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): Mention of vomiting at 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!
Ash sighed as he let his wrist drop onto his lap. He had just gotten done talking with Lance about Mr. Fuji, and while he didn't see that the old man had anything to do with the doctor or even Team Rocket, Ash still had to report to Lance about it. Even if the trail from Mr. Fuji didn't lead anywhere. He didn't say anything about Lavender Town to either Lance or Oak seeing as it dealt with Aura and not just regular pokémon activity. He wasn't quite ready for either man to know about his Aura. For all he knew, just them knowing about him being an Aura user could put them in danger. Ash was already worried about his mother knowing about it.
All he could really do is keep the Aura stuff on a need to know basis and no one else needed to know about it.
Just as he was about to get up to continue onto Saffron a deep growl caught his attention and when he looked up he saw Shinx crouching, fur standing up along her back, and tail whipping back and forth in irritation. Persian was standing in front of the small cub, half crouched, and was simply watching the cub to see what she would do. As Shinx pounced, Persian stepped to the side and batted the cub to the side with her paw making Shinx growl and hiss each time. Persian kept doing this over and over each time Shinx jumped towards her. Ash could tell that Shinx was getting frustrated, but instead of stepping in he kept watch. He had seen this sparring between the two felines many times before and Persian would correct Shinx momentarily.
Or at least Persian would have.
Ash sat up straighter as the small cub let out a deep snarl and went for a Psychic Fangs causing Persian to pin Shinx down to stop the attack. In all of the spars he had seen the two do Ash had never seen the two use any moves. Persian let out a deep growl and hiss as the Shinx struggled under her paw, but the cub wasn't settling down. Shinx clawed at the leg and paw pinning her down as her tail whipped back and forth frustrated that she couldn't get Persian to let her go. Shinx let out a Roar and Ash watched as a bright light covered the small cub making Persian finally back away.
When the bright light faded the once small cub had evolved into a much larger feline. The newly evolved Luxio stood up and shook out her fur before letting out a rumbled chuff and looked at Persian with wide apologetic eyes. The new form easily reached Ashs' waist and stood just a few inches shy of Persians' height. The white spots that Shinx had still carried over to Luxios' form and stood out more as dark fur covered the majority of her new form. Persian, who had stood by as Luxio examined her new body, stepped up to her and let out a deep purr as she gave her larger cub a lick on her forehead, either in forgiveness or in congratulations, Ash couldn't tell.
Ash smiled as he watched the two. Persian had really come a long way since the S.S. Anne. Frightened at everything pokémon related and now here she was with a cub she had adopted and had just seen evolve and get stronger. He was extremely proud of her, of Luxio, and of his whole team.
He couldn't help but chuckle as he heard Riolu let out a few excited barks as the pup ran up to Luxio and began to jump around her. He supposed that staying here, where they had taken a break from walking to Saffron, for just a little while longer was just fine.
"Challenger Ash Ketchum to release first!"
Ash nodded and took a deep breath as he grabbed Aegislashs' ball from his belt. He had made it to Saffron late last night and had gotten a room at the Center seeing as everything else was closed by the time he had gotten into town. Now here he was in the Gym bright and early to fight Sabrina, the Psychic Type Gym Leader.
Ash threw Aegislashs' ball releasing his ghostly shiny onto the field just before Sabrina had thrown her own ball. The Kadabra she released was well groomed, spoon polished until it shone, and was slightly twitching as if it were holding itself back from outright attacking Aegislash. The ghost sword let out a high pitched metallic sound that was grating to the ears and had made Kadabra pin its' ears down against their head.
"Kadabra, shake it off. Use Psycho Cut," Sabrina ordered from where she stood.
"Dodge it and use Night Slash," Ash countered as he watched the Kadabra cover its spoon in its dark blue psychic energy and dashed forward towards Aegislash. His sword twirled out of the way as she gathered dark energy into her ribbon arms and made a slashing motion towards Kadabras' back to send the energy towards it. The Kadabra let out a loud cry as the attack hit it and it quickly turned around and released a quick hitting Psychic.
Aegislash was a bit too late in raising her shield to take the brunt of the damage and the move had managed to hit her bare blade. She let out a huff as she shook off the pain and sent out another Night Slash only just managing to hit the Kadabra before it Teleported to the other side of the field.
"Kadabra send it to sleep," Sabrina said as she crossed her arms over her chest. The Kadabra let out a hum as it kept Teleporting closer and closer to Aegislash all the while gathering extra energy within its paw.
"Aegislash! Don't let it get near you," Ash said, "Use Spectral Mirage!"
Aegislash let out a loud metallic sound and she dropped her shield, letting it fall to the ground with a loud thud, as she raised her ribbon-like arms. Her eye gleamed, as well as her arms, as she tapped into her ability to manipulate spectral energy. With her innate ability to use spectral energy she was able to manipulate both humans and pokémon to do her bidding and to make them see what she wanted. Her trainer had so proudly given her ability a name, one she approved of wholeheartedly, and was proud to use.
She quickly took control of the Kadabra, making it stop in its tracks with its paw just a few inches from her hilt. The battle field stood frozen for a moment, not even a speck of dust floated around, before the Kadabra fell to the floor unconscious to the world. She had ended the battle quickly with only a small wound from the Psychic attack she had taken earlier. Aegislash gathered her shield before floating over to her trainer, who had given her a wide proud smile, as the other human announced she was the winner.
"Gothitelle, it's up to you," Sabrina said as she released her next pokémon. Gothitelle was tall and covered completely in a dark black fabric, stacked in tiers along its body, and its cold blue eyes bore right into Aegislash. "Use Future Sight," Sabrina ordered and before Ash could do anything, if he even could, the Gothitelle focus further onto Aegislash and tagged her for the attack.
"Okay Aegislash you've got a limited amount of time before that attack hits you," Ash said, "You need to get Gothitelle down before then. Hit it with Night Slash repeatedly and use Destiny Bond when you can."
"Shadow Ball, Gothitelle," Sabrina spoke, "then Dark Pulse."
Ash hissed under his breath as the Gothitelle, who was quicker than the Kadabra, shot off two consecutive Shadow Balls before closing in on Aegislash for the Dark Pulse. One Shadow Ball hit Aegislash, but she managed to dodge the other only to land in the way of Gothitelles' Dark Pulse. Aegislash let out a loud metallic screech of pain and shot off a Destiny Bond over and over towards the Gothitelle until one of the moves struck the Psychic type. Aegislash managed to counter another Dark Pulse with a Night Slash before being hit with Psyshock from behind.
"Gothitelle, Rest up," Sabrina ordered as the Gothitelle got hit by a Night Slash once more.
"Aegislash! Use Night Slash and give it all you got before Gothitelle recovers!" Ash yelled as the psychic pokémon fell asleep to recover itself where it stood. Aegislash, who had started to lag from all the hits she had taken, rushed over, her ribbons covered in dark energy, and released a Night Slash point blank causing the Gothitelle to fly back. A thick cloud of dust covered the dark form of Gothitelle for a moment before it dispersed revealing the psychic pokémon to be unconscious.
Before the referee could announce that the Gothitelle was unable to battle, Future Sight hit Aegislash in full. The sword tried to stay up even after the hit, but after a moment she too had fainted. She had gotten too tired and injured to continue to fight for her trainer.
"Both pokémon are unable to fight! This match is a draw, trainers please release your next pokémon!"
Ash took a deep breath as he recalled Aegislash and gave her a few soft words before placing her back onto his belt. He grabbed his next ball and tossed it just as Sabrina tossed hers. Her Gallade stood tall in front of Sabrina just as Gardevoir stood tall in front of him. For a moment Ash could see a look of interest from the Gallade before it covered the interest with a stoic look.
"I'll let you take over this fight. Focus of Fairy type moves sweetheart," Ash said softly to his Gardevoir. She nodded showing that she had heard Ash, but she kept her eyes on Gallade. Ash kept silent as the two evolutions fought each other. The Gallade was fast, almost faster than Gardevoir, and had managed to hit her a few times, but Gardevoir had used a Draining Kiss when she needed to; to both heal herself and to deal damage to the Gallade at the same time.
Even this early into the match between the two Ash could see that Gardevoir was in another league compared to the Gallade, and that she had moves that were super effective against the other evolution. He could tell that Gardevoir was playing with the Gallade with her quick movements that made her dash in and give Gallade a Draining Kiss before dashing out of its' way. If Ash didn't know any better it seemed as though the two were flirting with each other as they fought. The longer the fight went on it could very well be the case.
"Gardevoir finish it," Ash said as he watched Gallade stagger to the side. Gardevoir let out a giggle as she gave the Gallade once last Draining Kiss causing the other evolution to faint where its stood.
"Gallade is unable to continue, Leader Sabrina please send out your last pokémon," the referee said after a moment of Gallade not moving. Ash heard Sabrina let out a huff before reaching for her last pokémon after recalling Gallade.
"You've done well to get this far," Sabrina said, her voice a mix between gentle and hard, carried over the field to Ash, "but this is where it ends." Ash held his breath as she threw the ball in her hand to release her next pokémon. A Slowking stood tall, with its hands clasped behind its back, in front of Sabrina. "Immobilize it," Sabrina ordered and more quickly than Ash could comprehend the Slowking let out a blast of water in the form of a Hydro Pump, which covered Gardevoir in water, before releasing a bitingly cold chill of an Ice Beam.
"Gardevoir!" Ash called out as his pokémon was frozen in a thick casing of ice. He could see Gardevoirs' eyes looking back and forth and her fingers twitching, but she couldn't break free of the ice in time.
"Gardevoir is unable to continue. Challenger, recall your pokémon and send out your next one," the referee called out and Ash couldn't help but let out a soft sigh as he recalled Gardevoir. He gave her a soft apology before placing her on his belt. He looked over at the Slowking and contemplated on who to send out next. Both Pikachu and Zoroark would have a good chance at beating the Slowking.
"Challenger, send in your next pokémon or you will be forfeit," the referee said a few moments later, cutting Ash from his thoughts. Ash nodded and grabbed Zoroarks' ball from his belt and released the disguised pokémon. Zoroark, having decided on a small Shinx disguise, stood before the larger pokémon.
"Be quick," Ash said, "it managed to immobilize Gardevoir in a few seconds. Keep moving. Don't give it an easy target." Zoroark let out a small growl in understanding before it dashed off just as an Ice Beam made its way over towards them. Ash watched as Zoroark ran through the field as the Slowking shot off Ice Beam after Ice Beam leaving tall pillars of ice in its wake. Ash chuckled as his so very smart dark type used the shadows the pillars made to his advantage as Zoroark used Shadow Sneak to dodge the attacks the Slowking sent out.
The sneaky Zoroark popped in and out of the shadows close to the Slowking and released a move before jumping back into the shadow. With the Slowking focused more on trying to hit the disguised pokémon it didn't even notice how many times it had been hit until it was wobbling and shaking as it sent more Ice Beams out. Ash was surprised that the Slowking had focused on using just that move when he knew it had others, but he assumed that was just how Sabrina had trained her pokémon.
"End this!" Ash said as he saw Slowking fall to one knee. Zoroark let out a deep bark, getting weird looks as the voice didn't match the small body, before the dark type released a strong Foul Play. The strong dark type move caused the Slowking to tense up before falling face forward onto the ground.
"Slowking is unable to battle. This match is over! Challenger Ash Ketchum wins," the referee called out officially ending the match. Ash let out a deep breath of relief. He had been worried about this battle, but his pokémon really showed him that they were more than capable. Zoroark, still in his disguise, bound up to Ash with excitement.
"Good job," Ash said proudly as he knelt to give the disguised pokémon a head rub.
"Good battle," a female voice said close to him. Ash looked up and saw that Sabrina had approached him with a metal case in her hand. He hadn't even heard her walking up to him. "Best one I've had in ages," she added as Ash stood up.
"It really was. I was a bit worried there for a moment and the speed your Slowking had was amazing," Ash said complimenting the pokémon.
"He worked hard to get that fast," Sabrina said before her eyes fell to the floor where Zoroark was, "though I am curious how such a small feline managed to do what it did."
"It's because he's not a Shinx," Ash said, making Sabrina look at him as though he had lost his mind, "if you would?" Ash looked down at Zoroark who had hidden his snout behind a paw and was laughing. Quickly Zoroark released his disguise causing Sabrina to step back as the small kitten transformed into a tall fox.
"Oh!" Sabrina exclaimed as she blinked a couple of times, "I was unprepared for that. A Zoroark?"
Ash nodded and gave Zoroark a few scratches along his jaw. "He prefers to stay in a disguise when around others not in his pack. He'll even fight in battles completely disguised like he did with your Slowking," the teen said with a small smile.
"Well it's very handy," she said, "I could tell that Slowking was getting really frustrated in the fight. Anyway, congratulations on beating me. Here is your badge to show that you have beaten me and take this TM. It contains the move Calm Mind."
Ash took each item as she presented them and gave his thanks before saying his goodbye. It was early morning and there were other trainers for her to fight and he didn't want to monopolize her time when she had her work to do. He placed the items in their places in his bag and recalled Zoroark before making his way to Center to get his pokémon checked out. After Nurse Joy gave his pokémon a clean bill of health, other than a loose baby tooth on Riolu, Ash decided it would be best to start heading back to his hometown. There he would check over his pokémon, do a bit of last minute training, and then decide on who to take to the ground type gym in Viridian.
The walk back home, having only taken about a week and a half, was uneventful as there were no trainers along the way nor were there wild pokémon that wanted to fight with his team. The nights on the road were filled with Ash focusing on training Riolu with Zoroark while Persian focused on helping Luxio get used to her larger body. Snom mostly napped and ate snow while Larvesta seemed to really want to start training with the rest of the team. Oftentimes Ash had to hold Larvesta in his arms to keep the small fire moth baby from joining in the training as it was too young to start training.
He had arrived in Pallet Town just after the sun had set leaving the small town covered in the darkness of the night. The gravel and dead leaves under his shoes was loud in the silence, but at least he wasn't the only being moving around. He had passed a few wild pokémon scrounging for food on the way to his house so he didn't feel bad about how loud his walking was. His mother had greeted them with open arms after he had opened the door and her hug was accompanied with the scent of freshly baked bread while Oak, who had been visiting, had given him a jolly greeting before he began to look over Ashs' pokémon.
Ash didn't stay downstairs long. He was so very tired and had felt off all day, but he didn't feel as though it had anything to do with Aura or anything. Then again he wouldn't know. He had never felt like this before. He barely remembered even placing his head down onto his pillow and he didn't see the look of concern on Pikachus' face as he closed his eyes.
When Ash woke up it was to the sun shining into his eyes and to his body feeling as though it was made of lead along with his bedding and pajamas that had become wet from how much he was sweating. He licked his dry lips as he forced his head to turn and saw a clump of yellow fur beside his head. After he had turned his head he forced his body to turn so he was laying on his side once more. Unfortunately the movement upset his body to the point that he had to lunge to the edge of the bed just to not get any sickness on his bedding.
As he emptied his stomach out Ash felt and then heard Pikachu scramble up and out of the room to hopefully get someone. Through bleary eyes Ash looked down, trying not to get sick again from the smell, and was horrified at what he saw. The sickness that was on the floor was not just the contents of his stomach from the day before, but there were also bits of Corruption in it.
"Fuck," Ash cursed as he moved his head away from the edge to keep from looking at it. Ash couldn't help but feel dread as the notion was fully processed with him. He took in a deep shaky breath as he felt his body begin to shake. 'Am I going to become one of them? One of the corrupted?' Ash thought to himself and just as he felt himself start to fall back to sleep his door opened revealing his mother standing there with Oak right behind her.