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.

Sakihinata, Paul has the right to be mad.

Fanfictionranger, Don't worry! He'll be a-okay!

Abomination009, Thank you! It just made sense that Doublade could get hit physically since it is as you, and the pokédex, said it's just a spirit inhabiting a physical body. I do appreciate you asking if you can use my pokémon fanfiction world as a reference to your own fanfiction, and of course you can! I just ask that you give credit for the idea where credit is due. Other than that I'll just say have fun writing and I'll be looking forward to reading it when you publish it!

Enjoy!

"Pikachu, Iron tail!"

The small mouse dashed forward towards his opponent with his tail gleaming silver. His tiny body was battered, bruised, and had a few bleeding scratches here and there, but nonetheless he progressed onwards. Pikachus' opponent, an aggressive and very fast Ariados, had already poisoned him with its fangs to his side and so far he had managed to dodge its Venoshock. Pikachu knew though that he didn't have much time left to finish this fight.

His electric sack, that held his usually abundant amount of electricity, was empty making him only able to rely on Quick Attack and Iron Tail to get his opponent down. This was his second opponent he had fought and his trainer had two more to go before they won this battle.

"Ariados, String Shot! Tie that mouse up!" Baxter, the other trainer, yelled as Pikachu neared the spider with his tail still glowing. Just as Pikachu whipped around to smack the arachnid with his tail, the spider turned and shot out sticky white webbing so while Pikachu did manage to hit the bug his tail and back left leg got covered.

It also meant that Pikachu got stuck on the arena as he was bounced back.

"Get out of it!" Ash yelled as the Ariados regained its footing and bee lined to the stuck mouse.

"Ariados finish the mouse off with Megahorn!"

Pikachu let out small feeble sparks as he tried to get a spark onto the webbing. He knew from experience that the small sparks he produces from his cheek pouches can cause flammable things to catch on fire. From the corner of his eye he saw the Ariados began to charge as its horn grew in size.

Pikachu let out a frustrated growl as he sparked a few more times. This time the webbing caught on fire. Ignoring the slight burn he got from the action Pikachu hardened his tail just in time to block the Megahorn attack from Ariados. The mouse let out a small squeak and growl as he put all his strength behind one last Iron Tail attack making the arachnid to once again fly back against the psychic barrier around the arena.

The electric type stood from where he fell panting hard and waited to see if the spider was once again going to stand only to fall back down in relief once the referee announced that he was the winner of the round. His ear twitched as he heard his trainer and friend call him back for a good rest. When he reached the boy he called his Pikachu was given ear scratches and praises as well as the promise of ketchup flavored treats when they got back to the room.

"Trainers! Next pokémon!"

Ash reached down and grabbed his next pokéball while Pikachu climbed up into his bag to fall asleep. His opponent sent out an Electabuzz which made him smirk as he sent out Krookodile. The ground type let out a roar as he stared down his smaller opponent. Ash looked over at the younger teen and saw the nervous look on his face. Before Ash could tell Krookodile what to do the younger teen called out.

"I forfeit!"

Confused and a bit upset Ash watched on as he was declared the winner by forfeit. He recalled Krookodile, who looked frustrated at not being able to fight and he mentally made a note for the croc to either be in the final fight or to set up a mock battle between him, Charizard, and Tyrantrum when they got back on land.

"Baxter of Azalea Town has declared forfeiture that means Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town wins this match and heads on to the finals!"

The crowd around them began murmuring and Ash saw a small girl, possibly the same age as Baxter, approach the downtrodden teen. He saw her say something to him that caused the purple haired teen to shrug and then nod. Taking a deep breath Ash walked over to the two.

"Can I ask why you forfeited?" Ash asked as he got closer. The two teens turned towards him slightly jumping since Ash did scare them a bit from his approach.

Baxter let out a sigh and explained that his Electabuzz had only just evolved and his only other pokémon besides the two who had already fought was a small Houndour that had only started training since he caught the hound right before getting on the ship. His other two pokémon were healing and he didn't have any others that he could bring in since he hadn't been on his journey long enough to get more than six pokémon. It surprised Ash that the kids' pokémon were already so strong. This Baxter kid would end up going places if he kept it up.

Ash nodded and gave the smaller teen a smile. "I understand," he said, "You should be proud though."

"Why? I lost," Baxter said as he sniffled and ran his hand under his eye.

"It's because you forfeited you should be proud," Ash replied, "It takes a lot of self-knowing, bravery, and smarts to know when to run or forfeit a battle especially when you know the battle could end up harming your pokémon on a permanent level. Knowing how your pokémon are in a fight and where their and your limits are will just make you a better trainer in the long run. You should never be ashamed of forfeiting."

Ash saw a determined gleam return to Baxter eyes as he finished his little speech. The girl beside him smiled widely as she took Baxters' hand in her own. "Told you," she said softly before thanking Ash and began dragging Baxter away. The younger teen turned and thanked him as they went away which Ash returned with a small nod in acknowledgement.

Ash turned and made his way back to his room, well his and Pauls' room now, after getting his pokémon looked over at the Center and grabbing some food to eat. After what happened a few hours before the battle Paul had announced that he was moving into Ashs' room to keep him safe while Zeke was still on the ship. Ashs' room was larger anyway than the room Paul had below his small boyfriends' room.

"That bastards lucky I don't knock his lights out," Paul had said after everything had happened and things calmed down. Security had come and taken Zeke away, into a part of the ship that kept him away from everyone else, and he would essentially be on 'house arrest' in the room. Zeke wouldn't be able to leave the room and enjoy the festivities and the police would be involved when they got back onto main land.

The lady that was with Paul was one of the coordinators for the tournament and they had been looking for him since his battle had been moved up to an earlier time. Thankfully instead of declaring him as a forced forfeit and continuing with the tournament they went looking for him. Ash was still glad that they did. The whole occurrence would have happened completely different if they had not.

Ash did have to admit that he didn't mind having Paul staying with him they haven't had much time together since Paul had gotten back from Sinnoh and with him being busy with other things. Said person was in his room as he entered and Paul was sitting on his, their, bed with Riolu, both Eevee, and Zoroark. The two Eevee, mother and daughter, were curled up napping together while Riolu was munching on some pokémon safe jerky. Zoroark was watching the others as the 'new' pokémon were mingling with his pack.

"Hi," Ash said as he placed the food containers down on the table by the window.

"Hey," Paul said as he got up from the bed with Riolu following him, "Saw the fight on the tv. Sucks the kid forfeited."

Ash nodded as he sat down and pulled Riolu into his lap. He gave the small pup a chewing toy to play with as the two trainers settled to eat. "He knew that he couldn't beat me and he didn't want his pokémon injured since his only other pokémon was a new trainee and the rest were healing or had just fought," Ash explained as he opened a container that held chicken strips and fries.

"I see," Paul said digging into his container of food. They ate with silence between the two, but with noise from the other pokémon. Vulpix had found a friend in Pauls' Snorunt and was happily playing with her since her own coldness couldn't hurt the Snorunt. Lairon huddled close to Nidorino not minding the poisoned spines pressed against his hard metallic shell, while Torterra napped alongside Charizard and Krookodile, who the large turtle was laying next to as to stay away from the open flames on Charizards' tail. Kadabra was meditating beside a floating Doublade and Seadra looked around from within his tank. Ash supposed that Paul still had Ursaring in his ball, if he had brought the bear, and Electabuzz had joined Pikachu in sitting on the bed by Zoroark.

"Has your Eevee decided on what form she wants to take?" Ash asked before taking a sip of his soda.

"Umbreon," Paul replied as he set his empty container aside and waited for Ash to finish, "Yours?"

"She wants to be a Leafeon," Ash said with a smile, "She saw one beside the pool sunning beside its trainer and instantly wanted evolve into one."

"And your newest rescue, hows' it doing?" Paul asked as he got into the funnel cake his little lover brought with him.

"Meowth?" Ash asked as he finished his food and took another sip of soda, "I think she's hiding either under the bed or in the bathroom. She's afraid of other pokémon."

Paul nodded while sitting back to watch as Ash ate his dessert. They had most of the day to do whatever they wanted, but Paul just really wanted to be with Ash for a bit. Since they had met up before the tournament Ash had been busy training his pokémon in the ships training rooms and then the thing happened with the Vulpix and Meowth then the last thing with the asshole from earlier. The purple haired teen just wanted some time with his boyfriend.

Ash, having finished his food got up and took the containers to the trash before sitting on the bed. "Wanna cuddle?" Ash asked as he laid down facing Paul, who was still at the table. He watched as a purple brow rose before the man rose and approached the bed while Ash flipped over onto his back. Ash took a deep breath as Paul knelt above him before lowering himself a bit.

The dark haired teen let out a soft hum as their lips met in a soft sweet kiss and he couldn't help the fluttering he felt in his stomach as their lips parted and met again with soft smacks from their lips parting. They shared a few soft kisses before they parted. Ash buried his face in Pauls' neck as he wrapped his arms around the broad torso. He felt Paul wrap his own arms around him and he couldn't help but feel warm and safe like he had earlier.

"Nap time?" Paul asked as he felt Ash relax in his arms.

"Nap time," Ash agreed already feeling the effects of being warm and safe take hold and making him sleepy. He felt Paul kiss his forehead softly just before he fell completely asleep.

When Ash woke up next it was to the tv playing and fingers running through his hair. Sitting up a bit Ash groped around for his watch and saw that he had only been asleep for a little over an hour.

"Good morning," Paul said amusingly as he watched Ash drop his head back down onto his chest. Ash let out a small groan and tightened the hold he had around Paul.

"Sleepy," Ash replied his murmur was a bit muffled as he face was pressed against a warm clothed chest. The chest he was on moved up and down quickly a few times and it took Ash a minute to realize that Paul was chuckling at him. The smaller teen looked up at Paul and pouted at him before sitting up when his bladder decided to make itself known.

"Be back," Ash said as he got up and went to the bathroom. He quickly did his business and washed his face to wake him up a bit before walking back to the bedroom.

"Are you ready for tomorrow?" Paul asked as he watched Ash pick Riolu up as well as grabbed his bag. Ash walked back over to the bed and sat down with Riolu in his lap. Opening the bag he grabbed his grooming supplies and began to brush the pup.

"I think so," Ash replied as he picked at a knot of fur, "Can you hand me my xtransceiver? The coordinators might have sent me an email about it."

Paul reached over to the side table to grab said object and handed it to Ash. Upon opening his e-mail app Ash did indeed see an email from the head coordinator. "Here it is!" Ash said as he opened it, "It says that I'm battling someone named Cassandra and our battle will start at nine in the morning. After the battle they want the first, second, and third place winners to get their picture taken with their pokémon for their website after some time to get the pokémon looked at and for us to get cleaned up. Afterwards they'll began to set up for the closing ceremony where we'll get our prizes before the feast."

"Who have you decided on using?" Paul asked as he gave Riolu, who had begun fussing about staying in one spot, a toy to keep him occupied while Ash finished brushing his fur.

"Seadra, Nidorino, Krookodile, Doublade, and Zoroark," Ash listed off before he explained his reasoning, "Charizard wanted to give the rest of the pack their time to fight, Vulpix, Eevee and Meowth haven't really gotten any training with the pack just yet, Riolu is just a baby, and Pikachu wanted to sit out as well."

Paul nodded as Ash let Riolu go before picking up Vulpix to start grooming. He delicately brushed out her tails, after getting permission to do so, before he trimmed her nails and gave her a chewing treat that'll help with her dental hygiene. One after another Ash groomed his pokémon. He washed scales, picking off the dried out scales, trimmed claws, brushed out fur, polished steel, gave everyone dental chews before getting started on Pauls' pokémon after getting permission from both trainer and pokémon.

In the end his hands were aching, but the pokémon around them shone healthy and happy.

The only ones not to get any grooming on his team were Mewtwo and Kirlia, for obvious reasons, and Tyrantrum, but he was going to be sure to pamper the ancient pokémon when they get back on land. He would also need to get more grooming supplies, but he could wait on that since the prices on the items he needed were three times the price on the ship than they were in a regular shop on land.

"What are you going to do when we get back to land?" Paul asked as he moved to put shoes on so he could get them some drinks. His throat was dry and he was sure Ash was thirsty after all the grooming he did.

"I still need to fight Koga, Sabrina, Blaine, and Giovanni, but I also need to get the evolution stones I need to evolve a few of my pokémon," Ash answered as he watched Paul. He swallowed around the lump in his throat as he watched the hard muscles on his boyfriends arms flex when he moved. "What about you?" Ash asked as he licked his dry lips.

"Sabrina, Blaine, and Giovanni," Paul answered while he grabbed his wallet, "Want something to drink?"

"Um," Ash hummed as he tilted his head, "anything with pineapple and I'm allergic to peaches."

Ash watch as Paul nodded before leaving the room. He had to withhold a whimper as he saw his boyfriends' toned ass pulling the basketball shorts he wore taunt around his cheeks. "Fuuck," Ash groaned softly to himself once he was sure Paul was further down the hall to keep the larger teen from hearing him.

How he managed to land someone like Paul he would never know.

"Good morning and welcome everyone to the final match!"

The crowd around the arena Ash was already on roared and raved as the announcer spoke up.

"Today Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town will be facing Cassandra Wilkes of Orre! The battle today will be five on five. There will be no substitutions, no revivals, and no battle items!" the announcer said into the microphone, "The first trainer to have all of their pokémon knocked out loses and the trainer left standing will reign victorious! Now without further ado! Let's! Fight!"

Ash took a deep breath as he released Nidorino first as Cassandra released a small bear like pokémon. It as pink with white stripes while its legs were a dark brown. Ash couldn't help the small smile that shown up on his face as he heard the small bear let out a tiny growl.

"Stufful, darling, use Take Down!" Cassandra yelled as she crossed her arms.

"Dodge!" Ash said as he saw the bear begin to charge, "Use Poison Sting as it passes."

The purple reptile let out a snort as he tensed his legs and readied his barbs. Nidorino waited until the bear was right on top of him before jumping to the left and tossed the poisoned barbs towards the bear. The small bear let out a squeak as it got hit and quickly kicked out with it hind leg nailing Nidorino with a Mega Kick sending the purple reptile back a bit.

The Poison Sting did what it needed to as a purple hue shown up on the pink cheeks of Stufful.

"Ice Punch!"

"Counter with Double Kick!"

"Iron Head!"

"Confusion then Horn Drill!"

The two pokémon hit, dodge, and parried attacks over and over as their trainers called them out. Soon enough the Stufful was shaking where it stood while panting for breath as Nidorino stood in front of his trainer panting, but otherwise fine. There were a few bruises and scratches on his scales, but he could still fight and fight he did. His trainer called out for him to use Horn Drill and his poison together like he had been trained to do. So with a snarl Nidorino charged at the bear with his horn covered in poison and turning rapidly.

"Stufful had fainted! Nidorino wins!"

Nidorino looked on with pride as he felled the bear his trainer had wanted him to fight and when he turned to look at his trainer he saw a bright wide smile.

"Good job, Nidorino," Ash said softly once the reptile stopped before him, "Can you still fight?"

Nidorino let out a snort as he turned his back towards his trainer as if to tell him he was still in the fight.

"Next pokémon!"

Ash looked on as Cassandra released a rather large Haunter. The teen mentally cursed to himself since this was a really bad match up. He knew Nidorino didn't have many moves that could affect the ghost.

"Nidorino dodge with Quick Attack when you can and just keep pelting Haunter with Poison Sting," Ash said softly as he watched the Haunter wag its large, long tongue at them. Nidorino grunted as he heard his trainer. He also watched his opponent as he released his poison towards it only to see it lazily dodge them.

"Haunter use Perish Song!"

Ashs' eyes widened as he heard the haunting melody the Haunter released at its trainers command. As beautiful the song was Ash still despised it. He had already given Nidoran his order, but now it was just a waiting game until one of their pokémon fell. He could see how slow Nidorino had gotten just a few minutes into the Perish Song and just as he was about to call out that he forfeited Nidorino his first captured pokémon fell to the arena floor.

"Nidorino has fainted! Haunter wins!"

Ash took a deep breath as he recalled Nidorino. He gave the fainted pokémon soft praises despite the reptile not being able to hear him before tucking his ball back onto his belt. Ash pulled out Doublades' ball and released her. She really was his best bet in beating the Haunter.

"Iron Defense/Self Destruct!"

The two trainers yelled out just as Doublade appeared onto the arena. The twin swords hummed as she hunkered down with her strongest shield wrapped around her just as the purple gaseous body of Haunter lit up like a lit fuse. Ash had seen Cassandra smirk before he had called Doublade out and he had only hoped that whatever move she called out Doublade could pull through with the Iron Defense. Unfortunately it didn't seem so.

"Both pokémon have fainted! Trainers recall your pokémon!"

Ash let out a soft frustrated filled sigh as he recalled Doublade back into her ball. They were tied with three pokémon to three pokémon.

"Come on out!/To the battle field!" Both trainers yelled out as they released their pokémon onto the arena. Ash felt a smirk grace his lips as Seadra appeared in the pool of water before a large Rhydon.

"Seadra drench the area!" Ash yelled as he saw the Rhydon stomp the floor a couple of times making dirt and dust fly up. The seahorse let out a soft whinny like a horse before releasing a torrent of water from his snout successfully drenching the dirt like his trainer wanted. Soon enough the dirt turned to mud and Ash hoped it was enough to keep the Rhydon from moving to much. He only hoped she hadn't taught the Rhydon any electric moves.

"Rhydon Thunder Punch the ground!" Cassandra ordered as she saw the opportunity the other foolish trainer caused by soaking the arena.

Ash only smirked as he saw that the Thunder Punch did nothing. Even though the ground had gotten wet with water it was still on a non conductive surface so the electricity didn't travel far enough to hit Seadra.

"Seadra use Twister on the water!" Ash said as he saw the Rhydon look around confused as to why the water type didn't yell out in pain. The Seadra dove into the water and used Twister like his trainer had ordered. He had done this move a few times before as he trained himself to use Whirlpool, but so far he had not been able to use the move. The twister under the water almost made the same effect though as a large wave of water went out of the pool and bashed against the bi-pedal creature sending it back.

"Hydro Pump!"

"Earthquake!"

The two trainers, one desperate and the other confidant, called out the two attacks only for the larger of the two pokémon to faint when it was hit by a torrential beam of water.

"Rhydon has fainted! Seadra wins!"

Ash took another deep breath as Cassandra recalled her pokémon. "Luxio! Come on out!" she called out as she threw the ball. The small lion lie creature was similar to the one he had seen in Surges' office the couple of times he had been there. It let out a gruff hoarse sounding roar as it whipped its tail back and forth before coming to a stand still.

Ash held in a groan as he saw the bits of electricity bounce from its fur. It seemed like Cassandra had the perfect pokémon to go against his own, but if he were to be honest he didn't mind. It just made the battle much more fun and the feeling of winning taste so much sweeter.

"Dragon Rage!/Thunder!"

Ash clenched his jaw shut as he heard Seadra cry out as he was electrified, but he also heard the lion like pokémon scream as the dragon fire burned it.

"Seadra has fainted! Luxio wins! Trainer please recall and release your next pokémon!"

Ash recalled Seadra and gave him his own praises before releasing a very angry croc. Krookodile was still furious over the fact his last battle was over before he would move a single claw. The crocs eyes focused on the smaller creature as he let out a ground shaking roar.

"Earthquake!" Ash called out and sure enough Krookodile was quick into obeying the order. His large tail bashed the ground causing large cracks to form and for Luxio to lose its footing. The large reptile did have to admit he had let his anger get the better of him when he released his Outrage without his trainers command, which was something he wasn't allowed to do.

"LUXIO!"

Ash watched horrified as his Krookodile took the battle a step too far as he got his jaws wrapped around the lion. The croc shook his head as the Outrage continued, but thankfully Krookodile did release the electric type a few moments later. If only to throw it against the ground.

"Return!" Cassandra called out as she held out her Luxios' ball not even caring that she had forfeited the lion with the action. Ash recalled Krookodile as well as he saw a red haze cover his eyes, a sign that Moxie had taken over. he didn't want to subject her next pokémon to Krookodiles' Moxie filled Outrage.

"Both trainers have recalled their pokémon! We'll call this round a draw! Trainers release your last pokémon!"

Ash was startled a bit as the announcer had said to release their last pokémon. He didn't realize that the two had gotten on to the last one already. He quickly pulled out Zoroarks' ball and released the fox like pokémon, who had taken the form of a Growlithe, just as Cassandra released a small cat/fox creature.

The Espeon let out a soft call as it was released and saw its opponent. Its two tipped tail swayed behind it as the gem on its forehead gleamed.

"Zoroark use Night Daze," Ash whispered softly knowing that the fox could hear him, "the use Dark Pulse right after it."

"Espeon use Psychic," Cassandra commanded seeing that her opponent was a Growlithe, a simple fight really as her Espeon had fought and defeated many Growlithe before.

Ash chuckled softly as the psychic energy merely swept across the disguised fox without so much as hurting Zoroark or revealing the disguise.

"What?!" Cassandra exclaimed loudly as she watched the dog move without a wound.

Ash didn't answer her since he got to watch Cassandras' shock face as Zoroark released Night Daze before releasing a Dark Pulse right after. The Espeon cried out as it was hit by the two attacks and it continued to release several psychic type moves all the while wondering why the dog wasn't going down.

Ash let Zoroark do as he pleased since it seemed like Espeon only knew psychic type moves. The disguised fox sent dark move after dark move as he played with his opponent. It wasn't until the purple psychic type was panting and shaking did Zoroark release his disguise with a laugh and one last move that fainted the pokémon.

"Espeon is unable to battle! The winner of the match goes to Zoroark! Ladies and gentlemen! The finals match is over! Our tournament winner this year is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town!"