I think this is...like...the twentieth (20th) Megabondshipping one? Oops.

Enjoy!

Ash had been working with Professor Sycamore at his lab along with Alain and Mairin, ever since the Kalos Crisis. It turned out he was a lot smarter than everyone imagined, and him having the ability to use aura made it even better. Though he was just 14, he was already living thousands of miles away from home, but he didn't mind, since Alain, Mairin and the Professor were great company, and they thought the same about him. 

However, for some reason, he also asked them to keep his power secret. They didn't have a problem with it; they guessed it was because he was the only human who could use aura.

"Ash, fetch me that test tube for a sec?", Sycamore asked as he put on his glasses.

"Sure!"

Ash pointed his hand towards a test tube, and it glowed blue and levitated over to Sycamore.

"Thanks. I'm almost done with this"

Ash scurried next to the Professor as he dropped a small drop of something into a substance. It started to bubble and change color, much to Sycamore's delight, until the product suddenly started to shimmer and sputter. 

Alain heard an explosion from the room next to him. He immediately rushed into the door to find shattered pieces of glass everywhere, stained with a blueish liquid. Everything was on the floor, and most equipment was either burned or broken. 

"Ash, are you alright?", he fretted as he kneeled down next to Ash, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm fine...it must've reacted to my aura. Sorry, Professor..."

Professor Sycamore got to his feet and pulled out his phone.

"It's alright, Ash. Don't worry about it. I'll have someone come and clean this up for us. Let's go have lunch, yeah?"

Alain stood and and held out his hand. Ash slowly slipped his palm into his, knotting their fingers together, hoisting himself up to stand.

"Yeah. Let's go, Alain!"

Still clutching onto his hand, he led Alain out of the room. The man had to hide his blush and smile with his other hand as he walked.

Alain and Ash had been getting a lot closer since they started living together, much to Alain's delight. Although he wanted them to be a lot more than just friends, which Ash struggled to understand, he was quite happy with their relationship so far. He'd only just managed to explain to him that some friends are closer than others, but that was as similar to the concept of 'boyfriend' he could get to before Ash lost his focus. So he stuck to 'very best friends' for now.

They entered to kitchen to find Mairin and Chespie hurling potatoes across the room.

"Wha-guys! Stop!", Sycamore yelled as he got in between them. 

A carrot flew his way, ready to pierce his eye. Ash held his hand out and it immediately glowed and exploded. The Professor blinked a few times before turning to face him.

"Oh! Thanks, Ash! I didn't see that coming until you saved me. That could've blinded me!"

"No problem"

The Professor went over to the cooker, somehow completely oblivious to the mess of vegetables around the room.

Alain placed his hand on Ash's shoulder again, getting his attention.

"You're always saving and helping people", he muttered, "But no one ever does the same for you. Don't you feel sad about that?"

Ash smiled and chuckled softly.

"I'm used to it. It doesn't bother me"

Alain hesitatingly smiled back, his arm drooping to the side.

"Okay. I get it"

Throughout their time together, as they'd gotten closer, Ash ended up explaining to Alain his rather dark past, after he pressed him to tell him many times. How his father abandoned the family shortly after he was born, his single mother raised him alone and cried because of it, how he had to console her, how her mother died of an illness and she had to take over her business, how Ash's grandfather did the same as his dad, how he was bullied everyday, coming home covered in bruises, how he was always so lonely...and the other thing.

He still remembered the moment Ash explained it to him.

"That's pretty horrible. Having to walk home on your own 'cause you were so lonely. I'm surprised after all that you're still such a happy person", Alain praised as he held his hand in concern.

"Well, I realized that through all of it, there was nothing I could do except look to the bright side", Ash giggled with a grin.

"Of course you'd say that"

There was a brief silence between them before Alain remembered something.

"Ash?"

"Yeah?"

"I've been meaning to ask you a question"

"Sure!"

"Okay, so...don't take this the wrong way, but the way I know you, you're brave and courageous in every situation. But when...Lysandre kidnapped you back when all the Team Flare stuff was happening, you looked...scared. Of course, anyone would be. But, for some reason, I feel like that certain situation hit you hard. You always talk to me about everything...but that. I just want to know, did it really hurt you that much?"

After his long explanation, he watched as Ash's smile faded and his hand slipped away from his. His head hung as his bangs covered his eyes.

"...Ash?"

Ash didn't answer. He only raised his knees up to his chin so he curled up like a ball, but he was shaking slightly. Alain swore he could see a few tears. He thought he heard him whimper.

"Ash? I'm sorry, are you alright?"

"Don't..."

Alain crept closer to him, wrapping his arm around him slightly enough so he still had space.

"What?"

"Don't...apologize...it's not your fault...it's his"

Alain was quite confused at this point, but he knew it must've been something awful. He wasn't exactly content talking about his family situation, but he wasn't giving the silent treatment or crying either. On the other hand, he was happy that Ash was willing to cry in front of him. It meant he trusted him.

"Ash, talk to me", he whispered softly, "We're best friends, right?"

Ash dried his tears and slowly turned so he was opposite Alain.

"I was...um...k-uh...sorry, uh, I was um..."

Alain held his hand tighter as he struggled so speak. He'd never seen him stammer and be this nervous before. This had to be some sort of breakthrough for their relationship, if he was confessing something that made him cry. 

"It's okay. Take your time. I'm listening"

Ash dug his nails into Alain's palm, which he didn't mind. This was really the first time Ash depended on him to ease his pain.

"I was...kidnapped...when I was..I think, um...four"

Alain gasped as his eyes widened. He lost his his breath a little as that last word echoed in his ear. He knew not to say anything; it was Ash's time to speak. But he was tempted to just give him a hug and let him cry.

"I think...I don't know...it was raining. I was walking home from...school or something. And it was dark, it was winter. I was cold and...on my own and this man...it's hard to recall because it was so scary, um, chased me, through some parking lot, and, uh, tackled me, and, put his hand over my mouth, and no one saw or heard. The next thing...I remember, is, uh, that, I woke up in...his basement...or something, and he had, like, weapons, and, well, you'd probably guess what happened next, uh, I was missing for months, until, police came, and, uh, my mom was really sad...because...she couldn't take care of me...too busy...managing the business. But...she always warned me from then...be careful walking home..."

He paused, stammered and went blank a lot, but Alain wasn't expecting him to explain his trauma clearly.

"And...that...that man, he, I don't know how...Lysandre just...looked so much like him, and when, when, Lysandre, he, uh, kidnapped and hurt me, it just...it just brought it back and..."

He abruptly stopped mid-sentence and froze with a blank stare. Tears rolled down his cheeks as his breathing started to shake.

"And...now I'm here...crying...with my best friend..."

He gave Alain a weak smile, but the other was too close to bursting into tears himself that he just pulled him into a hug and let him cry. 

"The weirdest part...was that he sang some sort of song...I still remember it..."

He lay him down on the bed and planted a soft kiss onto his head before pulling the blanket over him and tucking himself in, having his arms around Ash to keep him calm. 

For months. No one saved him for months. 

Of course, never having a dad or really that much of a family and being bullied and kidnapped since a young age, you'd think someone would grow up believing they didn't matter and that no one needed to care for them. But he was proud of Ash for being such a strong and kind-hearted person.

It explained so much about his personality, even the littlest things, like why he always traveled in a group.

Since then, they never spoke about it or anything that would trigger it. 

"Ah, looks like we don't have much food left after Mairin and Chespie decided to play basketball with it. Ash, can you go get groceries?"

"Sure...", Ash mumbled before nodding to Alain, "Um...can you...come with me?"

Alain smiled and hummed warmly.

"Of course"

He understood that Ash would prefer not to go out alone. Besides, he wanted them to be together as much as possible.

Minutes turned into hours, and the sun began to fall closer to the horizon. 

"Alain, come on. We need to go", Ash urged as he lightly tugged his arm, "It's getting dark"

Alain looked down at him, saw how nervous he was, and nodded.

"Okay. Let's go", he agreed before taking Ash's hand, "But, you know, I'm here with you if anything happens"

Ash's head dropped.

"I know...it's not that I don't trust you, I do...but..."

"I understand. It's alright, Ash. There's no problem with it. I just want to make sure you feel safe"

Ash drifted to sleep during the ride home. Alain beamed as he watched him rest in such a relaxed manner. He'd managed to make him feel safe enough to sleep well.

As they passed a large building, two people wearing orange suits appeared from behind, holding some sort of device.

"There's some intensely strong energy waves coming from his car", one of them reported, "I'm sure Alain gave up his Mega Stone, right?"

"Right", the other added, "But this doesn't look like energy from a Pokemon. I've never seen this before. We have to report to the boss immediately. Whatever this is, he'll want his hands on it"

Alain opened the door to the lab and carried Ash inside after dropping bags of groceries into the kitchen.

"Ash fell asleep, but if he's hungry, I'm sure he'll wake up at some point in the middle of the night and eat then. He'll be fine", he explained to the Professor before heading upstairs.

Hours later, Alain awoke to the sound of something shattering. He quickly sat up to notice Ash wasn't with him. The window near him was broken. He quickly peeked outside to barely spot two people in orange suits turning a corner.

Without thinking, he grabbed his coat and rushed down the stairs, smacking the lights on, awaking Mairin and the Professor.

"Alain, where are you going?"

As he frantically heaved the door open, he screamed.

"Someone's taken Ash!"

Ash's eyes fluttered open. He found himself in a small room, dimly lit with no windows. He tried to move, but something pulled him back. Looking down, he saw chains from he wall locked around his arms.

An evil laugh echoed throughout the room. He recognized it immediately.

"Lysandre!"

Lysandre stepped out of the shadows, his hands behind his back. His smile was so wide, he looked insane.

On the other side, Sycamore shone a light from a device onto the wall, and it displayed a hologram that showed them the inside of the room.

"This x-ray device should tell us what's going on while Mairin opens the door"

The orange-haired man chuckled.

"So, we meet again"

Ash grew more furious, yanking his arms away from the wall as much as he could. The chains kept him restrained.

"What do you want from me?! You already hurt me once!"

"Are you sure it was only once?"

For a moment, Ash froze. His heart stopped as his eyes widened. Small stuttering sounds escaped from his mouth. 

Lysandre kneeled down in front of him, and cupped his chin is his large hands.

"Come on, you remember our song, don't you?"

Alain gasped as the truth hit him. He shifted his gaze to Mairin, who was struggling to unlock the door.

"Mairin, hurry! We need to get in now!"

Professor Sycamore held his hands out to calm him down.

"Woah, woah, Alain, calm down, what's gotten into you suddenly?"

"Ash was kidnapped when he was four! He was trapped with this guy for months! He tortured him, and he told me he sang a song that he still remembered!"

Sycamore exploded with a "Huh?!" and turned back to the inside of the room.

Lysandre began to vocalize a melody that was unfamiliar to the rest of them. Words started to form from the song, and Ash, still frozen, sang along silently. His lips moved with the words. His own blood and tears circled him below.

Lysandre got closer and closer. His hands traveled up Ash's body, caressing every inch of it. Before he made it to his cheeks, Ash let out a bloodcurdling scream. The entirety of his eyes were flooded with darkness as something black resembling a tentacle broke out through the ground, grabbing Lysandre's hands and feet. The man tried to break free as Ash's chains turned to dust, but he could only remain paralyzed as Ash etched his way closer, still painfully singing that song as tears flowed down his cheeks. Now, it was Ash torturing him. The tentacles held Lysandre's body down as Ash motioned his hands around, not only to scare him, but to control the dark magic he was using. It was almost like revenge. Lysandre was terrified.

The door was busted open, causing Lysandre to flinch, but Ash kept singing. Alain ran in and stumbled to his side, holding him tightly, stroking his hair. The darkness evaporated and he tiredly collapsed. Lysandre, set free, tried to run, but two policemen blocked his path.

"Ash, Ash, Ash", Alain repeated his name, shaking his shoulders.

Ash opened his eyes and smiled.

"A-Alain...", he whispered weakly as he shakily raised a hand to caress Alain's cheek.

Alain held it there as he began to sob.

"I've been thinking...for a while..."

Alain leaned closer as he spoke.

"I don't know...what it is...but when I'm with you...I feel like we're more than best friends..."

Through his tears, Alain smiled as his heart glowed.

"Does...does something like that...have a name?"

"Yes, Ash. It's called love"

"I'm not good with love. I never got any"

Alain pressed his lips against his, holding him closer than ever.

"Until now"

Thanks for reading and I just want to say that I'm so grateful for you guys. This book has reached 8k, and it's the fastest growing book I've ever written. I feel it could surpass Traumatized, my first book, which shows that this journey of writing so far has taught me a lot. So, thank you so much. :)