Pokemon: Shuffled Journeys

by sithlorde1988

An AU write-up of the Pokemon anime in which nothing is how it was in canon. How different is the anime if it involves an Ash who starts his journey out in Galar, with Iris and Hop as travelling companions? Also, what order will he visit the regions in? And who will his starter be? To find out the answers to these questions (and more), read the story! Better summary in Chapter 1.

5. Ash's Egg-cellent Trial! part 1

A/N: sithlorde1988 here, with another chapter of Pokemon: Shuffled Journeys! Before I get into the meat and potatoes (so to speak) of this A/N, let's do a quick update on the standings of the current poll. And as things stand now, there's a 3 way tie for first place at 5-5-5-2-1-0-0-0 and I'll be honest and say the three currently tied are not the three I was thinking would be tied, aside from one of them. And the person who had an 'in' at 2 votes as of last poll update? Yeeeah, not so much at this point. BUT, the poll will remain open until April 10th barring another multi-way tie. So ALL the girls have a shot at winning still, though some of them need more help than others. In the interest of hopefully drumming up more votes on the poll, I will reveal the in-depth interim results.

1st (3 way tie): May/Korrina/Anabel-5 votes

4th: Marnie- 2 votes

5th: Jasmine- 1 vote

6th (3 way tie): Bianca (Heroes)/Lillie/Silvia (no votes)

Keep in mind there's still a bit less than a week left (as of the time I type out this A/N, might be left when this goes up) so anything can still happen! So don't forget to vote! As a friendly reminder you can cast a vote for up to 3 options on the poll! And if you want your favorite option to win, by all means get others to vote on the poll! The more votes the merrier! That said, I did get a guest review on the last chapter, so without further ado I shall paste that review here so I can reply to it (since AGAIN, I can't PM guest reviewers since they kinda lack an actual account to message so this is as best as I can do at replying to them):

My votes are korrina may bianca dawn jasmine Chloe and iris mainly because we don't really see enough of her since we don't see her in stories with ash that often I understand why but I feel she definitely deserves a second chance like everyone else does plus she's definitely grown alot since the days she traveled with ash now she's even the unova league champion that's a big accomplishment right there for her and definitely deserves respect she earned that from all the hard work and training she's done and it's rare seeing ash x iris paring stories these days so seeing her be part of the hearm would be nice in my opinion jasmine mainly because it's extremely rare seeing her and ash together and have very little stories together and they make a cute pair

First off, thanks for the review! Second off, I don't recall listing Dawn as an option on the poll. I'm guessing that you meant Silvia since I called her a 'Dawn lookalike' in the poll so people knew who I was referring to with her since I don't recall there being too too many fics with that character in them. That said, given the name of this series is SHUFFLED Journeys, I feel bringing up Iris' status as Unova champion is kind of moot since I will go ahead and spoil that for now at least, I have no plans for any of Ash's travelling companions or harem partners to become a regional champion (aside of course from Ash himself down the line maybe). Furthermore, to your point about Jasmine being a rare sighting, unless I was doing the search filters wrong, I found all of ZERO stories with Jasmine in them that were pairings of her and Ash. Literally, the one fic that had her in it, the last chapter that was posted for it was set before she even made it into the story.

So I'd say she's almost an endangered pairing so to speak. Unfortunately though, unless we see a MASSIVE shakeup in the votes, Jasmine's odds aren't looking that great at the moment. To your point about Ash x Iris being rare, I have to disagree respectfully since I do believe there are more Ash x Iris stories than there are (just to name a couple examples) Ash x Chloe fics or Ash x Leaf fics (surprisingly so in the latter pairing's case). Funnily enough, the most common pairings I saw when doing a quick browse to research the pairings were AshxMisty, AshxMay and surprisingly so AshxSerena along with AshxDawn. Interestingly though, I did find an AshxShauna fic (even if it WAS a threesome pairing with them plus Serena) so yeah. Also, if you didn't so so already, go vote on the poll since I don't think you have to have a fanfiction account to vote on polls, but I could be mistaken on that so don't take that as fact without looking it up first. Having said that, I will end this reply by once again giving you a hearty thanks for your review!

And with that out of the way, I will be nice and say this SHOULD be a longer chapter, albeit more of a 'semi-filler' type of chapter. However, there ARE a few surprises to be had this chapter so read it carefully! Before I forget, let's get the disclaimers done!

Disclaimer: sithlorde1988 (aka this author) does NOT own Pokemon in any way shape or form. The actual ownership of it belongs to Game Freak, CREATURES, and all the studios/creative teams involved in making the anime.

That being said, here's the chapter!

Chapter 5- Wild Detours! Enter the Wild Area! Ash and Iris' Egg-cellent Adventure (part 1)

(Orange Islands archipelago, Kanto Region)

"Are you serious? You guys escaped from WHERE? Are you all okay? I'm sorry to hear about Agatha. That's gonna be a tough loss for the entire Kanto region. But I'm just glad the rest of you are safe. How did you all get out?" A red-headed female spoke into her cell phone, straightening her glasses as she spoke.

"We told you already, Lorelei! (if I spelled her name right. Correct me in reviews if I'm wrong so I can correct it) We escaped from Team Rocket HQ. As for how, that's a long story and one that frankly isn't suitable to a phone conversation. So I'll fill you in when I see you. Can you trust me on that?" Red said to the Water/Ice specalist of his Elite Four as he filled her in on the past few years' trials. The now named Lorelei took a breath before speaking.

"That's fine, Red. I trust your judgement. Are Lance and Bruno holding up well?" Lorelei asked Red conversationally.

"Oh yeah, they're doing fine. Or as fine as they can be under the circumstances. I'm just glad they didn't find you this whole time." Red said to Lorelei. Lorelei smirked as she had an idea come to her.

"Y'know boss, if you wanted to find a new Elite Four, why not invite that blonde girl that you nearly lost to in your last official match before your disappearance? You do know that the League nearly named Blue interim Champion in your absence, but he turned it down out of respect to you? And because of that, I got roped into holding the spot for you as the sole remaining Elite Four not captured. Though with what Team Rocket did to the Plateau, there's not really much of a Kanto League anymore." Lorelei said to Red.

Red sputtered at what Lorelai was insinuating. He tried to keep his voice calm as he spoke.

"You mean Cynthia? Last I heard she lives in Sinnoh and was on the fast track to taking the Championship title for that region. So I doubt she'd want to take the step down from Champion to Elite Four member. But your suggestion has merit nonetheless. Okay, we'd better get going so we can keep moving! See you when we get to you-know-where." Red said to Lorelei as he ended the call.

(over with Red and the remaining Elite Four, undisclosed part of Kanto)

At that same moment, his phone went back off. Frowning as he saw who it was, he took the call to see two people, one male and one female, and a Pokemon looking at him.

"Jessie, James, Meowth. What's your report?" Red asked the now named Jessie, James and Meowth, Meowth being the Pokemon of the trio.

"Well right now the base is in an uproar after you guys got away unexpectedly. I like that you did it on the watch of the Matori Matrix. The look on the face of that glasses-wearing goon gal when she got royally chewed out was satisfying! Granted, it'll be more satisfying when we can finally leave this life behind. I might've been eager to get into Team Rocket when I was younger but now I know better. And I owe it to you, boss. As for James and Meowth, they're making progress on their tasks." Jessie said to Red who nodded.

"Very good. Remember this Jessie, we need iron-clad evidence that's admissible if we're going to bring down Giovanni. That's the only way we can punish him for being a traitor to the Kanto League. But above all else, keep yourselves safe. I don't want you three getting yourselves killed trying to be heroes! Am I understood?" Red asked Jessie, James and Meowth, who nodded.

"CRYSTAL, BOSS!" The trio said in unison. Red nodded to the trio.

"Very good. Dismissed." Red said, ending the call. Lance chuckled at Red.

"I can't believe you recruited those three out of all the Rockets to be our spies. You are aware they have a track record for managing to muck up missions within Team Rocket, right?" Lance asked Red who nodded.

"Exactly why I chose them. No one would think twice about a Champion picking inept bunglers to be spies. And therein lies the brilliance of it because no one would think to look their way if they figure out there's moles in their midst. That, and I owed them for being the reason we got out of there." Red said to Lance. Bruno just nodded in agreement. The three then kept on going with their escape, hoping to get past the Rocket blockades and get to Pallet Town to meet up with Professor Oak and hopefully get him to let them surf the southern route to get to Cinnabar, and from there to the Orange Islands so they could meet up with Lorelei.

(meanwhile in Galar, train to Motostoke, Ash and friends)

"So this is the train that Leon was talking about? Seems pretty fancy to me." Ash said, looking around appraisingly at the inside of the train he'd boarded with his friends. Iris and Gloria giggled in amusement at Ash's easily impressed personality. Hop nodded to Ash.

"This train goes straight to Motostoke, according to Lee. So it should be a straight shot there." Hop said optimistically. Ash nodded.

"Makes sense to me. Shall we relax while the train heads to Motostoke then?" Iris asked the group. Ash seemed to agree, but both Hop and Gloria shook their heads.

"We could do that, but wouldn't it make sense to try and figure out the plan for when we get to Motostoke?" Gloria suggested.

"That's true. But I thought the plan was pretty straightforward already. We get to Motostoke, find the Stadium, get registered for the Gym Challenge, then find lodgings for the ceremony to begin said Gym Challenge. Any training/captures we get in said process are of course a bonus." Hop remarked as Iris did an exaggerated eye roll at their remarks.

"I guess you guys do make good points. But still, at least Ash seems to agree with me, so that's something I guess." Iris said shrugging as she sat in a nearby chair. Ash blinked at Iris bringing him into the conversation.

"I do agree to a point with you Iris. However, I also agree with Gloria's point about having a plan in place. Still, Hop also had a point about Leon's explanation being straightforward. Still, it's not like we don't have time for a short break before we make any plans. That way everyone gets what they want." Ash said in what he thought was a diplomatic tone. Gloria shook her head at Ash's naivete. She then smiled as she looked at Ash.

"You're so silly sometimes, Ash. But that does make sense. I suppose we could take a short break before we make plans. Does that work for you, Iris?" Gloria said, leaning back in her seat as she playfully wrapped one arm around a shocked Iris, who happened to be sitting next to her. Iris for her part just blinked at having Gloria's arm around her. She then smirked.

"Trying to tease the guys, are we? I can't blame you if you are, it IS pretty fun." Iris said, giggling as she went along with Gloria, surprising her by gently relaxing into Gloria's side as she leaned into the one-armed hug Gloria had given her. Because Iris closed her eyes in doing so, she failed to notice the twin looks of surprise on Hop and Ash, though the latter quickly recovered.

"I'm glad we all are getting along so much. This journey is gonna rule!" Ash said smiling as he sat down next to the girls, absently petting Pikachu who was curled up on his lap with one hand, the other petting Rolycoly who was presently nodding off on Ash's shoulder as he watched the girls having what he thought of as a 'cuddly' moment. Hop shrugged, deciding to relax himself as he sat down on the opposite side of Ash and the girls, pulling out some cards to play a game of solitaire with himself to pass the time. After some time had passed, the train suddenly stopped, jolting Ash, Rolycoly and Pikachu, who'd all dozed off at some point, awake. At the same time, Hop looked up from playing solitaire at the stopping of the train while Gloria's head snapped up, having also nodded off at some point while letting Iris curl up against her. Speaking of Iris, other than shifting slightly and lightly nuzzling her face into Gloria's stomach, not really thinking much of the action, she showed no signs of noticing the train stopping. Hop and Ash exchanged amused smirks at the sight of Iris burrowed into Gloria, the former grinning as he shushed Ash and Gloria before looking towards Iris. "Is that a dragon type?!" Hop said with exaggerated surprise, ignoring Ash's facepalm and Gloria's eye roll. Iris, for her part, surprised all of them by snapping her head up, looking around.

"Dragon type? Where?" Iris said, looking around vaguely, then frowning when she realized there wasn't one. She then turned to glare at Hop who was smirking at his little impromptu prank.

"Not funny, Hop. You know I like draogn-types." Iris said, pouting as she made to nuzzle back into Gloria, but to her surprise she felt herself be gently lifted up and set down, looking up to see to her surprise that Ash had gently pulled Iris into a hug, possibly to keep her from pummeling Hop. Regardless, Iris smiled, and leaned into the hug, letting Ash hug her. Gloria smirked at this. Then she looked over at Hop.

"Are we at Motostoke already, do you think?" Gloria asked Hop. Hop shrugged.

"Dunno. I doubt it though since there's no way we got there THAT quickly. It's only been like 30-45 minutes, maybe an hour, since we left Wedgehurst." Hop said, having looked at the time on a nearby clock when they'd left and when the train had stopped. Ash frowned at that.

"Didn't your brother mention something about a Wild Area when he was talking about this train as well, Hop?" Ash asked Hop, subconsciously running his fingers through Iris' hair in a comforting manner, not even aware he was doing so. If Iris minded the gesture, she made no indication of it, instead relaxing into Ash's touch. Gloria looked at the two with a bit of confusion at their interaction, but if she was bothered by or jealous of it, she said nothing. Instead she focused on Ash's reference to the Wild Area. Hop nodded to Ash's question.

"That's right, Lee mentioned the Wild Area. He said something about the trains sometimes stopping at the station there to restock and stuff. I think he also said that his and Sonia's train derailed there when they were travelling through Galar for his Gym Challenge. Honestly, as close as they seemed to be when they were younger, I'm surprised they drifted so far apart. I would've thought Leon and Sonia would end up together, but apparently it wasn't to be for them." Hop replied, making Gloria look at Hop in confusion.

"Since when would Leon and Sonia have an interest in each other? I could see Sonia liking Leon probably, but I get the sense Leon's not the relationship type of guy." Gloria mentioned, focusing on Hop so she wouldn't have to look at Ash and Iris. Hop shrugged.

"No clue, though I did get a feeling that Sonia had a crush on Lee when they were younger, but I could be wrong on that. Not unlike the seeming closeness between you, Iris and Ash." Hop said teasingly as he smirked at Gloria who sputtered at Hop's remark. Similarly, Iris lifted her head up to glare at Hop.

"Hop, shut up. Just because I happened to be in a cuddly mood and because Ash happens to enjoy being affectionate at times along with Gloria doesn't mean a thing. Besides, I don't see YOU with anyone, now do I?" Iris said snarkily to Hop, before laying her head back down where it was before so Ash could keep stroking her hair. Gloria then spoke up.

"What Iris said. Besides, I for one find it cute that Iris is so cuddly at times. She's kind of like a puppy that way, or a kitten." Gloria remarked offhandedly, smiling as she looked down to see Eevee curl herself up on her lap, gently petting the Normal-type as she spoke to Hop. Eevee, for her part, simply leaned into the affection, looking content. Eventually Ash realized what he was doing, and looked down to see Iris leaned up against his leg, seemingly enjoying his fingers running through her hair. Next to Iris' head, Pikachu was still curled up, not bothered by having to share Ash's lap with Iris. Ash smirked as he looked at Iris.

"Enjoying yourself Iris? I wouldn't have pegged you for the cuddly type, but I don't mind it at all." Ash said, smiling as he gently patted Iris on the head, not minding her on his leg. At that moment, a conductor came into their compartment.

"Sorry for the interruption, but the train has arrived at the Wild Area station, where all passengers are asked to disembark as the train isn't making any stops in Motostoke at this time. Apologies but you have to get off." The conductor said before leaving the compartment. Iris pouted as she sat up.

"Do we have to get off? This train is so comfy." Iris said petulantly. Gloria and Ash laughed at how childish Iris sounded in that moment.

"Unfortunately yes we do. However, this isn't all bad. I recall Lee saying once that the Wild Area is teeming with all sorts of wild Pokemon, so maybe we can expand our teams a bit. I hear the Wild Area has all types of Pokemon." Hop said offhandedly. This perked Iris up.

"Really? Even Dragon-types?" Iris asked hopefully, making Ash laugh at Iris' apparent love of Dragon-types. Gloria just shook her head at how one-track Iris' mind can be.

"Yes, even Dragon-types, though they are much harder to find than most other types." Hop replied. Iris and Ash, to the surprise of Gloria and Hop, cheered at this.

"Nice, we can get more Pokemon! You planning on catching anything, Hop?" Ash asked Hop, remembering in that moment that other than Iris, everyone only had 2 Pokemon with them, where Iris only had her Exeggcute. Hop shrugged.

"Not sure honestly. I'll just see if anything catches my interest, I suppose." Hop replied. Gloria paused, getting a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Isn't the Wild Area supposed to be really large and expansive? Maybe we should split into pairs to explore it, like we did in Wedgehurst?" Gloria suggested. Hop shrugged at the idea. But Ash seemed to like the suggestion.

"That's not a bad idea. Given the pairs we used last time, how about Hop pairs up with Gloria, while Iris sticks wth me this time? Or does anyone have preferences on who pairs up with who?" Ash asked the others. Gloria and Iris seemed pleased by the idea. Hop was indifferent.

"It makes sense to change up the pairs now and again, Ash. I like it." Gloria said, even if she would rather pair up with Ash. She could work with Hop though. Iris for her part merely smiled as she nodded to Ash's suggestion.

"As long as I don't have to work with Hop again, I'm okay with the pairings." Iris said, walking over to Ash to stand with him while Gloria stood with Hop.

"Where do we meet up when we finish exploring?" Hop asked Ash. Ash looked at Hop.

"I was thinking we would either meet up in Motostoke or if our paths intersect, we meet up wherever our paths link up." Ash replied, making Hop nod in satisfaction at the answer.

"And with these pairs, you ensured at least one person in each pair has a sense of direction so there's less risk of getting lost." Gloria said teasingly, prompting Ash and Hop to huff at the remark. Iris merely giggled at Gloria's remark.

"Be nice, Gloria. It's not Hop or Ash's faults that girls usually are better with directions than guys." Iris said while laughing. Ash pouted.

"I'm not sure if I should be insulted by that comment or amused, Iris." Ash said, frowning. Iris smirked, gently patting Ash on the shoulder.

"Definitely the latter, Ash. Granted, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world being lost with you. At the least, you have a magic touch." Iris said, smiling as she recalled earlier when Ash was showing her affection without realizing it. Ash laughed.

"Funny. I didn't know that you liked being comforted that much, Iris. I wonder if Gloria is the same way?" Ash said, thinking out loud. If he saw the twin looks of embarrassment on Gloria and Iris' faces at his comment, he chose to ignore them. Hop, however, laughed.

"HA! I knew Ash was a chick magnet!" Hop joked, earning an eye roll from Ash, a punch on the arm from Gloria and an unamused glare from Iris.

"SHUT UP, HOP!" Gloria and Iris said in unison. *1* Ash chuckled at the girls' reaction.

"Easy, ladies. I don't think Hop meant to insult all three of us just then. And Hop, just because I tend to be more receptive to others' feelings, doesn't make me a chick magnet. I mean, you didn't see me trying to cuddle either of the girls earlier when they were huddled together, did you? Granted Iris ended up snuggling up to me at some point, but that was her choice to make. Though somehow I doubt I'd get much complaint or resistance from Gloria or Iris if I did decide to pull one of them in close to me for a cuddle." Ash said conversationally, either not seeing or ignoring the hints of red on both Iris and Gloria's faces at his remarks. Both girls pouted.

"Stop teasing us, Ash!" Gloria and Iris said simultaneously, each crossing their arms over their chests as they huffed. Hop laughed at Ash's remarks.

"Fair enough, Ash. Shall we get exploring?" Hop suggested. Gloria and Iris eagerly nodded. Ash nodded as well, before gently taking Iris' hand in his own as they walked off one way, leaving Hop and Gloria to go the other direction. Iris wasn't expecting this, and her face became tinged with embarrassment as she realized Ash was holding her hand. After a few steps, Ash eventually let go of Iris' hand after realizing he was holding it, not seeing Iris' face shift from embarrassed to almost disappointed next to him as he wsa too preoccupied with looking at the area around him. The Wild Area was huge, seemingly expanding for miles around Ash and Iris. Ash looked at Iris.

"So, which way should we go first?" Ash asked Iris, who got a thoughtful expression on her face, looking around before eventually pointing to a grassy meadow a bit ahead of them.

"That way. If nothing else it's a good place to start looking for wild Pokemon." Iris said. Ash nodded, agreeing with Iris' logic, so the two went the direction that Iris had pointed. After a bit of walking, Ash saw a sign indicating they were in an area called the 'Rolling Fields', which Ash found ironic given he saw no Pokemon at all rolling anywhere in the area. His attention was drawn by a sudden gasp of surprise from Iris. Ash spun around to see Iris looking at what looked to be an orange ant looking creature. Frowning, Ash took out his Pokedex.

"Trapinch, the Ant Pit Pokemon. This Pokemon makes its nest at the bottom of pits that it makes in the hope of luring prey down to it. Once something has fallen into its nest, there is usually no escaping for said prey. A Ground-type Pokemon." Ash's Pokedex said in a crisp yet masculine tone as it analyzed the now-named Trapinch who blinked as it saw Ash and Iris looking at it. Eventually it quickly burrowed into the ground, presumably to escape from Ash and Iris. What Ash didn't expect was for Iris to quickly dive in to the hole that Trapinch had created and try to follow it! "Iris, wait up!" Ash said, diving in after her, if for no other reason than to be able to protect her if needed. After a bit, Trapinch popped out at its' nest, not expecting Iris and Ash to pop out right behind it, landing on their butts! Well, Iris landed on her butt. Ash ended up landing in Iris' lap with the way the landings worked out, from which he quickly scrambled up, looking embarrassed. Iris was too busy looking at the Trapinch's nest to notice Ash's embarrassment. In the nest were two other Trapinch and two larger green dragon-looking Pokemon, who Ash guessed were probably the parents of the Trapinch. Ash quickly took out his Pokedex to analyze the dragons, but Iris stopped him.

"No, not yet. They might mistake that for a threat and attack. Besides, if the big ones are what I think they are, we found some Dragon-types!" Iris whispered to Ash, trying to contain her excitement at possibly finding a Dragon-type so soon in her journey. Unfortunately for Iris, the dragons heard the poorly-disguised squeal of excitement she gave off, turning to notice them and moving to protectively stand over the Trapinch. Iris looked at the dragons and her eyes grew wide with surprise.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you. We were following the little one and ended up here. We mean you no harm. My name is Iris and this is Ash Ketchum." Iris said, introducing herself and Ash to the dragons, who looked at each other before the larger of the two, presumably the father, approached the two, warily looking them over. However, neither Ash nor Iris saw what happened next coming. The bigger dragon nodded at Ash and Iris, moving aside so the two could approach the nest. Ash took the opportunity to covertly analyze the dragons with his Pokedex.

"Flygon, the Mystic Pokemon. A Ground/Dragon type and the final evolved form of Trapinch. This Pokemon hides in the hearts of sandstorms it creates and seldom appears where people can see it. It is nicknamed the Desert Spirit because the flapping of its' wings sounds like a person singing." Ash's Pokedex said as it finished analyzing the now named Flygons who blinked at the Pokedex, the bigger of the two sniffing it warily before backing off, deeming it no threat. Iris frowned at Ash.

"I told you to wait, Ash. You're lucky it didn't scare the Flygon off. Looks like I was right and the Trapinch DO evolve into Dragon-types. Obviously this set is a family so I couldn't bring myself to catch any of them because that would just be mean to tear a family apart even for the sake of collecting Dragon-types. Though I don't think that egg in the nest is a Trapinch egg." Iris said, frowning as she noticed the odd egg in the nest. "Is this egg yours? Or is that too personal of a question for me to be asking?" Iris asked the Flygons, who looked at her then each other, before shrugging. The smaller Flygon shook her head (the Pokedex had identified the larger Flygon as male and the smaller as female) before looking directly at Iris. Even though Iris didn't understand Pokemon language (because really what trainer DOES for the most part?), she felt herself look into Flygon's heart in that moment, allowing her a limited degree of understanding of it.

"That egg isn't yours, but you're raising it anyways since you found it abandoned recently and didn't want it to die. Aren't you just a sweet caring mother?" Iris said, smiling at the Flygon as she inexplicably walked up to her and hugged the surprised Dragon-type, who could only wrap her wings around Iris in response to the hug. Behind them, both Ash AND the male Flygon gaped at the sudden gesture by Iris. Eventually, Ash and Iris walked over to the Trapinch and started playing with them, with the approval of the Flygons first of course. After awhile of playing, the three Trapinch eventually dozed off, surprising Ash as they dozed off huddled up to Iris who let them cuddle her as they napped, not minding the closeness at all. Rather, Iris welcomed it, letting herself doze off as well with her arms around all three Trapinch as she gently held them close to her chest as she dozed. Behind her, the Flygons watched the scene with approval and surprise. The Flygons took protective stances over the sleeping group, while Ash quietly helped Pikachu and Rolycoly train nearby, but was careful not to be too loud lest he wake Iris or one of the Trapinch. As a result, the egg was unintentionally left unprotected. As such, no one saw the claw reaching over to grab the egg, quietly hauling it out of the nest without anyone noticing. Eventually the claw popped back up to the surface, right where a familiar trio of grunts awaited its' return. "Finally. Let's see what we have here then." Guv said as he looked at the contents of the claw, his eyes going wide.

"OI! Brielle, Bob! Get a load of this! I think we got ourselves a rare Pokemon egg! Let's hoof it outta here and get this to You-Know-Who." Guv said, as the other two grunts saw the egg, then nodded agreement. However, Guv's unintended shout to get Brielle and Bob's attention managed to catch the attention of the Flygons, who turned around and gasped as the egg was gone. Frowning, the larger Flygon also realized Ash was gone. The two Flygon, being worried about the egg, naturally assumed Ash had taken the egg, so naturally when he returned from training to check on things, Ash was surprised to see the Flygons growling at him as they stood protectively over Iris and the Trapinch trio she was cuddling with. Ash blinked at the Flygons.

"Why are you two growling at me? I was just off training up Pikachu and Rolycoly. I never left the nest. I just moved off around the corner a bit so I wouldn't bother Iris or the little ones. So stop being angry. I mean you no harm." Ash said, then jumped back as he nearly got hit by a Mud-Slap aimed at him. Ash frowned.

"I don't appreciate you attacking me. I didn't do anything to you." Ash said, as the Flygon glared at him, turning their heads as one to gesture towards the spot where the egg had previously been, causing Ash to gasp as he saw it was gone. He then looked at the Flygons.

"You think I took your egg, didn't you?" Ash said to the Flygon, who nodded. Ash sighed, looking down.

"I didn't do it, I swear. I was too busy training. But if that's what has you upset, I can go try and get the egg back for you. You can even keep Iris here as collateral. If I don't return, you can do with her what you will as long as you don't take your anger at me out on her. She's innocent in this. And I won't have her get punished for something neither she or I did. Besides, you see how kind and caring she is. Would she have let your children cuddle with her if she was a thief?" Ash asked the Flygon, who blinked, exchanging uneasy looks, before shaking their heads reluctantly. Ash smiled, nodding in agreement.

"Exactly. So if nothing else, punish me but not Iris. Or will you trust me to go to the surface and find your egg and hopefully bring it back?" Ash asked the Flygons who looked at each other, before both reluctantly nodded. Ash smiled.

"Thanks so much! I'll try to find that egg and be back as soon as I can!" Ash said, scrambling back up the way he and Iris had come down to the nest from, determined to find the egg. After Ash ran off, the two Flygon looked at each other, before settling back down on their nest, deciding that for now Iris could be treated as one of the nest, since she already seemed to be quite good with the Trapinch. The mother Flygon found herself smiling at Iris as she gently wrapped a wing over Iris and the Trapinch like a blanket. The father Flygon rolled his eyes but went along with the mother Flygon, wrapping himself around both her and the young currently in the nest.

Can Ash find the egg in time to clear his name? Or will Iris end up a permanent fixture in the Trapinch/Flygon nest? And just what have Hop and Gloria been up to during all this? The answers to these questions and more to come...as the journey continues!

TO BE CONTINUED

End of chapter

A/N: I know, I know, another semi-short chapter. But that's because this is a two-part arc! But in all seriousness, there's still about 5 and a half days to vote on the poll (it's April 4th as of the time I'm typing this end-chapter A/N out) so if you have an option you want to see win the poll, by all means vote! As a reminder, the votes are currently 5-5-5-2-1-0-0-0. So be sure to get your vote in while you can! That said, I do feel the need to make a couple of things clear.

1) As far as the whole 'cuddly' bit Iris has going, that's kind of in her character. In both the episodes she was introduced in, Iris was shown curled up in a tree, only her hair visible. Funnily enough, I recall she had a Poke Ball tossed at her head in both episodes because she got herself confused for a Pokemon due to her snuggling up in trees. And to those who argue against that, then remember this fic is called SHUFFLED Journeys so some changes are likely to occur compared to canon.

2)I realized as I was typing this chapter up that I forgot to work Dynamax Bands into the story. Let's just say I have a plan to fix that once the group arrives in Motostoke for the opening ceremony. Also, I had to slightly re-work how Iris and Ash encountered their Trapinch since when I looked it up for this chapter, I found out they were apparently exclusive to Raid Dens in Galar, yet I managed not to give them Dynamax Bands yet. So that would kind of create a problem when trying to write them encountering Trapinch in a Max Raid.

That said, next chapter will be the other half of the current arc. And for those who are aware of Iris' current lack of other Pokemon compared to the others, this arc may or may not go a long way in fixing that. But you'll have to wait for next chapter to see what I mean. ;) So feel free to leave a review with your thoughts/feedback or PM me. I enjoy hearing from readers either way. And again, if you review with a guest account (which I REALLY prefer that people DON'T do that, but I won't stop anyone who does do it), don't be surprised if your review ends up replied do in the opening A/N of the following chapter. That's just how I handle guest reviews. So until next update, sithlorde1988 out!

notes

*1* Only people who've seen the old-school show 'Beast Wars' can get the reference I made here. For those who haven't seen it, there's a character in the show called Rattrap and in a lot of the first season, there'd be parts where one or more of the other characters would look at Rattrap and yell 'SHUT UP, RATTRAP!', and it'd usually have a witty outcome. So yeah kinda had to make a reference here to that.

Teams

Ash- Rolycoly, Pikachu (shiny, techincally Red's)

Hop- Oshawott, Wooloo (gift from his mom)

Gloria- Eevee, Yamper

Iris- Exeggcute, ?, ? (the two mystery spots to be revealed next chapter, though there were hints to both in this chapter)