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): A filler-ish chapter since what I wanted to write didn't want to get written.

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!

"So what are Sada and Turo like?!" Ash yelled his question so Oak could hear it over the roar of the plane they were in. It had been a couple of days since Cedric had told them that it would be best to travel to Paldea to meet the Professors and the next day they had gotten a response to head over to meet them. With no soon flights to Paldea, Juniper had asked Skyla, the Mistralton Gym Leader, to fly them over in one of her private planes. Thankfully she could, seeing as she was going to head over there anyway to meet with some family she had in Paldea.

"They're young for Professors of their caliber," Oak yelled his reply, "but they're very smart, driven, and willing to do what they need in the name of research."

"Isn't that dangerous though?" Ash asked as he turned from looking out of the window to look at Oak.

"It very much is, but their Champion, Geeta, keeps a close eye on them and keeps them within the legal and moral lines!" Oak answered with a small nod and pointed at his window, "We're almost there!"

Ash turned back to the window and watched with wide eyes as the coast of Paldea came into view. The land was sprawling and it was so easy seeing the different landscapes Paldea had. From large snow covered mountains and towering sand dunes of the desert to the sprawling plains, and Ash could even see a bamboo thicket. The most surprising thing about the land was a large cloud mass at the center of the land.

"That's the Great Crater of Paldea," Skyla said as she started to turn and lower the nose of the plane to start their descent, "No one, but government officials and those given special permission are allowed in. I've heard from my cousin though, that he heard from someone else, that the lands in the crater are something out of this world."

"Any clue why?" Ash couldn't help but ask even though he was sure she didn't know the answer.

"Not one clue," Skyla replied and Ash nodded in acceptance while deciding to not press her for answers she did not have. He kept his eyes on the clouds covering the crater as they got closer to the ground. He couldn't help but feel as though there was something telling him that the area was important and that he needed to go there.

"Welcome to Paldea!" A spirited woman greeted them after Oak and Ash separated from Skyla, with their thanks, and left the airport. The woman was tall, had wild ash-brown/blonde hair and steel blue eyes. Her clothing looked like what Ash imagined cavemen/women wore once upon a time with a lab coat over it. She had beads and other ornaments in her hair that made soft clanking sounds as she moved her head.

"Thank you dear!" Oak replied with a smile, "Ash, this is Professor Sada. We'll be staying with her while we're here."

"Nice to meet you, Professor," Ash said and he would have shaken her hand if his arms weren't full of Larvesta and his travel cage.

"You as well!" Sada replied, "My son, Arven, is with me for the week as well just to warn you both. His father had a meeting in Galar he couldn't miss."

"That's quite fine with us. We thank you for housing us," Oak said and Ash was completely fine letting the old man speak as he looked around while Sada led them to her car. The air smelled fresh, and the Aura of the land thrived. Ash had only been here for a few moments but he was already in love with Paldea.

"It's no issue at all," Sada replied and unlocked her car for them to get in, "I have a large home with quite a few empty rooms. It's the least I could do seeing as you've brought me quite the puzzle."

Ash kept his eyes glued to the window as they began their journey from the airport to Sadas' home. He saw many pokémon that he couldn't wait to meet and observe as well as perhaps capture one or two of them. He made mental notes on each pokémon to research later in his free time to see what they were and to learn more. The trip to the house didn't take long thankfully, but he was surprised to see the size of the house. He was much more used to Professors having smaller homes.

"Welcome to my home, you two!" Sada said as she turned the car off. Ash absentmindedly took his seat belt off before opening the door to get out, and paid no mind to Pikachu jumping onto his shoulder, as he peered around. The house and the clearing it sat in were surrounded by thick trees and the sunlight that could come through the leaves left the ground speckled with its light. He could see a few pokémon walking around without a care in the world and it really said something about this family if wild pokémon could feel so at ease around them. He felt nothing but peace around the home.

"Mom!"

Ash turned just as the front door opened revealing a younger teen, perhaps only a couple of years younger than he was. He kept his eyes on the teen, just observing him, as Sada walked over to pay attention to him. The teen looked remarkably like his mother with the same colored hair and eyes, but there were darker striped pieces of hair that could have come from his father. As Ash kept looking at him and observing his mannerisms all he could think of was that this younger teen reminded him of a puppy like Growlithe.

"They got out again?!" Sada exclaimed, shocking Ash out of his observations, and dashed into the house. Ash looked over at Oak as the older man looked at him and with a shrug Oak walked forward. Ash followed him and gave the younger teen a small sheepish smile as they entered the house and he wished he said something, but he just couldn't get the words out. Pikachu let out a zap of electricity as his greeting which Ash gave him a look for. He really didn't need Pikachu shocking innocent teens.

"Which way did they go?" Sada asked from where she was digging into a closet.

"Towards the beach," the teen said with a shrug, "I couldn't go after them to see exactly where they went. I was feeding Maschiff."

"Okay," Sada said as she pulled back from the closet and Ash guessed she remembered they were there and turned back to her son, "Um, Arven! These are Professor Oak and his assistant Ash from Kanto! They'll be staying with us for at least the next week. Please tell them about the two troublemakers before I get back. I don't want them to get scared. Oak, Ash, this is my son Arven! I do apologize, but I need to go get two wayward pokémon."

"It's no problem. I've had my own instances with unruly pokémon," Oak replied with a slight nod of understanding.

"Thank you!" Sada yelled as she made her way out the door. Ash turned to Arven as he heard a sigh and saw the younger teen hanging his head. As he was about to say something Arven began speaking about the two escapees. Two similar, but vastly different, pokémon that his parents had one day shown up with. One was named Koraidon and the other Miraidon. The two were apparently accidents from an experiment his parents ran and taking care of them was the least they could do.

"It's more like I watch over them," Arven bitterly said, "Mom and Dad are usually too busy to watch them, so I have to. Anyway, I'll show you two to your rooms. It's a long flight from Unova and I'm sure you're both tired."

Koraidon and Miraidon were nothing like Ash was expecting. He had thought that the two troublemakers were going to be small, perhaps mischievous like a Purrloin, but no, here he was face to faces with two large cat-like reptiles. The red one, Koraidon, kept making a purring sound as it rubbed its head against his chest while the blue one, Miraidon, had knocked his hat off and nuzzled his head. Ash just stood there, trying his best to stay upright, as the other three humans in the room just stared at them.

"I, uh," Ash said with a grunt as one of Koraidons' antennae smacked his jaw with enough force to surely leave a bruise, "I could use some help here." Even Pikachu, who had to jump off his shoulder when the two essentially tackled him, was looking at the two lizards with the grumpiest face Ash had ever seen on him. He had also seen Pikachus' cheek pouches sparking and he really would like to not get shocked today.

"I've never seen these two act like this," Sada said as she stepped forward and grabbed Koraidon by the base of the antennae to pull it back before grabbing Miraidon around its neck to pull it away.

"I'm special," Ash said with a shrug as he didn't want to divulge the information that he used Aura and that was probably what set the two off. He did have to give the two a few scratches along their necks and the bottoms of their jaws before the two would really leave him be for the time being. Now free from the two large pokémon, Ash walked back over to the couch where he had placed Larvesta and picked the baby fire moth up.

"Is this the one in question?" Sada asked as she set down her phone, she had told them that she was ordering food for everyone given how late it had become.

"Yes," Ash said with a nod and turned towards her, "I was just about to see if I can't get him to drink and eat something. All he's had was from before the flight here."

"What have you been giving him?" Sada asked and gestured for Ash to walk closer to her and the brighter source of light. He answered her questions the best he knew and kept quiet when Oak answered what he didn't know. Sada commended him for getting Larvesta to eat and drink something even though the bug didn't want to.

"I might have something that could entice him to eat more," Sada said after writing down a few things on a notepad Arven had grabbed for her, "It'll take a day or two to get permission to get it, but I'm positive it'll work. For tonight he'll be fine. The exoskeleton on his abdomen is still firm and his fur hasn't started falling out. Everything is pointing to him being well hydrated if a bit undernourished. Larvesta seems to still be well alert, and as long as his sleepiness doesn't turn into lethargy, then he can still bounce back quickly."

"Do you know what's wrong with him? Professor Juniper's father, Cedric, couldn't say anything," Ash asked as the door rang and saw Arven getting up to answer it. Just a moment later Arven was walking back with bags filled with their dinner in his arms.

"Again, I need to get some permission from our Champion before I can tell you that," Sada said with a deep sigh, "I want to blurt everything out and tell you, I really do. The research Turo and I have been doing is top secret, and the consequences for breaking our NDAs are severe. It seems like what is going on with Larvesta pertains to that research. I promise I will get that permission for you both to be in the know."

"Will I have to give him up?" Ash asked that awful question that filled his entire being of anxious dread, but he needed that answer. If Ash had to give him up then he wanted all the time he could get with Larvesta while he still could. The table grew silent as the tone of the question lingered in the air making the atmosphere feel heavy. Even Koraidon and Miraidon were staring at him from where they were curled up where a coffee table would have been.

"No," Sada said softly, effectively breaking the heavy tension in the air, and gave Ash a soft knowing smile, "I don't believe you'll have to."

Ash took a deep shaky breath and gave her a nod in thanks as he did his best to ignore the stinging burn in his eyes from tears of relief. He felt Larvesta wiggle in his lap and when he peered down he was met with happy filled sky blue eyes.

The next morning greeting Ash with Koraidon in his face and Miraidon looking at him from over Koraidons' shoulder. He wondered why his pokémon didn't alert him to their arrival, but as he pushed Koraidon away from his face to sit up, all he saw was them all deep asleep. Leaning over to grab his watch, Ash saw that it was close to five a.m. making him flop back with a groan. Feeling a dip at the end of the bed Ash looked over to see that Miraidon had moved and stepped up onto the bed with one paw.

"Come on guys," Ash said with a deep sigh, he didn't want to deal with them at the moment, he was jet lagged, had only been able to fall asleep a few hours before, and now his head was hurting a bit. Ash pushed back the blankets and sat up, making sure not to wake up his own pokémon as he did so, before getting out of bed. He was awake now and knew he wouldn't be able to fall asleep again for the moment. So he got ready for the day. He changed clothes, grabbed his watch, wallet, and carefully picked up Larvesta, who had woken up with the shuffling Ash did while getting ready, before leaving the room.

"Those two trouble makers wake you up?"

The sudden female voice startled Ash a bit, making him jolt, and when he turned he saw Sada sitting at the table with a steaming cup of what smelled like coffee. Ash nodded, still a bit tired and head hurting a bit too much to make conversation, as he helped himself to a cup of coffee and made some toast. The night before Sada had told them to make themselves at home since they would be there for at least the next week and they were welcome to anything within the four walls. Ash cuddled Larvesta as he sat down across from Sada and slowly sipped his coffee.

"I'll be leaving in a bit to head into work and to talk to Geeta, our Champion, to see about that stuff I told you about last night," Sada said softly, "You're more than welcome to explore outside and if you need a guide I don't see why Arven wouldn't mind being it."

"Okay," Ash replied with a nod, "Larvesta likes being outside anyway and I'm sure the rest of my pokémon would like to see Paldea. I saw a few pokémon on the way here that I've never seen before and I'd like to see them."

Sada nodded and gave Ash a soft smile before getting up to finish getting ready. Soon enough it was just him and Larvesta left in the kitchen as Miraidon and Koraidon left to head back upstairs. He finished his toast and coffee before getting up to grab some food for Larvesta to see if the small moth baby was wanting to eat or drink. Ash smiled as he saw Larvesta take a few sips before taking a few bites of the volcanic ash covered berry Ash had offered. He ran his fingers through soft white fluff as he softly praised and thanked Larvesta for eating.

Just as Larvesta finished Ash heard a door from upstairs open and then close before hearing footsteps coming down the stairs. Arven, along with a small puppy pokémon, trudged down the stairs with similar sleepy features to their faces and Ash had to turn his head away to hide the grin on his face from the adorableness. Ash greeted the two softly and cleaned up Larvestas' face before putting the baby moth on the couch to rest. He got a sleepy greeting from Arven and when Ash saw the younger teen start to get his pokémons' breakfast ready he got up to get food for his own pokémon.

"So I was thinking about doing some exploring in a bit," Ash said as the sun finally started to come in through the window, "Want to come with?"

"Hmmm," Arven hummed before nodding, "Sure. Maschiff could use some training anyway."

"Awesome! I'm sure my pokémon would like a new place to explore too and they like training others," Ash said as he finished making their food, "You want to meet them? I was just going to take these upstairs, but it's a bit crowded up there and not everyone can fit in the room all at once."

"Yeah!" Arven replied and Ash could see a sparkle in his eye. Arven must really like pokémon.

"I'll be right back," Ash said with a nod and placed the bowl he had in his hands back down onto the counter. Ash quickly, but quietly since Oak was still asleep, went up the stairs and gathered everyone. He cradled Pikachu in his arms as Zoroark carried Rockruff, Aegislash floated down the stairs and Ash had to carry both Nidoking and Noiverns' pokéballs since they were too big for the house.

"Oh wow!" Ash heard Arven exclaim as they appeared, "I've never seen a Zoroark, or this one, before! Who is this?!"

"This is Aegislash," Ash replied as he placed Pikachu, who was starting to wake up more, on the table while Zoroark placed Rockruff on the ground.

"So cool!" Arven said as he walked around the two. Ash could see that they were a bit uncomfortable, but he guessed Arven saw it too as the younger teen backed off. "What other pokémon have you caught?"

"I brought two more with me, but they're too big for the house," Ash said as he pointed to the sliding doors leading out to the back of the house, "I was going to release them out there so they could eat. I can tell you about the others then."

Ash started to gather bowls and Arven stepped forward to help him carry all the bowls outside while Zoroark grabbed Larvesta at Ashs' prompting. When they stepped outside Ash noticed that there was a table set on a wooden deck under one of the trees and headed towards it. Once he had placed the bowls down Ash grabbed Nidoking and Noiverns' pokéballs and released them. Nidoking let out a snort as he observed his surroundings while Noivern stretched his four wings and let out a yawn revealing sharp teeth.

"Is that a Noivern?!" Arven exclaimed, "Why does it look like that? Is it a new evolution?!"

Ash couldn't help but let out a laugh before explaining to Arven about Noivern as he showed everyone where their bowls were, made sure to tell Rockruff to slow down as the pup ate, and helped Noivern get to his own. Sure Noivern could have found it on his own, but Ash was trying to build enough trust with Noivern showing that he could guide the blind pokémon efficiently. After they ate Ash filled each bowl with clean fresh water in case they were thirsty and by the time they were done eating and drinking the sun was fully shining and the local bird pokémon were chirping.

Aegislash, Noivern, and Nidoking decided to stay back at the house as Arven and Ash explored around and Ash made sure to ask Aegislash to keep an eye on Larvesta, who was napping in a patch of sunlight. The ever vigilant sword waved one of her ribbons as she moved over to the sleeping Larvesta while Noivern and Nidoking settled down to enjoy the outdoors. As they walked down a trail Ash told Arven of his pokémon and how he came across them all, well he left out the Mewtwos of course, and how they were doing at the present.

"So what are-" Ash began to ask but was interrupted by the shout of a girl and the sounds of running. Turning to look behind him he saw a girl, about the same age as Arven, running towards them with what looked like a large mix of pokémon running after her.

"Help!"

"Nemona?!" Arven shouted, eyes wide, "What did you do?!"

Ash let out a sigh as he turned fully to face the crowd after the girl ran past. The mix of pokémon didn't look so tough, filled with base evolutions, and a couple of middle evolutions, but it would be easy enough for Pikachu to take them down with no trouble.

"Pikachu, knock them out." Ash said and his starter let out a chitter as the mouse jumped from his shoulder.

"Ash?! You can't seriously think that Pikachu could-" Whatever Arven was going to say was interrupted by Pikachu letting out a continuous stream of electricity that quickly and effectively knocked out the group one by one. Soon enough the group of pokémon were knocked down for the count.

"You were saying?" Ash asked a little cheekily as the girl, Nemona, started laughing.

"Thanks for the save," Nemona said once she calmed down and held out her hand, "I'm Nemona Kitamura, first year student at Naranja Academy."

"Ash Ketchum, Professor Oaks' OFRT,'' Ash greeted back as he shook her hand.

"OFRT?" Nemona asked with a slight tilt to her head.

"On the Field Researcher and Trainer," Ash replied, "It's a new job. I'm the first one in this position so I'm not surprised you haven't heard of it before. Now, why were they chasing you?"

"Oh! That… you see I was trying to train my pokémon and may have disturbed them," Nemona said as she reached up to rub the back of her neck, "I didn't mean too. Really."

"Suuure," Arven said, extending the middle of the word, "You see, Ash, Nemona is the most battle driven person I've ever met. She's always going on about battles and trying to battle everyone she can. Nemona tends to get a bit forceful with it too."

"That's not true!" Nemona replied to the accusation.

"It is too! Even Director Clavell has had to talk to you about it," Arven said and Nemona turned towards Arven, mouth open and about to continue arguing about it.

"Okay!" Ash said not wanted to be in the middle of the argument, "Let's just drop this for now, please. I was hoping for this exploration to be peaceful. I have enough on my plate currently to be in the middle of this."

"Sorry Ash," Arven said as he turned his gaze down while Nemona turned her gaze to the side with a similar apology.

"It's fine," Ash said with a sigh, "Sorry for snapping. I'm just a bit stressed at the moment. Nemona, if you want to join us, I don't think Arven or I would have any problems with it. Just please keep the arguing to a minimum."

Nemona nodded as Ash kept walking, the air was a bit tense, but it faded quickly as Ash started asking about the pokémon they had walked past. He found Lechonk quite adorable and Tarountula fascinating as it used its own webbing to cover its body. Nemona had even found a pokémon to catch called Pawmi, a tiny mouse, that reminded him of a smaller and fluffier Pikachu.

"Its final evolution is an Electric/Fighting type!" Nemona proclaimed as the ball dinged in a successful capture, "I've always wanted one since seeing it in the 'dex. It's so cute and I know it'll be super strong one day with the right training!"

"I'll have to come back and battle you some day," Ash said with a chuckle at her excitement.

"Yes!" Nemona yelled, causing a few Fletchlings to cry out and fly off. Arven laughed at the look on her face as Maschiff snorted. Ash smiled as they continued on and before long they had to turn around since there were a few large groups of Primeape and Mankey moving around. While Ash had strong pokémon he did only have Pikachu, Rockruff, and Zoroark on him and he didn't think he could take on entire large packs of Mankey and Primeape and there was even a couple of pokémon within those packs that he didn't know of.

When he asked what they were he was surprised to hear that it was an evolution of Primeape called Annihilape. Apparently it was first spotted during a televised battle between a Trainer and the Region's Champion, Geeta. The Primeape was on its last legs and wanting to win for its trainer it had evolved. It was a shock to everyone since no one knew that it could evolve until it did, and later after some testing it turned out that it was the rage the species is known for that caused the evolution.

"I wonder why no one outside of Paldea has found that out," Ash murmured a little loudly, "After all Primeape and Mankey can be found in other Regions too."

"Not a clue," Arven said as he led the way back to his house. Nemona had split off a bit a ways away to go to her own house.

"Maybe there's something going on with the Mankey and Primeape here that's genetically different from the other Regions' Primeape and Mankey," Ash concluded before dropping the subject. The rest of the walk to the house was silent, but peaceful. A few pokémon have run out in front of them, but continued on when they saw that they weren't going to harm them.

"Maybe," Arven replied with a shrug, but didn't say anything else as the house came into view with Sadas' car parked in front of it. Before the two could enter the house loud noises could be heard as they stepped onto the porch. Cautiously opening the door they were greeted to Koraidon and Miraidon wrestling on the floor. Furniture had been pushed haphazardly away from the area and Sada, where she stood in the kitchen, was shaking her head. He heard Arven sigh beside him and not seeing the two make any move to stop them made him assume that this was a normal occurrence.

"Ah, Ash!" Sada said after seeing them walk in, "I got Geeta to agree to give you that stuff for Larvestas' food!"

"Thank you!" Ash replied as he placed his bag down, Pikachu also hopped down onto the couch to watch the two wrestling pokémon. "What is it exactly? Are you able to tell me that at least?"

Sada nodded and gestured for him to walk into the kitchen fully. Sitting on the table in front of Oak, who was sipping on some coffee, was a hand sized bag similar to the bag he had filled with volcanic ash. Ash watched as Sada plucked up the bag and handed it to him. He opened it without any prompting revealing what looked like crushed up pearls. From the moment he had held the bag in his hand, Ash could feel exactly how pure the powder was. It shocked him to the core as he had never felt anything like it before.

"That, Ash, is a very special, very secret, crushed up crystal," Sada answered his question from a moment ago.

"Crystal?!" Ash asked, head shooting up to look at her and with a confused look on his face, "Why crystal?"

"You see, the crystal is special. It holds a natural occurring chemical component that we had never seen before, and whether it's an ancient chemical, or a new one, well we haven't been able to tell yet. This chemical is present within the very DNA of all the creatures we have been looking after for our research. Even Koraidon and Miraidon here," Sada explained, "Has it in their DNA. It only grows naturally in one place-."

"The Crater," Ash whispered softly, the answer coming to him easily. It would perhaps explain why he kept feeling the pull on his Aura from the direction of the Crater.

"Exactly," Sada said with a nod, "The Great Crater of Paldea. A place I got permission from Geeta to take you to. Tomorrow."