[In thy view, what is truth?]
Reshiram raised its proud draconic head, its shining blue eyes gazing at Aiden as it conveyed its thoughts through telepathy.
Truth—?
Aiden clicked his tongue, his expression somewhat strange.
You Legendary Pokémon, why do you all love being cryptic riddlers the moment we meet—
If he weren't a transmigrator, he probably wouldn't have realized this was the "interview question" for the Hero of Truth, would he?
The Black and White Dragons had split from their original body due to differing ideals, searching through the human world for those who would inherit their philosophies, aiding them in becoming great heroes of their era to prove that their way of thinking was absolutely correct.
Now that the White Dragon Reshiram had actively appeared before him, it clearly saw him as a candidate for this generation's hero.
If he could give an answer that satisfied the White Dragon, perhaps he could make it "pledge its loyalty."
However—
What exactly was truth?
Aiden hadn't thought deeply about this question before.
If he were facing Zekrom, the Dragon of Ideals, he could answer without hesitation:
His ideal was to thoroughly enjoy this world where Pokémon truly existed!
If possible, he'd like his work to be easier, have fewer troubles, and while he was at it, marry Cynthia and reach the pinnacle of life, eventually having enough children to form a soccer team—
Wait, that sounded more like making wishes than stating ideals!
As for truth?
Aiden thought for a moment, but didn't give a direct answer.
Instead, he turned and asked Reshiram: "What is ideal? What is truth?"
"If in the future, through my efforts, I achieve my long-held ideal and turn it into reality—
—"
"Then would my ideal also be considered a form of truth?"
When he spoke, Reshiram suddenly fell silent, and those imposing sapphire pupils rapidly contracted.
Since the Tao Trio had split apart, Reshiram and its foolish other half had encountered countless humans with grand ambitions.
But being questioned by a human in return—this was truly the first time.
Any human who had heard of their names and wished to become a "hero" would always act exceptionally excited when meeting them.
There were even many self-important mortals who would exhaust all their sycophancy to cater to its thoughts.
As the Dragon of Truth, Reshiram could naturally judge whether human words were false, and those who lied before it inevitably faced punishment.
However—
It was precisely because of this that it could sense the words of the human before it came completely from the heart, without the slightest hesitation.
Can an achievable ideal be considered truth?
This question—if it were the Original Dragon from thousands of years ago—it would certainly approve of such thinking.
But precisely because it had witnessed too much, it now fell into silence.
Because Reshiram recalled that distant past, that pair of human brothers later called the "Heroes of Truth and Ideals."
Both were courageous individuals with firm convictions, working tirelessly toward the same goal.
This pure sincerity even moved the yet-unsplit Original Dragon, making it their ally as well.
From Nuvema Town, a Unovan myth of nation-building played out in history.
However—
Good times didn't last. Once the kingdom where humans and Pokémon lived in harmony was finally established, rifts gradually appeared between the twin brothers.
Their ideologies clashed and rapidly broke apart, even directly affecting the Original Dragon.
Thus the "Dragon of Ideals" and "Dragon of Truth" were born, and to this day they still cannot reconcile.
Can ideals truly become reality?
After personally witnessing the answer humanity gave through facts, neither Zekrom nor Reshiram could give an affirmative answer anymore.
[Thy response is truly laughable!]
After a while, under Aiden's gradually impatient gaze, a trace of disdain flashed in the White Dragon's eyes, and it spoke quite rudely through telepathy.
Humans are always too idealistic in their youth, thinking they've grasped the true future.
But before long, they completely forget even their former ideals, never reaching the truth.
Even the most perfect heroes can never recognize this.
At least up to now, it had never seen a human who could hold fast to their original heart.
Reshiram was somewhat disappointed.
Originally it had thought it found a new hero, but the result was yet another fanatic wanting to carry out "ideals and truth."
"Not satisfied with my answer?"
Though seemingly mocked by the White Dragon, Aiden wasn't angry. Instead, he leaned against the windowsill looking outside, showing an interested smile.
If it were Kyurem, perhaps he would have been angry by now.
But the White Dragon was so beautiful that even he had become more patient.
Indeed, appearance was very important even for Legendary Pokémon!
"However, your opinion actually doesn't matter to me at all."
Aiden quickly spoke again, showing no respect for this "Dragon of Truth," the slightly raised corner of his mouth instead showing some helplessness.
"After all, there are already many deities who recognize me—not missing just you."
"If you think I'm not truthful enough, then there must be something wrong with you."
Reshiram: ?
Before Aiden spoke, it had almost categorized him as an arrogant and conceited person.
But—those words just now weren't lies at all, but instead incomparably truthful???
Reshiram was shocked.
Originally it had only sensed that a human with powerful aura seemed to have appeared in the Unova region, so it came to test them.
After all, in this era, the "Hero of Ideals" had already appeared, and it was time to find another "Hero of Truth" to continue their ideological struggle.
However, it never expected to encounter a monster—
Reshiram sensed the auras clinging to the young man before it, and soon its pupils trembled violently.
The guardian of the sky, the three Original Dragons controlling time, space, and the Reverse World, the life-blessing Ho-Oh, and also—
That gaze from the Creator?!!!
[Thou—have you met the Creator?]
It could understand the auras of other deities, but that great creator who made the entire world—
Wasn't He already in deep slumber, not awakening for a long time?
"Mm—I suppose you could say I've met Him?"
Aiden pondered for a moment, giving an ambiguous answer.
He indeed hadn't seen Arceus's true form with his own eyes, but he had been invited to have tea and chat with Him in His original temple beyond the world.
So saying it this way shouldn't be wrong?
"Arceus gave me a mission, and the other Legendaries I've encountered all call me His agent."
"To prove it is simple—I could just call Giratina and the others over to chat with you."
Aiden spoke jokingly.
However, he truly wasn't lying.
The Sinnoh trio were currently in the Reverse World; he just needed to have Marshadow go in and deliver a message—very convenient.
Reshiram fell silent once again.
When its consciousness returned to reality, its originally proud expression had completely vanished.
[No need.]
[As the agent recognized by the Creator—]
The White Dragon suddenly flapped its wings, and the Turbo Blaze at the base of its tail instantly activated, emitting a wave of heat.
The engine roar was incredibly loud in the quiet night, and this magnificent, domineering sound made Reshiram's image appear even more majestic.
[Thy truth, I recognize!]
[Thou art the Hero of Truth—from this moment, my flames shall ever be by thy side!]
Why does this White Dragon speak so archaically?
Aiden silently complained in his heart, watching with curiosity as it continued its performance.
Talking about ideals and truth—look at you, Reshiram, you're quite "truthful" yourself. Didn't you just reject me a moment ago—
But the moment Arceus's name was brought up, you immediately followed your heart!
Though that made sense.
Could it really say that the alpaca had no discernment? That would be rather rebellious!
[—]
Seemingly sensing Aiden's thoughts, the White Dragon, which had been stirring up fierce winds, suddenly paused, and a flush quickly appeared on that slender draconic face.
Clearly embarrassed at having its true nature exposed, yet Aiden received no telepathic communication from it.
Only after the White Dragon finally finished its entire process did Aiden hear its voice again.
[The contract is sealed, yet there is one more matter—]
"Can you speak in modern language? It sounds quite uncomfortable."
Aiden shook off his goosebumps, reaching out to interrupt Reshiram's spellcasting.
[—]
He faintly heard what seemed to be a sigh from Reshiram, and the subsequent telepathy was indeed much more normal.
[Though I have appeared before you, I have not yet recovered my power, so I cannot maintain my form for extended periods.]
[If you require my aid, go to the Dragonspiral Tower to obtain the Light Stone, and infuse it with power!]
"I understand."
Aiden nodded.
After the war a thousand years ago, the split dragons were incomplete, thus unable to maintain their forms continuously, spending most of their time slumbering as the Light/Dark Stones.
However, since the White Dragon had already awakened, the Black Dragon should also—
So he quickly asked Reshiram again: "What about Zekrom? Has it already found a suitable candidate?"
[Indeed.]
Reshiram looked at Aiden, suddenly lowering its originally proud draconic head, its sapphire eyes level with his figure, gradually drawing closer.
[If possible, I hope you can meet with it as well.]
[Whether ideal or truth, the millennia of struggle should come to an end.]
[When thy ideal becomes truth, we shall have no more differences.]
Having spoken, Reshiram violently flapped its wings, instantly flying into the high sky and disappearing.
"So it just dumped the problem on me?"
Watching its rapidly departing figure, Aiden shook his head helplessly.
Though he had indeed answered that way just now, his ideals seemed rather numerous and time-consuming—
Handing over the thesis of ideals and truth to him—afraid there would be quite a wait.
However, he still had confidence in achieving his ideals.
If that day truly came, perhaps he might even see the Tao Trio reunite into one, becoming the original great dragon?
That would be interesting.
Aiden smiled, deciding to work hard to complete this somewhat challenging task.
However, he still needed to go to Dragonspiral Tower first to retrieve the Light Stone, and meet with Zekrom before leaving Unova.
To find the Black Dragon, the best method was to find the "Hero of Ideals" it had chosen.
Actually, there was hardly any need to guess—it was N, currently still deceived by Team Plasma. He indeed had great ideals.
Having been suddenly awakened by Reshiram in the middle of the night, he was no longer sleepy, so he simply came to the balcony to appreciate the night scenery of the Unova region.
As a result—
He had just stepped onto the balcony when he came face-to-face with Nemona, who had also come out from next door.
"Teacher Azure—were you also woken up?"
Nemona, wearing pajamas, yawned repeatedly, her expression clearly angry.
"I don't know what happened outside just now, but there was this sound and firelight like a motorcycle starting that startled me—"
"But when I came out to look, there was nothing there!"
"—You must have been having a nightmare."
Aiden's mouth twitched as he casually brushed it off.
What else could he say? That the legendary White Dragon of Unova came to visit him in the middle of the night, was "truthed" by him, and gave him the title of "Hero of Truth"?
Though it did have some credibility given it was him, the physical evidence had already flown away—better not explain so much.
Truly ill-mannered, Reshiram, revving your motorcycle on the street at night!
"Alright, I'll go back to sleep then—"
The extremely drowsy Nemona clearly didn't have much capacity for thought left. After waving goodbye to him, she quickly returned to her room.
Aiden leaned against the balcony railing, waiting a while longer before finally confirming—alright, it seemed the Black Dragon wasn't coming.
Time to sleep peacefully!
Aiden lay in bed and quickly fell into deep sleep.
A dark shadow suddenly emerged from beneath the bed, blinking its blood-red eyes as it looked toward the window.
"Even that Dragon of Truth—"
"Lord Ho-Oh's chosen Hero this time is far too popular—"
Having stayed by Aiden's side for so long, Marshadow was nearly desensitized to meeting other deity lords.
But it hadn't expected that on the very first day coming to Unova, that White Dragon would actively appear and recognize Aiden's power.
We were clearly here first—
At this rate, Marshadow had a feeling that by the time Aiden returned to Kanto next and it finally had reason to take him to meet Lord Ho-Oh, other Legendary Pokémon would have long since recognized Aiden.
By then, how would it introduce this Hero to Lord Ho-Oh—
And given Lord Ho-Oh's personality, Aiden might not even look favorably upon Him—after all, he completely disregarded that White Dragon just now!
If the first Hero in history to refuse Lord Ho-Oh's blessing truly appeared, then wouldn't it, this "Shadow Examiner," be grossly negligent?
No, it couldn't keep fixating on the Rainbow Trial!
It had to find some way to bring Aiden before Lord Ho-Oh and establish his identity as the Rainbow Hero first!
Marshadow's gaze gradually firmed.
Though it looked toward the moon, its thoughts were entirely of Lord Ho-Oh.
If it didn't work harder—the most powerful Rainbow Hero in history would be stolen away by other deities!
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