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

Rating: M (to be safe)

Chapter Warning(s):

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.

A/N: Full team recap at the bottom just to keep everyone informed about who Ash has captured and such. Also this chapter is kind of filler-ish, but important at the same time as we finish this arc of the story.

Enjoy!

Two weeks had passed since the raid and there was no news about anything, but Ash wasn't surprised about that or had even asked anyone about anything after picking up Zoroark since he was just a civilian in the case. After all, the League had been betrayed by one of their own and they needed time to get through that shock and to work out on how to proceed next. He did get an email, last week, from the official League email stating that a new Gym Leader will be put into the Viridian Gym within the next two to three weeks. At least it wouldn't mess up any of the scheduling with the battling season.

During the expected break, well expected for Ash and unexpected for other trainers, Ash had decided to stay close to home to train his pokémon and to take a break for himself. He had worked with his team during the day and at night he took a few hours to meditate and to work on his own Aura training. So far he was able to sense further around him, discern what emotions felt like what, and create a weak shield around him. Riley had told him, after he had called the man, that the next time they met he would start to show Ash how to use Aura to sense his surroundings while running, or fighting in the case of a physical fight between him and an adversary.

As for his pokémon and their training, Larvesta and Snom were doing impressively well. Charizard had taken Larvesta under his wing to work on the little bugs' fire work and Larvestas' Ember quickly turned into a Flamethrower and was working on how to do Will-O-Wisp with Aegislashs' help. Snom on the other hand was working with Ninetales and had managed to turn her Powder Snow into an Icy Wind and had also learned how to shoot bits of ice out from her spikes. Day by day the two bug types of the pack were getting bigger and stronger.

Riolu had also changed during the last two weeks and it started off with a growth spurt. The small pup had grown several inches and had developed small nubs behind his black head appendages along with the white bumps on the back of his paws beginning to grow. Riolu was able to use his Aura a lot easier and started to use it as he fought against the others in the pack to make himself faster or to use a weak shield to protect himself a bit.

Luxio, who had been working with Persian and Zoroark, was hard to find during their exercises in stealth. The lion like feline was silent on her paws and patient as she hunted like her adopted mother. Pikachu had also taken her aside to work on her electricity and she was able to deliver a wicked quick Thunder, which Pikachu had taught her.

All in all Ash was proud of his team.

As for his Jangmo-o egg, it was healthy, but newly laid. It had a while before it was able to hatch, at least that was what Professor Kukui from Alola had told him when he had messaged the man to ask more about the Jangmo-o line. From what little he had read about the Jangmo-o line was quite fascinating and he couldn't wait until this little one to hatch.

For now all he could do was wait and keep training until it was closer to time for the new Gym Leader to get to Viridian and get settled in. He didn't want to rush over there when the town was only a half day's walk from Pallet Town. He was sure that the new Gym Leader was going to be flooded with other trainers as well since they were the last gym badge to get.

"Ash!"

The teen turned as he heard Professor Oak call out to him and saw that the older man was walking towards him with someone he hadn't seen since he was younger. Daisy Oak smiled widely at him as she ran over to him and waited until Ash stood up to envelope the smaller teen in a hug which Ash happily returned.

"Ash," Daisy said as she pulled back, "It's been so long since I've seen you! You've really gotten big!"

"It's been a few years Daisy," Ash said before he greeted Oak who had caught up to his granddaughter.

"Well, yeah," Daisy said sheepishly as she let out a small giggle, "It's been pretty busy in Alola. There's so much to learn!"

"Alola?" Ash asked as he looked at her wide-eyed. He had always wanted to go to Alola, and that urge increased ever so much since getting his Jangmo-o egg. He had heard that the battling there was different and there wasn't an established League there yet like in the other regions.

"Yeah! With Uncle Samson. He's a Professor there and in charge of the trainer school," Daisy explained just before Oak had stepped into the conversation.

"Speaking of Alola," Oak said using their conversation as an in to bring up what he needed, "My cousin has asked if we could breed a few Ride Pokémon for their islands. I was wondering if your Charizard would be interested in being bred and I'm having a bit of a hard time getting a Lapras over to one of their breeders."

"I would have to ask Charizard if he wants to, but if you're needing me to take Lapras to Alola then I can do that unless Daisy is taking them when she goes back," Ash said as he let out a sharp whistle to catch his pokémons' attention he gestured to his albino pokémon to come closer.

"I'm sadly not going to be able to go back until summer of next year since my University is sending me to Galar next to study under the Professor there," Daisy said, sending Ash a smile that showed just how excited she was about it.

"I, of course, will pay for you to go to Alola since this is technically a job I'm asking you to do," Oak said as the large white dragon lumbered over to them, "to bring Lapras there and the program will pay you for any eggs your Charizard reproduces. If your Charizard agrees I'll have to take a blood and scale sample to give to Nurse Joy to do a full run through to make sure he's in tip top shape and won't take any foreign diseases or bacteria to Alola."

Ash nodded as he remembered that he had to do something similar with Aegislash before he could bring her to Kanto from Kalos. He usually did routine check ups with his pokémon, besides the weekly grooming he did with them, and had to change a few diets here and there to make sure everyone was getting what they needed. Charizard, who had heard a bit of the conversation, let out a smoky snort and a rumble from his chest as he settled down next to his trainer.

"So what do you say, big guy," Ash said, sending Charizard a cheeky smile, "want to help out?" Charizard let out a low roar as he spit out an ember. "That would be a yes," Ash said as he laid a hand on the warm white scales, "When do you need us to go?"

"Well getting a Lapras is going to take some time with all of the red tape and paperwork to get done," Daisy said, answering for her grandfather, "and you still have this League to get through. So ideally we're looking around the winter months after the League has ended to have everything finalized before sending you off to Alola."

"How long will I be there?" Ash asked, "I have a commitment in Sinnoh around the beginning of the next year."

"Well the League will be finished by September," Oak replied then listed off, "After all the paperwork, medical work, and getting all the licenses you would need to take them to do this, it'll be around mid October before you can go. Then about a month and a half, with a week or two break, of breeding and making sure the eggs are all good for incubating. You should be back before Christmas giving that everything goes as it should with the breeding. Lapras will come back with you to get sent back to his or her herd and Charizard will be a father by the beginning of the new year."

"When will you need to have his scale and blood work done by?" he asked as Charizard leaned down to sniff at his hair before letting out a sneeze.

"Not until after the League is finished," Oak said, "everything will be set in place by then, all housing and paperwork, though there will be a few pieces for you to fill out for your Charizard."

"Okay," Ash said as he nodded, "just give me a call when you need us. I'll be sure to set a note in my watch to keep me reminded of this."

"Thank you!" Daisy said as she smiled widely, "Grandpa would have asked his Charizard, but he's getting up there in age and Grandpa said that his old heart wouldn't be able to take the excitement breeding makes."

Ash laughed at that and bid the two a goodbye as Oak was getting called back into the lab by one of his assistants. Ash gave Charizard a few scratches before the two moved to the others to resume what they had been doing before they had been interrupted by Oak and Daisy.

Ash jumped a bit as his watch rang loudly on his desk. He had been in the middle of packing his bag, with the help of Riolu and Pikachu, to leave for Viridian for the next gym battle. Gary had already left for the town three days before while loudly proclaiming that when he came back to Pallet Town that he was going to be the next Champion of Kanto.

Dropping his blanket on his bag, Ash wandered over a few steps to his desk and picked up the ringing device. "Hello," Ash greeted as Lances' face filled the screen.

"Ash," Lance said as he looked over the teens' face, "Sorry it has taken this long to get back to you about everything that happened in the raid. How are you doing?"

"I'm doing well," Ash said as he sat down in his desk chair, "how are you doing after it all?" He couldn't help but ask as the man looking back at him looked as though he hadn't had any decent sleep in the last few weeks let alone a warm meal.

"I've been better," the man admitted, "but something came up. Something I wasn't expecting and had to have the tests gone over again."

Ash furrowed his eyebrows as Lance seemed to dance around what he was trying to get at. "What is it?" he asked as he narrowed his eyes.

"One of the workers at Kanto Child Protection Services sent a DNA test of Silvers' out to be analyzed for any living relatives," Lance said as the man sat back in his chair, "there were five hits. His father, Giovanni, of course, then there was his mother, a Miss Lilianna Slater, Giovannis' mother Victoria Caine, Giovannis' deceased twin brother Renato, and you Ash. You came up as being a relative to Silver."

Ash looked wide eyed at the man as he took in a deep breath. "What?" Ash asked, his voice cracked a bit. He couldn't believe this. Lance must have read the lab report wrong, or the doctor must have messed up somewhere, switched DNA samples, mixed something up wrong.

"I take it you didn't know?" Lance said in a softer tone as he saw the expression on Ashs' face.

"I don't even know who my father is," Ash said, "Mom never told me. She said it hurt her too much to talk about him. I've never seen a photo of him, or, or-"

"Ash?" Delias' voice carried up the stairway unknowingly stopping Ash from speaking, "are you okay? I thought I heard a bang and Pikachu ran down here."

"I-I'm okay," he said as he raised his voice to make sure his mother could hear him before turning back to Lance to speak in a softer voice, "what now? Are KCPS going to come speak with my mother?"

"They should be there within the week to speak with her," Lance said after a moment of silence.

"Okay," Ash replied and bid his goodbye to the man as there was nothing else to be said between them for the moment. He sat back in his seat and took a deep breath. It was a shock for him. As far as he had known he didn't have any other family, since it had been just him and his mother for the longest time, and now here he was with biological relations to one of the biggest, if not the biggest, criminal organizations in the Regions.

His mind flashed back to that night a couple of weeks ago to when he had first seen Silver face to face. The pale, taunt skin and the dirty matted hair. He remembered how skinny the other teen looked and the scar on his face. All he could do was wonder how someone could treat someone like that and just be fine with it. Ash took a deeper breath when Pikachu hopped up onto his lap and curled up to give him some comfort as Riolu let out a soft whine and placed a paw on his arm.

"I'm okay," he said to the two softly, "just a bit shocked. Angry too I suppose." He ran his fingers through soft fur before getting up, while making sure to keep a grip on Pikachu, to finish packing. His hands shook after placing Pikachu onto the bed to pick up the blanket and stuff it into his bag. He needed to get his mind off the situation, and what better to get his mind off of it than a battle.

"Let's go win our last badge," Ash said as he shouldered the bag and picked up Pikachu to place on his shoulder. Riolu let out a soft bark, a bit aggressive of a bark as he picked up the emotions coming off of Ash, and followed his trainer/father out of the room and down the stairs.

"Gym Leader Greene to release first!"

Ash stood still on his side of the field, hand on a pokéball, as the referee for the battle went through the usual spiel before announcing for the new Gym Leader to release her pokémon. Aria Greene, Kanto native and an Ace Trainer before becoming a Gym Leader, was described as an All Rounder battler, like himself. From the whispers he heard and basic research he had done on the way here was that Aria was tough to fight. She didn't specialize in one typing like most Gym Leaders do and there was a rumor that she had a Mega Evolution on her side. Seeing that she had the same bracelet that Sycamore had, the one he had seen when he was in Kalos, then he would believe those rumors.

Ash watched as Aria released a tall and very muscular pokémon. The Machamp let out a grunt and fist bumped itself as Ash threw out Gardevoirs' ball to release her. His darling girl let out a giggle as she raised her hand to be ready for anything. Ash was shocked at how fast the Machamp was after the referee had announced for the battle to begin. He barely heard Aria give it a command before Gardevoir was smacked to the side.

"Life Dew, Gardevoir," Ash said as he saw her standing on shaky legs. Gardevoir dashed to the side as the Machamp charged at her again while she let the Life Dew do its work on her wounds. Gardevoir focused on using shields and teleporting around the arena to try and tire the Machamp out so she could land a hit. Ash watched as the Machamp threw Dynamic Punch after another as he tried to come up with a way for Gardevoir to get a few hits in. Gardevoir used Life Dew and Draining Kiss when she could to keep herself healthy, but she could feel herself beginning to lag.

Ash cursed under his breath as he saw Gardevoir go down after Machamp got a solid punch on her, sending her back against the wall. The muscular pokémon didn't even look winded as he recalled Gardevoir and sent out Kingdra instead.

"Take it down quickly," Ash said softly so only Kingdra could hear him, "It's quick and took down Gardevoir with no problem. Watch out for its fists." The dragon nodded as it straightened up and shot out a large blast of a Dragon Pulse. Kingdra released Pulse after Pulse and even Blasted the Machamp out of the way with a Hurricane as it got too close for his comfort with a fist covered in electricity.

"Keep up the Hurricanes, Kingdra!" Ash said as he saw how effective the move was in keeping the monster of a Machamp away. The harsh winds even did a bit of damage as he spotted scratches forming on the blue skin. The seahorse let out a loud whinny as he let out a strong Ice Beam causing tall ice walls to form along the ground to try and get the Machamp to slip up. Ash could see the Machamp finally starting to lag as Kingdra sent it into the air with a Hurricane only for it to not quite land into its feet like it had done before.

After a few more hits with a Dragon Pulse all it took was one more Hurricane to down the Machamp, only for Aria to send out a Togekiss after she recalled her Machamp. Ash recalled Kingdra, as the referee had stated before the fight had started that they could recall whenever and use them in a later battle, and sent out Pikachu, who was as ready as ever to fight. The mouse let out a few sparks from his cheek pouches as he watched the creature float in front of him.

"Switch between Iron Tail and Thunderbolt and use Quick Attack and get out of the way," Ash said as he saw the Togekiss use Calm Mind. Pikachu let out a growl in understanding before dashing off towards the bird like creature while shooting off Thunderbolts. Ash watched as Pikachu used the debris Gardevoir and Kingdra had made in their fights to take cover from a few of the Togekiss' moves until there were no good walls left to hide behind.

"Togekiss ready up!" Ash heard Aria shout for the first time since they started battling and the Togekiss became still as a bright light, one that was almost too much to look at, encompassed the creature.

"Pikachu, use Thunder then get ready to dodge out of the way!" Ash yelled and Pikachu hunched down, body tense, and let loose a loud cracking Thunder from his tiny body. Ash heard the Togekiss let out a cry, as he had to close his eyes from the bright light, before he heard a thud of something hitting the ground. Upon opening his eyes Ash let out a breath he didn't know that he had been holding at seeing the Togekiss laying on the ground, unconscious to the world. Unfortunately as the Togekiss was recalled back to Aria; he saw his Pikachu was laying there having fainted with the Togekiss.

Ash sent out Kingdra once more as Aria let out a large pokémon that towered over them both. The Tyranitar had thick green scales covering its body and wicked sharp claws on teh end of each hand. The Tyranitar let out a loud roar in a challenge only for Kingdra to answer back with a roar of his own.

The Tyranitar started off with an Earthquake in which Kingdra covered himself in water to reduce the damage the move would have usually done before sending a Scald its way. The monstrous creature let out a deep hiss followed by a Hyper Beam which Kingdra had to quickly dodge. Kingdra released a torrent of water in the form of Hydro Pump causing the Tyranitar, which had started to charge at Kingdra, to get pushed back to his side of the arena. The soaking wet Tyranitar stomped its feet on the ground a few times in anger before letting out another beam from its mouth, but this time it was an Ice Beam.

Kingdra let out a deep groan as ice formed along his scales and quickly used a low powered Scald on himself to get rid of them. Ash let out a relieved sigh as he saw that the warm water took the ice away. His relief was quickly crushed, however, as a bright light caught his attention and saw that the bracelet on Aria's wrist was shining.

"Tyranitar! No!" Aria yelled and tried her best to get the rage filled Tyranitar to stop, but it was too late. The Tyranitar glowed brightly in evolutionary light and Ash watched in fear as the already thick scales became thicker and longer as the Tyranitar Mega Evolved. This was the first time he had seen a Mega Evolution in person, but he wasn't able to see it for long as the Outrage the Tyranitar used took both itself and Kingdra out.

"Both pokémon are unable to battle! Please send out your last pokémon!"

'Last pokémon for us both,' Ash thought as he threw Zoroarks' ball into the air to release his illusionist disguised as a small Eevee. Across the field Aria released her own pokémon, a gently swaying Chandelure.

"I've got to say," Aria spoke up, her voice carried in the arena they were in, "this has been the most tense battle I've had so far since becoming a Gym Leader."

Ash couldn't help the chuckle that left him when he heard that. "My most tense battle as well," he agreed, "but it's been both fun and frustrating."

"Those make the best battles," Aria said and Ash could only nod in agreement as the Chandelure had apparently had enough with them talking and let loose a hot stream of fire. Zoroark let out a yelp as he dodged it just in time to only get a few singed pieces of fur on his tail. Zoroark dove into a small shadow, using Shadow Sneak, of a piece of debris to dodge another stream of fire and popped up behind the Chandelure to hit it with a Dark Pulse.

Zoroark and Chandelure played this little game of cat and mouse as Zoroark dodged fire, normal, and psychic type moves all the while managing to hit the Chandelure with a few dark type moves. It wasn't until Chandelure hit Zoroark with a full on Energy Ball that his illusion fell revealing Zoroark in his full glory.

"Night Daze!" Ash yelled as he saw Chandelure stutter to a stop in confusion upon seeing their opponent turn into a completely new pokémon.

"Chandelure! Focus! Use Shadow Ball!" Aria commanded as Zoroark let out a loud snarl. A thick dark shock wave left Zoroark and shot out towards the Chandelure just as it released a Shadow Ball. The two moves hit each other right in front of the ghost, making them explode in its face and causing dust and dirt from the arena to shoot up and cover their pokémon.

"Zoroark?!" Ash called out and it took just a moment, but his illusionist jumped out of the cloud revealing that he was perfectly fine. Zoroark let out a sharp bark in greeting as he stopped in front of his trainer and turned to face where his opponent was only to be met with a face full of fire.

Ash winced as he heard Zoroark yelp loudly and saw him raise a paw to pat out a bit of fire that clung to his ear. He didn't see the stream of fire until it was too late to warn Zoroark and as the cloud settled Ash could see that the Chandelure, a bit droopy from exhaustion, was still up and ready to keep fighting. Zoroark, letting out one more whimper as he felt his burn beginning to sting, faced his opponent with an angry look on his face. His trainer better get his grooming kit out after this. This thing destroyed his fur and he would not stand for it.

The Chandelures' fiery body burned brighter as a condensed ball of fire formed in front of it ready to be shot off at any time, but Zoroark wasn't going to let it hit him. Just as the Chandelure released the torrent of flames from the ball Zoroark dove into the shadows the fire caused to get closer to the ghost. Ash had to turn his head a bit as the bright flames were hurting his eyes so he didn't see that Zoroark did something he had never seen the illusionist do before.

When Zoroark popped up out of the shadows behind the Chandelure he looked as though he were made of shadows. His body was fluid like he was a shadow himself, and his eyes were fully ensconced in the blue they usually were with no pupil or scalera to be seen. Ash heard a deep croon then a thud as the flames died down, but by the time he turned his head to the field his Zoroark was as he usually was, not that he knew that in a split second Zoroark was any different.

"This battle has been decided! Challenger Ash Ketchum wins!"

The announcement was like a balm to his ears. He won! He finally had all eight gym badges and could now go on to the League! Ash couldn't help the bubble of laughter that escaped him as the relief settled in. He had thought for a moment there that he was going to lose this battle.

"Congrats," Aria said as she approached him. She had already recalled her Chandelure and Zoroark had already settled beside him ready to be recalled when Ash was ready to do it.

"Thank you," he said as he took her offered hand in his own to shake, "I was really worried for a moment there. Your pokémon are really tough."

"So are yours," Aria said as the referee approached them with a few items in hand, "I would be really happy to have a rematch one day, a full six on six."

"Absolutely," Ash agreed as he nodded.

"Well," Aria said as she gently grabbed the items from the referee with a quiet thank you to him, "This is the new eighth badge! Congrats, you're the first one to get one!"

Ash held out his hand and waited until Aria had placed the badge in it before bringing it up closer to his face. It was a simple design made in silver, blues, and reds. He placed it in his pocket as Aria held out another item. It was a small orb, much like the orb he already had in his possession. The swirl inside was green, red, and an almost pink color.

"This is a Gardevoirite," Aria said as she placed the orb in his hand, "It allows Gardevoir to Mega Evolve."

"And you're just giving this to me?" Ash asked incredulously. From what Sycamore had said it seemed pretty hard to find a Mega Stone in the first place.

Aria nodded and sent him a smile as she giggled. "My brother has a Gardevoir and has already found a Gardevoirite. Then one morning he woke up to find an exact copy of the one he already had sitting beside it. He didn't want or need it so he gave it to me to give to someone who had a Gardevoir and who had beaten me," she answered.

"Huh," Ash said as he looked down at the orb again and gave her a slow nod. He would accept it, but he would send an email to Sycamore about Mega Stones cloning itself. Just to make sure it was legit and this wasn't some phony.

"Thank you," he said as he placed it in his pocket to be transferred to his bag after he left.

"No, thank you for the amazing battle," Aria said, "I can't wait to see how far you go in the League!"

Ash's Team so far along with any special tags/genetics associated with them!

Pikachu

Nidoking

Kingdra

Krookodile

Riolu- Half Albino

Charizard- Albino

Gardevoir- Shiny

Zoroark

Tyrantrum

Aegislash- Shiny

Ninetales- Alolan Varient

Persian- Melanistic

Leafeon- Orange Genetic Mutation

Luxio- Marie Antionette Syndrome

Mewtwo

Larvesta

Snom

Jangmo-o Egg