Hello Nuggies! Here it is! The awaited sequel to 'A Different Start' is here! As usual with my fics this is a SLASH fic, and there will be more slash in this fic than its predecessor. I hope y'all are ready! This one is gonna be a long one! I hope y'all are as excited to be here as I am!

Main Pairing: AshxPaul (Comashipping)

Rating: M

Disclaimer: I do not own anything pertaining to the Pokémon Franchise. It belongs to its rightful owner(s) and I make no profit writing this. This is just for entertainment purposes only.

Chapter Warning(s): Because it's been a min and for how long it has taken to get this out, please enjoy the itty bit of teasing slash at the end.

A/N: Sorry this took so long. I had a time and a half trying to get words typed out. Thankfully with some help I came out with this!

Enjoy!

Ash finally managed to calm down about halfway home after watching the rear view mirror and seeing that no one was following him. Ash slowed the car down a bit as he took a curve in the road and sat back in his seat. Taking a deep breath and slowly let it out helped relax his body and the white knuckled grip he had on the wheel was finally lax letting blood flow into his fingers making them throb a bit. He heard Rockruff beside him let out a whine and with a quick glance he saw the pup, and Pikachu, looking at him in concern.

"I'm okay," Ash said in reassurance to the two as well as himself, "I'm okay."

His mind was racing even though his body started to release the tension it held, the memory of the encounter flashing so very clearly. The Persian, if he was remembering correctly, was larger than he remembered Giovannis' Persian was, but he had only seen it on television programs, and the gem on its forehead was just a bit of a darker red shade than the bright ruby red Giovannis' Persian had. The feline didn't even show an ounce of hostility towards him and didn't even alert the man it was with. It was confusing.

The man on the other hand confused him even more than the actions of the Persian. The man had been tall of course, and broad, but in those few seconds he was in the mans' presence he didn't feel small. There was no feelings of intimidation, or fear. The flash of the mans' face came to him, and it just made him even more confused. There was a kindness in the man's eyes that he didn't think Giovanni could have ever held, his skin was a bit more tan than the last time he had seen the ex-Gym Leader, but Ash also didn't know how long the man had been on the islands and the tan would have been easily obtainable given that its been a while since they last seen the man in the raid. The lack of extra wrinkles on his face, and the carefree expression the man had, told Ash a completely different story and his eyes.

Ash saw them every time he looked in the mirror.

"They told me that my Renato was killed while on the way back home from a work trip. The plane he was in crashed into the ocean. As far as I know they've never found the plane or any survivors from it."

"Was that my Dad?" Ash asked aloud softly breaking the silence in the car. The words rang loudly in his ears as disbelief filled him.

After Ash ranted to Paul about what had happened his boyfriend simply wrapped him up in a blanket and held him. A bit confused by his action, Ash didn't question Paul as much as he wanted to. The warm hold, Paul's scent, and the sounds of waves crashing onto the beach lulled Ash into a bit of a trance that turned into a much needed, after a panic attack, nap. By the time Ash woke up again the sun was on the horizon and Paul was making some food making his belly grumble in want once the scent of the food entered his nose.

"I used your phone to message Lance about the man," Paul said as Ash, blanket and all, sat down on one of the bar stools in the kitchen, "He replied with a thank you and a promise to look into Giovanni's whereabouts since they have been lost since the raid. If the man is found elsewhere, then the man you saw today may be your father. I would ask your mother for a picture of him, but I wouldn't tell her about the man in the store. I wouldn't want to get her hopes up after all this time only for the man to actually be Giovanni."

"Sounds reasonable," Ash replied after letting out a yawn, "Thank you for messaging Lance, and thank you for calming me down earlier."

"No need for thanks, sweetheart," Paul said with a slight shake of his head, "Also Riley messaged you. I didn't read it though so you might want to read it soon and reply if it needs it." All the sleepiness Ash had been feeling vanished at the information Paul had given him and quickly reached for his phone to read the message.

"I'll be there in three days."

Ash huffed softly but shrugged and accepted it while he sent the man a thanks for the heads up. He had hoped Riley would have been a bit quicker, but who knows what the man had been doing. For all Ash knew he was on the other side of the world and it took time time to travel from that far away. He told Paul that they might have a guest at that time, since he didn't know if Riley would be staying, before telling him that he was going to the beach for a bit while Paul cooked. He needed some fresh air.

Pikachu joined Ash, along with Jangmo-o, on the beach, the waves seemed to crash a bit harder as the moon began to rise higher in the sky, but the sounds were still calming. A source of noise that Ash could focus on instead of the racing thoughts in his own mind. The teen watched Jangmo-o run around on the sand as he ran his fingers through Pikachus' short static filled fur. He didn't know how long he had been sitting there just basking in the scenery, but it wasn't too long before he was joined by someone he hadn't seen in a while.

"You are confused."

Mewtwos' deep voice seemed to balm a feeling Ash had been feeling inside and didn't realize that it was there. He turned his head a bit to see Mewtwo sitting beside him on the log he had claimed when he came outside. The bandanna he had given the creature so long ago was still in pristine condition and tied neatly around their neck. Their long tail swayed in the air behind them exuding a sense of calm the creature must have been feeling.

"A bit yeah," Ash replied to the statement, "It's been a while. Is everything okay?"

"Yes, it has been a while. We three are doing quite well," Mewtwo spoke, "We came to the decision to take a bit of a break from finding more hideouts for the moment. Give them a sense of calm before we hit them again."

"Make them think that you've gotten all the hideouts you know about and that the rest are unknown and safe," Ash said with a nod as he understood what the creature was thinking.

"Precisely. We did, however, come to a conclusion about a different matter and hoped you would amend it as well," Mewtwo said, a bit of hesitancy on their voice.

"What is it?" Ash asked as Pikachu got off his lap to herd Jangmo-o away from the water, where the little dragon was chasing another pokémon towards in an attempt to play.

"The other two, my little siblings, I suppose they would be called, wish to have the same protection I do. Mewtwo Y, as we have deigned to call her, or just Y, had been sucked into a ball similar to the ones you have, but managed to escape it before it succeeded in capturing her. When a ball struck me next and broke on its own X, her brother, and Y wanted to know how it happened and now wish for that sort of protection so they are able to stay out of enemy hands. If you would be amenable to it and would protect their pokéballs like you have mine?"

"Of course I will," Ash said not in the slightest bit hesitant and no second thoughts about it. What kind of person would he be if he denied a pokémon any sort of protection or comfort when he was so readily and easily able to provide it.

"My thanks. I will tell them in a few days after we've all had some rest," Mewtwo replied with a slight nod of their head, "Now, what has made you so confused? Perhaps I may be able to give you insight."

Ash sighed as he told Mewtwo about what happened earlier that day and what has been running through his head about it. Now that he was calmer Ash seemed to be able to compartmentalize what exactly he experienced and remembered it much more clearly. The more he thought about it the more he was so sure that the man in the store wasn't Giovanni. As he spoke he did message his Mother for a picture and after he was finished he thanked Mewtwo for letting him get it all off his chest. He did feel a bit lighter now that he spoke about it and not bottled it all up.

"If you wish, I can look into this man?" Mewtwo offered after letting their protector and friend speak.

"No thanks," Ash said with a shake of his head, "Thank you though. You've said it earlier, you deserve a bit of break. Not anymore work. If you want you can stay here with us, or explore the world and see what it has to offer for you all once all of this is done. I can feel it, Mewtwo, this whole thing with Team Rocket is going to be over with soon, but for how soon that is, I have no clue."

"As much as I wish to stay there is something calling for me to go and explore," Mewtwo said as Jangmo-o approached the two with Pikachu, now covered in sand, trailing behind the little dragon. Pikachu let out a soft chitter as he shook his body, but didn't make for Ashs' lap. "There is one last matter I wish to speak with you about."

"What is it? You know you can always talk to me about things, and that extends to your siblings as well," Ash said as he gave Mewtwo his undivided attention.

"The other Mewtwo, Black Mewtwo," the creature spoke, an unusual hesitancy coating their voice, "My Siblings, and I, wish to take him for a time. Try to get him to see that our Creator was wrong and never once cared for us. We hope that since he has his own ball, that if he were to get unruly we could put him in it until he calms down so it doesn't come to bloodshed once again."

Ash looked at Mewtwo, his eyes wide, his mind flashed to that singular purple pokéball that was buried so far in his bag that he was surprised it hadn't torn a hole in the fabric. He could already feel his hands shake and his skin tingle at the thought that he would have to touch the ball just to give it to Mewtwo. He felt a small body press against his leg along with sharp heated tingling feeling and when he looked down he saw Pikachu letting off small sparks from his cheek pouches that touched his leg. Pikachu really knew how to snap him from his thoughts and out of a panic attack, he couldn't have asked for a better partner.

"I can't touch his ball," Ash confessed softly, "but it would take some weight from my shoulders if you could take him. Would you take it from my bag for me?"

"Of course. Shall I wait here while you retrieve your bag?"

Ash nodded and slowly got up from the log. His legs shook not only from the slight bit of panic he had experienced, but also from him sitting in one position for so long. He gathered Jangmo-o and let Pikachu jump onto his shoulder before walking the short trek to the house to grab his bag. Once inside he quietly told Paul about Mewtwo visiting for the moment and what they were about to do only to get a soft forehead kiss and a promise for cuddles after they eat what he made for dinner.

Feeling a bit better, and ecstatic with the promise of cuddles, he quickly grabbed his bag before heading back to the beach, without his pokémon as Paul had gotten their dinner out as well. The bag felt heavy in his hands as he knew the ball was hidden in it. He hadn't been able to go through his bag since he had put the ball in it and felt a bit of relief that in just a moment it would be gone and he could hopefully start to heal from it. But Ash didn't know if he would ever truly heal from the trauma Black Mewtwo caused him.

With shaking hands Ash handed the bag to Mewtwo, once he had made it back to the creature, and told them that the ball was buried deep in the bag. He couldn't watch Mewtwo take the ball out of the bag, the memory of it already flashing in his head sending him into a bit of a spiral. Ash accepted the bag back once it was voided of the ball and was thankful when Mewtwo had thoughtfully placed the ball behind their back to keep him from seeing it. He said his thanks to Mewtwo and gave the creature a quick hug, careful to not get close to the ball, before Mewtwo was gone with another thanks and a promise to be back soon with their siblings.

There was a bit of a pep in his step as he walked back to the house. The bag he carried was figuratively lighter, there was a bit of weight off his shoulders, and there were promises of cuddles waiting for him.

Ash spent the next day in the town.

His wonderful Mother did send him a four photos. The first was of the two of them when they were younger, his mother had longer hair that fell down her back in a braid while Renato, his father, had his hair chin length and partially pulled back to keep the hair out of his face. The second photo was just Renato wearing some type of uniform, Ash assumed it was for his work, and was holding onto an Egg while his Persian sat beside him, the man wore a large grin and his hair had been shorn short. The third photo was of the two of them on their wedding day, a photo Ash had never seen before, Renato wore a dark suit while his mother looked beautiful in her flowing white dress. The last photo was of the two of them at what looked like a small intimate baby shower, his mother was very visibly pregnant and wore a soft blue sundress while Renato wore a shirt that was so light pink it could have been mistaken as white.

He thanked his mother profusely as he knew that finding those pictures, and having to look at them while sending them, hurt. He had taken a better look at the pictures, after eating the food Paul had made him, and decided that, yes, the man he had seen in the store was his father. He would at least get confirmation about it once Lance got back to him, but he was ninety percent sure he was correct.

If he was indeed right, then he had so many questions. Why hadn't his father contacted them? Why hadn't the authorities? Was his father the only survivor? Did he have another family now? Did he cheat on his mother? Was he actually part of Team Rocket?

More and more questions raced through his head and it all led to him, here in the town, searching high and low for this man. He had made the decision the day before to stalk this man for the day to see where he went, who he spoke with, what he ate. Well, perhaps not that far, but Ash did want answers, and most importantly he wanted those answers for his Mother who deserved them the most. After all she had been waiting almost seventeen years for answers.

It thankfully didn't take him long to find 'Renato' and so his little venture in stalking began. He did his best to seem nonchalant as he followed him, taking photos, and eavesdropping on the mans' conversations with the other town folk, and once he thought he had seen enough and gathered enough photo evidence of him, Ash left. He didn't go back to the house though, he wanted to stay around the area for a little longer so he made his way to what he thought had been an empty beach.

He had been alone when he arrive, the sound of the waves gently crashing against each other welcomed him, but after a while other people came to the beach. The people didn't bother him and he made sure to keep his pokémon in check and made sure to step in if one of his partners looked as though they were starting to get a bit agitated when an adult got too close, but other than that he focused on his task.

He compared photos against each other. Looking closely at each element of the photos, the eyes were the same, the shape of the face, the easy going smile, and even compared the Persian's to each other. The only difference between the older photos and the newer ones were how old the two were beginning to look. The man had started to gain his gray streaks and the Persian had started to get a frosty muzzle and paws.

"It's really him," Ash hummed softly to himself feeling a bit incredulous at the revelation, "He's my Dad."

Dad. The word felt foreign coming out of his mouth even though over the years the word was familiar in his head. He didn't know if he could ever call someone Dad having not have anyone fill the role in his life, unless Professor Oak filling a grandfatherly role counted. He listened as Paul had spoken about his own Dad, who had passed away only a few years ago, but still the concept of a Dad, a Father, was weird to him.

Ash didn't notice that he had even been crying until someone sat next to him. He turned sharply while locking his phone to look at the man only to see that it was just Professor Kukui, the teacher he met from the day before. He had wondered why his pokémon had let the man get so close to him in the first place, but as he saw them playing and being calm he figure the man wasn't a bad person. His partners had excellent judgement of characters.

"You okay?" Kukui asked as the man drew up his knees to rest his arms on them. The man wore swim trunks and a loose tank top which was an improvement to the shirtless look the man had on yesterday.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Ash replied with a small nod, "Just figuring things out."

"Hmmm," Kukui nodded as before looking out towards the water and when Ash followed his line of sight he could see the teens he had met yesterday in the classroom.

"How's she doing? With the egg and all?" Ash asked after a moment of silence.

"She's doing as well as we hoped," Kukui replied, "She's gained more confidence with the Egg. She's really taken to it like a Psyduck does to water."

"I'm glad," Ash replied with a small happy nod of his own. Slowly their conversation turned from Lillie to pokémon and then onto other things as Ash asked about the Islands. As the Regional Professor, Ash had just learned who Kukui actually was, the teen had hoped that the man would share something about perhaps an incident with a plan crash almost seventeen years ago, but the man never brought it up and neither did Ash. Deep down Ash perhaps thought that he needed some more time to come to terms with it before he could ask more about it with someone he had only met twice.

They were soon joined by the other teens, who had gotten into the picnic basket the man had, and surprisingly Ash felt a bit peaceful in the small group. He learned a bit more about specifics about the islands from the other teens and was invited to do several things with them during the time Ash was going to be on the islands. Kiawe had invited him to his family's farm, Lana invited him on one of the monthly fishing trips while Mallow invited him to her Father's restaurant to try their specialty malasadas. Sophocles, who was one of the shy teens of the bunch beside Lillie, didn't invite him anywhere, but instead talked to him about Electric type pokémon and told him all about Alolan Raichu. Lillie, the shyest of all the teens, sat the furthest from his pokémon and only spoke up when she was asked a question, but seemed content just being there. Her Egg, which was still in the incubator, sat beside her along with the bag he had given her from the facility.

Ash was ecstatic when he posed a question about his boyfriend perhaps tagging along on some of the invites and the others agreed to let him. They seemed excited to meet another trainer from another Region. Perhaps if all went well they could extend their stay on the Islands or come back later when the two had more time to explore the rest of the Islands. He asked Kukui, during a lull in conversation as everyone finished their snacks, about learning more about the Jangmo-o line after explaining about his own and the problem Ash ran into after the little dragon hatched.

"I'm just unsure how I'm supposed to be the best partner to him," Ash said, "I mean, he's not the first pokémon I have that has a disability, but at least my Noivern can still hear me and knows how to use echolocation to get around without trouble. It's not like I can stop Jangmo-o physically when he's in the middle of a tantrum when he can't hear me, and if he's raging then he won't even pay attention to any sign I give him. I don't know how I'm supposed to battle with him or if I should just let him do his own thing if we get into battles."

"You said he was born deaf right?" Kukui asked as Mallow started a game of tag with the others.

"Yes." Ash replied while Pikachu curled up beside him tired from playing with other pokémon.

"Let me talk to a few people and get back to you. I might be able to get you into one of our Reserves to speak with an expert on the Jangmo-o line," Kukui said as he reached into his bag to take out a piece of paper and a pen. Ash watched him write on it before it was handed to him and when he looked at it, he saw that it was the man's number.

"Thank you," Ash said as he tucked the paper into one of his pockets, "I would love to stay and talk, but it's getting a bit late and I have a bit of a drive to get back to the house. I'll be a bit busy for a couple of days, but afterwards I should be free, so no rush on speaking to those people. We'll still be on the Islands for a couple more weeks."

"Got it!" Kukui said and said his goodbye as Ash got up. He waved to the other teens before turning to leave. By the time he made it home, the sun was kissing the horizon casting a soft orange glow wherever it touched. After releasing everyone to do whatever they wanted to do, Ash went on a search for Paul. He felt as though he had been neglecting his boyfriend as of late and wanted to make amends. Ash didn't find him in the kitchen or the living room, and he certainly wasn't in the bedroom, but after a few more minutes of searching he found Paul sitting on the balcony, glasses perched on his nose and a book open in his hands.

"Hi," Ash said softly as he walked onto the balcony.

"Hi," Paul replied as he closed the book and took off the glasses.

"Sorry for all the drama and stuff going on," Ash said as he sat down on the seat next to Paul, "This was supposed to be a relaxing time before we leave for Sinnoh."

"Yeah," Paul said with a small nod as he placed the book down on the table, "But don't apologize for the drama. It's not your fault you keep getting mixed up into this stuff."

"Thank you," Ash said softly with a small smile on his lips. He got up off the chair and walked over to Paul, who opened his arms. Instead of sitting on his lap sideways, Ash straddled Paul and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend's neck. "Thank you for sticking with me through all this and being my rock when I need one. I don't know how I could ever repay you for all this."

"No repayment needed, baby," Paul said with a slight shake of his head before pressing a soft kiss on Ash's neck, "it's all a part of being in a relationship with someone. Being there for your significant other during the hard times and basking in your love in all the good ones. Besides I know that if it were me in this type of situation you would do the same for me."

"Of course I would," Ash said without any hesitation, "Still doesn't make me feel good about it though."

"It won't," Paul said in agreement, "But we can push through this and come out the other side, stronger."

Ash nodded and tightened his hold a bit before relaxing into Pauls' arms. He felt Paul hug him tighter and smiled as he felt warm lips press a kiss on his neck. He really did adore this man. He gasped softly and felt a shiver run down his spine as the soft kiss turned into a nip followed by more as Paul trailed up and down his neck. Ash could feel himself starting to harden in his shorts, but before he could do anything to adjust himself Paul had already stood up with him in his arms. Ash firmly wrapped his legs around Paul to keep himself from falling as his taller boyfriend walked inside.

His plans to pleasure his boyfriend were derailed when Paul pressed him against the bed and started to kiss him. He felt breathless once Paul let up on the kiss and had to suck in a deep shaky breath to give his lungs much needed oxygen. If he wasn't fully hard by the bites to his neck than he surely was now. He let Paul take off his shirt only to let out a groan as Paul immediately started to nip and suck on one of his nipples.

"Been a minute since we did this," Paul murmured after releasing his poor pleasure abused nipple, "how far?"

Ash took a minute to formulate a thought before telling Paul how far he wanted to go. He still wasn't ready to go all the way, but he was sure he would be ready soon. For now, he enjoyed having Paul's fingers in him stretching his hole as far as they could to pleasure him from within and having Paul's cock down his throat until his boyfriend either came down his throat or covered him in his cum.

As he came down from his own orgasmic high, while Paul was in the bathroom grabbing a rag to clean themselves with, his phone ding several times indicating he had gotten a few messages. Ash was too tired, his body too lax to get up and grab it to see what they were, but that was fine. The messages would still be there when he was able to get up, and for the moment this time was for him and Paul. He could deal with whatever it was when the sun rose.

Right?