"We just got word from Lusamine! They found Mohn! Lillie is coming back to Alola!"

Chloe felt her eyes widen and her throat dry out.

'Lillie? Who's Lillie? And why would this Professor be calling to tell Ash about her…?'

Her mind went all the way back to Pallet Town, and the sinking feeling of dread she felt before had morphed into a real fear when the image of that slightly tattered Clefairy Doll sitting on Ash's dresser reemerged.

"Nah, this is a gift from a friend of mine. She left Alola right about the same time I did, and so she gave me this to remember her by."

Ash's words rang in her ears like he had just bashed a frying pan against a ladle.

Either not noticing or not caring, Professor Kukui continued talking.

"So after I got the news, I immediately reached out to Mallow and the others. We think it'd be a great idea for you to Zippy Zap over here to Alola so that we can throw a surprise party for Lillie and make it a huge welcome back for Mohn, too!"

Ash's eyes were wide and excited. "Wow… that sounds awesome!"

"Sure does! Does that mean I can come, too?" Goh asked.

Chloe turned back towards the couch to fully leave the scene.

"Sure, Goh," Ash said with a beaming smile before turning to Chloe who was still slinking away. "Chloe, you're gonna come too, right?"

She froze and swallowed her nervousness. "I-I mean… I wouldn't want to impose."

Ash approached her and took her by the hand before pulling her towards the hologram so that Professor Kukui could get a good look at her. "Professor, this is Chloe! She's a really good friend of mine and I'd like her to come, too. Is that okay?"

Chloe found herself face to face with the image of the Alolan Professor, her cheeks burning pink. Goh chuckled off to the side, and her father seemed to go quiet as well, but all Chloe felt was the Alolan Professor's gaze upon her.

"Ah, I see," came the words as the man's intelligent eyes looked at the girl. While Chloe couldn't read his mind, this did give her a better chance to size up the man. He wore sunglasses over his quick eyes, though Chloe could see them scanning her even behind them. He had a neatly trimmed goatee and a ring on his left hand - he was married. Chloe raised her eyebrows at that. The wide smile that grew across his lips reminded her of the one Ash had… was it something that Ash learned from this man, or was it something they just seemed to have in common?

Kukui gave Chloe a gentle smile. "Any good friend of Ash's is welcome in Alola," he said. "I'm sure Burnet would love having another woman to balance out all the men that are about to be around the house."

Chloe looked over to her father, blinking slowly. "Is… it okay if I go, Dad?"

There was a gentle smile on his face as Professor Cerise stepped closer. "You'll make sure she's safe in Alola, right Professor Kukui?"

"Safer than a Safeguard, more guarded than a Protect!" he said, smiling back.

Ash cheered, throwing his hand into the air. "Alright!"

It was at this time Chloe realized that Ash was still holding her hand and her face heated up even more.

Goh threw his fist in the air as well. "Alright! Next stop, the Alola Region! Let's go!"

As she sat on the plane between Ash and the window seat, Chloe sat with a book open on her tray table and a bundle of anxiety in her stomach. From the time they had spent together near Pallet Town during her spring break, Chloe felt fairly confident in herself in handling herself around Ash, and Ash seemed like he was excited and happy to have her around.

But Alola was an entirely different ball game. She knew that.

Alola was a place where Ash had found not just a championship, but a sense of calm and balance in himself. Her first trip to the region in her entire life was significant, and she spent every second she was on the plane now keeping up on her school work (they would be in Alola for at least a week, she assumed) thinking about what was to come. Eevee spent the time in her Poké Ball, but Chloe could feel the Normal-type shifting in her pocket in anticipation. She could feel how important this was as well.

About halfway through the flight, Ash nodded off and began dozing on her shoulder, but other than helping reassure Chloe that things would be alright in the island region, it didn't affect her mindset too much.

"Heh, at least he's sleeping on your shoulder instead of mine this time," Goh chuckled as Chloe continued working through her science homework.

When the plane finally landed in Hau'oli City, Chloe was a wreck of barely sleeping combined with all her school facts and her anxiety about what awaited her in the island region. Ash instinctively seemed to wake up as the wheels hit the ground and as soon as they had the clearance took Chloe by the hand and pulled her out of her seat and off the plane.

When the three Kantonians finally exited the airport, they spotted Professor Kukui lounging in his red jeep. He waved them over, and Ash excitedly pulled Chloe with him.

Her face heated up as soon as the sunlight hit her face, and she can't tell if it's the tropical sun or the fact that Ash seemed to always know where her hand was that caused her to react that way.

"Alola, Professor! It's good to see you again!" he said.

Professor Kukui smiled, his eyes glancing at Chloe as she was pulled behind him. "Alola, Ash. And welcome to the Alola Region, Chloe."

Chloe looked down, not meeting the Professor's gaze. "A-Alola," she stammered out.

Goh gave her a pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry, I was nervous the first time I met him, too," he whispered to her.

"You know that's not why I'm nervous!" she whispered angrily back.

Professor Kukui didn't miss a beat, though. "And it's good to see you again, too, Goh!"

Goh smirked back. "Glad to be seen, Professor!"

The three kids piled into the car with Ash taking the front seat and Goh and Chloe taking the back. As Professor Kukui began to drive, Ash launched into an excited explanation of what he had been up to at the Cerise Institute lately before diverting back to ask the Professor about something that happened on spring break.

"...and it was like froosh! Pow!, you know? Chloe totally used a Z-Move with my Z-Ring!"

Goh blinked in surprise before looking over at her. "Chloe, you did what?! You didn't say anything about that!"

Chloe felt like she wanted to shrink away. "I didn't think it was that big a deal…" she said, shrugging. "Eevee and I just really needed to help Ash in that situation, you know? It was the only way I could think to defeat that Nidoking."

"It was totally awesome!" Ash said, turning back to see her, his eyes sparkling with joy and excitement. "And remember how Eevee used Tectonic Rage, even though the Z-Ring had a Normalium-Z? So awesome!"

"Say what?" Professor Kukui said as he continued to drive along the Alolan roads. "It used a different kind of Z-Move than usual?"

"Yeah!" Ash said. "I was wondering about what happened. Do you know?"

Professor Kukui scratched his goatee. "Well… I suppose… Chloe, does your Eevee know the move Copycat?"

"Copycat…?" Chloe blinked in surprise. "I'd say that's what she is rather than a move she uses. Is there a move called Copycat?"

Professor Kukui nodded. "Yeah. Copycat is a move that lets a Pokémon use a move they see, even if that move isn't one they know or they even can use normally."

Chloe's eyes widened. "You mean… like when she copied Yamper's Spark or Vaporeon's Hydro Pump…"

"You hit the answer with a Smart Strike," the professor responded. "Because it's a move that copies other moves, when Z-Power is collected and a Z-Move is used, it becomes whatever type of Z-Move the copied move becomes, but at the same time, Copycat is still a Normal-Type move, so it needs Normalium-Z to happen."

"That makes sense," Goh said. "So because Eevee was trying to copy a Ground-type move, it came out as the Ground-type Z-Move!"

As Goh spoke, Chloe remembered Eevee bringing her paws down to the ground, making the fissure in the earth and dropping Nidoking into it.

Professor Kukui laughed. "It's like you used Mind Reader on me! Great inference, Goh!" He looked up in the rearview mirror at Chloe. "If you wouldn't mind, would you let me see Eevee if she does any battling while you're here?"

Chloe looked back, meeting the reflection of his eyes. "Yeah, why?"

"Well, the Eevee in the Alola Region don't usually use Copycat, so there might be something we could learn about moves by observing her."

She shrugged. "I mean sure, I don't mind," she said.

"Great! Just how I'd expect a child of a researcher to respond!" he said, grinning. "We can learn a lot about Pokémon by observing them."

To that, Chloe, sunk back in the seat with a sickened look on her face.

"...Is it something I said?" he asked.

"Professor," Ash said, his voice calm, "Chloe doesn't want to be like her dad. She doesn't know what she wants to be yet, but she knows she doesn't like it when people say she should be a Professor just 'cause her dad is one."

"Oh!" There was more than a little surprise in his tone. "Sorry about that, Chloe. I'll be sure not to make that mistake again."

"Not if you don't want Ash to come out swinging, huh?" Goh replied. He and the Professor traded glances before breaking into laughter.

Chloe just wanted to disappear while Ash crossed his arms. "I don't think it's so funny," he said.

"Pikapika," snickered Pikachu. This only made Ash's frown wider and more confused.

It was only a few moments later when Professor Kukui brought his jeep to a stop and turned off the engine. Chloe looked up at the small home and steeled herself.

It didn't look like much, just a smallish wooden home with a patio out front. There did appear to be two stories to the building, at least there would be plenty of room for their stay, she thought. There was a small sign hanging on the front of the building, but the letters were so faded from the sun and salty sea air that Chloe couldn't even tell what it said anymore. The railing and the stairs were all painted green, so she saw the building wasn't lacking for upkeep.

Sitting on the patio, rocking in a chair was a woman with bright hair, holding a small child to her who seemed to be sleeping on her shoulder. She looked up softly at the approaching group, and her eyes moved from Ash to Pikachu, Goh, Grookey, Professor Kukui and then finally onto Chloe. She gave a small wave to the group, but otherwise said nothing to them as they approached.

"Alola, Professor Burnet!" Ash called out, waving back at her. The Professor responded by putting a finger to her lips, and Ash immediately quieted down.

"Oh, the baby's asleep," Chloe whispered.

Goh nodded. "Yeah. His name is Lei."

"Lei, huh…"

As Professor Kukui took his place next to Burnet and gently patted his son Lei on the back, Chloe realized where she fit into this entire situation. 'Professor Kukui is someone Ash looks up to almost like a father,' she thought. 'And Professor Burnet is a mother and Kukui's wife… so this is basically Ash's family in the Alola Region.'

She swallowed nervously.

'And now their son is bringing a girl home.'

Suddenly the stairs to the Professor's home looked dauntingly tall, and Chloe felt dizzy even considering climbing them.

Ash's warm hand took her's and he gave her a reassuring smile and she relaxed as he led her up the stairs.

"I haven't got a chance to introduce her yet," Ash said, practically presenting her to Burnet. "This is Chloe. She's from Vermilion City, just like Goh."

"I-It's nice to meet you," she said, giving her a shy, slight bow.

Burnet gave her a smile that reminded Chloe of her own mother. "It's nice to meet you, Chloe. I hope Ash hasn't given you too much trouble."

"Not at all!" Chloe said. "Ash has been a big help with getting closer and closer with my Eevee!"

"You should let Eevee out!" Ash said, excitedly. "There's tons of room for Pokémon."

Looking away from Ash, she looked to the professors, who both nodded. Taking that as permission, Chloe reached into her pocket and opened Eevee's Poké Ball in her hands, letting out Eevee with a bright flash of light. Eevee yawned and shook herself loose from the extended stay in the ball ever since they left from Kanto.

"Vui!" she yawned.

"Well, it should be okay," Chloe said, smiling at Eevee. "It's not like you all have a bunch of huge Pokémon hanging around here, right?"

As she said that, Professor Kukui opened the door to the home, and three huge Pokémon all leapt out and tackled Ash at once, taking him off the patio and into the sandy dirt at the bottom. A fourth, much smaller Pokémon, merely glided out to meet him on his silent wings. All of the Pokémon seemed to be nuzzling Ash excitedly, and Chloe took out her phone to give them all a quick scan.

She started with the small one. "Rowlet," her Rotom Phone said. "The Owl Pokémon. A Grass-and Flying-type. During the day, Rowlet builds up energy via photosynthesis. At night, it flies silently through the sky, on the prowl for prey."

She moved onto the next one, a four-legged Pokémon with bright orange fur like a setting sun. "Lycanroc Dusk Form. The Wolf Pokémon. A Rock-type. Dusk Form Lycanroc have both calm and ferocious qualities. Their temperamental nature makes them a difficult species to raise."

The third Pokémon she scanned was the tall, feline looking Pokémon. "Incineroar, the Heel Pokémon," the Rotom said. "A Fire-and Dark-type. Incineroar is the final evolved form of Litten. It's rough and aggressive behavior is its most notable trait, but the way it helps out small Pokémon shows that it has a kind side as well."

'These last two kind of sound like Ash does,' Chloe thought. 'Calm and ferocious. Kind and aggressive.' She smiled to herself as she scanned the final one. 'I guess these are Ash's Pokémon from the Alola Region, then.'

The screen showed an image of the large, metallic Pokémon with the malleable body. "Melmetal," it said, "the Hex Nut Pokémon. A Steel-type. Centrifugal force is behind the punches of Melmetal's heavy hex-nut arms. Melmetal is said to deliver the strongest punches of all Pokémon."

"The strongest punches of all Pokémon…?" Chloe asked, looking up from her phone.

Ash finally got up from his impromptu attack and walked back over to Chloe, the four Alolan Pokémon following closely behind. "Guys, this is Chloe. She's a really good friend from Vermilion City, so be nice to her, okay?"

That was all the permission they needed, and in a few moments, Chloe was tackled to the sandy dirt as well by all of Ash's Pokémon, with Eevee even jumping in as well because it looked so fun.

"H-Hey!" Ash called out. "C'mon, I just said be nice, didn't I?"

Melmetal lifted her onto its shoulder with a gleeful grunt, making her giggle and kick her legs, sitting on it's powerful arm. "Wow… so I've never seen Pokémon like this before! They seem really strong! It makes sense that their trainer is the Alola League Champion!"

"You know it!" Ash grinned back, beaming like the sun above their heads.

Goh frowned. "Wait a second… Alola League Champion…?"

Ash chuckled and put his hand behind his head. "Oh, uh there was a tournament here a little while ago, and I ended up winning."

"WHAAAT?!" Goh shouted, astonished. "That's amazing, Ash!" He shot his best friend a grin. "And why'd you never mention anything like that?"

"Oh, I didn't…?" Ash laughed.

Chloe smirked. "Don't feel bad, Goh. I had to point to the trophy and ask him before he thought about telling me."

While Ash chuckled, Goh shrugged. "I knew you were amazingly strong, but this just blows my perceptions out of the water, you know?"

"Thanks," he said, somewhat embarrassed now.

Melmetal set Chloe down and she, Ash, and Goh followed the Professors into the home. "I hope you don't mind if Chloe uses your old room," Professor Kukui said to Ash, indicating the ladder in the main room.

"Nah," Ash said, waving his hands. "She borrowed my room while we stayed in Pallet Town, too."

"I hope this one isn't as messy," Chloe teased, smirking while looking at him with one eye closed. "Your room had stuff all over the place."

Professor Burnet giggled. "I made sure he kept things clean when he left last time," she said.

"I guess I'll go up there and put down my things," Chloe said, taking the rungs of the ladder in her hands. Climbing them wasn't unlike climbing the ladder that led to Ash's loft-like bed in Pallet Town.

Meanwhile, behind her, she heard Goh speaking to Ash. "I guess we're camping out down here, aren't we?"

"We can split the couch," Ash chuckled, and she heard a sound like their fists colliding.

Once she was up in the loft, Chloe saw a couch, a dresser, and a bookshelf. 'Looks like they won't be the only one's on a couch,' she thought somewhat bitterly. A round rug was on the floor as well. 'For chilly mornings,' she supposed.

As she began unpacking her things from her suitcase, she heard someone else climbing the ladder and wasn't at all surprised when she saw Ash's head peek over the edge. "How're ya likin' it?"

"It looks really cozy," she said, taking a few steps away and sitting on the couch. "I can see why you like it so much here!"

Ash climbed up the rest of the way, and she saw he had Pikachu with him as always. He walked under a skylight and pointed up. "It's really amazing here at night. You can see the stars so clearly and you're practically in bed!"

"That sounds really nice," she said, "but it's a couch. You know that, right?"

He laughed. "Yeah, well, if you fall asleep on it, it's a bed!" he insisted jokingly. Ash looked back into the Alolan sky, his smile growing distant. Chloe could tell that his thoughts were moving away from this moment, as well.

"I guess once he's old enough, this'll be Lei's room, you know?" Ash said. "Time's always passin' and everyone's changin'."

"You say that like you aren't still a pretty young guy yourself," she laughed.

Ash laughed. "Well, maybe. I'm not as young as I used to be."

She smiled at him warmly. "Well, everyone gets older eventually. I'm kinda surprised that you're the kinda guy to think about that." She scooted over on the couch to give him a place to sit next to her.

Taking her cue, he began walking forward. "I can be a pretty complex guy, you know. I'm not as simple as lotsa people think I am." He approached the couch to sit down, but before he could, a voice called to them from below.

"Hey, you two!" Goh called up the ladder. "Don't we need to go meet Mallow and the others to talk about this surprise party for Lillie?"

Chloe felt her face scrunch up like she had just bitten into a Nomel Berry as the spectre of this Lillie girl returned to ruin her nice, enjoyable time.

What surprised her was the flash of disappointment on Ash's face. It was only present for a moment, but he shrugged it off and took Chloe by the hand towards the ladder. "You'll really like the gang, Chloe," he said to reassure her. "Trust me!"

"I-I do," she said as he let go of her hand and descended the ladder. But the dread she felt building up in her stomach wasn't going to let her mean the words that left her mouth. With a sigh, she, too, descended the ladder.

The walk from Professor Kukui's home to the restaurant that the party planning meeting was going to take place in didn't take very long at all, but Chloe wasn't prepared for the audience they'd see once they got there.

As soon as the three of them stepped through the door, Chloe saw a group of Pokémon lazing around. She didn't recognize most of them, but she saw a round one with spikes, and a tall one with long green leaves. There was one more she thought was a Bug-type, and a large turtle like Pokémon as well as a large blue Pokémon that almost looked like a mermaid.

She did, however, recognize two: a Marowak (though it didn't look exactly like the Marowak Chloe was used to seeing) and an Eevee with fur longer than hers with a bowl cut.

"Alola, guys!" Ash said, announcing their presence.

"Pikapika!"

"Alola, Ash! Goh!"

The four people seated at the table waved to Ash and Goh before pausing. One of them, a boy with reddish orange hair, pointed at Chloe. "Uh, who's that? Is she a friend of yours?"

Ash gestured to her. "Oh, this is Chloe! She's a friend of mine from Vermilion City, just like Goh is!"

Chloe coughed a little before giving them a polite wave, holding Eevee to her chest with her other hand. "A-Alola."

The two girls at the table, one with long green pigtails and the other with a short blue style that framed her face, instantly glanced at each other, and then at Chloe. She felt herself go pale. 'There's no way they can tell anything from that, right?' she thought nervously.

The final boy at the table also appraised her with his eyes, but kept his arms crossed and said nothing.

"The more the merrier, right Mallow?" the blue-haired girl said, smiling to her friend.

"Right!" Mallow responded. "Welcome to Alola and my family's restaurant, Chloe!"

Chloe gave a polite bow. "Thank you for having me."

Ash and Goh approached the table and sat down, but Chloe had to move a chair from a nearby table to have a place to sit. She maneuvered her seat between Ash's and Goh's and her two Kantonian friends moved aside slightly to give her room to sit down. Pikachu and Grookey jumped off of each of their respective heads and went to where the Pokémon were gathered, with Chloe assuming that Pikachu was introducing Grookey to his old friend group.

"Since we have someone new here," Mallow said, "why don't we start with introductions! We're all classmates of Ash's who went to the Pokémon School with him while he was in Alola. My name's Mallow and that over there is my partner, Tsareena!"

The Grass-Type with the long leaves turned and gave a bow of her own. "Tsaree!"

"My name's Lana, and I have two Pokémon over there," she said. "My Primarina and Sandy, my Eevee!"

Primarina waved over at them. "Primari," she cooed melodically.

"Buibui!" Sandy chirped happily, sitting on his rear and waving at Chloe's Eevee with a forepaw. Eevee scrambled out of Chloe's grasp and joined the rest of the Pokémon on the floor, eager to join in on their conversation.

"Oh, that tail!" the boy with the orangish hair said. "Your Eevee's a girl, isn't she?"

Chloe blinked in his direction. "Yes she is… you can tell that by the tail?"

"If you compare her tail to Sandy's tail, you can tell the difference immediately. Male Eevee have a rough pattern around the cream colored part of their tales, but Female Eevee have a smooth, swooping pattern around them!"

Lana glowered at him. "Shouldn't you introduce yourself, Sophocles?"

The boy, Sophocles, chuckled. "R-Right!" he said, his cheeks flushing in embarrassment. "I'm Sophocles. And my partners are Togedemaru and Vikavolt!"

In the crowd on the ground, Togedemaru was already placing herself between Eevee and Pikachu, which Eevee took to be a game as she moved around and inserted herself between Pikachu and Togedemaru, only for Togedemaru to move and the cycle to repeat.

Vikavolt, for it's part, floated over to Chloe and nodded respectfully. "Vikavolt!"

Chloe reached out and touched his mandible, smiling. "Nice to meet you too, Vikavolt."

Vikavolt smiled (though Chloe honestly found it a little hard to tell) before floating back over towards the Pokémon.

The last boy had an intensely serious demeanor. "I'm Kiawe. Two of my partners are over there, Marowak and Turtonator."

"Your Marowak doesn't look like ones I'm familiar with," Chloe said. "I guess it's an Alolan Marowak."

He smirked before looking back at Ash. "She got it in one. Honestly, I didn't think she'd be that smart."

"You better watch yourself around Chloe," Ash boasted. "She's way smarter than even I know."

Goh chuckled. "Well, you don't exactly raise the bar very high yourself."

Everyone, even Ash and Chloe, all laughed together at Goh's quip. Mallow stood at the table. "Well, now that we're all friends, we can start planning the 'Welcome Home Lillie and Mohn' party in earnest!"

Chloe shrunk back, trying to hide her distaste from the rest of the people sitting around the table. 'I don't even really belong here, do I?' she asked herself. 'I don't even know Lillie… I don't think I'd be a very good choice to be in charge of her party…'

Ash spoke up. "When is she supposed to be back?" he asked.

Mallow put a hand to her chin. "Going by her message to Professor Kukui, we still have a few days before she gets here, though we'll need to be ready to get everything going at a moment's notice."

"Oh," Sophocles said," I have an idea! Why don't we set up everything in the classroom of the Pokémon School! Class is still out for another week or two, so we can have all the decorations ready to go as soon as they get here!"

Everyone besides Chloe and Goh cheered. "That's a great idea, Sophocles!" Ash said, speaking over everyone else.

"Yeah," Lana added. "We can set everything up and we'll be ready no matter what!"

Mallow began writing this down in her notebook. "Alright, so we're having it at the Pokémon School…!"

As she wrote it down, the doors to the restaurant flew open. "I hope I'm not late!"

Floating in the entrance of the restaurant was a red tablet computer with a face that seemed to speak using a mouth on its screen.

"Wait, what?" Chloe asked, looking at it.

"Rotom!" Ash cheered, waving at the new arrival. "You're here!"

"Ash!" the Rotom floated over, waving at them. "I'm glad I caught you all! We're still planning Lillie's surprise party, right?"

Chloe tried to lean out of the way, but this just drew their attention. "Hmm? And who's this?" Rotom's mouth on their screen was replaced with a question mark.

"Oh, this is Chloe!" Ash said. "She's another friend of mine from Vermilion."

Chloe sighed. "I guess here's where I say Alola again, isn't it?" she said jokingly.

"Alola, Chloe!" Rotom said, spinning around to take a picture of her. They spun back around and a wheel began counting from zero all the way to one hundred fairly quickly. "New data recorded!"

"So are you like Ash's phone here?" Chloe asked somewhat bluntly.

"I am NOT!" Rotom shot back, the numbered wheel being replaced by an angry face. "I am a Rotom Pokédex, the ultimate in human-Pokémon relations! I guess crude girls from Kanto don't know any better, though! I'm way better than any silly phone."

Chloe stood up, glowering. "Hey, what do you mean, crude?" she fired back. "I think you're being crude, here!"

"Impossible," the Rotom Pokédex responded. "I am perfectly polite with only a 6.66% margin of error."

"You can't say 'perfect' and then give a percentage you're not! That's not perfect!"

Ash got up between them. "Hey, guys, c'mon! You're both my friends, you know?"

"Fine," Chloe said, crossing her arms. "I'm sorry, Rotom."

"Apology accepted." Rotom said before going to float by Ash.

Chloe glowered at the tablet for a moment. "...don't you have anything to say to me?" she asked.

Rotom turned to her with a question mark on its screen. "Data not found. You already apologized."

Chloe grumbled and sat down.

"Hey, Rotom," Sophocles asked, "don't you have work to do at the Aether Foundation?"

Rotom turned to him with a smile on its screen. "Miss Wicke gave me the time before the party off so that I could help! I couldn't pass up a chance to see everyone all back together, right?"

'Oh, joy,' Chloe thought, putting her head on the table.

"Are you feeling alright, Chloe?" Rotom asked, noticing her movement immediately.

"Just peachy."

She sighed. This Rotom was a lot more talkative than the one who quietly lived in her phone.

"Are you gonna be coming with us, then, Rotom?" Ash asked, excited.

"Of course! Just leave it to me!"

Chloe sighed. 'How could this get any worse?' she thought.

Mallow cleared her throat, making everyone quiet down around the table. She began speaking.

"Alright, so here are the plans for the party. Feel free to jump in with your own suggestions!"

By the end of the conversation, Chloe had learned quite a lot she hadn't before about the girl they were planning this party for, the mutual friend of Ash, Lana, Mallow, Kiawe, and Sophocles: Lillie.

She was a girl who, until recently, was deathly afraid of touching Pokémon. A studious girl who had seemingly read just about anything in books, she was now the proud owner of an Alolan Variant Vulpix (Goh noted that it's an Ice-type with a white coat, showing the Pokédex entry for the evolution, Ninetales, that he caught). Her mother was the President of the Aether Foundation, and she lived in a mansion outside of Hau'oli city. Sophocles brought up the potential to hold the party there, but Lana reminded him that there would be no way they could keep it a surprise in a place like that.

When Chloe asked about why they had to go look for this Mohn, Kiawe and Ash explained that there was some sort of accident years ago, though they were scarce on the details, only noting that he was 'lost' and they had now 'found' him.

Even the chatty Rotom seemed mum on the topic. This made her that much more suspicious, but she couldn't press them on the topic, so she let it drop.

With a steady stream of customers entering the restaurant, Mallow adjourned the meeting. "My dad's going to need my help for the dinner rush. But we have a pretty solid plan to get started with. I'll be in touch if there's anything I need your input on, but tomorrow, we're going to have to buy up all the decorations. You've got that, Sophocles?"

The boy smirked and nodded. "Don't worry, we've got it, right Togedemaru?"

As the group looked over to the group of Pokémon, the scene in front of them was a continuation of the previous game where Eevee kept squeezing between Togedemaru and Pikachu, then Togedemaru squeezed between Pikachu and Eevee.

Ash chuckled. "Looks like they're having fun!" he noted.

"Doesn't look fun to me," Chloe noted, rising from her seat and walking over to Eevee.

Sophocles followed behind her. "C'mon, Togedemaru! You're being rude to Eevee!"

Togedemaru glowered at Eevee, sparks in her eyes. "Dema DEMARU!" she shouted.

Eevee just looked back with a blank, almost unreadable smile on her face, wagging her tail gently.

Pikachu, for his part, used the opportunity to slip back towards Ash and climb the boy to rest on his shoulder. "Pikapi…"

"Tired of their game, buddy?" Ash asked, scratching his partner's head.

Lana sighed. "Yeah, I don't think that's it…"

Togedemaru marched up to Eevee and growled at her, raising her small arms in challenge at the Normal-type. Eevee, either not understanding or accepting the challenge, stands up and smirks confidently as she begins to fluff out the fur on her neck to make herself appear larger and more threatening.

Sophocles and Chloe moved swiftly to separate the two Pokémon before it could truly come to blows. Togedemaru, however, wasn't willing to let it go, and from her sparking cheeks, discharged a surge of electricity that her trainer managed to prevent from hitting anyone as he howled in pain.

Mallow put a hand over her mouth. "Sophocles, are you alright?"

"I-I-I'm f-f-f-fine.." he chattered as the numbness left his muscles.

Eevee grinned at the sight and began sparking, herself.

Chloe panicked. "N-No! Don't do it, Eevee!" She held the small Pokémon up to hopefully distract her, but the sparking built up. Chloe clenched her eyes shut, fearing the shock that was headed her way.

But when the shock was to come, she felt Eevee get snatched out of her hands.

"GYAAAAAA!"

She opened her eyes to see Ash holding onto Eevee, and now he and Pikachu were getting shocked by the Pokémon in his hands.

When Eevee noticed the change, she stopped and blinked cheerfully at Ash before scrambling up and taking the opposite shoulder from the singed Pikachu.

"Ash..! You…" Chloe was surprised that Ash had taken the shock for her.

He coughed, and exhaled a puff of smoke. "I uh… If you got shocked, it'd wreck your hair, right?"

A hand went to her braid and felt it, perfectly intact. She felt her face heat up at Ash's noble sacrifice. "Th-Thanks, Ash…"

He quickly shook off the shock and lifted Eevee off his shoulder and handed her back to Chloe. " Now don't do anything like that again, okay, Eevee?"

"Eievui!" she chirped, wagging her tail happily.

Chloe became very aware that everyone's eyes were on her now. 'Oh no… this is just going to make them even more suspicious, isn't it?'

"I guess Eevee's copycatting is giving Togedemaru the wrong idea," Goh said, trying to break the tension in the air.

Sophocles, having shaken off his own shock, nodded while still holding his Pokémon. "Yeah. Togedemaru is really fond of Ash's Pikachu, but Eevee kept getting in the way."

"Maru," Togedemaru huffed.

"So it's like they're rivals, huh?" Kiawe said from the back of the group, petting and recalling Marowak and Turtonator.

"I-I don't think it's like that," Chloe stammered, unsure of why she was even interrupting, since Togedemaru had already averted the attention away from her.

Ash shrugged. "I'm sure Eevee and Togedemaru will be great friends by the time it's time to go back to Kanto," he said to Chloe in an attempt to reassure her.

"That's not exactly what I'm worried about…" she whispered.

"Hey!" Rotom called out, floating down to Ash. "Ash! Do you know what time it is?!"

Ash, somewhat surprised, looked at the floating Pokédex. "What time is it, Rotom?"

"It's time for tonight's rerun episode of Alolan Detective Laki!" he chattered, grabbing Ash by the arm. "Let's get back to the Professor's house and watch it!"

"Alolan Detective Laki?" Chloe and Goh asked simultaneously.

While Ash's other Alolan friends all had different expressions on their faces, Rotom moved right in front of Chloe and began displaying images on their screen. "Alolan Detective Laki is a hugely popular TV Show in the Alola Region! It's a mystery show where each week, Laki and his partner Pokémon all go solving crimes! I never miss an episode!"

Chloe frowned. "You never miss an episode? But aren't you in the Pokédex? Why would you watch TV?"

"Because it's the greatest television show ever made!" Rotom responded bluntly. "Are you saying you never let the Rotom that lives in your phone watch TV?"

Now she was on the backfoot. "H-Hey, I never thought to ask!"

As Rotom leaned in, Ash took Chloe by the hand and pulled her towards the door. "Well, then we'll all watch it together, then, right? C'mon!" As they approached the door, Ash shouted "See ya later, guys!" And with that, he zipped right out the door, pulling Chloe behind him and with Rotom floating close behind.

"Sorry for that," Goh said as he began to take his leave.

Kiawe shrugged. "That's just how Ash is. I'm sure you're used to it by now."

"More than you know," Goh chuckled back. "I better make sure they don't get into trouble. Catch you guys later!" And with a wave, he was off as well.

"Bye, Goh!" Sophocles said, waving. But as he turned to Lana and Mallow, their eyes seemed to be focused on something else entirely. "W-What's up…?"

The two girls shot each other a glance and shrugged. "It's nothing," Mallow said. "Now scoot! I've got work to do!"