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): 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!

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 woke up with the feeling of something running through his hair. The unexpected feeling caused him to tense up until he caught the soothing scent of Paul that instantly made him relax. The motion, of what he recognized as fingers moving through his hair, never stopped when he tensed up, but to Ashs' dismay it did when he opened his eyes to look up at his boyfriend. Ash let out a small grunt in offense as the light penetrated his eyes, but he didn't close them again. He needed to get up or he wouldn't fall asleep later.

He heard Paul chuckle and he sent up a glare to Paul before sitting up on the bed. He brought up a fist to rub one of his eyes and felt one of Pauls' hands touch his waist. Ash let his hand drop and grasped Pauls' wrist, the one attached to the hand on his waist, softly.

"You're so fucking adorable when you first wake up baby," Paul said as he ran a thumb over the exposed skin by it.

"I'm not adorable any other time?" Ash asked and sent Paul a cheeky grin as he leaned up and gave his stubble rough cheek a kiss. He knew he was adorable. He had always been told so when growing up. Ash felt accomplished as he heard Paul let out a louder laugh and got up to relieve himself in the bathroom. He wished for a moment that he had enough time to shower, but he really needed to go speak with Lance and then get to the hospital to see Aster. He changed from what he slept in to something a little more comfortable and shrugged on his boots as he waited for Paul to finish getting ready to leave. He wasn't sure if Paul was going with him or going to do something else.

"Hey Paul, I never did get to see your battle," Ash said with a small sigh. Paul had his fight that morning while he was with the police and Agents to give his side of things. "How did you do?" Ash asked as he watched Paul spray himself with a bit of cologne.

"I lost," Paul replied with his own sigh, "I battled against a guy named Luca, the announcer said he was from the Orange Islands."

"You lost?" Ash asked as he looked at Paul and stood up. He walked over to Paul and wrapped his arms around his waist and buried his face in his chest. He felt Paul wrap his arms around him as he gave his giant of a boyfriend a peck on his clothed chest.

"Yeah. It happens," Paul said as he shrugged a bit, "sucks that it was in a League Conference, but now I know what I need to work on with my team."

"That's a smart way to look at it," Ash commented as he looked up to see Paul looking down at him. Ash hadn't really lost a battle all this time. Sure he had pokémon faint, but his team pushed through to see the victory go to them. He didn't know if he do well in taking a loss like Paul has done.

"My brother did his best to try and get me to see reason like that when I was younger. I was so much more self absorbed, stubborn, and didn't really see pokémon as anything more than a being that fights for me. I was obsessed with having the strongest pokémon," Paul said, wanting Ash to know this about him. He had mentioned it a bit when they were getting to know each other before they started dating, but at the time he didn't want Ash to see him at his worst. "I guess I crossed a line with my brother at one point and he sent me straight to this rehabilitation center that focused on getting aggressive pokémon back to a point where they would be safe around other pokémon and humans. One of the workers, an older woman named Jane Goodall, took me to the side and spoke with me a bit. She immediately set me to work and I got to see a side of it all that others wouldn't. I decided to change and got therapy to help me do it."

Ash nodded as he took in all his boyfriend told him. He was angry, sad, and disappointed that Paul had been like that at one point in his life, but over the moon that Paul had changed and got the help he needed to become a better version of himself. Ash may have not seen how Paul was when he was younger, but he could see the man he's growing into. Ash stood on his tiptoes and gave Paul a soft kiss on his cheek again before falling back down onto the rest of his feet.

They finished getting ready in silence, but it wasn't an uncomfortable silence. Ash made sure to grab his things while letting Pikachu onto his shoulder, the small mouse letting out a chitter as he pressed his cheek into Ashs' hair causing the bits not hidden by his hat to stick up from the static. The mouse hardly left side since they had been reunited after his kidnapping and always made sure Ash was in his line of sight if he wasn't sitting on his humans' shoulder.

Once they were out of their hotel and onto the street Ash checked his watch to read the message that Lance had sent earlier while he was asleep. They were going to meet the man in the upper levels of the stadium where only staff members, Gym Leaders, the Elite, Lance himself, and Mr. Goodshow were only allowed. On the way to the stadium Paul made them stop to grab a quick bite to eat since they slept through lunch before continuing on their way. Ash would have to make up for his lack of attention during their meal to Paul later. He had too much going on in his head to properly think about anything else.

Upon entering the building, which was still full of visitors and competitors alike, Ash managed to spot Brock through the masses by a set of elevators that were hidden behind a partition and guards to keep unauthorized people away. He grabbed Pauls' hand and led the way, all the while apologizing to the people he accidentally bumped into, until they were standing a few feet in front of Brock. The man sent them a smile and a greeting before leading them behind the partition and into the elevator. Ash watched as Brock scanned his thumb on a scanner, one that he didn't notice when stepping in, before pressing one of the higher leveled floors. As they stood their waiting the silence was filled with soft talk between Ash and Brock as the Gym Leader wanted an update on how Krookodile was doing while inquiring about his other pokémon.

Brock was just finishing telling Ash about how his brother, Forrest, was about to head out on his own journey when the elevator let out a soft toned ding signaling that they had reached their floor. Ash and Paul followed Brock out of the elevator and down a short hallway to a door that Brock once again had to scan his thumb to get into. The room that the elevator led to was large and open. There was a fireplace, not lit, on one of the walls with a sitting area around it while on the other side was a wall of windows overlooking the stadium and beyond. The rest of the room was filled with different entertainment equipment and an area where pokémon of various sizes could hang out.

Walking further into the room Ash saw that the other Gym Leaders were lounging around the room along with the Elite Four. As Ash looked around the room looking for Lance he saw a small green pokémon running across the room. Ash couldn't help but smile as the pitter patter of its paws hitting the floor reached his ears and just a moment after appeared so its' trainer trailing after them. Ash walked forward as Lance scooped up the small pokémon and greeted the man.

"Your egg hatched?" Ash asked with amusement filling his voice.

"Yeah, just the other day. He's been a bit of a handful already, full of energy and wanting to either ram his head into things or wanting to chew on all my furniture," Lance said as he ran his fingers over smooth stomach scales, "thank Arceus my other dragons help out with this little hatchling."

Ash let out a soft laugh as Lance led only Ash to a seating area that had no one in it as Paul had decided to stay behind and speak with a few of the Gym Leaders. Lance gestured for Ash to sit down as the man gathered them a couple of bottles of water to drink before sitting down across from Ash. Axew let out a little rumble before falling asleep in Lances' arms making Ash let out another chuckle and get a sense of longing. He couldn't wait until he could hold one of his babies once more.

"So what is it you wanted to speak with me about?" Lance asked after setting down the bottle of water he had already opened to take a drink out of.

"It's about the situation yesterday," Ash said as he lowered his tone. He didn't really want to be overheard, even if the people in the room were trusted people by him and Lance, as he didn't know who could be listening in on them speaking. "I know you already know about Aura, but what do you know about the Corrupted?" he asked as he entwined his fingers and gripped tightly to keep himself from fidgeting.

"Corrupted?" Lance murmured as his brows furrowed in thought. Ash kept silent as he watched emotions of confusion and contemplation filled his eyes. "I know I heard of something like that before, but I can't put it together right now," Lance said after a moment of silence, "Why are you bringing it up?"

As let out a sigh before launching into a quick explanation about the Corrupted, who they were, what he knew of their agenda, and the past experiences he had encountered with those Corrupted although he did leave out the fact that the pokémon he had helped were Legendaries. He mentioned the fact that his kidnapper was just a fledgling member of the Corrupted from what his Aura had shown him and the fact that there is a small child, the one he escaped with yesterday, that an Aura User like he was.

"Aster can't go back to where he was before," Ash said with a small shake to his head, "I'm sure they would go back to look for him there and he can't go to another family."

"So what would you have me do with him?" Lance asked, "I may have some sway with the Child Services here in Kanto and in Johto, but I can't fully tell them where to place a child. Especially one that can use Aura and no one else can know about it."

"I can think of two solutions at the top of my head," Ash said, "I can call my Mentor and see if he could take Aster with him, keep him on the move while training him, or I send word to Rota and ask Queen Ilene if they can house him in the castle."

"You know the Queen?" Lance asked as he adjusted himself in the seat.

"Yea," Ash said with a slight nod, "I was granted citizenship and a place to live there should I need it."

"I see," Lance said with a small sigh, "Being moved from place to place isn't good for a small kid, especially one that has been abused and traumatized like Aster. He should be in a stable place, and if you think that giving the Kingdom of Rota custody of him would be better than who am I to argue. After all I don't really know anything about Aura and for all I know there's a governing body for Aura Users. I can see about getting in touch with them or you can?"

"Honestly Professor Oak might be a better choice to ask about getting in touch with them," Ash said, "He's the one who got in touch with them in the first place about me going to see the ruins there. They don't rely much on technology."

"Okay," Lance said with a heavy sigh, "I guess for now, since I know you're going to go to the hospital, tell the Social Worker that they need clearance or something to know why they can't just place him anywhere. I'll deal with them as soon as I get word from Oak."

"I can do that," Ash said softly and gave the man a small smile and gave him an apology for making this more difficult than it should be, but Ash didn't want to take chances in where Aster was going to be placed. He wanted to know that Aster was going to be safe, and not kidnapped once more.

Lance nodded in thanks and said that he would be sure to send the man a message after he left before they went on to speak about other not heavy topics. They didn't speak long as the most pressing topic had been spoken about and Ash told Lance that he hadn't spoken to Mewtwo since the day of the raid and he was worried. Lance told him that he had heard that a few more Rocket hideouts had been taken down so at least Ash knew that Mewtwo and Their siblings were doing well. Lance had asked what Ash was going to do after the conference was done and moaned over the fact that Ash was going to Alola.

"I've always wanted to go to Alola," Lance said, "I haven't even been able to take a simple vacation for years."

"Why not try to go after the conference? You have your Elite Four, delegate them some tasks that would need to be done during the time you're away," Ash said as he looked at the man. Lance did indeed look tired, haggard more like, and looking older than he should be. "Everything else can wait until you get back. The Region isn't going to fall apart simply because you want to take a week or two to yourself."

"Maybe," was all Lance said before he was being called away to speak with someone. Ash let out a deep sigh as he stood up to go find Paul only to find him sitting by himself with a bottle of water in hand. Ash waved at Surge, when the older man saw him, as he made his way over to his boyfriend and told him that he was finished here if he wanted to leave. There were a few more visitation hours left at the hospital and Ash wanted to grab a few things from the vendors around it to get for Aster.

The journey back down from the 'penthouse', as Ash called it, was quick even if they had to be accompanied by an Agent to let them out. Ash let Paul lead them towards the hospital as he kept an eye out for something to get Aster. From what he was able to see from the other day Aster was about seven years old, although the kid was small and could be older than what could be physically seen. He grabbed a blanket, a blue one with stars on it, and a drawing pad with a packet of coloring utensils. The kid must get bored just sitting in the hospital.

Purchases in hand Ash led Paul into the hospital and to the elevator that would take them up to Asters' room. A couple of the nurses waved to them as they walked down the hall and the nurse that had seen to him and Aster let them know what the Social Worker was going to arrive with in the next hour to speak with Aster.

"I'm sure that Aster would very much appreciate it if you were there when they come to talk to him," she said and handed Ash a tray with food on it stating that it was for Asters' lunch. Ash took the tray and thanked her before walking a few more doors down to Asters' room. The door was cracked open and he knocked softly on the door before opening it up enough for both him and Paul to slip through.

"Mr. Ash!" Aster greeted with wide eyes and a smile forming on his lips, "You came back!" The tv in the room was playing a livestream of the last battle of the day.

"Of course I did," Ash said and he couldn't help but let a smile form on his own lips, "I hope you don't mind that I brought someone with me? And I have your lunch for you to eat."

Ash saw Aster nod as he placed the tray down on the rolling bed table and set it up for Aster to get to the food comfortably. Ash and Aster did most of the talking while the small child ate what looked like some oatmeal, applesauce, a slice of bread with peanut butter on it, a banana, and a carton of milk to drink. Aster told him that the nice nurse told him that he had to eat the soft foods like this until his belly got use to foods again. Ash knew what Aster was talking about, and he hated that a sweet child like Aster had to be re-introduced to foods when he should have been getting them all this time.

Ash leaned back against Paul as he told Aster about his battle as the child wanted to hear about it despite already seeing it on the tv. After re-telling his battle Ash started to ask about Aster. Where was he from? What was his favorite food? What were his favorite colors? And so on.

"Papa said we were from a place called U-no-va," Aster said with careful pronunciation of the Region, "but we had to leave."

"Did your Papa ever tell you why you had to leave?" Ash asked as the door to the room opened and in walked a tall woman in heels. Her hair, curly and green, was tied up in a high ponytail and her eyes were a soft blue.

"Papa said we had to leave because there were bad people looking for him," Aster said as he set down a gray crayon and picked up a red one to continue his drawing.

"Aster, did you leave any family behind in Unova?" Ash asked, ignoring the woman for the moment.

"No. There was only me and only Papa," Aster said with a shake to his head making his straight silver hair swing with the movement.

"What happened to your Papa?" Ash asked softly and a bit hesitant as he feared the worst had happened to Asters' father.

"I don't know," Aster replied, "Papa told me to hide. So I hid in a tree. I remember that there were a lot of people chasing Papa after I hid, but I kept quiet. I really wanted to call out to Papa, but Papa told me to stay quiet when I hide. I waited for a looong time, but Papa never came back. I got really hungry so I climbed down and walked and walked and walked until I found this nice lady. She fed me and let me sleep on her bed, but when I woke up I was in that house you found me in, Mr. Ash."

"Okay," Ash said softly and reached out to ruffle Asters' hair causing the kid to giggle, "Thanks for answering my questions. I got to speak with the nice lady here for a minute, okay? Paul will stay right beside you."

Ash used the bed as leverage to get up from the chair and walked up to the lady. He introduced himself before leading her to the other side of the room, furthest away from Aster, and hoped that when speaking in a low tone that the small child couldn't hear him. The lady introduced herself as Hana, the Social Worker working on Asters' case.

"It seems like little Aster warmed up to you," she commented as she looked through the file she carried.

"Yeah," Ash said, "I guess it's because I saved him. Look let's cut to the chase, have you spoken to Champion Lance?"

"Yes I have," Hana said as she looked at Ash, "He made a couple of suggestions, but I don't know why. This is just a kid that fell into unfortunate circumstances."

"Aster was taken for a reason, on a need to know only bases," Ash said, "it was one of the reasons I was taken too. I can take care of myself, but Aster? He can't. He needs to go into Witness Protection, but he can't be placed just anywhere."

"But why?" Hana asked with a stern look on her face.

"I can't say. You don't have the clearance to know," Ash pressed.

"You are making this very difficult Mr. Ketchum," Hana said with a sigh, "You're not even related to this kid. You're just the one to get him out of there. So, why should you have any say where he goes?"

"I already told you," Ash said calmly, but he could feel his heart pounding away in his chest as he mentally prepared himself for what he was going to say next, "It's on a need to know bases and you don't need to know why. I should also mention that if Aster is moved anywhere without any notices to me and Lance, then we'll have some problems. Aster stays here in this room, until Lance and I say so."

Ash took a deep breath to steady himself as Hana kept quiet after his 'threat' and just stared into his eyes. He didn't break the stare, but it felt as though the woman was staring straight into his soul. Her Aura roared in emotion, but he couldn't pinpoint a particular emotion out of the tornado. Finally, after what seemed like forever, Hana let out a scoff before turning and stomping away from him. The clacking of her heels captured the attention of Paul and Aster and Ash could still hear it down the hall after she stormed out of the room.

With a soft sigh as walked over to the kid and his boyfriend to sit down in the chair he had abandoned when Hana got there. He gave Aster a smile and told him that nothing was wrong and that Ms. Hana was just having a bad day. Paul and Ash stayed in the room with Aster for a couple of more hours playing games and telling tales, and Pikachu even let Aster pet his head a bit before they had to leave. Once they were in the hotel room Ash replayed all he said to Hana to Paul as he typed up an email for Lance saying the same thing, along with the 'threat' he had told her.

He hoped that he wouldn't get into too much trouble over that.

With the email sent and their food arriving, Paul had ordered it as Ash typed up the email, Ash felt as though he was finally able to relax. After eating he checked up on his pokémon and gave those who needed it their medicine, even though he had to go outside to give Tyrantrum his medicine and food, before he went about pampering and grooming his pokémon. The repetitive motions of grooming helped his mind relax and his pokémon enjoyed it, even Pikachu who usually put up a small fight to get bathed. Ash even went on to groom Pauls' pokémon like he had done months ago.

By the time he was done putting everything away and getting himself clean he was ready for bed, but as soon as he laid down his mind was going on and on. He flopped this way and that way trying to get comfortable enough to hopefully get his mind off everything that was racing through it, but he was unable to get that right spot. Ash guessed Paul had enough of his movement and had pinned his smaller body under his larger one. The pressure of Pauls' body on his own felt like it had hit a switch in his brain and in just a second his body relaxed, his mind calmed, and he finally fell asleep.

The next day saw Ash awake bright and early to get ready for his next battle. He was going against Avondré, the man he stood next to in the Opening Ceremony. From what he has researched about the man he used, what Ash could only guess was his starter, Swampert, a Slaking, an Aggron, and a Banette. He couldn't use Pikachu to fight the Swampert, which he had thought to use before learning that the pokémon in question was a Water and Ground type. He was a bit frustrated that he didn't have a good counter to it, with Leafeon, his only grass type, out of commission.

So in the end he settled with Kingdra, Ninetales, Luxray, Lucario, Zoroark, and Krookodile. He hoped that with the variety he would be able to counter most of what Avondré could throw at him. He also was taking a chance in using Luxray and Lucario, two pokémon who had just evolved not long ago, into the Top 6 battles. He didn't have much of a choice at the moment with five of his pokémon out of commission with either injuries or pregnancy. Then the two babies he had.

He would make do with who he had. He had full trust and faith in them. He just hoped that they would come out with minimal injuries so they could continue to fight. He was the last Kantonian in the line up and he was feeling the pressure to win for his Region in his Region.

"Ash you have ten minutes to get to the stadium for your fight," Paul said, cutting Ash away from his thoughts and the teen nodded in acknowledgment as he was sure he would throw up if he opened his mouth. He made sure everyone he was taking was in their balls and on his belt before slipping his shoes on. He already had his watch on and his 'dex in his pocket. The rest of his pokemon would stay in the room while Paul and Pikachu would walk with him to the Stadium and stay there to watch and escort him back after his battle.

Ash couldn't lie to himself as they walked a familiar path and his breathing picked up once they came up to the alley he was jerked into. He felt his hand shake, but Paul made a quick movement to get in between him and the opening while Pikachu pressed a static filled cheek against his hat. He reached out and grasped Pauls' hand tightly in his own hand and sent him a soft thanks as they managed to pass the alley without anything happening to him. Sure they could have taken another way to the stadium, but he wanted to prove to himself that he wasn't as affected by his abduction as others seem to think he was.

He was just fine, thank you.

The rest of the way went quickly and uneventful, but that also meant that Paul had to leave Ash in his waiting room. At least he got a few goodbye, ("Not, goodbye kisses, Ash," Paul had told him a few weeks ago, "They're 'see you later' kisses."), kisses before he was left alone in the room. He did his last few mental preparations and a couple of stretches to get rid of any tension he developed on the way there. Just as he finished what he was doing, the rooms' intercom sounded.

"Mr. Ketchum, we're ready for you to head out onto the field now."

Ash nodded and took another deep breath as he opened the door that opened to a tunnel that led to the field. He heard the crowd cheer as he walked out and he did his best not to react to the noise and instead stared at his opponent across the field from him. His ears rang as the noise from the crowd died down to nothing. It was so quiet that the noise from a pin falling could be heard. Soon enough the much anticipated call came forward.

"Will both trainers send out their first pokémon!"