Chapter 5: Elesa and Diantha

Ash's trip to Hollywood was quite fruitful. Not only did he see many different sights, but he also managed to catch Meowth, the ultimate cheat code. Ash's mother, Hanako, was delighted to welcome the talking Meowth as a new member of the family.

Later, under the covert protection of Team Rocket, Ash and his family boarded a cruise ship home. As Ash was leaving, two girls bid him farewell on the shore.

"Goodbye, Ash! I'll become the best actress!"

"Keep in touch! When I become a famous model, I'll definitely call you!"

Ash also said goodbye to these two girls who were slightly older than him.

"Big Sister Diantha, stop crying! Big Sister Elesa, make sure to eat properly!"

After saying goodbye, Ash turned to Meowth beside him and said, "For some reason, I feel like I have some impression of them."

"Really, meow? Boss, you just met them, meow. One is a crybaby, and the other fainted from excessive dieting. If you knew them, you'd definitely remember such obvious traits, meow?"

Hearing Meowth's analysis, Ash nodded and said, "You're right."

As for how Ash met Elesa and Diantha, it was quite simple. Diantha wanted to become an actress, so she came to take an audition.

However, the examiner rejected her, claiming she was too immature, which left her crying in a corner. Ash and Meowth, seeing Diantha crying like a mess, decided to be good Samaritans and comforted her.

Diantha took the opportunity to pour her heart out to Ash, her younger brother figure.

After hearing the reason for Diantha's rejection, Ash couldn't help but laugh inwardly. Too immature?

That's a load of nonsense! Ash then seriously asked about the requirements to become an actress. Diantha listed a bunch of criteria, none of which had anything to do with maturity.

Realizing this, Diantha understood that while she wanted to succeed through her own efforts, she didn't have to be naive. Using her family's influence, she quickly found out that the examiner wanted to push someone he knew into the role, which was why Diantha was rejected.

However, the examiner didn't expect that Diantha, who seemed like an innocent girl, actually had a powerful background. The examiner was anonymously reported, and the audition was held again. This time, Diantha easily passed, even though the examiner still claimed she was too immature.

As for Elesa, it was even simpler. She wanted to become a model, so she controlled her diet, which led to malnutrition and fainting.

Fortunately, Ash's family and Diantha found her in time, preventing any serious consequences.

After confirming that Elesa was suffering from malnutrition, Ash specially prepared a few nutritious meals using ingredients from Nurse Joy, which eventually helped Elesa recover. Nurse Joy, with Ash's permission, reported the nutritional meal plan.

As for the recipe, Ash didn't ask for a patent fee this time, only requesting a Chansey egg in return.

The Joy family readily agreed to Ash's condition. Although Chansey was almost monopolized by the Joy family, Ash was considered one of their own in a way, so it wasn't a problem.

After learning that Ash and his family had saved her, Elesa wanted to cover their travel expenses as a token of gratitude, but Ash refused, as his original intention was simply to help.

Later, Ash, wanting to go the extra mile, wrote down some nutritional meal plans for Elesa to prevent her from suffering from malnutrition again.

In short, Ash's medical and nutritional knowledge from his past life didn't go to waste!

After spending a few days together, Ash's family, Diantha, and Elesa finally had to part ways, but they had already exchanged contact information, so they would stay in touch.

Watching the cruise ship carrying Ash sail further away, Elesa lowered her hand.

"It's so strange. Even though I'm older than Ash, I always feel like he's the one taking care of me."

Hearing this, Diantha couldn't help but say, "That's not a feeling; it's the truth. You were so malnourished that Ash had to feed you."

Blushing at Diantha's remark, Elesa retorted, "Well, that's still better than being a crybaby who needed Ash's comfort to realize there was a problem!"

"You! How did you know that?!"

"Meowth told me."

"Ugh! Next time, I'm definitely going to give Meowth a beating!"

Just as Diantha decided to give Meowth a beating, Meowth, who was eating snacks with Pikachu on the cruise ship, suddenly shivered.

"What's wrong, Meowth?"

"I don't know, meow. I just have a bad feeling, meow..."

Seeing Meowth's reaction, Ash thought for a moment and said, "That might actually be true. Giovanni will probably be very excited to see you."

Thinking about how the research-obsessed Giovanni would react upon seeing Meowth, Ash silently mourned for Meowth.

He then handed Meowth some more dried fish and said, "Here, Meowth, eat up. Once we get back, Giovanni will probably keep you busy for a long time."

"..."