Chapter 284: Come On, Guess Which One Is Your Real Mom?

The scene changed again.

Following the guidance of the three marks, Cynthia and Hina passed through one dense stretch of forest after another before finally stopping at the edge of a small town.

Arrowroot Town.

The two continued following the signal through the center of town, turned into a cobblestone alley, and eventually stopped in front of an impressive private villa.

Cynthia walked up to the entrance and pressed the doorbell.

The door was opened by a woman wearing a dark-blue dress and a white apron.

"Champion Cynthia?!"

The moment Freesia saw Cynthia, obvious surprise entered her voice, though she quickly regained her composure.

"What brings you here? Is there some official League business—"

"Not official business."

Cynthia waved one hand.

"We have something we’d like to ask the owner of this villa. Would now be a convenient time?"

"Of course. Please, come in."

Freesia stepped aside and gave them a slight bow.

"I’m Her Highness’s maid, Freesia. Please follow me."

After passing through two corridors, Freesia pushed open a wooden door carved with golden roses.

"Your Highness, you have visitors."

The moment Hina saw the girl standing in the living room—

Her brain completely stopped working for several seconds.

It wasn’t because of the girl’s extravagant clothing.

It was because of her face.

She looked exactly like Mom Dawn.

[VIP Chat Group]

[Zoey]: Th-That’s Dawn, isn’t it?

[Dawn]: That’s not me! That’s Salvia! She’s a friend I met in Arrowroot Town back when I was traveling!

[Ash]: Oh, I remember now! When Dawn, Brock, and I were in Arrowroot Town, Dawn even switched identities with her!

[Brock]: Mm. Even after seeing them together in person, it’s still astonishing. I never would’ve imagined two unrelated people could look this similar.

[Princess Salvia]: Perhaps Dawn and I were simply destined to meet.

[Valerie]: I genuinely can’t tell the difference. Are you absolutely certain the two of you aren’t twins?

[Johanna]: Of course not. Dawn is an only child.

[Volkner]: I have a very serious question now... could Asher ever mistake them for each other? Salvia and Dawn look so similar that if Asher happened to turn a corner one day, mistook Miss Salvia for Dawn, and then...

[Kenny]: INVESTIGATE HIM! THIS REQUIRES A THOROUGH INVESTIGATION! @Asher, you wouldn’t do anything that would betray Dawn, right?!

[Asher]: You can put a hundred minds at ease. My feelings for my wife are true enough for Arceus to bear witness. Even if a hundred women who looked exactly like her stood in front of me, I’d recognize my wife at a glance.

[Dawn]: ...(??•?ω?•??)

[Steven]: That’s Brother Asher for you. Even a Pokédex would need to spin its loading icon twice before giving an answer, but Brother Asher doesn’t even need to think. He opens his mouth and the perfect answer comes straight out.

[Daisy]: Oh my, I’m giving my brother-in-law full marks for that answer. Misty, you should learn from him. Stop being so tsundere all the time, and maybe you can help Raina move up the rankings a little~

[Misty]: How am I tsundere?! I’m genuinely good to hubby too, okay?!

[Violet]: See? There she goes again.

[Misty]: ...

The video continued playing.

Princess Salvia lifted the hem of her skirt slightly as she approached and gave them an elegant curtsy.

"I am Salvia. Champion Cynthia, I’ve heard a great deal about you."

After finishing the greeting, Salvia raised her head.

Seeing the surprised expressions on both of their faces, she tilted her head slightly.

"Is something the matter?"

Before either Hina or Cynthia could answer—

An energetic voice came from the staircase.

"Hubby, hubby! Look at this one! What do you think? Doesn’t it look amazing?!"

"Salvia said she has tons of limited-edition dresses and told me I could pick whatever I wanted! I tried on three and I love all of them!"

"Which one do you think I should wear to the Grand Festival?"

Accompanied by that machine-gun burst of words, Dawn came bounding down the stairs.

She was wearing a dark-blue dress almost identical to Salvia’s.

Even her hair had been styled into the same princess-like updo.

Walking down behind her was Asher.

He wore a dark-gray shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and carried a steaming cup of coffee in one hand.

Hina’s brain crashed for the second time.

She looked at Salvia.

Then at Dawn.

Two identical-looking "Moms."

Wearing almost identical dresses.

Standing in the same living room.

The only difference was that the instant Dawn saw her, her eyes lit up.

"Hina! Why are you here?!"

Cynthia rubbed her temple with one hand.

Apparently, even she needed a moment to process what she was looking at.

Salvia lightly tapped her folded fan against her palm before turning toward Dawn.

"Dawn, who is this?"

"Ah! I forgot to introduce you!"

Dawn ran over to Hina, threw an arm around her daughter’s shoulders, and nudged her half a step forward.

"The daughter I told you about before—Hina!"

"What do you think? She’s super cute, right?!"

Asher leisurely made his way down the rest of the stairs.

Then he reached out and ruffled Hina’s hair.

"Yo, kiddo."

"Aren’t you supposed to be traveling around competing in Pokémon Contests?"

"What are you doing all the way out here in Arrowroot Town?"

Only after Asher asked did Hina finally recover from her mental shutdown.

She explained everything that had happened over the past few days.

"Ah, I see."

Asher took a sip of coffee.

"So all three little mushrooms chose you, huh."

Hina tilted her head.

"Um... Dad, why are you and Mom here?"

"We’re helping the League deal with the Darkrai situation."

Asher walked over and stopped beside Dawn.

"Your mom absolutely insisted on coming with me, so I had no choice but to bring her along."

Dawn planted both hands on her hips.

"Hehe! Darkrai is my Pokémon now!"

"How about that? Isn’t your mom amazing?!"

Asher set his cup down on a nearby table.

"Anyway, the Darkrai problem has been dealt with."

"As for what’s left..."

"Based on my assessment, there’s a high chance Cresselia is involved."

"This has something to do with Cresselia too?"

Cynthia folded her arms, her expression growing more serious.

"Yeah."

Asher nodded.

"Otherwise, I wouldn’t have come personally."

Hina was just about to say that she wanted to come too—

When Dawn’s voice interrupted her train of thought again.

"Hiiiinaaaa~~"

Hina instinctively turned around.

Then her entire body froze.

Dawn and Salvia were standing side by side in the middle of the living room.

They wore identical dark-blue dresses.

Their hair was styled in identical princess updos.

They even had identical radiant smiles on their faces.

Their heights were exactly the same.

Their facial features looked as though they’d been carved from the same mold.

Even their poses matched, both standing with their hands gently folded over the front of their skirts.

Then—

Both of them extended a hand toward Hina at the exact same time.

"Come on."

"Guess which one is your real mom?"

At that moment—Hina’s brain completely crashed.