what foods he enjoyed.
One hour later, Delia called out cheerfully, "Alright, Ash! Everything here is something you like, so dig in!"
Within just an hour, Delia had prepared an entire table full of delicious dishes. Many nearby Trainers looked on with obvious envy. While the Pokemon Center's food was perfectly decent, there was something special about a home-cooked meal prepared by one's own mother—something that Trainers who spent most of their time away from home rarely got to experience.
"Okay! Let's eat!" Ash didn't hesitate or stand on ceremony.
Although he still thought it was a bit much for his mother to commandeer the kitchen, when faced with such delicious food right in front of him, he couldn't resist.
Pikachu, Chuchu, Jigglypuff, and Togepi had all climbed onto the table and started eating on their own, helping themselves to the feast.
"Don't be shy, everyone! Please eat as much as you'd like!" Delia didn't serve herself anything. Instead, she rested her chin on her hand and smiled warmly at the group.
"Thank you so much! Then we'll start!" The three traveling companions said politely before they all began eating together.
Everyone enjoyed dinner together while chatting about their recent experiences. After a while, Ash excused himself from the table and headed to the lobby alone to check on Muk's condition.
Nurse Joy informed him that Muk had made a full recovery, so Ash retrieved his Pokemon. He had just finished putting the Poke Ball away and was turning around when he nearly bumped into Delia, who had walked up behind him. Ash glanced around the lobby and noticed that Brock and the others weren't anywhere in sight.
"Where did everyone go?" Ash asked.
"They're still in the restaurant!" Delia replied, but her expression had changed from her earlier cheerful demeanor. Now she was looking at Ash with a peculiar, knowing expression, her eyes slightly narrowed.
"What's wrong?" Seeing the look in his mother's eyes, Ash glanced down at himself in confusion, but couldn't find anything out of place.
"Be honest with me—what's going on with those two girls?" Delia put her hands on her hips and gave him a stern look that clearly said she expected the truth.
"What do you mean, 'what's going on'? You already know, don't you? You met Misty a long time ago, and I just told you about Yellow earlier." Ash responded, spreading his hands in genuine confusion.
"Is that really all there is to it?" Delia suddenly leaned forward, looking directly at Ash with a suspicious expression.
Facing his mother's intense scrutiny, even the talented Trainer who had dominated on the battlefield found himself instinctively taking a step back. No matter how skilled he was, he was still just a son standing before his mother.
"What... what else could there be?"
"Which one do you like—Misty or Yellow?" Upon hearing Ash's nervous response, Delia immediately changed her expression to one of mischievous curiosity.
Hearing this question, Ash finally understood what his mother was getting at, and he suddenly felt a headache coming on.
"Mom, where is your mind going? We're just traveling companions, that's all."
He did have some fondness for both Misty and Yellow, but they had become such close friends that having favorable feelings toward them was perfectly natural. He felt the same way about Green, too.
His attitude toward some of the other girls he'd met—like Giselle or others he wasn't as familiar with—was naturally quite different.
But Ash understood very clearly that this wasn't romantic love. As someone with an adult's soul and emotional maturity, he could sort out these feelings fairly well, though he couldn't predict how things might develop in the future.
"Really? I see..." Delia responded, then looked at Ash with that knowing gaze once again.
"Now... now what?"
"You haven't forgotten about that girl with the straw hat, have you?" After studying him for a moment, Delia asked with meaningful emphasis.
Ash suddenly froze at his mother's words. A figure from deep within his memories surfaced unbidden in his mind.
Uncharacteristically, his face turned red, and for a moment he felt like he couldn't breathe properly.
"I... I haven't forgotten anything..."
If Misty and the others could see him now, they would definitely be shocked. They had never seen Ash act like this before.
"Oh! Just as I thought—look at you blushing!" When Delia saw his reaction, she looked triumphant, as if she'd confirmed her suspicions.
"I'm not! I didn't... don't make things up!" Ash quickly tried to defend himself.
But internally, he was conflicted. To be honest, sometimes when he thought about it, he felt terrible about himself. After all, he had an adult's soul, yet he couldn't stop thinking about a seven-year-old girl he'd met years ago?
It felt wrong somehow, but when he asked himself why he felt this way, he couldn't come up with a good answer. There were plenty of wonderful girls around him now.
Misty, Yellow, and Green were all kind and beautiful, and because of his status as someone who had knowledge from another world, he knew they would all grow up to be remarkable women. Yet none of them gave him the same feeling he'd had when he first met Serena.
Could it be because they were all characters from an anime or game? Because he was someone from another world, did he subconsciously only see them as fictional characters?
Was Serena different because she was someone he hadn't known about before arriving in this world, which made his feelings for her more genuine and real?
Ding dong!
"The match categories for tomorrow's competition have been determined. All Trainers who have advanced to the next round, please come to the lobby to check your assignments as soon as possible!"
Just as Delia was about to press him further, the announcement system suddenly chimed with background music, followed by an important message.
"I... I... I need to go check who my next opponent is!" Hearing the announcement, Ash felt like he'd been saved by divine intervention.
He quickly made his escape before his mother could continue her interrogation.
"Oh my... this boy seems to be a bit too popular with girls! What should I do? How troubling!" Watching Ash flee, Delia stood there alone, pretending to be concerned but clearly enjoying the situation.
Author's Note: Just a reminder—the protagonist in this story traveled to the Pokemon world before the XY series began, so from his perspective, he doesn't know anything about Serena's storyline. This means he didn't know Serena existed beforehand. I set it up this way because I dislike stories where characters use their knowledge just to pursue people with ulterior motives rather than genuine feelings. That's why it was designed this way from the beginning.