"Flare Blitz!"

A resounding explosion followed the command, melting the remains of the ice on the battlefield. Incineroar stood amidst the steam, fiery claws raised as he stood over the Beartic he just defeated.

The referee on the side raised his hand. "Beartic is unable to battle! That means Alex the challenger is the winner!"

"And that's another one down!" Alex cheered, high-fiving Incineroar.

I slowed my clapping, stood, and stretched. We'd just reached Iccirus City this morning after a few days journeying from Mistralton City. Navigating through Twist Mountain had been a pain, even with Robert's experience traversing it beforehand. He complained that the snow blanketing the area made it harder as certain areas were no longer traversable. Not to mention freezing.

"Winter likes to hit Unova early," Robert rubbed his arms as the three of us exited the gym. Much like the mountain, snow covered every inch of the city. Not that it stopped the residents. I watched as a group of children chased each other through a large snowbank and people walked home with bags in their hands from shopping. Yet, despite this normalcy, something felt off. I hesitated, glancing off to the side.

"So you can sense them as well," Gym Leader Brycen spoke from behind us as he stepped out onto the snow barefoot.

"Sense who?" Alex asked, then looked at me, and seeing my uneasiness, instantly put a hand on her pokeball.

"Why not show yourselves?" Brycen asked calmly, staring off to the right, then straight ahead, then to the left. "To most you are invisible, but to me you stand here plain as day." Nothing happened for a few seconds, but then the air shimmered before revealing the Shadow Triad.

"Impressive," the lead one remarked. "Not many are able to see through our illusions. As expected from a master of the martial arts." His gaze swiftly turned onto me. "Ghetsis has asked us to pass on a message for you. Come to Dragonspiral Tower. It is there our Lord N waits for you."

"Dragonspiral Tower!" Robert gasped. "You mean... The legend!? It's true!?"

The Shadow Triad paid him no attention. "Ghetsis has asked you to come alone, but he knows you are likely not to abide by his wishes. So bring whomever you wish. But know that you'll be the only one to speak to Lord N." And with that, they appeared to leap, disappearing into thin air.

"Do you know how insanely useful it would be to be able to disappear like that?" Alex muttered. "Zeno. Are we going?"

"Of course," I responded, absentmindedly rubbing a finger over Joltik's pokeball. N had mentioned something about seeking the Dragon of Truth. Ghetsis had mentioned it before back in Castelia, it being a white dragon. Between Alola and Kalos, I've had plenty of experience with mythical and legendary Pokemon, so hearing that there was another in Unova didn't surprise me. The fact that it was integral to N's plans just seemed to fit the situation more than make it feel weird.

"I will accompany you," Brycen said briskly. "I will not try and dissuade you to leave this to me. You all have proven to be effective battlers. And we'll need all the help we can get if Team Plasma is involved."

"They've been a nuisance, sure, but they're not the strongest out there," Robert told him as the four of us set off, letting Brycen take the lead as he made for the edge of the city.

"Yes, but they've been making up for that in numbers." The gym leader sounded on edge. "Many have joined their ranks. Just a few days ago they held a speech in the town square. No less than a dozen citizens joined the group of already fifty in number. And many more considered N's words."

"Not to mention how many members weren't at the speech," I muttered. "I'll give this to N and his followers. He does seem to inspire many to his cause."

"Yes, and alone the truth he spreads isn't a bad one," Brycen said. "But Pokemon are being taken from people left and right, not just trainers. When I brought this to his attention, he said that those were all Pokemon that desired freedom."

"He says he can speak to Pokemon," Alex shook her head. "Sometimes I wonder if he sometimes only hears what he wants to hear."

"None of that matters now," Brycen said as they left the city and entered the tree line, following a path covered by snow. "What matters is stopping whatever Team Plasma is planning at the tower..." he trailed off, his expression turning to anger as he ran forwards. Following after him, I saw what caused the change in demeanor. A large tower rose from the water, surrounded by several other towers, each varying in size. They were ancient looking and appeared to be holding up quite well. Which was why it felt like heresy to see a giant hole in the base of the main tower with a gangplank bridging the gap between the land and tower.

"They didn't," Robert breathed. "How could they..."

"Very easily," I told him before stepping onto the gangplank. Once I was halfway across two Team Plasma grunts stepped out from the manmade entrance, each holding a banner emblazoned with their symbol.

"You are not allowed to enter, not while our king has business here," the one on the left said defiantly.

"But we got invitations!" Robert protested loudly before.

The one on the right shook his head. "Even so, we will not allow any disturbance to our Lord N. Leave now or-"

"Lucario, get them out of the way." Lucario leaped out from his pokeball, shooting the area between the two grunts with a powerful Aura Sphere. The blast blew both grunts into the water with yells of indignation.

"Alright, let's go," I said, sprinting into the ruins. The inside was dark, lit only by square lights. Water filled most of the room, the only space available to walk on hugging the right side of the large circular room in the form of faded emerald tiles that led to a staircase.

"Woah, this is sick," Robert breathed once everyone followed me inside. "Ignoring the crimes against humanity that went on that allowed us to get in here, this is rad. Wonder if Professor Juniper will want to do some studies in here now that there's an entrance."

"Wonder later, we got a job to do here," Alex slapped him on the head. "Let me guess, we're going straight to the top, huh?"

As soon as the words left her mouth the whole tower trembled. Dust rained down from the ceiling until it stopped a few seconds later, before another, albeit smaller, shake occurred.

"Yeah, that's coming right from the top I'm guessing," Robert grimaced. "If N has actually found what I think he's found..."

"Talk on the way," Brycen said, moving past us in a hurry. "What is up there?"

"Ghetsis talked about the white Dragon of Truth before back in Castelia, if you two remember, Zeno, Alex," Robert said as we sprinted after Brycen. "But that's not the entire legend. There were two dragons. One of Truth, and the other of Ideals. Together with two heroes they helped found this region. But they ended up fighting over which one was more important and eventually both legendary dragons were hidden and sealed away somewhere. At least, according to some legends.

"Isn't that what they are though?" Brycen asked. "Legends?"

"Maybe they, maybe they aren't," I said as we ran up the stairs. "Believe me when I say we've encountered living legends before. What we know is that N is seeking the Dragon of Truth. What, for the power?"

"For the respect he'll gain from garnering the Dragon's trust." Robert groaned aloud. "If people see that N has become the Hero of Truth from the legends, they're more likely to listen to him about freeing Pokemon."

"Surely not everyone would buy into that though," Alex pointed out. "I mean, come on. It's not like everyone is going to suddenly smash their pokeballs and whatnot."

"I mean, no," Robert admitted. "But N has had this campaign of his going on for a while now. A ton of people are already listening to him." They burst into a large room with fallen columns. There were no Team Plasma grunts in sight and the constant booms and shaking from above had yet to lessen. "Practically everyone in Unova knows of the tale of the Heroes of Truth and Ideals in some form. If they see that the Dragon of Truth is real, I don't really want to imagine how many people might actually begin to buy into what N has been saying..." He trailed off as we all realized that the stairs leading to the next level were across a wide gap.

"What now-" Robert started to say as Brycen threw out a pokeball and shouted, "Beartic, use Strength!" The Ice Type appeared, already swinging his glowing fist into the nearest pillar. With a groan, the pillar fell, bridging the gap with a mighty crash.

Robert let out a shriek that sounded like a mix of pain and anger. "WHAT DID YOU DO!? THAT WAS A PRICELESS-!"

BONK!

"Ow," Robert groaned after Alex sighed, retracting her fist.

"We've no time to dawdle on what's right and wrong here, so shut up and keep moving," she told him, raising her fist.

"Yes ma'am."

"So this dragon," I began as soon as we crossed the pillar. "What's its name?"

"We don't know," Robert admitted. "Well, the people of the Village of Dragons do, but they don't like revealing their secrets. It's why we only call them by their titles; the Dragon of Truth and the Dragon of Ideals."

"Very informative," I commented drily.

The next floor consisted of a broken up floor, so talking was put on hold while we hopped from one tile to the next. Part of me wondered if this was a deliberate design choice instead of having become this after hundreds of years left to crumble. The next floor was where the real challenge was set to begin.

"Well hello there," Robert quipped after the surprised Team Plasma grunts spotted us emerge onto their floor. Around two dozen of them stood between us and the next flight of stairs, along with each of their Pokemon.

"We must not let them get to our King!" One of the grunts yelled.

"Lucario!" I yanked my knife from my pocket. Energy blasted from the Keystone, arcing towards Lucario. A brilliant light blasted outwards as Lucario slammed his fists together, snarling at the Plasma grunts who had stopped dead in their tracks at the mega evolution.

Beartic roared as he and Brycen stepped forward on my right. To my left both Alex and Robert stood beside me with Lurantis and Swampert respectively.

"Let us through," I told them. "Or we'll make our own path."

Several of the grunts looked like they were considering the idea before one grunt spoke up. "We are loyal to our King, and we won't abandon him!" A thunderous boom from above shook the entire room. The grunt grinned. "Even now he is preparing a bright future for us and Pokemon! Stopping you is the least we can do for him!"

"Yeah!"

"We'll take you down!"

"For our Lord N!"

"It seems diplomacy has failed," Robert sighed.

"CHARGE!" The grunts shouted and as one they did just that, their Pokemon overtaking them.

"Aura Pulse!" I roared and Lucario howled, his head appendages shooting straight up as he slammed his fist into the ground. A pulse of aura akin to an earthquake rippled out as a wave, knocking back the closest Pokemon and knocking the rest off balance.

"Been wanting to try that for a while now," I said with a grin.

"You can't just come up with new Pokemon moves y'know!" Robert tore at his hair. "There's a legal process for that!"

"And since when have you ever cared about that?" Alex snorted. "Lurantis dear, set up a Sunny Day please. Robert, they're getting back up."

"Gah, fine," Robert shot out his hand. "Muddy Water! But try to avoid damaging the walls! And the floor! And the-!" Swampert roared in glee, drowning out Robert's voice as grimy water blasted up around her. She swung out her left arm, directing the water in the direction of Team Plasma. Most got swept off their feet and slammed into each other. Only two Pokemon managed to avoid the attack, an Unfezant and a Zebstrika, only to be frozen solid in an arctic blast of wind from Beartic.

"GO!" I shouted and together we charged forwards. Lucario leaped ahead, swinging a flurry of fists into a Magnezone before yanking him around and flinging him into a Krookodile. I dodged a pin missile from a Maractus and body slammed a grunt to the ground before leaping over them and grappling with another.

"Zeno, duck!"

At Alex's yell, I pushed the grunt away and dived for the floor. Just in time too as a blade of green energy swept by overhead, making many Pokemon, and grunts, cry out in pain. I leaped back to my feet, seeing an opening for the stairs. I glanced back, eyes widening as at least another dozen grunts ran up the stairs to join the fight.

"Go!" Alex shouted to me, letting out Darmanitan, who beat his chest with a roar, his flaming eyebrows intensifying. "We got this!"

"Yeah, Brycen is practically a one man army!" Robert pointed and sure enough, Brycen was just finishing up taking down two grunts while his Beartic fought with a Zebstrika, a trail of bodied left in their wake.

"Lucario, stay with them," I told him before tossing out Arcaneis. "Keep them safe for me." I turned and hurried past groaning grunts and stunned Pokemon. I kicked a grunt in the face as he made to grab me before hurrying up the stairs.

As soon as I made it to the next level, the whole tower shook once more and this time, I heard a guttural roar. I grabbed the wall to keep myself upright until the shaking stopped. This room had circular platforms with a large pillar in the middle. I couldn't see any stairs, so I got to moving.

"You've made it."

I stopped. The Shadow Triad had appeared in front of me. The leader stepped forwards. "You are close to the top of the tower. But first you must prove yourself strong enough in both passion and will to reach our Lord N.

"Is that so?" I sighed. "What, want to fight me?"

He shook his head. "We are not here to test you ourselves. Our role lies elsewhere. But we are to pass on another message to you from Ghetsis."

I eyed him warily. "Let's hear it."

"You stand to oppose N, the King of Team Plasma who holds the truth above all else, with your ideals," the leader recited. "Knowing who you are, you likely are to play a role in this tale, so you must do so with all that it entails. Only then will you stand a chance to overcome the combined might of the Hero and Dragon of Truth."

"It almost sounds like he's helping me," I narrowed my eyes. "What's his angle?"

The Shadow Triad bowed as one. "That is all we were to impart." They jumped, disappearing right when their feet left the ground.

"Great," I muttered. "Just great."

I continued on, still hearing the sounds of battle below. That was good, it meant my friends were still standing. After running literal circles around the room, I got to the stairs and sprinted up them, slowing only when I began to hear voices.

"It's finally time!"

I moved behind the nearest pillar, glancing out to see one of the sages speaking to a group of Team Plasma grunts.

"Our Lord N will become the hero!" The sage spoke with hands raised high above his head. "With the might of the Dragon of Truth, those across Unova and the world will come to see that N's truth is the truth we must all abide by! For the freedom of Pokemon! For a prosperous future!"

"You know, when you put it like that it sounds great," I stepped out from behind the pillar, causing the Sage to gasp and quickly step back, tripping on his robes. "But your methods I can't exactly agree with. What happens when not everyone conforms just because a mythical dragon has arisen? Will you force them to obey?"

"If we must!" A grunt shouted, though I noted a few grunts actually looked a bit hesitant. "It's for the good of all Pokemon!"

I tossed out two pokeballs and Mawile and Mimikyu appeared in front of me. "Alright girls, let's show them the cracks in their 'truth'."

When the first Liepard lunged for us, Mawile leaped up and twirled, her back jaw crashing into the Dark type's side and sent it into a pillar. Mimi dove into the shadows, reappearing in the shadow of a Whirlipede currently zooming towards me. Shadowy hands reached out from below the Pokemon and dug into its sides, steering him off course just meters away from me and crashed into the wall. Mimi leaped out, blasting him with a Shadow Ball to ensure he stayed down.

The Simisage and Jellicent moved in tandem, the former launching giant seeds in Mawile's direction while the latter blasted a wind of ghostly energy towards Mimi. Mawile dodged around most of the seeds, leaping and flipping to grab the last seed with her back jaw, crushing it into pieces before landing and lunging for the Grass type, fist glowing. She punched him square in the jaw before leaping over him, grabbing him with her jaw, and after crunching down, flung him across the length of the room. Meanwhile, after sustaining the attack from Jellicent, Mimi appeared from the shadow beneath Jellicent, slashing upwards with claws of darkness before climbing up her and jumping into the air, a giant green hammer materializing into existence from beneath her tattered Pikachu rags. She brought it crashing down, slamming Jellicent down into the ground with a devastating boom.

The grunts stared at me in undisguised shock as the last of the Pokemon fell, all taken out by the two small Pokemon. I shook my head. "I won't deny, there are many out there who abuse the relationship we have with Pokemon. But I'll just say this," I gave them all a hard stare, the sage included. "The bond me and my Pokemon share is why we're this strong together. We fight together, and one is not more important than the other."

With Mawile and Mimi by my side, I walked through the middle of the grunts, and not one of them attempted to stop us as we headed for the stairs. The sounds of fighting from above had since ceased and it had me worried. Preparing myself for what I might find above, I climbed the stairs.

The first thing I noticed was the wind. Gusts of it blew against me, chilling even with the jacket I wore. I could see clouds where there should have been a ceiling as I neared the top. Setting foot in the room, I took in the broken pillars, the shattered tiles, and the massive scorch marks decorating the walls and floor. And there was N, battered and looking somewhat scorched himself, getting to his feet before a massive white Dragon Pokemon. N took a step towards what could only be the Dragon of Truth, hand outstretched. With a low hrring sound, the Dragon bowed its head, allowing for N to lay his hand against its cheek.

"You are beautiful indeed," N murmured. "Together we will help the world see the truth. Together we will free all Pokemon." He glanced over his shoulder. "Welcome, Zeno. This is the legendary Dragon of Truth. Or perhaps you should know her real name." He turned around, hands outstretched before him like the wings of the Dragon that towered behind him. "Reshiram."

"She has been asleep in the form of a light stone for centuries," N went on. "Awaiting the day the Hero of Truth would come and bring her forth once more to help reshape the Unova region."

"I'd say you sound arrogant, but you really aren't," I smiled sadly. "You're just telling the truth."

"That is correct," N confirmed. "I'm glad you came, Zeno. Really, I am. Long have I wondered about the implications of me being the Hero of Truth. If I was the one, which I have confirmed here today, then it stands to reason that the Hero of Ideals would oppose me."

"You stand to oppose N, the King of Team Plasma who holds the truth above all else, with your ideals. Knowing who you are, you likely are to play a role in this tale, so you must do so with all that it entails. Only then will you stand a chance to overcome the combined might of the Hero and Dragon of Truth."

"So what exactly does that entail?" I asked. "What, I'm destined to fight you? Been there before, already did that. I'm not exactly fond of this prophecy stuff."

"It's not prophecy," N shook his head. "It's just how it's meant to be. And I intend to respect that. I will continue to speak to the people of this region and I will make it known I am the Hero of Truth. But I do not expect that all will listen to what I have to say. That is why I aim to become Champion of this region. Once I have become the strongest trainer here, then people will listen." He turned back to Reshiram, glancing over his shoulder one last time. "But I expect you to challenge me before all is said and done. So seek Zekrom, the Dragon of Truth. Once you have gained his trust, and claimed the title of Hero of Ideals, only then will we settle things between us to see which is greater; My truth, or your ideals."

Reshiram bent low for N as he hauled himself onto her back. "Until then, Zeno." With a great flap of her wings, Reshiram took off into the sky and disappeared into the clouds.

"Here we go again," I muttered. "If that's what it takes to convince you of your errors, N, then so be it."


I climbed back down the tower back to where I had left everyone to find them wrapping things up with the help of none other than Alder the Champion himself.

"N left, didn't he?" Robert guessed the moment he spotted me.

"Yep," I replied. "On the back of Reshiram."

"The Dragon of Truth," Alex guessed.

When I nodded, Alder rubbed his chin. "So the legends are true then. But what of the other? The Dragon of Ideals?"

"N mentioned him. Zekrom was what he called him." I shook my head. "He seems to have it in his head that I'm his opposite, the Hero of Ideals. But, if he sticks to his word, if I beat him, one hero against another, he'll back down."

"Did he give any hints about where Zekrom is?" Alder asked, eyebrow quirked.

"Nothing," I said, then thought about it for a second. "Well, maybe. He mentioned that Reshiram had been a light stone for a while. So maybe Zekrom is in a stone as well?"

Robert exhaled. "That would mean the legends about them being sealed away and hidden is true! If Reshiram was in a Light Stone, then the stone Zekrom is in must be called the Dark Stone..."

Alder closed his eyes and nodded. "I may have an idea of where to start looking. Relic Castle has been said to have had ties to Dragonspiral Tower, so looking there first may be to our benefit. What size will this Dark Stone be? If it's small, then it may be nigh impossible to find amongst all the sand."

Robert paled. "It might be small actually. Could be the size of a pokeball, or smaller. Maybe it'll have markings. Geez Zeno, you should have asked N more questions about..." He trailed off. I could imagine why, for I was staring at him in surprise. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Alex," I said slowly, turning to her. "Remember our date?"

"Y-yes," Alex squeaked. She coughed into her fist, cheeks tinged pink. "Why are you bringing that uuuuuup... Oh."

"What?" Robert looked between them. "What am I missing?"

I grinned at him. "We know where this stone is!"