AN: Okay, so I'm going to clarify a bit more on something I said in the last author's note. Normally, in this story, only Ash's fights with a gym leader would be shown as top priority of him, Bianca, and Cheren. However, provided there's something different for me to detail regarding Bianca and Cheren's own fights with a gym leader, such as one of their Pokémon evolving or even losing the match, then I will actually detail their respective challenges in the story itself. If nothing truly worth noting happens in their battles with a gym leader compared to Ash, though, their battles with a gym leader will more or less take place off-screen.

Also, as for the former trainer of the three elemental monkeys which now belong to Ash, Bianca, and Cheren, the guy in question is showing up in this chapter, and while I was initially not intending for the guy to be pleasant... I sort of changed my mind while writing this chapter. I have new plans for this character, anyways, so that means I can narrow down the amount of OCs I would need to create for certain, often minor aspects of this story. Thus far this is the first trainer OC to be present in the story.

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…

AN: So there's that little cliffhanger for ya. Anyways, as of finishing this chapter, I'm rather worn out from both problems I had regarding my job assessment… and the excitement of finally having Hoopa on Pokémon Alpha Sapphire after waiting more than a year for it to finally be available.