An encounter in Pallet Town.

After a few more hours of walking, Ash and Serena were finally able to see the first houses of Pallet Town peek out over the hilly landscape. Slightly picking up their pace on the final stretch, they soon reached the town and headed towards Professor Oak's lab. The building with its signature windmill was located on the outskirts of the town, but Ash and her maid quickly made their way to their destination and headed inside to greet the professor and pick up Pikachu.

About one more hour had passed when the two were headed back out of the lab. After reuniting with her Pikachu, Ash decided that she would return it to its Pokéball for the time being before talking to the professor about his research. As expected, Professor Oak had not at all been shocked by the maid accompanying Ash, giving final confirmation to her assumption that reality as well as everyone's memories had been altered accordingly. Now on their way back into town, Ash decided that they should make a quick stop at the Pokémon-Center before going to visit Ash's mother.

Once inside the building, the two handed their Pokémon over to Nurse Joy for a quick check-up. As they waited for the check-up to finish, Ash noticed someone sitting over in the café area of the lobby, drinking a cup of coffee. She was dressed in a skin-tight red and black shirt with a white collar and cuffs as well as tight grey pants, a brown and grey belt and long brown boots. Additionally, her light brown hair was mostly collected, except for a few curly tufts that protruded from her head. Ash immediately recognized the woman as Alexa, a journalist from Kalos who had accompanied her to the region when she was about to begin her journey there.

As Alexa hadn't yet noticed the two waiting in the lobby, Ash saw this as a perfect opportunity to use the remote on someone else other than Serena. She could turn Alexa into another maid of hers, provding her with twice the service she was already getting with only Serena, or she could try out one of the other buttons with yet unknown effects. However, she could also simply leave reality unchanged for the moment and go greet the female reporter. This way, she could find out how differently her Kalos journey started in this reality compared to the one she remembered.