Hey Nuggies! Well I really shouldn't be doing this, but here I am writing another fanfiction since I have writers block on a few of my other ones, and because this won't leave me alone. Here is your warning this will be SLASH! Not to sure on if it'll be M!Preg or not, but at this current moment I have not thought about it.

Main Pairing: AshxPaul

Side pairing: AshxGary (One sided on Gary's part)

Rating: M (to be safe)

Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon it belongs to Game Freak, Nintendo, Creatures, The Pokemon Company, etc, nor do I write this for profit. This is for entertainment use only.

A/N: I know… I know… I said that Ralts and Zorua would be the last pokémon joining Ash for a while… but Ash can't just not go to the Safari Zone without bringing a special friend back.

The two weeks it took Ash to get to Fuchsia was long and tiring. He felt as though he needed to sleep for a few days and bathe just to feel somewhat human, and he knew his pokémon were close to wanting a few days rest as well. There was even a time he had to call Oak to let him know of a rather strong and newly evolved Fearow in the area he was in that was rampaging and causing a lot of destruction.

He would have taken care of it himself if he thought his pokémon were strong enough to down the Fearow, but Fearow newly evolved were complete monsters and tend to have no restraint on those they battled. Seeing how strong the Fearow was he made up his mind. His pokémon needed to get stronger.

So during the two week travel Ash had them working hard in their training.

Charmander had quickly learned Metal Claw and was working on using a stronger version of Ember so the little reptile could learn Flamethrower. The little albinos' fire on his tail burned brightly and stronger letting Ash know he was getting close to evolving. The teen decided to reward Charmanders' hard work in letting him fight in a gym battle when they make it to Celadon.

Pikachu, having finally gotten his Thunderball move down, was working on perfecting it and the rest of his moves. Ash made sure to give him plenty of ketchup as a motivator.

Krokorok and Nidorino fought against each other every time they settled down for a break or for the night. Ash didn't want to make them stop. A little competition on the team was good. It challenged them to better themselves so they could get an upper hand on the other. Their score at the moment was Krokorok 19 to Nidorinos' 20.

Horsea was making leaps and bounds as his scales began to harden and his tail muscles became stronger. The little seahorse finally got the hang of Bubblebeam and gets a bit trigger happy when one pokémon of the team gets too close to the water line. Ash did take note that his head fins seemed to have gotten longer.

The two that made the most progress were Ralts and Zorua. The little fox of his seemed to have gotten over being scared at sudden movements and even enjoyed being outside of his ball while they walked. His fur, once dry, brittle, and dull, had become silky and shiny and he often begged to be brushed before going to sleep. Zorua especially loved it when his paws were pampered.

Ralts on the other hand, gained much needed weight, like Zorua had, and the wounds she had before were completely healed. She even began training with Nidorino, the more calm of his pokémon besides Pikachu, and was making very good headway. She had a bit of trouble with her Shadow Sneak, but excelled in using her Teleport. And gifting her with small treats of dried berries that she could chew on was no problem at all. He really spoiled her.

He was two days from Fuchsia when Mewtwo had decided to make an appearance. He had appeared just when Ash was getting ready to settle in for the night and asked for some rest in his ball. Ash had told him that he didn't need to ask and promptly presented the ball after asking Mewtwo if he wanted any food, which had been denied.

He still had Mewtwo in the ball since the creature hadn't let him know when he wanted out. Ash supposed that Mewtwo would let him know when he wanted to leave so now he let Mewtwo be.

Upon entering the city Ash couldn't help but gaze upon the buildings. It was like he had been sent back in time just by entering the city. The buildings looked old, but well kept and from where he stood he could almost see everything about the city. It wasn't large, but from what he knew the Safari Zone makes up for how tiny the city actually was.

He planned on heading into the zone after meeting up with Paul.

Speaking of the tall purple haired Sinnoh native Ash hurried to the Center where they decided to meet. Ash wasn't going to lie. He was nervous to meet him again. He had thought about Paul for a while now, since the man decided to stay in the hospital with him really, and he couldn't stop his heart from skipping a beat every time the man sent him a text.

He spoke about what he was feeling with his mother. She came to the conclusion that Ash was getting his first crush! Needless to say Ash was beet red after getting off the call with his mother. He didn't need that 'Talk' again thank you very much. Once from old man Oak was enough.

As he entered the lobby of the Center he looked around and easily spotted Paul. He lounged on the couch beside a yellow and black creature he hadn't seen before. It was small and had two long prongs on its head with a black lightning bolt on its belly. Ash walked closer to the two making sure to keep his eyes on the unknown pokémon since he didn't know how it would react to him getting closer to its trainer.

"Hey," Ash said softly in greeting as he stopped about two feet away.

Paul looked up before getting off the couch and greeted the smaller teen, "Hey, what's up?"

Ash bit the inside of his cheek for a moment as he tried to not react to Pauls' deep voice. "Nothing much," Ash said calmly, "Just been training and stuff. How about you?"

"Same," Paul said as he stretched, "Do your pokémon or yourself need any rest? You said you've been on the road for the last two weeks in your texts."

Ash sent him a small smile before admitting, "Honestly, yeah. I would really like some rest and I'm sure my pokémon would agree. The last time we got any good rest was when we had to rest in a cave to get away from a storm a week ago. I could also use a bath."

"I'd probably be the same if I did the same thing," Paul said as he nodded, "I'll go and train with my guys while you rest and we can do whatever tomorrow. Plan on fighting this gym?"

Ash shook his head as he gestured for Paul to follow him as he went to the front desk, "I know I'm not strong enough to fight Koga," he said before kindly asking for a room from Nurse Joy, "I might try after the S.S. Anne returns. I managed to beat Surge and got a ticket."

"Same," Paul said after Ash finished with the nurse. He followed the smaller teen and couldn't help himself as he looked down and saw a perky ass hidden by Ashs' jeans.

"I do want to go to the Safari Zone," Ash said as he scanned the card he had gotten on the card reader for the room, "You can come in for a moment if you want. I'm just gonna bathe my pokémon and get them to Nurse Joy to look over before showering and taking a nap."

"I should probably get my guys out to train. If you want we can go to the zone tomorrow?" Paul asked before saying, "I've asked the owner of the zone about what pokémon they got around in the zone and I gotta say I'm pretty interested in a couple. Though you can't battle them, which I understand, but it sucks."

"Oh?" Ash asked as he carefully took his egg out of his bag and placed it on his bed in a nest of the pillows for the moment, "What kind of pokémon are you looking for?"

"Boaba, the owner, said that they see a lot of migrating pokémon about this time of the year," Paul replied as he looked at the egg for a moment before turning to look at Ash, "They also have quite a few resident pokémon that are rare, like Dratini, Eevee, Scyther, Abra, and a few others. I want to see if I can't find a psychic to help round out my team."

Ash hummed softly as he thought over different psychic types. Thankfully he had his little girl so he didn't have to think about getting a psychic. "What other pokémon do you have?" he asked as he looked down at the small yellow creature by Pauls' side.

"I've got Grotle, Haunter, Elekid here, Lairon, and Sneasel on me," Paul said, "and I got Magmar, Ursaring, Snorunt, and Honchkrow at my brothers' place."

Ash bit his lip softly, "A Drowzee or an Abra," he said, "Those are the only ones I can think of that are native here in Kanto, but you might look at other Regions too."

Paul nodded before telling him that he was going to get so Ash could rest and wash up. Now alone Ash shrugged off his pants with his socks and shirt leaving him in only boxers. He couldn't stand the scratchy feeling of them any longer and vowed to do laundry while he was there.

"Alright! Bath time!" he announced as he released his pokémon. Zorua barked up, being the vain spoiled kit he was, he wanted his bath first. Picking up the kit he walked to the bathroom and set him down on the mat. Looking under the sink he grabbed the bottles of pokémon shampoo and a few towels from the linen closet before placing them by the tub.

He sent a smile down at Zorua as he turned the water on and waited until it was nice and warm before putting the plug in it. "Okay Zorua," Ash said as he grabbed the bottles and let Zorua smell them, "Mint, Apple, Berry, or Vanilla?"

Zorua bapped the one he wanted with his paw and was soon being washed with the comforting scent of vanilla. Soon enough all of his pokémon were washed, dried, and groomed and ready for bed. He took his time as he showered, making sure to thoroughly clean every inch of him, before putting on some comfortable clothes to leave the room in.

He smiled softly as he looked over at the bed after gathering his dirty laundry including his shoes, he had his hiking boots in his bag he could wear the next day. Pikachu, Zorua, and Ralts were all curled up together around his egg. He couldn't help himself as he took a picture of them as well as a picture of Charmander, Krokorok, and Nidorino curled up together beside the bed. He also took a picture of Horsea, not wanting him left out of the adorable picture taking.

Ash was quick to use the laundry facilities to quickly clean and dry his clothes before taking them upstairs to put in his bag once more. His shoes though needed to stay out to fully dry which he put on the desk to keep them out of Charmanders' mouth.

Soon enough he was passed out curled up beside the tinier pokémon of the group.

When Ash woke up he checked the time only to see that it was just after six in the morning. He sighed softly and let his head fall back onto his pillows and turned his body a bit to get comfortable again. It was too early, and to be honest he was surprised that he was even awake at this time.

Letting out a small sigh he quietly got up and got dressed before grabbing his watch, dex, room card, and woke up Pikachu to let him know where he was going so the mouse could let the others know before they panic. Quietly walking out of the room Ash ventured down to the kitchens and grabbed some food that was quick to make and eat as well as a few things they could take with them. He was sure they would go to the PokéMart before they leave to stock up. He wasn't sure how long they would be in the zone, but he wanted to be prepared.

Now that he was wide awake he was getting a bit restless. He supposed that his body was just used to being on the road moving nonstop and now that he had stopped for some actual rest he was getting jittery and wanting to move.

That being said he went back to his room where his pokémon were starting to wake up. He quickly fed them and sent Paul a text that he was going to explore the city and that he would meet him in front of the zone whenever he wanted. He gathered everyone up before shouldering his bag and left the room once again to explore the new city he was in.

There wasn't much to see besides the old architecture, but it did keep Ash entertained for the couple of hours it took for Paul to get up and ready. "Ready to go?" Ash asked as Paul walked up the step to the zone where he had already been waiting for five minutes.

"Yeah," Paul said as he stretched, "Where the hell do you get all this energy?"

Ash shrugged, "Not a clue, but I've always been this way. It takes a while for me to run out," he said as they entered the building leading to the zone. This was the only building different than those of the rest of the city. It was made of brick and steel and the inside was decorated with plants and wood furniture that were made to look like trees.

Behind the counter were three people. Two dressed in a uniform that one would associate with a safari while the older man of the three was dressed in white pants and a button down brown shirt. "Mr. Baoba," Paul greeted with a small wave, "We'd like to enter the safari."

Baoba stroked his white beard as he looked at the two, "I would very much like to let out," he began as he crossed his arms over his, "but there's been a rather unruly pokémon in the safari. I can't let you enter until it's taken care of. I've had to take the others that were inside of the safari out of it for I feared for their safety."

Ash licked his lip softly. He couldn't just turn his back when someone needed help and if they couldn't get it then he would just have to.

"What kind of pokémon is it?" Ash asked as he looked up at the older man and silently cursed himself for being too short.

"Why do you want to know?" Baoba asked as he looked at the smaller teen.

"I'm an On the Field Researcher and Trainer for Professor Oak in Pallet Town," Ash said as he showed the man his ID in his dex showing that he was indeed one, "I can capture it. It's in the job description."

Ash saw Baobas' eyes narrow a bit before nodding. "It's a rather small pokémon, but it's caused so much damage to its surroundings and the pokémon in the zone. Someone must have sneaked it in and released it when they went in without us knowing about it. I even had to ask around to others about what kind of pokémon it was since I've never seen it before. The scientists over in Pewter called it a Tyrunt, a fossil pokémon, and they said we better be relieved it wasn't evolved," the old man explained as he brought up images of it to show to Ash.

"Where was it last seen?" Ash asked as he took a closer look at the creature. It looked like a dinosaur to him like the kind his teachers use to tell in school. Its body was covered in grayish brown scales with a small hump on its back. In the picture its belly and lower jaw were covered in lighter gray scales.

The head is large in proportion to its body and has a blunt snout with a ridge above the nostrils. Two teeth are visible on the picture in the lower jaw, while the upper jaw has two tooth-like spikes. On top of its head were two orange spikes and it had black scales around the lower edge of each eye. Around its neck is a spiky ruff of white, primitive looking feathers. It has tiny forelimbs with two white claws each. The hind legs are more developed and have rectangular, armor plating over the knees, three white claws on each foot, and a smaller, fourth digit lacking a claw off to the side. Its tail is short with an orange spike near the tip.

"It was last seen towards the middle of the safari," Baoba said as he let out a sigh, "That was two hours ago before the cameras were cut off."

Ash nodded and looked away from the pictures to Paul, "Stay here," Ash said and before Paul could protest he added, "I don't want you hurt and I actually have a license to be in there unlike you. Just stay here please. I don't want to worry about you getting hurt."

Paul sighed and nodded as he rubbed the back of his neck. He would let the smaller teen have it when he gets back.

"Okay," Ash said as he hitched his bag up higher, "You guys have a camera that does live feed? I could strap it on me so you guys don't have to sit here in silence and worry about what's going on. And an earpiece?"

Baoba nodded and once he was set up with the camera on his chest and an earpiece in his ear he entered the safari. He took a deep breath before setting a good pace of a jog towards the center of the zone. On his way he did call Oak to let him know what was going on and he was once again filled with pride as the old man praised him. Oak did wish him good luck and to let him know how it goes. He also said he would get the League to look over who has had a fossil revived within the last few months to narrow down the person who released it.

It took Ash quite a bit of time before he reached the middle of the area, but he finally made it before noon. He heard the earpiece in his ear crackle a bit before he heard Baobas' voice in his ear, "Okay Ash," the old man said, "I got your location on our maps and you're about a five minute walk to the last location it was seen."

Ash nodded and let them know he was going to head in that direction. As he went further in that direction he spotted just how much damage this Tyrunt caused. Downed trees and ripped up roots. Gouges in the dirt, and sadly Ash saw evidence of it feeding on the wildlife as he spotted blood pools and furs as well as bone here and there.

Ash kept alert as he neared its last known location and looked around slowly. He couldn't hear anything. The forest around him was completely silent. He stood in the middle of the ruined forestry and looked around. He could only hear his breathing and his rampaging heartbeat as he strained to hear anything else.

Just as he was about to move to another location he finally heard something. A twig snapping.

Ash turned around quickly only to see the Tyrunt about to charge at him with its mouth opened. "Graaaaaaahhh!" the Tyrunt roared as it charged at Ash. The teen was just able to dodge and he sent out Krokorok, Nodorino, and Pikachu. He hoped to use Nidorinos' poison to weaken the beast while Krokorok and Pikachu beat it down.

"Krokorok! Pikachu!" Ash yelled as he heard Baoba in his ear talking to the others, "Heavy hit with all you got! Wear it down for Nidorino!"

Pikachu was first to let out an attack, but once seeing that his electric wasn't going to do anything to it he settled to hit it with his Iron Tail while dodging it with Quick Attack and Agility. Krokorok let out his own roar in challenge as he met the Tyrunt snout to snout. His croc though was first in hitting it with his tail making it stumble.

"Nidorino," Ash said as he knelt beside his second pokémon, "Ready your Poison Sting and when there's an opening release it." His purple reptile nodded and extended his barbs. During his training his poison had become even more potent which Nidorino was very happy about.

"Pikachu!" Ash called out as he saw Tyrunt swing around and smack its tail into Krokorok, "Aim for its legs! Trip it up!" He saw the wounds Krokorok was getting and was a bit worried. They looked plenty deep, but Ash knew his croc could endure it.

Ash bit his lip as he saw his two pokémon getting tired trying to get the Tyrunt down and so he made a decision. Hopefully it wasn't a stupid one.

"Charmander! Keep away from it, but I need you to use your Ember to try and burn it. Can you do that?" Ash asked as he looked down as a determined Charmander. His scales shown bright in the sunlight. The smallest reptile nodded and set to task.

His Charmander danced in and out of openings using Ember each time. He even sneakily used Dragon Tail a few times to help Pikachu in tripping the Tyrunt up for Krokorok to use Crunch on it. Ash watched in anticipation as he waited for an opportunity to let Nidorino release his Poison Sting.

The opportunity came after Charmander managed to trip the Tyrunt and it took a moment to get up. "Now!" he signaled to Nidorino who let out a grunt and quite a few of dripping poisoned needles. Ash watched satisfied as the hypodermic needles pierced through scales.

He also took this opportunity to throw a ball in its direction. He held his breath as he watched the ball wobble once… twice…

"Fuck!" Ash cursed as the Tyrunt burst out of the ball causing it to break. It let out a loud roar before charging what seemed like the weakest of the pokémon, Charmander. Ash watched horrified as Tyrunts' thick tail struck his baby before he could have said or done anything.

"Charmander!"

The little albino was flung into the dense trees as Krokorok let out a roar and bit down harshly onto Tyrunts' tail and used all his strength to fling it the opposite direction Charmander was flung. Before Ash could even move to go get Charmander another loud roar sounded through the area. It was different from the roars Krokorok and Tyrunt let out.

Standing up from where he knelt Ash kept his gaze to where Charmander was. His heart beat once then twice and from within the dense trees came a large bright red stream of fire. Emerging from behind it was his baby, but just a bit bigger. "Charmeleon! Flamethrower!" Ash called out as a smile reached his face.

Letting out a snarl his Charmeleon released another torrent of flames that encased the Tyrunt. The Tyrunt let out a loud screech and stomped its feet a bit before falling over panting once the flames died down. Ash once again threw a ball and snagged the Tyrunt on the side.

He waited once more and felt relief as the ball let out a small ding as it completed its capture. Ash walked over and picked it up to put on his belt as he thanked his pokémon and returned them for well deserved rest.

"Ash," Baoba said in his earpiece, "Wait right there. I'm going to send one of my workers with an atv to get you."

"Alright," Ash said as he sat down to just take in what just happened. His Charmander evolved. He knew it was only a matter of time, but his baby evolved. He had felt so scared when Tyrunt hit Charmander since the little albino hadn't really had battling experience like that before. He really did think that he was going to find his baby dead from the hit since it was a really hard hit.

But his Charmander really showed him how strong he was.

He stood up as he heard the rumblings of a motor and hopped up onto it once the worker had stopped. The ride back was so much quicker than the jog he took to get to the center and all he could do when he got back was lean against Paul as Baoba thanked him. Once being assured they could enter the Safari the next day they left the building.

As much as he wanted to enjoy the rest of the day, now that Nurse Joy claimed that his pokémon were good despite the beating they got, he couldn't. One question ran through his mind that he never thought he would have to think.

'Do I keep Tyrunt? Or give him away to be potentially put down?'