Edit: I was originally going to have the scene that now serves as the intro to this chapter happen later, but I figured to have it happen here instead.

AN: Haven't had a chapter with N in it for a while now. I should fix that. Heck, just about everything involving N at the moment needs to be addressed; he was supposed to have long since been part of joining the main cast, but so far he's only made the occasional additional appearance than he has had in the actual games.

Truth and Ideals Chapter 53:


The day was getting late; before it had gotten too late, though, Ash was flying out with Zekrom with Delia safely mounted onto the Legendary Pokémon's back, as they had neared the large, opened hole in the roof of the range of mountains of western Unova where Chargestone Cave lay in wait.

'Odd, I could've sworn I saw something flash by...' Delia had remarked, as they flew towards the area in question. Zekrom, steering itself to land inside the cave through the hole in the ceiling, Zekrom landed and stood to wait as Ash and Delia got off of its back, as Ash was surprised that the first thing they would come across would be Sirius' grave, despite how he had clearly remembered how it was located further into the cave than this.

"Well... Here it is, mom." Ash told Delia, as Delia looked over towards the small gravestone that Ash had originally came across when he had been through here before. Delia, looking towards the grave with intensified grief, was at a lose for words.

"S-Sirius...!" Delia eventually managed to speak up, before she was quick to break down crying as she was beginning to read her own note again, this time aloud.

"To my beloved wife, who no woman alive could ever replace... to no woman a man would ever be happier to live alongside...

I'm not certain if you even still think of me in the same way as you had used to; I had seen you interacting with a blond male numerous times as days went by, but I did not interfere due to not wanting to interrupt what could've just been a conversation between a friend. I was wrong when I saw you with him one night, when I had finally managed to return home after a painful trip in the air with others like myself; I had seen you in the bedroom, in the middle of the night, with this blond man as I had decided to leave the house and question to myself; did you truly enjoy him more than I? Was I truly not deserving of your kindness? I knew something was off... I must've done something to make you unhappy, to where you'll probably not even notice I'm gone... All I want to truly say to you if I had ever managed to get the chance...

Is that I'm sorry, Delia Ketchum."

The note ended there, from how Delia had stopped to continue to cry again; a hand covering her mouth as she feels incredible guilt over what her life with Colress was like, or the fact that it was ultimately her now that had led to Sirius dying in the first place to begin with. As Ash moved over to her to hug her, Delia could feel the embrace of not just Ash, but also the embrace of Ash's own Pokémon having joined in to comfort her.

"Thank you... All of you... For allowing myself to wake up..."

Back at Nuvema Town, several hours later...

It was late at night, and Cheren and Bianca were staying at home all the while Iris and Misty were asleep downstairs in Ash's house, the two having decided to share the couch. Delia was fast asleep in her own room, as well, as Ash himself was fast asleep in his own bedroom…

… Until he could faintly hearing a knocking on his window, as Ash slowly woke up to the bright blue of the moonlight shining into his bedroom… as well as a mysterious figure and their Pokémon standing just outside of his bedroom window.

As Ash had moved to get out of bed, dressed just in a black shirt and blue pants, all the while his hands still wore his father's own gloves. As Ash had gotten out of bed and looked out the window, his eyes widened awake as he noticed N, floating in the air with the assistance of a familiar, specter of a Pokémon.

"Dusknoir!" Ash exclaimed, as he moved to, hesitantly, open the window to leave room for N and Dusknoir to get on through and into his bedroom. As N quietly stepped into Ash's bedroom, he was quick to notice the various toys around Ash's room, as Dusknoir was quietly returned to a Poké Ball that N had with him.

"You have some very nice toys, Ash!" N exclaimed, as he had a look at the figures in Ash's collection, as he could make out figures of a Pikachu, Charizard, Lucario, Mewtwo, and two other, unknown Pokémon to N in the form of a pink fluff ball and a blue, Ninja-stance Frog of sorts.

"Those two are Jigglypuff and Greninja; those are specifically Amiibo figures I had bought for use with a video game I have on my Wii U console over by the LCD television." Ash explained to N, all the while N looked over towards Ash, practically gleaming in excitement much to Ash's confusion.

"But why are you here at this hour, N? Didn't you hate me after what had happened at Chargestone Cave?" Ash had asked N, as N shook his head.

"Hate you? Who I intend to befriend? Never. Why?" N answered, as Ash shrugged.

"Well you had abducted me from my friends just so that the two of us could be in a more or less isolated moment, and then we both fought, among other things that would happen next." Ash spoke, as he was hushed as N placed a hand on his shoulder, watching as N carefully looked him in the eyes.

"I can see it already; you made your realization as the Hero of Ideals and tamed Zekrom already, didn't you?" N spoke towards Ash, as Ash nodded.

"That still doesn't answer my question; why are you here, N?" Ash had asked N, all the while N sighed.

"I had learned of your condition about a night after you were saved by your friends, Ash… How I knew you probably wouldn't survive… This is why I had talked to my friend, Dusknoir, in hopes that you could somehow be saved from death. Only few people have truly earned such a fate, Ash, and you are most certainly not one of them." N explained to Ash, as Ash's eyes widened.

"Y-You… You saved my life back then?" Ash asked him, as N had nodded.

"Yes… Yes I did… I couldn't bear to see what would happen to your friends or even myself knowing that you would've died otherwise, or the fact that-" N was cut off before he could properly finish. Ash was quick to embrace N in his grasp, resting his head on his left shoulder as a few tears moved down his face, all the while N's expression was shocked and confused as to Ash's current behavior.

"T-Thank you, N… That means a whole lot to my friends and I…" Ash spoke towards N as he stuttered a bit; all of this time he had grown to slowly form a small hatred towards N, even after having selflessly chosen to save N from an attacking Geneshine for whatever hostilities they had in hopes N would see the truth, and even when he did not know how N would think, N truly did repay the favor in a way Ash could only dream of truly repaying back.

As N realized, slowly, as to the context as to why Ash was hugging onto him at the moment, N's eyes softened before closing, as N moved to rest his head on Ash's left shoulder as well, holding Ash close as a small tear formed out of his eye.

"I was so worried about you since that day, Ash… especially even more worried now that I know something horrible is beginning to happen with Team Plasma…" N spoke to Ash, as both of them moved away from each other to look each other in the eye.

"Team Plasma had become corrupt while I was absent from the grunts and other colleagues; something had gone wrong, and when I had returned to issue orders to some of those I had worked with, they had appeared before me possessed and enraged; Poké Balls drawn out as they sent equally hostile Pokémon before me, they had tried to kill me on the spot… especially once Geneshine and its cohorts arrived on the scene and made my escape from the scene only barely successful…" N began to explain, as he could only fearfully recall that terrifying incident.

As N was looking towards what appeared to be Ghetsis' corpse in the base of Team Plasma beneath the ground, Geneshine looked towards the poor man as it laughed sadistically all the while glowing with power.

{Ding dong, the old man died! And so will you if you stay around any longer!} Geneshine cackled, as itself and several Pokémon that were corrupted by some outside influence had begun to fire attacks upon N in varying degrees of power, as N watched rather fearfully.

"Everyone! Snap out of it! Don't listen to him!" N told everyone he had once known and trusted… all the while the presence of a black robed, doppelganger of Ghetsis could be seen entering the scene with his newly repaired cane.

"Oh, is that your father before you over there…? I wondered how long it would've been for you to return and realize he had been dead for years, you bastard of a runt…" Ghetsis spoke, all the while behind stood two girls who had been forcefully restrained by two Genesect Drones, which looked much more advanced in appearance than even Geneshine currently did.

"You! Whoever you are…What did you do to father?!" N asked of the doppelganger of Ghetsis, all the while Ghetsis had darkly chuckled.

"He was the imposter; a fool who could never live up the name of Harmonia! You and him both share that in common with each other; both runts at the end of the litter from where you were born, and how you turned to be; your so called corpse of a father before you had been dead for 15 years now, N; I was hoping you'd realize that; to see the Truth of the fact you are no longer a necessity in my plan!" Ghetsis had told N, all the while N was horrified.

"N-No! You're lying! You couldn't possibly be him as well!" N yelled towards Ghetsis, all the while Ghetsis brought out a knife as he had pointed it towards the head of the one girl, having blonde hair, as the two Genesect Drones restraining them aimed their cannons directly behind their heads.

"Would I, now? How much are you willing to try and stay knowing your own sisters are at risk with your mere life still being among us?" Ghetsis spoke as he had looked over towards Geneshine as he slammed his cane down.

"Geneshine! Kill N, immediately!" Ghetsis had called, as Geneshine had moved to rush N only to be met with a blinding, white light from N's pocket as the Light Stone had emerged from within it to interfere with its own truth.

As the Light Stone became engulfed in a white, powerful sphere of energy from within its core, emerging from the sphere were two large, white wings with small hands and covered in feathers, as it propelled feathers of infernal fire outwards towards the attacking Pokémon and Geneshine. Finishing emerging from the sphere as large, powerful feet with boot-like talons manifested, just as the torch-like tail emerged from behind as from the front emerged the towering, mammalian, white maned head of the Dragon of Truth; Reshiram.

"You have finally sought out the truth, N; whether you like what you see or not, you now finally know the truth behind your actions with this entire organization. Open your eyes, young Hero of Truth, so can make our escape!" Reshiram spoke towards N loud and clear, all the while Ghetsis was furious as to what he was seeing before him.

"I'd like to see you try!" Ghetsis spoke, as he had let loose his ungodly howl towards the other room, as smashing down a wall was none other than Type: Null who had taken sight of Reshiram near instantly and set its own sights on it to kill. However, Reshiram responded much faster than Type: Null could manage, as Reshiram fired a powerful, blue blast of fire towards Type: Null to damage it as much as it could, as well as blinding everyone else's sights from the intense explosion.

Just as Ghetsis could see again, though, N and Reshiram had vanished from his gaze as he looked over towards the two young girls being held by the Genesect Drones, all the while growling with annoyance.

"Imprison the two goddesses somewhere; we can use their continued lives as hostages for our plans." Ghetsis spoke towards everyone, as the Genesect Drones withdrew their cannons as they escorted the two of them out of the room, all the while Geneshine looked over towards Ghetsis.

{What's the plan Big G? Want me to go after them?} Geneshine asked, as Ghetsis shook his head.

"No, actually; hunt down the remaining unique Genesect and bring me their spare scrap metal; you have yet to achieve your perfected state for real, Geneshine…"

"… When I had woken up on Reshiram's back, I'm not certain as to how I heard what had happened next, but perhaps… perhaps my ability to see the truth of the whole situation now allowed for me to learn of what had almost happened to me, or to my sisters when we had returned not even a few hours ago…" N finished explaining to Ash, all the while Ash's gaze looked horrified as to what N had to go through.

"N… You're not going to be safe traveling alone from now on, you know that, right?" Ash told N, as N nodded.

"Indeed… That is why I had come here, Ash… Because I wanted to ask you something now that you know why I am here after what had happened…" N began to ask, as he looked over towards Ash.

"Will you let me travel by you and your friends' side, Ash?" N had asked Ash, as Ash took a while before finally responding.

"… Yes, but my friends are going to need some time to let that sink in once they wake up in the morning…" Ash answered to N, as N sighed in relief, before the Poké Balls that both of them had which contained Zekrom and Reshiram respectively began to growl.

"Well, this is a twist." Zekrom spoke up.

"Admit it, blacky, you saw this coming a mile away." Reshiram spoke up towards Zekrom.

"Can we still fight to test our strength?"

"Son of a- YES!" Ash and N answered to both of their Dragon Pokémon, as the two of them had moved to jump out of the bedroom window and straight outside, before Ash sent out Zekrom and landed onto its back, flying off into the air as N called upon Reshiram, landing on is back as he flew up with it towards Ash. Instead of actually fighting, though, Zekrom had simply decided to fly through the air at immense speeds out towards the ocean, as Reshiram had activated the engine-like flame in its tail to catch up to Zekrom's immense speed.

"I thought you two said you wanted to fight!" Ash asked Zekrom as he laughed a bit.

"We said test our strength, Ash! That didn't mean we'd fight like that yet!" Zekrom roared as it had flown through the night sky as, before suddenly activating the turbine in its tail as it jettisoned itself upwards into the air to breach through the clouds, all the while N and Reshiram followed behind.

"Now this is much more like how I would've preferred things in the end!" N spoke up towards Ash as Ash laughed.

"Yeah, it looks like we'll both be getting what we desire in the future out of this!" Ash spoke towards N, as Zekrom breached through the clouds as now it and Ash were soaring in the sky above the clouds, allowing Ash to see the starry sky all its glorying, as N rose up to fly alongside Ash with Reshiram and Zekrom now flying at more or less the same speed as Reshiram.

As both Ash and N looked up into the sky and saw the shining moon and the various stars in the sky as well, both of them were quickly amazed by the sight alone; it was further amplified when their flight path had coincided with the Legendary Lunala, as the large, celestial, bat-like Moone Legendary Pokémon flew just above Zekrom and Reshiram.

As Lunala gave a sharp, greeting cry towards Ash and N, it flew up ahead of the duo and flew up higher and higher into the sky until it disappeared with a gleam of a shine, which only made the very stars and moon shine even brighter before the Heroes of Truth and Ideals.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Ash asked towards N, as N silently nodded.

"Yes… Yes it is, Ash…" N spoke, as he moved to rest on Reshiram's back, with Ash moving to lay on Zekrom's back in response, as the two of them were on their backs and looking up into the sky.

"Say, Ash…?"

"Yes, N?"

"I'm sorry for what I had done wrong before now…"

"It's okay, N… I can forgive you…"

"Do you think the others will take a liking to me?" N asked Ash. Ash remained quiet for the moment as he tried to think of how to respond…

"… I'm sure after they hear everything out, I'm certain they will…"

As Zekrom and Reshiram looked towards each other, both of them moved lower towards the ground, as the two turned to make a landing just outside of Ash's house. As Ash jumped back into his window, with N following behind, N yawned a bit as he had looked around.

"… You can take my bed if you feel tired, N; I'll just go sleep downstairs in that case." Ash spoke up, as N looked over towards Ash with a happy, serene glance as he nodded.

"Alright, just stay safe." N said, as he moved towards Ash's bed, as Ash moved to leave the room and head downstairs. As he walked over towards the couch with Iris and Misty already asleep and snuggled up towards each other, Ash moved to, carefully, bring an additional blanket and move himself to lay beside them.

"… H-Huh…?" Iris murmured in her sleep, as Misty groggily noticed Ash joining them, all the while the two girls had made room for him between them, before snuggling up to him cheerfully but still tiredly.

"Hey…" Ash spoke up, quietly, as Iris looked towards Ash, confused, as did Misty.

"What happened? Did something happen in your sleep, Ash?" Iris asked, as Misty grasped a hold of Ash's hand to reassure him, as Ash chuckled lightly.

"I'll explain in the morning, just promise me you won't freak out about him, alright?" Ash asked of the two of them, as Iris and Misty didn't quite notice the full context of what Ash had meant, before the two of them nodded and fell back asleep next to Ash, as Ash himself allowed himself to fall asleep again…

As N lay in Ash's bed upstairs, he was quietly thinking to himself about what all was to happen now that things have definitely changed…

"Zoroark… If only you were here to see how I've changed…" N spoke, as N was taken by surprise when a figure had entered through the window, as N looked towards the figure and noticed the disguised, human form of none other than his own Zoroark.

"It's about damn time, N…" Zoroark said as he transformed back into his true form towards N, as the two affectionately hugged as Zoroark moved to force himself onto the small bed from which N was sleeping on, not that N would complain. While this was happening, Zekrom and Reshiram remained outside as they had both looked at each other.

"Do you think that since we won't be fighting each other, do you think it may be possible that Va-"

"No, Zekrom, I do not; the ability for us to become our original selves had long since past behind us. We can only just adapt to our current, permanently separated selves and move on from there; however the future deems it for us…" Reshiram told Zekrom, as Zekrom let out a heavy sigh.

"Still…" Zekrom began as he looked up towards the night sky; vaguely seeing the humanoid, tailed form of Mewtwo flying pasted the moon.

"This will be a lot for everyone to take in as it is…"

To Be Continued…