CHAPTER 128 – THE MYSTERY OF MOLLY'S MOTHER

In the previous chapter we see how Mallow invites our heroes to her restaurant to try the food she was so proud of, however, first they would have a diving class where Ash taught them several things about the Pokémon of the area, right after this our heroes go to restaurant which are received by Malow's mother who seems to know Molly and takes Ash and to Mallow to have a conversation in a more private place.

...

With Ash.

"What's wrong mom, why so mysterious?" - asked Mallow confused.

"I'm sorry to be rude, ma'am but I'd also like to know how you know Molly" - I nodded.

"Don't call me ma'am, you can call me Laura" – Laura said with a smile.

"It's okay Laura" – I nodded.

"Well, now answer me something, are you Delia Ketchum's son?" – Laura asked.

"Yes, I am his son, do you know each other?" – I nodded.

"Yes, sometimes we used to go out together when we visited Pallet Town with Eris" – Laura nodded.

"Who is Eris?" - asked Mallow.

"It's the name of Molly's biological mother" - I replied.

"Indeed, which makes me wonder, how is it possible that you have the last name Hale and Molly the last name Ketchum, can you answer me that question if you are so kind?" – Laura asked.

"My mother and Molly's father got married several months ago, but If i'm not remember wrong... It's getting closer to the year" - I said.

"That can't be, what happened to Eris then? The last time I saw her both Spencer and she were very much in love and I know Spencer very well, it is impossible for him to do anything wrong and vice versa" - Laura said surprised.

"Molly's mother died three years ago in a rock collapse while she was exploring some ruins" - I replied somewhat sadly.

Because of that landslide a poor 6-year-old girl lost her mother, the only good thing about all this is that at least she was able to find a new family that loves her.

"It can't be... wait, how long ago did you say she died?" – Laura asked hurriedly.

"About 3 years" – I said.

"Do you know what she was exploring, what ruins and where?" - she asked.

"Spencer told me before but If i'm not remember wrong, I was exploring some ruins that had something to do with a Pokémon called Unown in Johto Region" - I said.

I think it was that.

"I imagined it but now that you say that it is impossible for her to died there, besides the ruins did not only talk about the Unown" – said Laura.

"What do you mean, Mom?" - asked Mallow confused.

"The ruins had a writing about the 4 calamities of the Paldea region" – said Laura.

"The 4 calamities of the Paldea region, what's this?" – Mallow asked confused.

"It can't be, Why some ruins in Jotho talked about the 4 calamities?, the 4 calamities are from Paldea Region" – I asked surprised.

"We could not read everything it said, we could only decipher that they were related with the Unown, but nothing relevant" – Laura replied.

This is weird, I played Pokémon Scarlet and Violet and at no point is it mentioned that the 4 calamities are related with the Unown.

"I see..." – I said somewhat thoughtfully.

"Yes, but the most important thing here is that Eris did not die from a landslide" - Laura said.

"How do you know that?" - asked Mallow curiously.

"Easy, it is true that there was a landslide but we managed to escape from there, I was with her when everything happened, she did not die" – Laura said.

No way... they said she had died, does that mean Eris is still alive somewhere? But then, why didn't she go back to her family? Too many questions and all unanswered.

"I don't understand, if she didn't die there, why didn't she ever come back and show no signs of being alive?" – asked Mallow.

"I don't know... Eris said that she would no longer explore ruins because now she had a family and she could not afford to die, the experience of almost dying also changed her... well both, I explored many ruins with her in the past and only i decided to explore that ruins for the last time because Eris said it was something very interesting" - Laura explained.

"I don't understand, what happened next, don't you have any idea what could have happened her?" – I asked confused.

This is all pointless, if they both escaped, what happened to Molly's mother?

"The only thing I know is that she decided to stay in Johto one day longer than me before she come back with her family that was in Kanto to visit Pallet Town, she said that she had to solve some matters and that she could not accompany me, that's the last word I heard from her" – Laura said somewhat sadly.

It's all very strange, maybe the same thing happened to her as Spencer and she finds herself trapped in the world of Unown? Anyway we'll find out later, we don't have any clues other than the ruins that are now under rubble.

"Don't worry, we'll eventually find the truth, I'm sure" - I said.

"I don't understand, why are you so sure about it?" – Laura asked in surprise.

"It's just my intuition but for now and until we know more about her, i won't tell Molly anything of this, she has already suffered a lot and I won't let anything or anyone ruin her current happiness" - I said seriously.

"Take for granted, I won't mention anything to Molly and play with her as much as I can!" - said Mallow with a smile.

"I know Molly can't find out about this for now but after all Eris is her biological mother, we can't let her forget her..." – Laura said somewhat sadly.

"Molly has never forgotten her mother, although she was with her for a short time she remembers many things about her, what I do not want is to remind her of her misfortune, I beg you not to mention it ... at least until we know what really happened to her" - I said seriously.

Laura, Mallow's mother looked at me intently for a few seconds and then sighed.

"You're right, okay, I won't say anything at all, I'll let you do it, as your new family only you and your parents have the right to say something like that but if you need help you know where to find me" - Laura said.

"Thank you" – I said gratefully.

"Well, let's move on to more lighthearted topics at once, I'm sick of so much tension!" – Mallow said suddenly.

"Haha, okay, let's go eat, i'll make some delicious dishes for your friends and Pokémon, what does Molly like? I'll bring a drink to her first to cover up" - Laura said.

"He's probably already drunk one, technically I shouldn't let her drink anymore... But I will make an exception, she loves the chocolate milkshake and for the food... she eats everything but what she likes most is pasta" – I said.

"Well, then sit down and I'll take care of preparing everything" - Laura said.

"No, I will, I promised my friends that today they will taste my food, so today you will be my helper, mom!" – said Mallow.

"Hahaha, okay, for today I'll be your helper" – Laura nodded with a smile.

"Then I say goodbye for the time being, I'll go with them, Molly must be impatient without me at her side" - I said.

"Before you leave I'll tell you one thing" - Laura said.

Confused, I looked at her.

"Now I'm curious to know" – I said calmly.

"I just want to say take care of my daughter, she's a bit clumsy and clueless but she's a good girl" - Laura said.

"What are you saying mom?!" - exclaimed Mallow blushing.

"Haha, your mother is not stupid, you never acted so intimate with a man before, you don't need to hide it" - Laura said with a smile.

"I'll not talk with you anymore, I'm leaving!" - said Mallow as he went to the kitchen.

"Seriously, take care of her" - Laura said after Mallow left.

"How did you find out I like her?" – I asked confused.

"Just as I know you like others too, woman's intuition" - Laura replied.

I was enormously surprised at his words, do she really notice that much?

"Madam, I..." – I tried to say.

"Call me Laura or mom, whatever you want" - Laura said with a smile.

"Laura, you are right, I want to make the four of them my girlfriends, I liked them from the first moment I saw them, but it is complicated, I have other girlfriends and although they do not care, I do not know how these four will react " – I said.

I don't know why I'm telling all this to someone I just met but for some reason I feel like I can trust her.

"I'm a little surprised that you have more girlfriends and that they don't care that you have more girlfriends, I'm not going to lie to you" - Laura said.

I nodded at this waiting for her to tell me something else.

"But knowing my daughter, she will most likely accept it, this girl is like me, once she falls in love she will do everything she can to get that person and even if she knows that you have more women, she will most likely accept it as long as she can be with you, I am not sure about the others but I know Lana-chan's mother and I know that she is like me" - Laura said.

"Thank you so much Laura, I needed to tell this to someone" – I said somewhat more relieved.

The truth is that until now I had not told anyone my concerns but for some reason talking with Laura helped me a lot.

"You're welcome, now go, your friends will be waiting... by the way Mallow likes plants, get her a good bouquet of roses, they are her favorites" – Laura said while winking at me.

After thanking her again, I left with the intention of reuniting with my friends and family.

"If only your father had been as liberal as you, things would have been different..." – Laura murmured.

Obviously this was not heard by Ash but was a comment she made when Ash left.

...

Already on the table.

I sat down and saw that everyone was drinking their drinks.

"Brother, what happened, What took you so long?" - asked Molly as soon as she arrived.

"Oh, it's simple, it turns out that Mallow's mother is an acquaintance of Mom and she called me to ask me how we was" - I replied calmly.

"I see... but couldn't you have said it in front of everyone?" - she asked again.

"As it turns out... she wanted to ask me about your favorite dish and I told her you like pasta!" – I said with a smile.

"¡Yay, Pasta!" - said Molly.

After a while of waiting, the food arrived and we were able to enjoy a nice and delicious meal with everyone, as for Molly's mother I am sure that in the future we will find out something and solve this mystery once and for all.

...

With Team Rocket.

The most emblematic trio of this story had been planning for days how they would steal the Pokémon from Ash and the others.

After days of thinking they decided to make a trap on the ground, the plan was simple, they had dug a hole deep enough to stun them momentarily and in that time they would take advantage to steal their Pokémon that they always carry out of their Pokéball, namely, Pikachu, Popplio, Bounsweet, Togedemaru and sometimes Litten, as for the rest they knew that it was not good to be greedy and would come back for them another day.

"Are you sure it will works?" - asked Jessie.

"Of course it will works" - Meowth nodded.

"But how do you know they'll pass through here and not go the other way?" - asked James.

"I was watching them all week and I learned the path they always choose to come to this town" - Meowth replied.

"But how do you know that other people won't come?" - asked Jessie.

"I've figured it all out, no people pass through this area at this hour and we need to worry about if your simple plan will work as you told me" - Meowth said.

"Of course it will works" - Jessie said.

"Shhh, silence, here they come!" - said James.

They both looked and saw our heroes approaching so they stopped arguing and hid in a nearby bush waiting for their plan to work.