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): brief description of vomit towards the end.

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!

Please don't forget to head over to A03 for the discord link! You don't need an A03 account to do it.

Enjoy!

Two sets of eyes, one dark and the other a bright blue, stared up at Ash in cautious wonderment as the two creatures caught sight of the larger, than them, human. The first twin that wiggled out of the shell was completely white and covered in a small coating of ice while its twin, half covered in white fuzz, stayed in their shell, content in just watching. The first twin let out a small noise, akin to a yawn, before settling down on the blanket Ash had brought.

"So cute," Ash said as he looked between the two and brought up his watch to scan the two.

Larvesta #636

The Torch Pokémon

Larvesta, and their evolution Volcarona, are believed to have been born from the sun. A Larvesta's flames are able to burn up to 5,500 degrees Fahrenheit and when frightened tend to shoot out flames out of their five horns. However, a newly hatched Larvesta does not have these horns and will develop them within a few days of their hatching due to sun exposure, along with their exoskeleton hardening. Larvesta tend to make their nests outside of volcanoes, the highest source of heat in our world, and will eat anything as long as it is covered in a coating of volcanic ash. When a Larvesta is close to evolving it will cocoon itself in its own flames.

This Larvesta is male with the ability Flame Body. Larvesta knows the moves String Shot, Ember, Protect, and has an egg move, Leech Life.

Snom #872

The Worm Pokémon

Snom are voracious eaters and will eat until they fall asleep. The more snow a Snom consumes the larger its ice spikes become, which symbolizes which Snom is dominant within a pack of Snom with the Snom with the largest spikes being the leader of the pack. In the wild Snom conceals itself when it sleeps by anchoring itself to a tree branch with a frigid thread to make it look like an icicle. If there is no snow around them to eat, a Snom can make their own food.

This Snom is female with the ability Ice Scales. Snom knows the moves Powder Snow, Struggle Bug, Protect, and has an egg move, Bug Bite.

When Ash looked up the Larvesta had moved out of the shell, exposing his soft exoskeleton, to join his sibling. He could also see small red nubs poking out of the slicked down fuzz as the Larvesta settled down. Pikachu moved closer a bit and sniffed the air around the two, which Ash could help but smile at the small nose wiggle, before settling back. Ash just assumed that Pikachu was committing their scents to his memory.

"How about a nap," Ash asked Pikachu, "It's been quite a day." The mouse nodded and walked over to the unused side of the bed to settle on the pillows as he waited on his trainer to dress down for their nap. Ash set out a couple of bowls of water in case Snom, Larvesta, or Pikachu got thirsty as he slept before taking off his shoes and jacket. He carefully laid down on the bed so as to not jostle the twins awake and it didn't take long for him to fall asleep.

Ash watched from where he sat as his pokémon ate their lunches after a bit of training. He had set out early two days after the twins hatched and decided to head towards Lavender Town, as he had never been to it, and had heard many things about the tower there. At the moment he was taking a break from walking and had called everyone he had on him out. He had taken yesterday to look over everyone and revise any training schedules he had given them before sending those that wanted to go back to the pastures, back.

Apparently, from what he had learned from Oak, Charizard had found Oaks' Charizard and was training with the older, stronger lizard just about everyday and Charizard wished to return to keep training with her. And Kingdra was training with Oaks' Gyarados. Tyrantrum and Krookodile were training together with an Aggron and Tyranitar from another trainer, who had left them with Oak for a time. Nidoking was training with a couple of other Nidoking and a Nidoqueen. It was Leafeon that surprised him when she indicated she wanted to go to the pastures with them.

And so Ash sent her with them.

Ninetales, who had decided to stay, had taken a shine to Snom and could be seen with the smaller twin on her back or hidden in her tails. She even helped in feeding the big eater by creating snow just for Snom to eat and even rest in. Larvesta, however, seemed to prefer hanging back to be by himself or by Ash, but he did stick to his twin when Ninetales wasn't with her. Ash could already feel his exoskeleton hardening when he ran his hand over the smooth surface.

He even had to order some volcanic ash from Hoenn, which should arrive by Dragonite that afternoon, so Larvesta could eat something. However Ash had gotten the little firebug to nibble on a berry and drink some water so for the time being Larvesta wasn't without food. He had made sure to order enough to last for a bit. It had ended up costing him more than he thought to get volcanic ash imported into Kanto, but he would do anything for his pokémon.

Ash was broken out of his thoughts by his watch ringing a short tune he had set for a certain someone. He grinned widely as he saw Pauls' name on the watch face and quickly answered the call. The screen went black for a moment before it showed Paul, in his ever stoic-ness, looking forward at the screen. Ash saw that his hair was a bit shorter than when he had called last and there was something in his ear.

"Hey," Paul said as he shot a small smirk at Ash.

"Hey," Ash greeted as he forced his body to not shiver at the smirk. He really did love Paul's smirk.

"It's been a while. Thought I'd call and check in," Paul said as he leaned back in the chair he was sitting in. Ash nodded and looked over at his pokémon for a second before giving Paul his attention once more.

"It has been a while," Ash agreed, "I miss you and honestly I could use one of your hugs right now."

Ash heard Paul let out a small huff, akin to laughter for the older teen, before he spoke. "The next time we meet up I'll give you the biggest goddamn hug." Paul said in all seriousness, "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," Ash replied, "yeah. I've just been really busy. Not really had a chance to just sit and breath for a minute. Anyway, how's your brother? And what about that report you said you got? I know you've been a bit on edge since that phone call months ago."

"My brother is fine. Been trying to get him to slow down and not work himself to death," Paul said as let his Eevee jump into his lap, "as for the report. I can't really say anything. Nothing's happening about it at the moment. All I can say is that the League here are sending people into the deep northern reaches past Snowpoint to investigate what's going on."

Ash nodded in understanding before he switched the topic from the report. "I've got something exciting," Ash said as he gave Paul a sly smile, "Guess what it is."

Paul licked his lip as he stared at his smaller boyfriend, eyes narrowed just so, as he thought about what Ash could be alluding to. "Is it to do with your pokémon?" Paul asked as he knew that Ashs' pokémon were his world so obviously something miraculous happened with them.

"Well, that's one thing, but there's another thing I want you to guess. I was going to save my pokémon surprise until after I told you this surprise," Ash said a bit sheepishly.

"Okay," Paul replied as he ran his hand through Eevees' fur, "Is it to do with your job?"

Ash nodded and gave Paul a bigger smile. "Yeah!" he exclaimed and he let the excitement he felt get the better of him, "I'll just tell you! I'm going to go to Sinnoh after the Kanto League is done and over with!"

Paul looked at Ash, eyes wide, before letting out another huff and shaking his head. "Really?" Paul asked and while his voice didn't give away how excited the purple haired teen was, his eyes in fact did.

"Yeah," Ash said, letting Riolu clamber onto his lap for a nap, "There's a conference being hosted there, an annual one, for Researchers and Scientists alike. I got added as a plus one to one of the Researchers here and now I get to go. After the conference I was thinking about staying in Sinnoh for a bit, find a hotel to hole up in for a bit, take a break before going after the Sinnoh League."

"Stay with me you mean?" Paul asked as he let a smirk form on his lips.

"If you'll have me?" Ash asked humbly as a blush rose up on his cheeks. Ash shivered as Paul let out a deep rumble of a chuckle before telling Ash that he could stay with him at his brothers' and his house if it wouldn't bother him. Of course, not having any problem with it, he agreed with happiness. He couldn't wait to meet with Paul again. Only a few months left and then he was Sinnoh bound.

"On a different note," Ash said once the bit of giddiness he started to feel, after they made their rudimentary plans, calmed down, "the other surprise! My egg hatched!"

"Oh?" Paul said as an eyebrow rose a bit in question.

"Mhmm," Ash hummed as he nodded, "I now have a baby Snom and baby Larvesta."

"Snom and Larvesta?" Paul asked, "I thought twins were usually the same species."

"In most cases they are," Ash said as he nodded in agreement before going into a long information spree, "I did some research the night they hatched and called Professor Oak, who confirmed the research. There's a small percent chance that the mother of a twin egg retains sperm from a breed mate, before breeding with another, even if the other is a different species and as long as it is in the same egg group as the mother. In this case a Volcarona, or a Frosmoth, the full evolutions of Larvesta and Snom, had bred with a Frosmoth or a Volcarona. She then retained the sperm in these spongy tubes that leads to her ovaries before breeding with the other breed mate. After that if the breeding was successful then there is a small percent of a chance that the eggs she lays carry a baby from each breed mate. Then there's a smaller chance for identical twins, and an even smaller chance for bi-species twins to occur."

Ash watched, after finishing his information dump, Paul blink a few times before giving Ash a nod. "Well okay then," Paul said and cleared his throat, "that was kind of more than I needed to know, but thanks. Glad I know that now."

Ash let out a snort before letting out loud laughter causing his pokémon to look over at him to see if he was okay. He didn't know why Pauls' reaction had gotten to him this way, but it was a laugh well needed. He ended up having to wipe a tear that had fallen down his cheek when he finally settled down and sent Paul a small smile.

The two spent a little while longer speaking to each other about small things before Ash needed to get up to go again if he was going to keep his schedule. When they finally ended the call it felt as though there was a small weight lifted from his shoulders, but he was sad that he couldn't keep talking to Paul. These next few months really need to go by quickly.

The rest of the journey to Lavender Town went by without much fanfare. Ash had let Riolu and Shinx battle with wild pokémon as well as the odd trainer here and there. Ninetales kept Snom on her back and Ash carried Larvesta in his arms. The small nubs around Larvestas' neck were already getting larger and the fuzz on his head was really warm.

What surprised him the most was the drastic temperature difference there was when he got into Lavender Town. He knew that ghost types excluded a cold temperature, but for the town to be cold enough that it seeped to his skin through his jacket when he had just been sweating a few yards down the route. It was really quite fascinating. His own Aegislash doesn't even get as cold as a Mismagius, a pure ghost type.

"And I'm telling ya! There's something going on inside of the tower," an old man spoke, breaking Ash from his own thoughts. Down the street, in front of the Center Ash was heading to, was an old man and a police officer.

"I'm sorry Mr. Fuji," the officer said, "there's nothing we can do to settle the restless spirits. They're just going to have to settle down on their own."

Mr. Fuji let out a huff and slammed the bottom of his cane down onto the cobbled streets releasing a loud clacking sound. "What good are ya lads then," Mr. Fuji said as he shook his head, "so called peacekeepers."

Ash's eyes widened as he heard Mr. Fujis' name. The only other Fuji he had heard of was the Doctor that created Mewtwo. Maybe this old man was related to them. Ash stepped up his pace to reach the two before the officer could try and arrest the old man.

"Excuse me," Ash said as he neared the two and effectively cutting off the police officer from saying anything, "I'm sorry, but I couldn't help but overhear. Perhaps I can help you out."

"And what can you do? These are spirits. Not pokémon," the officer said as he crossed his arms.

"Well I am an OFRT," Ash said as he pulled out his ID for the officer to see, "this falls well within my field of work, and from the little that I have heard of the tower it's not just spirits that reside in there. There's also ghost pokémon. I can go in and see what is going on and see if I can't stop it."

"Well all the more power to you," the officer said, "don't let this old crackpot go in. Last time he went in he broke his leg from falling and wasn't found for nearly three days."

Ash nodded and watched as the officer walked away. "How rude," Ash murmured when the officer was well out of ear shot. The teen shook his head and turned to look at the older man beside him. "Is there anything you can tell me before I go into the tower?" Ash asked.

Mr. Fuji nodded and gestured for Ash to follow him. "I can tell you in my home," Mr. Fuji said as he started to walk down the cobbled street rather quickly for a man his age, "my poor pokémon must be worried that I'm not home."

Ash held back a sigh as he followed Fuji for a few minutes, and as the town was pretty small it didn't take long before they were at Mr. Fujis' house. It was painted a bright yellow and really stood out from the rest of the towns' aesthetic. Upon entering the home, a noticeably warmer environment, they were greeted with a Nidorino, a Weedle, a Psyduck, and a small Cubone.

Ash watched as Mr. Fuji calmed down his pokémon and stepped around them as he made sure Ninetales was inside of the house before closing the door. Ash gladly accepted the water bottle Mr. Fuji had given him and carefully put Larvesta on the floor beside Ninetales, who had laid down beside a chair. As he looked around the home Ash looked for any family pictures and tried to not feel like a creep as he did so, but it didn't take long before he saw a picture that confirmed his theory. Ash got up and walked over to the picture to look at it closer.

The picture was small, but Ash could see four figures posed in it. One he quickly recognized as Amber and another of a younger John. John had his arms wrapped around a blue haired, gray eyed woman and standing beside them was a light brown haired older man with a kind smile.

"That was the last picture taken of the family when we were whole," a sad voice sounded from beside Ash and when he turned there was Mr. Fuji beside him looking at the picture, "we were all distraught when little Amber died. Her death drove my son into a dark place and it only festered when my daughter in law left him. My son went from this devoted father and husband to a shell of a person, but something happened a couple of years after little Ambers' death and he got his spark back. I haven't spoken to my son in almost eighteen years."

"Why so long?" Ash asked quietly.

"He got this job opportunity," Mr. Fuji said, his old worn voice was filled with grief and it sounded as though the old man was trying to hold back anger as well in his voice, "it took all of his time and while I left voicemail after voicemail I never got a reply. I don't know what happened to my son. If he's still working. If he found another to love. I-If he's dead and no one told me. I miss my son dearly."

Ash took a deep breath in and stayed quiet as Mr. Fuji's aura was filled with sadness, grief, and the slightest hint of anger. If that anger was towards himself, his son, or at Ash for prying then Ash didn't know. He did know however that he would never want his mother to feel the way Mr. Fuji feels about his son. He wondered why his son didn't pick up the phone to talk with his father. Did Team Rocket monitor his calls? Have Dr. Fuji on a leash at all times? Ash would never know.

"Anyway, for the reason you're here," Fuji said as he cleared his throat, "for the last two weeks the residents of the Tower have been unsettled. A few people who have ventured up to the higher levels of the tower to investigate have come back unresponsive or not at all. The police department won't notify the League of this happening as this was 'nothing related to pokémon, just those who died. There's no reason to bother the League with such a trivial matter.' But there are living people and pokémon that have started to get affected by whatever it is that is messing with the tower."

Ash nodded and took a mental note of everything Mr. Fuji was saying. If he needed to, he could send Lance a message and see if he couldn't get a ghost expert, Lady Agatha perhaps, out here to check on the tower if Ash couldn't find anything amiss. "Is it just ghost pokémon that are being affected or everything?" Ash asked.

"Everything."

"Okay," Ash said and took a deep breath, "if there's nothing else then I will be heading out to the tower now."

Fuji shook his head and gave the teen a small smile. "Good luck lad," the old man said as he escorted Ash to the front door, "and please be careful."

"I will," Ash said softly and gave the older man a small bow before making his way down the street. It didn't take long for Ash to get to the tower, which rested on the far side of the town near its border, after leaving Ninetales with the twins in a room at the Center. If Ash concentrated he could almost hear the sounds of waves crashing against the small mountain that separated Lavender Town from the ocean. The tower stood before him, all seven stories tall, and imposing. Ash had to take a deep breath before he was able to even move as the feel of the Aura around the tower was sinister, but not in an evil or threatening way, sickly and twisted with anger.

Ash walked in and peered around while Pikachu stood alert on his shoulder. The soft hum of static from Pikachus' fur and his own footsteps was soothing in the silence of the tower. It was so quiet Ash swore he would be able to hear a needle fall on the floor. He had to steel himself as he walked up the steps to the next level as he felt what could only be stares on his person, but there was no one around. 'It's just the ghost pokémon,' Ash thought to himself as he pushed the door to the next floor open. As he walked up each floor the colder the air around him got and even got so cold that he could see his own breath.

When he got to the fourth floor Ash could feel a very small hint of curiosity alongside the sinister Aura and felt something brush up against him. He stopped where he stood and peered around himself and he swore his heart skipped a beat as he saw two curious eyes peering from his shadow. Two bright reddish orange eyes with yellow pupils looked up at him unblinkingly as Ash met the gaze.

"Hello," Ash said softly and crouched a bit to get a closer look at whoever was residing in his shadow, "would you like to come out? I promise I mean no harm. I'm just here to see why or who has gotten the tower so restless. It's worrying the townspeople."

A small echoed hum came out of his shadow as Ash kept his gaze on the two eyes. Slowly but surely the eyes rose up in a small mass of shadows until it formed a small humanoid creature. It looked to be completely made of shadows, its body looked at though it was always moving with the writhing shadows. The shadows on its head formed into a helmet-like shape, almost resembling a knight's helm, and had two curled wispy horns on either side while there was one wispy horn between them.

"Are you making the residents in the tower restless?" Ash asked softly, but kindly, as the Aura from this little creature was where the curiosity came from. The Aura was a bit weird feeling as it registered the creature before him as both old and young.

The creature shook his head and reached out with one little hand only to rest it on Ashs' knee. It was a cold feeling, but Ash was able to ignore it.

"Do you know what is causing it?" Ash asked. The little creature nodded and moved a bit towards the stairs. It hummed once more and waved its hand as if to gesture for Ash to follow. "Okay," Ash said softly, "I'll follow you."

Ash followed the gliding shadow creature through the next two floors before it stopped before the door to the last floor. The little creature turned to Ash and gestured for him to stay there before its form fell into a puddle of shadows and darted through the bottom gap of the door. As Ash stood there he concentrated on the Aura he could feel on the other side.

As he traveled through the tower he honestly didn't look into the feeling of the Aura as much as he should have, and looking at it now the weird sickness to the Aura was similar to something he had felt before. At least the extra lessons he had been doing, after what had happened to Mewtwo, would come in handy, he just wished that it wouldn't have come in handy so soon.

'Those damn Corrupted bastards!' Ash cursed silently, 'They targeted another creature. And for what? What on earth could be their reason to do this?!'

The little shadow creature from before slid back under the door causing him to stop his line of thinking and gestured for Ash to enter the room. The room was cold, but Ash was sweating, the sinister Aura felt as though it was bearing down on him and it was followed by a twist of fear. The little creature seemed unbothered by this as it glided over to the other creature in the room that was leaning against an altar of sorts.

Ash easily recognized this creature, having read about it in a couple of texts, but actually meeting a Darkrai in person was so much more than how the texts describe. Ash slowly walked over to the two creatures before kneeling down a few feet away.

"Hello," Ash greeted calmly despite his heart racing, "My name's Ash. I'm just here to help you if you'll let me."

"And how can a mere human help? All you'll do is capture me in one of your Father damned devices and force me to do your bidding," the Darkrais' voice, deep and masculine, held a tone of contempt and anger.

Ash shook his head. "I promise I won't," Ash said, "I know what's making you sick, Darkrai. There's no one else in the world as far as I know that can help. All I want to do is help you."

The bright blue eye of Darkrai seemed to pierce into Ash as the Legendary creature studied him. Ash held still and kept himself open as he didn't have anything to hide. His reasons were pure and all he did want to do was help.

"What is causing this 'sickness'," Darkrai asked just before its body tensed up in pain and then relaxed.

"You've come across something called Corrupted Aura," Ash said once the pain had passed and he was given Darkrais' full attention once more, "it's like a poison to anything living and will turn one's body against itself until the Corruption fully takes over. As far as I know only someone with Pure Aura can fully heal someone, or some creature, that has come in contact with it although healing moves can take away the edge from the pain it causes and slow down the effects until it becomes too much for the body to handle."

"Corrupted Aura?" Darkrai questioned and Ash nodded.

"When someone or some creature that has the ability to use Pure Aura uses it for nefarious reasons willingly it causes the Pure Aura to become Corrupted." Ash explained as he tried to recall the passages from one of his books about the topic, "It causes the person or creature to essentially rot from the inside and mold itself into a perfect vessel to use the Corrupted Aura. From there the vessel is taken over completely and is basically a puppet for the Corruption to use and abuse however it wants."

"And you are able to cure this?"

"Yes. I am able to use Pure Aura," Ash stated, "what I will do, if you'll let me, is basically flush out the Corruption from your system. After that I will flood your system with Pure Aura and that will in turn heal you, destroy any lasting Corruption, and help you get your energy back."

"And this Pure Aura won't harm me? As a creature of the dark I mean?" Darkrai asked and once again its body tensed up in pain. The Legendary let out a deep growl once its body relaxed again causing a shiver to run down Ashs' back at the tone of it.

"No," he said as shook his head, "everything living thing has Aura. Even a creature of the dark such as yourself."

"Then do it," Darkrai said as he leaned back against the altar and turned to the little shadow creature, "Marshadow, step back a bit and give this human room to work."

Marshadow, the little writhing shadow pokémon, let out a small hum as it glided backwards a bit as Ash set Pikachu down before taking off his bag. He opened it up and grabbed a towel from inside it knowing that he would need it in a minute along with his bottle of water. Purifying the Corruption from a creature or person was messy business, or so he had read. Ash looked at Darkrai, who merely nodded, before he got up and walked closer.

After he was once more kneeling on the ground, this time beside the Legendary creature, he placed the towel on his knee for easy reach and placed the bottle of water beside the altar out of the way. "I'm ready to start," Ash said softly, "when I start the purifying process you'll start to get sick and expel the Corruption. Please aim the other way when it happens and please try to not fight against me. It'll only end up hurting more."

"Understood."

Ash nodded and took a deep breath as he placed his hands on Darkrais' body. His hands and eyes began to glow blue as he began to search Darkrais' body for the Corruption. He cleared out small deposits of it here and there, but he was looking for the main source of it. It wasn't near the stomach, its back, or lungs, but its heart. He warned Darkrai before pushing Pure Aura into the parasitic Corruption while he cocooned Darkrais' heart to keep it safe as he worked in such a delicate area.

The Corruption writhed angrily as it pushed back against Ash and even tried to hook onto Ashs' own Aura, but the teen wouldn't let it. Ash swore he could hear whispers from the writhing mass as he pumped more Aura into it, but he brushed it off and focused on getting rid of it. As he had read and told Darkrai, the creature began to expel the Corruption. The black sludge-like vomit reeked of something foul as Darkrai forced its head to the side and the pile when twitched a bit before falling still in a large mass of rotting sickness.

"Almost done," Ash whispered softly in a comforting tone as he gave one last push to the rest of the contorting mass making Darkrai expel that as well. The creature laid back against the altar once more panting as Ash began to fill Darkrai once again with Aura. The Aura healed what damage Darkrai had sustained and went on to soothe what was irritated.

"Here," Ash said as he handed Darkrai the towel to clean its face off and opened the bottle of water. He took a few sips from it before handing it to Darkrai so it could rinse out its mouth and drink from it as well. He would wash and refill it later at the Center. "Feel any better?" he asked as he let his Aura flow over the vomit to make sure all of the Corruption was well and truly gone before it had to be cleaned up.

"Much," Darkrai said, "Tired, but I feel much better than I have in a while, I admit."

"Good," Ash said and gave Darkrai a smile, "If you feel worse or come across another creature infected with this then you can come to me and I'll help."

"I avow," Darkrai said and bowed its head in acknowledgement.

"Will you be going on your way then? The townspeople are becoming worried over those that reside in the tower," Ash said as he placed the soiled towel in a plastic bag to keep it from getting on his other things after he placed it in his bag. Darkrai simply nodded as it slowly began to float from where it had collapsed before.

"Be careful out there Darkrai," Ash said softly, "you as well little Marshadow. The Corrupted can come from anywhere and not only are they to be of a concern there are also other humans who may want to capture you, especially those from Team Rocket. Remember that you can come to me if you get into any trouble, okay? I'll help you in any way I can."

"We will be safe, little Aura user," Darkrai said as Marshadow let out a soft hum, "Should you need any help as well, simply call out my name. I will be able to hear it, or Marshadow will hear it if I am otherwise occupied."

Ash nodded and gave the two a small bow before turning to leave. Pikachu let out a soft sound as he was picked up and carried in Ash's arms. He debated on calling Lance about the Corrupted, but decided to keep it to himself for now. He would let the older man know about Mr. Fuji however after he reached the Center. After today he deserved a shower, and some sleep.