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)

Chapter Warning(s): None

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

Griffon Blackwood, thank you!

Sakihinata, Paul just had to steal it!

Fanfictionranger, he does, doesn't he?

Roxel, I was kind of thinking Leafeon since it's one of my favorite pokémon, but I'm not dead set on it. I like Snivy as well, but I also really love the Treeko line. Do you see the problem? I can't just decide on a grass type!

A/N: Still need help deciding on a grass type!

Enjoy!

Ash stood there stock still. He didn't even register the sound of the door behind him closing with a soft click. Ash could feel his face burning and his lungs begging for air which caused him to take in a sharp deep breath. "K-Kiss," Ash murmured, making Pikachu, who had moved to the bed, perk up and let out a chitter as if to confirm that, yes, his trainer did indeed get a kiss.

Ash shook his head to clear it though his cheeks remained red like he had gotten a mild sunburn. He grabbed Pikachu and held him close before leaving the room once more. He didn't see Paul as he went outside so he assumed he used his Abra to teleport himself to an airport to get to his flight on time.

Ash had let out a small sigh, but kept walking to the gym. He ignored the festivities as people ran around him carrying things to get the place ready for the tournament the next day. So he was on his own again. It would be weird, but he was adaptable. The time Paul would be gone just gave him more time to read his ancestors journal and books without having to sneak away for a bit or staying up to read by moonlight.

As he continued on towards the gym he pondered over what he had managed to read. The training his ancestor, Sir Aaron, was doing was quite slow, but Ash knew it was better to go slow then mess up by going fast. The consequences that Aaron had left in the journal was enough to scare him from doing something foolish.

Sir Aaron had written of how he had taken care of the people left in Aura Comas and what the Healers had told him about the side effects of being in one. Most people were left vegetables, but some were so immersed in the Aura that their bodies actually reacted to whatever stimuli was happening within the Aura. Some lost limbs, some got physically sick, others couldn't control their own digestive systems, some were wounded and scarred.

The last sentence in that particular entry chilled Ash to his core. Sir Aaron had written that some of the coma patients even died with no warning, and that it didn't matter what the Healers did, the patients were never brought back.

"Sir?"

Ash jolted out of his thoughts as a female voice cut through them like a knife. Looking up Ash saw a small woman, clearly older than himself though, who had light brown hair and blue eyes. Ash mentally shook his head as he took in where he was at.

His feet, though his mind was occupied at the moment, had taken him into the gym. The reception area was clean and painted in hues of greens, browns, and cream colors leaving it warm yet vibrant.

"Sorry," Ash apologized before adding, "I've got a lot on my mind. I'm here to battle Leader Erika."

The brunette giggled and nodded as she spoke, "It'll be just a moment. She's battling another trainer at the moment. If you could take a seat over there they should be done any moment now. Could I have your name and registration number?" Ash nodded and pulled out his 'dex, since it was easier to give his information on it than getting it from his watch.

When she was done Ash turned to where she had gestured and began to walk over to a seat. He thanked her and sat down on the rather plush and comfy green chair. As he sat and waited he thought over what pokémon he was going to use. Charmeleon was a given seeing as he was about to fight in a grass type gym, but his albino baby would be his last resort. He wanted to give Zorua a chance to fight. The little fox was just itching to fight for his trainer.

He would have used Tyrunt, but the newest addition to the family needed his time to settle down and train a bit more to get used to being given commands during a fight before any official battle. And seeing as Ralts and Zorua had joined the family and knew what to expect by watching the others training while they got healthier before Tyrunt was caught. Ash thought it would be fair if he gave Zorua and Ralts the chance to fight in a few official battles before Tyrunt.

Nodding to himself he grasped Zoruas' ball firmly in his hand just as the door to the back of the building opened and a trainer ran out. He heard the sobs of the trainer as they left before he was being called back for his fight. That didn't bode well for him, but he was confident in the abilities of his pokémon. They were ready for anything.

The brunette from before, Ash had seen on a nameplate that her name was Laura, led him down a corridor that had half wall half glass walls revealing rooms with different pokémon resting in them as well as a few lab like rooms where workers worked on something.

Not much was said as the corridor opened up to a large grass covered room. The ceiling was made of glass and a few bits were open to let in fresh air and warmth from the sun's rays. The grass that covered the floor felt real enough as he crossed the grass to the lone woman standing on the field.

Ash knew that Erika was older than him despite how short she was and wasn't to be underestimated. Her grass types could be more deadly than Surges' electric types. The woman standing before him had her dark brown hair cut just below her chin in a bob and was slightly pulled away from her face, leaving her bangs pressed down underneath, by a red ribbon. She wore a traditional kimono and had tori sandals and tabi socks adorning her feet.

Her kind brown eyes looked him up and down as he approached as if she were trying to determine what kind of trainer he was just by his appearance. "Good morning," she greeted politely as Ash stopped before her. Her voice was soft and kind, and while it was faint Ash could hear an undertone of harshness in her voice.

"Good morning Leader Erika," Ash greeted, "I would like to battle you today."

Ash saw her nod a small bit then turned her back to him to walk to a well worn spot of grass. Ash followed her example and moved to an area across from her that left plenty of space between them for their pokémon to fight. Ash looked over as movement caught his eye and he saw a different woman from the two he had already seen wearing a referee uniform.

"This two on two battle is between Celadon Gym Leader, Erika, and Gym Challenger, Ash Ketchum, from Pallet Town. No substitutions are allowed, no battle items or restorative items allowed, this match ends when all pokémon from one side are all knocked out. Do you both understand these rules?" the referee asked as she gripped the flags in her hands. Ash had a red flag while Erikas' flag was green.

"Yes/Understood!" Both Erika and Ash said at the same time.

"Begin!"

"Time to shine!" Erika called out as she threw out a ball.

"To battle!" Ash called out as well and released Zorua.

On the other side of the field a medium sized blue bulb like pokémon with small arms and legs that didn't look like they were done developing. Its head was covered by four reddish-brown round petals with white dots on them and several reddish-brown leaves. From its lips it drools a rather foul smelling goop that Ash was willing to bet money on that it was poisonous.

The pokémon let out a rather sad sounding sound as it spied a disguised Zorua. From what Ash read on the little foxs' species they were notorious for transforming into different pokémon at the beginning of their fights to make their opponent underestimate them and use different tactics than what they would have done if they knew what they were facing.

His Zorua had decided to take Krokoroks' form for this fight. Ash did have to admit that the form was flawless, but he knew it would give away when Zorua was hit once. The little fox didn't have the best of grasps on keeping the illusion up when hit.

"Gloom darling!" Erika called out, "Use Bullet Seed!"

The Gloom was much faster than Ash had thought as he saw it get in close before letting out a torrent of small seeds that exploded on the ground around Zoruas' feet. The disguised fox quickly moved out of the way before anything could hit him and whipped his tail around to try and trip up the Gloom as it went past.

The plant like pokémon merely jumped over the tail and let out another blast of seeds after another before it stopped letting the seeds loose. Thankfully Zorua was able to dodge the seeds, but it did make the small fox tired.

"Dark Pulse!"

Disguised eyes began to glow a dark purple color as Zorua listened to his trainer and let out wave after wave of dark aura like pulses towards the plant. The two pokémon exchanged move after move and with both of them dodging like they were the two creatures were beginning to tire out.

"Rush it!" Ash called out as he saw the Gloom trip on its own feet, "Use Assurance!"

He heard Zorua let out a snarl as he turned tail and rushed towards the stumbling plant. One front paw was glowing as Zorua prepared to use Assurance.

"Darling! Effect spore!" Erika spoke up causing Ash to grimace. He really hated effect spore. The Glooms' petals gained a dark green color before it shook its body causing small multi-colored particles to fly off of its body. It was too late for Zorua to dodge the spores and he breathed in a full breath of them.

The disguised fox began coughing and hacking as he tried to get the spores out of his eyes. His whole body was covered with the spores that were slowly beginning to be absorbed into the sand colored scales. Slowly a bright purple hue showed up on Zoruas' cheeks indicating that he was poisoned.

"Alright," Ash murmured softly, but loud enough for Zorua to hear him, "not much time, but you can do it. Use Extrasensory."

Instead of the dark purple color Zoruas' eyes had shone before his eyes glowed a bright pink color as he began to use his psychic move. Ash watched as the Gloom let out a screech as psychic strings pulled its body every which way before his Zorua used Assurance to knock it back.

"Vine Whip!" the Gym Leader commanded once the psychic attack gave way leaving the plant shaking and groaning. Nonetheless the plant obeyed its trainer and brownish red vines extended from its petals and with a lightning quick movement managed to nail Zorua on his abdomen.

His Zorua let out a yelp as he was flung back a bit, but managed to stay on his paws as the illusion fell revealing his form to Erika and the Gloom. Zorua let out a sharp bark as he ran, much quicker in this form than his disguised form, towards the Gloom with his paws glowing.

"What?" Ash heard Erika murmur as Zorua managed to land Assurance on Gloom making it fly back towards its trainer. While not super effective against the plant like creature Assurance had gained boosted damage dealt since Zorua had been hit right before using it.

The effects of both the Assurance and the time the two pokémon spent dodging each other's attacks caused Gloom to not stand back up as it landed on the grass before Erika.

"Gloom is unable to battle! Unknown pokémon wins!" the referee called out causing Zorua to yip in excitement. He did after all just win a very important battle for his trainer. The little fox turned tail and ran to his trainer while wagging his bushy tail.

"Good job," Ash said as he grinned at Zorua. He picked the little fox up and cuddled him close. He placed his back down to sit beside him as Erika chose her next pokémon. Its shape reminded Ash of a large blue green and orange pineapple and a duck. On its head was a large lily pad like sombrero and it was dancing to some music that it could hear as it did a little chant.

He had only seen that pokémon once on the tv when he was younger and from what he could remember it was a different color than this one. "To battle!" Ash called out as he released Charmeleon. His albino baby let out a roar that made the glass around them rattle in their frames. Ash could see the incredulous stares of Erika and her referee, but chose to ignore them as he yelled out for his Charmeleon to attack.

Charmeleon let out a roar before unleashing a torrent of bright red flames towards the pineapple duck. Ash cursed his luck as the creature they were fighting let out a strong blast of water making the room fill with steam as it met Charmeleons' fire.

"Good job Ludicolo," Erika said as she smirked, "Use it again then Solar Beam!"

"Charmeleon dodge!" Ash cried out as the Ludicolo let out another strong blast of water towards his albino baby. Charmeleon quickly dodged and swung his tail around to hit the Ludicolo.

Charmeleon growled in frustration as his opponent dodged his tail before the strange pokémon began glowing a light green color as it absorbed the sunlight that filtered inside from the glass ceiling. He bared his fangs before releasing another stream of fire and just managed to catch the Ludicolo in his fire. He kept the stream up for a bit before letting up. Ash just hoped it was enough. He didn't need the Ludicolo to let out another Hydro Pump and extinguish Charmeleons' tail flame.

The Ludicolo though was still standing, if not a bit wobbly, and had its eyes focused on the Charmeleon. The Ludicolo let out a warbled call before it tipped over onto his back with its eyes rolling into the back of its head. Ash let out a soft sigh as he placed his hands on his knees.

They won.

"Ludicolo is unable to battle. Charmeleon wins! All of the Gym Leaders' pokémon are unable to fight. Ash Ketchum wins this challenge!" the referee called out as she rose the red flag in Ashs' direction. Charmeleon let out a loud roar before moving back to his trainer to get praised and jaw scratches.

"Good job!" Ash said as he gave the large lizard his jaw scratches, "You did fantastic!" Charmeleon let out a crooning sound as Zorua barked from his feet. Pikachu even let out his own chittering as if to congratulate the two for winning.

The sound of footsteps coming closer caused Ash to look up and he saw Erika just a few feet away. Her Ludicolo was swaying behind her and looking a little better than just a moment ago. Ash assumed that Erika gave it a revive and a potion until they were able to get to the Center.

"Congratulations, Ash Ketchum," Erika said as she gave him a small smile, "Your Charmeleon must be strong to knock Ludicolo out in one hit, but Ludicolo is one of my newer catches. So you better watch out of you come back here with Charmeleon! Ludicolo will be sure to beat him next time!"

Ash let out a small laugh and nodded. "I'll be sure to make my way back again after defeating the other gyms. I have much to learn and it's good experience fighting the Leaders," Ash said as the referee approached.

Erika gave him a small nod as she grabbed the box the other woman was holding. "Here," she said, "You earned this Rainbow Badge as well as this TM Solar Beam."

"Thank you," Ash said as he took the two items. The Solar Beam was unexpected but useful nonetheless. "Ah quick question," Ash asked before Erika could leave.

She tilted her head a bit in confusion before answering, "Yes?"

"Is your Ludicolo a shiny?" Ash asked as he looked over the pokémon. The slightly dancing pokémon looked over at him when he spoke the creatures name.

Erika giggled and nodded, "Indeed she is!" she said as she placed her hand on Ludicolos' arm, "I caught her a few months ago as a Lombre when I visited the Safari Zone in Fuchsia. What about your pokémon? I've never seen a Charmeleon that color before and I haven't seen a little pokémon like this one before either."

"Charmeleon is albino according to Bill," Ash said as he gave Charmeleon another scratch before picking up Zorua, "and this is Zorua. He's a rescue and his kind originates from Unova, but he was illegally brought here by some scientist or something."

Erika let out a small hum and nodded. The two exchanged a few more words before Ash made his farewells and left the Gym. That was four gyms down now. He only needed to fight four more and from what he had heard from others the last four gyms were the hardest out of the eight. The next in line if he were to do them in order would be Koga, in Fuchsia. Then Sabrina, in Saffron. Blaine on Cinnabar Island. Then Giovanni in Veridion.

Koga specializes in poison types while Sabrina specializes in psychics. Blaine focuses on fire types, and Giovanni works with anything he can make strong, but tries to pinpoint his specialization on ground types. Out of all of them Giovanni and Sabrina would be the hardest to fight. He would need to work with Zorua and Horsea the most and get them up to evolving, but he wouldn't neglect his other pokémon.

For now he supposed that he would keep traveling and training until he felt like he could at least make a scratch on the Gym Leaders pokémon.

"What to do next," Ash murmured to himself as he made his way to the center of the town. He could either go back to the Center again, which he would to get Charmeleon and Zorua looked over, and stay another night, or he could go straight from leaving the Center and get to the next town.

He started heading towards the Center since the two plans he had thought up began there anyway. He was close to it anyway.

After making sure his two pokémon were all good he headed towards his room just to make sure he had grabbed everything before he headed out. He had taken the time waiting for Charmeleon and Zorua to be looked over to make a decision.

He was going to stay the night and in the morning he would pick a direction and head that way without a destination in mind. He would keep track of the days however since it was only a month before the S.S. Anne docked in Vermilion. He would go as far as he could before doubling back. He would train his pokémon of course during his time in the wild and he hoped that a couple of them would evolve.

Horseas' scales are getting harder everyday and his tail is getting stronger and stronger. His head fins were beginning to gain a webbing in between them like the webbed feet of a Golduck. His snout was getting longer as well.

Despite Tyrunt only being with him for a small while he was showing signs of changing. The reptile must have been close to evolving before he was fossilized and with the rigorous training Tyrunt was doing he was getting close. His snout was becoming more round and was gaining spikes. His hard feathers around his neck were shedding at a rapid pace leaving hard spikes in their place that mimicked the feathers. But not much has been learned about Tyrunt and his species so Ash wasn't sure if these were signs of an upcoming evolution.

Ralts' 'dress' was getting shorter showing them her small and skinny green legs that were exposed when she evolved. Her horn was getting larger and her psychic ability was getting stronger. Ash hoped to train her a lot and get her to evolve before Mewtwo got back to take her away for a while.

Zorua was unchanged at the moment just like Nidorino, who needed a moonstone to evolve, Krokorok, and Pikachu, who didn't want to evolve when Ash had brought it up last time, and Charmeleon, who had just evolved not long ago.

With those thoughts in mind and written down in his own journal of his journey Ash settled onto the bed, and gave the empty one in the room a sad glance, before pulling out his ancestors' journal. He had released his pokémon and they were all either talking away with another or sleeping like Pikachu, who had curled up beside him.

Ash placed a hand on the scarred Pikachu, who let out a soft purr, as he flipped to the page he had left off on before he joined Paul.

September XX, XXXX

Day fifty-six of training.

As I sit here in my room writing this I am currently caring for my very own egg!

Master Roque has deemed me to be progressing in my training enough to get a Riolu for myself. Of course I got one while it's in its egg like all of the other trainees before me and after me. Master Roque has been beating, not literally, it into my head that the bond between Aura Guardian and their companion Riolu/Lucario was a bond to cherish to its fullest extent.

Master did tell me, as well as the Masters watching over the eggs and the mothers, that there were a few things I would have to do to get my egg to hatch.

First, I would have to leave it in its incubator until the outer egg hardens fully before I can take it out and cuddle it.

Second, cuddling is a must! Apparently the baby in the egg imprints with the one that has had it for a while. It uses the Aura the person, or pokémon, has to imprint on them so when it does hatch they can always find their caretaker/parent.

Thirdly, this won't apply until later in the process, but I have to 'feed' my Aura to the egg. Master and the Master Caretakers have all taught me how to do it with water balloons before they were even okay with me trying to do it with another living being.

Basically what I had to do was fill the balloons with just enough Aura for the 'baby' inside of it to form their own Aura Core, too much Aura in the balloons causes it to burst. Too much Aura in one session could leave the baby inside disfigured or mutated. I spent six months doing this process with water balloons before I felt even remotely comfortable trying it on a Lucario, who had given me their permission before I could even try it.

This process is to begin when the egg starts to change its coloring. As far as I know Riolu eggs are the only eggs that actually physically change their coloring when it gets closer to hatching. The egg I have is very dark in color. Almost like the entire egg is black, but I can tell there are bands of a dark blue and yellow on it. The lighter the egg coloring is the closer it is to hatching. I don't know the specifics to why it changes coloring and the only answer I have gotten is because of Aura. It's life. Literal life. The lighter the egg the more life it has.

The Master Caretakers have told me of several cases of trainees coming to them when their eggs, one day bright and lively, turned dark and sickly looking.

I hope that it never happens to me.

I don't want anything to happen to Riolu.

I'm already attached.

End of day fifty-six of training.

A. R.K.

Ash put down the book and looked over at his egg. It was still a bit dark in color like how Sir Aaron in the book described his egg, but he could see the bands of color becoming lighter. He began to worry. He really needed to get a hold on his Aura before his Riolu faces the consequences of his own actions.

He wouldn't let Riolu die!