Chapter 1 – Tensions

Another day, another training session…

In a field just outside Lilycove City, a typical bright Hoenn day, Ash and Cameron were having yet another sparing matches. This time, a double battle. Ashachu and Geyser versus Hunter and Hirosaki.

What could possibly go wrong?

"Alright take your marks," Jimmy called out, acting as he so often did, as referee. "Begin."

Cameron made the first move. Raising his right arm and pointing dramatically he commanded to his Pokémon, "Hirosaki, use Luster purge. Hunter. Stay put."

It was an order Hunter was only too happy to obey. He didn't feel much like battling. In fact, he didn't fell much like doing anything. All he wanted to do is curl up in a quite dark place and is left alone.

'Whats the point,' he thought to himself as he watched Hirosaki fire off a massive burst of purple energy. 'Whats the point of any of this. Why am I fighting just so dad can win little bit of shinny metal? We're never gonna win the league!'

There was a loud explosion as Hirosaki's attack made contact with the ground, Ashachu and Geyser narrowly dodging by leaping to the side.

Hunter watched Ashachu as the mouse rolled through the grass and landed neatly on his all fours. Just looking at the mouse filled him with a strange mix of emotion. There was raw hurt and pain.

'How could you do it? How could you do that to me Ashachu.'

Anger and betrayal.

'I mean…I am your best friend. Or did that not mean anything to you. Were you really just using me to get at Geyser? That's solo wrong…'

A desire for reconciliation and reconnection.

'Oh Ashachu…I don't want to be mad at you. I still love you.'

And a small part of him that wanted revenge.

'But I'm not letting you get away with this…'

He watched as Ashachu charged towards him, sparks flying around his body. Ash had evidently ordered a volt tackle.

He sighed. The instinctive part of his Riolu brain was desperately trying to activate his flight or fight response. Telling him to counter attack, to run or to crouch in a battle ready stance and prepare to intercept.

But the rest of his brain, and his body too, were too lethargic to respond. What did it matter if Ashachu hit him? He couldn't hurt him any more than he already had. He'd awaken from fainting. But there were no full restores for a broken heart!

The yellow mouse came closer and closer. Soon he was practically on top of him. Hunter expected to feel the force of impact and the pain of electricity…

But instead he felt a claw grab him by the scruff of his neck, followed by a tug as he was lifted into the air. His eyes widened in shock, "Huh."

"Hunter pay attention," said Hirosaki angrily. Hunter turned his head to see the Latios' face close to his, a growl spread across it. "Didn't you hear? Cameron told you to get on my back."

Using both claws, Hirosaki placed swung Hunter onto his back, just between his wings.

"Hold on tight up their Hunter," came Cameron's voice from below, sounding slightly distant. "Hirosaki…"

Hunter didn't catch exactly what Cameron told Hirosaki to do. Next thing he knew Hirosaki was diving at a breakneck speed. He hadn't been ready for it, and felt himself slipping down Hirosaki's back. He gripped the feathers for dear life…

What happened next wasn't Hunter wasn't entirely sure. Hirosaki jerked this way and that…the poor Riolu didn't know in which direction they were going. He could hear Cameron shouting something, but couldn't work out what.

Then the feather's slipped out of his clinger and he was floating. Then flying. Then falling. And finally he felt pain explode through his little body before the world turned black.

"Hunter. Hunter, are you okay?"

Hunter opened is eyes and groaned. He felt like somebody had been beating him repeatedly with a club. He was aching all over.

As his vision came into focus, he saw Geyser's blue face close to his. He then noticed the Dewott's right arm over his shoulder and his left paw under the small of his back. Geyser was cradling him in his arms. The thought of it made him blush.

Geyser's face cracked into a wide grin. "Oh thank goodness. I was worried about you."

"Oh good he's alright," came a grumpy voice.

Hunter looked up and saw Cameron, Lucario and Hirosaki, standing over him. All three were wearing a deep scowl.

"It's only a week to the league. If we want to win, you need to pay attention."

"You're not going to win," Hunter muttered under his breath.

Geyser raised his head to give Cameron a frown before turning his attention back to Hunter. "C'mon. Lets get you a situs berry."

And to Hunter's surprise, Geyser picked him up, and carried him bridal style over to where Ash had set down his bag. The bewildered Hunter felt everybody eyes on him. Ash and Pikachu watching peculiarly, Sniveon and Nova gilling, Cameron and his two Pokémon still scowling and Ashachu…

Well he'd never seen the mouse give him quite a look like that before.

His heart rate sped up and his mouth suddenly became very dry.

"Here we go. I think there's some berries in here."

Geyser set Hunter down in the grass and begun rummaging through Ash's bag. He quickly found what he was looking for. "Here we go. Eat this, it'll make you feel better!" He held out a yellow berry.

Hunter took the berry from him and ate it in two bites. The effect was instantaneous. The aches in his body begun to fade and he felt a surge of energy.

"Oh wow. Thanks Geyser," he said getting back to his feet. "You're awesome." He patted the Dewott on the shoulder.

Geyser felt his heart rate increase. It was becoming difficult to breath. The sight of Hunter beaming at him proved too much. Geyser swallowed hard and, throwing caution to the winds, leaned out and gave Hunter a small kiss on on the cheek.

"Huh." Hunter's eyes widened. He had certainly not been expecting that… "G-Geyser!"

Geyser had just licked him. It had only been a small lick and it had lasted for less than a second. The Dewott had put his maw against his cheek and pressed the tip of his otter tongue into his fur. And now he was staring at him, red in the face.

'Wait, does Geyser,' but Hunter didn't get a chance to finish that thought. For at that moment a bolt of electricity hit from behind Hunter.

The Dewott let out a squeal of pain and dropped to the ground. Hunter turned his head to see a very angry Ashachu standing behind him. Red in the cheeks (more than usual) fur bristling, tail raised and his front right paw tapping the ground aggressively.

Hunter had never seen Ashachu look so…pissed off.

Geyser was quickly back on his feet. He whipped around to face Ashachu…

"You fucking otter," Ashachu growled.

And Hunter had certainly never heard him growl like that before…

"How dare you touch Hunter?"

Geyser was not intimidated. His eyes narrowed to slits and he glowered back at Ashachu. "Go away Ashachu. This has nothing to do with you."

Hunter was surprised at how calm the Dewott managed to keep his voice.

"Hunter's my mate," Ashachu growled. "Not yours. Don't fucking touch him. Don't go near him."

Hunter was feeling a mix of emotions. Part of him felt touched – This meant Ashachu still cared right. A bigger part of him was angry though. Ashachu certainly had some nerve getting shitty with Geyser over a tiny lick after the stunt Ashachu had pulled with that fucking Sneasel!

And then there was the discomfort. Hadn't he has the same conversations with Nova…And Sniveon, that Ashachu was now having with Geyser.

Geyser bared his teeth threateningly at Ashachu. "Oh come on Ashachu. We all know you all want him because I do. If you really cared you'd let him choose for himself."

"Watch it. You're about to cross a serious line there, buddy!"

"And good mates don't typically let themselves get fucked by other Poké…ahhh."

Ashachu pounced on Geyser, sinking his teeth and claws into Geyser's fur. Geyser responses by punching Ashachu in the ribs and biting down his ears. The two disappeared into a cloud of dust, kicked up by their tussle.

The human, and some of the more adult Pokémon rushed over.

"Ashachu! Geyser! Stop this right now," snapped a suddenly angry Ash.

"Pika Pikachu," squeaked Pikachu.

Ever the responsible parent, Oshawott was sitting in the grass, laughing his tail off and pointing.

Ash and Pikachu reached into the dust cloud and pulled Geyser and Ashachu apart. Ash lifted Geyser up by the scruff of his neck, while Pikachu dragged Ashachu away, his arms wrapped around is neck and chest.

"Now I don't know what this was about," said Ash. "But I never want to see you fighting like that again. I'm really disappointed in both of you."

"He started it," mumbled Geyser, who had the decency to look ashamed. "He attacked first."

"No he started it," Ashachu retorted, still angry. "He kissed Hunter!"

"Ashachu I'm surprised at you," said Pikachu. "You're normally better than this! I'm really disappointed in you!"

Pikachu didn't sound angry. On the contrary he sounded genuinely disappointed and almost a little sad. Hearing that seemed to drive the fight out of Ashachu. The mouse went limp and let out a long sigh.

"I'm sorry."

His tail and ears drooped and he hung his head sadly.

This didn't sate ash. He continued to frown at Ashachu and said, "I don't know what's gotten into you, but it's been one problem after the other with you lately Ashachu."

Oh how Ashachu wished he hadn't said that. The burning rage he'd been feeling at the sight of Geyser kissing Hunter had been replaced by a burning guilt and shame.

"Perhaps you need a longer time out." Ash reached to his belt for his a Pokéball. "You too Geyser."

Ashachu's heart sank. More time in his Pokéball. 'Great.' Well at least Geyser was being equally punished too.

And then he felt something poke him in the side of the neck. And with a jolt, he realized that it was Pikachu's nose. The other rodent was sniffing him, the cold wet tip of his nose digging into his fur and touching his skin.

"Err Dad?"

"I don't know why Ashachu," Pikachu replied his tone very different from before. "But for some reason you smell kinda good today."

And then, to Ashachu's real surprise, Pikachu licked his neck.

"Dad."

Ashachu tried to move away, but Pikachu's arms tightened around his chest and neck so he couldn't move. And then Pikachu licked him again. And again. And again. The feel of the other mouses tongue on his skin send electric shocks through his body. He shuddered.

Ashachu felt his stomach lurch and is heart thump in his chest. He blushed. For the first couple of licks it was awkward. And then it felt good. Really good. Ashachu begun to breath heavily shivers of pleasure running through his body.

He let out a single, barely audible moan. "Pika pika."

"Umm Pikachu," said Ash. "What are you doing?"

Pikachu suddenly snapped back to his senses. He stopped licking at Ashachu's nape and let go. Ashachu saw him quickly turn his back to him and knew his face had gone bright red and that he was trying to hide it.

And then he noticed his own sheath had started to swell and he felt a similar pang of embarrassment. He too started to blush. Though part of him was secretly disappointed Pikachu had stopped – not that he would admit that to himself.

"I think Ash his right," Pikachu said nervously. "A time outs a good idea. You should go back in your Pokéball for a while…"

"Pikachu. What were you?" Said a concerned Ash, kneeling down beside his partner.

But before he could finish his sentence, Pikachu ran off to hide being a tree.

"Pikachu," cried a surprised Ash, holding out an arm. "Wait…."

He got back to his feet to run after Pikachu. But before he could do so Jimmy placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him

"Leave him Ash. He's probably really embarrassed about it."

"Well he did just," Cameron begun.

"It's not Pikachu's fault," said Jimmy seriously. "He didn't mean to do it. It's biology."

Ash and Cameron both gave him perplexed looks. "Biology," they repeated at the same time.

At the same time, Ash noticed some of the other Pokémon, Lucario and Typhlosion in particular look uncomfortable, while Nova folded his arms and shook his head.

Jimmy sighed, trying not to roll his eyes. "I take it you know what's meant by the term mating season."

Ash and Cameron nodded but said nothing.

"So what happens during mating seasons is Pokémon starting giving off a pheromone, which signals to other Pokémon that they're ready to mate."

"Okay," said Ash slowly. "But, how does that."

"Well usually it's something in the environment that triggers the hormones that cause the Pokémon to give off those pheromones," continued Jimmy, painfully aware of Lucario and Typhlosion's blushing. Along with Nova's sniggering. "Something at the Aether foundation must have triggered the process in Ashachu. Maybe something they put in the water or air."

Cameron raised an eyebrow. "Hmmm. I thought it smelled funny in there."

"Why would they do that," asked Ash.

Jimmy shrugged. "It's a conservation organization. Maybe they want the Pokémon there to breed."

"So what you're saying is Pikachu was just reacting to Ashachu's smell?"

Jimmy nodded. "Probably."

Ash frowned, still feeling confused. "But…they're father and son."

"Doesn't matter," explained Jimmy. "Human taboos are Pokémon taboos. Pokémon inbreed all the time. Especially field Pokémon like Pikachu."

Ash pulled a face. "That's…kinda gross."

"Not really."

It was Cameron who had spoken. Ash was surprised to hear the note of hurt in his voice.

"Huh?"

"That's what bigots say about humans and Pokémon. Or same sex couples," Cameron said. "You should try to keep an open mind Ash."

"Some breeders deliberately inbreed their Pokémon," said Jimmy. "It's a way of ensuring certain genetic traits like IVs or egg moves will pass to offspring."

Ash had never heard of such a thing before. He wondered why Brock, his breeder friend, had never mentioned that to him.

Hunter listened to this with wide-eyed. He glanced at Ashachu quickly, before looking away. If Pikachu was reacting to Ashachu's, what had Jimmy called it? A pheromone? Then could the same thing have happened to Ashachu when he was with Blade? Did Ashachu have a good explanation after all? Should he forgive him?

But then he remembered the commotion with Geyser, and reconsidered.

"So hang on," said Ash. "You're saying I should let Pikachu and Ashachu."

"Well its not really your business," Jimmy replied. "You can't force human beliefs on a Pokémon."

"But Pikachu's," Ash started before trialing. He had been going to say my mate. But then he remembered. Oshawott…

The little otter had climbed onto his shoulder, after Pikachu had scurried into the trees. He was biting his lip, trying to repress a laugh.

'Maybe I do need to keep an open mind,' Ash thought to himself…