Archive of Our Own ^beta

Ash let out a deep sigh as he leaned back against the headboard of his bed. A week had passed since he had woken up from his eight day coma and he had finally been released to go home the day before. His mother had taken him to the hotel room she had been staying in for the night of his release and the next day Oak was there to take them home in his car. His doctor had told them that teleporting would have made his head injury worse or they would have done that to get home quicker.

When he got home, after taking a small nap, went out to the pastures to see his pokémon. He had asked after them when he had woken up and while he believed what Oak had told him, Ash just needed to see them with his own eyes. The majority of his pokémon were fully healed and well rested, but were the few that he had been extremely worried about. Persian, Luxray, and Ninetails were all perfectly healthy, much like the ones that didn't fight such as Rockruff, Snom, and Leafeon. Noivern had a torn wing and Aegislash had a few scratches on her blade that needed to heal. Charizard's tail is still healing from being broken and Zoroark had a broken paw and two broken ribs that were fully healed. Krookodile came out of the fight with bruised scales and a concussion while Slither Wing only had a few gashes. Lucario had broken his leg and Tyrantrum, thank Arceus, only had the large gash on his side that was already healed up and a few broken teeth. Gardevoir and Pikachu were both exhausted from over-extending themselves. Pikachu had depleted and overused his electricity sack almost to the point that he would have crippled himself and would not have been able to use electric attacks ever again.

And Nidoking.

Ash isn't afraid to say that he had, and still has, nightmares almost every night about what happened to him. He remembered it as clear as crystal. The bloodied dark paw punching through Nidokings' chest only several inches from his face. Warm blood splattering his skin, the stench of it in the air, and him shattering.

He doesn't remember what happened after that, but whatever happened was truly a miracle. Nidoking was fully healed and the only mark on him was the scar on his chest where he had been impaled. When Ash first saw Nidoking he clung onto the reptile as he cried in relief. He was afraid that he would have had to bury his partner, one of the pack.

The injuries he had himself were minor in comparison. Bruising, a small concussion, exhaustion, a few cuts here and there were all he had. Ash considered himself lucky.

Very lucky.

There was also the thing about the gold orbs. Ash wasn't sure what they were, but they did at least feel comforting just like his Aura did. Like they weren't a bad thing. But since he had woken up, he hadn't been able to use any of his Aura. He had messaged Riley about it, but so far Riley hasn't answered him back. Ash could only assume that the man was out of signal range and had not even gotten his message yet. All of the books he had didn't say anything about it and he was hesitant to return to Rota to speak with the Queen about it. Especially after receiving the missive from Her Majesty when he woke up.

Apparently the Knights had managed to actually capture one of the Corrupted Aura Users, but before they could do anything the woman killed herself. She had a fake molar that had been filled with a fast acting poison and there was nothing on her person that showed what she was up to. So it was still up in the air where the main headquarters of these Corrupted Users were and what their plans were.

On a different note while he had been in his coma Oak had to 'release' a couple of his pokémon for their breeding seasons. If it wasn't against the law to keep them from their breeding season then Ash would have been able to see them after he woke up. That law had been put into effect over four decades ago when several species of pokémon were close to going extinct. Now everyone that had captured those few listed pokémon had to 'release' them for their seasons to help bring the populations back up. Of course his pokémon were still his, he still had their pokéballs and they were still registered under his name, and when they were finished they would come back.

Kingdra had been sent out into the ocean south of Pallet Town where he would travel deep down in the waters to find a partner. From what Ash knew about the seahorses' season is that after Kingdra found a partner then the two would travel to warmer waters where the two would spend their season together. If successful then his Kingdra would return carrying the young fry like all male Kingdra did when successful.

The other pokémon that had left for the breeding season was, to Ashs' surprise, Zoroark. Oak had to transfer Zoroark to Juniper, who promised to take care of the ball and to send Zoroark back as soon as the illusionist returned. Ash didn't know much about Zoroarks' breeding cycle, only that it didn't last as long as Kingdras' breeding cycle. If Zoroark had any luck then the illusionist would be back before Ash had to leave for Alola.

Saying that, Ash only had three weeks until then. He had already sorted his new things, that his mother had bought him, to be washed and had started to make a list of things he would need to bring. Ash had decided that right after the month in Alola he would head straight to Sinnoh to settle before he got too busy. He had the Conference to do, meet his boyfriends' older brother, and figure out the riddle.

"-seek out the town of old."

The words rattled inside his head, making no sense, and when he tried to look up anything regarding it, nothing popped up. Ash would just have to wait until he actually went to Sinnoh to figure out anything about it, it seemed, and even then he might not find anything out at all. He would just have to hope for the best, but until then, he had his stint in Alola to do.

Oak had sent him an email about it when everything had been agreed upon on both his end and the associations' end that needed Charizard's services. Thankfully Charizard should be fully healed by the time they would need to leave in three weeks. Oak had a house in Alola near a beach that he had given Ash permission to use as long as they left it in the same condition it was in when they got there. They being, himself and Paul, as his boyfriend declared that Ash wasn't going to leave his line of sight for a while.

"Every time I turn around or leave you to your own devices, things like this happen," Paul had told him a few hours after he had woken up. And to be fair, Paul was right. Things always happen when Paul isn't around. It was like he was a magnet for trouble or something. Ash didn't mind though, he always wanted Paul around. And the fact that they were going to be in a house, on an island, a bit secluded from others, and by themselves, well his mother and teachers always did say he had a wild imagination.

The sound of his door opening brought Ash out of his thoughts and looking up from his dex he spotted Paul walking into his room. The tray he carried had food on it which smelled wonderful and his belly let out a loud growling sound. He turned his head and saw that more time had passed than he had thought since he came upstairs.

"Your mom made grilled cheese and tomato soup for lunch," Paul said as he walked over to place the tray on the side table.

"Thanks," Ash replied as he put his things away.

"Still no reply?" Paul asked as he sat down on the bed beside Ash, his own bowl of soup was cradled in his hands. Ash placed the plate with the grilled cheese on the bed between them before grabbing his own bowl.

"No," Ash said with a sigh. He had come clean to Paul about his Aura and what had happened to land him in a coma since he didn't want any secrets between them. He felt as though Paul should know what he was getting into with being with him. Ash told him about not being able to use his Aura and the dream he had before he woke up. Paul sadly didn't know anything about any old towns in Sinnoh and he was from there. It didn't bode well in trying to find the town.

"Maybe Reggie knows something, or knows someone who does," Paul said, "We'll have to wait to ask though. He is deep in something else at the moment and doesn't have the time to answer back."

"Who's watching his facility?" Ash asked after swallowing his food.

"His fiancé, Alain," Paul answered, "There isn't anything there at the moment that the man can't handle. My brother just has a few eggs and a breeding pair other than our own pokémon there." Ash nodded leaving the two to finish their food in a comfortable silence. A soft sound of something moving caught Ashs' ear and turned to see Jangmo-os' egg wiggling. His egg, having been at the pastures with the others instead of the battlefield, was healthy and had been moving more often. Oak told him that the egg should be hatching any day now.

"I can't wait to meet him," Ash said softly as he put his empty bowl on the tray and leaned back against the headboard again. He reached over to grab the egg and placed the warm incubator in his lap. Ash carefully opened it up and took the egg out to cradle in his arms. It had been a while since the egg had any contact with him and Ash hoped that it didn't hurt the, almost fully developed, Jangmo-o inside.

"With your track record, do you think this one will be a normal Jangmo-o? I'm betting on it being special." Paul asked as he placed his empty bowl inside Ashs' empty bowl and pushed the tray to the side.

"No clue. I suppose anything could happen," Ash said with a soft chuckle and a shake of his head, "I suppose I just attract these ones because of the whole 'Arceus' Chosen One' thing. It could have been a coincidence that I met them, or fate. Who knows?"

---

Ash let out a groan as he stretched and relished in the warm rays of the sun, Pikachu let out a soft chitter as the mouse stretched out by his feet before climbing up to his shoulder. Four days had passed and his mother finally let him leave the house, even if it was just to go to the pastures. It was also the first day that Ash felt good. No soreness, his head didn't hurt, and he felt fully rested. Paul was already at the pastures taking care of their pokémon as he had left earlier in the morning and Ash, feeling as good as he was, was determined to give everyone a good grooming and pampering day. He even groomed Silvers' Eevee with his cousins' permission and showed Silver how to help make sure the small kits' fur stay shiny, fluffy, and healthy. Ash even told Silver to contact him after Gardevoirs' egg hatched so he could help his cousin with the Ralts' grooming.

His mother had restocked his grooming supplies, sharpened his scissors, and had even bought new perfumes and colognes for his partners. On top of that she also made sure he had everything for a new baby, but at least he got to pick those out online as she had them sent to the house with Delibird Delivery. After looking up pictures of Jangmo-o he decided to order a gray and yellow blanket for when Jangmo-o hatched along with other gray or yellow items to keep a baby entertained. With his research he learned that Jangmo-o tend to be loud, along with the rest of their line, and that they essentially had their own language and used how they clanged their scales to communicate. There wasn't much known about how Jangmo-o are after they hatched as the female Kommo-o tend to sequester their young into their dens until they were at least three months old and could defend themselves from most things around them. The male Kommo-o usually leaves, from what researchers have found, only to come back later to watch over the young Jangmo-o from afar.

Ash hoped to learn more about the Jangmo-o line when he and Paul went to Alola within a couple of weeks time.

"Good morning, Ash!"

Hearing Oak greeting him so suddenly, outside of the Lab and pastures that is, shook Ash from his thoughts, an action he seemed to partake in lately, and upon turning around he spotted the Professor by one of his neighbors, Mr. Utaka. Ash walked over and greeted the two and reassured Mr. Utaka that, yes he was fine, and no he didn't sneak out to get away from his mother.

"Heading to the pastures?" Oak asked after Mr. Utaka thanked Oak for the tub of ointment in his hand for his aging Golem. The old retired Golem had been having trouble with her joints for a while now so Mr. Utaka asked Oak if he had anything for her as he couldn't take the trip to the nearest Center. His own joints and aging body wasn't able to carry him that far.

"Yeah. I owe my pokémon a serious pampering day," Ash replied as the two started to walk towards the Lab. Pikachu let out a squeak and let his cheek pouches spark at the thought. The mouse didn't like baths as much as some of the others in the pack.

"And how is the egg?" Oak asked as he waved to one of the other elderly residents of Pallet Town.

"Good! Been moving more today than it did yesterday," Ash said, "I think it'll hatch today or tomorrow with how much it moves. I also started hearing a soft tapping sound coming from it like it's trying to use its egg tooth to break the shell or is trying to claw up the inside to escape."

"If you wouldn't mind, I would like to take another look at it when we get into to the lab. The closer the baby inside is to hatching, the easier it is to determine when it will hatch. I've also been given the notes about the egg and its parentage from Lances' secretary upon my request. I have a theory and wonder if it'll come through with Jangmo-o," Oak said as the two started the journey up the hill to the lab. Ash agreed and wondered what the theory was as Oak didn't say anything more about it. He supposed that the old man would tell him after Jangmo-o hatched for now he would go and pamper his pokémon.

After getting into the lab Ash carefully placed his bag on the table to get the egg out from inside of it. After a few words to the egg and shouldering his bag he and Pikachu made the journey outside and into the pastures. Most of his pokémon tend to stay around the tree line while the larger reptiles preferred to stay out in the open fields where their was nothing blocking the sun. Ash looked around when he stepped outside, blinking a few times to get his eyes used to the sunlight from his small jaunt inside, and spotted Tyrantrum laying in the middle of the field. He could just see Krookodile beside him, surprising Ash a little as he knew Krookodile always took the chance to bury himself in the sand.

Ash stopped walking as he heard barking and the sounds of something running. Turning his head Ash spotted Rockruff running towards him, Persian just behind the small pup. The melanistic feline had taken the pup under her paw since Zoroark was gone for the time being. Ash braced himself to catch the pup as it jumped up into his arms in greeting and couldn't help but laugh as Rockruff began to lick his cheek in greeting. Persian, who finally caught up to Rockruff, let out a loud purr before she began to rub herself against Ashs' legs.

The commotion caused his other pokémon to notice him and soon enough he was being surrounded by the pack. Chuffs, growls, wet noses, warm scales, and furry tails greeted him as if they hadn't seen him in forever. Ash greeted each pokémon with smiles and soft words as Paul and his own pokémon joined them. He turned and grinned at his boyfriend, finally feeling at peace being surrounded by the people and beings he loved, only made better if his family were also there.

Ash led his pokémon to a large building that Oak had built on the property for trainers, or his pasture hands, to groom the many pokémon that stayed at the pastures. There were large tubs, showers, dryers, and many other things that were to be used for grooming pokémon. He started with the smaller pokémon, washing, drying, and brushing furs, picked off dried scales, cleaned teeth, trimmed claws and so on before moving onto the larger pack members. Paul, who had decided to join him to help, groomed his own pokémon and helped with his own when he was finished since Ash had more partners than his boyfriend did. But thankfully soon enough everyone was washed, groomed, fed, and were now enjoying the outdoors once more. Those that had injuries, Ash made sure to dry the injuries thoroughly and re-apply any ointments and wrappings they may need and gave out berries and potions as needed.

The rest of the late morning to early afternoon was spent out in the pastures with the pack and Paul, who thoughtfully made a picnic for their lunch. Ash didn't know if Paul counted this as a date, but he sure did. The thought of a picnic was so sweet and thoughtful. He did spend a bit of the time they were outside meditating to see if he was able to figure out what was going on with his Aura, while Paul read or trained his pokémon. But sadly there was nothing. Where his Aura Core laid within his being was gone. No hint of the 'glass ball' he remembered he had when he got sick with Corruption, no small orbs fluttering around, just a large vastness of darkness.

There was nothing in the few books he had, Riley still hadn't gotten back to him, and he was on the verge of freaking out about it. He clung onto the hope that his Core just needed some time to heal and that he would be able to use it once more. For now he supposed that he would have to get used to the emptiness he felt and the looks of concern Lucario sent his way.

Ash just couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to happen.

---

Ash took a deep breath as he stared at his bag. It was tattered, covered in ash and scorched in places, there was dried blood on the straps and along the zipper. There were rips on the sides and one of the straps had been cut leaving it useless. He hadn't touched his bag since he brought it home from the hospital, Ash hadn't wanted to remember the battle even if his nightmares made him remember it, the knowledge that his pack was still here and whole gave him the courage to clean out the bag.

Taking another deep breath Ash upturned the bag so all the contents fell onto his bed. Paul was silent as the contents settled on the bed, and Ash appreciated his calm, silent nature, grounding him to the present so his mind didn't get stuck in the past. Ash started separating the items. Clothing and such items to be cleaned, medicinal items to be combined with the new items he had, the Prism Scale was unscathed as well as his TM case. The extra pair of shoes he had were unfortunately burned to a point there was a hole on the side of them making them unusable. The jacket his mother made him from his ancestors' cloak needed some repair, but otherwise it was fine. His water bottle had been crushed, the case holding his pokéballs was scuffed but fine, and the book he had been carrying with him was a bit damaged with water, but was still readable.

The last item in the bag had made his breath hitch and a flash of a dark paw fill his head. Ash carefully picked up the purple ball, enlarged instead of shrunken like the other unused pokéballs he had indicating that there was something occupying it. He remembered the very last memory he had of the battle, of the ball flying out of his hand and the soft sound of a ding ringing in his ears. The only pokémon that was close to him at the time that he hadn't already captured was the Black Mewtwo. Ash gripped the ball in his hand until his fingers and knuckles turned white and he was sure he would have broken it if a larger warm hand hadn't covered his hand.

Looking up and blinking away the tears he hadn't noticed gathering, Ash saw Paul standing beside him. Ash loosened his grip on the ball and turned into Paul, burying his head into the larger chest. He felt arms wrap around him and felt comfort in the hold.

"Leave it be for now," Paul said as he held the ball in his hand, "Until you're ready to face it again."

"I can't just leave him in the ball," Ash said softly, his voice was surprisingly calm despite what he felt towards the being, "That's inhumane."

"Give him to Mewtwo then," Paul replied, "Let Them and the others watch over him until you're ready to face him again. If this one causes any trouble your Mewtwo can always return him to his ball to keep him from causing trouble. But until you can give him to Mewtwo, leave it be."

"Oka-" Ash began to say, to agree with Paul, when the sounds of something breaking sounded throughout the room. Noticing that it didn't sound like glass and knowing that his egg was supposed to hatch soon, Ashs' first inclination was to look at it. Sitting on a pillow on the floor, with Persian and Luxray curled up around it, was his egg with a large crack down the middle. Pulling away from Paul, Ash quickly gathered a few things he may need for a new hatchling, along with a bottle of berry based formula for its first feed, before kneeling in front of the egg. Persian and Luxray moved away from the egg, to give it room to hatch and for the baby to only see Ash as it hatched so it would imprint on the human.

Ash saw Paul from the corner of his eye and saw that his boyfriend was holding his phone either taking pictures or video taping the occasion. Ash knew he would be appreciative for it later, sad that he didn't get videos or pictures of the others hatching. The large crack widened more, as more cracks began to appear and soon enough a chunk of egg shell fell to the ground leaving an eye-sized hole. Instead of the red colored eye Ash was expecting, a large black colored eye peered out of the egg. Ash saw a hint of white as the eye disappeared only for the egg to 'explode' with a loud thud.

The Jangmo-o had used its large head scale to bash open the egg from the inside, sending bits of egg shell flying. Ash gaped as he looked at the hatchling once the egg shell was off the baby. Bright white scales, covered in the albumen fluid from the egg, shown in the sunlight coming in from the window. Large black eyes looked up at Ash as the small dragon let out a chirp and started to clumsily walk towards Ash. The Jangmo-o tripped over the blanket Ash had been holding over his legs and fell into his lap.

"For the record," Paul said softly, a smirk on his lips as Ash turned to look at him, "I called it." Ash couldn't help the laughter that came out of him as realization came crashing down. No matter if it was fate, or just coincidence that these special pokémon keep coming into his possession, he would cherish each one. Ash relished in the joyous occasion of a new baby in the pack, ignoring the daunting feelings of the Master Ball sitting innocently behind him on the bed and the emptiness he felt inside.

Ash would have said the first couple of weeks with Jangmo-o finally out of his egg was bliss, but he wouldn't be entirely truthful. From the research he had read Ash knew that the Jangmo-o line was loud, but he didn't think this small dragon was going to be this loud. The small dragon took to screeching at odd times of the night when he was hungry or wanted cuddles and with all the screeching the small dragon ended up waking everyone in the house. Softened scales that had hardened were clanging up a storm when Jangmo-o became more sure of his feet and started to run everywhere.

The only pokémon that tolerated being in the same vicinity as the small dragon when Jangmo-o begins to shriek and clang was, surprisingly Tyrantrum. The larger dinosaur had taken Jangmo-o under his claw and Ash didn't mind, especially if Tyrantrum took the small baby for a few hours so Ash could nurse the never-ending headache he had since Jangmo-o found his voice and scales. Oak, having seen and heard the ruckus the small dragon caused, contacted his cousin in Alola, where Jangmo-o originated from, to see if the man could lend some insight.

After a few tests, at Samsons' behest, it was discovered that Jangmo-o was born with deformities within his ear canals causing the small dragon to be fully deaf, and thus unable to control his volume. Ash, feeling a bit overwhelmed, sat down with Paul and Oak, along with Samson via video call, to go over the options with Jangmo-o, the little deaf, black-eyed leucistic. He didn't know how to work with anyone deaf, Jangmo-o being the first being he had ever encountered with the disability, and Ash didn't know if he would be the best fit to take care of the little dragon. There were reserves that Samson mentioned that could take in Jangmo-o in Alola if that was what he really wanted, Ash could take lessons in Kantonese Sign Language with a subset of Battle Signs, or if the reserve didn't want Jangmo-o or Ash didn't want to learn KSL/BS Jangmo-o would be transferred over to another trainer who knew how to work with pokémon with such disabilities.

Even after the long discussion, Ash wasn't any closer to a solution. At least he did not have to make a decision now. He did have until they leave Alola to go to Sinnoh to finalize it and even then there were a few months until Jangmo-o was old enough to start training. Ash had time.

At least everything for Charizard was done. All new tests were done, the physical was complete, and the albino was double checked for virility. All that was left was to actually leave for the Islands and get Charizard settled in the facility that was housing the fire-type for the breeding duration. That was some weight taken off his shoulders.

For now, at least for the rest of the week, Ash was going to focus on training with his partners before leaving for Alola. He wanted to get Snom evolved, the little moth, with the help of the rest of the pack, was fairly close to evolving. She would be going with him to Alola along with Rockruff, Persian, Ninetales, Gardevoir, Pikachu, Jangmo-o, Charizard and Krookodile. If Kingdra is successful the seahorse would be right off the coast and would join them when he was done bringing the total of pokémon Ash was bringing to nine. The others would stay at the pastures and rotate with the others after a couple of weeks as usual.

The last thing he had to do was-

"Do you have everything, dear?" his mother asked Ash as he was putting the last item he needed in his bag. The sudden question startled him. Ash hadn't heard his mother walking up the staircase or open his door. He turned to look at her and saw her holding a couple of books in her arms as well as a small white box.

"I think so," Ash said, "I need to look over it all and make sure. I also need to double check the paperwork again and my passport, but I'm fairly sure I have everything."

As Ash straightened up Pikachu dashed onto the bed with Ashs' watch in his mouth and Rockruff was just behind the mouse with his favorite toy in his mouth. It was just a simple rope toy, but the pup loved playing tug with whoever would play with him at the time. Ash snorted and grabbed the rope to put in the bag before taking the watch. He thanked the two and gave the mouse and pup a scratch behind their ears in thanks.

"Well it seems like your partners will make sure you don't forget anything," Delia said with a soft giggle, "I wanted to make sure you got these before you left. Seeing as you'll have a bit of downtime in Alola, I thought perhaps you would like these."

Delia handed the books she had in her arms and upon looking at the titles Ash couldn't help but smile. They were a beginners guide to KSL and a book a trainer had written and published about their own experiences with training pokémon with different disabilities.

"I also got this for you," Delia added once Ash had placed the book in his carry-on bag and handed Ash the white box. It had writing unfamiliar to him, but when he opened the box he was met with his reflection upon a dark screen. Carefully pulling the device out he found it to be lightweight and fitted comfortably in his hand.

"It's a smartphone," Delia answered the unspoken question when she saw the confusion on Ashs' face, "think of it as an amalgamation of the video call machines, the poketches, and the dexs'. This little device can do all they can and more."

"Mom, this must have been expensive!" Ash said as he tried to give the phone back, "I can't take it with me! I'll break it!"

"Ash, son," Delia said as she pushed the phone back towards his chest, "Don't worry about it, and take it. Think of it as an early birthday present since you'll be in Sinnoh by that time. It has my contact, Silvers', and Oaks' video call machine number in it and it still has your current call number attached to it. It'll give me some peace of mind that you have it. The watches aren't always reliable and are going out of date. The company that makes them has already put out a statement that the watches will become unsupported by this time next year."

Ash let out a soft sigh and nodded in acceptance as he pocketed the phone with a small smile. He gave his mother a hug and thanks before grabbing his bags to take downstairs and leave by the door. He and Paul would be leaving in a few hours to get to the airport to fly out to the Islands. His boyfriend was currently at the pastures getting all their partners before heading back so they could leave. Gardevoir was going to teleport them to the airport when Paul got back with them. Ash had just set down his bag when a shrill ringing came from the phone his mother had given him, making him jump a bit and pull it from his pocket.

Incoming Call: Riley

Ash cursed softly to himself to keep his mother from hearing him before dashing back up to his room. He would have answered it down there, but he felt a bit too exposed down there while talking about something so important.

"Riley!" Ash exclaimed as he answered the phone just as he shut the door.

"Ash, where are you?"

"At home, but I'm leaving in a few hours for work," Ash said, the rushed question from Riley and the tone from his voice caused his heart to skip a beat as if there were something wrong.

"Where?"

"Alola," Ash answered back, "Riley what's wrong?"

"I was only just able to read your messages and hear the voicemails you left me, but it sounds as though something very serious and dangerous happened. Explain it to me thoroughly."

Ash took a deep breath as he started to tell Riley what happened. How it felt. How he wasn't able to use his Aura at all, and how it felt as though he didn't have it any longer. He kept the instance with the pokémon and what it told him in his coma to himself as he didn't know if it actually pertained to Aura or just this 'Chosen One' business.

"Hmmm. You said you're going to Alola? I'll meet you there. I have an inkling about what's going on, but I need to look for a few things first just to make sure I'm right about it."

"Okay," Ash agreed softly, finally feeling some kind of relief that Riley may have the answers he needed, "and whatever you think is going on? Can it be reversed? Will I be able to use my Aura again?"

"Yes."

Ash held back the gasp that so desperately wanted to leave his mouth as the definitive answer his Mentor gave him. He thanked Riley and told him that he would see the older man in Alola before the call ended. Ash sunk down onto his bed and cupped his mouth with his hands as his emotions crashed down on himself. Hot tears rolled down his cheeks until they met his hands and left cooling trails in their wake. He didn't notice his door opening and closing, but he did notice the larger body kneeling in front of him through his tears.

Ash let himself be pulled off the bed and into Pauls' embrace as word vomit started spewing from his mouth telling Paul all what happened with the phone call. He felt Pauls' hand running up and down his back as the other hand cupped the back of his neck in a gentle gesture. Ash swore he felt Paul kiss the side of his head, but it was too fleeting of a feeling, but spoke more than actual words could say. He felt Pauls' chest rumble as his boyfriend spoke, giving him reassurances that things will be okay. And soon enough Ash had calmed down, tired from the emotional roller coaster he had just been on, and sipping some water Paul had given him. Once he was feeling better, and had cleaned his face of any evidence that he had been crying, Ash made his way downstairs and to his surprise Oak was there with Zoroark standing by him cradling something in his paws.

"Zoroark!" Ash exclaimed as he rushed into the room and stopped short of the dark pokémon as what the creature was carrying became clear to him, "An Egg?"

"Yes! Imagine my surprise when Juniper had called me earlier telling me that your Zoroark had come back carrying an egg!" Oak said as the older man settled down onto a chair, "Upon examining the egg, it appears as though it had been abandoned in the wild and your Zoroark had claimed it. Juniper, unfortunately, cannot take care of an egg at this time so she sent it over with Zoroark."

"So what kind of egg is it?" Ash asked as Zoroark leaned down a bit to receive some scratches. The egg was a shockingly bright white with what looked like an ink blot on the top of it. It was about average size with a bit of molding on the side, but otherwise it was a healthy looking egg and the monitor on it indicated that the heartbeat within was still going strong.

"Upon looking at its coloration, the size, and the Region it was found it, I can only assume it's an Absol egg," Oak concluded before sipping some coffee Delia had made for him, "When I tried to take the egg to look after it Zoroark refused to give it to me and left the lab. I followed the fox all the way here."

Zoroark took that moment to let out a snicker before walking over to Silver. Ash watched as Zoroark gently placed the egg in his cousins' lap before letting out a chuff at Silver.

"You wanted to give it to Silver?" Ash asked as he watched his cousin wrap his arms around the egg, "What made you want to do that?" Zoroark pointed at the small Eevee before gesturing to Gardevoir and then back at the egg and then to himself.

"You wanted to give me the egg because Gardevoir and Leafeon gave me theirs?" Silver asked as he looked up at Zoroark who only gave a sharp nod and bark before moving back over towards Ash.

"That's really sweet of you Zoroark," Ash said softly, "You must really see him as part of the pack, huh?" Zoroark snickered once more as his ears swiveled at the slightest of noise. It really was sweet of Zoroark to do that, but hopefully his cousin wasn't going to be run down with babies by the end if all his partners were going to try and give Silver an egg. After a few minutes of discussion and tips on how to care for the egg, Ash and Paul needed to get going. Zoroark opted to stay at the pastures for a bit to relax from his Unova outing and went back with Oak after the man had said the last few things he needed to.

Gardevoir, who had been waiting by the bags waved at his Mom and cousin before whisking the two humans away to the airport. It didn't take long to get through security and now it was just a small wait until they could get on the plane.

---

"Alola! Welcome to Alola!"

The robotic voice came from the screen as Ash and Paul walked past it as they came out of the tunnel and into the main airport itself. It hadn't been a too terribly long ride, but Ash was exhausted from the crying session he did earlier and hadn't been able to sleep during the six hour flight as he needed to make sure Jangmo-o didn't cause too much of a ruckus. Thankfully he had Paul there to help guide him where they needed to be and the first stop was to get their bags. It didn't take long for Ashs' red bags and Pauls' purple bags to come trundling down the conveyor belt and then it was to the service desk to get the rental car Paul had gotten for them.

Once they were outside, the sun shining bright with a cool breeze, Ash took a deep breath before releasing it slowly. The air smelt fresh, a bit salty because of the ocean, but clean and pure. He couldn't wait to get to the house Oak was letting them use as he desperately needed a nap before he needed to go meet the person in charge of the breeding program Charizard was going to be a part of. The car Paul had rented him was small and simple, and that was just fine as long as it was reliable and comfortable. With the bags in the car and their seat belts on they were on the way to the house with the help of the car's GPS system.

It didn't take long for the city they landed in to vanish and all that was around them was trees on one side and the beach and ocean on the other. Ash watched the waves crash against the rocks as they took a turn and enjoyed the way the sunlight glistened along the surface. He saw several Mantines jump out of the water with their entourages and saw many Wingulls diving down to the surface before flying off with their captures. Pink bodies of Slowpoke were stretched out on the sands while there were crab like pokémon Ash didn't know the name of scuttling across the sands.

"It's peaceful here so far," Ash commented, breaking the silence of the car, "Hopefully the rest of this trip is like this."

"We can only hope," Paul said with a soft huff, "Gotta admit, it is a lot prettier here than in the pictures people post on the internet."

"Very picturesque," Ash agreed as he pulled out his phone to take a few snapshots to send to his mother. He knew she would appreciate knowing that they had landed safely and he would message her with the pictures once they got to the house and got settled in.

"Are you napping with me?" Ash asked as Paul took another turn as the GPS told them to.

"I'm not tired yet," Paul said, "I suppose I'll go out to get some food for the house if Oak or his cousin hadn't had it stocked."

"Sounds good!" Ash replied with a small nod and reached down for his bag as Jangmo-o started to fuss. The dragon had some formula designed for baby dragons on the plane, but Jangmo-o was still a baby and needed to eat often. Jangmo-o's sharp teeth had started to come in and soon enough would be on a solids diet. Thankfully dragons were less likely to go through a teething phase as their teeth came in, but were more likely to bite things after they came in. Ash hoped he could prevent any permanent damage from occurring while they were staying at Oaks' house.

"Here we are," Paul said, cutting Ash out of his thoughts. The house was average in size, but two stories and had been built on thick sturdy stilts. Ash remembered something vaguely about houses being built on them in areas where the water could rise a few feet. He had seen a few houses in the city being built like this one so he assumed that during storms the waters rise. Thankfully they had arrived outside of monsoon season for the Islands.

"It looks nice," Ash said as he put Jangmo-o down on the ground and it was true, the house itself did look nice. It was painted a light blue with white trimming along the doors and windows while the roof was gray shingling. The stairs that went up to the wrap around porch were painted white like the porch and trim was. Ash was sure the inside would be just as good as the outside.

Grabbing his bags and making sure Jangmo-o was following him, Ash followed Paul up the stairs. The small dragon slowly took one step at a time as Jangmo-o hadn't had the best time with stairs so far in his short life. He hadn't quite gotten the hang of them and had tumbled down the ones at home when the small dragon had climbed a few of the steps. It scared Jangmo-o to the point that the few times Ash had gone up or down the stairs since the tumble, Ash had to carry him or the small dragon would stay at the bottom or top of the steps and clang up a storm until Ash came back to grab him. It wasn't until the last couple of days at home that Jangmo-o felt confident enough to try again on his own.

After a few minutes of Jangmo-o carefully going up the stairs did the two finally reach the top of them. Paul had left the door open when he had gone in so Jangmo-o walked in as if the small dragon owned the place. Ash followed and set his luggage down by Pauls' before venturing further inside to find his boyfriend. He didn't find him in the living room, but did find Paul in the kitchen.

"It's fully stocked," Paul said as he noticed Ash walk in, "I can't tell you how long I've been wanting to cook you a meal."

"Really?" Ash asked as a smile slowly appeared on his face, "That's really sweet. I've been wanting to bake you one of my favorite desserts for you to try too."

"Date night tomorrow? Picnic on the beach?" Paul asked as he gestured to the private beach they had. The beach really was secluded as it was a small patch of sandy beach that was surrounded by foliage. Ash could just barely see it from the windows despite it being so close and how high up they were.

"It's a date!" Ash replied, his smile turned softer, and his heart pumped wildly in his chest. Even though he had been dating this guy for almost half a year Paul never failed to make his heart skip beats in a good way. Ash couldn't believe it had already been almost half a year.

Time surely does fly by.

---

"-that should be everything," Haoa, the head breeder for the Alolan Islands, finished explaining as he showed Ash about the facility where Charizard was going to be staying. It was a simple building with a protected reserve behind it that had several pokémon Ash had never heard of, and it was beautiful.

"He'll be here for at least 2 weeks right?" Ash asked as the two stopped along the cat walk they were on and peered down to see a few Stoutland lazing about in the sun while two Lapras were drifting in the large pond not far from them.

"Yes," Haoa said, "At least two weeks and no more than a month. We have two females ready to pair with him, one at a time of course. They came all the way from Charicific Valley in Johto."

"Charicific Valley?" Ash inquired as he had never heard of the place.

"A Natural Reserve for Charizard. Most Charizard though use the reserve as a training ground to become stronger. My niece, Charla, works there and had two female Charizard volunteer to come here for the program." Haoa replied as the two continued to walk through the facility to where Ash would leave Charizard. It didn't take long to get to the natural rocky terrain that had spires of rock and a cliff with caves other pokémon had drilled into to make dens. There was a large pond where pokémon could bathe or drink and several berry trees that bore many berries, ripe for the picking.

The sound of the wind beating by wings greeted their ears before a large form swooped down from one of the caves. Dark black scales that stood out from cream colored belly scales, shone in the sunlight. The dark red under scales of the Charizards' wings flashed as the Charizard flapped her wings to slow to a stop.

"A shiny." Ash said softly in awe. Of course his own Charizard was magnificent in his own right, but there was something about seeing a shiny when a normal coloration was expected. The black Charizard preened as she noticed Ashs' expression and let out a deep grumbling.

"This one arriving was a surprise to everyone here," Haoa said softly as if hesitant to break a moment, "When she arrived to settle before the breeding season we were determined to find a mate that matched her beauty. After a bit of looking around and asking the right people we were pointed your way, the boy with all the special pokémon."

"I hope Charizard is up to her standards then," Ash replied with a gentle chuckle, "Am I good to release him?"

"Of course!" Haoa said enthusiastically while taking a couple of steps back as if to give Ashs' Charizard room to appear. Ash reached back to grab Charizards' ball and took it from his belt. The motion to release Charizard was quick, the press of the button and a toss into the air, and his albino Charizard greeted the world with a earth rumbling roar and a few beats from his powerful wings. The bright white scales, almost blinding in the sunlight, was a sight to see next to the black scales. Ash saw Charizards' nostrils flare as he sniffed the air and in a blink of the eye the two flying lizards were in the air and flying around each other.

"Wow," Ash heard Haoa say as the two opposite colored flew around, almost dance like in their flight, "I've never seen two Charizards take to each other so fast before, and to see a mating flight upon first meet. Stupendous."

"How about we give them some privacy," Ash said with a small smile. He was glad Charizard was getting on with the other pokémon so well. It was definitely a weight off his shoulders. Now he had other things to worry about.

"Sit!"

Furry bottom met sandy ground as Rockruff obeyed his trainers orders. Fluffy wagging tail caused the sand to kick up a bit, but his patience and obedience was rewarded as he received a meaty treat. Ash smiled down at Rockruff, the once skinny and unruly pup, had come a long way since Ash had taken him in and was just about ready to start serious training. He had taken a look over the two forms Rockruff could evolve into and he could see both the pros and the cons to each form. Midday Form Lycanroc was calm, collected, and did its best not to fight, but once it had to it attacks swiftly and with purpose while Midnight Form Lycanroc was reckless when it came to fighting and headstrong against its trainer.

Ash was sure he could work with either temperament, but first thing first is to work with Rockruff before his evolution, gain his full trust, and help the pup become the best he can be.

As for other things, Ash had gotten a call from the facility Charizard was in with good news. Haoa had seen the two Charizard successfully breed once after their flight before they disappeared, presumably to a den. The caretaker told him that they would leave Charizard with his breeding mate before quarantining him for a week before putting him with his other breeding partner for the rest of the time he was there. While he had the man on the phone he inquired about the whereabouts Kingdra would appear in the waters and about the time after briefly explaining about his Kingdra. Haoa told him that they usually appeared in the waters near Melemele, which coincidentally was the island they were staying at.

Ever since Ash woke up from his coma he had been overly worried about his partners and had caught himself counting them to make sure they were all there, accessing their health over and over, and getting a few small anxiety attacks when none of them were in sight. It didn't help that Zoroark and Kingdra had to leave before he woke up, but Ash thought he was just fine, thank you. It helped that he got to see Zoroark before he left for the islands and he hoped that all the anxiety would disappear after seeing Kingdra once more.

Ash released Rockruff from his training and let out a huff in amusement when the pup turned tail and ran after a few Wingull and Pikipek, which Ash had learned was the Alolan early route bird pokémon like Pidgey was to Kanto, that had been sitting on the beach. Ash walked over to the umbrella he had taken out of storage and sat down in the beach seat underneath it. He examined his arms and legs, the only exposed skin besides his face and neck, for any redness before reaching over to get his bottle to sip on the cool water in it.

To the right of the umbrella was a large bump in the sand and if it weren't for it moving ever so slightly he would have assumed that it was a natural sand dune. Krookodile had been so excited when he had first released the croc outside and had instantly buried himself in the warm sand. Pikachu was right beside him taking a nap while Gardevoir and Ninetales kept Jangmo-o entertained with a game of tag. Thankfully Gardevoir was able to understand the little dragon with her telepathy and was able to get the hatchling to understand that he can't be so loud and when he wanted someone's attention that it is easier to walk up to them and nudge them.

It seemed to work for now thankfully.

Ash, after setting down his bottle of water, picked up the KSL book his mother had given him. Between the book and watching a few videos on Pokétube Ash was quickly getting a handle on recognizing signs, but not so well with the actual signing. His hands just felt a bit awkward contorting them into the correct positions, but he supposed that it would get easier the more he practiced. Not that he was close to being fluent in any way, but he at least was getting the foundations. Ash made a mental note to take at least an hour every night to sign to Jangmo-o so the little dragon could understand what the signs were and to have Gardevoir there to help translate what each sign was.

Just as Ash opened the book to the page he had stopped at, with loose paper he had been taking notes on, bookmarking it, his phone chimed with a call.

Incoming Call: Samson Oak.

"Hello," Ash greeted the man once he had picked the phone up.

"Ash, hello!"

"What can I do for you Professor?" Ash asked, curiosity hitting him.

"Straight to the point! I suppose there isn't a need to beat around the bush, hmm? I had hoped you could do me a bit of a favor. You see, I have very important business on the far side of the Alolan Islands, but I just got a notice that the pokémon Egg I have been waiting for is ready to be picked up. Could you grab it for me and deliver it where it needs to go, please?"

"Sure, I have nothing else to do today and it'll give me an excuse to explore a bit. Can you text me the details?"

"Of course! Thank you, Ash. You will be compensated for it, just so you are aware and I won't hear a word against it. We can discuss the details of it later! For now, I must get going!"

"Bye Professor," Ash said as the phone let off a beep signaling that the call had ended. He took a deep breath and closed his book before getting up. He would leave the umbrella up in case Paul wanted to use it and for when he got back. His movement caused Pikachu to wake up and with a big stretch the mouse was awake and up on Ashs' shoulder. When he went over to see if Krookodile wanted to come with him, the large croc merely shook the sand off his head and opened his large mouth to release the heat building up in his body. Taking that as a no, Ash turned to the other three, but only Rockruff wanted to come with him. Ash let the other two inside to cool off and made sure the two had plenty of water, especially for Ninetales, before going up to change out of the swim trunks he had worn down to the beach. Pikachu and Rockruff had opted to stay downstairs to get water as he did so.

"Hey Paul," Ash greeted as he opened the bedroom door to see his boyfriend sitting in front of his laptop typing away.

"Hey baby," Paul greeted as he turned to Ash and took off his reading glasses. He had no clue Paul had needed them until a couple of months into their relationship, and he still gets a heated coil of arousal in his belly when he sees them perched on Pauls' nose. His boyfriend looked good in glasses.

"I have an errand to run in town," Ash said as he walked over to the dresser to get some shorts and underwear, "Do you want me to get anything while I'm there? I'll probably be in town for a few hours depending on where I need to go and who I need to talk to."

"I can't think of anything," he heard Paul say as he untied his swim trunks and let them fall down around his ankles. As he reached over to grab the underwear he felt a large warm hand cupping one of his ass cheeks. He let out a bit of a squeak and turned to head to see Paul smirking at him.

"Perhaps some lube," Paul said, smirk widening as the hand on his ass squeezed, "We're a bit low."

"Paul," Ash replied as the cheeks on his face reddened at the implications.

"Too bad we don't have time, with your errand and all," Paul said as he pulled his hand away a bit only to bring it back with a little force behind it causing a resounding smacking sound as hand met ass cheek, "I would have love to take the time to open you up. You moan so prettily when I play with that certain little spot inside you." Ash gasped as Paul slipped a finger between his cheeks and pressed against his hole.

"We'll get to that later," Paul said softly, "For now you need to get going, don't you?"

Ash bit his lip to prevent a whimper from leaving him as Paul took his hand off him and tried his best to not think about Paul watching him as he got dressed. His boyfriend was right, he did need to get going as Oak had already sent him the addresses. He managed to get the shorts he picked out to fasten over the half chub he had gotten when Paul touched him before giving Paul a kiss accompanied by a small pout.

"Tease," Ash said softly as he pulled away from the kiss that didn't help him with his problem at all.

"Don't worry, baby. There will be plenty of that later," Paul replied and Ash only let out a soft groan before pulling away from Paul.

"For that, I'm taking the car!" Ash said as he grabbed the keys that had been placed on the desk by the laptop. He was going to ask Gardevoir to teleport him, but now he wasn't. He ignored the laughter behind him as he left the room and grabbed his things, along with Pikachu and Rockruff, before leaving. As he got in the car, the two pokémon moving to sit in the passenger seat, Ash silently thanked his mother for making sure he knew how to drive and got his license as he turned the car on. There was a bit of a drive from the house to the town, but it went by quickly with the radio playing some very good tunes. He had rolled down the windows to enjoy the airflow and because Rockruff enjoyed the wind in his fur, while Pikachu could have cared less about it.

Ash slowed the car as he entered town limits and even pulled over to input the first address in his phones' GPS to find where it was. Apparently the place he was going was a sister building to the one Charizard was in where they took and incubated the eggs laid from the breeding pairs in the other building. He wondered if he should go in to see about any updates on Charizard, but figured it was best not to. Ash didn't want to mess up any chances Charizard had with his partner. As he started the journey to the facility he spotted an antique store he wanted to go in and made a note to come back through to go in. There were a few restaurants, one featuring something called malasadas and another that looked like it had familiar foods from his own Region in it. He passed shops catering to pokémon and others that looked to be more like tourist traps, but what Region didn't have those types of shops.

But soon enough Ash had made it to the facility. Pikachu jumped onto his shoulder once he left the car, but Rockruff decided on staying in the car so Ash made sure to keep the windows rolled down. He would only be in the building for a few minutes anyway and it wasn't too warm out. Walking up to the door Ash let himself inside and let out a sigh at the cooler air.

"Good morning! Can I help you with anything?"

The feminine voice startled Ash, making the teen turn to face who spoke. Standing by one of the desks was a rather portly woman, but beautiful all the same with her kind brown eyes and auburn hair. She wore simple clothing that had a bit of dirt on them making it seem like she had just been chasing after some baby pokémon outside.

"I'm Ash, Professor Oak said he called the facility about me taking his Egg?" Ash questioned a bit and it was the truth, in the text Oak had sent the man did say that he called the facility.

"Oh! Yes," the woman said, visibly perking up from the slight caution he had first seen when he walked in, "He did call! May I see your ID?"

"Of course," Ash said as he grabbed his wallet where he kept his physical copy of his trainer card and handed it over. It was a basic piece of plastic that had the bare minimum of his information on it such as his home Region, what Professor he worked under, and such. His online profile was much more extensive. Ash thought it made sense seeing as he didn't want everything he had done written down on a piece of plastic that he kept in his wallet. As the woman got on the computer, that sat on the desk, to presumably log in the visit and make sure she grabbed the right egg Ash let his eyes wander.

The inside of the building was bright, colorful like a childs' daycare would be, and had various baby pokémon paw prints painted along the walls. There were a few pictures on the walls of different pokémon and a board that had pamphlets tacked onto it. Turning his gaze back to the woman for a moment, he saw her name tag, and took note of her name as the woman didn't introduce herself.

"Alright! Everything's in order, Mr. Ketchum," Cheryl, the worker, said breaking the silence, "You can follow me to the back to grab the Egg. There is a bit of paperwork for you to take as well. It's just a detailed guide of proper maintenance for the Egg and what to do after the baby has hatched."

"Thank you," Ash said as he walked around the desk to follow Cheryl through the door behind it. The door led to a wide open area that would normally be seen at an indoor play place. There was climbing equipment everywhere, stumps and tires strategically placed for those who liked to jump on them, a large man-made natural looking pond for water types, a warmer sunny area for grass and fire types and so much more. There were several workers running around and playing with pokémon and other pokémon, Ash assumed they were partners with the workers, keeping other babies entertained.

Ash saw many pokémon he knew and more he didn't, but it wasn't the time to stop and ask questions as much as he wanted to. Cheryl had led him to the right side of the room where there was another door that led to another large room, but it was freezing. Cheryl handed him a jacket and Pikachu dove into the fluffy hood to keep warm. The woman explained to him that the Egg he was here to get was just behind the door and apologized for the lack of explanation on her part.

"We have many rooms branching off the main one we were just in," Cheryl said, "Each room is temperature controlled in accordance to what typing the pokémon in the Eggs are. This room is for Ice Type Eggs. The Fire Type room is the complete opposite of this one seeing as it needs to be kept warmer for the little ones in the Eggs. Grass Type has a normal tempered room, Dark Types have their dark room that's just slightly cooler than the Grass Type room. The Water room is humid, Rock and Ground are housed in the same dry rooms, and so on. We've discovered that we have a much higher hatch rate when the rooms are accommodated to each specific type."

"Will the Egg I'm taking be okay once it's removed from this room?" Ash asked as Cheryl opened the door releasing a very cold gust of wind from it. Ash watched as cold air steamed as it met the warmer air from the main room.

"Oh yes! We'll have it put in one of our incubators and turn on the setting that will keep it nice and cold until it hatches," Cheryl replied as she closed the doors behind them. The room was long, not much of a square room, but more rectangular. It had shelves enclosed in glass and on each shelf there were six Eggs placed carefully on indented pillows. In the center of the room was a lone island with storage underneath for what Ash could only assume held items for new hatchlings.

"Here we are! Wait just one moment for me to grab a few things as well as the Egg," Cheryl said before turning to grab a few things. Ash watched as she placed an empty bag on the table then went around the island opening drawers and pulling items out such as blankets, a couple of bottles, some formula formulated for ice types, and other items for a new baby pokémon. The items were then placed in the empty bag methodically before Cheryl moved to the other side of the island to dig around one of the drawers there. Ash saw her take out a packet of papers and put them in the outside pocket of the bag. Ash could hear Cheryl humming softly under her breath as she walked past him to one of the shelves, which he only noticed had incubators in it when he turned to watch her, and saw her grab one.

"Almost done!" Cheryl announced as she placed the incubator on the island and fiddled with the settings, "Do you have any questions about Egg care or anything?"

"No questions for me, miss," Ash replied with a slight shake of his head, "I've hatched Eggs before so I have a bit of experience, and I think this Egg is going to the Professor anyway."

"Right! I forgot that little bit of information," Cheryl said with a little chortle at her forgetfulness. She gave Ash a little nod before turning to go grab an Egg from the shelf. The Egg was pure white with swirls and splotches of light and dark blue. The colors didn't trigger anything in him about what kind of creature was in it, but did seem a bit familiar.

"Everything is ready for you to take!" Cheryl announced as she placed the Egg in the incubator and locked the device.

"Thank you," Ash said as he grabbed the bag and the Egg and followed her out of the room. He had to place them down to take off the jacket and give it back to Cheryl to hang back up, but soon enough Ash and Pikachu were back in the car with Rockruff. He placed the Egg in the passenger seat and buckled it in to keep it from being tossed around as he drove.

Ash pulled out his phone out once more to look at the text Oak had sent him to make sure he would go to the right place, only to find that he was going to the pokémon school. As he drove he wondered how different this school would be to the one he had attended and the one he had visited to help Surge out. Nevertheless the drive to the school didn't take long and soon enough he was parking his car and getting out with Pikachu and Rockruff joining him. Ash shouldered the bag and grabbed the incubator before locking the car up and turning to enter the school gates. There were a few students around the courtyard in front of the school and there were sounds of a pokémon battle not far from the entrance, but he assumed it was on the other side of the building since he didn't see any fighting.

Ash ignored the few stares he got as he walked up the few steps into the front doors of the school and looked around to find any indication for the office. He had no clue where the classroom he was supposed to find was and hoped that there was someone in the office that could help him. Thankfully the signs were in English, a language he had been taught by his Mother who was fluent in a few different languages, so it took no time for him to find the office.

Thankfully there was someone in the office, who pointed him in the right direction, and just a moment later he was walking up the stairs to the classroom with Rockruff at his feet and Pikachu perched on his shoulder. The sounds of Rockruffs' nails on the floor reminded him that he needed to trim them a bit and so he made a mental note of it. Before he could spiral about other grooming things he needed to do Ash arrived at the classroom. He waited a moment to steel his nerves before calmly knocking on the door that sounded so loud in the quiet of the hallway.

Ash had a small warning of the door opening as he heard a footstep on the other side just before the door opened. He was a bit caught off guard seeing that the man in the front of him was shirtless, but at least he had a lab coat on. Even if it was strange for a grown man to be walking about a school without a shirt on.

"Morning, how can I help you?" the man asked with a slight tilt to his head.

"Professor Oak sent me to give this Egg to someone named Lillie?" Ash said, a questioning tone to his voice as he didn't know the person and wasn't sure he was in the right room.

"Yes! Samson did say he was sending someone!" the man replied, "Come in! Come in! I'm Professor Kukui by the way," Kukui said as he opened the door the rest of the way and ushered Ash inside. The classroom had many desks, but there were only a few occupied. Five sets of eyes turned to look at him causing Ash to almost falter as he stepped in, but Pikachu sent a small zap of electricity from his cheek pouch as if to knock him back to the ground. He turned to look at the students and noticed another male without a shirt and briefly wondered if the no shirt thing was a cultural thing. The only other male in the room was a short rotund boy with bright orange hair. The other three were all girls, a blonde, a girl with green hair, and the last with blue hair.

"I'm Ash, sir," Ash said to introduce himself after Kukui stepped inside and closed the door, "This is Pikachu and Rockruff."

"Alolan or Kantonian?" Kukui asked with an easy going smile on his face.

"Kantonian," Ash replied a bit curious now as he didn't know there was an Alolan variant of Pikachu and was sure he wasn't asking about Rockruff seeing as the pup originated here in Alola.

"Stupendous!" Kukui said, "Kids, this is Ash. He's running an errand for Principal Oak. Ash, these are Kiawe, Lana, Mallow, Sophocles, and Lillie."

Ash looked at each student as the man introduced each teen to him and wondered why the introductions, but as he may be here in Alola for a while he may run into these teens again. Ash looked over each teen as Kukui introduced them and saw just how nervous Lillie was. He saw the way the blonde-haired girl looked at Pikachu and Rockruff and wondered why she looked at them in such fear. He gestured for Lillie to walk up to the front of the room where the three of them could speak among themselves without the other four hearing them.

"Lillie here is the recipient of the errand you're here for, Ash," Kukui said startling the girl a bit, "Principal Oak had this Egg commissioned just for you, Lillie, to help you with your phobia. He hoped that caring for an Egg may help ease you into being able to touch another pokémon again seeing as, hopefully, you gain an attachment to the little one in the Egg. He had hoped that it would be ready for you before the school year even started, but there had been complications and the facility needed a little bit more time to get the Egg. Oak had Ash here get it for him as soon as the caretaker at the facility said it was ready. Will you take this Egg and care for it?"

Ash watched as Lillie sent a look at the Egg in his arms, it was still cold to the touch, but not unbearably so. The incubator really helped insulate the majority of the coldness. After a few moments of decision he saw her nod and slowly held out the Egg just in case she changed her mind. Trembling fingers took the Egg and while she held it firmly she didn't tuck it close to herself for a better hold like most others would.

"The facility gave me this to give to you," Ash said quietly as he took the bag off his shoulders, "It has some basic baby pokémon supplies and an informational packet about the baby inside the Egg."

"Th-Thank you," Lillie stuttered softly as she also took the bag out of his hands. Ash watched as she carefully walked back to her desk and placed the incubator on the furthest corner of the surface without it sitting precariously. After Kukui thanked him Ash left the classroom with Rockruff at his heels. He hoped that Lillie got the help the Egg is supposed to give.

"Well let's get some supplies then head back home, hmm," Ash said once the three were outside in the sunshine and on the way to the car. Ash debated for a moment on whether to walk or take the car because the shops were just down the road and in the end he decided on walking. He grabbed his own bag from the car just in case he bought a lot in the stores and he wanted his hands free.

The first store he went to was the malasada shop. Ash didn't know what it was but he was hungry and wanted to try it. He made sure to look for any signage about if pokémon were prohibited from going in before stepping foot in the store. He made sure to keep Rockruff by his side as he looked at the menu and decided to grab a sweet malasada to eat and grabbed one for Paul as well. He made sure to get one for Pikachu and Rockruff as well as some more water for them. After eating his sweet and leaving the shop Ash ventured into a clothing shop and found a few articles of clothing he liked.

The shop he saw that catered to pokémon had quite a few items he wanted that he hadn't seen in other stores so he made sure to grab them. Ash also couldn't say no to Rockruffs' puppy eyes when the pup brought him a Stantler antler and so he bought it. He couldn't help the snort he let out after Rockruff grabbed the antler and proudly walked around with it in his mouth. The next shop was the antique store, and filled to the brim like a hoarder's wet dream.

He had wanted to see if he couldn't find anything for his mother. He knew she really liked antique items, but she was also a little picky when buying them for herself. His mother was actually looking for a really old Delcatty statue her own mother, his grandmother, had when she was young. The statue unfortunately shattered during an earthquake and his mother had been looking for another ever since. The collectors online were selling them for an exorbitant fee and they didn't have that kind of money even if they were well off.

As he looked around the store, what he didn't expect to find was a really dusty, just about crumbling, book about Aura tied with twine to a smaller book that gave no indication to what it really was. Ash carefully turned page after page trying to figure out what kind of book it was, but the writing was so faded. He was able to tell that it was hand written and on one of the pages, before closing it to move on, he could make out the letters LCK written on the bottom. He didn't know why he did, but he looked around for a moment before tucking the book inside the waistband of his shorts. He made sure it wouldn't be seen with his shirt before going on his way. He didn't know if the owner even knew she had a book about it and didn't want the chance that she could tell someone that he purchased it. For all he knew buying it could be a trap for one of the Corrupted.

He didn't condone stealing, but he didn't want to chance one of the Corrupted finding the book. He may not be a fully trained Aura Guardian yet, but he did still have the innate duty to keep it from the Corrupted. After having left the shop without anyone seeing him, Ash walked a few stores down and ducked into the space between two buildings to take the books out of his waistband and placed them in his bag. Ash took a couple of deep breaths and gave Pikachu a scratch behind his ear before walking out of the space to continue on what he was doing.

The last shop he was going to wasn't much further and in no time he was inside grabbing a basket to put his items in. He leisurely grabbed a few snacks that caught his eye as well as a few drinks to try before making his way to the hygiene section of the store. He always thought it weird that someone could get lube in that section, but he did guess that lube can be used for more than just adult activities. After grabbing a couple of bottles, a bit of a blush on his face as an older woman gave him a look, he turned around to keep looking for things. Ash was heading down the pasta aisle when 'he' appeared.

Ash stopped dead in his tracks causing Rockruff to stumble into his legs as Giovanni rounded the corner and stepped into the aisle he was in. The man was tall and broad with dark hair tousled on his head. He wore a simple tee shirt and khaki pants with sandals on his feet. Following the man was a large Persian, who let out a deep grumble as the beast met Ashs' gaze. The beast took a step towards Ash and he could see the black nose wiggle as it took in Ashs' scent and opened its' mouth revealing sharp fangs like he had seen his own Persian do multiple times to scent something better, a Flehman Response he believed it was called. Ashs' breath hitched and it felt like his heart skipped a beat as his body moved seemingly on its own. Ash turned around, ignoring everyone as he went to the counter to pay, and quickly dashed down the street. He would have left his things, but it didn't seem like Giovanni had seen Ash, only Persian.

Ash quickly turned the car on once he had made it back to the vehicle and reversed it out of its spot. He could feel his hands trembling as he clutched the steering wheel and it wasn't until he had sufficient distance between himself and the crime lord that his mind came out of adrenaline mode. Should he call Lance? Should he wait to see what the man does? What if Ash runs into him again? Why was he here in Alola?

The most pressing question was why didn't the Persian alert Giovanni that he was there?

Ash finally managed to calm down about halfway home after watching the rear view mirror and seeing that no one was following him. Ash slowed the car down a bit as he took a curve in the road and sat back in his seat. Taking a deep breath and slowly let it out helped relax his body and the white knuckled grip he had on the wheel was finally lax letting blood flow into his fingers making them throb a bit. He heard Rockruff beside him let out a whine and with a quick glance he saw the pup, and Pikachu, looking at him in concern.

"I'm okay," Ash said in reassurance to the two as well as himself, "I'm okay."

His mind was racing even though his body started to release the tension it held, the memory of the encounter flashing so very clearly. The Persian, if he was remembering correctly, was larger than he remembered Giovannis' Persian was, but he had only seen it on television programs, and the gem on its forehead was just a bit of a darker red shade than the bright ruby red Giovannis' Persian had. The feline didn't even show an ounce of hostility towards him and didn't even alert the man it was with. It was confusing.

The man on the other hand confused him even more than the actions of the Persian. The man had been tall of course, and broad, but in those few seconds he was in the mans' presence he didn't feel small. There was no feelings of intimidation, or fear. The flash of the mans' face came to him, and it just made him even more confused. There was a kindness in the man's eyes that he didn't think Giovanni could have ever held, his skin was a bit more tan than the last time he had seen the ex-Gym Leader, but Ash also didn't know how long the man had been on the islands and the tan would have been easily obtainable given that its been a while since they last seen the man in the raid. The lack of extra wrinkles on his face, and the carefree expression the man had, told Ash a completely different story and his eyes.

Ash saw them every time he looked in the mirror.

"They told me that my Renato was killed while on the way back home from a work trip. The plane he was in crashed into the ocean. As far as I know they've never found the plane or any survivors from it."

"Was that my Dad?" Ash asked aloud softly breaking the silence in the car. The words rang loudly in his ears as disbelief filled him.

---

After Ash ranted to Paul about what had happened his boyfriend simply wrapped him up in a blanket and held him. A bit confused by his action, Ash didn't question Paul as much as he wanted to. The warm hold, Paul's scent, and the sounds of waves crashing onto the beach lulled Ash into a bit of a trance that turned into a much needed, after a panic attack, nap. By the time Ash woke up again the sun was on the horizon and Paul was making some food making his belly grumble in want once the scent of the food entered his nose.

"I used your phone to message Lance about the man," Paul said as Ash, blanket and all, sat down on one of the bar stools in the kitchen, "He replied with a thank you and a promise to look into Giovanni's whereabouts since they have been lost since the raid. If the man is found elsewhere, then the man you saw today may be your father. I would ask your mother for a picture of him, but I wouldn't tell her about the man in the store. I wouldn't want to get her hopes up after all this time only for the man to actually be Giovanni."

"Sounds reasonable," Ash replied after letting out a yawn, "Thank you for messaging Lance, and thank you for calming me down earlier."

"No need for thanks, sweetheart," Paul said with a slight shake of his head, "Also Riley messaged you. I didn't read it though so you might want to read it soon and reply if it needs it." All the sleepiness Ash had been feeling vanished at the information Paul had given him and quickly reached for his phone to read the message.

"I'll be there in three days."

Ash huffed softly but shrugged and accepted it while he sent the man a thanks for the heads up. He had hoped Riley would have been a bit quicker, but who knows what the man had been doing. For all Ash knew he was on the other side of the world and it took time time to travel from that far away. He told Paul that they might have a guest at that time, since he didn't know if Riley would be staying, before telling him that he was going to the beach for a bit while Paul cooked. He needed some fresh air.

Pikachu joined Ash, along with Jangmo-o, on the beach, the waves seemed to crash a bit harder as the moon began to rise higher in the sky, but the sounds were still calming. A source of noise that Ash could focus on instead of the racing thoughts in his own mind. The teen watched Jangmo-o run around on the sand as he ran his fingers through Pikachus' short static filled fur. He didn't know how long he had been sitting there just basking in the scenery, but it wasn't too long before he was joined by someone he hadn't seen in a while.

"You are confused."

Mewtwos' deep voice seemed to balm a feeling Ash had been feeling inside and didn't realize that it was there. He turned his head a bit to see Mewtwo sitting beside him on the log he had claimed when he came outside. The bandanna he had given the creature so long ago was still in pristine condition and tied neatly around their neck. Their long tail swayed in the air behind them exuding a sense of calm the creature must have been feeling.

"A bit yeah," Ash replied to the statement, "It's been a while. Is everything okay?"

"Yes, it has been a while. We three are doing quite well," Mewtwo spoke, "We came to the decision to take a bit of a break from finding more hideouts for the moment. Give them a sense of calm before we hit them again."

"Make them think that you've gotten all the hideouts you know about and that the rest are unknown and safe," Ash said with a nod as he understood what the creature was thinking.

"Precisely. We did, however, come to a conclusion about a different matter and hoped you would amend it as well," Mewtwo said, a bit of hesitancy on their voice.

"What is it?" Ash asked as Pikachu got off his lap to herd Jangmo-o away from the water, where the little dragon was chasing another pokémon towards in an attempt to play.

"The other two, my little siblings, I suppose they would be called, wish to have the same protection I do. Mewtwo Y, as we have deigned to call her, or just Y, had been sucked into a ball similar to the ones you have, but managed to escape it before it succeeded in capturing her. When a ball struck me next and broke on its own X, her brother, and Y wanted to know how it happened and now wish for that sort of protection so they are able to stay out of enemy hands. If you would be amenable to it and would protect their pokéballs like you have mine?"

"Of course I will," Ash said not in the slightest bit hesitant and no second thoughts about it. What kind of person would he be if he denied a pokémon any sort of protection or comfort when he was so readily and easily able to provide it.

"My thanks. I will tell them in a few days after we've all had some rest," Mewtwo replied with a slight nod of their head, "Now, what has made you so confused? Perhaps I may be able to give you insight."

Ash sighed as he told Mewtwo about what happened earlier that day and what has been running through his head about it. Now that he was calmer Ash seemed to be able to compartmentalize what exactly he experienced and remembered it much more clearly. The more he thought about it the more he was so sure that the man in the store wasn't Giovanni. As he spoke he did message his Mother for a picture and after he was finished he thanked Mewtwo for letting him get it all off his chest. He did feel a bit lighter now that he spoke about it and not bottled it all up.

"If you wish, I can look into this man?" Mewtwo offered after letting their protector and friend speak.

"No thanks," Ash said with a shake of his head, "Thank you though. You've said it earlier, you deserve a bit of break. Not anymore work. If you want you can stay here with us, or explore the world and see what it has to offer for you all once all of this is done. I can feel it, Mewtwo, this whole thing with Team Rocket is going to be over with soon, but for how soon that is, I have no clue."

"As much as I wish to stay there is something calling for me to go and explore," Mewtwo said as Jangmo-o approached the two with Pikachu, now covered in sand, trailing behind the little dragon. Pikachu let out a soft chitter as he shook his body, but didn't make for Ashs' lap. "There is one last matter I wish to speak with you about."

"What is it? You know you can always talk to me about things, and that extends to your siblings as well," Ash said as he gave Mewtwo his undivided attention.

"The other Mewtwo, Black Mewtwo," the creature spoke, an unusual hesitancy coating their voice, "My Siblings, and I, wish to take him for a time. Try to get him to see that our Creator was wrong and never once cared for us. We hope that since he has his own ball, that if he were to get unruly we could put him in it until he calms down so it doesn't come to bloodshed once again."

Ash looked at Mewtwo, his eyes wide, his mind flashed to that singular purple pokéball that was buried so far in his bag that he was surprised it hadn't torn a hole in the fabric. He could already feel his hands shake and his skin tingle at the thought that he would have to touch the ball just to give it to Mewtwo. He felt a small body press against his leg along with sharp heated tingling feeling and when he looked down he saw Pikachu letting off small sparks from his cheek pouches that touched his leg. Pikachu really knew how to snap him from his thoughts and out of a panic attack, he couldn't have asked for a better partner.

"I can't touch his ball," Ash confessed softly, "but it would take some weight from my shoulders if you could take him. Would you take it from my bag for me?"

"Of course. Shall I wait here while you retrieve your bag?"

Ash nodded and slowly got up from the log. His legs shook not only from the slight bit of panic he had experienced, but also from him sitting in one position for so long. He gathered Jangmo-o and let Pikachu jump onto his shoulder before walking the short trek to the house to grab his bag. Once inside he quietly told Paul about Mewtwo visiting for the moment and what they were about to do only to get a soft forehead kiss and a promise for cuddles after they eat what he made for dinner.

Feeling a bit better, and ecstatic with the promise of cuddles, he quickly grabbed his bag before heading back to the beach, without his pokémon as Paul had gotten their dinner out as well. The bag felt heavy in his hands as he knew the ball was hidden in it. He hadn't been able to go through his bag since he had put the ball in it and felt a bit of relief that in just a moment it would be gone and he could hopefully start to heal from it. But Ash didn't know if he would ever truly heal from the trauma Black Mewtwo caused him.

With shaking hands Ash handed the bag to Mewtwo, once he had made it back to the creature, and told them that the ball was buried deep in the bag. He couldn't watch Mewtwo take the ball out of the bag, the memory of it already flashing in his head sending him into a bit of a spiral. Ash accepted the bag back once it was voided of the ball and was thankful when Mewtwo had thoughtfully placed the ball behind their back to keep him from seeing it. He said his thanks to Mewtwo and gave the creature a quick hug, careful to not get close to the ball, before Mewtwo was gone with another thanks and a promise to be back soon with their siblings.

There was a bit of a pep in his step as he walked back to the house. The bag he carried was figuratively lighter, there was a bit of weight off his shoulders, and there were promises of cuddles waiting for him.

---

Ash spent the next day in the town.

His wonderful Mother did send him a four photos. The first was of the two of them when they were younger, his mother had longer hair that fell down her back in a braid while Renato, his father, had his hair chin length and partially pulled back to keep the hair out of his face. The second photo was just Renato wearing some type of uniform, Ash assumed it was for his work, and was holding onto an Egg while his Persian sat beside him, the man wore a large grin and his hair had been shorn short. The third photo was of the two of them on their wedding day, a photo Ash had never seen before, Renato wore a dark suit while his mother looked beautiful in her flowing white dress. The last photo was of the two of them at what looked like a small intimate baby shower, his mother was very visibly pregnant and wore a soft blue sundress while Renato wore a shirt that was so light pink it could have been mistaken as white.

He thanked his mother profusely as he knew that finding those pictures, and having to look at them while sending them, hurt. He had taken a better look at the pictures, after eating the food Paul had made him, and decided that, yes, the man he had seen in the store was his father. He would at least get confirmation about it once Lance got back to him, but he was ninety percent sure he was correct.

If he was indeed right, then he had so many questions. Why hadn't his father contacted them? Why hadn't the authorities? Was his father the only survivor? Did he have another family now? Did he cheat on his mother? Was he actually part of Team Rocket?

More and more questions raced through his head and it all led to him, here in the town, searching high and low for this man. He had made the decision the day before to stalk this man for the day to see where he went, who he spoke with, what he ate. Well, perhaps not that far, but Ash did want answers, and most importantly he wanted those answers for his Mother who deserved them the most. After all she had been waiting almost seventeen years for answers.

It thankfully didn't take him long to find 'Renato' and so his little venture in stalking began. He did his best to seem nonchalant as he followed him, taking photos, and eavesdropping on the mans' conversations with the other town folk, and once he thought he had seen enough and gathered enough photo evidence of him, Ash left. He didn't go back to the house though, he wanted to stay around the area for a little longer so he made his way to what he thought had been an empty beach.

He had been alone when he arrive, the sound of the waves gently crashing against each other welcomed him, but after a while other people came to the beach. The people didn't bother him and he made sure to keep his pokémon in check and made sure to step in if one of his partners looked as though they were starting to get a bit agitated when an adult got too close, but other than that he focused on his task.

He compared photos against each other. Looking closely at each element of the photos, the eyes were the same, the shape of the face, the easy going smile, and even compared the Persian's to each other. The only difference between the older photos and the newer ones were how old the two were beginning to look. The man had started to gain his gray streaks and the Persian had started to get a frosty muzzle and paws.

"It's really him," Ash hummed softly to himself feeling a bit incredulous at the revelation, "He's my Dad."

Dad. The word felt foreign coming out of his mouth even though over the years the word was familiar in his head. He didn't know if he could ever call someone Dad having not have anyone fill the role in his life, unless Professor Oak filling a grandfatherly role counted. He listened as Paul had spoken about his own Dad, who had passed away only a few years ago, but still the concept of a Dad, a Father, was weird to him.

Ash didn't notice that he had even been crying until someone sat next to him. He turned sharply while locking his phone to look at the man only to see that it was just Professor Kukui, the teacher he met from the day before. He had wondered why his pokémon had let the man get so close to him in the first place, but as he saw them playing and being calm he figure the man wasn't a bad person. His partners had excellent judgement of characters.

"You okay?" Kukui asked as the man drew up his knees to rest his arms on them. The man wore swim trunks and a loose tank top which was an improvement to the shirtless look the man had on yesterday.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Ash replied with a small nod, "Just figuring things out."

"Hmmm," Kukui nodded as before looking out towards the water and when Ash followed his line of sight he could see the teens he had met yesterday in the classroom.

"How's she doing? With the egg and all?" Ash asked after a moment of silence.

"She's doing as well as we hoped," Kukui replied, "She's gained more confidence with the Egg. She's really taken to it like a Psyduck does to water."

"I'm glad," Ash replied with a small happy nod of his own. Slowly their conversation turned from Lillie to pokémon and then onto other things as Ash asked about the Islands. As the Regional Professor, Ash had just learned who Kukui actually was, the teen had hoped that the man would share something about perhaps an incident with a plan crash almost seventeen years ago, but the man never brought it up and neither did Ash. Deep down Ash perhaps thought that he needed some more time to come to terms with it before he could ask more about it with someone he had only met twice.

They were soon joined by the other teens, who had gotten into the picnic basket the man had, and surprisingly Ash felt a bit peaceful in the small group. He learned a bit more about specifics about the islands from the other teens and was invited to do several things with them during the time Ash was going to be on the islands. Kiawe had invited him to his family's farm, Lana invited him on one of the monthly fishing trips while Mallow invited him to her Father's restaurant to try their specialty malasadas. Sophocles, who was one of the shy teens of the bunch beside Lillie, didn't invite him anywhere, but instead talked to him about Electric type pokémon and told him all about Alolan Raichu. Lillie, the shyest of all the teens, sat the furthest from his pokémon and only spoke up when she was asked a question, but seemed content just being there. Her Egg, which was still in the incubator, sat beside her along with the bag he had given her from the facility.

Ash was ecstatic when he posed a question about his boyfriend perhaps tagging along on some of the invites and the others agreed to let him. They seemed excited to meet another trainer from another Region. Perhaps if all went well they could extend their stay on the Islands or come back later when the two had more time to explore the rest of the Islands. He asked Kukui, during a lull in conversation as everyone finished their snacks, about learning more about the Jangmo-o line after explaining about his own and the problem Ash ran into after the little dragon hatched.

"I'm just unsure how I'm supposed to be the best partner to him," Ash said, "I mean, he's not the first pokémon I have that has a disability, but at least my Noivern can still hear me and knows how to use echolocation to get around without trouble. It's not like I can stop Jangmo-o physically when he's in the middle of a tantrum when he can't hear me, and if he's raging then he won't even pay attention to any sign I give him. I don't know how I'm supposed to battle with him or if I should just let him do his own thing if we get into battles."

"You said he was born deaf right?" Kukui asked as Mallow started a game of tag with the others.

"Yes." Ash replied while Pikachu curled up beside him tired from playing with other pokémon.

"Let me talk to a few people and get back to you. I might be able to get you into one of our Reserves to speak with an expert on the Jangmo-o line," Kukui said as he reached into his bag to take out a piece of paper and a pen. Ash watched him write on it before it was handed to him and when he looked at it, he saw that it was the man's number.

"Thank you," Ash said as he tucked the paper into one of his pockets, "I would love to stay and talk, but it's getting a bit late and I have a bit of a drive to get back to the house. I'll be a bit busy for a couple of days, but afterwards I should be free, so no rush on speaking to those people. We'll still be on the Islands for a couple more weeks."

"Got it!" Kukui said and said his goodbye as Ash got up. He waved to the other teens before turning to leave. By the time he made it home, the sun was kissing the horizon casting a soft orange glow wherever it touched. After releasing everyone to do whatever they wanted to do, Ash went on a search for Paul. He felt as though he had been neglecting his boyfriend as of late and wanted to make amends. Ash didn't find him in the kitchen or the living room, and he certainly wasn't in the bedroom, but after a few more minutes of searching he found Paul sitting on the balcony, glasses perched on his nose and a book open in his hands.

"Hi," Ash said softly as he walked onto the balcony.

"Hi," Paul replied as he closed the book and took off the glasses.

"Sorry for all the drama and stuff going on," Ash said as he sat down on the seat next to Paul, "This was supposed to be a relaxing time before we leave for Sinnoh."

"Yeah," Paul said with a small nod as he placed the book down on the table, "But don't apologize for the drama. It's not your fault you keep getting mixed up into this stuff."

"Thank you," Ash said softly with a small smile on his lips. He got up off the chair and walked over to Paul, who opened his arms. Instead of sitting on his lap sideways, Ash straddled Paul and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend's neck. "Thank you for sticking with me through all this and being my rock when I need one. I don't know how I could ever repay you for all this."

"No repayment needed, baby," Paul said with a slight shake of his head before pressing a soft kiss on Ash's neck, "it's all a part of being in a relationship with someone. Being there for your significant other during the hard times and basking in your love in all the good ones. Besides I know that if it were me in this type of situation you would do the same for me."

"Of course I would," Ash said without any hesitation, "Still doesn't make me feel good about it though."

"It won't," Paul said in agreement, "But we can push through this and come out the other side, stronger."

Ash nodded and tightened his hold a bit before relaxing into Pauls' arms. He felt Paul hug him tighter and smiled as he felt warm lips press a kiss on his neck. He really did adore this man. He gasped softly and felt a shiver run down his spine as the soft kiss turned into a nip followed by more as Paul trailed up and down his neck. Ash could feel himself starting to harden in his shorts, but before he could do anything to adjust himself Paul had already stood up with him in his arms. Ash firmly wrapped his legs around Paul to keep himself from falling as his taller boyfriend walked inside.

His plans to pleasure his boyfriend were derailed when Paul pressed him against the bed and started to kiss him. He felt breathless once Paul let up on the kiss and had to suck in a deep shaky breath to give his lungs much needed oxygen. If he wasn't fully hard by the bites to his neck than he surely was now. He let Paul take off his shirt only to let out a groan as Paul immediately started to nip and suck on one of his nipples.

"Been a minute since we did this," Paul murmured after releasing his poor pleasure abused nipple, "how far?"

Ash took a minute to formulate a thought before telling Paul how far he wanted to go. He still wasn't ready to go all the way, but he was sure he would be ready soon. For now, he enjoyed having Paul's fingers in him stretching his hole as far as they could to pleasure him from within and having Paul's cock down his throat until his boyfriend either came down his throat or covered him in his cum.

As he came down from his own orgasmic high, while Paul was in the bathroom grabbing a rag to clean themselves with, his phone ding several times indicating he had gotten a few messages. Ash was too tired, his body too lax to get up and grab it to see what they were, but that was fine. The messages would still be there when he was able to get up, and for the moment this time was for him and Paul. He could deal with whatever it was when the sun rose.

Right?

The messages Ash read in the morning, once he picked up the phone, gave him some relief as none of them were emergencies, but also disbelief because of the first message he read. Lance sent him a message saying that they had found Giovanni and the man was nowhere near the Islands, meaning that the man he found in the store was, quite possibly, his father. He felt as though his heart just sank into the earth beneath his feet as the thought hit him. Ash was just a jumble of emotions that he didn't know what to feel about the whole situation. He had just found out that his Father was in fact alive and for some reason or another never returned home to him and his mother. He wondered who he could turn to about how he felt about this. Paul? Lance? His Mother? Did he just walk up to the man and tell him that Ash was his son and that his wife was grieving for a man she thought to be dead?

Pushing away the hundreds of questions that filled his head he focused on who else sent him messages. Riley would be arriving earlier than his mentor thought he would have and would end up at the house in the evening. Leaving Ash feeling like that at least one thing would finally be fixed and once again in his control.

The last message he had received was from Silver. The Egg he had been given from Gardevoir had finally hatched into a very healthy girl, and to no one's surprise, the baby was shiny just like her parents. He sent his thanks to Lance and sent an affirmative to Riley and said that he would meet his mentor in town before leading the man to his home. He vidcalled his cousin, who proudly showed off Eevee and Ralts. Eevee had grown a significant bit since Ash had last seen the kit and the Ralts reminded him so much of when Gardevoir was that small, minus the malnutrition and skinnier build she had when he had gotten her. Ash gave Silver advice on how to groom Ralts, to be careful of her horn and what products would be best for a baby psychic-type pokémon, but to cautioned him to also let Ralts have a say in what she liked. He couldn't wait to meet Ralts in person even though it would be a while before he did.

After getting off the vidcall he quickly got ready for the day. Jangmo-o, who had been in the room, perked up when he saw Ash getting up and Ash wondered why the little dragon was here by himself, but quickly pushed the thought away. At least the baby had been quiet while he was on the phone with Silver. He did notice that the baby dragon was getting better at not making a ruckus at the drop of a hat, and being self conscious enough that some actions cause more noise than others.

After finishing getting ready, Ash picked Jangmo-o up and scratched under the deaf dragon's chin as he pressed a kiss to the large head scale. He wasn't ready at all to start teaching Jangmo-o sign, but he was close. Ash had finally gotten the hang of the Kantonian Alphabet for finger spelling and started to learn other basic signs. He wanted to learn a bit more before he started to teach another person or pokémon any signs.

Once he was downstairs he greeted the pokémon that lounged around the living area as they waited for food. He quickly started to mix bowls of various pokéfood for the various types the two teens had before splitting the larger mixes into smaller portions for each creature. He knew, from the classes trainers had to take before starting their journeys, that having pokémon would be expensive, but he never thought that one day he would be spending a couple thousand dollars just to feed them for a couple of weeks. He also had never been more thankful for the fact that the Silph Company managed to create a device, much like a pokéball, that could hold and preserve pokémon food. He didn't want to even think about having to lug that much food around on his back.

With everyone eating Ash started to make food for himself and Paul, who had gotten up earlier to deal with some paperwork for his brother. Ash honestly couldn't wait to meet Reggie. Paul had told him so much about his brother that he felt like he would genuinely like the man. Reggie had raised Paul, since his boyfriend was six and Reggie was thirteen, after their parents passed away. Paul told him that they had no other family to rely but they got by on what money Reggie had gotten during his travels and the insurance payout from their parents after their deaths. They didn't go into foster care since Reggie was already seen as being an adult according to their laws, and had taken custody of Paul to keep from being separated from him.

To Ash, Reggie seemed like the kind of person he honestly wanted to strive to be.

Ash quickly finished making their late breakfast and after giving Paul his, along with a kiss on the cheek, he scarfed his down so he could get going. He was going to go to the school again today, upon invitation from Kukui, to shadow the class a bit and to help the man give a lesson on taking care of different types of pokémon, a lesson that was right up Ash's alley and one he would be happy to help in. He gathered all his pokemon and yelled to Paul that he was leaving and got a yell back to be carefull, which he always was, but trouble always seemed to find him anyway. Jangmo-o joined Pikachu and Rockruff in the car with the pup taking over to backseat while Pikachu preferred to take over the center console to be closest to Ash. The rattling of Jangmo-o scales moving from the wind didn't bother Ash as he drove and they honestly sounded a bit like windchimes.

The drive didn't take long to the school, the weather was great, and the drive uneventful, except for Jangmo-o getting a bit car sick. Ash had to finish the rest of the drive with a crying baby dragon in his lap refusing to move. At least Jangmo-o didn't get sick on him. Ash let Rockruff, Pikachu, and Jangmo-o down onto the grass as he cleaned the mess, grateful that he remembered he had gloves in his bag and paper towels in the back of the car. After that was all done Ash picked up Jangmo-o while Pikachu jumped up onto his shoulder as usual before walking into the school with Rockruff at his side. There was about half an hour before the class Kukui wanted his help in was to be taught, but he always was told to be early to something rather than to be late as being late was being rude.

As Ash rounded the side of the building, as the class was going to be held outside, he saw that the teens were already sitting at one of the picnic tables there with their own pokémon out and about around them. There was a small grey, white and yellow mouse, a small green and square bug, a blue seal, and Eevee with a funny haircut, a large reptile who had a large spiky shell, what looked to be a variant of Marowak, and a small Charizard, and a walking feminine plant that looked like a small girl with leaves for pigtails. Lillie was also there, sitting a bit away from the pokémon, but close to her friends with the Egg held close.

Ash was happy to see that she was getting more comfortable with the egg and hoped that it was giving her the much needed help and confidence to take care of the baby that hatched. Jangmo-o let out a squeak bringing attention of the group to them and it was just silent for a moment before the others walked over to greet him with Lillie staying where she was and waving to him. Ash smiled and waved back before his vision was filled with the other teens.

"What are you doing here?!" Mallow asked, excitement seemed to pour off her like an overly excited puppy pokémon.

"Kukui asked me to help with the lesson today," Ash answered as he adjusted Jangmo-o in his arms.

"I've never seen a Jangmo-o that looked like that!" Kiawe exclaimed while his hand twitched like he wanted to reach out and touch the baby soft white scales, but was restraining himself from it.

"Professor Juniper's father Cedric, who specializes in pokémon biology, said Jangmo-o was a black eyed leucistic Jangmo-o. If I remember what he told me the genetic mutation was caused when certain genetic lines came together to create him. His genetic testing showed that he had several shiny notes within his DNA helix and all of them came together in him making him turn out as he is." Ash explained as he ran his thumb over a hard clanging scale.

"Huh?" Lana asked as she tilted her head in confusion.

"His DNA showed that there were several shiny pokémon within his ancestry. It took several decades, but at one point all those shiny strands within Jangmo-o's DNA came together to mutate causing him to lose all his coloring and give him black eyes," Ash said, trying to simplify his previous words to help the other teens understand.

"Oh! Cool," Lana said with a slight nod to her head, but Ash could see that she was still a bit confused. Instead of trying to expand on the answer he had given he instead asked about the other pokémon around them. He was introduced shortly to the mouse Togedemaru, the small square bug Charjabug, the blue seal Popplio, Lana's Eevee Sandy, Turtonator, the Alolan Marowak, and of course the small Charizard, and last but certainly not least Steenee.

"I have a Charizard too!" Ash said as he started to study the large reptilian. The Charizard was smaller than his own, but no less weaker. He could tell from the musculature that the Charizard kept up his physique and his wing muscles seemed well toned.

"Really?!" Kiawe exclaimed, the normally stoic-esque look the teen had in his eyes gleamed in excitement.

"Yeah, unfortunately he's not with me at the moment. He's currently on loan to help breed Charmanders for the Ride Pokémon here. I'll have him back in a couple of weeks," Ash said as he looked at Kiawe a bit sheepishly, "I can show you some photos and videos of him until he's back with me though."

Before Kiawe could say anything Kukui appeared with a wooden box in his arms. Ash saw Kiawe nod at him though as if he did want to see the photos and videos of Charizard so he gave the darker skinned teen a nod back. Ash turned to watch Kukui place the box on the table beside the small group. Leaning over Ash could see that there were several pokéballs nestled into little depressions in the material.

"Thank you for coming Ash, do you have all your partners?" Kukui asked in which Ash nodded, "Fantastic! Okay class! Today we are going over something all of you should, at least, know the basics about. The upkeep of Pokémon! This time we are expanded what you all know, and while some of you are specializing in types, it is always good to know how to effectively take care of other pokémon of different types. Ash here has graciously accepted to let us use his partners to study and Principal Oak has given me a few extra for us to go over that have been in unfortunate circumstances."

"Unfortunate circumstances?" Sophocles asked as he raised his arm up but spoke before Kukui could call on him.

"Neglect," Kukui simply said, causing Ash to grimace. He always hated cases of abuse and/or neglect and he hoped that his own pokémon wouldn't get triggered by being near the others as they recovered. The other teens let out a collective noise of disgust at the notion of neglecting a pokémon.

"Lillie, while I would love to see you perhaps helping one of your friends as they cared for one of these pokémon, I do understand if you wanted to sit this lesson out. If you do, I want you to at least take notes and write a page or two for me so I know you understand the lesson," Kukui said kindly and Lillie nodded as she looked around. Ash was glad to see that Kukui wouldn't try to force Lillie into doing something she didn't want to, or couldn't, do.

"Now Ash, why don't you release your partners and introduce them!" Kukui said with a slight clap of his hands to bring everyone's attention back to him.

"Sure!" Ash said with a nod as he introduced the three already out of their balls. He made sure to tell the others that Jangmo-o wouldn't be participating in this lesson, but did tell them about him being deaf and how he has, so far, worked with him to make sure he was getting what he needed. The first of his partners that he released was Gardevoir, who gave the teens a twirl and a wave in greeting. The next was Krookodile, who scared the teens as he snarled and basked his tail on the ground as the crocodile usually did when released outside of a battle. The third pokémon he released with Ninetales, who sat primly beside him and yawned causing the air around her muzzle to mist a bit. The last of the partners he had was Persian, who had a big stretch that showed off her wickedly sharp claws and gleaming gem.

"This is Gardevoir, Krookodile, Ninetales, and Persian," Ash said introducing the four to the teens, "Gardevoir is a Shiny and Persian has a genetic mutation called Melanism causing all her fur and skin to become black.

"Does that mean she has black toe beans?" Mallow asked only to be answered by Persian simply lifting a paw showing off her, indeed, black toe beans. It seemed like even as a grass specialist no one could resist the call of the toe beans.

"What other pokémon do you have?" Sophocles asked, "Do you have any more electric types?"

"I do have other partners, they're all currently at Oak Pastures in Kanto, besides one who should by now be in the waters around Alola and another who is currently in one of the breeding facilities here," Ash answered, "I have Luxray, who is an electric type. I also have Aegislash, Nidoking, Charizard, Kingdra, Lucario, Zoroark, Tyrantrum, Leafeon, Snom, and Noivern." He had to leave out Mewtwo and Slither Wing, as one was a Legendary and the other he was under a NDA to not really speak about. He gave himself a reminder to head to a Center so he could retrieve Lucario just in case he was needed when Riley arrived.

"Do you have any other partners with a genetic mutation?" Lillie asked, her voice a bit soft, but heard clearly.

"I do! Charizard is an Albino, which is the exact opposite of Melanism while Lucario is half Albino. Aegislash is a Shiny like Gardevoir, and Leafeon, while hers isn't a genetic mutation, took on an orange autumn color because of the evolution stone she used was an orange Leaf stone. Lastly, my Noivern is a case of Adaptive Evolution."

"Adaptive Evolution?" Kukui asked to Ash's surprise as he thought a Professor like him would know about Adaptive Evolution.

"Professor Rowan can explain it a lot better than I can, but at some point while Noivern was still a Noibat something must have happened in its environment that changed it drastically and upon evolving Noivern had extra bits to help it in its new environment. It's similar to Regional Variants like Kantonian Vulpix and Alolan Vulpix," Ash explained, "Though Noivern would usually have the normal colorations of a Noivern, but his genetics took more of his father, Garchomp's, coloration and he's just all blue, all over."

Eventually they moved on from his partners to the box of pokéballs Kukui had brought. One by one the man released the creatures inside and one by one did Ash feel more shocked. Kingler, Nidoqueen, Arcanine, Blastoise, Dodrio, and Umbreon. All of Gary's current pokémon as far as he knew. Looking a bit more healthy than the last time he saw them, but still not up to standard. The crack Nidoking had given Blastoise in his shell was completely healed, but the damage was still noticeable. Dodrio had noticeable stress plucking while Arcanine was panting, drooling, and looking around anxiously. Kingler barely lifted their claws and plopped down where it was released as Nidoqueen, who was pretty skinny for their standard, sat next to Kingler. Umbreon simply sat there looking at them with no emotion in his eyes.

Ash took a deep breath as he pulled his phone out to message Oak. The old man never did tell him about what was going on with Gary and his pokémon, but then again he never asked the old man either. He tuned out Kukui as the man began to speak to his students about what he wanted them to do, what to look for, how to do it, and so on. It didn't take long for Oak to message him back.

'Dear me, I did forget to tell you, didn't I? We did have quite a bit going on at the time that it slipped my mind. After the conference I had Gary give me his partners and run long overdue medical tests on them. Needless to say, the results were deplorable and I, as a mandated reporter, had to report it to the right people. To say that I am ashamed of myself for not seeing it earlier is an understatement. I do blame myself for not watching Gary closer, not only as a Professor, but as his Grandfather and his Guardian. His punishment, given to him by a judge, was house arrest for a year and mandatory therapy as well as pay a hefty fine. His pokémon were signed over to me, and I sent them along to Samson to get away from any memories they may hold here and to be away from Gary as they too recover from what Gary had done to them. Samson has been giving me updates when they can, but if you could I would appreciate one from you as well just to make sure they really are recovering as they should be.'

Ash shook his head as he wrapped his head around the novel Oak had sent him. To think someone he had once been so close to could do this? He must be more naive than he had once thought. Of course he would give Oak an update of the group and quietly asked Kukui for a moment with them after class had ended so he could do so. The rest of the class time was spent helping the other teens learn how to groom various other pokémon and how to see the physical signs of neglect and/or abuse.

Ash told them about his own experiences with finding signs without outing his own partners just in case they didn't want others to know about it. He knew a few of them had just wanted to put their pasts behind them and not think of them again, and he respected their wishes. Soon enough though the class began to wind down with Kukui giving his students some homework making Ash glad that he wasn't in school anymore and that he had a job that didn't require for him to continue on learning in a school setting. As much as he loved to learn, he didn't like school.

With the other teens on their own ways, Ash began his own examination of Gary's partners. He kept it short and brief seeing as they just had half an hour of other teens prodding at them every which way and Gardevoir was an Arceus send as she told him what they were thinking or talking about. All in all it seemed like they were all recovering well, even the silent Umbreon, the only pokémon that didn't tell Gardevoir anything. He wondered if the dark pokémon was just shy, but after looking into his eyes and not seeing a single emotion, it was clear that Umbreon had checked out mentally and was just going through the motions automatically.

With his examinations over he locked his phone, where he had taken notes, and stuffed it into his pocket. He would write a detailed report when he returned to the summer house and email it to Oak with emphasis about Umbreon on the report. It concerned him, even more so when he didn't have his Aura to gauge how the Eevee Evolution really was. He thanked Kukui before gathering his own partners to leave. Ash did make one stop at the Center after remembering his mental note and retrieved Lucario from Oak.

---

He spent the rest of the afternoon writing the report and sending it to Oak before spending time with Paul. The two made tentative plans for a beach date depending on what Riley says about his Aura and started to meal prep for the next day. Ash put together his Mother's famous cinnamon rolls to bake in the morning while Paul chopped some chicken to pan sear for sandwiches. The rest of the time was spent, after food prepping, going over the training plans he had made before his coma. He revised some, scrapped others, and made whole new plans for those he didn't have a plan for. He did ask Oak if it would be a good idea to send Charizard to Charicific Valley, after a bit of a break, with Oak's Charizard the next time the old lizard went and Oak had nothing but praises for the reserve.

It was a place for Charizard to gather to learn from the older Charizard, to battle among their own kind, and to get stronger. It was a Region Protected Reserve for the rare pokémon and had caretakers as well as security in the case of poachers coming to harm the pokémon. Ash thought it sounded well, so well in fact that he was very seriously contemplating on sending Charizard there for a bit even though he would miss Charizard. Ash didn't know what was going to happen in the future, but he did know that he needed to get his partners stronger to face what may come.

A ding from his phone alerted him to a message and once he read it he jumped up. He shouted to Paul, who had been upstairs to fill the bathtub with water for Vaporeon, that he was going to get Riley and that he would be back as soon as he could. He got a yell back that dinner would be done when they got back and hurried to leave with Pikachu. Ash hurried down the stairs and into the car before taking off. Even though he made sure to still obey the law, it felt as though he arrived at his destination much sooner than he usually did.

Ash looked around for a moment for the man. Riley said that he would be standing by one of the totem poles outside of the small airport and sure enough the man was. His mentor, wearing the same suit and hat he had seen Riley in the first time he met his mentor, stood stiffly by the totem pole with his Lucario at his side and a bag hanging from his shoulder. As the man walked nearer Ash could see a newly healed scar along his jaw and wondered what happened and if the man was injured anywhere else.

"Evening," Riley said with a tip of his hat as he opened the back door for Lucario and placed his bag on the floorboard, "Thank you for picking me up. I was prepared to either make the journey on foot or get a rental myself."

"Evening," Ash parroted back in greeting, "It's no problem. You're here to help me after all and picking you up and letting you stay with us is the least I could do."

"Nonetheless, thank you," Riley said after closing the door, giving Ash a silent signal that he was ready to get going.

"Are you injured any? I noticed the healing cut on your jaw," Ash asked as he turned the car onto the main road to start their journey back to the house.

"I'm perfectly fine. No other injuries. Now, your Aura," Riley began to say as Ash picked up speed, "you're still unable to see it? Use it?"

"Yeah. No amount of meditation I've done shows me my Aura any longer. I've gone to my core and it's still empty. It's all black space and I can't feel anything to even try to gather," Ash said with a deep breath that he slowly released. He saw Riley nod from his peripheral.

"I have a theory about what is going on, but I'd like to meditate with you when we get to the house just to confirm if I am right or not," Riley told Ash who nodded and told him that Paul would have dinner done by the time they got back if the man wanted to eat before they meditated. With a plan in place the two fell silent for the rest of the ride. The drive going back to the house seemed to stretch for forever as opposed to when he was leaving to pick Riley up, but soon enough he was parking the car and leading the man and pokémon up the stairs and into the house.

As Paul said, he did indeed have food ready for them and was working on food for the pokémon, in which his boyfriend made plenty for any pokémon Riley may have. Lucario was gracious to get a portion of food and the little Riolu, a small pup, that Riley had released was ecstatic for the food. Riley explained to Ash that Riolu would one day go to Aster once the small boy was fully healed and Riolu had a bit of training. It was unfortunate that Aster couldn't hatch Riolu on his own, like an Aura Guardian Trainee, but Ash did feel better that Aster would get a partner that already had some training to better protect the small boy.

The couple that had taken Aster in given regular reports to the Queen, who in turn gives them to Riley whenever the man was able to visit Rota. The physical injuries have all healed, but the mental and emotional ones remain. At least Aster's new guardians have found someone Aster could talk to, to help heal from those invisible wounds. Despite that, Aster was a happy, hyper, and very smart little boy.

The simple meal Paul had made was quickly devoured and the time had come for Ash to finally get some type of answers. Riley asked Paul to sequester the other pokémon away just to make sure that the four, Riley and his Lucario with Ash and his own Lucario, wouldn't get disturbed. With a bit of grumbling from the pokémon, Paul was able to get them out of the room leaving the four on their own. Riley took four pillows off the couch and placed them on the floor for them to sit on.

"I want you to meditate like you usually do," Riley said as he settled on one of the pillows while gesturing to the pillow in front of him, "I'll follow you down to your core."

Ash gulped as he settled and nodded. Before he closed his eyes he saw Riley's Lucario settling on the pillow by his trainer while he felt his own settle on the pillow beside him. He felt a warm furry paw rest of his shoulder before he fell into a simple easy meditation. As usual his core was dark and empty. Ash was just barely able to see his own hands and was surprised to see Riley as clear as day beside him. He didn't know if Riley was able to do that before, but he didn't let it distract him from what they were really here to do. His eyes followed Riley's form as it simply floated around the abyss.

Ash followed the man when Riley gestured for him to do so and was shocked when Riley took his hand and guided it to touch something. It felt cold against his palm and like glass, but Ash was very easily able to feel it shudder against his hand. He was about to ask Riley what it was when his Mentor sent out a gentle burst of Aura against it. The bright blue aura danced along the glass like form and from far below them Ash could see something sparkling in the darkness.

Just below them was one of the small golden balls he had seen in his coma.

He turned to Riley, he would have spoken if his voice didn't seem to be stuck in his throat, only to see that Riley had moved a bit further away. Ash willed his body to move towards his Mentor and saw that Riley was doing something with his Aura. Just below his hands, which were a few inches away from the glass, was a crack. It wasn't large, but it was gapping. He watched as Riley used his Aura to fill in the crack, seemingly closing it off before moving on to another, and then another, and then another, until they had gone fully around the, now could be seen, glass sphere.

Ash looked around at all the cracks, filled in with soft blue Aura, and did his best to not break down. His core, that was what the sphere was, was so broken. How would he ever be able to use Aura again? He turned to Riley, who held a sad smile on his face, and saw the man disappear, which Ash took as a sign to leave the meditation. Before he did so, Ash took one last look at his core, and at the very center was a small twinkling gold orb.

"My theory was right," was the first thing Riley said to him after he got out of meditation, "but it is fixable."

"What happened?" Ash asked as he placed his hand on his chest as if he could physically touch his core.

"At the end of that battle," Riley began as he visibly took a deep breath, "you said you felt as though something in you snapped. That snapping was your core. I've read about it a few times in different books, about Aura users going past their limits and breaking their cores. Some were irreparable while others took time, but were able to heal stronger than ever. In your case, your core can heal. It just needed some help in closing the cracks so it could replenish and heal itself the rest of the way."

"So I'm okay now? I can use Aura again?" Ash asked as almost overwhelming relief filled him.

"Once your core heals, then yes. You will be able to use Aura again."

He had been expecting a crunch under his foot as he stepped onto the darkened grass, but to his surprise all it did was lay flat once he had stepped on it without any noise. Ash kept his eyes on the ground to find the Corrupted Core, as he had been calling the focal point of Corruption, as it would be quicker to attack that instead of moving inch by inch getting rid of Corruption. He didn't know for sure if he could purify land like he could with actual beings, but he was sure it wasn't too much different. Send his Aura in and let it do its work.

Simple, right?

As he walked further into the darkened circle of flowers near the center Ash could feel his feet starting to stick to the ground. Upon looking down he could see thin dark tentacles trying to cling onto the soles of his shoes. Bile threatened to come up at the nasty sight, but he kept it down and continued on with his search. He made sure to cover his feet with Aura to keep the corrupted tendrils from clinging onto him as he walked. His Aura dispelled the corruption whenever he touched down with his feet causing visible footprints wherever he stepped. Thankfully it didn't take too much longer as a couple of feet from the very center of the dark circle was a single standing Gracidea. Ash could see the bright pinky-red of the petals poking through the large Corrupted Core. Bits of its sludge-like symbiotic body fell to the ground under the flower and Ash could see tentacles reaching upwards towards the Core before the Corruption on the ground absorbed the new addition.

"There you are," Ash said, his voice a bit gruff with disgust and a hint of anger that someone could do this. Ash walked closer to the flower, but it wasn't until he was a foot away that he could feel something like begging coming from the earth. It wanted to be purified. Ash took that as a sign that the earth's Aura wouldn't fight him as he purified it. With a deep breath Ash knelt in front of the flower and held his hands out, a soft golden amber glow gracing his fingers, as he ignored the way the tentacles clung to his legs and tugged on the fabric.

His hands shook a bit as he placed them onto the Core. It was cold, slimy and sticky at the same time, and felt overwhelmingly wrong as the symbiotic thing clung to his skin. It felt as though this symbiotic corruption wanted to fuse with his own body and Ash didn't like it at all. Ash poured more Aura into his hands and it felt as though the Corruption was screaming against him. He watched the Core rear back as if to try and get away from him, but Ash held steadfast as he kept pouring his new golden Aura into it. He held his concentration on the Core to the point that he never saw how the field of flowers around him began to glow the same golden color he held in his hands.

Slowly but surely the Corrupted Core in his hands began to smolder as if it were being burned away. Wafts of light colored smoke dispersed in the air and the tentacles started receding back to its main body. It didn't take long after that until the Core was smaller than his palm and bursting into nothingness as he finished purifying it. Ash took a deep shaky breath as he looked down at the flower the Core had been wrapped around. It was swaying happily in the light breeze, its petals dancing and most importantly its Aura sung brightly and healthily. The fact he couldn't feel any Corruption anywhere else made him look around. He was sure he had more to purify, but the field around him was as healthy as it had been before the Core had made the flower field its home.

Carefully Ash stood up and turned around, amazed that he wasn't tired at all, and confused about why there wasn't any other Corruption. Before this whole Awakening thing Riley had called it Ash would have had to still do some clean up, but not now. The flowers had sprung up with new life, their petals and leaves glistening in the sunlight making the area around them look ethereal. The now green grass was plush under his feet as he made his way back to Darkrai and Shaymin, who looked at her flower patch with wide eyes.

"If I may Shaymin, can I look over you, just in case you might have some of the Corruption in you?" Ash asked, looking down at the small creature bundled up in Darkrai's arms.

"Of course! Thank you, Mr. Ash! I didn't think I would ever see my Gracidea like this ever again," Shaymin said, her green fur a bit ruffled and on her back new Gracidea began to bud out in her happiness. Ash gave Shaymin a small smile as he placed a hand on her back, careful not to disrupt the buds, and let his Aura flow through the small body. Thankfully Shaymin was healthy with no ounce of Corruption within her.

"It was no problem Shaymin," Ash replied after taking him hand away, "You're completely healthy. No ounce of Corruption on you and no more in your flowers."

"How grand! Please, Mr. Ash, let me give you something in gratitude for healing my flowers?" Shaymin asked, her eyes looking up at him were wide and Ash could see how grateful she was. Her Aura danced in joy and relief.

"If you wish to give me something I promise to cherish it," Ash said, "but I have no need for anything. I only wish to help."

"Nonsense! Here, let me get it!" Shaymin insisted and tapped Darkrai's arm signaling for the Pitch-Black pokémon to set her down. Ash sent Darkrai a smile before letting his eyes trail after the small creature. He would have watched her the entire way, but as soon as Shaymin entered the thicker clump of grass and flowers, she basically vanished. There was no movement in the grass or flowers at all to betray her whereabouts. Soon enough though, Shaymin reappeared with a small glass bottle topped with a cork between her teeth. Ash watched in amusement as Shaymin toddled over to him and placed the bottle on the ground. Ash knelt and picked up the bottle. It was small, about the size of his thumb, and inside it were a few pinky-red Gracidea petals.

"Here you are!" Shaymin exclaimed, "A few of my Gracidea petals! As long as you keep it on your person I can always find you in case you need help! I might not be able to do much, but at least I can get more help in the case of an emergency."

"Thank you Shaymin," Ash said as a soft smile appeared on his lips, "I'll be sure to keep it close and keep them safe. Also, if you want, you could always visit me if you want some company, or if you need help again you can always find me and I'll do my best to help in any way I can."

"Thank you. I'll keep that in mind," Shaymin replied softly once more as she reciprocated her own version of a smile to him. Shaymin gave them her goodbyes before turning to leave. He didn't blame her for wanting to make a quick get away after today's events. Ash watched as she turned around and disappeared back into her flower patch before turning to Darkrai.

"How have you been, Darkrai?" Ash asked as he tucked the bottle of petals into the inner pocket of his jacket and zipped it closed.

"I have been alright. So has Marshadow," Darkrai replied as the shadow underneath him wavered a bit revealing Marshadow. The little shadow let out a hum and waved at Ash, who waved back.

"No other encounters with Corruption?"

"None. Yveltal has reported the same to me. Word has spread to my other brethren about this and they have all been cautious, but you may be approached by others who may have found some pocket of Corruption or another," Darkrai said with a slight nod of his head. Ash nodded back. He was glad to hear that word has spread about this and hopefully everyone will be much more careful.

"I'm glad that everyone is being careful, and of course I'll help if they come to me for it. I'm ready to head back whenever you're ready to take me," Ash told Darkrai who simply gave him a small nod.

"Marshadow?"

The little Gloomdweller pokémon let out a soft hum before a shadow encased Ash much like it had earlier. When he reappeared in the living room of the borrowed home he and Paul were in, he was surprised to see that only an hour had lapsed since he left, leaving it around eight pm. He greeted the few pokémon that lingered downstairs before making his way up once he saw that his boyfriend wasn't down there at all. He found Paul in their bedroom talking to his brother on the phone.

"-doing much better. She let me hand feed her without biting my hand."

"That's great. Glad she's starting to warm up to you. Hopefully Ash and I arriving in about a week and a half won't push back her progress," Paul replied and Ash waved from the doorway once Paul had looked up to see him, "Ash is here. Want to say hi?"

"Sure!" the chirpy voice of Reggie said and Paul turned the phone around showing that they had been face timing instead of Reggie just being on speaker phone. Ash had seen pictures of Reggie of course, but seeing him in real time, even through a screen, made him a bit nervous. The man looked like an older Paul, but with softer facial lines and longer hair. Reggie's hair was even just a shade darker than Paul's hair. He wore a salmon colored shirt with a green apron over it and Ash could see that there was a smudge of what looked like dirt on his cheek. Ash hurried over and sat next to Paul on the bed to make it easier for Paul to get the both of them in the phone frame.

"Hi!" Reggie said, "It's so nice to see you! Paul has told me a lot about you."

"Hi!" Ash replied back, a smile easily gracing his lip as he felt a little flutter in his chest over the fact that Paul talked about him to Reggie, "It's nice to see you too. Paul has had only nice things to say about you. I can't wait to come to Sinnoh! Thank you for letting me stay at your house."

"Oh, it's no problem at all! I don't see why you should spend money to stay somewhere nearby and I wouldn't let you sleep outside when there is a perfectly good bed inside. I think you'll love it here," Reggie said as an orange fur covered paw reached into frame, "I can't wait until you two are here too! There's so much I want to show you."

"Does that include Paul's baby pictures?" Ash said having to tease Paul since his mother did show Paul his own baby pictures. He let out a small giggle as Paul shoved him with his shoulder and let out a small hum when he felt Paul give the side of his head a soft kiss.

"Of course!" Reggie said as the owner of the orange paw let out a huff, "Hey little bear, I'm not gonna take much longer. You just had lunch too so you don't need a snack. Go see if your brother will play with you or take a nap."

"It's probably time I let you go anyway," Paul said, "It's getting late here and we have an early start in the morning."

"If you're sure?" Reggie said with a bit of hesitancy.

"Yeah. Go take care of the guys in your care. We're just going to go to sleep," Paul replied before bidding his brother a goodbye before giving Ash time to give his own goodbye. Ash watched as Paul flopped back onto the mattress with a small groan and stretched.

"Everything went well with what you were doing?" Paul asked him.

"Yeah. Didn't take much time really and it turned out to be a simple task," Ash said, "My new stronger Aura really blew my expectations of today through the roof. It really made purifying things easier."

"That sounds good," Paul replied with a slight nod to his head.

"I'm going to shower. Wanna join me?" Ash asked as he got off the bed and started to take his clothes off. He dropped his jacket on one of the chairs in the room before pulling his shirt off and sending Paul a look. By the time he actually made it to the bathroom he was fully unclothed and joined by an equally naked Paul. The water warmed quickly enough once Ash had turned it on and he could help the moan that came up from his throat as he stepped under the hot water. The warmth and the repeating pattering of the water loosened muscles he didn't realize were tense. He smiled softly as larger hands grabbed his hips gently before a warm kiss was laid on his neck. Ash tilted his head back and to the side to give Paul more room to kiss his neck more.

"It's been a bit since I've had my mouth on you," Paul murmured against Ash's neck, "Let's get cleaned up thoroughly."

Ash let out a soft sigh that bordered on a whimper when he felt Paul pull away, but dutifully started to clean himself. He made sure to clean himself down there very well when Paul left the shower and hurried to follow his partner. He ruffled his hair with a towel to dry it enough to keep it from dripping and quickly ran the damp towel over the rest of him so he wouldn't get the bed soaked with water. When he left the bathroom he saw Paul standing next to the bed, towel dangerously hanging from his hips, placing a tube of lube on the bed. The duvet and top sheet had already been pulled down to the bottom and Paul had grabbed a towel and some water.

"Planning on wearing me down enough for us to need water?" Ash asked with an amused smile on his lips, but felt a bit aroused at the thought.

"I thought that, for tonight, we have a much needed talk about what sort of kinks we were into," Paul said as he gestured to the bed with a tilt of his head. Ash bit his bottom lip and followed the unspoken order to get on the bed.

"Kinks?" Ash asked as he settled near the center of the bed only to be joined by Paul who gently pushed him back until he was laying down. Ash watched as Paul straddled his hips and leaned down to kiss him. He let out a soft sigh as warm lips touched his own, but instead of the rougher passionate kiss he had been expecting the kiss was gentle and soft and spoke to him more than any of Paul's words could. One soft kiss turned to two and then three before Paul pulled away.

"I think it's a talk we need to have before we go any further," Paul said softly, bringing them back to the topic before their kisses.

"Okay," Ash said with a nod and shivered as Paul sat back up onto his knees taking any warmth he had been providing Ash. He could feel his skin getting goosebumps as his slightly heated skin met the cooler air.

"For example, I prefer to be the one on top taking control. Giving my partner all their pleasure before my own," Paul whispered softly, a gentle arousing smirk gracing his lips, "I like making my partner cum as much as they're willing to let me before I let myself cum." Ash's breathing hitched a bit at that and to him that sounded heavenly.

"I um, I don't know if it's because of anything bad, but I think I like calling my partner, um Daddy," Ash stuttered out after a moment of silence when he realized that Paul was waiting for him to say something, "I don't have experience calling anyone that, but I think it's something I would like."

"I don't mind you calling me that if you want to try it," Paul replied after letting out a deep chuckle that sent vibrations down through Ash's body. Ash nodded as he looked up at Paul and shivered slightly as Paul began to run his hands along his body. He gulped as a callous rough thumb brushed against one of his nipples and couldn't help the basic reaction of his body as his nipple hardened.

"I-I like how much bigger you are than me," Ash blurted out, "Makes me feel safe, and warm."

"And I think you're perfect the way you are. I like how small you are compared to me. I like how I can pull you closer and wrap myself around you entirely," his boyfriend said with a lighter laugh.

"I like biting," Paul said with a smirk on his lips as he looked down at Ash like a predator.

"I like being bitten," Ash retorted and blushed slightly when he saw Paul like his lips.

"Tell me some hard no's," Paul said as one of his hands trailed up the center of Ash's chest.

"Piss, scat, and vomiting are a hard no," Ash replied immediately, "they disgust me and I don't want them into any sex play. And bloodplay."

"Understandable. I don't understand how others could like things like that sexually. How do you feel about being tied down?" Paul asked and Ash could feel his own cock, which had softened a bit during his previous sentence, start to harden once more. He assumed Paul had felt it too as his boyfriend once again chuckled and leaned down to kiss him.

"I don't think I'd mind being tied up," Ash answered after Paul pulled away, "Maybe starting a bit light before moving on to more extreme things?"

"Of course," Paul said with a serious tone, "Safe word?"

"Um," Ash hummed out. He never really had to think about safe words before. He didn't want to use anything pokémon related or anything he may use in a normal day to day activity.

"We can always use the stop light system," Paul said and Ash realized that he must have been quiet too long.

"Stop light?" Ash asked.

"Red for stop, yellow for slow down, and green for continuing," Paul said matter-of-factly, "It's a basic safety system for those who don't have an established word."

"O-Okay," Ash replied with a nod, "I'm okay using that if you are?"

"I am," Paul said with a small smile, "How about we put the rest of this conversation on the back burner and have some fun?"

"Please!" Ash agreed with an almost frantic nod. To his shock his cock felt like it could have burst at any moment and there wasn't much that they had done. Merely some kisses and Paul running his hands over his chest, but it was enough to make his body feel like it was going to burst.

"How far?" Paul asked as he leaned down over his smaller boyfriend and placed soft kisses along the lightly tanned skin.

"I'm ready," Ash whispered softly as he tilted his head back to give Paul more room.

"You sure?" Paul asked him pulling away just enough to look Ash in his eyes. Ash whispered a soft 'yes' just before his lips were taken over by Paul's lips. It was a hard kiss, passionate and world turning that made his lungs burn for more air than he was able to breathe and his lips tingle once Paul pulled away from the kiss leaving invisible impressions of his lips against Ash's own. The trail of kisses and bites Paul left behind along his neck sent pleasurable bursts down to his core leaving him wanting more of what Paul could give him. Ash gripped the bedding as Paul captured one of his nipples between his lips and let out a soft groan as his boyfriend used his teeth to gently bite the nub. Once his nipple was properly abused Paul gave its twin the same treatment leaving Ash shaking just from that small action.

"Paul!" Ash cried out as tears gathered in his eyes. He didn't know why he called out Paul's name, he just knew he wanted more and more and more. Ash turned his eyes down from where they were trained on the ceiling to look at Paul, who was between his legs with a mischievous grin on his lips. Ash watched with wide eyes as Paul licked his lips before taking his cock all the way down. Ash choked on a scream as his back arched. He couldn't tell which way was where, what was up or down, or what talking was for a moment as Paul began to bob his head up and down on his cock.

Ash reached down with a shaky hand to grab his boyfriend's purple hair to help ground himself as his boyfriend pleasured him. For a brief moment he felt something touching him down lower, but the thought was dismissed as Paul gave him a particularly hard suck making him lose that train of thought. He tried his best to move his hips in rhythm with Paul, but it was quickly squashed as Paul held his hips down with one arm. Ash swore aloud that he was about to cum, but before he could Paul pulled away.

"What?" Ash groaned out as he opened his eyes (when did he close them?) to look at Paul.

"Ready for the next part?" Paul asked, his voice a bit raspy from the pleasurable abuse he just gave it. Ash was about to ask him what he meant when he felt it. His hole felt full and when he looked down he saw Paul's arm leading down to it and the slight wiggling told him that he was stuffed with Paul's fingers.

"Wh-When?" Ash asked as the realization hit him.

"Just as you grabbed my hair," his boyfriend said a bit cheekily leaving Ash giggling a bit, "Condom or no condom?"

"No condom," Ash whispered softly as he sat up a bit so he could easily reach to kiss Paul, "I want to feel all of you."

Ash moaned as Paul leaned forward and kissed him like he had hoped when he sat up. He could just barely taste himself in the kiss and found that he didn't mind the taste. Ash let Paul push him back down onto the bed and took a deep breath when Paul pulled away from the kiss. He watched as Paul grabbed the bottle of lube from where it laid beside them and open it to use on his cock. He shook a bit as he watched Paul rub his cock with a lubed hand and wondered how on earth it would fit in him. Ash knew that it would hurt, but he really did want it in him.

"Ready?" Paul asked him once more and Ash once again shivered as a large warm hand gripped his thigh.

"Ready," Ash said, giving his boyfriend a small smile and a nod. The smaller teen took a deep breath as Paul brought the tip of his cock to his loosened opening and gently started to push in. Ash was right that it hurt, even with all the stretching Paul had done to him, and the pain and burning made him whimper. He urged Paul to keep going when his boyfriend stopped for a moment and it felt like it took entirely too long for Paul to bottom out. He gasped as he felt Pauls' pubes brushing against his sensitive skin and wrapped his legs around his boyfriend to keep him in one place as he got used to the feeling of being stuffed full.

Ash let out a shaky breath as he moved his hips a bit. The pain was starting to receed and gave way to the feeling of being full. He clenched down and gasped as he felt Paul twitch inside him and heard his boyfriend let out a groan near his ear. Ash tilted his head a bit to give Paul room as his boyfriend kissed his neck. He told Paul he was ready, but was completely unprepared as Paul began to move and the sensation it gave him.

The feeling of having something that large inside him was weird at first, but when Paul's cock hit his prostate head on making him let out a small scream made the feeling go away completely. He pleaded for more from Paul only for Paul to keep at his slow but hard pace. He felt Paul grip his hips and changed his pacing so that instead of the steady hard thrusts he now rolled his hips into his own.

"Fuck," Ash cursed gutterally and tried to move his own hips to get Paul to move faster, but the steady grip Paul had on him held him in place.

"You feel so good around me, baby," Paul said with a grunt as Ash clenched down around him, "So fucking tight."

"Paul," Ash whined out as he reached down to grab one of Paul's wrists while the other gripped the bedding, "Please move faster!" Ash gasped as Paul leaned over him, taking one of his hands off his hips to stabilize the movement, the slight change in position moved his boyfriend's cock inside him making it brush against his prostate.

"That's not my name, baby. You know what to call me," Paul said with a husky tone to his voice making Ash shiver at how arousing it was.

"D-Daddy," Ash said softly as his head swam. His heart was pounding as he said it and to his surprise he found that he really did enjoy calling Paul that. It was like a puzzle piece being slid into place.

"Good boy," Paul said before leaning down to kiss Ash. The smaller teen yelped into the kiss as Paul started to move like he had wanted. The slapping of their hips meeting at the frantic pace and the wet sounds of the lube caused Ash's cheeks to redden darkly. His lungs had just started to beg for more air when Paul pulled back from the kiss to focus more on leaving bite marks against his skin making him let out little cries of pleasure at each one.

"Daddy please! Gonna cum!" Ash moaned out as Paul bit down around his nipple leaving indentations of his teeth around the sensitive bud.

"Then cum for me, baby," Paul growled into his ear as his thrusts became just a bit harder. It was all just a bit too much for Ash. The hard thrusts into his prostate, Paul encompassing him, and all the pleasure being driven into him. It was inevitable for him to pass out as he came; splattering his and Paul's stomach and chest with white cloudy seed. He was only just aware of Paul stuttering thrusts as his boyfriend came inside him before everything went dark and all he recalled when he woke up was thinking about when they could do this again.