Truth and Ideals

Disclaimer: This work is a non-profit fan fiction for Pokémon. I do not own Pokémon nor do I own any of the characters aside from the occasional original character that may or may not appear in this story. The property of Pokémon belongs to Game Freak, which in turn belongs to Nintendo. Please support the official works.

Content Warning(s): While the story is Safe For Work overall and was previously uploaded to both FF.net and AO3 as T Rated, I should warn you of the fact this story contains scenes of swearing, violence of varying degrees, non-explicit sexual content, and what some would consider borderline nightmarish situations.

Progress: WIP. Uploads first appear on FF.net, then to AO3, and then lastly to here or anywhere else.

That said, the first 10 or so chapters overall do tend to suffer from Early Installment Weirdness more than anything else when compared to the chapters that come further down the road. So with that in mind, you'll probably need to be able to wait until further chapters are posted to get a proper opinion on the story. Also in case anybody is curious, but because of the Early Installment Weirdness, when the entire story is finished, I'll be going back into the chapters from the very beginning and then reuploading revised versions of the original chapters based off of key points that needed to be addressed, or for the even better goal of adding more foreshadowing to a plot element that occurs later but doesn't get foreshadowed as much initially due to varying factors that simply weren't relevant at the time of the initial writing.

Also, keep something in mind if you happen across my art thread; spoilers for the story as a whole are immanent if you happen to go look at what I have there to see.

Spoiler: Truth and Ideals Prologue and Chapter 1

You might be unfamiliar with who I am. At the same time, you might claim to know everything about me. If you're in the latter group, however, I believe you are thinking about somebody else who shares my exact same name and starter Pokémon.

Believe me, it isn't easy being a fledgling Pokémon Trainer, and I've actually yet to officially begin my journey. With my friends, Cheren and Bianca, by my side, I feel safe and reassured that I can be the very best as a trainer. They've been my friends for as long as I've lived here in Unova for crying out loud!

But alas, you're probably wondering who exactly I am. I am a sixteen year old boy who simply wants to leave on my, er, our adventure, and finally get to experience what being a Pokémon trainer is like. Let's just say I have a hunch that things will either go great, or have a few missteps in our quest, but I will assure we will all move forward.

My name is Ash Ketchum, and this is the beginning of my journey through Unova and my quest to become the Pokémon Champion!

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It was a calm, peaceful morning in Nuvema Town. Pidove were chirping happily outside around the small neighborhood, as one individual in particular flew into a house with an open window on the second floor, as it gazed at what was going on inside.

"Ash? Where are you?" Called the voice of a 38 year old, yet still young in tone, Delia Ketchum, as she look as to where her son could be. She was in his bedroom right now, but he was nowhere to be found, so walked downstairs to check a different room, passing by two Pikachu, an aged male with a just as old female, who were confused as to what was going on.

When Delia finally found Ash, she found him in the kitchen, holding onto a frying pan and spatula as he was just finishing up making pancakes, an odd choice of what he'd be doing at this time, was the thought the Delia had at the moment, as she walked up to him to see what was unusual about today.

"Hey, Ash, are you alright?" Delia asked, before adding "You're not normally up this early, so what's so different about today?"

With that, Ash turned off the stove as he finished preparing breakfast, setting up four plates as he carefully cut two of the servings into normal sized pieces, while cutting the second batch into much smaller pieces, and placing them onto the ground besides the wall as the two Pikachu from earlier notices the plates of food and rush up towards them happily.

"Pika!" The male Pikachu spoke, as he was petted on the forehead by Delia, her mood seeming to damper a bit for some reason, as Ash setting her plate down and serving her first cheered her up a bit, if primarily due to how much Ash has grown up at this rate. It was only yesterday in which he still behaved like a kid, thought Delia.

"I'm doing fine, mom. I just figured I'd better start acting like my age. That's all." Ash said, as he set his own serving of pancakes down, but did not immediately eat just yet as he began cleaning up the kitchen stove and counter from his cooking, as Delia realized something.

"... This is about you wanting to become a Pokémon Trainer still, isn't it?" Delia spoke, her tone hinting at worry, as Ash, realizing this, sighed a bit.

"Mom... I don't mean to upset you by asking for such a thing after the last few years of having asked, but I'm not just a kid anymore." Ash spoke, as he finished cleaning the stove and counters, and only did now did he begin to eat his own breakfast as Delia sighed a bit.

"You know what happened to-"

"Please, don't bring him up, I don't want you to begin crying like you've used to..."

"I'm not going to cry about him again!" Delia suddenly shouted, as the two Pikachu were taken by surprise by her sudden shouting, as the male motioned for the female, the latter noted as having a heart shaped tail, to check on something, all the while the male jumped up onto the table to listen to Delia and Ash's argument.

"Mom, I've wanted to become a Pokémon Trainer for years just like every other kid who has since grown up and left Nuvema Town. Heck, the only reason why Cheren and Bianca haven't left on their own journey yet is because they've selflessly began waiting for me to be able to travel with them, and all this time, I've basically been holding them back because you've refused to let me."

Ash's words hit Delia a bit harder than he intended to, as this was the first time in nearly six years of asking has Ash brought up Cheren and Bianca into the argument. I know the three of them are close... but I never realized that was why those two never left yet, thought Delia, as she didn't have an urge to fight back against Ash's argument.

"Is that really going to be a good impression on them? Just for me to be sheltered here for all of my life just because of an incident with dad that-"

Silence filled the room very quickly when Ash was forcefully shut up by Delia, who had slowly moved over to Ash, hugging him since she did not realize how much she was hurting not only herself, but also her son for not letting him live his dream, all because of an incident many years ago that has made Delia paranoid about Ash living in his father's footsteps.

"Ash... I admire your bravery... I truly do... But I don't think anybody is going to find any answers about your father, especially considering he had disappeared before you were even born." Delia spoke, as Ash calmed down as she had hugged him, to which he responded by hugging her back.

"I-I'm sorry for antagonizing you when I shouldn't... I didn't mean to sound that way, mom. It's just... well... I don't really know anymore..." Ash spoke, as the awkwardness filled the room slowly once Delia let go, and Ash looked up at her as he was just pleading for some kind of answers for himself that Delia did not know how to answer.

"If you really want to go on a journey as a Pokémon Trainer... Then I insist you never leave Cheren and Bianca's side. Do you understand?" Delia asked, as she pulled something from under a blanket as she had walked back to Ash to show him what it was; a Pokémon Egg incubator.

"If you still insist on going on a journey, I also insist you take this young one along with you, for me, please?" Delia asked again, as Ash took the incubator from her hands and noted the yellow and black colored egg inside, as he looked at the male Pikachu which was still watching the two of them.

"Pikapi...!" Pikachu spoke to Ash, as Ash looked over at him, nodding to him, before gazing back at his mother again.

"Alright, but I'm not sure if Cheren and Bianca will be happy about my being a step ahead of them in our journey together." Ash answered, as he looked at the time on his Xtransceiver, noting that Bianca would be waking up soon.

"Just promise me you'll all take good care of each other while you're out, alright?" Delia asked for a bit of reassurance, as Ash nodded.

"I wouldn't worry about it; we'll take care of each other just fine. I mean, at least I'll be the one cooking for us." Ash spoke, as he tapped the screen on his Xtransceiver to begin to dial to both Bianca and Cheren, two of Ash's childhood friends who have still lived in Nuvema Town to wait on Ash to travel with them.

"Hey guys, remember what you've both been waiting on me for all this time?"

To Be Continued...

Spoiler: Truth and Ideals Chapter 2

"So, she finally agreed to it?!" A bright, bubbly young woman on one end of the Xtransceiver spoke to Ash.

"If he's calling us with the confidence he has, I do believe that should be obvious..." A calm, stern young man spoke on the third end of the call.

"Trust me, my mom's still a tiny bit upset about it, but she's finally relenting about it." Ash responded to the two of them, before adding in: "I just hope your father is okay with you going on a journey with us, Bianca." Ash spoke to the girl, named Bianca.

"I-It's... Say, Cheren, do you have anything to add before we all get ready to meet up at your house?" Bianca asked Cheren, her and Ash's other friend whose part of the call. Cheren, meanwhile, groaned a bit.

"... Couldn't we just arrange for the meeting at the Professor's lab?" Cheren asked, before he heard the doorbell ring on his end. "Er, hold that thought." Cheren said, suddenly hanging up on his end, as Bianca looked at Ash from her end of the video call, her expression seeming to appear nervous.

"Say, Ash... Do you think he'll open up a bit more now that we're finally going to be trainers?" Bianca asked, as Ash tried to think of how to answer that. For a while now, he had been trying to get Cheren to open up more by trying to pair him up with Bianca whenever they hung up before, but Cheren was often just to himself every time they were together.

Speaking of Cheren, he suddenly brought the call back up on his end.

"... Looks like you two will be meeting me at my house; the Professor delivered the starter Pokémon here of all places." Cheren spoke with a sigh, as Ash and Bianca nodded.

"Alright, we'll see you there." Ash spoke, before hanging up to head on his way out to the living room with a backpack, an old one from when he was much younger and still went to school, and began packing a few small essentials with the help of Delia, including the Pokémon Egg.

A few minutes later...

As Ash finished up with packing, he arrived at Cheren's house along with Bianca quickly rushing up behind him.

"Hey! Am I late?" Bianca asked, as Ash looked back at her and shook his head.

"Just on time, actually." Ash told her, as he chuckled a bit, as did Bianca to a small degree.

"Ya know... Do you still think that Cheren-"

"Still think what about me?" Cheren suddenly spoke up as he opened the front door, startling Ash and Bianca as they both nervously laughed a bit.

"Um, uh, let's see what Pokémon we got...?" Ash and Bianca both asked, as Cheren pushed his glasses up a bit in a bit of annoyance.

"Just get in already, then." Cheren spoke to the two of them, leading them inside.

As they walked inside and towards Cheren's bedroom, they were quick to notice that Cheren's parents were not at home. As for the surroundings, Cheren's house, to put it bluntly, was much, much tidier in appearance than Ash or Bianca's houses. Heading upstairs, the group gathers around a gift wrapped box on Cheren's bed.

"Already gift wrapped for a special occasion I see." Bianca asked, as Cheren nodded.

'Well, we're all six years late to the party as Pokémon Trainers.' Ash spoke up, as he noticed as Cheren picked up the card attached to the box and read it aloud.

"I've brought three Pokémon, one for you and one for each of your friends. Please settle your choices politely. Enjoy your Pokémon!

-Professor Juniper"

"Well, then, I guess we decide on who picks first then, yes?" Ash asked, as Cheren and Bianca both looked at each other, nodding, before looking at Ash.

"...You'll pick first. It's only fair since you've wanted to become a Trainer just like all of us have been." Cheren told Ash, as Bianca then spoke up next.

"Besides, I don't necessarily want your first Pokémon to disappoint you since your mom held all of us back for so long..." Bianca told Ash, as Ash looked at the two of them and sighed.

"Alright, if you guys so heavily insist." Ash told them, before opening the box and seeing small cards labelling the three Poké Balls contained within the box.

One of them, a green, lizard-like Pokémon with small limbs, was a Grass Type Pokémon called Snivy which for a moment, caught Ash's interest, but he chose against it. The next, an orange and black, pig Pokémon with large ears, was a Fire Type Pokémon called Tepig which caught Ash's interest, but he thought about it, before deciding to look at the last choice instead.

The last choice, upon finally examining it, is the one who he viewed would be his first Pokémon; a blue and white, otter-like Pokémon with a scalchop on its chest. This one was a Water Type Pokémon, with its name being Oshawott. Quickly glancing over the other two choices again, Ash finally made up his mind and picked up Oshawott's Poké Ball.

"Alright then, Oshawott, I choose you!" Ash said as he called out the Sea Otter Pokémon from its Poké Ball, watching as Oshawott looked at its surroundings with a bit of glee, yet also having a shy or emotionless exterior.

Bianca, meanwhile, went to pick her own starter.

"Okay, I'll take this Pokémon! Tepig, come on out!" Bianca called, as she let loose the Fire Pig Pokémon from its Poké Ball. Tepig, looking at its surroundings, noticed Oshawott, and snorted up smoke in his direction, seemingly hostile towards Oshawott on first sight, which seemed to amuse Cheren a bit.

"Alright, Cheren, that one's yours." Bianca told Cheren, pointing to Snivy's Poké Ball.

"Hey, how is it you get to pick out my own Pokémon for me?" Cheren asked, as he was shortly stared at a bit by Ash, Bianca, and even a quiet stare from Oshawott. "... Never mind, I was going to pick Snivy anyways." Cheren said, as he picked up Snivy's Poké Ball.

"Alright, Snivy, it's your turn!" Cheren called, before opening up the Poké Ball in a more calm fashion, as the Grass Snake Pokémon was quickly moving around the room in a curious fashion, moving at such a speed that it caught the rather aggressive Tepig's attention, but instead of aggression, Tepig didn't seem to mind Snivy's company as much as it did Oshawott's presence.

"So it looks like all of our Pokémon are acquainted, then!" Ash spoke up.

"So how about a battle, then?" Bianca asked, catching both Ash and Cheren by surprise.

"Um... Right now? I don't mind." Ash answered, as he noticed Bianca's Tepig having an aggressive look at Oshawott. "Besides, it looks like both of the two boys need to let off some steam anyways." Ash responded.

"But we're-" Cheren stopped himself. He was going to bring up about how this was his own bedroom, but when he overheard Ash saying "two boys" he noticed something was off.

"... My Snivy's a girl? How'd you find that out?" Cheren asked, now completely curious to know since he did not know of Snivy as having any major differences between male and female. However, when he saw Snivy's presence actually calmed down Tepig's aggression, in addition to making Oshawott visibly shake in a flustered manner even though his expression didn't change, Cheren simply no longer questioned it.

"Alright, then it looks like we'll both battle first, Ash." Bianca told her best friend, as Ash nodded.

"Agreed!" Ash replied, as Oshawott stepped into position, still staying rather calm in expression, as Tepig readied itself beside Bianca as well.

"Pokémon, go! Use Tackle!" Ash and Bianca both ordered to Oshawott and Tepig. Tepig, rushing forward, was met head first in the middle of their own trainers with a strong retaliation from Oshawott, sending both Pokémon flying backwards from the room, with Tepig crashing into a book case and Oshawott knocking over a trash bin.

"Uh, guys?" Cheren tried to interrupt, but wasn't heard, all the while Snivy watched with a bit of awe.

"Oshawott, flank Tepig from the right and use Tackle again!" Ash called towards Oshawott as the Sea Otter Pokémon stood back up, and dodged an incoming charge from Tepig, strafing to the right, before almost immediately slamming himself into Tepig, knocking Tepig onto his side, which resulted in a bookcase being knocked off of its original foundation, with several books and papers flying.

"Oh, dear... Tepig! Don't just let Oshawott batter you! Try and shrug it off and counter with Tackle!" Bianca called towards Tepig, as Tepig took notice of the incoming Oshawott. However, Tepig was heavier than Oshawott, and thus, when Tepig moved back onto his feet, he pushed himself directly into Oshawott's direction, taking the Water Type by surprise, as Oshawott was sent flying back into the bed, knocking the blanket and pillow out of place.

"Alright, time to finish this! Oshawott, Water Gun!" Ash called, as Oshawott growled in anticipation from Tepig's charging attack, before firing a jet of water from his mouth directly at Tepig, and pushing back Tepig with the force of the super-effective attack, in addition to soaking the floor around Tepig as well.

With another, smoky snort, Tepig was about to get up, before collapsing as he was out of energy to continue fighting. Oshawott, meanwhile, gave a salute-like gesture to Tepig, as Tepig merely snorted angrily at the sea otter in response, as Ash cheered for Oshawott.

"Way to go Oshawott!" Ash said, picking up his small sized Starter Pokémon in praise.

"Looks like you've won. Now we should heal our Pokémon for round two?" Bianca said, picking up the injured Tepig and grabbing a Potion from her bag and spraying Tepig with it to heal Tepig's injuries, which prompted the Fire Pig to sneeze a plume of flames at Bianca's face, which made her giggle a bit in a worried manner.

"Energetic little ones, aren't they?" Bianca asked Cheren, as Cheren had this dull, annoyed expression on his face.

"Well that's all fine and dandy, but what about my bedroom?!" Cheren asked the both of them in a bit of a panic. Ash and Bianca, looking around and noticing that both of their own Pokémon had made a mess of Cheren's bedroom during the battle, nervously laughed a bit to themselves, before looking back at the rather livid yet still calm Cheren.

"... We'll clean this up now."

To Be Continued...

Spoiler: Truth and Ideals Chapter 3

After several minutes of mopping, dusting, and reorganizing furniture and papers, Cheren's room was finally all cleaned up. Now, though, Cheren wanted to battle, and this time, he insisted on having this battle take place outside of his own house.

Out in the open, the Autumn air was fresh as fresh can be. Snivy just couldn't stand still and kept zipping around the entire front yard with eyes wide, all the while Oshawott and Tepig kept staring at Snivy with their own distinct impressions of her. Tepig was attracted to her from earlier, and fought as hard as he could have done to impress her, but ultimately lost to Oshawott. Oshawott, meanwhile, while flustered by Snivy's attempts to charm them, was not so much interested in her in the same way as Tepig was.

All Oshawott saw was a much more "worthy" opponent.

"Sooo... Are you two going to battle, or...?" Bianca asked, as Cheren was trying to get Snivy back in the small, makeshift arena he had set up for her and Ash's Oshawott.

"Snivy! Just get over here!" Cheren called, as while chasing after her, Cheren tripped when Snivy suddenly made a u-turn towards his direction, running past him through his feet, and then finally stopped moving when she moved up to the arena, face to face with Oshawott. Letting out a small, feminine sounding hiss, Oshawott didn't respond very much to Snivy's "remark" and just remained very still, calm, and collected.

"Um, Cheren, you may want to get over here. It looks like she's ready." Ash called for Cheren, as Cheren got up and sighed in annoyance from Snivy's antics.

"Not even an hour and already my first Pokémon isn't listening to me." Cheren remarked, as he walked up to the battlefield, facing Ash. "Ready?"

"Ladies first." Ash commented, as Snivy perked up at that phrase.

"Pokémon, go! Use Tack-"

Snivy, as noted, took the "Ladies first" comment too literally, and made her move before she was commanded to do anything. Whereas Oshawott was rushing towards her to use Tackle against her, Snivy evaded with a strafe to the left, and Snivy was again acting on her own by suddenly running in a circle around Oshawott.

"Hey! Snivy! Listen to me will ya?" Cheren ordered, as Snivy was just in her own little world at the moment.

As she gained speed, suddenly blades of grass and leaves were flying upwards in a spiral around Oshawott, damaging him with a super-effective Leaf Tornado.

"Oshawott! Try and get her away with Water Gun!" Ash called out, as Oshawott came to his senses and attempted to push Snivy back with Water Gun, spraying from his mouth to strike at Snivy. Even with the resistance to Water Type moves, Snivy seemed to take more damage from that than usual.

"Snivy! What's the matter with you? Okay, scratch that. Take out Oshawott with Tackle!" Cheren ordered, as Snivy... just stood there, folding her arms and looking away from Cheren. Cheren, baffled by this, looked over to Ash as if trying to ask what was wrong with Snivy's obedience. This, thankfully, prompted a response from Bianca.

"Maybe you should try ordering her nicely?" Bianca suggested, as Cheren pushed his glasses up a bit in a tiny bit of annoyance. A Pokémon should always be capable of following orders, he thought. Snivy here, though, just wouldn't listen.

"Alright, Snivy... Please, use Tackle against Oshawott?" Cheren tried to say in the nicest tone he could speak in, as Snivy finally relented and ran up to Oshawott and charged into him, knocking him quite a distance, but even after this, it wasn't enough to knock out Oshawott.

"Alright, Oshawott. A bit of a rough start with Snivy, but don't let her looks get to you! Counter with Tackle!" Ash ordered, as Oshawott did as instructed, but in an odd twist of determination, suddenly spun around backwards and sprayed Water Gun towards Ash's direction, and launched himself at high speed towards Snivy, which Snivy was unable to avoid in time due to the unorthodox combo used, and got sent flying into one of the fence posts of Cheren's yard.

"Ring out! Oshawott wins!" Bianca cheered, "But, er, don't feel bad, Cheren..." Bianca added in real quick, as Cheren pushed his glasses up, walking over to pick up Snivy as he brought her towards Bianca, as Bianca healed up Snivy's wounds, as she then attended to Oshawott next.

"Well then, that settles that. Perhaps we should head to the professor's lab next?" Bianca asked, as Ash and Cheren both blinked for a moment.

"Um... Some of us still need to pack for our journey, Bianca." Cheren spoke, as Ash nodded.

"Yeah, I'm already packed, but you two still need to get ready before we prepare to leave." Ash told Bianca, as Bianca appeared visibly nervous, as it didn't take long for Ash to figure out the problem.

"... Lemme guess he's going to be a problem isn't he?" Ash asked Bianca, as she nervously nodded her head to answer that, as Cheren looked at Ash in confusion.

"... You mean Bianca's dad is going to try and hold us back now? Not on my watch." Cheren said, angrily stomping in the direction of Bianca's house, as Snivy quickly zoomed ahead past him after jumping out of Bianca's hold, stopping for a moment to look back at Oshawott and Tepig, before doing a little twirl and winking at the both of them, before rushing off towards Bianca's house with Cheren.

"Um... Uh... Do you think he'll be ready for what your dad will have to say?" Ash asked Bianca nervously.

"Believe me, he's handled worse." Bianca told Ash.

"Trust me... I think he's going to want to be careful around you after talking with your dad."

Speaking of which...

Bianca's father, named Donald or simply "Don", was busy glaring down Cheren at the moment.

"Do you think she'll honestly go on a Pokémon journey with both you and Ash considering how little she knows of the world? Who does she think she is?!" Don spoke to Cheren, as Cheren adjusted his glasses for a moment.

"Sir, with all due respect, you're talking about this as if she'll be alone for the entire trip." Cheren told Don, but Don was still a bit... livid, so to speak, but stopped enough to listen what Cheren had to say once his wife entered the room to calm him down.

"Alright... I'll listen... You're telling me that you and Ash will both ensure that Bianca herself doesn't get in trouble at all?" Don asked Cheren, as Cheren nodded.

"I swear on my own life, sir. We've all been patient, we've all been close together, and nothing will stop us from separating at all on our quest!" Cheren told Don. Normally, it wasn't all much like Cheren to talk this way, but in Don's case, he had no real choice.

As Ash and Bianca silently came into view with their own respective Pokémon, Don's expression softened a lot more than it was beforehand. Who was he to tell them to not go on to live their own dreams?

"Alright, go on ahead. Be my guest. If something bad happens to Bianca, though, I at least expect a call so I can take her home." Don told them, as Bianca mentally cheered on the inside, as Ash and Cheren both calmed down.

"Um, sir, if you don't mind me asking... Does any of this have to do with what happened to my own dad?" Ash asked Don, entering the living room as Don practically froze at the question. Didn't Delia already get the point across to him, he thought to himself.

"He disappeared and never returned, we all know that... But that has nothing to do with this, Ash. I just wish you could finally understand that..." Don told Ash, as Ash nodded, and was about to move to leave. "Just, uh, be certain you and Cheren will both keep Bianca safe." Don asked of Ash before he left.

"We promise... we won't let anyone fishy near her."

Later, at the professor's lab...

Ash, Cheren, and Bianca were walking up to the Professor's Lab, all three of them packed and ready to go, as Professor Juniper was already waiting for them inside, though not too surprising for either of them considering Juniper is the one who gave them their Pokémon to begin with.

"Hi there! I was wondering when you'd show up. Allow me to introduce myself again, my name is..."

"Professor Juniper. We already know your name." Cheren interrupted, as Juniper sighed a bit calmly.

"Come, come, Cheren! Today is a day to always remember, so now is not something you simply take in things so lightly. Please have some level of formality, alright? With that said, once again, my name is Professor Juniper." Juniper introduced, as she had a look at the three and noticed Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott's differing emotions and behaviors.

"My my, it looks like you three have already had a Pokémon Battle. Perhaps that's why it looks like your own Pokémon trust you so much!" Juniper talked, although she did glance at Snivy's... inability to hold still. "Although, I do recommend you give Snivy plenty of room to run. She's always been that way upon arrival." Juniper commented.

"Well so much for formality, but I do have to say that Snivy isn't necessarily trusting me." Cheren mentioned, as Juniper looked at Cheren rather carefully.

"Did you try and be polite about it? Some Pokémon prefer not to have their orders shouted at them, after all." Juniper asked Cheren, as Cheren pushed his glasses up again.

"Well... I'll work on that." Cheren answered, as Juniper chuckled.

"Either way, I wouldn't worry about it as long as she's trained nicely." Juniper told Cheren, as she looked over at Bianca next. "How would you say Tepig is to you, Bianca?" Juniper asked Bianca, as Bianca looked at Tepig.

"A bit aggressive towards others, eager to fight, but nothing I can't handle!" Bianca said to reassure Juniper, as Tepig snorted some smoke out into the air again.

"Splendid, and how about you, Ash? How is Oshawott treating you?" Juniper asked, as Ash held up Oshawott towards her.

"He's kind of... calm, collected, really stable if he knows what he's doing. Not very energetic, either." Ash told her, as Juniper sighed.

"I kind of figured he would be that way, he is the youngest of the three, after all." Juniper said, as she looked at all three, before grabbing hold of three, small devices of sorts and handing one to Ash, Cheren, and Bianca.

"These will be your Pokédexs for your journey. With them, you will be able to record data on each Pokémon you come across, so that you'll know exactly how to train each different type of Pokémon you'll catch. That way, you won't have to worry about confusion on which Pokémon you'll want to catch." Juniper explained, as she looked at the three of them, especially at Ash.

"Thank you, professor. We'll take good care of these." Ash spoke up, as he looked to see Juniper smiling before moving to grab a small pouch of supplies, taking three of them and handing one each to Ash and co., and inside were five Poké Balls in addition to a Premier Ball.

"So, then, how soon will you three be able to meet me out at Route 1 to learn how to catch Pokémon?"

To Be Continued...

Spoiler: Truth and Ideals Chapter 4

"Now then, do we remember everything we're here for?" Cheren asked both Ash and Bianca, as they stood directly in front of the sign that reads "Route 1".

"To help Professor Juniper with the Pokédex, of course!" Bianca said.

"And to become Pokémon Trainers while we're at it!" Ash said, as Cheren looked at both of them and nodded.

"Good, so we all remember." Cheren said, as he was about to take his step towards Route 1... but...

"Hey, wait up!" Bianca spoke, as she suddenly grabbed hold of Cheren's arm, as she did the same with Ash's arm as well, pulling both of them towards her with herself in the center.

"So, what's the deal here?" Cheren asked, as Bianca giggled.

"Well, you see, since it's our first time as Pokémon Trainers, I figured... we'd all take our first steps onto Route 1 together!" Bianca said, as Cheren sighed.

"Do we really have to?"

"Yes." Ash spoke up, as he was taking this rather well despite what Cheren was thinking. Must be because he hangs out with both of us, thought Cheren.

"Well, if that's the case, I guess we'll do just that, Bianca." Cheren answered, as he looked ahead to Route 1 just ahead.

"Alright, on 3! 1... 2... 3!"

With that, Ash, Bianca, and Cheren took their first steps onto Route 1, and looked around at the setting before them, with a surprising glance from a Pidove flying before them, as Ash took interest in how it was flying around the area; it seemed like its ability to fly wasn't working properly for it, since it kept falling downwards as it flew.

"Do you think something's wrong with that Pidove?" Ash asked to himself, as he looked forward to see Professor Juniper waiting for them.

"Oh, didn't take too long to get ready I see?" Juniper asked, as Ash blinked.

"But, how did you suddenly appear in front of us?" Ash asked, prompting confused looks from Cheren and Bianca.

"Um... Ash... She was already ahead of us and waiting here..." Cheren told Ash, as Ash looked at Cheren and blinked.

"Plus, what Pidove are you talking about?" Bianca asked, as Ash looked back at her, and then looked towards Juniper with a confused expression. Was he just beginning to see things, now?

"Oh, Ash, did you get enough sleep?" Juniper asked, a little concerned, as Ash nodded.

"Ya, I got enough sleep. Why?" Ash asked, prompting a chuckle from Juniper.

"Well, just try not to get distracted next time." Juniper told him, as she opened a Poké Ball she was carrying.

"Come on out! Minccino!" Juniper called out, as a Pokémon known as Minccino appeared from the Poké Ball. Ash, unsure of what Pokémon this was, used his Pokédex to analyze it.

"Minccino, the Chinchilla Pokémon, these Pokémon prefer a tidy habitat. They are always sweeping and dusting, using their tails as brooms." The Pokédex spoke in a female sounding, monotone voice, as Ash was a little startled at first with how his Pokédex basically spoke.

"Now then, Minccino, let's show Ash and co. how to catch a Pokémon! Single out a target!" Juniper commanded, as Minccino squeaked happily, as its eyes were set immediately upon a Patrat hiding in the tall grass.

Juniper, giving commands to Minccino to attack, began to explain to Ash, Cheren, and Bianca as to how to properly catch Pokémon.

"First, when you encounter a wild Pokémon, you must weaken it before you try and throw a Poké Ball at it." Juniper told them, as Minccino charged in towards Patrat to attack with Tackle, as Patrat was knocked back a bit, as Ash and Bianca were paying attention the most, whereas Cheren was simply observing.

"Then, after that-"

"You throw a Poké Ball at it, wait three shakes, then a final click to determine capture." Cheren added in.

"Righto, Cheren!" Juniper called, as she grabbed an empty Poké Ball from her pouch. "Poké Ball, go!" She called, throwing it at the weakened Patrat as the Poké Ball made contact and opened up, sucking the Patrat into the center, as it closed and fell onto the ground.

One shake, two shakes, three shakes... *click*

With that, Patrat was caught, as Juniper walked up to the Poké Ball to pick it up, putting it into her pouch and looking back towards Ash, Bianca, and Cheren.

"Now then, why don't you three give it a shot? Try using those Premier Balls I gave you for this one." Juniper told them, as Ash and co. each called out their own respective starters, and took aim towards a specific Pokémon in the Route.

"Oshawott, Water Gun on Pidove!"

"Tepig, Ember on Lillipup!"

"Snivy, Leaf Tornado on Purrloin!"

All three starters were given their commands, and all three pulled them off; Oshawott sprayed water upon a Pidove to weaken it, Tepig igniting a Lillipup, and Snivy, at first, disobeying commands before using Leaf Tornado on a Purrloin.

With that, all three wild Pokémon dropped to the ground in a weakened state, which prompted Ash to turn his hat around real quick, as he, Bianca, and Cheren readied the Premier Ball that each of them were given.

"Premier Ball, go!" They called in unison, as Ash's Premier Ball hit Pidove, Bianca's hitting Lillipup, and Cheren's hitting Purrloin.

One shake, two shakes, three shakes... *click*

"We did it!" Ash cheered, as he and his friends moved to grab hold of their respective Premier Balls and holding them up. "We caught our first Pokémon!"

Juniper, watching all of this, was silently clapping her hands.

"Well, you three learn fast." Juniper complimented, as Ash and co. walked back up to Juniper.

"Yeah, we sure did." Ash spoke, as he opened up his Premier Ball to see Pidove real quick, and noticed Pidove try and fly up to him, and was a bit shocked.

"Hey... Her wing...!" Ash spoke, as Juniper took notice of the problem.

"Well, looks like you'll need to take Pidove to a Pokémon Center right away. It's just up ahead at Accumula Town!" Juniper told Ash, as Ash had Pidove return to her Premier Ball, as Ash nodded.

"Alright, I'll see you catch up!" Ash said, running off towards Accumula Town with Oshawott running quickly behind him, leaving Cheren and Bianca on their own save for Professor Juniper beside them.

"I'll follow him to make sure he knows where to go, you two can handle yourselves, right?" Juniper said to Bianca and Cheren, who both nodded.

"Good, I'll see you there!" Juniper said, before talking towards Accumula Town, as Bianca looked at Cheren a bit.

"So, he really did see a Pidove then, didn't he?" Bianca said, as Cheren blinked.

"Yeah, kind of odd... considering there's not another Pidove in sight, I'm surprised he was able to find one at all." Cheren said, as he looked at Bianca a bit, noticing Bianca sighing as he didn't seem to notice one other thing...

"Hey, uh, Cheren? Why are you staring?" Bianca asked, as internally she was screaming when she had asked that, but Cheren was quick to look away without saying anything. Though, if Bianca were able to see it, he had a very minor blush on his face.

'Why am I often the one looking at her like that...?' Cheren thought.

At Accumula Town, Ash was with Professor Juniper at the Pokémon Center, with Ash being introduced to the head aide at the facility.

"Ash, this is Nurse Joy. She will be responsible for healing your Pokémon to good condition whenever you need them healed." Juniper introduced, as Ash looked at Nurse Joy with a bit of wonder.

"Nurse Joy, huh? Nice to meet you!" Ash said, holding out his hand.

"It's nice to meet you too, Ash." Nurse Joy said, taking his hand as they both shook hands.

"Now then, about Pidove. I noticed she had a broken wing, but for some reason, I was the only one who saw it while I was out at Route 1." Ash told Nurse Joy, as Nurse Joy finished her work on the healing machine and returned Ash's Pokémon to him.

"I'm afraid I wouldn't know, but it looks like whatever caused the broken wing problem did so without using any known Type of move." Nurse Joy told Ash, as Ash sighed.

"At least I'm not seeing things." Ash said.

"Hey Ash!" Cheren interrupted, running into the Pokémon Center to see him.

"Hey Cheren, what's up?" Ash asked, as Cheren did look a bit red on his face... though just the one side of it, and a rather upset Bianca was walking up to Nurse Joy to have her Pokémon healed.

"Um... Need I asked what happened?" Ash said, as Cheren dragged Ash away to the side for a moment, towards the upper floor of the Pokémon Center. Cheren, seeing he was out of hearing range from Bianca, sighed and looked at Ash.

"Alright, how exactly do you say I told her I was staring at her breasts a while ago?" Cheren asked, in a toned that tried to hide the fact it was serious.

"So, why would you flat out tell Bianca that, anyways? I figured she'd react negatively, but not like that! She's not even that flat!" Ash told Cheren, as Cheren grabbed Ash by the collar of his shirt.

"Okay wise guy, next time you tell me not to lie to Bianca, I'll tell her loud and clear that little comment about her!" Cheren threatened, as Ash held his hands up in response.

"Cheren, honestly, I'm surprised you even were staring at her in the first place!" Ash explained.

"Well excuse me, prince, but do you think that maybe, oh, I dunno, I felt her press against my arm in more ways than one when we were about to walk onto Route 1?!" Cheren yelled, before dropping Ash and beginning to walk downstairs.

"Well, sorry! I didn't know! To be honest, after all of this time, I kind of thought you were-"

"Ash, stop for a sec." Cheren said, looking out of the window.

"No, wait! I didn't mean to suggest you were-"

"No, seriously!" Cheren said, stopping Ash where he stood and pointing outside the window to a crowd. "I was referring to them!"

"Who are they?" Ash asked, as he noticed that on the other end of the crowd, a bunch of people suited up in weird uniforms with two flags set up with a stylized "P" insignia on them, and in the middle was a rather green haired man in a weird looking, castle-like set of robes.

Heading outside, with Bianca still in the Pokémon Center, Ash and Cheren went to investigate what was going on.

"My name is Ghetsis" The green haired man introduced, "I am here representing Team Plasma."

"Today, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to talk to you about Pokémon liberation." Ghetsis began to talk, as the crowd was silently talking to themselves about what exactly he had meant.

"I'm sure most of you believe that we humans and Pokémon are partners, that we live together because we want and need each other. Have you ever considered that, perhaps... we humans only assume this is the truth?"

"Pokémon are subject to the selfish commands of trainers, they get pushed around while they are our "partners" at work. Can anyone say with confidence that there is no truth to what I am saying?" Ghetsis asked, as Cheren, at first, thought Ghetsis was onto something regarding Pokémon disobeying commands and all, but something like what Ghetsis was claiming was just alien to him, especially because of what he had to say next.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen, Pokémon are different from humans. They are living beings that contain unknown potential..."

Ash, while paying attention to what Ghetsis had to say, felt an unusual whisper behind him, as he looked around, and didn't appear to see anybody... other than his own shadow taking the shape of a large, robust Dragon with red eyes. Somewhere in the crowd, he could also make out... somebody, with a white colored shadow of sorts, but he didn't know the meaning of this, so continued to listen to Ghetsis.

"They are living beings from which we humans have much to learn. Tell me, what is our responsibility towards these wonderful beings called Pokémon?" Ghetsis asked the crowd, as they began to murmur small comments on what Ghetsis had to say as a whole. Ash, though, gazed back at his own shadow and noticed it was back to normal, and he could no longer see the other shadow in white.

Prompted by one of the guests in the crowd, Ghetsis resumed his speech.

"That's right! We must liberate the Pokémon! Then, and only then, will humans and Pokémon truly be equals." Ash could've heard the crowd beginning to silently talk to themselves again, but he didn't hear them so easily over a loud, sharp roar that entered his head.

((Fool...))

"Everyone, I end my words here today by imploring you to consider the relationship between people and Pokémon. We sincerely appreciate your attention." Ghetsis finished speaking, as two of his followers grabbed hold of the flags they were carrying, as they watched as Ghetsis walked towards the others of their side, surrounded by them, before all of them left towards somewhere else.

As the crowd began to walk away and discuss what to do after hearing Ghetsis's words, Ash heard briefly saw the person whose shadow appeared white, this time yet again, before the shadow faded back to normal when everyone else had cleared of the area. Cheren, who turned in the direction Ash was facing, noticed the strange man.

This man, like Ghetsis, also appeared to have green hair, and was quick to take notice of Ash and Cheren, walking up to both of them.

"Your Pokémon... Just now, it was saying something... Fool, was it?"

To Be Continued...

 

First time somebody actually complimented or really said anything about the way I write rather than things such as grammar issues in certain places. Not all that bad of a compliment either way. Also, I did some look on the rules and apparently it read that I had to edit the additional chapters into the first post so that they didn't got lost on the other user's replies. As a result I've added Chapters 2, 3, and 4 to the post. I was going to simply pause after formatting Chapters 2 and 3 to the post properly, but then I recalled Chapter 4 is when we get to the first real start of the actual story proper with a certain green haired teen.

 

Okay so because apparently the literature section doesn't have an exception to how long posts can be, I'm forced to post the next four chapters in a separate post until I can get things resolved with somebody who can remedy this issue.

As I was saying, I'm already glad to see I have two different users on this site who are looking forward to more. Had a bit of confusion as to how I was posting these additional chapters at first because the guidelines weren't clear when it came to larger sized stories.

Spoiler: Truth and Ideals Chapter 5

Cheren and Ash were occupied with trying to read this guy's comment. Cheren, meanwhile, had this to say about it.

"Slow down, you're talking too fast." Cheren remarked, "And what's this about our Pokémon... talking? None of our Pokémon are out of their Poké Balls." Cheren said, as Ash took the chance to respond by calling Oshawott out of his Poké Ball.

Oshawott, staying silent and emotionless as usual, looked up at the man, who leaned down to look at Oshawott. Petting Oshawott for a brief moment, the strange man resumed what he was talking about the moment he heard Oshawott give a content, purring sound, though Oshawott's expression remained the same.

"Yes, they're talking. Can't you hear them?" The man asked, as he stood back up to look at Ash and Cheren's confused looks.

"Oh. You two can't hear them, either... How sad." The man remarked, before finally introducing himself. "My name is N".

"My name is Ash, and this is Cheren." Ash introduced both Cheren and himself to N, "We have been asked by the professor to complete the Pokédex, and we just left on our journey." Ash finished.

"My own goal is to become the Champion, though." Cheren added in, as N let out a rather light chuckle, before looking at Ash and Cheren a bit more seriously.

"The Pokédex, eh? So... You're going to confine many, many Pokémon into Poké Balls for that, then? I'm a trainer, too, but I can't help but wonder about something." N said, as he was paying close attention to Ash and Oshawott in particular.

"Are Pokémon really happy that way? So, Ash, is it?" N asked, looking towards Ash, who nodded, but quickly noted the change in N's tone.

"Let me hear your Pokémon's voice again!" N asked, as he called out a Purrloin onto the pavement in front of them. Purrloin, letting out a sharp meow, already gave the clue to Oshawott that this was going to be a fight.

"If you say so... Oshawott! Use Water Gun against Purrloin!" Ash ordered, as Oshawott didn't waste much time in doing what it was told to do. Spraying out a torrent of water from his mouth towards Purrloin, the Devious Pokémon wasted no time in using scratch against Oshawott, but even with the immediate use of an attack, Oshawott didn't seem to take much damage at all.

'Odd... It's as if Purrloin hasn't battled or trained beforehand...' Cheren thought to himself as he watched Ash and N's battle against each other.

"More! Let me hear the voice of your Pokémon!" N proclaimed, as he watched closely as Purrloin did battle against Oshawott. However, within a swift movement, the Scalchop on Oshawott's chest glowed an intense blue, as Oshawott suddenly lifted it off of his chest and began slashing at Purrloin with the edge of it, using Razor Shell for the first time.

"I never expected to hear Pokémon say such things..." With that, Purrloin fell to the ground and fainted from the blow, as N called back Purrloin.

"Yeah! Nice job Oshawott! Learning a new move as well, that's impressi-" Ash was interrupted when he saw N open up Purrloin's Poké Ball again, but instead of the usual, red aura that appears when a Pokémon is called forth or caught with a Poké Ball, he saw a blue aura appear from Purrloin's Poké Ball as it was let out, as Purrloin, in addition to Ash and Cheren, were confused as to what had happened.

"You're free now, Purrloin. Thank you." N told Purrloin, as Purrloin didn't stay around for much longer as it had decided to run off back into the wild.

"You... just released it...?" Bianca asked as she finally arrived to the scene from the Pokémon Center, with Cheren about ready to say something, but dropped it when he realized now wasn't the best time to open his big mouth just yet.

"Yes. As long as Pokémon are confined in Poké Balls, Pokémon will never become perfect beings." N explained, as Bianca was confused, with Cheren and Ash both giving her a look which told her that they'll explain the situation more in a bit.

"I have to change the world for Pokémon, because they're my friends. I just hope that you three will eventually see the truth as well." N said, before walking off to leave.

"Hey, wait up!" Ash said, but by the time he spoke up, N was already gone.

"Huh... strange guy, but I'm not going to worry about it." Cheren told Ash and Bianca.

"Yeah, trainers and Pokémon help each other out, so what exactly was he saying?" Bianca asked, as Ash looked at Bianca to begin to explain the situation, telling her everything from this Team Plasma group, this man named Ghetsis, and finally a bit more about N which she wasn't here for.

"So... He claims he can talk to Pokémon?" Bianca asked, as Ash nodded.

"Yeah... oddly enough, though, he said we couldn't hear it, but in all honesty, I did actually hear someone or something say "fool" before he had walked up to us. Although, that was when Ghetsis was still speaking to a crowd of people when I had heard that." Ash admitted, as Cheren sighed.

"Don't tell me you're imagining things again..." Ash said, as Ash shook his head.

"That Pidove I saw earlier? Do you remember that?" Ash asked, as he called out Pidove from her Poké Ball to show to Cheren and Bianca, as Pidove had a bandaged left wing from earlier still. However, now that Cheren had a good look at Pidove, he noticed something... sparkling...

"Um... Ash... It's been a while since I've seen a Pidove up close, but I'm pretty sure that's not their normal coloration I'm seeing." Cheren said, as Ash had a look at Pidove with his Pokédex.

"Pidove, the Tiny Pigeon Pokémon. These Pokémon live in cities. They are accustomed to people. Flocks often gather in parks and plazas." Just as the Pokédex had finished speaking, a wild Pidove landed near Ash's Pidove, eyeing her curiously as the pink eyed, partially blue colored Pidove belonging to Ash was backing away a bit, as another wild Pidove soon landed beside her.

"Hmmm, the Pokédex says that the Pidove I have is... Shiny? What does that necessarily mean, aside from the color difference of course?" Ash asked.

"Exactly just that, Ash. Now then, back to what you were saying before; you also heard something say "fool", just like how N did, yes?" Cheren asked, as Ash nodded.

"Yeah... Though, it didn't feel like what I heard was... normal." Ash told him, as Bianca decided to ask something.

"So, if you heard this as well, what did it sound like?" Bianca asked, as Ash thought for a moment about it.

"The voice sounded very deep, somewhat growling in tone. It didn't really feel like Oshawott or Pidove said it, especially considering both of them were in their Poké Balls at the time of N walking up to me and Cheren." Ash explained.

"Same for Snivy, Purrloin, and Patrat on my end. I'm not certain exactly what N claims he would have heard, but even I can say that the voice you described sounded too mature in tone when all of our Pokémon have yet to actually evolve at all." Cheren said, tossing up the three Poké Balls for each of his Pokémon and letting them out, as Snivy, Purrloin, and the recently caught Patrat all let out various, animal-like sounds in a high pitched, somewhat squeaky tone.

Oshawott and Pidove, meanwhile, did the same, and even though Pidove sounded rather deeper in tone, it wasn't noticeably deep, and had more to do with how Pidove sounded naturally than it did an actual, "speaking" voice.

"You've got a good point, Cheren... although we didn't really have to let our own Pokémon to really know that." Ash said, returning Oshawott and Pidove to their respective Poké Balls, as Cheren did the same with his own Pokémon.

"Either way, I wanted to at least verify something. I mean, you did sort of zone out during Ghetsis's speech. That... normally isn't like you." Cheren spoke, as Bianca blinked.

"... This is starting to confuse me now, so unless we have anything else to say on this matter, could we advance to the next town? Catch more Pokémon on the way there? Do something that can calm myself down?" Bianca asked, as she was rather visibly upset over something, but not as much as she was before.

"So... You're implying you didn't slap Cheren on purpose?" Ash asked Bianca, as Bianca blinked, before nodding.

"I-It... It was instinct. That and I'm rather freaked out by subjects that aren't considered legal for any of us yet." Bianca confessed, as Cheren sighed.

"Well, er... are you mad about it?" Ash asked, as Cheren pushed his glassed upward on his face again in a bit of annoyance.

"Well, no, not really...?" Bianca said, as she looked towards a region map she had. "Though, regardless, could we possibly get a move on so I can relax my nerves? This whole Team Plasma thing is beginning to frighten me a little..." Bianca asked, as Ash and Cheren looked at each other and nodded.

About an hour later, after Ash and co. had been purchasing supplies from the Pokémon Center with some money they had earned from their own families before they left Nuvema Town, they had begun to set out towards Route 2, when Ash suddenly got a call on his Xtransceiver from his mom.

"Mom? Is there a reason you're calling?" Ash asked, as Cheren and Bianca stopped to look at him, while both of them were in the middle of training their own Pokémon alongside Ash's own Pokémon.

"Yes, I just wanted to call for a checkup, dear." Delia spoke on the other end, as Ash blinked.

"Oh, me and the others are doing fine? We've even caught some of our own Pokémon as well!" Ash told his mom, as Delia smiled.

"Well, that's nice to hear and all, Ash, but I was referring to the Pokémon Egg, silly." Delia spoke, as Cheren, in the midst of drinking a cantina of water, suddenly did a spit take as he looked at Ash.

"Pokémon Egg? What Pokémon Egg? Is that why Ash's backpack is so heavy?" Cheren asked, as Bianca looked at him to grab Ash's backpack, unzipping the bag to take out the portable incubator the Pokémon Egg was being stored in, as Cheren blinked in surprise, as did Bianca, with Ash walking up to them.

"Hey, guys, I apologize for not having told you about the Pokémon Egg. I had actually forgotten about it by the time we got to Juniper's... ehehe..." Ash laughed nervously, as Cheren and Bianca sighed.

"As much as it would've been nice to know ahead of time, we don't mind. Though..." Bianca said.

"... What exactly is even in this egg, anyways? Its coloration doesn't look like any Pokémon Egg I've seen before." Cheren finished, as Bianca looked at him and blushed, with Cheren looking at her and blinking. "What? What did I say?" Cheren asked.

Ash, meanwhile, checking on the Pokémon Egg, sighed knowing it was still in good condition, though the lack of a major amount of movement indicated it wasn't close to hatching just yet.

"The Egg's doing fine, mom. It's just not close to hatching yet, it seems." Ash told his mom over his Xtransceiver.

"Its fine, I was just asking if it was being kept in a safe and healthy condition." Delia asked, as Ash sighed.

"Look mom, the egg will be fine. I'm sure it'll hatch soon. I just don't know what Pikachu's evolutionary line is to know exactly what it would hatch into." Ash spoke to his mom, as Cheren and Bianca blinked and began to whisper to each other.

"Is he talking about those two Pokémon living at his house?" Bianca asked.

"Seems like it. I don't know any other Pokémon in Unova with that name, so it's only reasonable that whatever's in that egg is related to this Pikachu Pokémon." Cheren told her, as he pulled out his Pokédex, trying to scan the Pokémon Egg to see what it'll hatch into, to see if it's Pikachu, or...

"Pichu, the Tiny Mouse Pokémon. The electric sacs in its cheeks are small. If even a little electricity leaks, it becomes shocked." The Pokédex said, as Cheren and Bianca looked at Ash, who had just finished his call with Delia.

"So a Pokémon called Pichu is going to hatch from the Egg? I take it that it evolves into Pikachu, then?" Ash asked them both, as they both nodded, with Cheren quickly looking over the Pokédex's screen for Pichu.

"Its evolution line goes up to two further slots, and Pikachu is directly after Pichu and evolves into another Pokémon after that." Cheren told Ash, as Ash nodded.

"Alright, so there's one mystery solved." Ash said, as he began to yawn a little bit. "I suppose we should start setting up camp next, then?" Ash asked both Cheren and Bianca.

"Well, it's getting late, so I guess that is a good idea." Cheren said, as Bianca nodded in response.

"Yeah, time sure flies when you're having fun and all." Bianca said, as Ash went to put the incubator back in his Backpack, as he and the others got ready to set up camp, as their Pokémon were returned to their respective trainers' Poké Balls.

Meanwhile, not very far away from them...

"Should we report to Lord N about the Pokémon Egg?" A man covered head to toe in black asked.

"Shouldn't be a problem, though I advise we tell him anyways. He might be interested in the news." Another man, covered in identical clothing, spoke, as a third man with equally identical clothing walked up to them.

"Relax. Besides, we're not here to take anything from them, nor are we here for the Striaton Brothers. We're just scouting these trainers because N asked us to. That and we're making sure the grunts don't screw up with the Dream Mist." The third spoke up, as the other two glanced at him.

"Besides, the grunts keep getting this idiotic idea that we and the Striaton Trio are one in the same. I mean, seriously." One of them spoke up, as he removed his mask and bandana, revealing a rather aged face underneath in addition to pure white, very lengthy hair. "We don't even look remotely that young underneath this cover. That and the fact we're... What's the word I'm looking for?"

"Robust."

"Thank you." The man spoke, before putting his mask and bandana back on, all the while the one observing Ash and co. setting up camp spoke up next.

"I'm not certain why Lord N is interested in these trainers, but it had better be important as to why we're here instead of keeping an eye on the grunts..." He spoke, as the third to arrive began to speak next.

"Again, relax... Have you forgotten? We can simply teleport anywhere we please... whenever we please..." The third spoke, as the other two men nodded, before all three of them suddenly vanished into thin air...

Ash and co., all ready for the night ahead, begin to settle down for the night and prepare for what was ahead for the next day; the Striaton Gym Battle.

To Be Continued...

Spoiler: Truth and Ideals Chapter 6

As morning arrived, Ash set up a small cooking set up for him to work with, working on a batch of pancakes as his Pidove was sitting on his shoulder, watching his every move. She seemed a little curious, to say the least.

"Don't worry, Pidove, I'm making food for all of us." Ash told her, as Ash chuckled a little, as Pidove chirped a little and moved to fly off of his shoulder and land on the ground.

Cheren and Bianca, meanwhile, were still fast asleep in the tent; the only tent they had, at that.

Bianca was slowly beginning to stir, as she felt in an extremely comfortable state of relaxation...

... As she noticed Cheren's arms were wrapped around her, with Cheren still fast asleep.

'U-Um... this is weird... I'm not really complaining, b-but...' Bianca began to think for a moment, 'still, though...' She slowly moved to look at Cheren's face when her eyes were opening up more as her vision cleared up.

'He's... so calm... I haven't seen him like this in years...' Bianca thought to herself, a few, small tears forming in her eyes, before she moved to lay her head against Cheren's chest, being careful not to move too suddenly. She knew Cheren was shy when it was just the two of them together, so she wanted to enjoy this small moment while it lasted, which made her recall from the night before as to how this happened...

All she could remember outright was that she was beginning to get cold; the tent that she shared with the boys had a wall in the center of it to give her privacy when necessary, so she was sleeping by herself with Ash and Cheren on the same side of the tent as each other.

However, tonight ended up being a colder night than usual, as Bianca was used to how warm her bedroom was in Autumn, especially on the colder nights. She could recall how warm and comfortable her own bed was, but now camping out in the middle of Route 2 made her quite uneasy. It wasn't just cold, but it was unfamiliar for her.

She felt she had to do something about this, so she unzipped part of the wall in the middle of the tent to look at Cheren's sleeping form. Oddly enough, Ash wasn't here, as she heard some occasional talking outside of the tent, meaning Ash was probably training his Oshawott or Pidove.

Looking down at Cheren, she moved to carefully budge him awake.

"H-Hey... C-Cheren...? Could you please wake up?" Bianca asked in a whisper, as Cheren slowly began to stir with his eyes opening up to look at Bianca.

"Is this important...?" Cheren asked, as he looked and noticed how pale Bianca's hand was, and this caused him to suddenly sit up straight to look at her carefully.

"Bianca! You're practically freezing! Hold on a sec, can you get Tepig's Poké Ball for a moment?" Cheren asked, as he moved to grab Snivy's Poké Ball, letting Snivy out of her Poké Ball on Bianca's side of the tent, as Snivy looked around and blinked. Bianca, getting the clue, grabbed Tepig's Poké Ball and let him out right next to Snivy, with Tepig looking around and blinking due to how late it was.

"Hey, Snivy... Could you please get Tepig to help us out?" Cheren asked Snivy, as Snivy hissed affectionately, prompting Cheren to move to grab something from his own backpack, as Cheren handed Snivy a Poké Puff to encourage her to listen, as Snivy quickly ate up the treat and moved a bit closer to Tepig, causing Tepig, from the sudden movement Snivy made towards him, to generate a field of heat around himself, that quickly warmed up the tent as a whole.

"Alright, thank you, Tepig. You can return to your Poké Ball, now." Bianca spoke, as she returned Tepig to his Poké Ball, as Cheren did the same with Snivy.

"Will you be alright?" Cheren asked Bianca, as she smiled a little nervously.

"I... um..." Bianca tried to say something, but didn't know how to put it. "I'm sorry for slapping you yesterday, but if I can ask something... er..."

"Could you please sleep beside me for tonight, please?"

Waking up from her current thoughts, Bianca looked at Cheren, who's peaceful sleep showcased that for as awkward as he can be at times, he wasn't fully above at least showing concern for her, causing her to smile sweetly, as continued to rest her head against his chest.

Ash, meanwhile, was finished preparing breakfast by this point, and went to the tent to get Cheren and Bianca. Not having returned to the tent from last night's training, he walked into the tent to look at the fact the boy's side of the tent was unoccupied to his surprise, as he carefully unzipped the middle section of the wall between his and Cheren's side of the tent, to look at Cheren and Bianca cuddling together.

"Hey, guys, breakfast is ready if you both are hungry." Ash spoke to them, as Cheren quickly began to stir awake and opened his eyes to realize his current condition of snuggling Bianca. Surprised, Cheren shot up where he was laying down and backed away a bit, his face practically red the whole time.

"Y-Yeah, I'll join for breakfast..." Cheren said, as Bianca moved to sit up as well.

"So will I."

Several minutes later...

After Ash, Cheren, and Bianca finished breakfast, Cheren was helping Ash clean up their campsite as Bianca was training some of her Pokémon with the help of Cheren's Purrloin and Patrat, with both of said Pokémon thankfully being much more obedient than his Snivy.

"So, Ash, why aren't you training with Bianca?" Cheren asked, as Ash sighed.

"Well we do have to clean up our campsite, and considering both of us are the heavy lifters of the group it was only natural. Besides, you looked like you needed some distance from Bianca for a moment." Ash told Cheren, as Cheren's face got a little red as he helped Ash finish packing up the tent.

"Um, well, s-she sort of asked me to sleep next to her last night when she was getting cold..." Cheren admitted, as Ash blinked.

"... And?" Ash asked, as Cheren pushed his glasses up a bit, although not in an annoyed way.

"She, well, began to get a little uncomfortable sleeping last night... She told me she wasn't used to sleeping in a place like this, or the fact that unless we happened to crash in a Pokémon Center due to timing during our journey across Unova, well... she's going to be like this for at least a few days." Cheren told Ash the rest of what she talked with him about last night, as Ash nodded.

"Well, as much as I would personally be willing to help her calm down, she seems to trust you quite a lot." Ash told Cheren.

"... Though you're the one she's closest to, and yet I'm the guy among us who freaks out with being alone with her." Cheren admitted, as he sighed. "I just want to stop feeling so timid around her at times like this, since she really seemed to see something in me that she doesn't see in you..." Cheren told Ash, as Ash chuckled a bit.

"To tell you the truth, Cheren, she used to actually have a crush on me once a few years back, but she stopped when I told her that you deserved her more than I did. At the time, I... just really wasn't ready for somebody to be that close with me, and you were the one with the self-confidence issues at the time and-"

"Okay, Ash, if we're to continue getting along on this trip, let's not bring up the past in such a way about me. I admit it, yes, I was like that, but I don't want to be reminded of it." Cheren spoke, as Ash's Pidove landed on Cheren's head, curiously tilting her head down to look at Cheren's face.

"Plus... your Pidove is kind of getting on my nerves." Cheren admitted, as Ash sighed, prompting him to hold his right arm outward, as this caught Pidove's attention as she flew off of Cheren's head and landed on Ash's wrist, and gave Ash a bit of an idea.

"Hey, how's about we join Bianca in training now that we're finished wrapping things up here?" Ash asked, with him and Cheren having finished with packing everything up into their respective bags, as Ash called out Oshawott from his Poké Ball.

Oshawott, silently squeaking, key word being silently, looked up at Ash, as Cheren also called out Snivy from her Poké Ball.

"Alright, let's go."

At the clearing along Route 2, Ash, Bianca, and Cheren were all practicing having their Pokémon learn new moves with several wooden targets set up, with a solid rock being used as the target for Ash's Pidove.

"Pidove! Let's try it again, Steel Wing!" Ash called, as Pidove flew up into the air, her wings partially beginning to glow in a metallic fashion, as she dived down towards the targets from the air. As she did, though, her wings reverted back to normal, which she quickly noticed as she flew upwards to avoid crashing like she did earlier. Ash, sighing, looked up at Pidove.

"Pidove, listen, you can't be scared like that! I know it's a much tougher target than what the others are using, but you have to be brave on this one!" Ash told her, as Pidove flew down towards Ash with a look of uncertainty, as Pidove's left wing was still bandaged up from before, as Ash held out his right arm again for Pidove to perch there again, looking towards her when she landed on his wrist.

"Look, Pidove, I'm no expert on what caused your injury like this, but you're flying a lot better from what I had first found you at Route 1." Ash told her, as he gently laid a finger against Pidove's left wing, to see if she was still hurting from it; no reaction, which prompted Ash to remove the bandaging on it, as Ash gave Pidove a careful nod after hearing her chirp a little bit.

Flying up into the air again, Pidove braced herself to prepare for another test at learning Steel Wing.

"Alright, one last time, and I'll have you rest. Once more! Steel Wing!" Ash called, as Pidove dived down towards the medium sized rock used as her target, her wings glowing an intense, metallic shine, this time not letting loose, as she dove at the rock and caused the rock to shatter upon impact from successfully using Steel Wing.

"Alright! Way to go Pid-" As Ash was in the middle of congratulating her, though, Pidove began to glow with a powerful energy, as Pidove's entire body was encased in light; her wings stretching in size, her tail feathers becoming longer and more noticeable, her head becoming more thickly covered in feathers, and when the glow faded, her body becoming a very bright shade of green compared to the shinier shade of bluish gray her original coloration was.

"... Pidove?" Ash asked, as he pulled out his Pokédex to scan "Pidove".

"Tranquill, the Wild Pigeon Pokémon and the Evolved Form of Pidove. Many people believe that, deep in the forest where Tranquill live, there is a peaceful place where there is no war." The Pokédex spoke, as Ash gazed at Tranquill with a bit of awe.

"Wow..." Cheren suddenly spoke up as he, Purrloin and Patrat, in addition to Bianca and her Lillipup, looked over towards Ash's newly evolved Tranquill, as Tranquill moved to flew onto Ash's right arm again, happily chirping from having regained some of her confidence, as Ash was able to hold up Tranquill on his arm still, even though the Pokédex had told Ash that Tranquill weighed around 33.1 pounds.

"Nice job, Ash!" Bianca cheered, as Cheren nodded.

"So, this is Pidove's first evolution, then? Seems a bit unfair to battle one of you guys in that case. I mean, Cheren may have three Pokémon now, but I have one that's evolved at least once and thus would be at least stronger than at least two unevolved Pokémon, if not more." Ash said, feeding Tranquill a quick treat in the form of a Poké Puff as Tranquill chirped affectionately, while Cheren's Patrat squeaked a bit in approval to what Ash had to say, with Purrloin's meow being more of a neutral statement. Lillipup, though, actually seemed to bark confidently about challenging Ash's Tranquill.

"Oh, is that so, you youngsters?"

Ash, Cheren, and Bianca were startled all of a sudden as they looked around, and eventually saw a rather, tall, lanky man standing atop a tree branch, lacking a shirt, wearing bagging, black and red pants, and wearing a white mask shaped after a Pokémon's head, with odd markings on it giving the feel up fancy make-up, and having a lengthy bundle of red and black hair.

"And... you are...?" Ash asked, as the mysterious, oddly costumed man didn't look neither him, nor Cheren or Bianca, but directly towards Lillipup, Purrloin, and Patrat.

"Hold on a sec, your trainers are confused. Allow me to show myself for a moment." The man spoke, as he grasped his hands together, his pointer fingers laid against each other, as the man suddenly transformed into a different shape entirely in a puff of black and red smoke, with the form seen after the smoke faded being an equally black and red colored Pokémon, with many of the features the human form had having carried over into this form.

Bianca, taking the time to grab her Pokédex, as Cheren and Ash did the same, scans the odd, shapeshifting Pokémon to try and figure out what Pokémon it was.

"Zoroark, the Illusion Fox Pokémon and the Final Form of Zorua. Each has the ability to fool a large group of people simultaneously. They protect their lair with illusory scenery." After their Pokédex finished detailing on the mysterious Pokémon, they could hear him chuckle in a more deeper, canine-like voice before he suddenly shapeshifted back into his human guise, this time his red and black hair as a human changing into a set of blond hair, and the originally black, baggy pants changing to a silky white with gold trims to them. The chuckling the Zoroark made, continuing as he transformed, maintained a deep sound, yet sounded far more like a human.

"So, I take it you're all surprised by my presence here, yes? Go on, try throwing a Poké Ball at me, I insist! Then I'll get back to answering questions." Zoroark spoke, as Bianca looked towards Cheren and Ash to indicate she'll pass, as Ash and Cheren quickly did a match of Rock/Paper/Scissors, with Cheren winning and Cheren grabbing a Poké Ball from his pouch.

"Alright, this has to be a trick. But I'll give it a shot..." Cheren said, as he clicked the button on the Poké Ball to have it expand to full size.

"Poké Ball, go!" He called, as he tossed the Poké Ball at Zoroark, as Zoroark was forced back into his true form upon impact, and the black and red smoke being absorbed along with him into the Poké Ball's center as it closed around him... only for the Poké Ball to suddenly glow red with a buzz sound and open back up and release Zoroark from confinement.

"So, you already have a trainer?" Cheren asked, as Zoroark shrugged.

"Sort of. I'm in a bit of self-exile at the moment due to... reasons. All I am allowed to say to you three without blowing my cover is that this won't be the last time we meet... Especially you, young Oshawott. Either way, he probably already knows I'm here. I am the one who taught him many of my languages I know." Zoroark gave away, as Ash actually caught onto the hint, all the while Oshawott's normally stoic expression changed to a slightly confused one.

"So, wait, you're saying you belong to that N guy?" Ash asked, as Zoroark chuckled and nodded.

"Why, yes. Yes I am. That's just part of the reason he can understand me as a Pokémon, though." Zoroark confessed, as Cheren raised an eyebrow.

"Then how are you are able to speak English?" Cheren and Bianca both asked at once, as Zoroark remained silent.

"I've learned it over the last century's time. I'm rather experienced with how you humans work, and all; I just only wish my trainer saw more eye to eye with me in that regard." Zoroark admitted, as Ash, Cheren, and Bianca, knowing full well that Zoroark was trying to hide for real given the fact had N truly wanted to, when he had challenged Ash to a battle back in Accumula Town, N could've easily used Zoroark in the battle at any time.

"Still, though, it's actually amazing a Pokémon can actually talk and such, especially one like yourself." Bianca said, as suddenly something Zoroark had said earlier had caught her attention again. "By the way, what did you mean by when you were talking to our Pokémon for a moment after Ash had brought up his Tranquill?" Bianca asked, as Lillipup barked towards Zoroark, who nodded in understanding, whereas Patrat and Purrloin's reactions means their comments didn't change.

"The guy in the glass's Patrat understands that he's not a match for Tranquill, Purrloin is vain and neutral about the idea, and Lillipup is just asking for a fight in general. If he still so believes he wants to put up a fight, I'll strike a deal; tell nobody I was here, and then..." Zoroark spoke, before suddenly transforming again in a puff of red and black smoke, before taking on the exact same appearance of Ash's Tranquill.

"... I'll give him that fight on my own."

To Be Continued...

Spoiler: Truth and Ideals Chapter 7

After an early morning's training, Ash and co. have encountered a Zoroark who apparently belongs to N. However, said Zoroark is in exile as he puts it, and now is about to challenge Bianca to a battle with her Lillipup again Zoroark. Zoroark, though, had taken the form of Ash's Tranquill and decided to fight him on those terms.

"So, what's it going to be, Lillipup? Still eager to fight?" Zoroark spoke in the voice of his human form, which somewhat unnerved Lillipup regarding the fact Zoroark was transformed into a Shiny Tranquill and all, but he didn't let that bother him at all just yet.

As Lillipup barked towards Zoroark, he looked up at Bianca, who nodded to Lillipup.

"Alright, we'll face you. I'm onto you, though..." Bianca told Zoroark, as she pointed towards him. "Pokémon, go!" Bianca called, as Lillipup braced himself for battle, and making an entry with Take Down, but Zoroark had other ideas.

"Not so fast!" Zoroark spoke, as suddenly he rushed forward and struck at Lillipup first with Sucker Punch, only to immediately get hit with Lillipup's Take Down immediately afterwards, pushing both Pokémon back quite a distance, as Zoroark's disguise broke and revealed Zoroark's true form.

"Heh, reckless young one, aren't ya? Well, I can handle that." Zoroark muttered to himself, as Lillipup responded with rapid barking, which seemed to have ticked off Zoroark.

"Oh, you're saying I need to be rougher? Fine then, be my guest!" Zoroark spoke, as his arms glowed with an intense, red aura, his eyes suddenly glowing blue, before he slammed both his hands down to utilize Night Daze and unleash a powerful, pitch-back shockwave against Lillipup, which sent Lillipup flying back into a tree from the impact of the attack.

"Lillipup!" Bianca gasped, as she was surprised to see Lillipup barking more intensely to Zoroark, as Zoroark merely laughed.

"What's that? Can't exactly understand you when you're still such a young wimp? Do you not understand what I'm going for? Awaken your inner rage!" Zoroark taunted towards Lillipup, he began barking more violently, as Zoroark jumped backwards and waited for Lillipup's next move.

"Hey, I recommend you tell him to back off by this point, because at this point, I think he's had enough of a lesson taught to him." Zoroark told Bianca, as Lillipup moved to charge towards Zoroark yet again... only to stop in his tracks upon seeing Zoroark transform back into human form.

"I'm done." Zoroark said, as he looked down at Lillipup. "You're being too reckless for your own good." Zoroark told Lillipup, as he looked towards Bianca. "And you haven't been giving him any proper orders." Bianca, freezing up a bit at what Zoroark said, sighed a bit as she walked over to Lillipup to pick him up, taking out a potion from her bag and carefully tending to his wounds.

"I'm sorry, the battle was just so sudden." Bianca told Zoroark, as Zoroark groaned a bit.

"You have a lot to learn, pretty one..." Zoroark told her, making Bianca, and Cheren, cringe a little at that last remark.

"May I recommend you politely leave her alone and allow all of us to actually train our Pokémon before you battle us?" Cheren asked, as Zoroark looked over towards Cheren.

"Well, if you say so, I'll just-"

"Wait up a second!" Ash said, in a calm tone as he looked at Zoroark, causing the Illusion Fox Pokémon to turn in his direction.

"What?"

"I'll battle you with Tranquill if you're really looking for something to do, Zoroark." Ash offered, as Tranquill looked towards Zoroark and tilted her head a little to the side, as Zoroark huffed a bit at the idea.

"As nice of an offer that is, Ash, I'm only interested in facing your Oshawott." Zoroark told him, as Ash blinked.

"Why Oshawott, if I might ask?" Ash asked, as Zoroark chuckled a little.

"Because out of your current team, he shows the most actual potential. Trust me, I can see him taking down an entire gym where he has a type advantage and only getting hit once. That's how much potential he truly has." Zoroark told Ash, as he quickly jumped up into a tree branch, his arms crossed as he leaned his back against the tree.

"As for when the fight will occur, it won't be any time soon, trust me. I want Oshawott to grow some more in strength before I ultimately decide to want to fight him." Zoroark said with a slight chuckle, as Zoroark was about ready to move to leave, before Ash interrupted.

"Hey, wait, if I can ask something important real quick..." Ash began to ask, "Is N doing alright?" Ash asked, as Zoroark looked at Ash weirdly, jumping down right in front of him to see if he was truly serious.

"Say what, now?" Zoroark asked, as Ash didn't change his expression at all at that remark.

"I'm asking if N's doing alright. I mean, he seems rather bothered from when I first met him, something about him believing humans and Pokémon should never be together." Ash explained, as Zoroark got what he was getting to by now.

"Ah... Figured you'd ask that. I wouldn't let that worry you just yet. I just wish he could calm down at times, but really, as much as I like your desire to help at the moment, I can't let you be under attack from the same people whom I'm hiding from." Zoroark told Ash, as Ash nodded.

"Team Plasma, right?" Ash asked, as Zoroark silently cringed at the words, as he finally replied.

"Yeah, let's leave it at that." Zoroark told Ash, as he again moved to leave.

"Hey, wait!" Ash interrupted again, as Zoroark rolled his eyes behind his human form's mask.

"What now, Ash?"

"How do you know our names?"

"Your Pokémon was saying them in their own language." Zoroark said, before finally leaving for real this time, as Ash stood there silently, thinking about something that was somewhat bugging him.

'So N's being harassed by Team Plasma? Those guys don't seem like very nice people at all... Still, I can't help but wonder why Zoroark chose now to speak with us...' Ash thought to himself, as Cheren interrupted.

"As nice of a meeting this was with such a strange Pokémon, I do believe we should finish packing up our campsite and be on the go." Cheren spoke up, as Ash looked at him and nodded.

"Seems like a good idea, anyways. Besides, if we end up staying here for too much longer, we'll end up sleeping in a tent again tonight." Bianca said, as Ash and Cheren were going to say something on that matter, but quickly dropped it considering what they realized behind Bianca's words regarding that.

"Alright, let's finish packing up and leave for Striaton City." Ash spoke, as the group began to gather what wasn't already packed up and ready to take on the go and prepared to leave.

Within an hour's walk, Ash, Cheren, and Bianca arrived at Striaton City. The outside temperature had warmed up a lot as they entered the city, and thus Bianca was more at ease with herself considering last night.

"So, this is Striaton City?" Ash asked, as Cheren nodded as he looked at the map.

"Looks like it."

"By the way, aren't we supposed to meet Fennel here?" Bianca asked, as Ash and Cheren looked at her and blinked.

"... Who?" They both said in unison, as Bianca sighed.

"... You both ran out of the Pokémon Center before she could finish asking us to meet her, didn't you?" Bianca asked, as Ash and Cheren nervously laughed.

"... Sorry about that... Team Plasma's gathering outside sort of caught us off guard." Cheren told Bianca, as Bianca sighed.

"It's alright, at least now you both know we have to meet somebody here in addition to challenging the Gym Leader." Bianca told them, as she looked and noticed Ash was missing from where she last saw him standing, as she looked around and looked as Ash was caught looking at three, odd looking statues.

"Uh, guys, you might want to come over here." Ash said, as Tranquill burst out of her Poké Ball and looked upon the statues as Ash quickly held his right arm out and allowed her to perch there, as Bianca and Cheren walked up to look at the three statues which were beginning to come to life as both of them had approached. The statues were in the shape of three, very similar, monkey looking Pokémon.

((Speak no evil, hear no evil, see no evil.))

To Be Continued...

Spoiler: Truth and Ideals Chapter 8

As soon as Ash, Cheren, and Bianca had approached the statues of the monkey-like Pokémon, they immediately came to life after their seemingly rocky exterior fell apart. As prompted by their awakening, Ash and co. used their respective Pokédex to scan the three Pokémon.

"Pansage, the Grass Monkey Pokémon. It shares the leaf on its head with weary-looking Pokémon. These leaves are known to relieve stress."

"Pansear, the High Temp Pokémon. This Pokémon lives in caves in volcanoes. The fire within the tuft on its head can reach 600°F."

"Panpour, the Spray Pokémon. It does not thrive in dry environments. It keeps itself damp by shooting water stored in its head tuft from its tail."

The three Pokémon looked down at Bianca, Ash, and Cheren respectively as they cheerfully leapt towards them and prepared for battle.

"Looks like they want to battle us." Cheren spoke, about ready to draw out Purrloin's Poké Ball, as all three of them heard something not far away.

"Hey, hold up a second!" A girl spoke as she ran up towards Ash and co. "They don't want to fight you, they want to join your side." She explained, as Ash blinked.

"Um... A-Are you sure about that?" Ash asked, as he was acting... off, at the moment, which Cheren quickly noticed.

"Oh what, so you're saying I need to man up when speaking to a girl alone and here you are having trouble speaking to a girl right now?" Cheren asked Ash, not trying to sound rude, but he did say what he could without trying to imply anything directly.

"Yeah, these are three Pokémon I've trained with the intent on donating them to challengers of the gym. In fact, they're also the same species of Pokémon used by the gym leaders themselves. How neat is that?" She spoke up, before noticing Ash's expression at the moment.

"Hey, are you alright...?" She asked, as Ash stuttered a bit, before slapping himself all of a sudden, and finally calming down afterwards.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry about zoning out there." Ash said, as he calmed down, before looking at Pansear in particular. "So, you're actually alright if we take these Pokémon as our own?" Ash asked again for clarification, as the girl giggled.

"Of course, no need to be so selfless about it! You can choose which one of the three you want to train and then you'll have a new Pokémon to challenge the Gym Leader with!" She offered, as Ash, Cheren, and Bianca nodded.

"Do you want anything in return miss, uh..."

"Giselle." She introduced, she added in, "And no, I don't want anything in return. I just want to know that these three Pokémon finally have good trainers to look after them, that's all..." She spoke, as Ash looked at her and blinked, as did Cheren and Bianca.

"Why? What happened?" Bianca asked, as Giselle sighed.

"Well... you see... Somebody abandoned them here after ordering them to use Substitute to allow their original trainer to get away. He seemed to be saying one thing consistently, though; he wanted to avoid some people called "Team Plasma" if I remember correctly." Giselle explained, as she looked at Ash and co. again to get a final answer.

"So will you be so kind and-"

"Yes! We'd be honored to take care of them!" Ash and co. said at once, startling Giselle a bit with their answer.

Later, at a restaurant in the city...

"So, you know of these Team Plasma folk?" Giselle asked, as Ash, Cheren, and Bianca nodded.

"One of the people we know didn't want us spreading word just yet, but we're a bit familiar with the fact they're apparently harassing some trainers behind their nicer side they show in public." Ash explained, as Bianca and Cheren nodded.

"That, and this one trainer in particular has had one of his Pokémon go missing as a result of Team Plasma's interference in his life." Cheren explained, being careful as to not even remotely bring up N or Zoroark from before.

"Sounds like a bunch of tall tales to me, but I wouldn't deny it, either." A man from another table suddenly spoke up, as he showed a robust, aged look and having white, lengthy hair. "Although I'd more than inclined to see if I can help at all once I get the chance." He spoke up, as he picked up the newspaper in front of him to resume reading the news, with Ash noticing that the man in question had an identical twin sitting next to him, but didn't want to be rude and simply remained quiet and sticking with his own group and Giselle to talk to.

"... So... Anyways, you said that Team Plasma caused a man to abandon three of their Pokémon out on the streets? Are they really harassing people that much?" Ash asked, as Giselle nodded.

"Yeah. In fact, I've heard from a friend that they're trying to go after a mysterious energy in the Dreamyard just outside of the city's premises." Giselle began to explain, as Bianca looked at her.

"If there's anything more you can tell us, we'd be glad to listen." Bianca asked, as Giselle nodded and began to talk a bit more about what she's heard about Team Plasma. Meanwhile the two men sitting at the other table silently talked between themselves.

"Were you certain hiding here was a good idea?" One of them asked, as the other groaned a bit.

"Trust me, our senior member has this in the bag. Besides, we didn't come here to hide. We came on a whim... To vent... To pass time... It doesn't matter. Now just sit back, relax, and eat while we can before we're too late to see the Gym Leaders go up against our targets..." The other spoke, as both of them silently began to eat their meal, as one of the restaurant owners, a man in green hair with green eyes, handed them their plates of food, before moving to the next table with Ash and co.

"So, I see you four are a talkative bunch. Are you here to challenge the Gym?" The man asked, as Ash nodded.

"Yeah, we were told this Restaurant was also a gym, so we didn't waste time in heading here to prepare for our Gym Leader challenge with whoever is in charge." Ash told the man. "My name is Ash, by the way, and my two friends here are Bianca and Cheren, and this here is Giselle, who helped show us around." Ash introduced, as Giselle was about to stand to leave.

"Well, I'm glad we got to meet, Ash, but I need to get going. Let's just say when you're one of many girls who idolizes the gym leaders in this city, well... You've better run while you can before the less sane fans come screaming." Giselle said, as she began to walk out of the place, before turning to Ash and winking at him, before she was gone soon after.

"Wait... Gym Leaders...?" Bianca asked, as right behind the green haired man appeared two other men with red and blue hair respectively.

"Yes, this Gym has three leaders, and which of us you face, out of Chili, Cress, and myself, Cilan, are determined by who your starter Pokémon was." Cilan explained to them, as Ash, Cheren, and Bianca nodded in understanding.

"So basically, I'll challenge you because my starter is Oshawott, Bianca will challenge Cress because her starter is Tepig, and Cheren will challenge Chili because his starter is Snivy, correct?" Ash asked, to which the three Striaton brothers nodded.

"Precisely! Although, if you're looking for a Gym Battle, you three probably should've showed up at the courtyard area of the place. The rest of the building is just a Restaurant that my brothers and I own, after all." Cress explained to them.

"But regardless, we'll be looking forward to the battle either way!" Chili spoke up, as Cheren nodded.

"I'm looking forward to it as well, since the sooner I get my first badge, the less it'll take for me to become the Champion of Unova." Cheren said, as Bianca nodded.

"So, could we arrange a time for the match to take place?" The three brothers asked, as Ash, Cheren, and Bianca began to discuss a schedule for today's gym battle; their first gym battle.

Sometime before the first match...

"So, Ash, mind telling me why you sort of froze when Giselle was with us earlier?" Cheren asked Cheren, as he was walking through the city with Bianca in tow trying to find Fennel's house, as they were nearing Fennel's house.

"Well, for one, I'm not exactly used to talking to girls that are not anybody I already knew..." Ash said, as Cheren raised an eye.

"... And?" Cheren asked, clearly unsatisfied with the answer, as Ash visibly flinched.

"W-Well, u-um... s-she's cute, I'll say that much..." Ash admitted, as Cheren sighed.

"She's cute? That's it? Here I figured you'd be more interested. I mean, surely there's somebody you're interested in in life, right?" Bianca asked Ash, as Ash had a faint blush on his face after that remark.

"Well, um, er... You see... There's this OTHER girl I recall seeing on TV as a kid, during one of the World Tournaments. She seemed about my age at the time as well, and her name was M-"

Before Ash could finish what he was saying, he was caught off guard by crashing into someone due to not paying attention to where he was going.

"Oh! S-Sorry, I didn't mean to-"Ash said, as he noticed the person getting up, a woman around Juniper's age with dark violet hair, and her eyes closed, as she had what appeared to be some kind of Pokémon attached to her head.

"Um... Cheren, mind checking the Pokédex while I help her up?" Ash asked, as he moved to help up the mysterious woman he crashed into, as Cheren checked his Pokédex to see the type of Pokémon that was on her head.

"Munna, the Dream Eater Pokémon. It eats the dreams of people and Pokémon. When it eats a pleasant dream, it expels pink-colored mist." The Pokédex explained, as Bianca eyed the Pokémon with keen interest.

"I'll say this much, it looks incredibly adorable!" Bianca said, as she moved to grab the Pokémon off of the trainer's head, as the small, pink colored Pokémon let out a mooing sound of sorts. Just as she removed the Pokémon from the woman's head, the woman's eyes opened up as she looked down at Ash, Bianca, and Cheren.

"Ah, so you three must be the new trainers that Juniper informed me of. My name is Fennel." Fennel introduced, as she held out her hand.

"I'm Ash. With me are Bianca and Chere-AH!" Ash was introducing themselves until Fennel dragged him into her own home, which doubled as her lab, with Bianca and Cheren following them both.

"So you must be the scientist we're to be looking for, yes?" Bianca asked, as Fennel looked back at her and nodded.

"So you research the dreams of trainers?" Cheren asked, as Fennel nodded again.

"Precisely, Cheren! I'm glad you already knew. Do you want a demonstration? Is that alright with you, Ash?" Fennel asked of both of them, as Ash stuttered a bit as he was let go of once they reached the top floor of the building that Fennel occupied. Inside showed a lot of her laboratory equipment, including a monitor which is hooked up to a Munna.

"I apologize if I'm rushing things at all, guys. It's just, well, I'm excited that my old college colleague has new trainers to help with her project on the Pokédex." Fennel said, a little too excited for her own good regarding her tone.

"So, if I let you examine my mind, could you possibly check all of our Pokémon as well?" Ash asked, as he prompted for Bianca and Cheren to let out their Pokémon, Bianca calling out Tepig and Lillipup, Cheren letting out Snivy, Purrloin, and Patrat, and Ash letting out Oshawott and Tranquill.

"Oh? So you want me to examine your Pokémon as well? Perhaps I can do that step first, then. I can work better with Pokémon at times more than just trainers, so I can get through them easily. Really, though, my own personal dream is to see if a Pokémon Egg can dream at all." Fennel admitted, as Ash got an idea, quickly putting down his backpack and grabbing the incubator and taking Pichu's Egg out of the incubator.

"Would this work?" Ash asked, as Fennel practically squealed at the sight of Ash's Pichu Egg.

"Oh my! I was never informed by Juniper that you had a Pokémon egg with you!"

"Yeeeah... He sort of never told us until after we left Accumula Town, though he did at least intend to try and tell us earlier." Cheren explained, as Fennel carefully picked up the egg to place beside Munna.

"Alright, Musha! Time to examine this developing Pokémon's dream!" Fennel cheered, as Munna, nicknamed Musha, grabbed hold of the top of Pichu's egg with her mouth and trunk attaching to it, her Psychic abilities causing her to temporarily glow a little... As Musha began to freak out and emit black smoke from the pink spot on her head.

"HUH?! What's going on?!" Ash asked, as he looked at the monitor, as the monitor began to showcase a cavern of sorts, with the inside of the cave being pitch black save for electrical currents from oddly shaped rocks causing some places to illuminate.

"It looks like your Pokémon is having a nightmare, and-"

{I'll get you... Pokémon...}

A voice, appearing to originate from the monitor showcasing the egg's dream, began to deliver audio from some unknown source, as a very shady figuring was briefly seen in the corner of the screen, before it disappeared, with the view point of the unborn Pichu following the strange, pitch black being to see what was going on.

'Why is Pichu going near it...?!' Ash thought, freaking out from the fact Pichu is experiencing this in its dreams.

{Even if in fire, in water, in grass...} The voice spoke, as the voice was soon made clear to sound very robotic and monotone in sound, despite its quiet, tranquil emotions it displayed.

{In ground, in clouds... in that girl's skirt!} Without warning, the Pokémon in shadow suddenly charged somebody in the distance, and the moment it finished its line, a girl's horrified scream was heard as what sounded like a mauling took place out of view of Pichu. This alone had Bianca holding onto Cheren in fright, with Cheren's eyes wide as to what he was even seeing.

"Fennel, what is the meaning of this...? What is Pichu dreaming about?!" Ash asked, his tone clearly that of panic since he had no idea why a Pokémon, still in an egg, was experiencing a nightmare involving a practically murderous Pokémon hunting itself down. Fennel, confused, frightened, yet equally curious as to what Pichu was dreaming, calmed Musha's panic until any of them said they couldn't see any more of what was being shown...

{It's very, very... very, VERY... difficult...} The last word was drained out as a loud, scrapping noise was heard, as it sounded like solid metal was being scratched against a rocky surface. From Pichu's point of view, the view on the strange Pokémon began to show itself, but it was still too dark to see entirely. From what could be seen, the Pokémon had a metallic, single toed set of legs, and long, semi-bladed arms with ending in a single claw. The Pokémon stood very tall, with the back and head of the Pokémon obscured by some large sized, metallic structure attached to its back.

As the Pokémon turned its gaze at an alarming speed, it's red, bug-like eyes were seen glowing in the dark, as Pichu moved to duck behind a rock to hide. Without much warning, the strange, almost robotic Pokémon moved closed towards Pichu in a very, very slow fashion.

{I'm sure I'll get you...}

As Pichu was trying to hide, the Pokémon pushed the rock aside with a great amount of strength, with a powerful surge of energy appearing above the Pokémon's head, illuminating its purple body, the robotic structure, and the overall Bug-like appearance it had. The energy glowed with an increasingly intensity, revealing the structure on its back to be a cannon.

{I'll get you, Pokémon!}

To Be Continued...

 

Spoiler: Truth and Ideals Chapter 9

Several seconds before Musha let go of Pichu's egg, the screen showcasing Pichu's dream went to black, and for a moment, Ash's mind went to worry, and was too focused on Pichu's safety to even bother noticing something... off... about himself... he didn't realize it, but the others could feel an intense energy beginning to build up...

((... P-Pichu...?))

With that, a somewhat loud noise was heard across the room, as suddenly a powerful field of energy caused objects to scatter across the room, with Ash himself unfazed by what had happened...

((Pichu?! PICHU!))

... For he was the one who unwittingly cause said field of energy to appear, as it was now surrounding his whole body, with his eyes glowing an intense gold from his usual brown eyes.

((P-Pichu...! Hang in there! Don't die on me at a time like this! Wake up, PLEASE!))

"Ash? Mind telling me what's going on with your hands? And your eyes?!" Cheren asked, as Ash snapped out of his trance-like state to realize what was going on around him; several bundles of papers and books were spread across the room, as Ash didn't realize it, but everyone; Fennel, Bianca, and Cheren, their own Pokémon, were all looking at him.

"What? What's wrong? Pichu's the one in trouble, not me!" Ash said in a bit of panic, triggering a loud, sparking sound to emit from Ash's right hand, as Ash blinked when he realized it this time around, slowly looking down at his hand and noticing a small, bluish flame beginning to manifest in Ash's hand.

((ACK! Oshawott! Use Water Gun on me!)) Ash asked Oshawott, although it appeared as if Oshawott didn't notice him, and when Ash heard a different noise, his senses finally calmed, and the flame-like substance appearing from his hands dissipated, as Ash turned towards Pichu's egg, noticing it beginning to move noticeably.

"Wow... D-Did Ash somehow trigger that?" Bianca asked, as Cheren blinked.

"Well he did cause himself to partially ignite with some kind of fire, but how, on the other hand, I don't know." Cheren brought up to Ash's attention, as Ash looked back at Cheren.

((Wait, I was on fire?! How'd that happen?! Also, why is nobody hearing me and-))

((Oh for Arceus' sake, OPEN YOUR MOUTH ALREADY, IDIOT!)) A voice yelled into Ash's head, startling him for a moment, as Ash did just as what he was told and blinked once he became aware of the fact he apparently wasn't speaking with his mouth at all, and ye.

"Hey, uh, guys, I have to ask... Did any of you hear what I was saying within the past minute?" Ash asked Bianca, Cheren, and Fennel.

"I'm afraid not, Ash... It's a mystery even to me. Whatever you just did to level part of the room of some research papers is beyond my own knowledge, but I will inform Juniper nevertheless unless you want me to keep this a secret." Fennel told Ash, as Ash looked over at Bianca and Cheren.

"We didn't hear you say anything either..." Bianca said, as Cheren nodded.

"Although, what were you trying to say? It seemed like you were ready to give Oshawott an order but didn't try to open your mouth at all to give said order..." Cheren told Ash, as Ash looked over towards Pichu's egg, and noticed it beginning to move again.

"Well, then, if we can't explain anything about what I had apparently done without my own knowledge... is Pichu close to hatching from its egg?" Ash asked, as he walked over to pick up Pichu's egg from the stand it was placed on, but hesitated at first when doing so.

"Um, Ash, maybe you shouldn't try and touch anything so soon after-" Cheren began to say from a bit of panic, but when he saw Ash pick up Pichu's eggs, and while Ash's hand did in fact appear to combust into the same ominous, blue colored flames, Pichu's egg began to glow all of a sudden.

The flames on Ash's hands slowly dissipating, Ash and the others watched as the egg began to change in shape entirely, and forming into the body is a very small, yellow and black colored Pokémon with diamond shaped ears, and a very small, rectangular tail.

"Pi? Pichu!" The small Pokémon spoke with glee, looking up at Ash as the small Electric type cuddled up into Ash's hands, with Ash practically sighing of relief that Pichu is alright after what nightmare he had seen Pichu go through mere moments ago.

"Thank goodness you're alright..." Ash whispered, as he carefully carried Pichu out towards the others and away from the machine where Musha was, and looking at the others, who all at least were partially freaked out.

"Um... Perhaps after we clean up you can fill me on what I did?" Ash asked, as Cheren and Bianca nodded.

"Well, I did have one last thing to give you before you go, though." Fennel said, as she handed the three of them an electronic chip of sorts, which Cheren was the first to take and place into the expansion slot of his Xtransceiver.

"So, this is the C-Gear I've read up on, isn't it?" Cheren asked.

"Yes, and with it, you-"

"Can be capable of learning exactly what moves are present on your Pokémon, or scanning wild Pokémon for their moves, as well as to be able to scan the surrounding area for trainers with the C-Gear installed on their own Xtransceiver as well." Cheren interrupted to explain.

"Precisely! There are several other features as well, but one of which I'm afraid no longer has official support ever since last year." Fennel added into Cheren's explanation, as she handed two other C-Gear chips to both Ash and Bianca as well.

One Ash put installed his C-Gear into his Xtransceiver, he was immediate to scan Pichu for its moves, and quickly was able to deduce from the scan that Pichu is a boy as well.

"So... Let's see... Volt Tackle, Disarming Voice, Reversal, Thunder Wave." Ash spoke in a casual tone, as Cheren was taken aback by the type of moveset that Pichu had.

"So, Ash, if I may... Was your mon into breeding Pokémon for battling by any chance?"

"Well... She did say my dad apparently was like that, why?" Ash answered Cheren's question, as Cheren silently sighed, as Bianca looked down a bit, as Ash hide his gaze under his own hat as he looked down at his own, confused looking Pichu.

'It's a shame none of us know what happened to him...'

"By the way, I did have at least one thing to ask if you have the time. If you can be so kind as to head to the Dreamyard for me and collect some Dream Mist from the wild Munna living there, I would gladly appreciate it!" Fennel added in, as Ash and co. nodded, as they moved to help clean up after the little incident that had occurred and make their leave. First, though, they had the gym battle to worry about at the moment.

Later, a few minutes before their first gym battle...

"So, as I was watching the nightmare play out, I was apparently bursting into flames and caused a small shockwave to occur?" Ash asked Cheren and Bianca, just as they heading back to the gym for their first Gym Battle, with the newly hatched Pichu snoozing underneath Ash's hat.

"Yeah, and you were apparently zoning out so much that you didn't even notice how intense it was beginning to get!" Bianca told Ash, as Cheren nodded.

"She's right. Normally I'd be a bit more curious as to what you did, but, for the life of me, I can't figure out a single known explanation to my knowledge as to what you had done for a moment." Cheren told Ash in response to what Bianca said, as Ash looked down a bit as he arrived at the front door of restaurant, and walked inside without saying much to prepare for his gym battle against Cilan.

"Still, though, for some reason... It did feel at least somewhat weird when I finally noticed it... I can't even begin to describe it at this point." Ash said, as they walked towards the room with the courtyard, as Cilan, Chili, and Cress were already waiting for them there.

"Ah, right on time!" Chili spoke up, as Ash and co. nodded in response.

"Yeah, we just had to run an errand real quick for Professor Juniper, so we just hurried back once we were done." Ash told the three brothers, as Bianca and Cheren nodded.

"Alright, then, shall we begin?" Cilan asked as of Ash. "I'll be up first against you, and then your friends will face Chili and Cress afterwards." Cilan explained, as Ash nodded.

"Alright, sounds like a plan!"

With that, Ash and Cilan moved towards their own respective sides of the courtyard's arena, as several observers were clearly fawning over Cilan and his two brothers at the sight of them, although as Ash was looking at them, he had an odd feeling that Giselle was actually present as well even though he didn't see her.

'Odd... I could've sworn I saw Giselle...' He thought, as he moved to face directly towards Cilan.

"Alright then, the rules are simple; the challenger has the right to use the same number of Pokémon as the Gym Leader, and no others than that. In addition, trainers may only switch their Pokémon when they are in a critical condition or unable to battle. Now, with that stated..." Cilan spoke, with him calling out a Lillipup of his own, as Ash called out Oshawott.

"Pokémon, GO!"

To Be Continued...

Spoiler: Truth and Ideals Chapter 10

Ash VS Cilan...

"Pokémon, GO!" Ash and Cilan both called, as Chili, Cress, Bianca, and Cheren were watching from the balcony as to see how well Ash would perform during his battle against Cilan.

"Oshawott! Start off the battle with Razor Shell!" Ash ordered, as Oshawott, breaking his idle stance, suddenly took off his scalchop and charged forward towards Cilan's Lillipup, as Cilan was beginning to grow a bit intimidate by Oshawott's already excellent performance as a battler.

'Not bad, he may actually be able to give Pansage a run for his money without even having to call out his second Pokémon...' Cilan thought, as he made his own move.

"Lillipup, dodge Razor Shell as best as you can and retaliate with Tackle!" Cilan called, as Lillipup barked as to move to dodge, but was taken by surprise with Oshawott's sheer speed he was moving at, as Oshawott suddenly struck Lillipup with his scalchop to send Lillipup flying, only for Oshawott to suddenly speed almost directly behind Lillipup and strike again with Razor Shell.

With both hits, and Lillipup already at a clear disadvantage, Lillipup collapsed to the ground as Oshawott moved back to where he was originally standing and kept up a battle stance to not be caught off guard.

"Is it me or is Oshawott suddenly a bit stronger than from when he was last training with us?" Bianca asked Cheren on the sidelines.

"Looks like it. Then again, he was not in a direct battle for a while since we got here, so it seems like Oshawott has a lot of energy he wants to burn." Cheren told Bianca, as Oshawott was ready for Cilan to send out his next Pokémon, as Ash's eyes began to glow a slight gold for a brief second again, which caught the attention of Bianca and Cheren very quickly.

"Oh no, not again, please not again..." Bianca said.

"Please don't let him make a scene because of that weird power..." Cheren said, as he looked down towards Cilan calling back Lillipup, and drawing out his remaining Pokémon's Poké Ball.

"Alright then, time for the real deal! Pansage, go!" Cilan called, as Cilan called out his last Pokémon, the Grass Type Pansage.

However, even with the obvious type disadvantage Oshawott had, Oshawott was not fazed in the slightest regarding Pansage's emergence.

"Alright, Pansage, you have the advantage here, start off with Work Up to boost your strength!" Cilan ordered, as Pansage began to steam a little with energy from the command, before laughing a little in a primate-like tone to mock Oshawott before him.

"Alright, Oshawott! Use Razor Shell yet again!" Ash commanded, as his eye sparked a bright gold again, this time catching the attention of Cilan this time, as not only were Ash's eyes glowing, but he persisted with using a move that Pansage resisted.

"Feeling a little too confident, aren't we?" Cilan said, 'Okay this is going to be bothersome, he's up to something here! His eyes were brown last I saw!' Cilan thought as he called towards his Pansage.

"Alright, use Vine Whip, Pansage!" Cilan ordered, his tone a little uncertain, as Pansage did what he was told, extending vines from his arms to strike at Oshawott, only for Oshawott to suddenly jump up into the air and slice at the vines with his scalchop, before suddenly moving to spin his way, continuously hacking and slashing, closer to Pansage.

Pansage, seeing this, extended further vines from his arms to strike at Oshawott again, this time actually managing to hit Oshawott... but once Oshawott's face was in view for a second, Oshawott's gaze had a bit of emotionless, yet gleeful look to his face, which made Pansage freak out for a moment.

"Pansage? What's wrong?!" Cilan asked, as Oshawott suddenly struck Pansage with Razor Shell to knock Pansage aside.

"Now, Oshawott, use Water Gun to propel yourself for the finish!" Ash called, as his right arm suddenly began to glow with an intense, blue flame like how it was before at Fennel's lab, which began to make Cilan freak out.

'What the actual he-' Cilain's thoughts were cut off by Oshawott suddenly slamming his scalchop down beneath Pansage and suddenly tossing him up into the air, before suddenly leaping and jumping to strike at Pansage while he was still in the air.

"Wow! I didn't even know you were capable of this much Oshawott! Either way, finish off Pansage with Mysterious Samurai!" Ash ordered, as Oshawott's own body began to glow intensely, as while Oshawott was repeatedly striking the helpless Pansage with Razor Shell repeatedly in the air, when Oshawott appeared above Pansage, his body was now radically different, as he struck at Pansage one last time with Razor Shell to send him into the ground.

Landing on the ground, he set aside not one, but two scalchops onto his sides, as it was clear this was no longer Oshawott doing the fighting.

"Well, then, looks like you've won." Cilan admitted, as he was hiding how surprised he was to see how easily Oshawott turned into a new form had beaten him. Speaking of which, as Ash no longer had his body glowing in any way, pulled out his Pokédex to check the new form Oshawott has evolved into.

"Dewott, the Discipline Pokémon and the Evolved Form of Oshawott. Scalchop techniques differ from one Dewott to another. It never neglects maintaining its scalchops." The Pokédex explained as to Dewott's form, as Dewott's overall, default expression was back to his normal, emotionless expression, although with this particular form, Dewott looked as if he was slightly angered.

"Impressive, I wonder what else that energy is capable of..." Cheren wondered to himself, as Bianca was confused as to what Cheren was thinking.

"First it starts off as a rather frightening event for all of us to witness, and now you're beginning to wonder what this strange energy Ash has access to is truly capable of?" Bianca whispered, as Cheren glanced at her.

"Why don't you ask them?" Cheren told Bianca as he was referring to the awestruck crowd of female trainers... which included Giselle finally visible in Ash's eyesight, and visibly blushing at that.

Ash, looking up at the audience and taking notice of her, wasn't sure how to truly respond, but simply walked up towards Cilan.

"Look, I don't know what came over me, but I have to apologize... I'm still uncertain what I was doing, but I-"

"Deserve the badge, yes, you do." Cilan interrupted, as Ash looked at him in surprise. "Look, while I was taken by surprise as to this technique you have, I will admit; I had never had a trainer face me before with a visible type disadvantage and still manage to win, and all without having to resort to their second Pokémon as well." Cilan said, as he took out a badge from a pocket on his shirt, and hands it to Ash.

"Ash, I present you with your first badge; the Trio Badge!" Cilan said, as Ash looked up at Cilan and didn't know what else to say.

"Look, Cilan, as much as you feel I deserve this, I don't feel like I deserve it at all; I ended up using some kind of power to allow Oshawott to win, and believe me, I don't have any known control over it either. It's just not something I'm ready for." Ash said, as Cilan shook his head.

"Trust me, only Ketchum's own son could truly pull off a victory like this; me and my brothers had to deal with your father back in the day when our parents were in charge of the gym, and let just me say, that your father wasn't any different from how in sync with your Pokémon you were here." Cilan said, as he looked at Dewott walking up towards Ash, glancing up towards his trainer and nodding in approval.

"You... Knew my dad?" Ash said, looking at Cilan seriously, who nodded.

"Yeah, and even though he was rather difficult to talk to at times, he knew a lot of how to raise his own Pokémon with potential that none of us had ever seen before... until you ultimately arrived to battle here. Seeing you showcase a mere fragment of the skill used by your father, it was very clear that I had known he did not go missing without leaving someone impressive behind to fill in his shoes." Cilan explained, as Ash felt amazed to hear this for the first time.

'All of this time mom kept trying to convince me he was a pathetic trainer...' Ash thought to himself, as he finally took hold of the Trio Badge now that he realized he could truly accept it after all.

"Alright! My first Gym Badge!" Ash called, holding up the badge for all to see, as Dewott held up both of his scalchops in the air, as the crowd of trainers cheered for Ash, as Bianca, and Cheren were cheering along with them.

As Ash walked back upstairs to the crowd, Bianca moved to head towards her own match, as when Ash was in the audience, his eyes, very briefly, flashed gold again as Ash turned to notice Giselle standing beside him, with Cheren standing to on Ash's other side as he watched what would go on, both between Bianca against Cress, but also what Ash and Giselle.

"Hey, if it's alright with you, we could possibly, u-um..." Ash began to ask Giselle, as Giselle looked at him and began to blush a lot more.

"A-As much as I'd like to do so... I-I... feel unworthy now that I think of it... Before I thought you were just an ordinary beginner... Now, though... I think I can't even match your own league at all... But I do feel like you at least deserve something..." Giselle began to go on about, as Ash looked at her and blinked.

"What do you me-" Before Ash could even finish what he had to say, he was cut off immediately...

... By a pair of lips suddenly gracing his cheek; Giselle had kissed Ash on his cheek very, very affectionately. Ash, uncertain of how to respond, stuttered a bit once Giselle backed away to see his reaction, as Ash felt too dazed to think at the moment. Moving his arms onto the rail to let his head rest, Cheren couldn't help but snicker silently to himself.

'Looks like I need to step up my own game at this rate, but whether it be for earning all eight badges, or from... er... conflicting emotions I have with Bianca at the moment, I don't know for certain which to focus on at the moment.'

Speaking of Bianca, Cheren turned his gaze towards Bianca to begin to watch her own battle with Cress, with Cress sending out a Purrloin and Bianca sending out Pansage both of them were preparing for their own battle, but even then, both of them had to think of one way to please the watching crowd.

"Pokémon, GO!"

Meanwhile...

"So, is getting the Dream Mist going as planned?" The two, mysterious, white haired men said as they approached their leader.

"Yes... and no." He began to speak. "I have some of the Dream Mist, but it's too raw in nature to be of any use to Team Plasma's efforts." The leader spoke, as the one man groaned.

"Then why the heck are the two grunts still searching around for a Munna?!" The one yelled, as the leader sighed.

"Grunts will be grunts... Besides, it's not like we're not reporting to Ghetsis without anything to inform him off either way." The leader spoke, as he looked at the other, equally shady man, who nodded in response.

"The one named Ash... He's just like the man who interfered with Ghetsis's beginning plots from 16 years prior. Should we-"

"No. Keep it silent for now. We don't know the full extent of Ash's abilities. We could easily tell Ghetsis, but you know how he'll react to a trainer who is insignificant at this point, so we have no need to tell him..." The leader ordered.

"For now, at least... He may become a threat later... Even to Lord N's own plans to seek out the truth..."

To Be Continued...

Spoiler: Truth and Ideals Chapter 11

Bianca VS Cress...

Ash was quietly watching Bianca at her challenge against Cress, as Cheren too was watching as well. However, whereas the rest of the crowd was in the form of a mostly female audience... there soon turned up another male in the

"Why is she using that Pokémon?" The new observer spoke, as Ash was quick to notice his presence.

"Does it matter? She's just using a Pokémon that another friend and I also got after another trainer had abandoned them." Ash spoke, as he watched Bianca's battle, watching her order her own Pansage to use Vine Whip against Cress's Purrloin, as Pansage gained a rather... "evil" smirk upon grabbing hold of Purrloin, and immediately began to spin Purrloin with his vine's grasps and toss the feline to the ground, before Purrloin was quick to retaliate with scratch against Pansage.

The observing newcomer, though, was not all that pleased.

"And yet you all haven't learned a thing about what Team Plasma has begun to have been telling us all, haven't you?" He spoke again, as this time Cheren's attention was caught this time.

"You're the one who abandoned them, aren't you?" Cheren asked in a rather cold tone, as the other "trainer" simply chuckled.

"You could say that... Or you could say that Team Plasma sort of forced me to get rid of the three Pokémon I had... Either way, I don't truly feel like myself anymore after I had tried to attack them at the Dreamyard..."

Walking through the Dreamyard with Pansear in tow, the male trainer was gritting his teeth when he heard the pained cries of a Munna in the nearby vicinity. Eventually finding who was responsible first hand, the trainer had his Pansear ready to attack.

"Alright, Pansear! Let's get them for trying to attack that Munna!" He spoke, as the two Team Plasma grunts slowly looked towards the trainer, with a third, previously unseen female member grinning at the boy.

"So some 11 year old thinks he's going to boss us around, I don't think he understands the whole situation." She spoke, and the next thing the boy noticed about this situation was the female Team Plasma grunt's uniform; it looked nothing like the other two's outfits.

"So, what's with the freaking black dress on you? Why not the same uniform I saw on the other female grunts in Pinwheel Forest?" He spoke, as the female Team Plasma grunt chuckled a bit.

"Do you think we're doing this for no reason, or do you legitimately believe you speak for your own Pokémon rather than letting them do any of their own thinking?" She asked, as the trainer's guard somewhat dropped.

"I don't care what your goal is, because if you don't stop this nonsense with harming Munna over there, I'm going to kick your ass on my own!" He shouted, as the girl chuckled again. "What's so funny anyways?!" He asked.

"Well, for one, you're speaking some rather tough words for somebody who barely even knows who we are... But let me ask you again; are you Pokémon just as willing to follow your orders at any given point? Do you really want to test that?" She taunted, as she moved to spin for a moment, showcasing to the trainer that she had no Poké Balls on her belt.

"Well, yes! Yes I do! Pansear! Attack with Incinerate!" He ordered, as Pansear... didn't do anything, and just stood there and dropped his guard.

"Ugh! Hang on, I'll have Pansage handle this!" The trainer spoke, as he let out Pansage from his Poké Ball, as when he did, the seemingly aggressive Pansage did absolutely nothing to the imposing Team Plasma Grunt, and simply stood there. The trainer, rather livid, sent out his next Pokémon in a bit of desperation.

"Alright, Panpour! Attack! Don't let their words get to you like the other two!" He called, as Panpour was released from her Poké Ball, and like the other two, did absolutely nothing in regards to the trainer's orders. In fact, before even realizing what had happened next, the trainer's eyes suddenly went dull in color as he felt his own mind practically freeze; had he have noticed it, he would've seen a Team Plasma Grunt with a brown, floating Pokémon with psychic abilities taking control over his mind.

"Alright, we've got this handled. I'll get rid of his Pokémon for him without making a scene, you get back to work." The female Team Plasma Grunt spoke, as she ordered the Psychic Type Pokémon to cause the trainer to collapse, as she stole his Poké Balls to take the three of his Pokémon away from him, as the same, Psychic Type Pokémon was used to brainwash the three Pokémon the trainer had, and cause them to use Substitute to freeze them in statue-like forms as they're also knocked out...

"... And by the time I had woken up, I had lost track of my own Pokémon. I didn't know what happened to them, but I could faintly hear them in pain before I blacked out, and the Poké Balls I had used to contain them were nowhere to be found when I had come to." He explained, as Ash and Cheren looked at him, then at each other.

"Do you think he's telling the truth, Ash? We heard he had abandoned them on his own when he had used Substitute to try and escape from them, before they wound up in the hands of Giselle." Cheren asked Ash silently, as Ash looked at the trainer to ask something.

"Alright, did your three Pokémon know the moves Substitute at all when you last had them?" Ash asked the trainer, as the trainer shook his head.

"No, I don't even have the technical machine for that move either way, and these Pokémon in particular can't learn that move naturally regardless, either. Why, do you think somebody might've-" Suddenly the realization hit the trainer when had recalled what had happened in full.

"Of course... That shady guy who caught me off guard... He must've taken them and hid them from me in plain sight..." He muttered to himself, as he looked at Ash, Cheren, and then at Giselle.

"Hey, Giselle, is it?" He had asked, as Giselle nodded.

"Yes, that's my name, and you are...?" She asked.

"Just call me "The Kid" and leave it at that. Though regardless, thank you for finding my own Pokémon and making sure they're safe... thank you very much for succeeding what I had failed to do myself..." The Kid introduced as he had thanked Giselle, before he had turned to leave.

"And now if you'll excuse me, I have to go visit my parents in Icirrus City. I have some business I need to attend to regarding Team Plasma, and one of their own Pokémon will do the job just fine... Yesss..." He spoke as he began to leave the vicinity entirely, as Ash, Cheren, and Giselle blinked in confusion.

"He seems rather... weird... I don't know why, either." Ash said, as Cheren blinked.

"How so?" Cheren asked.

"I don't know, I just have the strangest feeling at the back of my head that he's hiding something about himself... I mean, what he said was true from the way he spoke, but something else he seemed to be hiding that I can't quite think of..." Ash said, as Cheren looked down towards Bianca's battle with Cress.

"Maybe it was his minor hesitance with trying to figure out a name for himself." Giselle added in, as she looked down at the battle between Bianca and Cress once she heard the applause from the crowd.

Due to their distraction from "The Kid", Bianca had already knocked out Purrloin without difficulty, and thus, Cress sent out his own Panpour next.

"Alrighty then, let's see how long it'll take for this match to end..." Cress said, both nervous, yet confident in tone, since he already knew that Bianca's Pansage had a type advantage.

"I apologize, I truly do. But I'm not going to let myself lose at a time like this." Bianca spoke, as she looked towards her battle ready Pansage.

"Alright, Pansage! Vine Whip once more!" Bianca called, as Pansage was quick to act a second time, with vines extending from both his own arms and tail to grab hold of the opposing Panpour with, as Panpour visibly panicked at to the strength that Pansage was showing, and began to strike at Pansage with Water Gun out of instinct to see if it would do any good...

... But Pansage would not allow for himself to faint in a situation like this, and thus, in a rather brutal fashion, jumped over Panpour, his vines still grasping at his opponent, before moving to flip, carrying the helpless Panpour over into the air, before suddenly dropping Panpour straight into the ground and landing himself with elbowing Panpour in the gut, KOing the Spray Pokémon with ease.

Cress, returning Panpour to his Poké Ball, began to silently clap, as suddenly the audience was clapping as well.

"Wow... I really did it... And all because of you, Pansage!" Bianca said, cheerfully moving up to Pansage to pick him up, Pansage's staying silent as his expression was that of joy as well.

As Bianca went up to Cress to receive her badge, Chili looked up towards the audience at Cheren, whom he had known would be his own opponent for today, and that the fact Cilan lost with a type advantage for him, and how Cress lost with a type disadvantage against him, it was clear that whatever Cheren had in mind would mean Cheren's own training with Ash and Bianca would mean that Chili would be in for one heck of a gym battle...

... And Cheren knew full well that he was on the winning team as it was.

'Becoming the Champion, Step 1, begins...'

Cheren VS Chili...

Cheren made his entry into his battle with Chili much like how Bianca did; starting off with Panpour due to the fact he knew that Panpour would have an advantage against Chili's Pansear.

"Alright, Pokémon, go!" Chili and Cress called to their respective Pokémon, with Chili's first Pokémon being a Pidove as when Panpour moved to strike with scratch, Pidove simply flew out of the way.

"Alright, Panpour! Use Water Gun to knock Pidove out of the air!" Cheren ordered, as Panpour silently made some monkey-like noises before proceeding to blast a torrent of water out towards Pidove, but Pidove moved out of the way in a spinning motion that deflected the incoming Water Gun.

"Hmm?" Ash mumbled, taking notice of how exactly Pidove had avoided getting hit, as he kept watching, as Giselle looked over towards Ash once she realized his interest.

'... I'll talk to him later to work something out...' She thought, as she watched battle and noted Cheren's frustration with trying to have Panpour hit Pidove with Water Gun.

"Alright, if that's going to be the case! Panpour, jump up to strike Pidove with Scratch!" Cheren ordered, as Panpour stood still for a moment, listening carefully as to where Pidove was, and then jumping in the direction Pidove was flying towards to strike at Pidove with enough force to knock Pidove onto the ground.

"Alright, now use Water Gun while she's down!" Cheren ordered.

"Um... I hate to interrupt, but this Pidove is male..."

"Not now!" Cheren told Chili, as Panpour was still in midair when she had launched a torrent of water from her mouth towards Pidove from above, as Panpour slightly flew backwards as she landed, with Pidove already KO'd from the combination attack of trying to get her out of the air, with Chili responding by returning Pidove to his Poké Ball, and then sending out Pansear.

"Alright, but I must warn you, unlike my brothers, I'm not as much of a pushover. With that said, Pansear! Begin charging energy!" Chili ordered his Pansear, as Pansear began to glow with an intense energy, as Panpour waited for Cheren's orders.

'Okay, something's up; he clearly knows Panpour has an advantage, but it looks like he's got some secret up his sleeve.' Cheren thought, as he looked at Panpour.

"Alright, Panpour, strike with Water Gun!" Cheren ordered, as Panpour blasted Pansear with Water Gun, but even with the direct hit, Pansear still kept charging energy, until Pansear was glowing with an intense, green light.

"Alright, time's up; Pansear, SOLAR BEAM!" Chili order as Pansear held his hands together, with the palms facing outward towards Panpour, and within mere moments, a massive, beam of Grass Type energy struck Panpour with an intense force, as Panpour did what she could to withstand the attack, all the while Cheren covered his eyes from the intense light of the attack.

When the light faded, Cheren was able to look back towards the battlefield, and saw how Panpour was KO'd from Pansear's use of Solar Beam, as Cheren called back Panpour to her Poké Ball as he adjusted his glasses with a bit of disappointment.

"Alright, Purrloin, you're up next!" Cheren called out with a quieter tone, as Purrloin sent out the Devious Pokémon to replace Panpour on the battlefield.

"What's the matter? Can't judge a book by their cover at all?" Chili asked Cheren, which Cheren silently growled at.

"Look, I know what I'm doing regarding type matchups, and THAT just sort of came out of nowhere!" Cheren yelled at Chili, as Chili chuckled.

"Dude, chill; every Pokémon is capable of learning moves outside of their own Type, so it's understandable that I have taught Pansear some moves to deal with his more exploitable weaknesses." Chili spoke, as he looked towards Purrloin with a bit of a fiery glare, to which Purrloin didn't even seem fazed by.

"So what's it going to be? Will your Purrloin be able to defeat my Pansear at all?" Chili asked, as Cheren looked up towards the crowd and noticed Bianca watching him with worry, and Ash not in direct view.

'Not that it matters, he's probably a little tired.' Cheren thought, as he looked at Purrloin, who stood idly in place as she was glancing at Pansear with an overly calm expression, as Pansear didn't know how to properly respond to just how... unusually calm and collected, that Purrloin was.

"Alright, Purrloin, go in an attack with..." Before he could probably order Purrloin to do anything, Purrloin yet out an aggressive meowing noise towards Pansear, which aggravated Pansear to where Pansear responded with a fire type attack to strike at Purrloin.

"Alright, Pansear, don't let Purrloin bother you and-" Chili said, as he looked over at Cilan hiding behind him. "Um, brother?" Chili asked, as Cilan pointed toward Purrloin with a bit of a sheepish look on his face.

"Normally I'm not bothered by Cress's Purrloin, but looks like THAT just downright scare me..." Cilan pointed out, as Chili looked over towards Purrloin and noticed that the flames from Pansear's fire attack were still burning, and Purrloin's glare suddenly turned into a more near sadistic look, as Purrloin began to glow with a bright light that intensified as the flames around her hid her from view, and when the flames finally dissipated, the light faded and Purrloin has changed in shape entirely into a larger, more grown feline-like Pokémon in shape.

Cheren, taking advantage of Chili's lack of orders at the moment, scanned Purrloin's new looks with his Pokédex.

"Liepard, the Cruel Pokémon and the Final Form of Purrloin. Stealthily, it sneaks up on its target, striking from behind before its victim has a chance to react." The Pokédex explained, as Chili looked towards Liepard with an attempt to try and at least retaliate.

"A-Alright, Pansear! Use-"

By the time Chili spoke Pansear's name, Pansear was already on the floor in a quick flash and knocked out, Liepard having chosen her chance to strike at a time where Pansear was distracted, much to Cheren's surprise.

"Well... that was... convenient..." Cheren spoke, as he called back his newly evolved Liepard, as Chili called back his knocked out Pansear, as he walked up towards Cheren to hand him his newly earned Badge.

"Well, guess I can't exactly get too caught up in my own arrogance at times, so it looks like you've earned this." Chili spoke to Cheren as he handed him his badge, as Cheren nodded.

"I must say, even with Purrloin evolving at the end, I guess we're somewhat even." Cheren told Chili, as they both shook hands before Cheren moved to leave.

By the time Cheren walked up the stair case to greet Bianca, he noticed something was off; Ash was nowhere in sight.

"... Here Ash and I were supposed to watch over you, and yet you're still here with me and Ash is nowhere to be found..." Cheren told Bianca, ignoring how the crowd was applauding for Cheren's victory, as Bianca looked around to see where Ash was.

"He... well... he was dragged out of the room by Giselle... Or, rather, kind of the other way around..." Bianca told Cheren, as Cheren pushed up his glasses a little at that answer.

"I swear if Giselle's beginning to bother him I'm not going to like it..." Cheren mumbled, as he began to walk out of the gym to begin to search for Ash, alongside Bianca.

Meanwhile...

Ash and Giselle were at the Dreamyard, with Ash having walked out of the gym on his own, and Giselle having followed him.

"Hey, please don't be sad at a moment like this... We've only just met, it's my fault you're like this, not yours..." Giselle began to tell Ash, as Ash looked back at her and sighed.

"Look, I've been trying to get two of my closest friends together as a couple for at least six years now. I've been trying all I could to try and get the two of them to be happy together, and yet all this time I've been wondering if I even deserve anybody at all..." Ash spoke, as the next thing he felt was Giselle slapping him in the face with a teary voice.

"H-Hey! Don't talk like that! I mean, yeah, we've just met and all... but please, don't let your own hopes get down like that when you're trying to find somebody for yourself... I may be inferior to you, but believe me when I say this; somebody will certainly find some kind of attraction to you that someone like myself simply can't fully understand..." Giselle began to explain, as Ash looked around as he heard yelling in the distance.

"Hang on a second, someone's up ahead... and it doesn't sound pleasant..."

"... And that doesn't even feel pleasant..." Giselle said, as she quickly followed Ash as to not be defenseless, not even caring to the rustling sound she heard nearby, seeming to follow both of them.

((...))

Ash, upon arriving at the place within the Dreamyard, where a few Munna are gathered, and "The Kid", as two Team Plasma members were seen before the Kid, Ash, and Giselle once the latter two had arrived.

"What's in that Poké Ball, kid?" One of them mockingly asked, "Feel like losing another one of your own Pokémon again? Will you ever learn the definition of stupidity?" He finished, as the Kid did not have much else to say, opening up the Poké Ball he had and out from the Poké Ball emerged a somewhat toxic mist which concealed some kind of Pokémon which Ash could vaguely make out as having a somewhat Reptilian head, but was unable to make out the rest of the body as he was coughing as he and Giselle turned away from the toxic air, with Giselle having ran off from the area entirely in panic.

"SKREEENK!" The Pokémon that the Kid had howled with a sound that seemed too artificial in nature to even remotely sound like a Pokémon that Ash was at least familiar with. Before Ash could identify the Pokémon in question, the Kid had returned it to its Poké Ball just as quickly as it was sent out. Hearing a Munna's mooing sound, the next thing Ash could see was the Team Plasma grunt that remained backing away in fright from the Munna.

"Okay I know the Pokémon I had to leave to borrow real quick is scary, but why are you this afraid?" The Kid asked the Team Plasma grunt, as the Team Plasma grunt, instead, saw the appearance of a shady man with olive green hair, and a familiar cloak which he knew loud and clear was Ghetsis himself "standing" before him.

'In your rambling for the Dream Mist, you have accomplished nothing. Do I need to remind you of what happens to grunts who fail my own commands? Lest Lord N have mercy on your soul for what I would have to do to ensure that none of our plan fails!' Ghetsis "spoke" to the Team Plasma grunt, as the grunt finally began screaming and suddenly made a break for it like no tomorrow.

Within seconds, Ash was finally stable in regards to the air around him being clean again, as Ash looked at the Kid with a bit of curiosity.

"... Need I know what Pokémon you had sent out?"

"No."

"Fair enough..." Ash finished, before looking at the Munna, and noting the bruises it had from apparently being kicked and punched by somebody, more than likely the Team Plasma grunt who was originally here, but not anymore.

"There's some remnant Dream Mist scattered on the ground if you so desire it, I won't need any of it. I'm sure if you give some of it to Fennel she'll appreciate it." The Kid said, before moving to leave as soon as Cheren and Bianca had quickly came into view, having ran all the way from the gym to find Ash here in the Dreamyard.

"Ash! What happened?" Cheren asked, as he looked at Ash and noticed Munna floating up towards Bianca with increased intrigue, floating around her as Bianca watched the pink Pokémon as she stood still, and slowly moved to grab a Poké Ball from her bag to, very lightly, tap Munna with the Poké Ball she had, as Munna was drawn into the Poké Ball as quickly as Bianca's action was made.

One shake, two shakes, three shakes... *click*

"..." Ash and Cheren were both equally stunned as to how Bianca had caught a Munna with as little difficulty as she had done, with both of them about to bring something up, before deciding to drop it.

"... Let's head to the Pokémon Center to rest for the night, I do believe it's beginning to get rather late." Ash suggested, to which Bianca and Cheren both nodded, as Ash moved out to leave back towards Striaton City, and as Bianca and Cheren were walking around a bit, Ash's aura ignited again as they walked ahead of him.

Ash, looking around, noticed how his own sight was darkening a bit, as within the distance a blue outline was visible to him, and noticing that this being had aura emanating from its hands. The being in question looked oddly humanoid yet still much like a Pokémon...

... But it was most definitely not Zoroark he was seeing. However, before he could grab his Pokédex to scan it, he froze in place when the Pokémon suddenly rushed towards him without warning, stopping for a moment as it did. All Ash was able to see was a mixture of blue and black in regards to the Pokémon's normal coloration.

((You're not ready, yet...))

To Be Continued...

Spoiler: Truth and Ideals Chapter 12

Ash stood silent, looking over at the Pokémon standing beside him with a, rather frightened, glance. From what he could tell, the Pokémon had a very distinct shape to its canine-like head, and had what appeared to be dreadlocks of sorts on the back of its head. Its paws were reinforced with a spike on the back, as a similar spike was placed on its chest.

As soon as Ash tried to reach for his Pokédex, though, the Pokémon reacted almost immediately and knocked the Pokédex out of Ash's hands.

"Hey!" Ash yelled at the Pokémon's actions, as the Pokémon gave a rather defiant glare at Ash as it placed its own foot on the Pokédex.

((Close your mouth...))

Ash, upon hearing those words, was able to put two and two together regarding an earlier incident. Ash's eyes, glowing gold on and off as he tried to replicate the power he had accidentally taped into the few times beforehand, failed to get a proper response from said power.

"What's going on? Why can't I get it up?!" Ash said, before thinking about it for a moment, recalling how he had activated this power before as he gritted his teeth and allowed for his frustration to get to him. The Pokémon, the entire time, was silently watching as Ash tried to tap into this power...

... Only when Ash's body began to light aflame like before did the Pokémon "speak" again.

((I said, close your mouth, Ketchum.)) The Pokémon told him, as Ash, realizing what the strange Pokémon was getting onto, closed his mouth to as he still kept his frustration active, but this time, focused on one key thing...

((Alright, how do you know my last name? I heard one of the Gym Leaders at Striaton speak of it like it was actually important... is it?)) Ash "spoke" in the same method as the Pokémon before him, with the Pokémon's expression not having changed over the past few moments.

((... You're not ready.)) He told Ash, as Ash blinked.

((... Huh?))

((For any information on your father until you learn about him yourself...)) He told Ash, as he moved to kick the Pokédex back over to Ash, as Ash moved to pick it up off of the ground...

... Not anticipating the Pokémon to suddenly spin kick Ash clear into a wall without any warning, as Ash, moving to stand after several seconds of recovering from the impact, was... needless to say rather agitated by how out of nowhere that attack was, or the fact it didn't seem warranted.

((W-Why did you k-kick me like that?!)) Ash asked, his body practically fuming with the same, blue colored flames that the Pokémon in question was also emanating from his hands and from the foot he had used to kick Ash with, which was equipped with a lightly built brace which had an odd stone of sorts placed into it.

As the Pokémon moved to kick Ash's Pokédex over to him yet again, Ash didn't move from the spot he was standing, since now he was perfectly suspicious as to this odd Pokémon.

'Great, so he knows my father, he showcases the same ability I have which I still know nothing about yet, and when he gives me back my Pokédex he kicks me into a wall... just wonderful, isn't it...?' Ash thought.

((It's because had you truly been ready for training, you would've avoided that entirely. Your senses are too fueled by your emotions to properly function. Had you have been your father, you would've realized that right away, Ketchum.)) The Pokémon's dialogue was beginning to get on Ash's nerves by this point, but Ash, uncertain of what to do, decided to grab his Pokédex so that he could figure out exactly what this Pokémon even was to begin with.

"Lucario, the Aura Pokémon and the Final Form of Riolu. Famous in Kalos Mythology, Lucario is capable of mastering a wide range of aura abilities that it is rumored that even humans are capable of learning these mysterious techniques." The Pokédex explained, as Ash looked upwards and panicked by how a little too close the Pokémon, apparently called Lucario, was standing before him.

((So the Unova Model does pick up on Kalos-related information, interesting.)) The Lucario said to Ash again, as he picked up Ash by the collar of his shirt, with Ash trying to get out of his grasp.

((Hey! Let go of me will ya?! I don't know who you think you are, even as a Lucario, but-))

((Regulus.)) As Lucario spoke up again, Ash blinked a bit in surprise as to how this Lucario wasn't even bothering to answer his own questions, but instead choose to raise more of them.

((... What?))

((My name is Regulus, keep that in mind... especially if now you wish to truly talk before I knock you out.)) The Lucario, nicknamed Regulus, told Ash.

((So... Might I ask why you're hostile as is...? Do you know N at all...? I mean, I do believe I had heard you call a man named Ghetsis a fool... What do you know that I don't?)) Ash asked. He was going to ask about the importance of the necklace he was now seeing on Lucario, particularly with the multicolored, DNA-like helix in the center of it, and also about the single piece of foot gear he was wearing, but he figured Regulus' answer wouldn't change.

((You're not ready to know those things, but I will say this; N is very disillusioned about what he believes is the truth, and his quest to seek out the truth for what it is will more than likely frighten him from the revelation... especially from that Ghetsis figure... To say I don't... ahem, "trust"... him very well is a huge understatement.)) Regulus began to explain, letting go off Ash from where he stood, as Regulus turned to begin to walk away. Ash's aura, meanwhile, had faded away from his body save for his hands and glowing eyes, before soon dissipating altogether.

((Look, I don't know why you're trying to hide, but I do believe you have a lot of explaining to do by the time I see you again.)) Ash told Regulus, as Regulus, not appearing to move from where he stood, said nothing.

((Alright, now I have one last thing to ask... How do you know of my father?)) Ash asked, as Regulus' hands began emanating aura again, as Ash's own aura finally sparked up again.

((... You're that curious about the answer, aren't you?)) Regulus asked, as Ash nodded, as Ash could feel his own hands beginning to burn with the same energy as Regulus' hands were, as Regulus still did not budge from where he stood.

Without warning, though, Ash's Dewott appeared from his Poké Ball all on his own, catching Ash off guard. Dewott, not uttering a sound, glared at Regulus, as he began "speaking" to Regulus in otter-like vocalizations.

((You're not ready to fight me, if that's what you're even implying.)) Regulus told Dewott, at the same time growling in a near human mixed with canine vocalization that made Ash recall that the way both Regulus and himself were talking to each other couldn't be understood by other Pokémon, or, at least, that's what earlier that day seemed to have shown...

Dewott, despite that answer, didn't even bother waiting for one of Ash's orders to suddenly rush forward, his scalchops unsheathed, and suddenly began hacking at Regulus with them, and actively attempting to strike at Regulus at that... key word being "attempting", here.

Regulus, swiftly but only barely moving out of the way of each slash, quickly moved his right paw behind his own back in another dodge...

... Though also to project a staff out of an unknown form of energy, and suddenly and very quickly turned a full 180 degrees to strike at Dewott's feet with the staff, as Dewott was quick to dodge the strike and jump up onto the wall that Ash had been launched into minutes prior.

Not even bothering to comment on the situation, Regulus suddenly leapt up towards Dewott to strike with his energy staff, but Dewott's own agility wasn't as weak as Regulus seemed to suggest when Regulus mentioned he "wasn't ready" to fight off against him.

Regulus, after some horizontal slashes, suddenly made a vertical slash which parried against Dewott's dual scalchops, as both the Discipline and Aura Pokémon were only just beginning their fight at the current rate, considering Regulus was unable to actually hit Dewott just yet.

Dewott, though, figured to get in an attack against Regulus somehow, so made an opening for him to strike with Water Gun to Regulus' face, although Regulus' expression suddenly had Regulus wide eyed and grinning from Dewott's efforts. Suddenly, Regulus was moments away from slashing at Dewott again vertically, but like with previous attempts, Dewott had not only barely moved out of the way, but seemingly disappeared from sight, just as Regulus had slammed his energy staff against the ground and caused a sizeable crater to form from the explosion of the impact.

Turning his gaze towards Dewott, who was now airborne, was met midair by Regulus suddenly moving at a much faster speed, taking Dewott by surprise as Regulus' hand smashed against Dewott's back with an electrical charge. Dewott, falling into the crater made by him and Regulus, was back on his feet in no time as he and Regulus began to exchange blows yet again.

Ash, having had enough of this, forcefully returned Dewott to his Poké Ball just as Regulus had the staff he had formed dissipated into particles, as Ash was visibly panting from how his aura had activated again at full force, and he was not happy about Regulus' behavior for somebody who clearly knows an awful lot about Ash already.

((Stop it... I've had enough of this for today, I just need to get back with the others, get some proper sleep, and to...)) Ash began to tell Regulus, practically furious, but he did not seem to notice on time that Regulus had vanished from sight, causing Ash's own aura to dissipate as Ash had thought Regulus had left before he could finish...

((As I had already said...))

Within mere seconds, Regulus was directly behind Ash and suddenly grabbed hold of Ash, forcing him onto his back and punching him with enough force to knock Ash out cold for the moment, with only then did Regulus' aura dissipate for good, and for Regulus to suddenly run off the moment he had heard voices calling out Ash's name.

((You're not even remotely ready for what's truly in store for you...))

To Be Continued...

 

Fun fact here; on this particular reupload of the story, I had actually changed the ending of Chapter 16 to fit in more with what happens much later in the story. You'll know what I'm referring once we get that far.

Spoiler: Truth and Ideals Chapter 13

"Ash, are you alright?" Cheren began to ask, noticing that Ash was finally waking up at the Pokémon Center they had taken him to once they had found him.

Ash, trying to sit up to look at Cheren, noticed how blurry his own vision was for several seconds as he had begun to wake up. Once he did, he had noticed Cheren, Bianca, what he presumed were the evolved forms of Snivy and Tepig due to their familiar, yet altered, looks, but most importantly...

N was also in the room.

"How is he doing?" N asked, as Ash looked over at N and blinked.

"I'm fine, though it's surprising to see you here." Ash said, as N looked over at Ash's shirtless form and shook his head.

"Your chest is bruised a lot from where you got hit... I'm just still troubled to know a Pokémon was the one who had caused this." N said, in a sadder tone than he was speaking with before, looking out towards the window and noticing a familiar presence.

((Relax, N. I got too carried away considering his Dewott had attacked me just moments before knocking him out.)) Regulus told N, as he also physically growled what he was saying to N as well.

"... I can hear your aura, you know. Not that I mind, as your own aura can sometimes be unnerving to the ears..." N told Regulus, as Regulus nodded in understanding, before growling a bit to talk to N without speaking with his aura this time, to which N nodded.

"I'll translate, then. You just got to be careful with your tone when speaking the other way, though." N said, pointing towards Dewott, "Snivy", and "Tepig", the latter two Ash was scanning with his Pokédex now that he was able to reach it.

"Servine, the Grass Snake Pokémon and the evolved form of Snivy. They avoid attacks by sinking into the shadows of thick foliage. They retaliate with masterful whipping techniques."

"Pignite, the Fire Pig Pokémon and the evolved form of Tepig. Whatever it eats becomes fuel for the flame in its stomach. When it is angered, the intensity of the flame increases."

Once the Pokédex finished explaining about Snivy and Tepig's new forms of Servine and Pignite, Ash moved to lay back down again once he felt a jolt of pain hit his chest, causing Cheren, Bianca, and N to carefully lay him down. N, looking over at Regulus, had a look of confusion.

"Why did you harm Ash, anyways?" N asked, as Regulus began to growl in a calmer tone towards N.

"So... You were trying to teach him something? Do you also agree that Pokémon and humans being together is a bad thi-"

Before N could finish, though, Regulus had suddenly rushed up towards N, and was standing in a way to where Regulus was mere inches away from punching N in the face.

"... For as much as I dislike Pokémon getting harmed by humans... Humans getting harmed by Pokémon doesn't even sound remotely better at all..." N quietly said to himself, but was still loud enough for Cheren and Ash to both hear, and as he looked towards Regulus, he noticed Bianca passing by practically terrified and leaving the room, as N began thinking to himself regarding Regulus' behavior.

((Fool... Who did you think I was talking about back at Accumula Town? Ghetsis? Or perhaps you?)) Regulus spoke to N, as Regulus jumped back as the aura emanating from his hands dissipated as quickly as they were triggered. N, meanwhile, was rather shocked as to how Regulus as just a split second away from attacking him directly.

'Wow... something must've hurt him quite a lot... But... Why?' N thought, he had looked towards Ash's resting form, then over at Cheren. Hearing Regulus growling, though, N at least figured it was best to translate what Regulus was saying now.

"In case you're wondering, the Lucario is saying that he's apologizing for hitting Ash. He went too overboard for a moment, as he puts it." N had told Cheren, as Cheren looked over towards Regulus, as Regulus was just standing in place, waiting on Ash's condition. Growling towards N to ask about it, N looked towards Ash.

"Do you... still feel hurt from two days ago?" N asked Ash, as Ash sat straight up in surprise.

"What?! It's been two days since I was knocked out?!" Ash asked, surprised by the revelation, as Cheren nodded.

"Yeah, it was two days... Nurse Joy and N kept an eye on you whenever Bianca and I couldn't do so." Cheren said, as Ash looked around in the room and noticed somebody missing.

"... Speaking of which, where's Bianca?" Ash asked, as N looked around, noticing a door in the bedroom with some steam rising up from under the door.

"Is she really taking a shower at a time like this...?" Cheren asked, as Regulus began to growl towards N again to explain what he had seen from Bianca before she had left the three of them alone.

"The Lucario is saying-" Interrupted for a second by a harsh growl from Regulus, N started up again, "I mean, Regulus, is saying that Bianca had gone to take a shower to calm her nerves. She looked visibly frightened by Regulus." N translated, as Cheren and Ash both nodded.

"I'm not going to complain, we all need some form of rest after having known Ash was out cold for two days in a row." Cheren said, as he looked over towards Ash. "See if you can try and stand, N and I will try and help you stay stable." Cheren asked from Ash, as Ash nodded.

"I'll try..." Ash said, as with Cheren and N staying by Ash's side, Ash began to get out of bed to try and stand, with Regulus quietly approaching to help out as well.

In the bathroom next to them, Bianca was letting the warmth of the shower water sooth her tense, nervous skin, carefully washing her hair and body to help herself calm down.

"I need to find a way to be more courageous at times... I... That Lucario just seems scary with how he acts..." Bianca began to speak for herself, with Munna calmly floating next to Bianca in the shower stall.

Hearing her mooing calls, Bianca looked towards Munna, before moving to hug the small Pokémon.

"It's okay, I'm here... I'm just as scared as you are about Lucario..." Bianca said, comforting her Munna as she tried to think about something that had happened while she and Cheren were away earlier today...

"Your friend is lucky you were able to bring him back here on time. I'm surprised that aside from bruising, that he's actually not in a bad condition at all." Nurse Joy spoke to Cheren and Bianca, as they were standing next to the bed Ash was laying on, shirtless and bandaged up, as he was laying down asleep.

"So how long do you think he'll be out of it?" Cheren asked Nurse Joy, as Nurse Joy carefully set her hand on Ash's chest.

"He'll probably be out of it for a few days, no less than two at most. I recommend keeping a close eye on him until he's ready to get back on his feet, even if he does wake up earlier than that." Joy told them both, as Cheren sighed, with Bianca letting out Tepig from his Poké Ball. Nurse Joy, beginning to leave, prompted Cheren to let Snivy out of her Poké Ball, watching as both of their starter Pokémon glance at each other.

"I hope he'll be alright..." Bianca said to Cheren, as Cheren looked towards Bianca with a touch of nervousness, which Bianca was quick to notice. "Hey, are you alright?" Bianca asked Cheren, as Cheren blushed.

"It's... it's nothing... I'm fine, I just need to try and gather my thoughts on what we'll be doing until Ash recovers..."

As Bianca woke from her thoughts, she seemed to glance downward toward the bottom of the shower stall, trying to think about not only how she'll help Ash get back on his feet after a misstep like this, but more importantly, how exactly to get Cheren to not panic mentally at the prospect of Cheren and her ending up in a situation to themselves...

As she was thinking about what was going on, her eyes opened wide when she saw Cheren, standing right in front of her with his eyes hidden from view. Watching Cheren undress, she blushed at an increasing rate when what she was seeing went on further, before both of them were doing... something interesting, as Bianca's face began to get redder and redder from what she was seeing.

"Bianca?"

Upon hearing someone call her name, she heard knocking on the bathroom door and gasped in response. As she looked around, she noticed whatever she was seeing earlier was all just something she had day dreamed of, and her face was fiercely red in slight embarrassment. Munna, having grabbed onto Bianca's head, let loose a plume of pink smoke, before letting go and floating down to Bianca.

"Hey... did you... see any of that?" Bianca asked her Munna as she sighed, as Munna let out a soft, mooing sound in response.

"Alright... just... please try to snap me out of something like that if it happens again." Bianca said, turning off the shower water and beginning to dry herself off with a towel.

"Besides, I really don't want to make Cheren any more uncomfortable than I already have..." Bianca said, rather sadly, before putting on a lime green robe to keep her body covered and relaxed, since her usual wardrobe was being washed.

"Hey, Bianca, are you in there?" She was able to hear this time. It was Ash's voice.

"Yeah, I'm in here. Do you need to use the shower?" Bianca asked, as she opened the door and looked at Ash, in addition to Cheren and N who were talking with each other for a moment, as Bianca moved out of the way to allow Ash into the bathroom, as she walked out into the room with the others, her Munna following her as Regulus was sitting calmly in a state of meditation.

"Are you alright, Bianca?" Cheren asked her, as Bianca nodded, moving to sit beside him, which caused Cheren to blush a little. N, meanwhile, was a bit confused.

"So, might I ask why you're concerned on Ash's condition? You seem like the least likely person we know to have encountered here." Bianca asked N, as N sighed.

"Yeah, I am the least likely person to be around. I just don't understand how people like you or Ash even function, but most importantly, how Ash even functions." N began to say, "Ash has some kind of power that I've only heard from passerby Pokémon trainers regarding the Striaton Gym Battles from two days ago, and what I've seen for myself rather... disturbs me..." N finished, as he moved to stand and get up to leave.

"Either way, I'm glad to know Ash is beginning to feel better. I apologize if I was intruding on anything at all, I was just concerned for his safety." N said, before opening the door to the hallway to leave, closing the door behind him.

Regulus, meanwhile, remained in deep thought about things, but noted because N was no longer present, he could at least "speak" with Ash at the moment.

((Feeling any better?)) Regulus asked, as Ash, preparing to take a shower to properly clean himself, closed his mouth and began to respond to Regulus.

((Yeah, I'm feeling better. I just need to wash myself off since I've been in bed for a whole two days.)) Ash responded, as Regulus sighed.

((Look, I apologize for my behavior before... This is the first time I've engaged much in social contact in a very, very long time... I've rather lost my touch in this regard.)) Regulus explained to Ash, as Ash understood what Regulus was meaning.

((Although, for some reason, I can't help but think you did have a point with as to why you were attacking me; you're trying to test my own abilities, right?))

((Yes. It's just been almost 17 years since I've had much contact with people, and considering my own personal training was... brutal, I was misbehaving in your own eyes now that I've seen that not many people act the way they had used to.)) Regulus told Ash, as he mentally sighed on this factor.

((Listen, Regulus, if you want to apologize, well... I could make an offer...)) Ash began to ask, as Regulus mentally raised an eye at that comment.

((... You're crazy, if what you're about to suggest is what I'm thinking it is... But I won't argue, I deserve at least some kind of knowledge to know I'm not scaring your friends with my presence...)) Regulus said. ((So what do you have in mind, Ketchum?))

As Regulus finished, Ash, thinking of the only logical conclusion to this, decided to ask Regulus the following.

((Would you like to join my own team as one of my own Pokémon?))

To Be Continued...

Spoiler: Truth and Ideals Chapter 14

"WHAT?!" Cheren and Bianca both yelled once Ash had taken the chance to explain to them what was going to happen.

"Well, it seems like the only logical answer. If he's going to follow me around anyways, he might as well join my own team." Ash told them both, with Regulus staying silent in the corner of the bedroom.

"A-Are you sure...? I mean, he attacked you, almost attacked N, and what's to say he won't attack anybody else?" Bianca asked, as Cheren pushed his glasses up.

"As much as this sounds dangerous... I have to say Ash does have a point." Cheren brought up, as Bianca carefully looked at Cheren.

"Again, are you sure? He's already proven to be dangerous on his own!" Bianca said, before suddenly realizing what precisely she had said.

"Exactly; if he has a trainer to keep an eye out for him, he can easily be kept in more proper control than not having one at all." Cheren explained, as he looked over towards Regulus. "Also, I'm assuming from when N was here earlier, that this Lucario prefers to go by the nickname of "Regulus"?" Cheren asked Ash, to which the latter nodded.

"Yeah, but I must warn you both... he's able to speak through utilizing his own aura, but unless you're able to properly grasp how aura works, you can't understand him properly." Ash explained, as Regulus opened his eyes to look towards the group.

((That, and the ones who can without proper stability often experience agitation to their senses. That's part of why N told me to speak more like an ordinary Pokémon towards him. He's able to understand that just fine, but whatever his capability in Aura is will not be enough for him to be able to properly master it at all if he can't even withstand being able to hear my own speech.)) Regulus explained to Ash, as Ash nodded.

"Alright, so, do we have an agreement on you joining my team so you can keep better control of yourself?" Ash asked Regulus, to which Regulus stood up, before walking over to Ash. Removing the necklace he was wearing, he gives it to Ash as he looks at Ash with an approving nod.

((Alright, but if this is going to work, we need to be absolutely sure you're capable of handling my maximum level of power.)) Regulus informed him, as Ash blinked.

((In other words, let all of your Pokémon out of their Poké Balls and let's see how each of them will be able to handle my own power. You'll battle me first before we can fully determine if you'll be able to allow me to use this power again any time soon. Right now, though, I do not believe you're ready still... but it's the only option I have if I'm going to avoid harming anybody without meaning to.)) Regulus explained to Ash, as Ash nodded, before the latter began to explain to Cheren and Bianca the plan.

"Alright, we'll meet up in the primary battle park at the center of this city, and I'll have a battle against Regulus to see if he'll be able to control himself. In the end, Regulus will join my team once we've seen just how strong he actually is." Ash told them, as Cheren and Bianca, looking towards each other a bit hesitantly, both nodded in understanding.

After walking out to the "battle park" as Ash called it, Ash, Cheren, Bianca, and Regulus had gathered with Regulus standing on the opposite side of the battlefield.

Ash, choosing from one of his four Pokémon he already has to battle Regulus with, is quick to send out Pichu from his Poké Ball.

"Pichu!" Pichu cried once he was let out, but soon cringed in fright when he saw Regulus was his first opponent.

((A little unwise to let the infant battle me, don't you think?)) Regulus spoke up towards Ash, as Cheren placed a hand onto Ash's shoulder, with Bianca doing the same.

"Let's just hope Pichu's going to be capable of going up against Regulus... I know some of your Pokémon have trained during the last two days, but Pichu always seemed to try and avoid training at times." Cheren told Ash.

"I hope he'll be careful with Regulus... We still don't know how powerful Regulus actually is." Bianca said to Ash, clearly worried for Pichu's safety. However, Ash gave both them, and Pichu, a reassuring glance.

"Trust me, he'll be fine..." Ash told them, as Pichu took up a battle stance against Regulus.

((I recommend having a spare Poké Ball on hand, because you're going to need it for when this over. That aside...)) Regulus began telling Ash, his eyes closed during this.

((Tap the gemstone around your neck, and then you'll see my true power.)) Regulus told Ash, as Ash nodded in understanding. Pressing his finger against the odd stone, Ash could hear the gem let out a small surge of energy, which caused Ash himself to glow with his aura, but most importantly had Regulus glowing with an equally intense aura.

With an even more intense field of energy gathering around Regulus, he had become encased in a sphere of energy so intense that when Regulus emerged from it, a powerful shockwave occurred around him. As a brief burst of energy appeared above Regulus' head in the shape of a DNA helix, Regulus let loose a fierce howl much different in tone from his usual voice.

((Alright, show me what you're made of!)) Regulus spoke to Ash, waiting for Ash's own move before making his own, all the while Cheren and Bianca tried to scan Regulus on the Pokédex again.

"Alright, Pokédex, why does Regulus look different all of a sudden?" Cheren asked his Pokédex, noting how Regulus now had more numerous, refined spikes emerging from the back of his hands and feet, tiny touches of red across his body and dreadlocks, and a golden mane covering his body and even replacing his original tail.

"When Lucario Mega Evolves, it becomes Mega Lucario. Upon Mega Evolution, black patterns creep up Mega Lucario's arms and legs-marks left behind by the heightened aura energy that thrums throughout its body." The Pokédex explained to both Cheren and Bianca, as both of them stared at Regulus with newfound interest.

"Mega Evolution...?" Both of them had asked, as they both looked towards Regulus and Pichu.

"Alright! Pichu! Let's start off with Volt Tackle!" Ash called, as Pichu was eager to respond.

"Pichu! Pi!" Pichu yelled, as he rushed forward with a field of electricity suddenly surging across his entire body as he charged head first into Regulus, but despite how powerful Volt Tackle actually looked, the strike barely caused Regulus to flinch.

Regulus, not even taking the chance to speak next, immediately followed up on Pichu's attack with by using a powerful punch to knock Pichu into the ground, causing the entire surface to shatter upon impact and send Pichu flying all the way back to Ash's side of the field.

"P-Pic-chu..." Pichu muttered, before looking towards Regulus with a bit of defiance, but Regulus, this entire time had yet to actually open his eyes to even notice this.

((Try again. This young one is different from the others...)) Regulus pointed out to Ash, as Ash nodded.

"Alright, let's try again, Pichu! Thunder Wave!" Ash told Pichu, as Pichu got up and glared towards Regulus, before static began to surge from himself, even if it appeared to be visibly hurting him in the process.

"PIIICHUUU!" Pichu cried from unleashing a torrent of electrical waves towards Regulus, but Regulus moved to dodge all of the waves that came at him from the front...

... Even anticipating the waves to turn around and head back towards him from the back, managing to dodge the returning waves of electricity perfectly fine, but when Pichu was visibly getting agitated by Regulus' dodging, he let out a sharp, unrecognizable cry which appeared to send a pink colored shockwave of electricity towards Regulus, but as Regulus was still dodging the prior currents, this particular wave of electricity was quick to immediately home in on Regulus.

Catching Regulus in their movement impairing grasp, Regulus crouched down in what appeared to be weakness...

... Then his eyes suddenly shot open in response to this.

((You have yet to truly experience my power!)) Regulus said, before suddenly igniting his entire body and the area around him in a huge, powerful shockwave of aura energy as Regulus let out a powerful howl in tone, only intensifying as the aura dissipated and Regulus looked practically on fire.

Ash, focusing and activating his own aura to try and help out Pichu, glanced towards Regulus.

"So, that's how you're going to play, is it? Alright, Pichu! Reversal!" Ash called, as Ash's own aura ignited into flames, as Pichu began charging towards Regulus at an intense speed, but Regulus' own speed was a lot faster from the power-up he had given himself, causing Regulus' own response to Pichu to be equally amplified in intensity to where both Pokémon suddenly were launched across into another part of the battlefield.

As both Pichu and Regulus went at each other, there fast movements, in addition to their capability to hold their own against each other in the process, caught the attention of many other trainers within the battle park... including the passing by N.

"Huh?!" N uttered in surprise, his eyes widening as he had watched Regulus and Pichu battling against each other, slowly began to walk the opposite way before turning to run altogether to avoid being noticed any further.

As Pichu and Regulus both jumped back onto their own battlefield, Pichu took advantage of Regulus' paralysis beginning to take hold when Regulus had tried to land on the ground and continue the fight.

((Now then, watch the power of aura!)) Regulus called, before using clasping both of his hands together, an intense, powerful sphere of energy forming in them, and pushing his hands out towards Pichu.

((AURA! STORM!)) Regulus yelled, firing the powerful blast of Aura energy towards Pichu, but as Ash's aura deliberately flared up again, Pichu disappeared from Regulus' sight in a blur, and thus when the beam of energy dissipated, it appeared as if Regulus had hit Pichu...

"Pichuuu!"

... Until Pichu's cry was heard directly above Regulus, and heading towards his direction, causing Regulus' expression to change into that of surprise upon glancing up to look at Pichu.

"Alright, let's finish this! Pichu! Volt Reversal!" Ash called towards Pichu, his eyes practically glowing gold and his aura intense around him, as Pichu suddenly and swiftly charged in the direction of Regulus from midair, and slammed his head against Regulus with such a force that Regulus was sent flying back into a wall, as he doubled over from the pain, as he was cloaked in a white field of energy that caused him to take on the appearance of an ordinary Lucario once more.

"Alright," Ash said, drawing out a Great Ball from his bag, which he had bought minutes ago to prepare for this. "Great Ball, GO!" Ash called, throwing the amplified Great Ball towards Regulus, and almost immediately upon contact, the Great Ball opened up and dragged Regulus into it, before closing and falling to the ground.

One shake, two shakes, three shakes... *click*

As Ash moved to claim the Great Ball, his aura began to fade as he walked up to pick it up, with Pichu quietly following even if he was heavily damaged at the moment.

"Alright! I caught Lucario!" Ash said, deliberately not using Regulus' own nickname as to avoid confusing the crowd he had noticed was watching him.

As Cheren and Bianca both breathed a sigh of relief, Bianca went to carefully pick up Pichu and tend to his wounds with a Potion, as Ash let out Regulus from his Great Ball, as Regulus appeared in a crouched stance, heavily damaged from the aftermath of the battle.

As Bianca was about to tend to his wounds, Regulus simply gestured to stay back for a moment as he had caught his breath. Once he did, he turned his gaze up towards Ash with a bit of a confident smile and cheerful expression directed towards Ash, even if he still maintained a serious look.

((Now you actually are ready, Ash.))

To Be Continued...

Spoiler: Truth and Ideals Chapter 15

Things were a tad bit uneasy at the Ketchum household. While Ash and company were away on their Pokémon journey doing who knows what, things were beginning to get rather serious back at Accumula Town.

"You're sure your own son can actually keep my daughter safe?" Don asked, talking to Delia, as the latter nodded.

"Yes, I'm certain of it. Once he had called me over the Xtransceiver about how things have been going well for him after three days' time, it seems that both Cheren and Bianca are doing fine as well." Delia told Don, as Cheren's father was a bit uneasy in the room.

"... Seriously? You seem to imply that you've actually heard anything back from anyone other than Ash." Cheren's father spoke up towards Delia, as Delia sighed.

"Well, I saw Cheren and Bianca standing right beside him at a shop when he made the call. Xtransceivers have screens to them, you know." Delia told Cheren's father, as Bianca's father was silently giving him a bit of a glare.

"Felix... Do you even remotely believe Cheren will keep my daughter safe?" Don asked Cheren's father, named Felix.

"As if she needs protecting to begin with. She seems strong enough on her own to not rely on others." Felix suggested, as Don was just moments away from bursting out at Felix, before suddenly calming down as his expression saddened.

"O-Okay... Perhaps you're right... Maybe I am just being a little too selfish here. Do you think that's the case?"

"YES!" Delia and Felix both yelled, as Don just held his head down in shame at that answer, as Delia got up from where she was sitting to grab something from a small, storage cabinet, grabbing out a flute of sorts from her storage and walking outside.

"Alright, let me tell you a little bit of a backstory involving myself. First off, follow me real quick." Delia told them both, as Don was quick to follow as Felix, already standing, followed Delia at his own pace.

"What are you doing?" Felix asked, as he began to watch as Delia ignored both him and Don and began to blow into the flute she had, gazing out towards the seaside towards the south. Slowly, she began walking towards the coast as she continued to play on this flute.

The tune was serene in nature, easily soothing the minds of both Don and Felix upon listening to its tune. The overall tone of the song Delia was playing was also matching the way the currents towards the sea were showing themselves to be...

... And then the bell on the small tower on the beach began ringing to the tune, as the tune suddenly shifted. While maintaining the calm, soothing tune, the song was now escalating into something fierce even with the overall tone not having changed too much. The tower's bell beginning to ring seemed to cause similar bells placed across Accumula Town to suddenly begin to ring in the same motion.

Without much warning for either Don and Felix, the sea water on the coast had suddenly began to swirl in an intense vortex before something of a large size suddenly burst from the water, a waterspout forming where it was, before the entire spiral dissipated into water particles. As Delia set her flute aside, and gazed up at the creature before her, a rather terrified Don grabbed his own Pokédex to scan the mysterious Pokémon that Delia, for some reason, had decided to summon.

"Lugia, the Diving Legendary Pokémon of Johto. According to locals of Orre, Lugia had once appeared in an enraged state of dementia, before it was purged of this negative influence by two brave trainers. Both of these trainers still carry the "Flute of the Guardians", but nobody has been able to identify the trainers in question." The Pokédex explained, as Don and Felix both looked at Delia with a bit of shock, as Felix was already putting two and two together here.

"So, it was you and your missing husband that solved the Orre Crisis back in the day?" Felix asked of Delia, to which she had nodded to him silently. Don, meanwhile, went from terrified to practically awestruck at the sight of the giant sized, silver avian flying in the air directly in front of them.

"But... why does it still allow you to summon it? Especially here? We're nowhere near Johto's vicinity at all!" Don asked Delia, as Delia looked back at both of them as Lugia moved a bit closer to land, it's giant, powerful wings causing a lot of dust to fly up into the autumn air as it had landed.

"I needed to prove a point to you, Don." Delia said, as she looked up at Lugia for a quick moment, before back towards Don. "I can understand why sheltering Ash for a good portion of his life was a bad idea; I shouldn't have been holding him back at all for all of those years before now in which he wanted to be a Pokémon trainer. It's... just that I don't want any repeats of what had happened to my husband." Delia said, as Felix blinked a bit.

"Can't you just accept the fact he's dead? It's been 18 years almost since we've last seen him! In fact, nobody else has been able to report on his disappearance since that fateful day!" Felix told Delia, as Delia shook her head.

"I'll believe he's dead when I see it for myself..." Delia told them both, as Lugia looked down towards Delia as their conversation had gone on.

"Gyaaas!" Lugia roared, just to get their attention, as Lugia opened its wings as it was seemingly moving to leave. Delia, noticing this, quickly turned back to Lugia.

"Lugia! Please, listen to me! I've been waiting for the right time to call you forth, and I do believe now is the right time!" Delia began to say towards the giant, silver avian, as Lugia calmed down a bit upon hearing her finally speak up.

"Tell me, please... Is it possible that you can sense any of the Pokémon that my husband had used to help save you from madness all of those years ago...? Is it possible that any of his Pokémon aside from his Pikachu would still be out there?" Delia asked, as Lugia reared its head up and gazed towards the north.

Charging up a powerful torrent of energy within its mouth, a vortex of wind began to surge around Lugia, as Lugia suddenly roared an intense, cyclone of wind from its mouth and out towards inland, as each individual wave of wind energy from the beam attack had weakened as it had progressed...

Back at Striaton City...

Ash and co. had begun preparing to leave the city, and were doing some extra shopping to prepare to leave. Pichu and Regulus, meanwhile, were outside of their Poké Balls as Pichu was peacefully resting on Ash's shoulder. Regulus, meanwhile, was standing idly with his eyes closed, as if it keeping an eye out on nearby surroundings.

"Cheren, Bianca's going to need some extra blankets for the tent before we leave, the forecast isn't going to get any warmer at this rate." Ash asked of Cheren, as Cheren nodded.

"Ya, I've been looking into some different brands and told Bianca to have one of the clerks allow her to test them to see if any of them were good. Anything else we'll need to get aside from medical items for both our Pokémon and ourselves?" Cheren explained and then asked, as Ash shook his head.

"Aside from what you've just told me, we're good to go. Food and water is stocked up so once we get some additional covering for Bianca for nights we have to camp out we'll be good to leave and-" Before he had a chance to finish, Ash had noticed Regulus' dreadlocks suddenly shoot upward, indicating he had detected something.

((... Somebody's calling out to me... somebody... I know...?)) Regulus told Ash, as Ash looked outside to see the clouds in the sky beginning to push further north at a faster rate, as if being forced to move in that direction. Just as Cheren and Bianca took notice of this as well, they all could hear Lugia's booming cry.

"GYAAAS!"

The wind currents from before, having weakened in intensity upon arriving to Striaton City, were loud and clear as to their presence, as despite having weakened in power, they were still powerful enough to cause some stray objects outside to go flying into the distance, with several trainers ducking for cover. Regulus, meanwhile, looked towards the wind currents direction, his expression quickly turning to that of a tiny bit of dread.

((... Lugia...?!)) Regulus had questioned, as he had flashback to some of his own past. Many of which involved a rather tall man dressed up in a suit with a fedora, and having facial features akin to Ash's own. His hair was longer than Ash's, but the raven black color was the same. Regulus, having recalled how tall the man stood compared to him, began to notice he was still at a very young age from when he this particular event had happened...

... Then he saw Lugia at the end of the flashback, with its coloration and appearance warped into an incredibly dark, near black shade of violet, with silver, metallic fins across its back and covering its eyes, the latter of which were sharpened in appearance. The next thing Regulus recalled was watching another Lucario appear before him from its Poké Ball, as it had Mega Evolved to take on the corrupted, red eyed Lugia, and that was when the flashback had ended.

((... Wow... So that was something my dad had done all of those years ago...?)) Ash had recalled, as Regulus grinned a little as to fake his own usual, calmer mood.

((Well, let me tell you something, Ash...)) Regulus had begun to tell Ash, completely ignoring the fact that Ash was able to see the memory as well due to the fact Regulus knew Aura could already work in such a way if necessary. What confused him, though, is why Lugia was present in the region for the call to be made about Regulus.

((He was an amazing man, and once we get on our way...)) Regulus said, looking over towards Cheren and Bianca, both having calmed down, and began to pay for their goods.

((I'll tell you all some of the story of how I had first known of him, not as an ordinary trainer...))

((... But as a living legend.))

To Be Continued...

Spoiler: Truth and Ideals Chapter 16

"So, I take it you have many things to say about my father, huh?" Ash asked Regulus, as the group was currently resting in the tent late at night. Bianca was already asleep by this point, being kept warm by the numerous blankets covering her, and the fact Cheren was resting beside her to ensure she was warm enough.

((Indeed, although I have to thank you for having us crash for the night out here rather than staying in Striaton for the night. Let's just say the information I have to explain should not leave this tent unless somebody else brings it up.)) Regulus told Ash, as Cheren looked over towards Regulus and Ash.

"So if part of the reason why we're out here is for a quiet place to detail Regulus' background, I suppose you're going to translate." Cheren asked, as Ash nodded.

"Well, since that's clear, I guess now would be a good time to explain some of my father's background." Ash asked Regulus, as Regulus nodded.

((Well then, where do I start... Considering the context of why I'm telling you as much as I will be, I might as well begin with the following...)) Regulus began to speak.

((It all began with your father on a journey to track down a person who possessed a special artifact, all because both of them have had some form of tie to the Legendary Pokémon known as Lugia. What your father didn't know, however, was that the person who he would ultimately meet would be your own mother...))

19 years ago...

In the middle of a desert in an unknown region, began to brew a sandstorm. As the sandstorm began to kick up, a fierce roar was heard at the epicenter of the storm.

"Damn! Seize him you fools!" A man yelled, in a deep, commanding voice, while carrying a heavy looking set of equipment on his back like nothing. The man appeared, physically, incredibly strong and muscular, and towered over his own henchmen. His skin was a dark brown, with his nose having a piercing through it and his lower jaw being noticeably huge with a visible under bite. Wearing only green cargo pants, and lacking a shirt altogether sans for a belt which allowed him to carry his back equipment around.

As a bunch of the man's henchmen were heading towards the sandstorm, several could not proceed, but that didn't stop several others from proceeding anyways due to being armed with goggles to protect their eyes...

... Although it was clear the sandstorm was not the only issue they would have.

Hearing the roar of the Pokémon causing the sandstorm in the first place, the goons were confronted with various moves being thrown at them with Fire, Ice, and Electricity forging a barrier around the goons to keep them from getting in the way.

The leader, strapping on goggles of his own to protect his eyes, responded to this nonsense himself. Due to seeing that his own henchmen couldn't handle the Pokémon within the sandstorm.

"Alright, I've had enough!" He growled, before withdrawing a Poké Ball from his belt. "Honchkrow, demolish this Tyranitar in the way!" The man yelled, as from the Poké Ball appeared a dark, sharp looking avian called Honchkrow, and the opposing Pokémon was a Dinosaurian Pokémon called Tyranitar.

The Honchkrow, whose eyes were heavily glazed over in what appeared to be absolute fury, didn't mind the sandstorm and proceeded to strike at Tyranitar with Steel Wing, but Tyranitar seemed a little confident about the situation...

... Because Honchkrow failed to realize the entire point of why it was here to begin with, although it was clear that this did not matter to the bird.

Hearing an explosion across the other side of the wasteland, the leader heard it loud and clear, as his communicator suddenly went off and alerted him to a problem; his underground base was being infiltrated.

"What?! How did he get in there?!" The leader yelled, absolutely furious, as he immediately grabbed behind his back to grab hold of two, giant size pieces of machinery and slamming both pieces onto the ground. Both of the large pieces, colliding together and shifting parts to form a motorbike, as the man jumped on and immediately drove off into the distance to check on the situation.

"This is Boss Gromm, get me a scan on who the intruder is! Team Crag will not tolerate this intrusion!"

The Honchkrow, meanwhile, seeing it was separate from its own trainer, simply flew back away from the Tyranitar opposing it, letting loose a rather sharp, raspy cackle of sorts...

... As it snapped the neck of the nearest henchman it could perch on. Soon enough, several other goons were screaming in fright of the dark colored bird, but Honchkrow did not care for the nonsense around it, and Tyranitar could easily see why...

... This particular Honchkrow was completely insane, and driven entirely by hatred.

"Boss Gromm! The Honchkrow's out of control again! Get back here!"

"The avian handles himself, there's not anything wrong with him! I'll deal with the intruder first, THEN get back and see what the problem is. Again." Gromm responded back on the communicator.

Rising up from the exposed hole, appeared to be another avian Pokémon flying up from the wreckage, and standing atop it's back was a seemingly humanoid being standing before Gromm's arrival, as Gromm immediately parked his motorbike with a harsh, sudden screech, as the humanoid revealed itself to be a folded up Pokémon of sorts, in the form of a wasp-like Pokémon with lances for hands.

"Hah, nice try, ole' Ketchum... Thinking you could outsmart me with this trick yet again..." Gromm began to say, as he drew out a Poké Ball and was carefully preparing for which Pokémon to send out next...

However, before Gromm could act, an unknown Pokémon had caught Gromm unguarded and paralyzed him with some sort of electrical move, as Gromm, unable to move properly, fell onto his motorbike. Any man who was paralyzed by such a tactic would've just given up...

... But Gromm, like his hidden opponent, was no ordinary man.

Moving the motorbike in a way that would cause one of his Poké Balls to detach from his belt, out from the Poké Ball appeared a humanoid Pokémon covered in brown armor and having a noticeably large moustache with a fox-like shape to its body.

"Alright, Alakazam! Mega Evolve and teach our intruder who's the boss around here!" Gromm yelled, maneuvering his motorbike to suddenly flip onto its side, exposing a Key Stone on the very bottom of it, just as the man was moving to recover from his paralysis and quickly disassemble his motorbike into twin, gigantic weapons mounted on his muscular arms.

However, the wasp Pokémon did nothing to intervene, even though it was, like the changing Alakazam, armed with its own Mega Stone. The wasp Pokémon, giving a simple gesture to the avian beneath him, had the avian fly back into the base as the wasp flew off towards the direction of Tyranitar, leaving Alakazam with its sole opponent...

"So, neither the Pidgeot nor Beedrill want to fight, eh? Just leaving the tiny Pokémon to fight on its own? Very well." Gromm spoke, before ordering his Alakazam to deal with the opposing Alakazam, who had emerged transformed, and levitating five spoons, floating in a meditating pose, as it now possessed a giant, white beard and moustache.

"Hidden Power." Gromm ordered, as Mega Alakazam moved to attack... but the opponent Pokémon proceeded to use the exact same trick it did to Gromm to paralyze Alakazam. However, Alakazam still insisted on attempting to attack... key word being attempt.

The small Pokémon, of an uncertain species to Alakazam, was moving at such a fast speed, that Alakazam couldn't properly make any move against it, but the Pokémon was repeatedly hitting Alakazam, and from the looks of it, for quite a chunk of damage with each repeated strike. Alakazam, not able to withstand being tricked like this, focused Hidden Power to fire off around the entire area, but the one time it did hit the opponent...

... It was just rendered null and void on contact.

Upon hearing further explosions across the desert, Gromm could tell he was not in a very good situation despite having to deal with such a small Pokémon like this one...

"Ugh, enough of this! REGROUP!" Gromm yelled, piecing together his weapons back into a motorbike as he drove back off towards the sandstorm, with Alakazam getting knocked out by the small, unknown Pokémon, the small Pokémon following the trail that Gromm left behind.

"Alright, you're here somewhere..." Gromm spoke to himself, as he parked his motorbike with a screeching halt, as he split them back into weapon mode as he began to walk towards the small sized crater from which the Tyranitar once stood, and the sandstorm beginning to clear. All he could see before him was a man who stood rather tall, even when compared to the equally tall and muscular Gromm.

The man before him was slim, even with his figure being hidden with a cloak and cape combination, and the only prevalent features was a fedora, raven black hair, and a staff which he had on his back, all the while a small, blue colored Pokémon stood beside him, and hid before the sight of Gromm nearing its trainer.

"Easy now, Regulus. He's not here to fight." The man spoke in a subdued, quiet monotone, as he glanced up at Gromm's towering form.

"So, what business do you have in Orre? Team Snagem is no more, Cipher has been reduced to a one man team, and all that remains are my own gang of criminals! You're no stranger to me, at least, but I have to admit; pretty ballsy of you to show up and infiltrate my underground base without a worry's notice. Quite a nerve, Sirius... Quite a nerve..." Gromm began to say, as he simply glared at the man, apparently named Sirius, as even with being taller, Sirius was not intimidated in the slightest.

"If I recall," Sirius began to speak, "If you said Cipher was reduced to a one man show, then do tell me..." The man spoke, as he took out an Ultra Ball and let loose a familiar Pokémon in front of Gromm; Honchkrow.

"... What's the deal with Honchkrow here?" Sirius asked, as Honchkrow maintained its same, psychotic eyes as it glanced up at Gromm, which suddenly caused the giant man's face to sadden a little.

"After all these years, I thought you were one of them... Guess I was wrong." Gromm began to speak, as he took out his communicator. "Everyone, stand down and begin repairs. False alarm." Gromm spoke to his goons over the communication channel, as Gromm sheathed both of the huge sized weapons onto his back again.

"So this is why you've been attacking my team this whole time; you were after the Honchkrow the whole time." Gromm spoke, as he moved to sit down on the ground, as Sirius did the same.

"Sirius Ketchum, the man whom I had once thought was trying to antagonize my whole gang for our attempts to bring justice by hiding among the enemies, and here he is, only seeking to purify the head honcho of our own Pokémon." Gromm began to rant, as Sirius remained quiet and unmoving as he sat in place, as just when Honchkrow was about to try something sneaky, Sirius merely motioned with his left hand, which surrounded itself in aura, as he carefully placed his hand on Honchkrow's forehead.

Honchkrow's eyes, at first the same, psychotic look they were before, slowly began to take on their red, but otherwise perfectly normal, coloration and appearance, with Gromm being surprised to see Honchkrow back into a mentality that was even remotely sane.

"Ya know, you could've made this a lot easier had you simply informed us of this ahead of time."

"I'm afraid that would've broken your guise as the enemy, Gromm." Sirius pointed out, as Gromm let out a low chuckle.

"Still, though, what business do you have in Orre? I don't recall any trouble actually brewing that requires your assistance... I mean, don't you have anything better to do?" Gromm asked, watching as Sirius' Pokémon began to gather around, and noticing the Tyranitar, Pidgeot, Beedrill, Honchkrow, a Riolu which Sirius called "Regulus", and the even smaller Pokémon which he still didn't have a clue what it was.

"By the way, which Pokémon is this that you've brought here with you today? Never seen one that looked like it would be better off as a keychain." Gromm asked, noticing the small sized Pokémon motion towards him.

"Klefki, he's a Steel/Fairy Type Pokémon from a region called Kalos." Sirius introduced for the Pokémon, apparently called a Klefki, as Gromm's Alakazam floated back into view of the area, and was back to its original state, though it did glare a bit towards Klefki.

"But seriously, Sirius, why are you here? Again, if it's Cipher you're after, it's a one man show now, but it's been a long time since I recall that guy doing anything out of the ordinary." Gromm asked again, as Sirius responded with a newspaper clip from the "Johto Time's".

"I hate to say it's true, but it appears Lugia was not entirely purified from the last time Cipher had their hands on it. Just keep an eye out for Cipher and I'll know this isn't their fault, but I still need to ask..." Sirius began to explain, as he held up a flute in front of Gromm, it's covering entirely silver in coloration, even if it was rusted.

"Something about Lugia is triggering some former Shadow Pokémon to return to their psychotic ways. I've been wandering the globe endlessly in search of the simple solution to the problem, and the answer lies with whoever has the opposite flute." Sirius began to explain, as he had shattered Honchkrow's Ultra Ball like it was nothing at the moment, since he no longer needed to have Honchkrow as one of "his" own Pokémon.

"So, all I ask is simple; who has the other flute? I've been informed on the black market that you probably know the person who has it." Sirius told Gromm, as Gromm sighed a bit.

"It's true, my job and lifestyle with my gang being the moles within the criminal organizations of Orre does require I know what goes on in the black market." Gromm began to speak. "But yeah, I do know the person you're looking for. In fact, she's actually my niece from Kanto." Gromm pointed out.

"So you do have a family you're caring for, then? Here I thought this whole time that you were just a thug who merely posed as a criminal." Sirius remarked, as Gromm rolled his eyes.

"Tell me that again by the time you end up having a family of your own, Ketchum. In fact, why don't you have a family of your own to look after?" Gromm asked, as Sirius seemed to cringe at that remark.

"... Look, to be honest, I don't even know if I'm suited to the job..." Sirius admitted, as he tried to maintain his calmness in the situation, as Gromm noticed that what he had said had seemed to have upset Sirius.

"... Look mate I'm sorry if I hit a nerve there, I was just curious as to why nobody's tried to go after you at this point to try and drag you off into marriage and family life. You deserve it at a time like this!" Gromm began to speak, as Sirius went back to his serious expression.

"Can we just please change the subject so that I can know where to look for your niece and I can head on my way?" Sirius asked, as Gromm sighed.

"Well, to say looking for her would be easy would be lying." Gromm started, "Last I heard of her, she was at Sinnoh, and she seems to have been there ever since I had last contacted her last week. Apparently she spends a lot of time in a Church, but I'm not familiar with Sinnoh's cities so I wouldn't know where exactly that would be." Gromm told Sirius, as Sirius nodded.

"I appreciate the information either way." Sirius said, moving to stand as he returned Tyranitar, Beedrill, and Klefki to their Poké Balls, as Regulus had jumped onto Sirius' back, as Sirius looked towards his, rather oversized, Pidgeot, and very calmly tapped the Key Stone on his necklace to trigger Pidgeot's Mega Stone.

As Pidgeot was encased in energy, Pidgeot transformed into a slightly larger version of itself with blue tipped wings and tail feathers, in addition to a very lengthy strand of feathers trailing down its back.

"I take it you're actually going to fly there even considering Lugia's unstable?" Gromm asked, rather surprised that Sirius was intending on getting to Sinnoh in the way he was implying.

Sirius, not answering, simply got onto Mega Pidgeot's back, as the giant avian spread its wings.

"... I can handle Lugia. I've already had to deal with Palkia's onslaught once, I've even had to deal with Dialga's wrath at the same time. Believe me, Sinnoh is nothing new to me. Not even the forbidden one is a surprise to me." Sirius told Gromm, as he looked up into the sky.

"Either way, be careful. Oh, and try not to leave as much of a mess next time you show up in my desert." Gromm told Sirius, as Sirius silently nodded. Pidgeot taking off into the sky with an initial, powerful leap upwards, soared off into the sky towards the Sinnoh Region...

"So... This Gromm guy has a motorbike which he can just carry on his back?" Bianca asked, sleepy in her tone as she was silently listening in on Ash's translation of Regulus' story. Cheren, though, wasn't moving too much mainly because by this point, Bianca had unwittingly clung to him as she was beginning to wake up. It would've bothered him a little, but considering this is Bianca, and it's in the middle of night, he didn't bother disturbing her about this.

"Yeah, I know, it's crazy... but looking back on it... My mom actually has her own version of the same basic motorbike. Of course she can't use it since she isn't a huge strong guy like Gromm, though. Heck even I can't lift it yet alone manage to use it." Ash remarked, as Cheren blinked for a moment.

"... Wait, this is the same bike that both my dad and Bianca's dad tried to bid over when Delia showed it to them?" Cheren asked, as Bianca and Ash went rather silent.

((... May I continue?)) Regulus asked Ash, as Ash looked over at Regulus and nodded.

Upon reaching the coast, Sirius had a difficult time keeping Pidgeot stable in the air, as the wind was beginning to kick up... and not in a good way.

"Hang on there, Canopus... You're going to have to withstand the winds... Lugia's clearly violent at a time like this..." Sirius told his Pidgeot, nicknamed Canopus, as without warning, a vortex appeared in the water below, as soon enough, a waterspout formed with both pure and tainted water in the mix.

Emerging from the waterspout, with the water dissipating on emergence, Lugia showed itself in broad daylight, constant flickering between the appearance of a normal Lugia, and the appearance of a much more twisted, monstrous depiction of itself.

"GYAAAS!" Lugia roared towards Sirius' direction, before charging a surge of energy in its mouth. Sirius, noticing this, stood on Canopus' back, and gazed towards Lugia with his hands charging up an intense aura.

"Not on my watch!" Sirius said, before pushing his hands out forward with his palms facing Lugia and firing a blast of aura energy towards Lugia to interrupt its attempt to attack Canopus. Lugia, interrupted in the attack it was charging, began to flew back down to the sea water, but not before giving an ominous glare as its twisted looking form before it descended back into the water.

"... Alright, we should be safe..." Sirius said.

((Was it alright to just attack it like that?)) Regulus asked Sirius, who sighed at the question.

"Well, considering Pidgeot's ability, there would've been no chance to dodge a full charged Aeroblast at all. I had no other choice lest we all got knocked out of the sky..." Sirius said, before moving to sit back down onto Canopus' back.

"Besides, I wouldn't have had time to play the flute, nor would it have worked properly since we still need to find the other flute..." Sirius said, before focusing again on keeping Canopus on track for Sinnoh...

Within a few hours, Sirius made his way to Sinnoh and landed in a place called Hearthome City. It was the only city he could find upon arriving here that had a building remotely resembling a church, and upon landing, he jumped off of Pidgeot's back and returned him to its Poké Ball, as Regulus had jumped off of Sirius' back to look around.

'Okay, so she should be in here and-' Sirius was thinking to himself for a moment, as within seconds he was already confronted by a woman in white clothing just outside of the church. Something about her made him cringe for a moment, but he ignored it and proceeded to walk up to her.

"Excuse me, but by any chance do you know anybody with a flute that looks like this?" Sirius asked, as he pulled out the rusted, silver flute for the woman to see, the woman having stayed silent for a moment, before she pulled off some of the robes covering her head and looked at Sirius with a concerned, yet blushing expression.

"Um... T-That would be me..." She spoke, as she took out the particular flute she had, which looked identical to the one Sirius had, but had rust in places that Sirius' flute didn't have rust at all.

"So... You're familiar with Lugia then, yes?" He had asked her, as the woman nodded.

"U-Um... Y-Yeah... Although... I don't exactly know how you're so calm about this circumstance... Especially since we've just met..." She began to say, as Sirius was confused.

"... Um... Is that important I take it?" Sirius asked her, as the woman blinked, before glancing away and looking slightly horrified.

'Please let this guy be truly nice... That's all I ask...' She thought, gulping to herself in nervousness as she looked back at Sirius, and silently nodded.

"Both of these flutes... It means we're both supposed to be together..." She told him, as Sirius blinked.

"... Come again...?" He asked, as if he didn't even hear what she had told him.

"You don't know, do you...? I'm sorry... I didn't want to see the day where the person with the other flute find me, yet alone imagine who I'd end up marrying because of it... I mean, whether I want to or not... You'll pretty much be who I end up with because of these flutes of ours..." She began to speak, on the verge of breaking down as Sirius grabbed her shoulders to calm her down.

"Hey, hold on a second! I only know that these flutes allow a person to summon Lugia, nothing else other than that! I don't have a clue what else is special about them, but I need to find out..." Sirius told her, as the woman still didn't look in a better mood at all. "... Could you at least tell me your name, please...?" He added in, in a calmer tone.

"O-Only if you tell me yours first..." She asked of him, as Sirius sighed a bit since now she unwittingly had him in a trap of sorts.

"... S-Sirius.... My name is Sirius..."

There was an awkward pause between the two of them, as the woman, after several seconds, began to snicker a little bit, much to both Sirius' relief and confusion.

"... What's so funny?" He had asked her.

"Well, if you're going to be so "Sirius" about it, my name is Delia." Delia introduced, snickering a little over Sirius' name. Admittedly, even Sirius was, nervously, chuckling about it as well.

"Look, I, um... Do you think you can find the time to be in a better mood to talk if this is too uncomfortable for you? I mean... I really don't want to burden you at all..." Sirius told her, as Delia looked at him and blinked.

"It's fine... Really... I can handle talking to you..." Delia said, as she moved to grab hold of Sirius' hand, as Sirius hesitated, before taking her hand and allowing her to lead him inside.

"Ouch... Your mom must've felt horrible about that..." Bianca said, as this time even Cheren had an arm wrapped around Bianca as she did with him, as both of them were standing up straight to listen now.

"Y-Yeah... Regulus... Was she hurt at all regarding this revelation?" Ash asked, since he didn't exactly know how to take in this news.

((Not sure, although I do believe it may be part of the reason why she's the way she is now... She truly doesn't know what to think of him even to this day, and I hate to sound like a cynic at the moment... but everyone believes he's dead for a good reason, because I would've easily been able to pinpoint exactly where he is in the world otherwise.)) Regulus told Ash, as Ash looked at Regulus with a bit of disbelief.

"A-Are... you sure at all...?" Ash asked, as Regulus sighed.

((Trust me, I think you're better off seeing it for yourself as to that answer; I know the answer, but believe me... You don't want me to tell you that right now. I don't want to unwittingly harm you with that kind of knowledge, mainly because there's a lot more to the truth than you would think...)) Regulus told Ash, as Ash, having an uncertain and hurt expression, calmed down for a moment to try and calm his nerves, hoping Regulus would continue the story to take his mind off of it...

"Either way, how exactly did Sirius react to the prospect of knowing the fact he's suddenly grounded to Delia due to the fact the flutes pretty much forced them together?" Cheren asked, as Regulus sighed a little bit.

((That's not something I want to exactly talk about... It's too... harsh... with how things ultimately went for both of them in the end... If you want knowledge on that, I recommend asking Delia directly, and ONLY Delia. Is that clear?)) Regulus told them, as Ash nodded, as did Cheren and Bianca once Ash relayed the point to the two of them.

((Good, now then...))

As Sirius and Delia had begun to talk with each other, both of them standing in an isolated room.

"... And that's my story on how my own past was..." Sirius told Delia, as Delia looked at him and blinked.

"... W-Wow... Even that's horrifying for me to hear... I don't think anybody would like to hear that story being told again..." Delia said, as Sirius nodded.

"Well now you know why I'm here... And the fact both of us need to confront Lugia with these flutes if this is going to work at all... Although, I do need to ask a favor of you first..." Sirius brought up, as Delia blinked.

"Y-Yes...?"

"I need to catch the Legendary Pokémon Dialga. It's the only way the flutes will work to their full power." Sirius asked, as Delia gasped in shock, backing away from Sirius in fright, looking around to make sure that nobody would've heard him at all.

"... P-Please tell me you're joking, yes? I mean, do you even know who you just referred to?!" Delia asked, as Sirius nodded.

"It's either that or Lugia's corruption returns to what it once was many years prior..." Sirius spoke, looking at Delia with concern, as Delia looked confused, hurt, and incredibly distraught by what Sirius needs to get done. No, what they needed to get done, since the flutes wouldn't allow them to separate in such a way.

"L-Look... there has to be another way, yes? Just any other way that doesn't involve invoking the wrath of the Original One... please..." Delia asked of him, as Sirius looked at her, sighing a bit as he tried to calm his own nerves.

"Look... I understand how wrong this sounds for you... But do you truly want to see what dementia Lugia is going through? If Dialga isn't involved in the dual usage of these Flutes, Lugia will persist to continue to fall back into madness..." Sirius told her, as Delia gulped a bit nervously. Her face looked completely mortified, but yet, the emotions that Sirius was sensing from her was contradicting her exterior...

... That was when Delia suddenly forced herself on Sirius, managing to knock him over onto his back, as Sirius was having difficulty grasping what Delia was intending on doing.

"D-Delia?!"

"Listen! If you go through to this extreme, you're going to get yourself killed for no reason at all!" Delia yelled to Sirius, as Sirius gulped a bit in nervousness.

"L-Look, D-Delia, can you please get off of me...?! Now you're beginning to freak ME out!" Sirius said, as Sirius' aura began to trigger from how... dangerously close Delia was forcing herself onto him.

Now there was just awkward silence between the two, with Delia visibly beginning to pant as to how out of breath this situation was making her, with Sirius, after carefully managing to move Delia away from himself, panting from the sheer shock of how Delia had just lunged at him.

"P-Please... Don't try and force yourself on me like that without warning... It's not going to be good for either of us..." Sirius told her, as Delia looked practically scared, as did Sirius himself to a degree...

... Then that's when both of them heard the inevitable...

"GYAAAS!"

Lugia's roar was heard clear as day, as the next thing Sirius knew was his own aura alerting him to Lugia beginning to attack the area, and had apparently followed him here.

By instinct, Sirius suddenly grabbed onto Delia and pushed her underneath of him as Sirius suddenly screamed from the intense pain he felt as Lugia's Aeroblast tore apart the church chapel, leaving a bunch of rubble and debris to collapse on the both of them, but most impacting Sirius instead of Delia due to Sirius having put himself as a living shield for Delia's sake.

"SIRIUS!" Delia yelled in worry, before she could barely hear him utter for her to grab the Premier Ball on his belt and let loose the Pokémon from it, as Delia carefully did what she was told.

From the Premier Ball emerged Beedrill, and almost immediately upon being sent out of its Poké Ball, Sirius was quick to whisper to Delia, in pain, as to grab the Luxury Ball on his belt instead as if he sounded like he was correcting himself. Delia, in response to this, carefully took and opened the Luxury Ball and called upon the Pokémon within it.

It was a Lucario.

Almost immediately tapping the Key Stone on his necklace, Lucario's Mega Stone was quick to respond to it.

"Arcturus don't let us both die at a time like this!" Sirius yelled in desperation, as within seconds, Lucario, nicknamed Arcturus, became encased in a sphere of energy and transformed into an altered look almost immediately upon emerging as Mega Lucario.

"GYAAAS!" Lugia roared, now taking the form of its more twisted looking self, as Arcturus didn't need much prompting from this point out to get what to do, since not only did seeing Sirius in such pain enrage it...

((M-Momma...))

... But the weak, near death pleas of her own child practically drove her nuts against the incoming Lugia.

Suddenly leaping into the air, Arcturus was quick to react with a solid punch directly towards Lugia's face, causing ice to form around Lugia's head in the process, but Lugia broke free of it when it appeared to be charging "Aeroblast" again, although from the looks of it, even Aeroblast was altered in appearance as well to reflect the corruption Lugia was going through.

Suddenly unleashing a beam of wind waves in the form of dark energy from its mouth, Lugia had seemingly managed to hit Arcturus, sans the fact that the Lucario had already anticipated this type of move and blocked the attack with an invulnerable barrier of sorts that blocked the attack altogether.

As Arcturus moved to strike again with Ice Punch, Lugia moved to dodged this one... but Arcturus had other plans.

Suddenly charging a sphere of Ice Type energy in her hands, Arcturus suddenly fired a beam-like projectile towards Lugia that Lugia was unable to avoid on time and got sent crash to the ground, no thanks to the beam having frozen Lugia solid... but even that did not stop Lugia for too long, as Lugia shattered through the ice casing and glared at Arcturus with a look of absolute fury.

"GYAAAS!"

... However, this time, Lugia's roar did not go unanswered in ferocity.

"I HAVE HEARD ENOUGH OF THIS!"

The completely distorted yelling of an incredibly powerful Pokémon suddenly echoed across the entire area, as emerging from a shining light directly above the ruined chapel, appeared the faint image of what many natives taking shelter from the fight could only recall as being the Original One; Arceus.

Sirius and Delia, moving from the wreckage to try and see if their respective flutes will weaken Lugia's rage at all, were quick to take notice of who had arrived on the situation.

"DIALGA, CLEAN UP THIS MESS BEFORE ME! THERE'S A CERTAIN SOMEBODY I NEED TO PAY A VISIT NOW..."

A halo-like projection suddenly appearing beside Arceus, it soon solidified into a blue colored portal made of diamonds that called forth and materialized Dialga into shape, and afterwards, Arceus vanished into a bright light that caused an aurora to appear above the skies as a direct result.

"GUGYUGUBAH!" Dialga roared towards Lugia, as the darkened Lugia was not even remotely intimidated in the slightest by Dialga's response, and simply roared back with just as much intensity.

As the diamond in Dialga's chest suddenly began to glow with a bright energy, and the sharp, metal portions of Dialga extending in size as Dialga's entire body was glowing with a bright blue energy, Dialga flew into Lugia head on and tackled the giant avian, but Lugia was not going to let Dialga so easily defeat it, as Lugia, using its giant wings as makeshift hands, knocked Dialga back with enough force to send the Temporal Legendary Pokémon down to the ground, as each time Dialga tried to get back up, Lugia kept repeatedly striking at Dialga.

... However, due to the focus on Dialga, Sirius and Delia were able to get towards a safer point out of range, both of them looking at each other with a bit of hesitance.

"Well, we've got Dialga here now, let's just hope it'll listen to the flutes." Delia said to Sirius, as Sirius nodded.

"Rodger that..." Sirius said, as he grabbed hold of his own flute, as Delia did with hers. Both of them had begun to play the tune that both of them had memorized upon acquiring this flute.

The tune, in sound, was that of a serene tone overall, and when backed together with each other, the tune echoed in such a way that Lugia practically froze in place just to listen to the tune. As Dialga was getting back up to counterattack Lugia, Lugia still was beginning to act hostile towards Dialga, even as the tune was being played.

Upon hearing the tune for herself, Arcturus determined that Lugia wasn't able to properly hear the flutes being played, and thus decided to run up and jump onto Dialga's head and project her own aura directly towards Lugia as to amplify the sound of the song for Lugia to properly hear.

Lugia, after nearly being prepared to fire off Aeroblast again, suddenly ceased in movement, as the song that Sirius and Delia had begun to intensify with an increasing interval, with each interval causing Dialga to charge up its own attack against Lugia, and once the song was drawing to a close, what appeared to be a vortex of an intense energy was charging up in Dialga's mouth...

... And upon the song finishing, Dialga fired upon Lugia with a powerful projectile that, upon impact, caused Lugia to freeze in movement altogether, before suddenly the very fraction of time itself that surrounded Lugia suddenly shattered, causing the normal looking Lugia to fall onto the ground, with the twisted monstrosity that was attacking them being stuck in place, shattered from the impact of the attack.

"Now, let's purge the dark half altogether!" Sirius said to Delia, as both of them had begun playing the final few notes to the song on their flutes, as the corrupted Lugia, or rather, what remained of it, began to shatter like glass before a glowing light appeared within itself and emanating from the cracks of the physical body.

"G-G-Y-AA-AA-SS...."

Within seconds upon letting out that final roar, the dark form of Lugia completely exploded in such a bright flash that the entire area became lit up from the intensity of the light from the explosion, as Sirius grabbed hold of Delia's arm to stabilize her just as he saw she was about to fall over.

Within seconds, though, the explosion had dissipated, and Dialga was still visible in the area for a brief while, as the various damages caused by the dark Lugia was being reversed by Dialga's own abilities over time, as Regulus, soon joined by Arcturus, soon arrived back by Sirius' side, as Sirius returned Arcturus to her Poké Ball as Sirius carefully picked up Regulus and held him onto him, just happy to know he's safe in all of this.

"Gugyugubah!" Dialga roared all of a sudden, as Dialga looked over towards Sirius and Delia, and made a bowing gesture towards the two of them, before disappearing into diamond-like fragments and ascending back to the heavens.

"W-We did it..." Delia said, partially smiling from her relief, as Sirius looked over at her, his overall expression having softened towards her, as Delia takes him by surprise again and hugs him, with Sirius carefully hugging her back after a moment of hesitation.

"Looks like we did..."

((So now you know most of the story of their first meeting with each other, and some of what had lead up to it.)) Regulus told Ash, as Ash had translated what Regulus had said to Cheren and Bianca... only to see that the two of them had fallen asleep by this point, with Regulus a bit concerned.

((... Isn't that technically HER side of the tent only...?)) Regulus had asked, as Ash nodded but shrugged as well.

((Let them rest like that. They'll both be grateful for it.)) Ash replied, as Regulus nodded.

((Either way, I'm assuming you're satisfied with the story I have told?)) Regulus asked of Ash, as Ash shrugged again.

((Well, I'll admit, you are hiding at least some of the facts, but I can't entirely blame you since you were so young at the time.)) Ash said, before adding. ((Although... I'm probably not going to look at my mom the same way again, especially if she still actually has the flute that belonged to her.)) Ash finished, as Regulus nodded.

((It's only natural you'd come to that answer, but I must warn you, at least try and talk with Delia with some degree of sensitivity over the subject of Sirius when you decide you want to talk with her about it.)) Regulus told Ash, as Ash nodded.

((Fair enough, although right now, all I can focus on is getting some rest.)) Ash told Regulus as he turned off a small, portable lamp within the tent before laying down to go to sleep, as Regulus, having been comfortable where he was sitting the whole time, decided to finally sleep as well.

Back at Accumula Town...

After Lugia had listened for a response from any Pokémon in range of Unova or otherwise, Lugia looked down at Delia and noticed how sleepy she looked, but still stayed up long enough to try and get an answer from Lugia.

As Lugia growled towards her to try and tell her what signals it had found, Delia's eyes shot open at the revelation.

"So... Regulus is alive, the Pikachu are alive, obviously, but you're also saying that..."

"Arcturus is also alive as well?!"

To Be Continued...

 

So in case anybody is curious there may or may not be typos inherited from the original postings of the story carried over into this particular re-upload of it. Just warning you about it.

Spoiler: Truth and Ideals Chapter 17

It was early in the morning, and two Team Plasma members were running for their lives faster than what their pursuers were, and they were lucky for it.

"Get back here with that Pokémon! It's not yours!" Cheren's yelling was heard far behind them, all the while, Bianca was trailing behind him with a little girl following after Bianca as well.

"You fools! You can't even use your Pokémon to your full potential, and yet this is how you react to us relieving your Pokémon from you? How rude!" One of the Team Plasma members yelled back towards them, all the while Ash's eyes began to glow an intense gold, with all that could be seen from their distance being an intense glow surging from Ash's necklace.

"Uh, sir, what are you doing?" One of the grunts asked the other, as the other responded by suddenly getting hurled backwards with an intense force, before his fellow grunted quickly followed him to the ground.

As Ash and co. caught up, Regulus had caught up to the grunts before them and pinned both of them to the ground.

"Good job, Regulus!" Ash said, as Regulus nodded, as Ash helped up both of the grunts up to get them off of the ground, both of them clearly cringing after they were back on their feet.

"... Aldith's not going to like this, isn't she?"

"Nah, actually... I'm absolutely livid." A female, somewhat sultry voice was made clear as the unusual member of Team Plasma made her entrance on the back of a large sized, avian Pokémon, which Bianca took the chance to scan with her Pokédex all the while Ash and Cheren kept their attention on Team Plasma.

"Braviary, the Valiant Pokémon and the final form of Rufflet. The more scars they have, the more respect these brave soldiers of the sky get from their peers." Bianca's Pokédex had finished, with Bianca suddenly looking forward in a touch of fear once she felt somebody's faint, cold breath on the back of her neck.

"... Good. Now you know." The voice whispered to Bianca, before the presence suddenly faded entirely, and Bianca was standing still, practically scared from how she felt somebody approach her that closely without either herself or her friends having realized it. This, of course, did not go unnoticed by the female in black before them.

"Relax now, dearie. It always hurts the first time, after all..." The woman spoke, as the two Team Plasma grunts before her simply glanced at her and blinked.

"Um, lady Aldith, what are you talking abou-" Without a moment's notice, Aldith simply responded by punching out the grunt, and taking a Poké Ball off of his belt in the process, looking down at the little girl hiding behind Bianca.

"I do believe this one belongs to you." Aldith said, tossing the Poké Ball towards the girl, which the girl opened up and was thankful to see her Pokémon back.

"Lillipup!" She spoke cheerfully, as the small, Dog-like Pokémon barked cheerfully as well, causing Aldith to simply groan in disgust as she dragged both of the two male grunts towards her Braviary.

"Take them to Ghetsis. They've missed out on a few details." Aldith told Braviary, as the two grunts moved to protest.

"Wait, hold on! We were informed that Lord- Ghetsis," As if on cue, the grunt had swapped out the name of who he was about to mention with Ghetsis' own name from a simple glare from Aldith, "Er, excuse me, but I do believe you're interfering with the plan...?" He finally finished, as Aldith didn't bother to respond; aside from snapping her fingers, that is.

Braviary, on cue, just grabbed both of the male grunts with his feet and flew off with the two of them. The group, at the moment, didn't know what to think of Aldith; Cheren was staring at her as if completely confused, Bianca was still terrified from a moment ago, and Ash looked at least calm in expression... not that the same could be said for Regulus.

((Is she doing us a favor...?)) Regulus asked Ash, confused as to how he was seeing a member of Team Plasma clear as day, even if the uniform was different both in overall aesthetic and colors, and yet she simply put a halt to the two grunts they were chasing.

((Not too sure, I'll ask.)) Ash told Regulus, as Ash moved to walk up towards Aldith, which caught her attention as she suddenly looked towards Ash, her expression a mixture of boredom and... something else.

"Well... You're certainly an interesting young lad." Aldith spoke, her tone suggestive as Ash looked a bit confused and surprised by Aldith's behavior, as Cheren looked visibly disgusted all the while Bianca snapped out of her trance-like state and looked at Ash.

"Hey! Back off, you're scaring him!" Bianca suddenly shouted, which took Cheren by surprise at her sudden, out of nowhere outburst, as Bianca, along with Cheren, moved to grab Ash away from Aldith's approach. Ash, meanwhile, was just sort of frozen in expression.

"U-Um... Nice to meet you as well...?" Ash said to Aldith, as Aldith chuckled a little.

"You're certainly cute, I'll give you that much." Aldith spoke, as she began to move closer to Ash despite how Bianca, in addition to Cheren, didn't seem to think she was up to any good. Even Regulus seemed like he was beginning to get annoyed by this.

"So... What's somebody like you doing with all of the others here? Why not join Team Plasma? We'll be scoring like no tomorrow..." Aldith began to say, a finger carefully tilting Ash's head upwards, as she was moving to lean towards him, as Ash visibly began to freak out from the motion as his aura triggered out of nowhere to force Aldith away from himself.

Aldith, having been knocked by slightly, looked at the angered glares she was receiving from Bianca, Cheren, and Regulus, soon joined in by Ash's Pichu appearing from underneath his hat.

"Okay first you of all people shout for her to leave him alone, and then the moment this woman tries to kiss Ash that suddenly his aura flares up?" Cheren whispered to Bianca, as Bianca blushed a tiny bit.

"I, er, got a little defensive over Ash's sake... S-Sorry..." Bianca whispered back, before adding. "Besides, how else would you feel when some stranger tries to just walk up to you and get too close for comfort?" Bianca asked Cheren, as Aldith's expression went on to a silent glare.

"... Well this is a disappointment. Could've even had an audience with this one as well, but some dumb Lucario has to step in and force me off and-" Aldith interrupted herself, as she noticed something was wrong; Regulus, despite being Mega Lucario, had virtually no aura flaring up at the moment. Ash, meanwhile, had an aura flaring up around his body like no tomorrow, all the while his expression was still both surprised and confused.

"So, mind telling us who you are and-" Ash tried to ask, but Aldith simply responded by tossing a smoke ball onto the ground to try and escape... only for her to grunt in pain as the smoke began to fill the area.

((Think that would've fooled me?!)) Regulus stated, as he caused a small downburst to have the smoke clear, as noticed he was lifting Aldith off of the ground by her leg, as Aldith was visibly flustered and angered by this notion.

"Let go of me you... you...!" Aldith tried to say, just as she heard Braviary's call from above and noticed his return. Upon snapping her fingers, Braviary caused a giant downburst of air towards Regulus, which only made him flinch partially while it knocked Ash and the others backwards a bit.

"Let go of me already will you?!" Aldith began to plead to Regulus, as Regulus' expression quickly began to get agitated with Aldith's words. As a result, when he simply dropped her onto the ground, he immediately moved to kick her in the stomach to pin her to the ground, as Ash snapped out of his confused state to look at what Regulus was doing.

"Hey, Regulus, what's wrong?!" Ash asked the Aura Pokémon, but Regulus didn't seem to respond at all, all the while Regulus raised both of his hands up, and within seconds flat, Regulus had left a smoldering crater of punches right where he held Aldith at, as only now did Regulus finally let go of her for real this time.

Aldith, visibly disturbed by Regulus' hostility towards her, was confused as to why Regulus didn't outright kill her at all when he clearly had the chance to. Ash's aura, having fully dissipated by this point, caught Cheren's eye as he noticed that when Ash's own aura calmed, so did Regulus as well.

"... W-Why...?" Aldith asked, her voice sounding scared, confused, and overall lost tone as Regulus simply stood his ground, his expression calming down due to Ash's aura having calmed, but his anger remaining and frustration remaining.

Nothing, though, would stop him from doing what he did next...

"GO!" Regulus suddenly yelled, but instead of his usual "Aura Speak" he typically used for himself and Ash, and possibly others as well...

... He had just spoke clear as day, able to be heard by Bianca, Cheren, the little girl, and Aldith clear as day, with only Ash not being as surprised by this due to having talked with Regulus like it was perfectly normal by this point.

Aldith, without saying much of a word, snapped her fingers as she had Braviary pick her up and fly off with her, all the while Regulus' own frustration finally calmed and he reverted back to his prior, ordinary form of a Lucario.

"D-Did he just...?" The little girl began to ask, as her Lillipup looked just as stunned.

"Speak...?" Bianca and Cheren both asked Ash, as Ash looked at Cheren and Bianca in confusion.

"... You two heard that? ... How?" Ash asked, before Regulus suddenly turned towards the group as hands had a brief aura emanating from them.

"For the record calm yourself down and stand up straight. Second, that woman got a little too close to you for both of our own comforts." Regulus began to speak clear as day, in human tongue, to the entire group. The girl and her Lillipup, by this point, had already ran off before Regulus could even finish.

"So... You mean you felt some of my own emotions regarding that strange woman...?" Ash asked Regulus, as Regulus nodded.

"I apologize; your own aura had caused me to act of line for a moment or two. Your aura, whenever I'm Mega Evolved, can easily influence by own emotions due to the fact you're the one carrying the Key Stone that allows my own Mega Stone to activate. As a result, you felt aroused, and I, on the other hand, felt increased aggression and hostility from it." Regulus began to explain. "My point is, be careful with how long you decide to keep me or any other Pokémon Mega Evolved; your own aura can much more easily influence a Pokémon's emotions when Mega Evolved, so it's going to cause problems if you can't keep yourself under control."

"Alright, so now that I know that, mind if we ask something else?" Ash brought up, as Bianca and Cheren were about to open their mouths to ask something.

"Yes, and no. I could technically speak the whole time in your own tongue. However, as I do not prefer to directly speak, and from the fact my throat has been irritatingly sore for a while now, don't expect moments like these too often unless I feel at ease with my surroundings." Regulus explained as to how he's able to speak human languages directly, but also why he didn't do so before.

"Is that it?" Regulus asked, as Ash, Bianca, and Cheren all nodded, as Regulus sighed.

((Good. Now let's get on our way.)) Regulus said towards Ash, as Ash sighed.

"Well this is going to be an awkward start for today..."

To Be Continued...

Spoiler: Truth and Ideals Chapter 18

"Lord Ghetsis, we seem to have trouble on our hands..." One of the two Team Plasma grunts from earlier had spoken within the depths of an unknown, dimly lit area. Ghetsis, wearing a set of black robes in comparison to his usual, weird looking outfit, looked down at the grunts in question as they were speaking.

"Yes...?" He had questioned.

"It was a trainer with a Lucario, sir..." The other grunt spoke, as Ghetsis narrowed his eye from that remark.

"A trainer with a Lucario...? Did you get this trainer's name...?" Ghetsis had asked, as the two grunts freaked a bit, looking over behind them towards Aldith who had simply shrugged.

"These two were in such a hurry, my lord. They had asked for me to pick them up with such haste that they had neglected to get anything of value from the trainer in question." Aldith lied to Ghetsis, as Ghetsis stood tall and glared at Aldith, before turning his attention back towards the two grunts.

"Very well... Then did you get anything else from the witnesses?" Ghetsis had asked, as Aldith took the time to grab a Poké Ball from her bag and tossed it over to Ghetsis, who had opened it to see what was inside.

It was a Munna.

"Ah, good. So you did end up stealing at least something... shame it has virtually no use by this point anyways." Ghetsis said, as Aldith smirked a bit, before Ghetsis' attention turned back towards the terrified Munna. "I will determine its fate. If the situation calls for it to be returned, I will return the Pokémon on my own. Besides, even if I were to dispose of it the other way, it wouldn't yield any successful results..." Ghetsis said to Aldith, who nodded in understanding, as Ghetsis looked down towards the two male grunts who had both cringed in fright upon seeing Ghetsis' expression.

"These two, however, will do the job just fine in comparison." Ghetsis said, motioning for Aldith to leave the room as Ghetsis had returned Munna to her Poké Ball for safe keeping. Meanwhile, Ghetsis snapped his fingers to cause a small elevator to appear from the ceiling and descend.

"Now, then. Since you two are the unlucky grunts to dispose of for the week, to say you've outlived your own usefulness would be troublesome. But regardless, your own flesh and blood will be exactly what my... royal brat, deserves..." Ghetsis told them, as both of them suddenly had a look of dread.

"B-But Ghetsis, sir! We were informed by Aldith that we had the wrong plan with trying to steal a Pokémon! What are you going to do with us?!" He had begun to plead, as Ghetsis didn't give much of an expression to this question.

"Because Aldith's job was to fetch two grunts from across the region who have failed me, and their fates..." Ghetsis said, beginning to step away from the main part of the room as he had a set of doors shut behind him.

The grunts, turning their back towards the small elevator, noticed a blue Pokémon covered in black feathers and sporting two, eyeless heads, while the Pokémon itself dragged itself on four legs and also sported two "wings".

"Uh... G-Ghetsis, sir...?" One of the grunts had said, looking back towards where Ghetsis had stood and suddenly began to hear the screams of his fellow grunt right next to him, in addition to what sounded like a vicious mauling having taken place.

Not even daring to move from where he had stood, he only glanced slightly towards where his fellow grunt had stood beside him, and all he could see was a motionless hand being dragged out of sight, all the while gnawing sounds were present across the room. The Draconic snarling didn't do anything to make the situation better...

As the grunt looked back towards his fallen friend, all he could see was nothing short of a corpse being eaten from by a ravenous, bloodthirsty Pokémon. He was lucky he wasn't noticed yet, as it was clear the Pokémon was too busy bickering with itself due to the two heads it had having minds of their own.

"... H-Help... p-please...?" The grunt faintly began to whisper towards the door where Ghetsis had left through, as he was gazing upon the heinous Pokémon that was too busy either feeding or arguing with itself to notice him. The moment he knew the carcass had nothing left, though, and if nobody stepped in, he would be next...

"Ghetsis?" The grunt had called out, but he got no answer. Even the twin headed Dragon Pokémon was eerily silent all of a sudden, and this lasted for a solid minute of silence, as the twin headed Pokémon simply began to sniff around the room, indicating to the grunt that it had finished feeding and, hopefully, wasn't any more hungry than it was before...

... He was wrong...

As the grunt had tried to escape the room through the same door that Aldith had went through, he noticed one thing odd about the door; it wasn't a door at all, but a solid wall. With the two headed Pokémon having reared one of its blood stained heads over towards the grunt's desperate movements, it made a gesture towards its other head to notice as well.

Within seconds, the grunt had tried to make a break for it towards the other side of the room... but was stopped where he stood by ominous, feminine hands, as emerging from the shadows behind him stood Aldith herself.

"Feeling scared, pretty boy?" She had asked him, as the twin headed Pokémon slowly made its way over towards the grunt that Aldith held still.

"Are you crazy?! Is Ghetsis crazy?! Are you ALL crazy?!" The grunt began yelling to Aldith, as Aldith merely chuckled a bit darkly at the situation, before moving to push the grunt out into the room by force.

"You've already had your fun with me, call this your payment for your loyalty to me..." She said in a cold tone, as she stayed within the shadows long enough to witness the Dragon Pokémon proceed to maul him, relishing his screams of utter horror as she laughed for a small moment, as she faded from view.

"So, why are we keeping around the Munna if we're simply going to return it?" Her voice was heard asking Ghetsis, who had watched the whole thing entirely and smirked.

"As bait; if there is indeed a trainer with a Lucario out there trying to stop us, then I wish to see this trainer for myself to know for certain if this trainer is a threat or not." Ghetsis began to explain, "Besides, a Pokémon as weak as Munna neither provides a meal nor an actual challenge for a growing Zweilous like the fierce beast here." Ghetsis finished, before adding one last note.

"Check on the grunts. Keep them in line and cover this mess up." Ghetsis added in, as Aldith nodded as she walked out into one of the main rooms of the hideout, for as dark as it was.

"Yes, Lord Ghetsis..." She added in with a sultry, dry tone, as she headed out into the base's dark depths to seek out any problems with keeping the infantry in check...

Meanwhile, at the city limits in which Ash, Cheren, and Bianca have arrived to...

"Nacrene City, we finally arrive!" Ash shouted as he and his friends had walked up to the city's entrance, with Bianca looking somewhat frightened from earlier still, but Cheren looking relatively relaxed... before the situation had hit him like a truck.

"Nacrene City... Normal Type Gym..." Cheren began to say as his eyes went a bit wide.

"... None of my Pokémon know Fighting Type moves." Cheren said, as he went to punch the nearest thing he could see out of frustration... only to suddenly halt when he saw who was standing before him. "You again?!" Cheren yelled in panic, as the person, N, did not react in the slightest to Cheren having almost punched him.

"... Something bothering you?" N had asked, as if not even noticing Cheren's small outburst.

"Yeah... You're still talking too fast." Cheren said, before moving off to look around. "Hey Ash, mind if I head out on my own for a while? I want to prepare for the upcoming gym battle." Cheren asked Ash, as Ash nodded.

"Sure, go ahead. I'll keep an eye on Bianca for you." Ash told Cheren, as Cheren smiled and nodded, before moving to leave further into the city to head towards the forested areas beyond the city. N, looking back at Ash, blinked a bit.

"What's his problem?" N asked Ash, as Ash shrugged, all the while Bianca was quietly listening as she looked around.

"Not sure. He wants to prepare for the upcoming gym battle with a Normal Type Gym Leader." Ash told N, as N sighed.

"It seems none of you have yet to realize it yet..." N told Ash, before moving to grab a Poké Ball from his pocket. "I wish to see the truth of Pokémon within Poké Balls, the ideals of how trainers should be, and a future where Pokémon become perfect..." N began to tell Ash, as Ash blinked a bit in confusion before N turned his attention back towards Ash.

"Do you feel the same?" N asked Ash, as Ash, uncertain of how to answer, responded with the following...

"I do believe that such a future is possible, but if this Team Plasma group has any idea on how to go about accomplishing such a future, then I'm afraid they're going about it the wrong way." Ash answered, with N smiling and nodding.

"Perhaps..." N began to say, "But regardless, I think my friends and I should test you if you can truly see this future, too." N said, before opening up the Poké Ball he was carrying and sending out a Pidove from it. Ash, noticing this, drew out a Poké Ball and called up Pansear.

"Alright then, if it's a battle you want, you could've just asked." Ash said, before tilting his hat to the side as his hands began to pulse with an aura around them, which did not go unnoticed by somebody else who was watching the scene.

"Pokémon, GO!" Ash and N both called, before Pansear and Pidove both went at each other. Pidove was quick to attack on its own with a windy attack from the power of its wings, but Pansear was also quick to ignite the area with those winds from the flames he had begun to summon around himself.

"Alright, Pansear! Incinerate!" Ash called, as Pansear growled a tiny bit, before suddenly spewing a series of flaming sparks from his mouth towards Pidove, as Pidove was quick to dodge the attacks. Flying past Bianca with Bianca seemingly not noticing Pidove at all, Bianca was accidentally struck by Pansear's Incinerate attack, as one of Bianca's Pokémon, a larger looking, Dog-like Pokémon which seemingly was originally Bianca's Lillipup, put out the flames with a powerful looking, Water Type Move.

"Thanks, Herdier..." Bianca said, not seeming to face Herdier's direction as Herdier barked to try and get her attention.

"Hey, Bianca, how did you not see that?" Ash asked towards Bianca, as Bianca blinked, before moving to face Ash and N.

"S-Sorry... I might just have something in my eye... Continue." Bianca told Ash and N, as N's Pidove was quick to attack Pansear with a powerful strike, just as Pansear countered with a spinning technique and spewing flames across the battlefield and completely blinding Pidove with the surrounding flames, before taking it out with a powerful, scratching attack.

"Alright!" Ash called towards Pansear, who quietly stood back up in a prideful stance, as N called back Pidove, only to immediately let it back out with a blue aura surrounding the Poké Ball, as Pidove flew off into the wild.

"Impressive. Perhaps you should take some lessons from your own Pansear. He has skills which even I'm not familiar with." N told Ash, referring to Pansear's spinning technique. "Now then, allow me to send out my next Pokémon! Go, Tympole!" N called, as appearing from another Poké Ball which N had was a small, tadpole-like Pokémon called Tympole, which silently croaked a little before immediately opening up to strike at Pansear with a bubbling attack and soaking Pansear's flames in the area.

"Alright, Pansear! Let's try something new! Solar Beam!" Ash called, as Pansear nodded and began charging up solar energy. Meanwhile, Tympole moved to attack Pansear yet again with the same, bubbling foam stream. This time, though, when the attack hit Pansear, Ash's aura kicked in and Pansear began to glow with an intense aura matching Ash's own.

"Hmm?" One of the onlookers noticed about Ash and his Pansear, as N looked rather impressed with Ash's technique here.

"Yes...! Now this is the power that I desire!" N said, laughing a little bit, before immediately stopping to notice Pansear moving to blast Tympole with Solar Beam, striking the Tadpole Pokémon with a powerful attack and being taken out from the same attack. N, moving to heal Tympole real quick, carefully returned the Pokémon back to its Poké Ball only to immediately release Tympole just like he had with Pidove, with Tympole quickly leaving.

"Do you think this is making you feel any better?" N asked, as his tone began to calm down and become more serious in tone.

"This is what trainers have done for years on end, N. Why is this any different? The only difference I see is you releasing your own Pokémon after each round." Bianca told N, as N blinked.

"Pokémon do not require humans to constantly look after them. For Pokémon to become perfect, they must be freed from their own trainers. Don't you understand?" N asked, before sending out his last Pokémon; a small, humanoid Pokémon carrying a log.

"Alright, Timburr, let's wrap this up." N called towards his Pokémon, called a Timburr, as just when Pansear was about to move to attack again, N called for Timburr to use "Retaliate" and thus in a single swing with its log, Timburr immediately knocked Pansear out of the battle with a single strike.

"Alright, looks like you're getting the hang of things." Ash told N, before moving to return Pansear to his Poké Ball, as Ash smiled at it while saying "Good job nevertheless, Pansear." Ash said, before calling out his next Pokémon of choice.

"Alright, Tranquill, let's finish this!" Ash called, sending Tranquill out of her Poké Ball as Tranquill let out a bird's cry with a shiny sparkle around herself as she emerged, as Tranquill immediately brought the fight against N's team of Pokémon to a finish with a powerful torrent of air unleashed from Tranquill's wings blasting Timburr out of the battlefield entirely, as N scoffed a bit towards Ash and moved to pick up Timburr and heal it up.

"Good job, Timburr. You're help was gladly appreciated." N told the Muscular Pokémon, before, just like the other two, releasing Timburr into the wild as Timburr was quick to leave the area. N, glancing at Ash, had this to say. "It seems I cannot truly see the future just yet... the world has yet to be determined." N told Ash, as Ash blinked.

"What are you going on about?" Ash asked N, as Bianca moved up towards Ash as she looked over towards N.

"I'm saying that right now, my friends are not strong enough to save all of the Pokémon in this region, or even across the world. Maybe I just can't solve the equation that will change the world." N began to say, "So maybe, after all of this thinking, I simply need power; enough power to make anyone agree with me." N began to say, before moving to walk off slightly.

"I know what power I need, now; Reshiram! The Legendary Pokémon that created the Unova Region alongside the Hero of Truths." N said, before glancing back towards Ash with a cheerful glance.

"Now it's my turn to become that hero- and you and I will be friends!" N said, before moving the leave the area entirely, as Ash was confused by what N was saying, before suddenly perking up a little on something he noticed.

"Ash, what is he referring to...?" Bianca asked, as Ash looked at her and sighed.

"I don't honestly know, but he seems very detached from everything around him..." Ash told Bianca, as Ash looked around in the nearby vicinity to see if Cheren was back at all. "And it looks like Cheren will be away for a while, so why don't we look around for a while until he gets back?" Ash asked Bianca, as Bianca nodded.

"By the way, Ash, mind if I ask something?" Bianca said, as Ash looked at her and blinked.

"Yes?"

"Why is your Aura turning black?" Bianca asked, as Ash blinked, before looking back towards the building he was looking towards in the first place from when he had noticed something. He was looking towards a museum building with a Pokémon Gym logo beside it.

"It's because my own Aura is detecting the Aura of something else. What it is, though, I don't know..." Ash said, as he began to see a small, yet intensely powerful aura emanating from the museum when he had closed his eyes to focus... an aura of pitch black, yet surrounded with a blue aura just enough to indicate the true nature of this Pokémon.

"And whatever it is, it's... calling out to me."

To Be Continued...

Spoiler: Truth and Ideals Chapter 19

"So, might I ask who you are by any chance?" A woman had asked as she had approached Ash and Bianca, her tone that of authority and discipline. Ash and Bianca, looking at the dark skinned woman, responded with their names.

"My name is Bianca..." Bianca said a bit shyly.

"And my name is Ash Ketchum." Ash added in, as the woman blinked upon hearing Ash's full name.

"Well, looks like your usage of Aura and Awakening Mode wasn't a coincidence after all." She complimented, as she looked at Ash with a bit of a stern gaze. "Although, due to that, it means you won't be able to challenge my gym like any other trainer, young lad." She began to explain.

"My name is Lenora, you see, and I am the Gym Leader of this small city." She introduced, as she took a Poké Ball from her belt and called forth a moderately oversized, pink colored Pokémon from it with a bracer on its arm with a strange stone, which Bianca took the time to scan with her Pokédex.

"Audino, the Hearing Pokémon. Its auditory sense is astounding. It has a radar-like ability to understand its surrounding through slight sounds." The Pokédex explained, as Bianca looked at Audino with awe.

"Um, excuse me... But why is this Audino so large?" Bianca asked, as she noticed the near 5 foot height of the Pokémon in question, as Lenora chuckled a little.

"This isn't just an ordinary Audino, young one. This one has lived to see many things in her life, even having a family of her own." Lenora explained, as she opened up another Poké Ball to reveal a much smaller, relatively normal sized Audino. This one, though, lacked the equipment of the much older Audino.

"So, your older Audino can Mega Evolve, right?" Ash asked Lenora with interest, as Lenora nodded.

"Sure can, but I'm pretty certain outside in clear day isn't necessarily a good spot to showcase it. Not many people native to Unova are even aware as to what Mega Evolution even is..." Lenora told Ash, as this is when Ash decided to grab a Poké Ball from his belt and let out Regulus into broad daylight, causing Lenora's eyes to widen as she saw him.

"Regulus, is that really you after all of these years?!" Lenora asked, as Regulus looked kind of stunned by Lenora's sudden yelling, as Regulus looked up at her and nodded.

"Well, I'll be. You've actually grown up into quite a strong looking Lucario compared to when I had last seen you as a tiny little Riolu." Lenora told him, as Regulus was visibly blushing a little as he remained silent. "Heh, your mother must be proud of you... well... at least... if she were still around..." Lenora silently added, as Regulus sighed.

((Of course she would've been... I've spent nearly 17 years to train into what I've forged myself into who I am now.)) Regulus spoke up with his own aura, and looked over towards Ash, who simply blinked in confusion as to what Lenora and Regulus were saying.

((... Did... something bad happen?)) Ash asked Regulus, as Regulus looked away from Ash, staying silent for a good moment as he did.

((... As your mother and everyone else has probably said, nobody's heard a word from your father or any of his other Pokémon in ages now.)) Regulus told Ash, as Lenora noticed how both he and Ash were exchanging glances in a specific manner, so she wasn't confused in the slightest as to the fact it appeared that Ash and Regulus were talking to each other before her own eyes.

"So, I assume you two and your other friend have come to challenge my own gym, yes?" Lenora asked both Ash and Bianca, as the two of them nodded.

"So, I'm not certain if you're aware of this or not, Ash, but due to what I'm seeing from both your fight with that trainer a moment ago and from what I'm seeing with Regulus here, I'm an not authorized to use my normal Pokémon Gym Team against you." Lenora said, as she looked towards Bianca, who was just as confused as Ash was. "You and your friend, though, will be able to at least face my normal team." Lenora told Bianca, who sighed in relief.

"So, what do you mean I'm not allowed to face your normal team?" Ash asked Lenora, clearly confused by what she means.

"An acquaintance of mine up further north in the region wants for your remaining gym badges to be earned through a tougher battle than what most trainers who challenge us go through. Otherwise it'll be just one-sided as you had tried to tell Cilan; your own abilities that I have just witnessed would be too much for my normal team of Pokémon to handle." Lenora began to point out, as she looked at Regulus in particular next.

"And don't think I'm judging you based on how strong your mother turned out to be not so different from you back in the day. I'm also fully aware from Brycen about your secret training; I expect to witness for myself as to what you've trained for so long for." Lenora told Regulus, as Regulus nodded, with Ash and Bianca looking at him in a puzzled manner.

((So what is she referring to?)) Ash asked Regulus, as Regulus looked towards Ash.

((Aura Blitz. If you recall the battle we both had before I became one of your Pokémon, I had used the technique to power up in a same fashion as you powered up Pichu. Aura Blitz allowed me to awaken my full potential, just like your unpolished usage of Awakening Mode allows you to power up any other Pokémon.)) Regulus told Ash, as Ash nodded.

((So, mind telling me a bit more on this "Awakening Mode"?)) Ash asked Regulus, as Regulus was about to say something, before looking towards Bianca for a moment.

"... Mind I ask why Cheren just sort of ditched us earlier and where he went?" Regulus spoke up in human language, as Bianca blinked and looked around for Cheren.

"Y-Ya... He did seem to just wander off without us when N was here earlier... I think he said something along the lines of catching a Fighting Type Pokémon." Bianca answered Regulus, as Regulus nodded, before he had looked back towards Ash.

((Shall we go find her boyfriend first?))

Meanwhile, at a forested region just to the west of the Nacrene City...

Cheren was busy walking through a thickly layered forest, as he was searching all over the place for a Pokémon who he could acquire to use for the Gym Battle against Lenora.

"Alright, there's gotta be one around here somewhere..." Cheren spoke, as he briefly moved to grab his Pokédex, before stopping himself for a moment.

"Hold on... Why did I just leave Bianca and Ash behind like that, anyways? That's normally not what I'm like at all..." Cheren began to speak to himself, as he tried to think about something as to why he had ran off in search of a Fighting Type Pokémon. "... Was I just needing some time away from Bianca's presence...? Was she starting to bother my senses with her... her..."

Cheren stopped himself before he could say much else. It was already clear to both himself and Ash that Cheren liked Bianca, but now he was having difficulty concentrating on catching a Fighting Type Pokémon to where he now begins to feel he was unnecessarily selfish with heading out here in the first place.

"... Do I just need some time to myself for a while? Maybe that's what I need... Or... Maybe..." Cheren tried to think, before noticing a sudden draft appearing in the area. He had a look around and noticed something very eerily haunting about the situation...

There was not a single trainer in sight at all.

Cheren, taking notice of this, and also the draft of wind that was breezing through the area, began to notice it was heading in the direction of a darker, secluded part of the forest.

"... Maybe I need to check this out..." Cheren spoke to himself, as he began to walk towards the secluded part of the forest at a slow pace. As he began to walk, he began to hear an odd, serene voice in his head...

'Walking into the forest practically unarmed, or so it would seem. About to catch the best Fighting Type he can, I suppose; he's desired to do this for his entire trip here.'

"Who... are you...?" Cheren began to ask in a quiet tone, as the voice he was hearing seemingly responded with a soft chuckle of sorts.

'Your thoughts are surrounded by beauty, by intrigue, by danger. What more can a man like you want? The Fletchling are singing, the Pidove are cooing. Can't you listen to their song?'

As Cheren began walking further into the secluded parts of the forest, he began to notice a clearing with a bright, shining light in the center, and a Pokémon's mysterious gaze being seen on the opposite end of the clearing.

'The Leader has ordered me to seek out the secret general of the Normal Types and challenge him. Therein is the problem. He is you.'

When Cheren let those words sink in, he noticed the Pokémon from the shadows suddenly jump out into the shining light at the center of the clearly, revealing itself as a tall, quadrupedal Pokémon with an overall green coloration, a wide shaped head, and hooves which were modeled after boots.

'You are the general of the future of Normal Types.'

Without a moment's notice, Cheren immediately grabbed his Pokédex to scan what exactly this Pokémon was.

"Virizion, the Grassland Legendary Pokémon. Its head sprouts horns as sharp as blades. Using whirlwind-like movements, it confounds and swiftly cuts opponents." The Pokédex explained to Cheren, as Cheren looked towards Virizion with awe.

"Legendary... Pokémon...?" Cheren asked, as Virizion stood motionless before Cheren, and not a single word was said again after what Cheren had heard earlier.

"So, you're allowing me to challenge you?" Cheren asked Virizion, to which the Grassland Legendary Pokémon responded by a simple nod. Cheren, understanding this, calls out his first Pokémon from his belt to be the first to use against Virizion.

"Alright... I'll try my best. If catching a Pokémon like you will be what I need to not only beat the second gym, but also to impress everyone else, especially Bianca... Then I will gladly challenge you! Watchog, GO!" Cheren called, as he sent out the Normal Type Pokémon from his Poké Ball, as Watchog's stance suggested it was originally the same Patrat from days ago, but now evolved to a new form.

Virizion, noticing Watchog's disadvantage from the start, simply did nothing on its first chance to attack, and gave its move to Watchog.

"Alright, Watchog, let's begin with Super Fang!" Cheren ordered Watchog, as Watchog silently gibbered a little bit as he rushed up towards Virizion and bite onto its chest to inflict a powerful strike against Virizion.

Virizion, not even seeming to flinch from the attack despite the injury, finally responded with one of its own moves. Suddenly rearing up as a bright, sword-like extension at the center of Virizion's head appeared, Virizion moved to slash at Watchog with the intense energy sword.

"Watchog, be careful!" Cheren called towards Watchog, as Watchog was swift to dodge Virizion's sword attack, as Virizion glanced over to where Watchog now stood, all the while Watchog suddenly closed his eyes and the yellow stripes across his bodies began to glow in an odd way towards Virizion, causing Virizion to suddenly begin to get dazed by the intense light.

Returning to an idle stance with its eyes closed, seemed to be suddenly resting in place at the moment.

"Alright, Watchog! Strike again with Hyper Fang!" Cheren ordered Watchog, as Watchog moved again to bite Virizion, but this time, biting onto its leg to ensure that Virizion would have a difficult chance trying to attack again.

As Virizion's suddenly shot open again, Virizion moved again to strike at Watchog again. This time, though, Watchog was too close in proximity to dodge the same, sword-like attack that Virizion used against him, and was immediately sent flying back towards Cheren and was knocked out in an instant.

Cheren, moving to carefully picked up Watchog, returned him to his Poké Ball so he could rest, as Watchog gave a weak smile towards Cheren before he was back into his own Poké Ball. As Cheren looked at Virizion with a bit of fury, Cheren did not immediately send out another Pokémon just yet.

"Alright, let's give this a shot!" Cheren said, grabbing a Great Ball from his bag, "Great Ball, GO!" Cheren called as he threw the Great Ball towards Virizion, which Virizion didn't try and dodge and was caught in the grasp of the Great Ball, being sucked inside as the Great Ball snapped shut and fell to the ground.

One shake, two shakes...

Without warning, Virizion broke out of the Great Ball after a mere two shakes. Before Cheren could retrieve the Great Ball, though, Virizion took the time to crush the Great Ball with its front leg, causing Cheren to grit his teeth a little in rage.

"Think you're just going to escape me just yet? Do you even understand how much I need you on my side?!" Cheren began to yell at Virizion, as like before, Virizion did not respond at all, instead simply gazing upon him.

"Okay... I don't know what you're trying to prove here or not... But... Just listen, alright... I need to become the Pokémon Champion... There's nothing in my life I've desired any further than to become the Champion... Alright?" Cheren began to plead to Virizion, sending out his next Pokémon in the form of Liepard, but yet again, Virizion did not respond. Instead, Virizion gave off an expression towards Cheren that seemed to imply Cheren was not telling it the truth.

"What... What else do I need to say...? Becoming the Champion is important to me..." Cheren began to say, before his mood appeared to dampen a little. "S-Since... Since that's the only way I believe I could get somebody to truly notice me..." Cheren began to speak, as Virizion's mood seemed to calm down upon hearing Cheren's words.

"All of my life, I was just some reject among every girl I had developed a crush on... All but one, but this one in particular... She's frequently been seeing somebody else to the point I wonder if her closeness to me is just her playing with my emotions... I need some kind of sign to know whether or not she truly does feel anything for me... please..." Cheren confessed, sniffling a tiny bit, before throwing a second Great Ball at Virizion, as Virizion was sucked into the Great Ball a second time.

One shake, two shakes, three shakes...

Yet again, Virizion broke out of the Great Ball again, re-emerging again, but this time, did nothing to prevent Cheren from retrieving the Great Ball. As Cheren looked as Virizion used the same, sword-like attacked to knock out Liepard in a single strike just like Watchog before her, Cheren looked down at Purrloin, walking over towards her and carefully petting her before returning her to her Poké Ball as well.

"Alright, I'm going to give this one final chance... what are you wanting me to say?" Cheren asked, as Cheren sent out his Servine this time to deal with Virizion, as Servine looked up at the much taller Grass Type and appeared to be somewhat intimidated by its appearance. This time, Virizion's "voice" seemed to appear again.

'Dear lad, I only ask one final question. Are your feelings true to this person you hold dear? Then what do you have to say?'

Cheren snapped a little by this point, hiding his reddened face from Virizion as he began to speak.

"I... I..." Cheren, grabbing the Great Ball he had a moment ago, began to throw it back at Virizion again, watching as the Great Ball ensnared Virizion for a third time.

"Look... I don't know what you're wanting me to truly say... She's the nicest girl I've met, the only one who hasn't rejected me in some form, and she's been one of my closest friends for my entire life...! I can't go anywhere without thinking about her every now and then! That's why..."

One shake...

"I..."

Two shakes...

"... Love..."

Three shakes...

"... Her..."

*click*

With that, Cheren's eyes widened as he looked over towards the Great Ball on the ground, noticing that Virizion was no longer in view. Grabbing the Great Ball and opening it, out emerged none other than Virizion itself.

"Cheren? Where are you?" Bianca's voice began to be heard not far off, as Regulus rushed into view, eyes closed and opening to look at Cheren.

"Hey! Cheren? Where'd you go?" Ash's voice was soon heard, as Regulus looked at Virizion and Cheren and quickly put two and two together.

"Well looks like you've been busy all afternoon." Regulus bluntly pointed out to Cheren, as Ash and Bianca soon arrived on the scene to look at what was going on.

"Cheren, there you- Oh...!" Bianca said, noticing the towering, 6'04" Legendary Pokémon before them, as Ash's eyes widened at the sight of Virizion.

"So, I knew you said you were going after a Fighting Type Pokémon. You've could've just said you were going after the Legendary Virizion, ya know." Ash told Cheren, as Cheren looked at Ash, sighing a bit, as he moves to stand up fully and look at Bianca.

Bianca, noticing Cheren's gaze was a bit different than usual, seemed a tiny bit panicked, but oddly enough, began to walk towards him.

"C-Cheren... Is there something you want to say...?" Bianca asked Cheren, not even minding being watched by the tall Grassland Legendary Pokémon at all, all the while Cheren moved to, very calmly, hug Bianca.

"Well, the truth is, Bianca..." Cheren began to say, looking directly at Bianca's face as Bianca's eyes widened a little in surprise, almost knowing for certain what he would say next. Both of them beginning to close their eyes, Ash's eyes widened as he watched the two of them and progressively became shocked by what he was seeing so soon.

With both of them lip locked together, Bianca feeling relaxed in Cheren's grasp, all the while Cheren's own nerves began to calm down a lot more than what they were beforehand. Breaking the kiss with the two of them slowly opening their eyes again, Cheren finished what he had to say to Bianca.

"I love you, Bianca..."

To Be Continued...

Spoiler: Truth and Ideals Chapter 20

As night was beginning to set in with the sun having already faded over the horizon, Bianca had went to bed early at the Pokémon Center all the while Ash and Cheren were talking with each other.

"So, you've caught a Legendary Pokémon, and I've got Regulus who's from another region entirely and can Mega Evolve, so does that mean Lenora will force you to challenge the same team in which she'll challenge me with?" Ash asked Cheren, as Cheren looked at his Pokédex to verify Virizion's moves.

"Sacred Sword, Leaf Blade, Retaliate, and Close Combat." Cheren finished checking the moves for Virizion, as he looked over at Regulus and scanned him next, and was immediately surprised by what he had scanned.

"... Wow..." Cheren said in shock with Regulus' moves that he knew, as Ash blinked.

"What does Regulus know?" Ash asked.

"Close Combat, Earthquake, Iron Tail, and Thunder Punch. His moves are by all means prepared for pretty much every gym in the region to say the least." Cheren told Ash, as Regulus silently nodded.

"Well, at least now we know why Lenora wants to challenge me with a stronger team than her usual one." Ash said, as Regulus' dreadlocks shifted upwards as he opened his eyes to look at Cheren.

"Bianca wants a word with you, Cheren. Meanwhile, Lenora's wanting to challenge us already it seems, Ash." Regulus told Cheren and Ash, as Cheren blinked, before moving to head into the shared bedroom they occupied, as Ash began to walk outside of the Pokémon Center with Regulus in tow.

Pichu, moving out from underneath Ash's hat, blinked a little at the night sky as to why Ash was heading out so late. Carefully petting Pichu, Ash sighed a bit to himself.

"Relax, Pichu, I'm just heading to challenge the Gym Leader since she wanted to see me earlier than later." Ash told his small, electric Pokémon, as Pichu nodded and sleepily went back underneath Ash's hat.

Dewott and Tranquill, meanwhile, emerged from their Poké Balls on their own accord, as Dewott and Tranquill were both curious as to why Ash was heading towards the gym at this hour.

With Dewott growling a bit, and Tranquill chirping in confusion as she landed on Ash's arm as she usually did, Ash was about to speak up...

... Until he heard an ominous, heartbeat-like pulse emanate from the gym up ahead.

Ash, noticing this, began to slowly step towards the museum building from which within resides the gym, but something within the museum was drawing his attention towards it.

With a few scientists noticing Ash's hypnotic trance as he entered the building, Dewott and Tranquill both seemed to get Ash to stop moving towards a certain relic within the museum. Regulus, though, didn't even bother; he already knew exactly what Ash's attention was being drawn towards.

Stopping in front of one of the stands, with a medium sized, rounded, black colored stone residing motionless on the display, Ash's eyes began to glow as if his aura was ignited just like any other case. This time, though, his aura was not as violent in waves as it was before; it was much more calm and subdued in nature as Ash moved to carefully lay a hand on the stone.

The moment Ash touched the stone, everything around him suddenly zoned out of view entirely; his Pokémon, even Regulus, and every other person and object in the vicinity was suddenly shrouded in shadow, as the only thing visible to Ash still was himself and the mysterious, black stone.

'...'

Within seconds, Ash began to see an image of somebody else slowly begin to seep into his view, but for the moment, it was clouded by the immense darkness the stone was causing around him.

'Your friends... Recently having gotten together... They will go on to do great things together... Can you respect that?' The voice had asked, as the image before Ash showcased Cheren and Bianca, a tad bit older in appearance, and for some reason, Cheren lacking glasses altogether while Bianca now has glasses of her own.

((Yes...)) Ash answered to the mysterious voice, as the images before him began to shift again to change what Ash was seeing. This time, the images shifted onto the vague, shadowy view of a Pokémon whose entire body was purple, with what appeared to be red, glowing eyes visible.

'Do you desire to seek out the hunter within the darkness, from which your own Pokémon dread?' The voice had asked Ash, as the image cleared up to showcase the mysterious, insectoid Pokémon from when Ash had a glance into Pichu's dreams a few days ago. Armed with a cannon on its back, Ash had wanted to get a Pokédex scan of the Pokémon as he was seeing it, but he found himself unable to move at the moment. Due to this, Ash responded to the voice yet again.

((Yes...)) Ash had answered, as Ash's vision was beginning to blur again as the image before him suddenly changed into the view of a strange, mysterious person in blue clothing with lighter blue highlights on the edges, and seemingly having fiery orange hair.

'Do you recognize this person from your past? Do you have what it takes to ultimately attempt to find her within the next two years? Do you believe you will be the one to truly provide her with the happiness she desperately seeks in her life? Will you be the one person in her life who she can trust you with her own soul?' The voice had asked, as Ash's vision began to clear up to see that the person in question was a young woman who, currently, was about his own age in appearance and having green eyes.

For a brief moment, Ash could feel his right arm slowly begin to move again, seemingly trying to reach out towards this mysterious woman in question, as she seemingly did the same. At first, Ash was thinking everything he was seeing was all an illusion by this mysterious stone...

... Then just as he and the mysterious girl touched each other's hand, the girl actually seemed to react to Ash's touch, her eyes widening and her mouth parting as if letting out a gasp, but no actual sound was heard. Ash's own gaze widened as well. Even if much of the other imagery was more or less an illusion created by the stone, the uncanny movements of this girl seemed far too real in nature for her presence her to be an illusion as well.

With a small, faint smile appearing on the girl's lips, Ash nervously smiled back, as he proceeded to answer the strange voice that was questioning him.

((Yes, yes, yes, and yes! Now, will you tell me who you are?)) Ash had finally answered to the prior questions the stone had, as the image of the girl had begun to disappear with the girl surprised by this moment before she faded away entirely. The next image, though, Ash couldn't make out entirely, but from what Ash was about to see, he saw a large sized, Draconic Pokémon of a deep black color, and having piercing red eyes.

'Do you accept the responsibilities of the role of the Hero of Ideals, so that once I fully regain my true power, you will then command me into battle against my eternal rival in our task to save Unova?' The voice asked, this time in a much deeper, growling tone than it was before, with the tall, Draconic Pokémon before Ash seemingly glancing down at Ash as these words were said.

((... Yes...)) Ash hesitated, but ultimately decided to answer. In response, the image of the Black Dragon Pokémon began to disappear entirely, as Ash's field of vision returned back to what he had been seeing from before he touched the mysterious stone.

Just as Regulus looked at Ash, rather stunned by what he had witnessed, as Dewott and Tranquill were both equally stunned just the same, Lenora slowly began to walk up to Ash with a scientist beside her.

"So, I see you've taken interest in this ordinary stone? Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Hawes and-"

"This stone isn't ordinary... not in the slightest." Ash spoke up, as Regulus looked over at Hawes, back towards Ash, nodding, before his gaze fixed back on Hawes. Dewott, in addition to Tranquill, noticed that now wasn't the best time to stick around and went back into their respective Poké Balls.

"So, you know something about this stone that we don't?" Hawes asked, as Lenora remained silent, as if waiting on Ash's answer in all of this.

"Well, as a matter of fact, yes." Ash said, pulling out his Pokédex to scan the mysterious, black stone with. At first, nothing had popped up, but eventually, a weak signal was detected and the Pokédex began to detail the Pokémon from within the black stone.

"Zekrom, the Deep Black Legendary Pokémon. Assisting those who wish to build an ideal world, it has been in dormancy for centuries. Asleep within the Dark Stone, it rests to reacquire its old power and abilities before the time in which it can be led by the one it chooses to become its trainer." The Pokédex explained, as Lenora's eyes slightly widened a little, but her look was avoiding looking entirely surprised as she could.

"So that boy from earlier today... He had went on about a Legendary Pokémon known as Reshiram, and legends further detail that there is a second Pokémon to which to rival Reshiram's own power... And your Pokédex is basically stating that this second Pokémon is currently resting within this seemingly ordinary stone?" Lenora asked Ash, not necessarily needing an answer just as much as Ash's confirmation on it.

"Yes. I had briefly touched the Dark Stone and I was being questioned by what appeared to be Zekrom itself, asking me various things based on very key subjects within my life." Ash had begun to explain, "It also asked me if I would be the one who would lead it into battle against its own rival by the time its power is fully reacquired." Ash finished, as Lenora nodded, before taking the time to think.

"Then, it appears the Dark Stone is better off in your own hands from this point forward." Lenora told Ash, as she looked over at Regulus, then back towards the Dark Stone. "If Zekrom does indeed lay within this once thought ordinary stone, then it's for the best that you keep it on hand so that nobody tries to steal it from us." Lenora said, before walking up to the glass box containing the Dark Stone and unlocking the container.

Within seconds after the lock was undone and the box having been opened, the Dark Stone let off a heartbeat-like sound that could be heard by all of them, before floating up slightly into the air, and placing itself within Ash's careful grasp. As the energy surrounding the Dark Stone had went back into a dormant state, Ash's own aura began to calm down in intensity as Ash's eyes turned back to normal as a result.

"It's best we keep the stone hidden in your bag for the time being. You can easily hide it in there and nobody would notice. Even Team Galactic wouldn't have been that smart to try and search there, and believe me, Team Plasma look like idiots in comparison to those freaks." Regulus spoke up, as Ash and Lenora looked at Regulus with slight confusion.

"... Team Galactic?" Ash asked, as Regulus grumbled a bit before sighing.

"... Nothing. Forget I had mentioned them. They're not important anyways." Regulus told Ash, as Ash looked back over towards Lenora.

"So about that gym battle... Why did you ask to challenge me towards the very end of the day?" Ash asked Lenora, as Lenora sighed.

"I've heard from some of my co-workers that a group called Team Plasma was causing trouble as of late across all of Unova, so I was worried that your abilities with Aura would draw too much unnecessary attention." Lenora told Ash, as she began to walk upstairs into a balcony just behind the museum which served as a battlefield.

Ash, Hawes, and Regulus, following Lenora out towards the battlefield, noticed how Lenora equipped herself with a bracer around her left wrist, as Hawes stood on the sidelines to watch. Ash, stepping onto one side of the field, with Lenora taking her position at the other end.

"So, since you've already got one badge, you're familiar with the rules by now, yes?" Lenora asked Ash, as Ash nodded.

"Only a total of three Pokémon used for the battle, for both the gym leader and the challenger." Ash stated, as Lenora nodded.

"Smart kid. Now then..." Lenora said, as she drew out her first Pokémon's Poké Ball. "Shall we begin?"

Ash, looking over at Regulus, nodded towards him as Regulus stepped onto the field on Ash's side, ready for action.

"Alright, let's begin with your first test; how quickly you can deal with a Normal Type like this one. Cinccino, go!" Lenora called, sending out a small, gray colored mammal with silky white fur covering its tail and its head, who quickly chirped with excitement upon seeing Regulus as its opponent.

"Pokémon, GO!" Both Ash and Lenora called, as Regulus rushed forward as Cinccino was near instant to charge several projectiles around itself as to block Regulus from reaching it, and immediately put Regulus on the evasive when said projectiles began to fire towards him.

Quickly noticing the damaging impact of each individual projectile, Ash's aura began to trigger the moment he realized Regulus was dodging them for a reason.

"Get in as close as you can, Regulus!" Ash called towards Regulus, as Regulus was navigating the balcony, evading attacks from Cinccino as the Scarf Pokémon began charging up more projectiles to launch towards Regulus.

"Good to see your training has paid off thus far. Normally you would've just rushed in head first." Lenora told Regulus, as Regulus finally got a chance to get in close towards Cinccino. Deliberately letting some of the projectiles hit him, with flames appearing from where he was hit.

Emerging from the flames, Regulus suddenly pushed his leg outward to kick Cinccino into the air, jumping up with an aura charged leap, and immediately slamming Cinccino down into the ground with an immense force, the ground around the impact zone forming cracks upon impact.

"Well done, Regulus. Now, then, for the second test." Lenora said, returning Cinccino to its Poké Ball, as she drew out her second Poké Ball. "Now, Bouffalant, let's see if Regulus can handle the intensity!" She called, as emerging from her Poké Ball was a large sized, hairy Bison of sorts known as Bouffalant.

Bouffalant, not wasting a single moment with having to hear any of Lenora's orders, immediately charged towards Regulus with an intense force surrounding its entire body, as Regulus was swift to charge Bouffalant as well. Both Pokémon having their attacks collide with each other, Bouffalant was sent flying backwards as Regulus was pushed back as well.

"Watch out!" Hawes cried out towards Lenora, but with a single hand, Lenora stopped Bouffalant from colliding with her, all the while Regulus used his own aura to summon the energy staff he had used before and forcefully anchors himself into the ground as to slow his knockback.

As he looked back at Ash, he noticed Ash's aura was equally igniting.

((Alright, I'm going to let you in on a little secret; close your eyes and open your ears, this next part will be important.)) Regulus told Ash, and Ash was confused at first, but did what he was told nevertheless.

As he closed his eyes, he began to see everyone's aura in the nearby vicinity, even if making out certain things was difficult.

Lenora, calling Bouffalant back to its Poké Ball, finally decided to bring out her last Pokémon.

"Alright, test three; honor before reason. Audino, I choose you!" Lenora called, as emerging from her Poké Ball was the much larger, Mega Stone equipped Audino from earlier that day.

As Ash carefully glanced at Lenora a little bit before closing his eyes again, he could more clearly see the aura projecting from both Regulus and Audino. Audino had a different look from Regulus due to appearing to lack Aura, but for the brief moment Bouffalant was still out, he had noticed Bouffalant had a different colored aura than Audino's.

"Alright, I do believe now is when Mega Evolution is going to play effect in our battle, yes?" Ash asked Lenora, as Lenora nodded.

"Yes sir." Lenora said, before tapping the Key Stone on her bracer to trigger an intense glow around herself and Audino. Ash, doing the same, triggered the same results from his Key Stone necklace and Regulus.

With Regulus being encircled with energy and emerging covered in golden fur and a more lethal look, Audino emerged from the same sphere of energy and appeared a much brighter shade of pink to the point she looked white, gaining a small gown-like extension to her lower body, and having sparkling eyes.

"Alright, let's wrap this up!" Ash and Lenora both spoke, as Regulus closed his own eyes just as Mega Audino began to shine with an intense light, as various beams of energy began to strike at Regulus, which at this point only seemed to increase the effects of his own personal aura.

Beginning to repeatedly punch Mega Audino where she stood her ground as Mega Audino was taking these attacks much more noticeably than the other Pokémon Lenora was using beforehand.

"Alright, Regulus! Let's end this with Iron Tail!" Ash called, as Regulus' mane of fur towards his back began to glow in an intense field of metallic energy, as Regulus grabbed hold of Mega Audino and jumped up an incredible height into the air.

Suddenly slamming Mega Audino into the ground, Regulus collided into Mega Audino with an aura forged sword in the shape of his original tail, as Mega Audino was dazed... but did not immediately revert back into her normal form.

"Now then, let's see how Regulus can handle a situation like this!" Lenora spoke up, as she suddenly began to glow with a bright energy as she shouted in Mega Audino's direction, as Mega Audino suddenly began to glow an intense, crystal colored energy, as Mega Audino forced Regulus backwards from the shockwave from the effect taking hold.

Standing back up where she had stood, Mega Audino before holding her hands out forward as she unleashed a powerful, charged up blast of fire in Regulus' direction, as Regulus took the hit and seemingly vanished in the smoke caused by the blast... until Regulus suddenly stepped forward, out of the flames, and suddenly began charging a wave of energy in his hands.

"Damn clever with the Heartsoul boost, but can Audino withstand any more punishment than THIS?!" Regulus shouted, before unleashing a massive, concentrated beam of energy in Mega Audino's direction, as Mega Audino attempted to block the attack entirely, but it was clear the intensity of Regulus' beam attack was causing her to weaken in strength.

As Regulus already appeared to begin reverting back to his original form, the beam of energy ceased as his power as a Mega Lucario ran dry, and Mega Audino was seen heavily damaged from the projectile, but was still standing up as if she had managed to withstand more of the attack than she would have appeared otherwise.

"So, Regulus doesn't have the energy to Mega Evolve again, what do you proceed to do next?" Lenora asked Ash, as it was clear by this point that Mega Audino still had at least some strength remaining.

Ash, trying to think about this one, decided to simply answer with the following.

"Simple; honor before reason. Your own Audino is still Mega Evolved against an opponent who is no longer able to sustain Mega Evolution for the remainder of the battle. Even if Regulus was still Mega Evolved, and Audino was the one to revert back to normal, I would've just ended the battle there since it was clear that Regulus had too much of an advantage." Ash told Lenora, as Lenora was silent for a while...

... Before smiling and ceasing Audino's Mega Evolved state, causing Audino to revert to her normal looks as Lenora called her back to her Poké Ball. Ash, confused, walked up to Regulus to help him stand up as he looked ready to collapse.

"Pretty impressive, Lenora... Seems like we've both changed over the years." Regulus complimented Lenora, as Lenora smiled.

"Well, since Ash is correct about what he had said, it is clear that due to the circumstances in question, he is the winner of this gym battle." Lenora told them both, as she carefully grabbed something from her pockets and gave it Ash.

"Ash, I hereby present you with the Basic Badge. With this badge, you'll be able to see more clearly as the power I had used for Audino during the fight. Knowledge in Aura alone would render your own usage of it obsolete, but that doesn't mean anybody else would benefit from the skill in question." Lenora spoke, as Ash carefully took the badge and placed it in his Badge Case.

"Alright, Regulus, looks like this is our first gym badge win with each other!" Ash told Regulus, as Regulus sighed.

((Well if anything, just prepare to see more of that Heartsoul technique later down the road. I don't know what Zekrom was showing you in those visions earlier, but I will assure you something...)) Regulus told Ash, as Ash blinked in confusion.

((Zekrom had informed you of another who has access to not just the Heartsoul Awakening Technique, but from what I was able to sense...))

((... The most powerful user of said technique was who Zekrom had showed you, and I have a very good feeling that she is now aware of your own existence...))

To Be Continued...