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! I have decided though that this will not have M!Preg.

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!

Oh Guest! You are correct!

DemonWolf25, I forget where I read it, but I read somewhere that someone had theorized that Shiny Pokémon could be under the classification of albinism in the game universe. I just took that idea and ran off with it by putting actual albino pokémon in my fanfiction. Also, yes, Ash's limit for his pokémon is in fact 12 since he is an OFRT. He currently does have 12 pokémon with him along with his egg, but his egg does not count no matter how many pokémon are in it or in his team. They only count as being a part of his team after 3-4 months after hatching when the pokémon inside are able to be trained.

By the time y'all read this I will have already pre-ordered Pokémon Legends! The countdown begins!

Enjoy!

Ash let out a sigh as he forced his hand to fall from the pokéball chained to his neck. Late last night Gardevoir managed to get Mewtwo to a healthier state and well enough to wake up for a few moments to drink some water and eat crushed up Sitrus berries. Mewtwo even managed to tell them what had happened to get them into their sickly state.

During the last week that Mewtwo had with Gardevoir, Mewtwo had come across one of the Corrupted in Johto of all places, while answering a distressed call from a pokémon. An enigma of a group that Ash had only heard of a few times by the ghost of the past. Mewtwo had described the meeting as if they had met someone of pure darkness, a slimy, thickly sweet coated lie of a person. The Corrupted had done something to Mewtwo with their dark Aura that caused him to get sick and tried to bend them to their will. The creature had done everything he could to get away from them, but the deed was done and Mewtwo had been poisoned by their dark Aura.

Thankfully Mewtwo managed to overcome the poison with the help of himself and Gardevoir. Her healing and just being near Ashs' pure Aura helped push back the dark Aura enough to fully dissipate from Mewtwos' system. If Mewtwo had not gotten better Ash was going to take the creature to the sanctuary cavern to both rest and look through the scrolls and such to find a solution.

It wasn't needed, thankfully.

With Mewtwo feeling better, and back safe in their ball, Ash moved on to Fuchsia for the next gym battle with a lighter heart. By the time he managed to get back to the city it was midday and bustling. Not like Cinnabar, but for a city of Fuchsias' size and history it was busy. Ash passed by a few people here and there that were carrying baskets of food or other goods while others were carrying long planks of wood and signs.

When he stopped to ask an elderly woman, who had a rather old Delcatty beside her, what was going on he was told that it was merely some of the townspeople putting up stalls to sell their goods. Her grandson was setting up his own stall, she had told Ash, and was selling some handmade blown glass if he wanted to take a gander around.

"Perhaps after my gym battle," Ash said, giving her a smile and a thanks, before heading on his way down the cobbled walkway. Pikachu, who had been on his shoulder, let out a small chittering noise as he wiggled his ears. Ash let out a chuckle and reached up to give the mouse a quick scratch behind his ear as they reached the largest building in Fuchsia.

The building was old, just like the rest of the buildings in the city, but Ash could tell that it was looked after well. The door opened silently for him as he pushed it open. Instead of a reception area, like most gyms had, it was just one large open battling space. The majority of the floor was covered in dark wood except for the center where there was a purposely built area covered in sand for their pokémon to fight on.

Inside of the sanded area sat a man covered nose down by dark fabric. As Ash neared the man he could see that the man was older than he was if the graying hair at his temples were any indication. His lower face was covered by red fabric that matched the red scarf the man wore. His outfit consisted of dark purple, mesh, and black fabrics and on his feet were thick soled shoes.

"You are here for a gym battle, yes?" the man asked as Ash stopped three feet away from the man.

"Yes," Ash answered confidently and with a nod to the man.

"Then step back and prepare yourself," the man said as he stood, much taller than Ash, and opened his eyes revealing black irises that matched his hair. Ash stepped back onto a marked space for trainers to stand just as the older man did.

"My name is Koga," the man said introducing himself, "the Leader of this gym. I will have one of my students referee this match."

Ash watched as Koga waved a hand and a person jumped from the rafters above. Before Ash could freak out about the person falling well over fifty feet to the ground the student landed just fine on the dark wood flooring.

"Introduce yourself for my student and I, if you will," Koga asked as he walked to his indicated spot in the arena.

"I am Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town," Ash stated as he tried to get his heart rate down.

The student, Ash honestly couldn't tell if they were male or female, nodded and began the main introduction for any gym battles. "This battle will be between Master Koga, Fuchsia City's Gym Leader, and Challenger Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town. This battle will be four on four with no substitutions, no healing or reviving items, and no battle items. The battle ends when all pokémon on one side are unable to fight," the student said as they looked between the two, "Begin!"

Koga was quick to send out a rather small bat-like creature that had four wings, but wicked looking fangs. Ash let Pikachu down from his shoulder and the mouse ran out onto the sandy ground. Sparks flew from Pikachus' cheeks and when they fell onto the sands it turned clumps here and there into bits of glass.

"Crobat, Poison Fang," Koga called out and the small bat dashed forward quickly with its fangs glowing a bright purple.

"Dodge with Agility and send a Thunderbolt back at it," Ash said as he watched the bat get closer. The mouse dashed off to the side just as Crobat made its dive down towards him only to miss as he shot a Thunderbolt towards the bat. Pikachu let out a few sparks from his cheeks before shooting off bolt after bolt of electricity.

The two pokémon played this game of bat and mouse for a while with their trainers yelling out attacks here and there as the two pokémon chased each other around the arena. Pikachu would dodge with his Quick Attacks or Agility while the Crobat dodged with its trained fast flying. Ash winced a few times as the bat let out high pitched Screeches and Pikachu had been lucky to dodge the two Confuse Rays the bat sent.

Pikachu wasn't so lucky as Crobat managed to poison him with Toxic. A bright purple hue covered his cheeks and the mouse winced every few seconds as the poison raced through his system. Pikachu did manage to hit Crobat with a well timed electricity covered Iron Tail making it fly back towards Koga. That was before the mouse fell to the ground panting, sweating, and letting out weak sparks from his cheeks. Ash called out to the referee that he was forfeiting Pikachu as he wouldn't let his starter continue the fight when the mouse couldn't even get to his feet.

"Pikachu is unable to continue battling! Challenger, select your next pokémon!"

Ash ran out and picked Pikachu up to carry off the field before sending out Gardevoir. The psychic type let out a small hum as she made quick work of the bat with Psychic.

"Crobat is unable to battle. Master Koga, select your next pokémon!"

The next pokémon Koga released was a large frog that stood on two feet. The majority of its body was blue while it had red highlights and black stripes along its body. It had a large red sac under its chin that expanded as the frog let out a loud croak.

"Toxicroak, Dark Pulse," Koga commanded and the large frog darted around with large dark rings forming under its foot.

"Gardevoir, jump up!" Ash yelled as a ring or two got too close to his darling girl. Her bright amber eyes glowed as she flooded her body with psychic energy and jumped up just as the Toxicroak jumped a foot away from where she had once stood. A bright pinkish purple ball of psychic energy formed around her body keeping her afloat in the air.

A simple trick Master Mewtwo had shown her.

Not only was she able to dodge ground moves such as Lava Plume, Earthquake, and even Dark Pulse, the ball of psychic energy acted as a physical barrier to stop anything from hitting her. She was able to dodge the Mega Kicks, the Poison Jabs, a Sludge bomb, and even a Foul Play though the dark type move did weaken the shield a bit.

"Gardevoir drop the shield! Use Sweet Nightmare!" Ash yelled as another Foul Play caused her barrier to flicker in and out. Gardevoir did as she was told and dropped the shield only to land on the ground a bit heavy as she prepared her own move. Her trainer did so love to combine moves and it so happened that she loved the moves her trainer had made for her.

She let out an even musical tone filled with psychic energy that filled the room forcing the Toxicroak to get hit by her Hypnosis. She kept up the tone as she watched for the frog to start swaying where it stood and only stopped once her opponent was laying on the ground, breathing deeply.

"Toxicroak! Sleep Talk!"

Ashs' eyes widened as the Toxicroak stood up and dashed forward with its hands glowing a sickly purple. "Gardevoir now!" Ash yelled as Gardevoir dodged the jabs. Sleep Talk was one of the moves she had yet to take into account for as she was still a bit slow in gathering foreign dark energy.

Gardevoir managed though as her body became covered in shadows and slipped into Toxicroaks' own shadow. From there she was able to cause the frog to experience nightmares and other frightful things. It caused the frog to jump about trying to fight off the nightmare and waste its own energy to the point it fell down and passed out.

"Toxicroak is unable to battle! Master Koga, select your next pokémon!"

Ash could see a hint of a smirk as Koga recalled Toxicroak and sent out a large snake-like pokémon that he recognized as an Arbok. The large snake let out a loud hiss as it bared its fangs and Ash watched as poison dripped from its large fangs and ate away at the sand beneath it.

"Gardevoir, keep away from its fangs," Ash warned as the Arbok began to sway back and forth. Ash had to blink his eyes furiously for a moment as the pattern on Arboks' hood began to mesmerize him.

"Use Crunch!"

"Dodge!"

Ash yelled as the snake lunged forward with its mouth open. It was quick and Gardevoir was able to dodge the Crunch, but got hit by a quick Poison Tail. Gardevoir hit herself with a couple of Life Dew's and hit Arbok with a Draining Kiss to refresh herself, but her cheeks were covered with a purple hue. Ash cursed softly; he knew that it was going to be a big possibility that his pokémon were going to get poisoned during this gym match, but he still didn't like that they were getting poisoned so easily.

Ash watched as Gardevoir used Psychic and Future Sight as she dodged Iron Tails and Dark Pulses. He could see that the poison was getting to her and Draining Kiss was only doing so much. Arbok managed to dodge another psychic type attack with a Substitute and smacked Gardevoir back with an Iron Tail.

"Gardevoir, can you still fight?" Ash asked as he watched her lurch to her feet. Gardevoir nodded and ran forward without saying anything to him. Ash watched as psychic energy covered Gardevoirs' hands before a large torrent of bright orange and red fire burst forward.

Ash pulled up his watch and looked over Gardevoirs' information and saw a move under her profile that wasn't there before. Ash nodded and looked up just in time to see the Arbok flail around before it stopped moving. He could see burns all over its body along with bruises from the psychic attacks Gardevoir had blasted the snake with.

"Arbok is unable to battle! Master Koga, please release your last pokémon!" the student announced as Koga recalled Arbok. The news startled Ash as he wasn't paying attention to how many pokémon Koga still had.

"I'm still able to fight," Gardevoir cut into Ashs' thoughts, "Leave me in. Even if I fall in the next battle."

"Are you sure?" Ash asked as he saw Koga reach for his next ball. Gardevoir nodded and turned to face her next opponent.

"This will be quick now that I can use fire," Gardevoir said as a large spider stood before her. She burst forward as she cast Life Dew to herself to counter the damage the poison took. She dodged spider silks covered in poison, stingers, and blobs of poison as she neared the Ariados. Gardevoir waved her hands and once more a torrent of fire weaved its way through the air towards the spider.

The screech Ariados let out as the fire hit it caused Ash to cringe, but it was soon cut off as the spider quickly fainted. Ash was sure that if he had blinked then he would have missed the battle completely.

"Ariados is unable to battle! Master Koga has no more pokemon to send out, which means Challenger Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town wins!" the student announced as they raised a flag in Ashs' direction.

Ash let out a deep breath as he recalled Gardevoir with a smile and a thanks. In the end he didn't have to call Krookodile or Aegislash to fight since Gardevoir took down three pokémon fully by herself and finished off the first after Pikachu had brought it down quite a bit before he had fallen. He was extremely proud of Gardevoir and he will make sure she knows. Her training with Mewtwo has paid off.

"Congratulations," Koga said as he walked forwards towards Ash.

"Thank you for the battle," Ash said as he shook the older mans' callous covered hands.

"Thank you," Koga said as he let his hand fall, "It was the best battle I've had in a while and the last I will have as a Gym Leader."

Ash looked at Koga confused before he asked, "Last?"

Koga let out a small deep chuckle. "Indeed, my daughter will be taking over as Gym Leader from here on out while I will go on to retirement," Koga said just as a girl, perhaps a couple of years older than Ash was, walked over with a box in her hands. "As you have won this battle there are a few items to give you," the man continued to speak as the girl, who Ash presumed was Kogas' daughter due to how similar they looked, "First is the badge for this Gym."

The girl opened the box she was holding to reveal a small fuchsia colored, metal heart shaped badge. Ash gingerly picked it up and placed the metal piece in his own case where he had placed the other badges he had won. Inside of the case was a blue striped scarf and he was also prompted into grabbing.

"This is a choice scarf. It is made with the shed skins of a Ninjask," Koga told Ash, "It helps boost the speed of a pokémon, but it can't be used in a formal battle such as a gym battle or a League battle."

Ash nodded as he placed both the case and scarf in his bag. He would think about who to give the scarf to later. A speed boost could be extremely helpful. He gave the two a bow and another thanks before he left the gym to head to the Center.

Once knowing that both Pikachu and Gardevoir were cleared of poison and on their way to being fully healed, Ash made his way to a machine that he would use to transfer pokémon between his location to another. He had sent a message to Oak as he waited for Nurse Joy to look over Pikachu and Gardevoir and got the go ahead to send over his pokémon. Ash sent Ninetales, Krookodile, and Kingdra to Oak after telling them that he would see them soon and asked them to keep up with their training while they were at the pastures.

In the end Ash was left with nine pokémon in his party not counting the twin egg in his bag, which should be hatching any day now according to their vitals. Once he was finished Ash made his way up to the room he had booked to rest for a bit. He released everyone as he sat on the bed and placed his egg on his lap. The white spotted Shinx purred softly as Persian set out to groom the small cub while Riolu enticed Zoroark into a mock battle.

Ash focused on Riolu as he played with Zoroark. He had begun to notice a few things about the half albino pup a few days ago. While Ash thought it was early, even though Riolu had been training hard for months now, it appeared that Riolu was beginning to show the first few signs of evolving. Riolu had lost a few baby teeth already and had shot up a few inches in height. His figure was becoming more muscular compared to the baby body he had just months ago. Riolus' ears and the hard white spots on the back of his hands were beginning to grow as well. It brought amusement to Ash and the rest of the pack as they watched how floppy Riolus' ears had become as they started to grow taller.

Shinx was also changing in size. The once small cub, after getting fed regularly and getting exercise in, had put on a few pounds and grew out a few inches. The fur around her neck and head was getting longer and the fur on her head was beginning to darken. Other than the changes in those two the others had not changed much other than Nidoking, Aegislash, and Leafeon finally being able to evolve.

Ash didn't believe that they were ready to evolve just yet, but he would keep his eye on them for when they were. For now he wanted to enjoy their pre-evolution baby hood. Looking down at his egg he ran a hand over the hard shell while his other hand cupped the side. He found it weird that the egg had two different temperatures, but when it was checked out by Nurse Joy, who found no problem with it, the concern faded. On one side of the egg it was warm, almost too warm to be comfortable, but on the other side it was freezing cold. Not Ninetales freezing cold, but to a point that he could only touch it for a few moments before having to pull his hand away.

"Alright everyone," Ash said, gaining all of their attention, "let's get ready to go to bed. We've got a long journey to Vermilion tomorrow. I want to be able to get an early head start on the day since we have a deadline to meet."

He ignored the whines from Riolu as Zoroark placed the pup on the bed before getting on it himself. The bed was big enough thankfully to give Ash plenty of room despite his pokémon wanting to take most of it for themselves. The room though came with loads of pillows and blankets to make a comfortable nest in the middle of the floor with enough left over to cover anyone that wanted a blanket to cover up with.

Aegislash, as usual, hovered over by the window peering out of it and not moving. Ash wondered if she ever sleeps, but being a ghost, and one as strong as she was, he assumed that she rarely, if ever, sleeps. But he left her be to do what she wants as he got ready for bed. He set out dishes of fresh water, got a glass for himself, and changed into his sleepwear before climbing into bed.

The next morning Ash did set out as early as he wanted and was making good time. He had already cleared Route 15 and was halfway through Route 14 by the afternoon when his watch got a call.

"Professor! Hello," Ash greeted as he settled down to talk to his employer and give himself and his pokémon a break from walking.

"Hello Ash," Oak greeted back, "Unfortunately this isn't a social call. I have a job I need you to do."

Ash nodded and gave the man his full attention as the atmosphere changed from the good going feel to a more serious nature. "What is it?" Ash asked as he swallowed some saliva to wet his throat.

"There's been sightings of a strange pokémon that no one has ever seen before going around," Oak said, "Well before now that is. It's shown signs of being a strong Psychic type pokémon and it's been going around destroying buildings. The strange thing is that these buildings are being revealed as Team Rocket hideouts."

Ash felt his heart begin to beat faster as he heard the words 'Team Rocket' leave Oak's mouth. He thankfully hadn't had an encounter with them in a while, but he knew that they were still in the Region causing havoc wherever they went.

"What are you needing me to do?" Ash asked.

"I've been contacted by the League to see if I had any workers in the area that can scout where they think the next attack is going to be. They want whatever you can find out about his pokémon," Oak said, "Don't engage unless you have to. If the lives of people or pokémon are at stake, but don't throw yourself into danger as well."

Ash nodded as he took in the information. "Do you have any pictures of what I am supposed to look for and the area I'm to look in?" Ash questioned and just a moment later his watch pinged and opened another screen.

He clenched his jaw as he zoomed up into the picture. Ash froze as he looked at the picture and told Oak, who had been waiting for an answer, that he would look into it. This didn't make any sense. The timestamp on the picture didn't add up to anything and he knew for sure that none of his pokémon had left at any point. And the figure in the picture looked similar, but also completely different from what he knew.

So why was he looking at a picture of a Mewtwo with a timestamp from a week ago?