AN: I'm going to be as quick as possible without rushing things, but this chapter and the next two should be uploaded before or on May 9th. I will admit, I got distracted with making sure Chapter 35 would be uploaded on the 7th in the first place; I had to effectively rewrite the entire chapter once I decided I was doing this in a certain way now as well. Also this chapter made me realize how very little of Aura Speak was used in quite a long while now. Mainly because once Regulus started to speak that's when the ability was almost entirely seeing a decline in usage until now being given a new purpose again. As for uploading this, it was originally intended to be May 4th I uploaded this... but once I realized what would ultimately happen in this particular chapter, I decided against it and pushed the chapter back by three days. Anyways, enjoy the show...

Truth and Ideals Chapter 35:

Delia was at home, by herself of course, beginning to go to get ready to go to sleep early. It was nearing sunset, but she already felt like it was time for bed. Without Ash at home at all times anymore, Delia had begun to feel old feelings from when Sirius had disappeared begin to return. Feelings from when she had lived by herself with nobody around for comfort.

"I really miss him… I miss both of them… Sirius… Ash… I hope that to learn what happened to you, Sirius…" Delia began to say, as she tried to close her eyes to fall asleep…

Then she heard some pots move in another room towards the front of the house. Immediately waking up to check on what she had heard, Delia walked out to the living room of the house and didn't see anybody…

… But quickly noticed the front door had been opened and closed by something.

"… Alright whoever is there, do not try and run from me!" Delia said, walking outside to check on who would possibly be in her front yard. Walking out to find a tall man in a black cloak with equally dark, spiky hair with signs of gray to them, Delia didn't even know who this stranger was, and was about to shout at this point at him…

… Until a familiar humming coming from the man had caught her completely off guard, with Delia shocked by who this man may possibly be.

She had heard the tune, no question about it; the tune the man is currently humming is the exact same tune she had played on her flute when she became engaged to Sirius many years ago. As the man was watering her garden, he didn't seem to notice Delia standing not far away from him at the moment, so Delia herself made the first move.

"… S-Sirius…?" Delia quietly asked, as the man set down the watering pail. The pail itself began to quietly disappear into thin air, with even "Sirius" himself even seeming to fade from reality.

"Home is comfortable, is it not? I miss the calm, quiet months of us living by ourselves… But…" Sirius began to speak, as his figure began to disappear almost entirely as Delia held her hands to her mouth in shock, with small tears swelling up in her eyes.

"… But I am not allowed to return…"

Back at the Nimbasa City Pokémon Center…

It was nearing midnight by this point. Both Ash and Misty were awake while Cheren also was as well, but just barely.

"You're absolutely certain you two will be safe out there, right?" Cheren asked Ash and Misty, as they both nodded.

"Yeah, we'll be fine." Ash replied, while Misty texted her answer to Cheren's Xtransceiver, causing Cheren to make a shushing motion to Misty.

"Be careful when you do that, Misty! I don't want to wake everyone else up at a time like this!" Cheren whispered, referring to Bianca fast asleep in one of the beds in their room.

"Alright, just try, try not to worry about us too much. You two will be going first in tomorrow's matches with Elesa, so get as much sleep as you can." Ash said, as Cheren nodded.

"I'll see what I can try and do… It just worries me at times when people close to me are going to be away like that…" Cheren said, as he watched as Ash and Misty left the room and began to head outside, as he sighed a little to himself.

Moving to the bed Bianca is in and moving to lay down beside her, Cheren moved to carefully hug Bianca to himself. Bianca, noticing Cheren in her sleep, subconsciously moved the covers over Cheren all the while Cheren blushed. Smiling at her sweetly, Cheren kissed Bianca on the cheek before slowly beginning to fall asleep himself.

Outside…

Ash and Misty were walking outside to see if they could spot Regulus or Arcturus. As they were searching for either of them, it began to pour slightly onto them. Misty, carefully unfolding an umbrella, moved to open it and hold it above herself and Ash. Realizing Misty wasn't tall enough on her own to properly shield Ash, Ash carefully took her umbrella and held it instead.

"Hey, um… If you're a Water Type specialist, why did you have a Pidgeot with you earlier today?" Ash asked, as Misty shrugged, moving to her non-Xtransceiver type of phone to text message Ash as to why.

[None of my own Water Type Pokémon can fly like that.] Misty answered through text, as Ash looked around a bit for any signs of Regulus and Arcturus. Closing his eyes as the back of his hair stood a little bit as a result, he looked and saw not three signatures of blue aura, but three, all jumping across rooftops before landing in front of Ash and Misty.

"So, my apologies for leaving at an inconvenient time, Ash, I had completely forgot about Genesect by that point." Regulus said, as Ash nodded.

"I can somewhat understand. You were distracted from the day before so your guard was down." Ash said, as Regulus turned his gaze away.

"…"

"He, well, can't seem to admit it when he fails at things…" Sol had brought up, as Ash and Misty were confused by her.

"Um… We've never known you from anywhere… So who are you?" Ash asked, as this particular Lucario didn't answer.

"… Sol, but unlike those two, I was never truly raised by humans…" She answered, as Ash blinked.

(Regulus, why is she here?) Ash spoke to Regulus, as Regulus didn't answer.

(I can hear you, you know…) The Shiny Lucario answered Ash, as Ash groaned a bit. He knew that trying to use Aura Speak to get a private conversation with Regulus would've been pointless with Arcturus and this other Lucario being here.

(… Regulus…?) Ash asked, as he noticed something… off, about how Regulus was acting. Normally he didn't express much emotion, but Regulus seemed… upset about something at the moment.

"… I'm fine, Ash… I'm just trying to prepare for something…" Regulus said, before looking at Arcturus. Ash looked over at Arcturus. Ash's mood slightly dampened a bit when he noticed how off Regulus was acting. Then it made him remember he was carrying Simisear's coffin with him as well, assuming that Regulus was upset because of that.

'… Right… He's probably blaming himself for that… Is he mad at Arcturus for arriving on the scene too late…?' Ash thought, as Arcturus motioned her hand away from the group to ignite a flame of aura to light the way.

"Follow me… Stay close to each other as we proceed." Arcturus responded, as Ash and Misty followed the three Lucario in silence.

By the time they got to the outskirts of Nimbasa City, Ash finally spoke up about Sol.

"So, you were never truly raised by humans, huh?" Ash asked, as Sol took a moment to try and answered, but decided against it.

"Sorry, Ash, but she won't talk easily around your kind…" Arcturus told Ash, as Ash sighed and nodded.

"Alright… I'll just deal with it for when we arrive at this sacred place…" Ash spoke, his tone rather quiet as he looked over at Regulus. Misty carefully took hold of Ash's hand, her body shaking a little as Ash looked over at Misty. She looked at Ash with a very worried expression, though from what Ash could tell, it was due to worry for him instead of herself.

"… Misty?" Ash tried to ask, but Misty didn't text Ash back.

"Ash." Regulus finally spoke up, as Ash looked at Regulus in alert due to the fact this is the first time Regulus spoke up during their walk to the sacred place.

"Do you have anything about Simisear you would like to tell Sol?" Regulus asked, as Arcturus didn't respond, but Sol looked over at Ash with interest now.

"Well, would it bother her if it told her about the time the decision I had made when it came to evolving him?" Ash asked, as Regulus nodded.

"I don't see a problem with it. I was there as well if I recall correctly." Regulus pointed out, as Ash nodded.

"So, basically…"

The scene Ash had begun to talk about detailed the night and some of the early morning of his training with Regulus about perfecting his own Aura Mode. All of this sounded not that unfamiliar, as Ash had sent out Simisear, then just a Pansear, specifically for this entire session.

"Alright! You're doing good, Pansear!" Ash called out, as Pansear had already succeeded in hitting Regulus after he had been dodging all of Pansear's attacks up to this point. Regulus, blazing from the fiery attack Pansear had managed to hit him with, stood up and grinned towards Pansear.

"So, you think you're so clever, huh?" Regulus asked Pansear, as the aura boosted Pansear shook his head much to Regulus' surprise, as Regulus blinked.

"So, then, what is it you see in yourself? Mind telling Ash through me?" Regulus asked, standing up and causing a small burst of aura around him to free himself of the flames. Pansear, staying silent, simply gave a thumbs up to Regulus.

"Maintaining a positive outlook, yes?" Ash asked Regulus regarding Pansear, as Regulus nodded.

"Yeah, perhaps you should keep doing the same." Regulus said, as he looked over at Pansear. "I'm not sure what exactly happened regarding Pansear's origins prior to him and his siblings meeting you at Striaton City, but the two girls were rather weird about it how they handled it." Regulus spoke up, as Ash blinked.

"So what did happen to Pansear regarding how him and the other two ended up there, using Substitute on themselves since the Kid had them stolen from him by Team Plasma?" Ash asked, as Regulus' expression seemed to change that of a startled confusion when Ash mentioned the Kid for some reason.

"… Very well do explain what you already knew if you want. If you simply want me to translate Pansear's story, then just give me the signal." Regulus said, as Ash nodded.

"Go on ahead. We'll have a lot of training to do after this." Ash told Regulus as Regulus blinked and calmed down.

"Well, it's difficult to explain, and some of this I'm having trouble believing… but you recall how I told you about how Sirius and Delia were aided by Dialga in soothing Lugia's soul? You're familiar with what Dialga's role as a Legendary Pokémon is, right?" Regulus asked, as Ash nodded.

"Yeah, Dialga is the master of time. Are you trying to say Pansear is…"

"From another timeline?"

"…" Ash was about to say either the past or future before he was interrupted, but Regulus' answer surprised him.

"… Why?"

"… Because… He saw a strange, purple Pokémon kill you at a city further from here." Regulus said, as Ash was shocked but didn't appear visibly disturbed just yet.

"… W-W-What…?!" Ash asked, unsure of whether this was actually what Pansear was saying, but when he looked at Pansear, Pansear nodded with a solemn expression.

"I'm not sure how much of it to believe myself, but from what I can sense, he isn't lying." Regulus said, before adding "He came to this point in time to save you from your future fate. How he intends to do so, I don't know. Even then, I don't know the exact reasoning behind the other two, but Pansear implies something bad happened to Cheren and Bianca as well. Pansear isn't telling me anything other than how they… broke…" Regulus spoke, as Ash looked at Pansear as he held a hand to his forehead.

"Wow… I'm… Eventually going to need a lot of time to take that in depending on just how true that is…" Ash spoke up, as he looked over at Pansear.

"I will assure you this, though, Pansear… I will not allow that to happen. I will train with you to ensure you're strong enough to be able to protect me and fulfill the reason you came here in the first place…" Ash told Pansear, all the while he moved to calmly hug Pansear briefly, realizing how it must've hurt to have to explain this.

"… And… That is how I felt after Simisear's death occurred that this was going to affect me a lot in the long run… Why for much of the first half of the day I just sort of… shutdown, when it had occurred and everyone I knew was safe…" Ash finishing explaining to Sol, as Sol looked at him with a shocked gaze, with even Misty shocked to hear about this.

"… I-I… J-Just didn't expect things would end so harshly for Simisear in the end…" Ash also said, as Sol slowly nodded in understanding.

"Well… um… do be careful about who you'll meet in our village, Ash… I do not want them to suffer the same fate later down the road… please…" Sol spoke to him, as Regulus set a hand on Sol's shoulder to try and calm her down. As Arcturus lead the group through a dark maze with only a flame of aura lighting the way, they soon came into view of a forest hidden within a mountain, with flowers and leaves that glowed a bright blue during this time of night.

"We're here…" Arcturus informed them, but instead of dissipating the flame used to guide them, she pushed it outward as it eventually rose up towards the ceiling of the forest within the cavern.

Ash simply paused in speech was he walked forward to have a look at everything. Misty, meanwhile, looked around at the environment with eyes sparkling at how different this place is from the rest of Unova.

"Ash… I'm not sure how to explain this now that you're here, but…" Regulus began to say, his voice breaking a small amount… but Ash didn't appear to notice Regulus' words. From what Regulus could tell, Ash was already sensing something up ahead… practically calling out to him.

(Mom? Dad? Where are you? Have you found my partner yet?) A voice called out towards Ash, and oddly enough, Arcturus, Regulus, nor Sol could hear it at all like how Ash could. Ash, his eyes closing as his hair stood up, tried to sense where this voice was coming from. Looking around the entire village in the night and noticing the auras of various Lucario and Riolu, all of which appearing blue, the one who was speaking to Ash was in an ovular shape and had a completely gray aura.

(Hey… Who are you?) Ash spoke through Aura Speak in a very calm, gentle tone, realizing that he was being spoken to by someone who is very young in tone. Walking slowly towards the aura signature as, he only slowed feather when a faint, blue aura slowly began to appear towards Ash but obscuring itself in the process.

'Wake up, Ketchum. Your father is but a vision, now.'

Ash didn't listen, not only because of how the voice spoke of Sirius, but also because of how it had worded the insult in question. Making his advances towards the gray aura, Ash didn't realize that neither Arcturus, Regulus, nor Sol were following him. After the obscure, blue aura had disappeared after speaking, it appeared again somewhere else.

'Is the Creator aware of the fact that you have this high concentration of aura? I know someone who does.'

"Shut up…"

'Shut up, me? Is that just because you are holier than everybody else? Do you mean you came to restrain me?' The voice questioned again, its aura disappearing from Ash's sight again.

"I do not want to see anybody harmed while I am here, so please, leave this place!" As Ash drew near a small hut with the gray aura within, the obscure aura soon appeared before Ash again, and began to materialize in full.

'Did you not see it from how Regulus and Sol were behaving? Did nothing from what the girl was trying to say get to you?' The voice spoke again, all the while Ash stood where he was and noticed the aura of this Pokémon begin to fully manifest into a taller, quadrupedal form of sorts.

'I've made a lot of sacrifices as it is, Ketchum. I've made a lot of hard choices. For honor, for the Creator, for the region. Do you know what I've learned, Ketchum? Hard choices and sacrifices do not keep you warm at night. That life is too damn short and too damn long to go through without someone at your side, Ketchum.' The voice spoke, as the aura near fully materialized into a physical form.

'My point is, Ketchum, my companion already gave this test to your friend; do you need it spelled out any further? The girl, the one the Creator knows as Misty, is in love with you!' The voice spoke, as Ash opened his eyes to have a look at the mysterious Pokémon that had appeared before him. He looked around and saw only Misty was following him still, meaning Regulus, Arcturus, and Sol were someplace else within this area. The Pokémon, which Ash turned to face, just glared down towards Ash with a sense of nobility to it.

Ash, soon noticing the Pokémon beginning to step towards Misty with a touch of hostility in its aura, stepped in the way of the Pokémon and blocked it off from trying to get too close to Misty. The Pokémon continued to move forward, as Ash stepped backward in defense of Misty until he was just inches away from her. Neither Ash nor Misty could notice it, but both of them were showing shades of red on their faces hidden by the dim lighting of this forest in a cavern.

'…'

"What are you intending on, Cobalion?" Ash asked, already knowing full well what exactly the Iron Will Legendary Pokémon was capable of… and yet Cobalion did nothing further.

'…' Gazing down upon Ash, Cobalion soon motioned into the closest possible to a bowing stance as his body type would allow, his eyes closed as he bowed before Ash.

Ash, taking this as an indication to catch Cobalion, drew out a Poké Ball colored a dark gray with a yellow marking on the top, and tapped the center of it against Cobalion's forehead, before the Poké Ball opened up and proceeded to slowly drag Cobalion into the center and immediately close. As Ash held the Poké Ball in his hand to see what'll happen next, it only shook once before the Poké Ball clicked in a secure, tight shut.

(Hello? Who's there?) The younger voice called to Ash again, all the while Ash not calmly followed the voice into the small hut, as did Misty. Once Cobalion had been caught by Ash, soon appeared Regulus, Arcturus, and Sol just behind them as if they had been following the two the whole time.

As Ash entered the hut first, Regulus and Sol soon walked in as well, with Arcturus staying by the door while motioning for Misty to stay close to Ash.

Without even prompting Ash forward, Regulus and Sol both sat at the sides of what Ash focused on…

A Pokémon Egg.

"Regulus… Is there any meaning to this?" Ash whispered, as Regulus lowered his head.

"I'll get to that, but first… That Poké Ball on your belt… the one you had used to catch me with… May I see it?" Regulus asked, as Ash looked over at him, uncertain of what he had in mind, but nevertheless handing the Poké Ball used to contain Regulus over towards him.

"Ash… What I have to ask of you will not be easy in your current state of development, nor will it be for myself as well…" Regulus began to say, as the Pokémon Egg, wrapped and covered in black blankets, soon began to glow, signaling it would hatch.

"I was never born or raised with the intent on being anybody's aura partner; Arcturus was born specifically for Sirius, but for who you see in front of you, just moments away from hatching, is who will be born specifically for you, Ash. As much as it pains me to do this, it truly does… but…" Regulus said, the hand holding onto the Poké Ball shaking for a moment. "… I am no longer needed in your journey, for I am currently considered a hindrance to your own development…" Regulus said, finally mustering the will to shatter the Poké Ball that once contained himself for a while under Ash's ownership.

Ash, shocked by what Regulus did, soon had tears form in his eyes. "… R-Regulus…? You're l-leaving…?" Ash asked, as Regulus stayed quiet, trying but failing to hold back tears of his own as well.

"I tried my best… hoping the rules of my people would not force me into leaving you… but now that my son is here… as he put it to me in a vision…"

(I will finish… what he started…) The young voice popped up again, as Ash drew his attention towards the Pokémon Egg, and from it hatched a small, frail Riolu of a brighter shade of blues and blacks than what Regulus or Arcturus had looked like. Ash, looking around and seeing both the coffin for Simisear gone, as well as the disappearance of Regulus, Arcturus, and Sol as well, soon looked upon the small, helpless Riolu covered heavily in blankets.

Misty, practically feeling how Ash had effectively felt part of himself break at the moment, slowly but quickly towards him and embraced him into a tight hug, all the while Ash didn't hesitate to hug her back.

"I just wish I knew how little of a choice Regulus had in this… I didn't realize how serious this would've been for him… I was so stupi-"

Ash's eyes widened at what had interrupted him this time. Glancing down with his eyes glazed over with mixtures of sadness and a lost sort of feeling, Misty was kissing him full on the lips to shut him up. Ash didn't know how to respond, but when he carefully moved himself to sit down on the floor with Misty, he calmly began to kiss her back as well.

Moments passed and the two would snap out of it, with Ash separating from Misty's grasp only because he knew he had important matters to attend to. Moving himself down to eye level for the small Riolu, Ash didn't know what exactly to say to him yet.

(… Are… Are you my aura partner?) The Riolu asked Ash, as Ash, realizing ore of what Regulus had meant, nodded to him.

"Yes… I am Ash Ketchum." Ash replied, as the Riolu's eyes widened a little.

(… Ash… What is my name, then?) The Riolu asked, all the while sounding rather sleepy in tone, before moving closer towards Ash while staying close to the blankets. Ash, normally, didn't nickname any of his Pokémon, but considering Regulus and Arcturus both had nicknames due to his own father, Ash decided to give Riolu a name that would suit him best.

"Your name… hmmm… How does "Altair" sound?" Ash suggested, as the Riolu looked at Ash and slowly began to move to lay down.

(Altair… That is a nice name…) The Riolu, newly dubbed Altair, answered back, before falling asleep before Ash. Ash, carefully covering Altair up in blankets so he didn't get cold, looked over at Misty.

"I'm not sure what Arcturus has in mind, so I think we'll get some sleep here before heading back in the morning…" Ash told her, as Misty, about to text Ash otherwise, was soon motioned against it give Ash calmly grasping her hand.

"Please… I know you have a Pokémon that can take us back to the Pokémon Center already… but… I feel like leaving so soon wouldn't feel right… It'd feel better if we stayed here for the night… okay?" Ash asked from Misty, as Misty nodded and powered off her Xtransceiver-like device off and moved to lay down within the tent beside where Altair was, as Ash moved to lay beside her, ending up with Altair in-between the two of them.

As the two trainers fell asleep, elsewhere in the village at a high peak with an opening to the surface present, Arcturus stood in a praying stance as Simisear was buried in the ground in front of her. Regulus and Sol, soon appearing beside her, soon stood in a similar stance.

"How well do you think he'll adjust to Altair after having had me for so long?" Regulus asked, as Arcturus silently grumbled a bit in a bit of confusion.

"To be honest, I know neither Altair nor Cobalion will influence his decisions for his next gym battle; Altair is too young, and Cobalion, whatever it's reasoning for appearing to Ash so suddenly, is too powerful. I have a feeling that Altair will, however, allow Ash to concentrate on his and his Pokémon's Aura Modes unlike what we have seen him utilize with you prior. Though, I will not deny one fact about one of Ash's Pokémon, though…" Arcturus began to explain, as Regulus looked at her.

"This is about Dewott, right?" Regulus asked, as Arcturus nodded.

"Indeed… Right now I fear for Ash's physical health if what I predict will happen for tomorrow will turn out to be true… If he is not careful with how he utilizes Aura or the newfound abilities I sense awakening within Dewott…"

"… Then Ash may very well be the cause of his own demise…"

To Be Continued…

AN: Huh. What do you know? Before re-writing this chapter as to what would happen as shown above, I was promising at least over 4,000+ words at the very least. Without even realizing it, though, I ended up doing just that with the redone draft for this chapter. Funny, isn't it? Also in keeping tradition with what I had done with Virizion, some of the quotes that Cobalion uses are modified versions of Athos quotes. However, unlike with Virizion, these particular quotes all came from different incarnations if I recall correctly. Also, call me cruel on how I ended up having Regulus leave Ash... but I kind of knew that unless Regulus did what he had done, there was no way he'd truly convince Ash to move on with Altair as his aura partner instead.

Also, in case anybody gets the wrong idea, just because Ash and Misty have kissed here, doesn't mean they're boyfriend/girlfriend just yet like how that turned out to be for Cheren and Bianca. Key thing here; until one of the two gives each other a love confession without the input of another (*coughcobalioncough*), then as of this chapter, they are currently not a couple just yet. Perhaps by the end of the next few chapters instead? Possibly. I know I tend to have my planned couples get together quick because I hate how most media tend to delay the inevitable in this regard, but as for here it kind of depends on what I'll be doing with Misty next as to how they'll advance into that stage of knowing each other.

Also in case anybody else gets a different wrong idea, Cobalion's dialogue in this chapter comes mostly from the quotes I chose from Athos. To be honest, I actually missed the use of the term holy when he was referring to Ash. I kept it in mainly because the Legendary Pokémon like Cobalion take the Aura Sages much more seriously than some of the other Legendary Pokémon do. Plus considering the location Cobalion is in here... it's justified that Cobalion would use the term holy to describe Ash here. Also there's a spoiler related reason as to why it uses the term as well, but this arc won't go into detail as to WHY it used that term in this particular location.