Author's Note: I would like to dedicate this story to a certain individual. She shall remain anonymous, but without her love for fanfiction, I do not think I would ever want to write this story! This is for you!

I am a sucker for a good family-friendly story involving found family, and, so, I just felt compelled to write one of these stories myself! Dawn and Paul's ages haven't been set yet but I will figure that out as I go...

Everyone except for Ash has no surnames because I currently can not come up with the right surnames for them...Also, what's a surname? Not every culture has surnames in their naming conventions...


If you asked Ash Ketchum the reason why his parents appointed Paul to be his secondary guardian, he could not tell you the answer to this question as neither Ash nor his parents knew as to why the International Secondary Guardian Association(ASGA) appointed Paul to be his secondary guardian. For starters, Paul is from Sinnoh and Ash is from Kanto, their countries are a connecting plane ride away from each other and Ash was not fond of layover flights. Secondly, Paul was not fond of Ash and Ash was not fond of Paul. Paul admitted that his older brother, Reggie signed his name up for the program and that Paul did not consent to this at all while Ash's mother, Delia Ketchim only hoped that Ash could have another father figure in his life after his father, Hirokazu Ketchum passed away.

A secondary guardian was legally recognized as a guardian for a minor but unlike a primary guardian, they were not legally responsible for a child but should all of the primary guardians pass away or be unfit to care for the child, the secondary guardian automatically becomes a primary guardian. Delia was very much alive but her health had been deteriorating for the past five years and it was her one and only request for Paul that he see to it that her son was well-loved and cared for to the best of Paul's ability. Paul only reluctantly accepted his responsibilities as who was he to deny an ill woman's possible dying wish?

Fortunately, Ash was not the only one to have a foreigner as a secondary guardian. His newfound best friend, Misty was from Kanto as well but her secondary-turned-primary guardian, Dawn has been nothing but an absolute pleasure to have around. On multiple occasions, Ash has explicitly showcased his envy towards Misty for having Dawn but Paul appeared unaffected by this.

One day, Paul surprised Ash and this action changed his views on Paul entirely. It was a normal, regular Monday afternoon and Ash arrived home from school at Veilstone High School. Normally, Ash would serve himself dinner but this time around, Paul had already prepared dinner for him.

"Okay, what's going on?" Ash gestured to the food placed on the table. "I know that whenever you make dinner for me, you've always got something to tell me! What is it this time?"

Paul did not say anything. He walked over to Ash, taking the teenager's backpack from his shoulders and placing it on a chair. He then pulled out an envelope from his suit's breast pocket and handed it to Ash. "Open it," he commanded.

Ash knew better than to disobey Paul's order and so, he opened the envelope. Seeing the contents inside, his eyes widened upon realization. "No way, Old Man," he shouted out. "This must be a prank or something! There is absolutely no way that you have just given me plane tickets to Johto!"

"Except that it's not a prank," he explained, "I had a talk with Misty's guardian, and the Madam and I have decided that you two deserve to have a vacation. Where to go was a whole debacle…I would rather not get into it but let me just say that arguing with the Madam is not something I would advise anyone not to willingly partake in. We always go to Kanto so that's nothing new and exciting…Additionally, we both agreed that Kalos would be highly inappropriate for two healthy red-blooded teenagers…I do not believe in minors participating in adult activities, especially if you have no intentions in marriage which is not the honorable thing to do…Also, Unova is far too big and diverse of a country to experience in the short span of eleven weeks and Aloloa's going to be swarmed with tourists since summertime is the peak season for them…So, it was a decision between Johto, Hoenn, and Galar. Johto won because we both have connections there and it's close enough for us to take a train or a ship to Kanto should you want to see your mother or if Misty wants to see her sisters."

"Why are you doing this," Ash asked him.

Paul shrugged his shoulders, "Why can't I do this? Do you not like your gift?"

Ash shook his head, "No, I do love it…But why are you out of all people going out of your way for me? You said yourself that you hate children and that according to you, I am nothing more than a burden for you."

"I will let you and Misty think about the answer to this question amongst yourselves. Should you two come up with the right answer, I will reward you. Should you two not, well, then, keep on trying until you get it right. Now, the Madam has told me that she plans on telling Misty the news on Friday…So, please…I am only asking you this once, keep this a secret until Dawn herself has told Misty herself. I do not want to deal with an explosive fit of rage, especially from that troublesome woman…Do you hear me?"

"Loud and clear, Sir," Ash answered.

A smirk appeared on his face. "Good boy," was all that Paul said, ruffling Ash's hair before he proceeded to leave the dining room, presumably to his office or his bedroom.

Wherever he went, Ash did not pay any mind to it as he was more than overjoyed at the prospect of spending an entire summer break with Misty. Sure, Dawn would be there but she was a joy to have as an additional companion and she seemed to be the only person other than Paul's family members to keep Paul in line. In fact, Ash would argue that Dawn was the only Paul tamer around in the entire world. Ash was very much ecstatic and he just could not wait to discuss this with Misty but a promise was a promise. Ash did not want to break his promise with Paul nor did he want to betray Dawn. While Kalos was considered the most romantic country in the world, Johto has recently started trending as a popular romantic destination for couples…Perhaps, if he and Misty were to put their minds together…Maybe, just maybe, Paul and Dawn could possibly fall in love and marry each other, allowing Ash and Misty to always be together. Ash could not bear the thought of being separated from Misty. She was just as much his family member as Paul was and he legally wasn't hers unlike Paul, he belonged with him until adulthood and the age of adulthood is twenty-eight so Ash still had thirteen more years to go until then…

What Ash did not know was that Paul and Dawn decided on this surprise summer vacation on a whim…Dawn had casually suggested to Paul one spring morning that since their assigned wards were already subconsciously in love with one another, it was up to the guardians to make the two of them realize their feelings. While Paul was not fond of the idea of seeing two underage rascals having a teenage love affair the idea was appealing as Misty could provide Ash with the love that he could not properly or ever give him. And, if Ash and Misty genuinely loved each other and swore to spend the rest of their lives together, Dawn and her parents could adopt the minor couple as members of their family. This would kill two birds with one stone as first, Ash would be well-taken care of and loved tremendously by Dawn and her family in Twinleaf Town, and second, this would take Ash off of his hands for good. Paul knew he was not fit to be a parent, he was inadequate in everything expected of a father and that was unfair to Ash Ketchum, the young boy who's been brought up with nothing but the sweetest things in life. Perhaps, this could be a chance of happiness for both Paul and Dawn as the guardian is free of the ward and the war is free of the guardian…

To be continued…


Author's Note: Please do let me know if there are pairings you love to see possibly appearing in this series! I am basic, but I love the default quartet pairings of Pokéshipping, OldRivalshipping/LeafGreenShipping, Contestshipping, and Ikarishipping! I grew up on those, and I'll be damned if they aren't still trending! But, I love multiple pairings involving the same characters, so who's to say that there won't be any love triangles?

Ash and Misty are minors, so there won't be anything that isn't PG-13 happening...Paul and Dawn are adults, so they're fair game...I doubt I will write smut, but Paul and Dawn are of legal marriageable age, so what's stopping them?