Ash's trip to Hollywood could be described as incredibly fruitful. Not only did he experience new sights, but he also recruited his greatest cheat code, Meowth. As for a Meowth that could speak human language, Ash's mother, Delia, happily welcomed the new family member. Shortly after, under the covert protection of Team Rocket, the Ketchum family boarded a cruise ship bound for home. As Ash departed, two girls stood on the shore to wave him goodbye.
"Goodbye, Ash! I'm going to become the greatest actress ever!"
"Keep in touch! Once I become a famous model, I'll definitely give you a call!"
Ash waved back at the two girls, both of whom were slightly older than him.
"Diantha, stop being such a crybaby! Elesa, keep a balanced diet!"
After the farewells, Ash turned to Meowth and said, "I don't know why, but I feel like I have some sort of impression of them."
"No way, Boss, meow? You clearly just met them, meow. One's a crybaby and the other fainted from starvation because of a crash diet. If you knew people that were distinctive, you'd definitely remember them, meow!"
Hearing Meowth's analysis, Ash nodded. "True."
The story of how he met Elesa and Diantha was quite simple. Diantha wanted to be an actress and had come for an audition, only to be rejected by an examiner who claimed she was too green. She ended up crying in a corner. Ash and Meowth, seeing Diantha crying like a lost kitten, approached to comfort her out of the goodness of their hearts. Diantha took the opportunity to vent her frustrations to her little brother Ash.
When Ash heard the reason for her rejection, he scoffed internally. Too green? Who are they kidding? He asked her about the specific requirements for the role. As Diantha listed them, she realized none of the criteria mentioned maturity. She was hardworking, but she wasn't naive. Using her family's influence, she quickly discovered the examiner was trying to push a personal connection into the spot. The examiner was soon reported anonymously, the audition was held again, and this time Diantha passed with ease—even if the new examiner still called her green.
Elesa's case was even simpler. To become a model, she had been strictly controlling her diet, which led to malnutrition and a fainting spell. Luckily, Ash's family and Diantha were there to help.
After confirming it was malnutrition, Ash requested specific ingredients from a local Nurse Joy and prepared several nutritional meals that brought Elesa back to health. With Ash's consent, Nurse Joy reported these specialized recipes to her headquarters.
As for the patent fee this time, Ash didn't ask for money. He simply asked for a Chansey Egg.
Joy agreed immediately. While Chansey are virtually a monopoly of the Joys, Ash was practically one of their own now, so it wasn't an issue at all.
Once Elesa knew Ash had saved her, she offered to pay for his family's entire vacation, but Ash declined. His goal had simply been to help. To ensure she didn't fall ill again, he even wrote out a series of balanced meal plans for her.
In short, Ash's medical and nutritional knowledge from his past life was paying off big time!
After spending a few days playing together, the group finally had to part ways, though they had all exchanged contact info to stay in touch.
Watching the ship carry Ash further away, Elesa lowered her hand. "How strange. Even though we're older than Ash, I felt like he was the one taking care of us."
Diantha gave her a deadpan look. "That's not just a feeling, that's a fact. You were so malnourished he practically had to spoon-feed you."
Elesa blushed. "Still better than being a crybaby who needed a little kid to comfort her before realizing she was being cheated!"
"You—! How do you know about that?!"
"Meowth told me."
"That cat! Next time I see him, I'm definitely going to give him a piece of my mind!"
Just as Diantha was resolving to pummel the cat, Meowth, who was eating snacks with Pichu on the ship, suddenly shivered. "What's wrong, Meowth?"
"I don't know, meow... I just have a really bad feeling, meow..."
Ash thought about it and said, "It's probably justified. Professor Oak is going to be... very surprised to see you."
Thinking of the research-obsessed Professor Oak, Ash felt a moment of silence for Meowth. He handed over some extra dried fish. "Here, Meowth, eat up. Once we get back, the Professor is probably going to be poking and prodding you for a long time."
"..."