On the way to Saffron City, Ash and his group decided to rest in a small town to help Brock pull himself together. As for why they needed to help Brock pull himself together?
"Ash, tell me, why didn't I catch a Butterfree? I clearly could have used a Butterfree to get close to the beautiful older ladies right now."
"Oh? Don't you prefer Rock-types?"
"But just now, I already saw countless beautiful ladies releasing their Butterfree!"
Seeing Brock's spirit sinking lower and lower, Ash could only say, "Look on the bright side..."
"It's all your fault! Ash, don't you realize that the reason I'm constantly taking emotional damage is because of you?! Miss Elesa! Miss Cynthia! Lady Rin... I don't even know what to say about this one, but don't you think you have a bit too many fiancées?!"
Looking at Brock's righteous indignation, Ash patted his shoulder and said, "I'm a bad guy, so I choose to build a harem. Besides, I can afford to support them."
"Waaaaaahhhhh!!!!"
Watching Brock run off in tears, Ash figured that counted as comforting him, right...? But thinking back to the flock of Butterfree they saved today, there was actually a shiny one among them. That was really impressive. You have to know, shiny Pokémon are incredibly rare. The only other shiny Ash had ever seen, aside from that pink Butterfree, was Steven's shiny Metagross.
At night, just as Ash was about to discuss the 'meaning of life'—or rather, 'making life'—with Elesa, her phone rang. Afterward, Elesa could only look at Ash helplessly and say, "I'm sorry, a friend of mine suddenly arrived. I need to go pick her up. I don't know what it's about, but it wouldn't be right to leave her waiting."
"Elesa, do you really have the heart to leave me suffering like this..." Ash wanted to cry but had no tears. His internal fire was already stoked, but his wife suddenly had something to do!
"Sorry about that. Let's take care of it another way first."
Subsequently, a thoroughly displeased Ash accompanied Elesa to pick up Lusamine and her group. Along the entire way, Lusamine's gaze never left Ash. Meanwhile, Lillie and Gladion looked at Ash curiously—this was the father their mother had spoken of.
Upon arriving at the Los Pollos Hermanos restaurant, Brock was about to act up again upon seeing Lusamine, but he was swiftly subdued by the Muscle Bros who had been waiting on standby, and dragged off to the Muscle Bros Fitness Paradise to play.
Meanwhile, Ash was cooking in the kitchen with a look of extreme displeasure.
"Damn it. Who does that woman think she is? If it weren't for Elesa, I'd splash a glass of juice right in her face!"
The chefs trembled in fear as they watched their boss cooking with such an aura of deep resentment.
"She wants a taste of Elesa's man's cooking? I don't buy it. But since you want a taste, I'll give you more than you can handle!"
Then, accompanied by a sinister smile, Ash dumped countless special spices into the wok.
"Hehehe, I hope you like it. This is the ultra-concentrated version meant only for people with anorexia! Hahahaha!!!"
After his maniacal laughter subsided, Ash made sure his expression was no longer twisted before carrying out three portions of food. Even though Lusamine was annoying, her two adopted children were innocent, and Ash wasn't about to mess with them.
"Here you go. You must be tired from the journey, eat up while it's hot. This is yours, Miss Lusamine. This is yours, Lillie. And this is yours, Gladion."
"Thank you," The three replied in unison.
When Lusamine, Lillie, and Gladion ate their respective portions, they all had completely different reactions. Lillie had a look of pure bliss. Gladion looked like he was savoring the aftertaste. However, Lusamine was shedding tears. What horrified Ash even more was that Lusamine was actually crying while frantically shoveling the food into her mouth.
'What kind of taste buds do you have?! I made the ultra-concentrated version for fuck sake!!!' Ash didn't even care if Elesa was going to pinch him for swearing. Right now, he was far more curious about Lusamine's sense of taste. This was too damn terrifying, right?! How could anyone stomach that ultra-concentrated version?
However, after finishing her meal, Lusamine looked up at Ash with tears streaming down her face and said, "It really is you. It's really you! ...!"
Hearing Lusamine, Ash froze. He immediately shielded Elesa, Misty, and Yellow behind him, even dropping into a defensive stance.
"Who exactly are you?! Wait! To be able to eat that kind of food... don't tell me..."
Looking at Lusamine, Ash thought of one possibility, but it felt way too melodramatic. However, Lusamine's next actions confirmed his suspicions.
"I finally found you! It really is you!" Lusamine had already thrown herself into Ash's embrace, crying her heart out.
Ash, feeling helpless, said, "Um... right now, I'm just Ash."
"Don't tell me you also...!" Lusamine realized a possibility.
"Yeah, that's right. After you died, I followed you right after..."
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! If it wasn't for me! If it wasn't for me!"
Seeing Lusamine like this, Ash gently patted her back to comfort her and said, "It's fine. That was my own choice."
"Um, Ash, could you explain a little?" Elesa was completely at a loss the entire time. After all, what were her best friend and her man talking about?
Ash gave Elesa and the others a helpless look and said, "Ah, about this... I guess I should explain a bit. My relationship with Lusamine... it involves my past life..."
Later, in a private room, Ash explained his past-life relationship with Lusamine. That's right, Lusamine also carried the memories of her past life. Her past incarnation was Ash's past-life lover who had passed away from an illness.
Ash also explained why he possessed so much knowledge regarding medicine and nutrition. It was entirely because of Lusamine's anorexia in her past life.
"So you're saying, in your past life, after Lusamine died, you died right alongside her? A lovers' suicide?" Elesa didn't have too extreme of a reaction after hearing this. After all, she had already dealt with the whole Lady Rin situation earlier. She was just thinking about a different aspect of it.
Ash replied speechlessly, "No, it was more like sudden death from exhaustion. After all, during those last few days, I don't think I slept at all while taking Lusamine around to all those different places."
Hearing Ash say this, Lusamine, who had been clinging tightly to his arm since earlier, whispered, "I'm sorry. It was all because of me..."
"Alright, like I said, that was my own choice. It's just that now..." Ash looked somewhat helplessly at Lillie and Gladion, then said earnestly, "I will try my best to be a good father."
"..."
Lillie and Gladion had no idea what to say either. Their adoptive mother's past-life lover was now effectively their adoptive father...?
Misty, on the other hand, was completely absorbed in the poignant and tragic love story between Ash and Lusamine.
"What a great love..."
"Still, Ash really is an absolutely wonderful man," Elesa said with a smile, hugging Ash's other arm.
"Even under those circumstances, you never gave up on me. It seems I didn't choose the wrong person." Lusamine wasn't the least bit angry about Elesa's actions. After all, the reborn Lusamine understood the circumstances of the Pokémon world. Coupled with the immense guilt from her past life—knowing Ash had literally worked himself to death for her—what right did she have to stop him from having a harem?
Therefore, Lusamine merely smiled and said, "That's right. You really found a treasure this time. Ash... is truly wonderful..."
Saying that, Lusamine closed her eyes and quietly leaned against Ash, savoring the feeling of regaining what she had lost. Lillie and Gladion didn't disturb their adoptive mother at this moment, because they could see the genuine, heartfelt smile of happiness on her face.
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