Truth, both good and bad

**"Truth, both good and bad"** is the seventh chapter of *Pokémon Reset Bloodlines.* Ash and Misty finally arrive in Rota, and by orders of Duchess Ilene, they're taken to Cameron Palace for an audience. There, Ash learns that he's a descendant of Sir Aaron and they've been awaiting his arrival for thousands of years, as well as a better understanding about Bloodliners and their own abilities. After leaving, however, Ash learns that things might have gone worse for his friends than he initially thought.

## Plot

In Cerulean City, Gary Oak comes out of the gym, pondering how the Sensational Sisters put up a worse fight than Brock, and decides to go to the Nugget Bridge where trainers gathered to seek for a challenge worth his while. He finds somebody else, the same trainer who defeated him back in Viridian City, and engages him on a rematch. He ends up losing every single bout to him, much to his chagrin. The little girl who accompanies and cheers for him identifies the trainer as Red, and he does the same for her as Yellow. Gary, despondent over his defeat, notices how Red previously challenged the same gyms as him, and thus plans to take on the Indigo League Conference. Gary promises that he'll defeat Red at the Pokémon League, while Red and Yellow simply walk away north of Cerulean. Fuming in anger, Professor Oak's grandson heads for the Pokémon Center to heal his Pokémon.

Back in Rota, as soon as Ash and Misty set foot in the kingdom, they're stopped by a group of guards armed with spears, whose garb Ash recognizes as being similar to Sir Aaron's. The captain demands that the trainers come with them, to what Misty protests that they're at least given a chance to eat something, reinforced by their stomachs' rumbling. One of the guards tells the captain they should be lenient on that and give them some food, but the captain insists they're taken to the Palace as per the Duchess orders, as she wants to speak to them. With the promise to be given food, Ash and Misty enter an armored car with the guards and head for the palace.

Once they're finally given the chance to eat, Ash and Misty are taken to the throne room where they meet Duchess Ilene and her handmaiden. Ash also notices that Sir Aaron's painting now also depicts Lucario in it unlike the previous timeline. The handmaiden gives Ilene a staff that Ash recognizes as the one where Lucario had been sealed, which she points to both of them, and reacts when pointed at Ash, causing the entire throne room to glow with the color of the Aura. The duchess then says that "an heir of Sir Aaron has returned to Rota" and both she and her handmaiden bow before him, much to his shock, before walking down from the throne.

While walking across the palace, Ash reminisces of his previous visit to it, and everything that happened at the time up to Lucario's sacrifice to save the Tree of Beginning. They're taken to a large library, which includes computers and ancient-looking scrolls in addition to stacked bookshelves all over. Some crystals from the ceiling begin to react to Ash and Misty, creating holographic images around them, of Lucario performing different attacks for the former, and of multiple Water-type Pokémon surrounded by water bodies for the latter. Ash also hears some words echoing in his mind, similar to when he went back in time:

*"The Redeemer, the Hunter, the Silent, the Lost, the Avenger and the Broken."*

*"The Ace, the First, the Bird, the Performer, the Powerful and the Negotiator."*

*"The Don, the Corrupters, the Disruptors, the Destroyer, the Sage and the Fallen."*

The holograms then vanish, and when asked what happened, Ilene explains she needed to confirm what kind of Bloodliners they were.

In Orre, Giovanni is visiting the Agate Village public library while undercover, one of the few places in the region that is inhabitable and free from Cipher's influence. He is looking for the names of a group known as "The Seven Brothers", apparently a group of criminals, but except for one who's apparently the family's white sheep, there are no records of them whatsoever, making his trip here a waste of time. He then gets a phone call from Jessie, James and Meowth, who report him that Ash entered Rota and they lost his trail. Giovanni isn't pleased to hear that, but correctly deduces that he won't stay there forever, and orders that they keep an eye out for when he comes back to Kanto. The trio also inform Giovanni that they stole the Pokémon and values of a trainer named Damian they ran into. Having little interest on that, Giovanni hangs up, shivering at the thought that Team Rocket and the world's fate lay in the hands of those three.

Back in Rota, Ilene explains to Ash and Misty that Sir Aaron studied Bloodliners extensively during his lifetime, and determined there are four specific varieties of them. Misty is of a Type Heart, the rarest among them, with her having access to the base abilities of a specific elemental type (Water in her case) and the ability to learn and perform any move of said type, plus being able to understand and control Pokémon that are at least of said type. Ash on the other hand, has a Species Bloodline, specifically Lucario as Sir Aaron did before him, which gives him the inherent powers and abilities of said species, which include the use of Aura and physical potential. The third variety and most common one, Technique, only allows for the use of a single Pokémon move, albeit this can be used in many different and versatile ways with proper training. Lastly, the fourth variety, Dominion, they have little information about it since Sir Aaron never met any users of it during his lifetime. The Duchess then allows them to use the library as they see fit for as long as they need.

Once out of earshot, the handmaiden asks Ilene about something in regards to prophets in Sir Aaron's time. Ilene disregards them as ancient tales, and feels no need to tell Ash and Misty about them, lest they end up freaking out for something that might not actually happen.

A few days later, Ash and Misty leave Rota and go back to Kanto's roads. While having a sparring match, they're interrupted by a Bulbasaur that Pikachu recognizes as Ash's, quite surprising as this wasn't the place where they originally met him. Bulbasaur's original caretaker, Melanie, also appears, asking if they got lost or something. She then asks them to come to the entrance, as they're in a very important and sensitive place.

Meanwhile, the Team Rocket trio is still trying to get back Ash's trail, and they arrive to a large wooden door with two large Bulbasaur statues that, upon their approach, send out a warning to leave immediately. Jessie tries to send Ekans to dig their way under the door, but the statues then point their bulbs at them with a red laser glow, adding that they're authorized to use lethal force if needed, prompting them to comply and run for their lives.

Within the fence, Ash learns that Melanie still takes care of injured and abandoned Pokémon, but is also now a breeder on the Pokémon League's payroll to raise starter Pokémon, much like the old man Swampy from the previous timeline. She runs this facility in secret and warns Ash and Misty to never report its location to anybody to avoid trouble. In the meantime, Ash wonders how he can touch Bulbasaur to restore his memories somehow, so Pikachu decides to taunt him to start a fight. He attacks Bulbasaur with a Thundershock sending him into Ash's path, who also ends up electrocuted, but by catching Bulbasaur they succeed. Noticing the sudden attitude shift, Melanie realizes that Bulbasaur wants to go with Ash, and then all of a sudden Bulbasaur runs off and returns with a Poké Ball in addition to his own for Ash. Melanie asks if he can take care of Bulbasaur and an additional Pokémon that hasn't been alright for some reason since she found it, which Ash readily accepts.

After leaving Melanie's place, Ash throws the second Poké Ball to reveal that it's Charizard, but now reverted to Charmander, and he's not happy about it in the least. Misty wonders how Ash seems so lucky to get rare Pokémon like this just handed over, while Charmander continues to yell in anger and tries to blow a Flamethrower, only to find that he can't. Ash tries to calm him down before explaining what's going on.

That night, Ash suddenly finds himself floating in a dream along of with the rest of his Pokémon, all of them seeing a version of himself in Kalos and his other friends having different adventures with Pokémon he never got to catch or meet, ending with them having a match in a Rock-type gym. An unknown voice then mocks him, adding that he's still connected to the Old Timeline and the actions of his old future are still relevant. Ash then turns around and sees a creature that seems a hybrid of Giratina, Dialga and Palkia with reversed colors in its respective parts. The creature introduces itself as MissingNo, having been created from what remained of Ash's old world, and thus has knowledge that Arceus himself lacks. MissingNo continues to explain how Ash's destiny still remains tied to the path he would have taken had reality not collapsed, and then how he and each of his friends lived in a world of eternal happiness and joy, yet never seemed to get anywhere near to reach the dreams they had, but now in this new world, they all have a chance to, at the expense of something important for each of them. Ash and his Pokémon attempt to attack MissingNo in anger, but the creature shrugs off every attack and continues to mock him, and finishes its taunting by saying that Ash "doesn't need a loving father".

## Continuity

* The specific types of Bloodlines and how they work are first explained in detail, except for Dominion.
* Sir Aaron's backstory and how Rota knew of the eventual heir's arrival is further explored in the *Sir Aaron & Lucario Gaiden* side story.
* Bulbasaur and Charmander join Ash, with the latter's backstory further explained in the *Charmander Gaiden* side story.
* First appearance of MissingNo.
* First mention of the Seven Brothers of Orre.

## Characters

### Humans

* Gary Oak
* Red Tajiri
* Yellow
* Ash Ketchum
* Misty Waterflower
* Rotan Guards
* Lady Ilene
* Lady Ilene's Maid
* Sir Aaron (Picture)
* Giovanni
* Team Rocket Grunt
* James
* Jessie
* Melanie
* Penelope (Dream)
* Bonnie (Dream)
* Madame X (Dream)
* Serena (Dream)
* Clemont (Dream)
* Grant (Dream)

### Pokémon

* Charmeleon (Red's)
* Pidgeotto (Gary's)
* Clefairy (Red's)
* Abra (Gary's)
* Rattata (Gary's)
* Pikachu (Red's)
* Squirtle (Gary's)
* Pikachu (Ash's)
* Pidgeot (Sir Aaron's; picture)
* Lucario (Sir Aaron's, picture)
* Lucario (Holographic image)
* Luvdisc (Holographic image)
* Wailord (Holographic image)
* Sharpedo (Holographic image)
* Lapras (Holographic image)
* Meowth (Team Rocket)
* Aipom (Ash's)
* Wingull (Misty's)
* Bulbasaur (Ash's)
* Ekans (Jessie's)
* Oddish (Wild)
* Charmander (Ash's)
* Vivillon (Dream Ash's)
* Butterfree (Ash's)
* Pidgeotto (Ash's)
* Diggersby (Dolan's; dream)
* Froakie (Ash's; dream)
* Sylveon (Penelope's; dream)
* Dedenne (Clemont's; dream)
* Espurr (Dream)
* Frogadier (Sanpei's; dream)
* Onix (Grant's; dream)