A surprise return to Kalos

Chapter 8

(8:00 AM)

A soft bright light shone through the window indicating another day in the Kalos region. Mallow and Lillie were already downstairs having breakfast. Lana woke up Ash with a kiss to the forehead. "Good morning sweetie." she spoke in a warm gentle tone. Ash got up and kissed her back. "Don't tell Harper and Sarah about this ok?" she asked shyly. "Really? They still tease you over me being your boyfriend? Just tell them the truth and get it over with." Ash said in shock. "Let's just have breakfast before this gets weirder. Oh, I also want to apologize in advance if I don't join the rest of you very often. I think you know why." Lana said embarrassed. "That's cool. I know why." Ash responded in understanding. The two hugged it out and headed downstairs for breakfast with Lillie and Mallow.

(Anistar City. 9:00 AM)

The journey to Anistar was a bit longer than what the group expected, even with Ash travelling there himself. The city didn't have a lot to do there. "Huh... I thought there was going to be mo... great mighty Necrozma what is that?!" Mallow called out before she lost interest in the city. "That my friends is the sundial. I used it to upgrade my mega ring during my adventure in Kalos long ago." Ash explained. "I had no idea what you just said. But I like it!" Lana called out in interest. The four got a good look at the sundial and Lillie made a note of this in her journal that she brought along since nobody packed a camera and Rotom was stuck back in Alola. Shortly before leaving the city, the group met the memory girl by the Pokemon center. She was able to tell the memories of the group with dead accuracy. These were past adventures in the region for Ash, Lusamine going nuts over the Ultra Beasts for Lillie, The passing of her mother for Mallow, and her time fishing for by the sea for hours on end for Lana. Shortly after, the group took a trip down to the beach on Route 8 to help Lana train for the swim meet.

(Route 8. 11:00 AM)

On the way to the beach, Mallow and Lillie had to make a "quick stop" back at Hotel Richissime. Ash asked why, but they wouldn't say. "We will be with you two later!" Mallow called out. Upon arriving, Lana got out of her clothes into her swimwear and started to swim more vigorously than usual. Ash got a stopwatch and helped her do some time trials and practice her speed as she would need it for the meet. Lana was swimming so fast, Ash could barely keep up with her. "C'mon now! Your competitors aren't going to destroy themselves!" Ash yelled in motivation. "Hey hot stuff! How's training going along?" a voice called out. Ash looked for who called out for him, then he noticed that Mallow and Lillie were standing there in their swimwear as well. Mallow was in a pose similar to a swimwear model blowing a kiss towards Ash while Lillie had a more shy pose blushing like crazy. "Oh... Hi girls." he said in shock. Mallow did a flirty walk towards the beach while Lillie followed along. Lana paused her intense training regiment to take a good look at Mallow who was looking over Ash's shoulder.

"Sorry, but I need Ash at the moment. He has to train me for the meet." Lana said. "Wow. Obsessive over training aren't you?!" Mallow said angrily. "You gotta learn to have some fun! I just found a photographer who would take our photo, and Ash is coming with us unless you want to join us." she said in a challenging tone. Lana rolled her eyes sarcastically "Ok... FINE!" she yelled. She got out of the water and was about to get her clothes on but Mallow stopped her. "HEY! We gotta look like we're enjoying the beach! Plus, how are we going to make the other guys jealous?" The four met the photographer. The photographer was a woman that looked oddly familiar to Ash, but he didn't know why. "Alright girls, get yourselves around your boyfriend." she said. Lillie got behind Ash and made a heart with her fingers and placed it around his neck, Mallow grabbed Ash's right arm and blew a kiss to the camera, Lana leaned up against Ash's body on his other side. "Alright! 1... 2....3!!" The photo developed and the four looked at it. "Aww... that's perfect. Can we get more copies?" Lillie asked. The photographer obliged and gave extra copies to her. "Now we can resume training Lana." Ash said calmly. Lillie gave Ash the pictures and he headed back to the hotel to drop them off, but on the way, he bought frames to keep the photos safe. For the rest of the day, training went well for Lana. "I feel more prepared for the meet tomorrow. I wish Ash trained me, but he wanted to keep our memories of our trip safe." Lana said sadly. "Hey. Ash did what he could didn't he?" Lillie asked. Lana nodded in understanding.

(Hotel Richissime Pool. 5:00 PM)

This time, Lana decided didn't swim tonight as she did that for hours today alone. She did decide to relax next to Ash. "So. Are you more ready for tomorrow?" he asked Lana. "Yes. While you were gone, I got some speed training with Mallow and Lillie. You could probably guess, but I obliterated them! Hee hee!" Lana said confidently. "Yeah whatever little miss overconfident!" Mallow called out to Lana. Ash laughed a bit at her. Shortly afterwards, Ash and Lana went upstairs to unwind for a bit. "Don't spend all night down here!" Lana called out to Lillie. "Don't worry! We never do." she called back.

(Room 5-4. 6:00 PM)

Lana turned on the hot tub and Ash joined her. Lana blushed upon asking Ash something she thought she wouldn't ask. "Hey Ash. If Harper and Sarah question me about this, what should I tell them? I don't want to embarrass myself?" "Just tell them the truth. Make it quick and simple" He responded. Lana giggled slightly upon kissing Ash on the lips, blushing even harder as she did. Shortly after, Lana got out and went to bed early. It was her turn to be with Ash for the night. He sat next to her as they waited for Mallow and Lillie who got up soon after. The two of them started to doze off themselves as the moon shone a pleasant light into the room. "Hey Ash." Mallow asked. "You still have the pictures right?" "Yes. I put them in your suitcases. They're framed too!" Ash answered. "Thank you Ash!" Lillie said to him. Shortly afterwards, the two other girls talked to each other a bit. All the while Ash was was just helping Lana get some sleep for the big meet despite the fact that it wasn't happening until 6 PM. "Huh... why so late? Mallow and Lillie's events were during the day. Well there are other swim meets that day, and Lana's must be later." Ash thought to himself before eventually falling asleep himself. A soft light from the Kalos moon shone into the room once again helping the four get some good sleep for the day ahead of them.