"Cal," Ash said, "Hey Cal, get up."

Cal groaned and rolled on his side, covering his head with his sheets. "Shhh. Five more minutes."

Ash threw a pillow at Cal, hitting him square in his head. "Get up. The Lieutenant wants to see us."

Cal poked his head out from under his covers. "All of us, or just us two?"

"All of us."

Cal groaned again, "Fine." He pulled down his covers and rolled out of bed. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes he asked what time it was.

Ash was quite for a second as he looked at the digital clock on his nightstand. "It's 5:15 in the morning," he said with mild indifference at the time.

Cal on the other hand, was rather peeved with being woke up so early. "The heck man, what's with the early wake up!"

"The lieutenant said he wanted to speak with us," Ash repeated.

"Yeah yeah, I know." He stood up and grabbed some clothes from his bag. "Lemme put some clothes on, I'll be down in a minute."

Ash nodded and left Cal to get dressed. As he slipped into his day clothes, Cals mind wandered to the Pokémon from last night. He couldn't get them out of his head, there was so much mystery wrapped around them. Where'd they come from? Did they have trainers? How did they fall into the hands of the poachers? But the biggest and most important question to Cal, was what would happen to them.

He knew they would be well taken care of now, but where would they live? Who would watch over them? Would they be together or would they be separated? All these questions pestered Cal's thoughts, burrowing themselves into his subconscious, as he descended to the lodge's main lobby. Upon reaching the room he found his friends, along with the three trainers they'd met yesterday, seated around a slightly husky man dressed in ranger apparel; which consisted of a red beret, a red denim jacket with matching pants, black gloves, and black hiking shoes. Everyone, save Ash and the Lieutenant, looked as if they'd just rolled out of bed, which given the time was very likely.

Cal sat down between Dena and Ash, and asked what everyone else was wondering. "Lieutenant, what's so important that we had to wake before the sun?"

The Lieutenant raised an eyebrow at the boldness of Cal's question, but made nothing of it. Instead he explained to them why he had summoned them. "As I'm sure you're all aware, last night we took two known poachers into custody... Or perhaps not," he said in response to the active head turning among the group. "Regardless, these poachers were a part of a much larger organization that doesn't take kindly to interference in their practice. This station has already interfered substantially in their business, and was likely a target of their retribution. But with the capture of two of their members, retaliation is a certainty.

"That is why we're evacuating the area of all civilians/non essential personnel, and bringing in special operatives to handle the situation. You, along with a number of staff members, will be required to leave the premises by 0'800 hours. We recommend that you head to either Petalburg city or catch the ferry to Dewford town. The gym leaders there have been informed of the situation and are willing to provide protection, if you feel like you might be targeted by this group." Cal noticed the Lieutenant glanced towards him and Dena when he said the part about the gym leaders.

"If you have any questions," he continued, "please speak with Nancy as I-" Nancy suddenly barged into the room- "will be preoccupied. Yes Nancy, is there something I can help you with?"

Nancy frantically began explaining her predicament to the Lieutenant, but she was speaking too fast for him to understand, and instead handed him some paperwork as an explanation. He briefly read the paper before frowning and looking at the group.

"We were originally going to hand off the Pokémon the poachers stole to Professor Birch, so he could distribute them to new trainers." The Lieutenant rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration, "However, it would appear he has run into some trouble along the way, and won't be able to retrieve the Pokémon for at least another day. We don't have the time to wait for him to get here, so I have a proposition for you lot. If you and the Pokémon can agree to travel with each other, then you may keep them as your companions."

The room was filled with eyes gleaming with hope and joy at the Lieutenants proposition. It wasn't everyday that a trainer caught a Pokémon, and now they had the chance to become partners with not only rare Pokémon, but Pokémon from around the world.

Seeing the agreement in the trainers eyes the Lieutenant asked Nancy to retrieve the Pokémon. She returned a moment later with the seven Pokémon at her heels. They looked rather glum and groggy as they walked into the room, but their expressions quickly turned euphoric when they saw the four trainers who had helped them. They were about to tackle the trainers in a hug, but Sneasle held them back when the Lieutenant began speaking again.

"As you can all see, there are seven Pokémon and nine trainers. This means at least two of you will not be able to receive a Pokémon. Therefore in the essence of fairness, I'm only allowing one Pokémon per trainer, so the number of trainers who don't receive a Pokémon is at the minimum."

The trainers look at each other, wondering who would be the unlucky two who wouldn't get a Pokémon. Cal knew that Ash was safe, since Sneasle had obviously taken a liking to him. He, Serena, and Dena were also likely to receive a Pokémon since they had also been able to bond with the Pokémon. But who the last three Pokémon would go to bothered him. Because even if two went with Diana and Aura that would leave one away from the rest of it's friends. And in any combination where the other three trainers received a Pokémon the outcome would be the same. The Pokémon would be separated from each other.

Cal felt a bit of sadness about the inevitable outcome, but said nothing as the Pokémon chose who they wanted to be with. As he expected Sneasle went directly to Ash's side, standing by his new trainers leg with a farce of indifference. Sandshrew practically jumped into Serena's arms and Amoura affectionately nuzzled Dena's leg. He smiled when Snover trotted over to him, he'd thoroughly enjoyed fighting alongside the Pokémon and was glad it had chosen him.

With the obvious out of the way the real challenge was about to begin. The room was a buzz with murmuring as they all waited for the Pokémon to make a decision. Cal nodded a few times when Dena spoke to him, as the three Pokémon struggled to make a choice. He glanced at Ash to see if he shared in his worry, but found him to be smiling coyly as he whispered something to Sneasle.

Sneasle looked confused by what Ash said. He pointed at two of the trainers, but received a head shake signifying a no. Sneasle gave him a doubtful expression, but went along with what Ash had said to him. Tapping his claws together three times he gained the attention of the three Pokémon who had yet to choose. A simple head bob was all he gave them, but the Pokémon understood completely.

They scurried across the floor heading towards Diana and Aura. The two girls knelt down, ready for one of the Pokémon to choose them. Only to watch with growing disappointment as the Pokémon walked past them and into the expectant arms of Alex, Carolyn, and Damian.

Seeing that everything was in order the Lieutenant dismissed everyone, sending them to pack their things and get out of his lodge. As they filed out of the room Cal happened to catch a glance of Nancy passing Ash an envelope with a seal imprinted with a D. Cal walked back to their room and began packing as he waited for Ash to arrive.

He showed up a while later, a distant thoughtful look written across his face. He saw Cal sitting on his bed, staring at him with inquisitive eyes. Ash feigned a smile. He asked Cal if something was bothering him and began to pack his stuff.

"Yeah, two things. Firstly, why did you have Sneasle tell his friends to go with those other three trainers. What about Diana and Aura, why didn't you choose to give them Pokémon?"

"I guess since you were so late to the meeting you didn't notice. But those three trainers are traveling in a group together," Ash said, amid folding a shirt.

"How do you know?"

"When they first came downstairs all the seats were empty, yet they all chose to sit together. I don't think strangers would choose to sit that close together when there are a number of other seats available. Plus there were a number of rooms open when we showed up here, but they chose to take the two closest to each other."

"Eh, I guess. But that still doesn't answer why you had Sneasle tell his friends to travel with them."

"Oh, I thought that was obvious," Ash said with a surprised glance at Cal. "After all you didn't want them to be be separated anymore than I did. So I pulled some strings and made it so those three would at least have each other, since they couldn't all be together."

Cal nodded thoughtfully, realizing Ash noticed a lot more than he gave him credit for and had put a lot of thought into the Pokémon's wellbeing.

"Alright, that makes sense. But you're going to have a fun time explaining that to Diana and Aura. I don't think they're going to appreciate that you helped the Pokémon choose someone else."

Ash made a face at Cals comment. Knowing he was only partially joking and that he'd probably get an earful from those two when they found out.

"Yeah, that's going to be... eventful," he said as he finished packing the last of his things. "Speaking of them, are you almost ready to go? They're already going to be miffed about the Pokémon, I don't want to add tardiness to my list of offenses."

Cal laughed and grabbed his bag. "Yeah I just have to put this guy in a Poké Ball and then I'm good," he said with a gesture towards Snover.

"Oh yeah. I should probably catch Sneasle too." Ash said as he produced a Poké Ball from his jacket. He held it out for Sneasle to enter, but the Pokémon took one look at the red and white sphere and scowled. He simply refused to enter that ball.

"Having trouble Ash?" Cal asked as he rifled through his bag.

"Sneasle doesn't seem to like this Poké Ball," Ash replied as he returned the ball to his jacket. He briefly glanced at Cal, curious why the boy hadn't caught Snover yet.
"Are you having the same problems with Snover?"

Cal smiled as he found what he was searching for. "No, I just thought I'd use a different Ball for Snover," he said holding up a chrome colored Poké Ball with a red strip across its equator. "The Poké mart gave it to me as a free bonus. Its color reminded me of Snover so I thought I'd put him in it."

Snover seemed to like that idea and eagerly went inside. The ball shook once before the capture click sounded. Cal beamed at the ball and looked to Ash, wanting to share his excitement with his friend, but found him rummaging through his bag.

"Whatcha looking for?" Cal asked with mild curiosity.

"I'm searching for...- these!" Ash said as he brought out a handful of colorful Poké Balls. "You made me wonder if Sneasle just had a preference on which Poké Ball he went in, so I'm going to let him choose."

Cal nodded and watched as Sneasle looked at each ball. He scowled at the first few, but eventually found one that caught his eye. It was a black, blue, and white ball with a yellow crescent moon designed into the top. Sneasle held it in his claws for a bit before handing it to Ash with a nod.

Ash grinned and tapped the ball against Sneasles head. Red light washed over Sneasle and sucked him inside the sphere. It shook once. Twice. And then a third time. Before finally coming to a rest with a click. Ash grinned at Sneasle's ball before exchanging it with Eevees Poké Ball.

"Alright now you," Ash said with a stern smile at Eevee. The silver fox groaned and begrudgingly returned to his ball.

Pikachu looked his trainer intensely, daring him to try and put him in a ball again. But Ash just laughed and held out his arm for Pikachu to climb. Pokémon on his shoulder, bag across his back, and Cal by his side, Ash made to leave the lodge.

As they descended the stairs though, Ash abruptly stopped, realizing he'd forgotten something. He turned to Cal and said, "You said there were two things bothering you. What was the second?"

"Oh yeah, that. I saw Nancy give you a letter with the Devon Corp logo on it. And, given what happened the last time you got a letter from them, I was curious if it was anything... concerning."

Ash formed a faint smile at Cals concern. "Don't worry it won't be anything like last time."

"Sure," Cal said doubtfully. "Just don't expect me to stall the girls again."

"Well it's not like you did a great job last time," Ash mocked.

"Oh that was so not my fault," Cal protested. "I would have been fine if-" Pikachu gave him a daring glare and discharged a few sparks, "-if absolutely nothing happened."

"Something wrong Cal?" Ash asked with a smug grin.

"Forget it," Cal shouted, throwing up his hands in defeat. "Let's just find the girls and go to Pettleburg," he said as they reached the main doors.

Ash's regained the far off troubled look from earlier, "Yeah, there's something I need to tell them."

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What are you looking down here for? The chapters over. Just leave a comment and have a couple of cookies while I write the next one. Hopefully I'll be done before anyone gets a stomach ache. 🍪🥛

Thanks for reading 😁