A/N: Eyup, you guys are not hallucinating. Another chapter. I thought I would never see the day, but apparently I would.

Yeah, I know, I haven't updated for a very long time. School just loves showing me why they say that third year in my school is the 'hardest school year of your life'. It's definitely different from last year, that's for sure. So I deeply apologize for keeping you guys waiting. I won't guarantee I'm going to update regularly, but let's see what time has in store.

I had a tricky time dealing with this chapter...it's hard to stay in-character when you haven't watched Pokemon in a very long time (so I don't know most of the characters would act in certain situations anymore). Feel free to point them out, but I probably won't edit this chapter anymore. It depends on the gravity of the error. I'll take note of it in future chapters though.

For those who were expecting a fight scene, sorry about that, but I decided not to add it in this chapter. I had a hard time figuring out how to do something like that since...eh, too lazy to explain. Thank you to all who reviewed, favorited, followed, and read this story. I hope you enjoy this chapter. x-x

Chapter 5 - Delving

Lucario did not want to have anything to do with Aiden, and so at the times where his master would bring the boy to train, he was elsewhere, either taking out his annoyance on the many trees in the forest, or the pokémon would be wandering around the village, watching life go on normally. He had been doing this for a few days now, and it irked him that his new apprentice was actually getting better, stronger.

He did not understand the anger inside of him. Was it anger? No, it was different, he was certain. He was also sure that he had never experienced this kind of emotion before. What was it?

The pokémon threw another punch at the thick, rough trunk. He cursed under his breath as he released an Aura sphere while his palm was still in contact with the wood. The result was an explosion that blew off a part of it and left a huge burnt mark on the plant. Lucario growled, not caring about the damage he did. "If only he could disappear...just like this."

Perhaps that was a little too far, he had thought, but he wished for Aiden to have never stepped in to their lives. He was certain that he didn't belong here, that he was a stranger that should not be trusted. He had told that to his master again and again, yet what did he do? Ignore him. Even worse, he took the boy in and taught him how to fight. Didn't Sir Aaron realize that he could eventually make him a dangerous threat?

Or a valuable ally, the man would probably say.

Lucario hated it when he put the child in a good light. That was what he had been doing ever since the first day they met.

The pokémon had never confronted Aiden directly, though. The boy didn't seem to want anything to do with him either. He knew that Lucario didn't trust him, and that was why he kept his distance. He would slip a quick hello when they meet sometimes, but the steel/fighting type would just grunt and turn away.

Sir Aaron noticed this, of course, but he hadn't made any effort to try to get them to befriend each other. Not yet. That was what Lucario predicted. It would be like him to attempt such a thing.

He exhaled sharply. This was going nowhere. If he wanted to know more about the child, he would need to dig deeper.

Unfortunately, the only method he could come up with was to ask Aiden himself, and that was out of the question.

Lucario shook his head. He was dwelling too much on this. What if he was being too paranoid, like what his master had said the other day? But his scent...it was the scent that made him doubt. It was just...too odd. Too out of place. It smelled of...another kind of energy. He didn't tell Sir Aaron that the smell was already gone, but he was sure that it was there. That aura...it wasn't Aiden's that was for sure. It was a presence that he didn't recognize. Did it belong to a human? No, that would've been impossible. No human could ever possess such power. Then it had to be a pokémon...but what species? What kind of pokémon could get a boy from another world and drop him here? And what would it have to gain from it?

So many questions...

"Perhaps he would be able to answer some of them." he suddenly muttered. The pokémon then broke in to a run, heading straight for a house a bit far from the village. The man who lived in it chose to be in a secluded place, and for Lucario, he was one of the most knowledgeable people he knew.

-o-

Trevor was still sleeping when someone knocked on the door.

That certain someone had been standing there for quite some time, eventually getting impatient when no one came to answer him. "Sir Trevor, please wake up!"

The brunette groaned loudly as he grabbed the pillow under his head and covered his ears. Why would someone be here so early in the morning..?

"Sir Trevor!"

"Ugh, would you quit shouting..?" he mumbled, clearly annoyed. "I still have not gotten ten hours of sleep..."

Lucario didn't hear those words, but he knew that the man wouldn't get up without force. And so the pokémon decided to break down his door with brute force.

The sudden loud noise made Trevor jump up in to a sitting position, wide awake. "L-Lucario, my door..!"

"It was the only way I could enter."

"No it is not! You could have...you could have just gone through the window...now I have to fix it..." he sighed heavily as he rubbed his hair. "So...what do you want? Did my old friend give you a message to tell me or something..?"

"No...I have...questions..."

"About..? I am surprised that you have come to me instead of your master." he wiped his eyes, trying to clear them so that he would not be tempted to fall back asleep again in the middle of the conversation.

"This is something that I cannot ask him. He...he does not know I am here."

That caught Trevor's curiosity. "Oh? And why ever not? As I recall, you are always by his side."

Lucario hesitated for a moment. "He...has taken in a new apprentice."

"A new apprentice? That is news to me. Since when? Who is he, or she? Pokémon? Human? Give me all the details, I would like to know what kind of person could have caught my old friend's interest once again." and so the pokémon told him all he knew and all he thought. Every once in a while, Trevor was nodding his head to signal that he was catching on. The more he told, the more his smile grew bigger. Lucario had feared this...the brunette had the tendency to be extremely interested in all kinds of info. It made him very well-informed about the world, but at the same time, many people found him...too energetic when he unraveled 'mysteries' and the like.

He was still on his mattress with his legs and arms folded before he spoke. "A scent that is out of this world, you say?" that was the most peculiar part of Lucario's story, the man thought. "So you are looking for a pokémon that has the ability to transport a person from one place to another, and from how you said it, it does not seem to be an ordinary pokémon, so any normal psychic ones are out of the question...is that correct?"

"Yes. What do you think, Sir Trevor?"

"Hm, if the energy seems very powerful, then it could be a legendary."

"Legendary..?"

"Mhm...and there are only a handful I know of that can perform such a feat. The closest one from here would be Mew, and it can do just that."

"So you are saying that Mew did this? I thought...I thought that is just a legend that it lives in the Tree of Beginning."

"Ah, but in a world such as ours, legends have the tendency of being real. It is odd though for Mew to bring someone from a very faraway place to here. Usually it is the opposite..." the man crossed his arms and looked like he was in deep thought. "Mew brings things that interest it to its home, so unless we consider other somewhat farfetched factors, then Mew is not our culprit."

"What are these other factors, Sir Trevor?"

"Well, many things. Maybe something huge is coming and Mew thought that this boy could be a key to solving it, or Mew did this for its own amusement, but again, that is very out of character according to the stories. It often keeps itself entertained by 'stealing' objects, mostly toys and knickknacks. Maybe something or someone forced it to do this, or perhaps it is the boy that has a problem and either begged Mew to bring him somewhere else or Mew decided to help him. I could keep going on and on, but if you really want a more accurate answer, you need to provide me more information or just ask him yourself."

"The second option is out of the question." Lucario said with a scowl.

"Alright, alright, then I leave it up to you then. You can come back here anytime you like, but please, do not break my door next time."

"I will try."

"I was hoping for a better answer..." Trevor muttered with a sigh. "Well, are you planning to head back to the palace or are you going to train more?"

The pokémon glanced at the floor for a moment. "I cannot train efficiently without Master, but I do not want to see Aiden now either."

"Yet it would be a good time to gather the needed information we need, would it not?"

"Yes, but..."

"It should be fine, Lucario. Aaron would not just take him as an apprentice simply because he shares his aura. He knows-believes that he is good, and that he has the potential to become an Aura Guardian like himself. Such people who meet those qualifications do not come by that very often, so if my old friend chooses him, then there is a big possibility that he is the real thing. I already have a good feeling about Aiden even if I have not met him yet...oh, why did I not think of that earlier?" he jumped out of his bed, headed to his closet, and got some clothes for him to change in. "I will just get rid of this drowsy look and we can go."

"We?"

"If you are going back to the castle, then I might as well join you. I have not seen Aaron in a long time and I am eager to meet Aiden, so why not?"

Lucario wanted to find a way to say no, yet he couldn't think of any response. He had no choice but to agree.

"Great, now if you will excuse me, I will be back in a couple of minutes. Feel free to sit anywhere you like."

-o-

"Focus, Aiden. And do not peek."

Ash flinched when he heard that. Of course he could see that little attempt, but the boy felt uneasy having to close his eyes instead of having a blindfold. While he did the previous night, he only did it to search for something, not avoid an attack and strike back.

Sir Aaron's aura was still in front of him, and he waited cautiously for it to move. His surroundings seemed blurry, liked they were being mixed together in a large mush. He felt drowsy even if they had been up for around an hour. He wished he could've slept more.

The trainer took a deep breath and let it out. He needed to focus, like what Sir Aaron said. He couldn't feel sleepy now!

The blue wisps wavered for a moment and then fixed themselves, but then he realized that a giant portion of it was missing. His mentor was nowhere to be seen. "Oh no."

In panic, he opened his eyes and made a full circle, looking around frantically for a sign. It was going to be like yesterday afternoon, only the Aura Guardian was going to be a bit harsher. He didn't get why they were rushing in to something like this when so far they just did some warm ups and attempted punching lessons. Yes, he was able to practice in that one hour span, but he wasn't ready!

Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and saw that his teacher was standing right there, looking concerned. "It looks like we need to work on your confidence first."

"It would be easier if I wasn't alone..." he mumbled, thinking about his pokémon. He remembered those times when he trained with them, and even through all the pain, when they were successful, it was worth it. Why couldn't he do the same with himself? What was holding him back? The fear of getting hurt?

"It is because you are used to travelling with others, is that correct?"

Ash nodded once, sheepish. He didn't realize how much he depended on them, how much he wanted for them to just be there. Even just Pikachu being with him would be great.

"Hm, perhaps it is my mistake for me to force this upon you. After all, I am sure that you would like to find your friends again." he sounded somewhat disappointed, and the teen didn't like the tone. "How long do you plan to stay here?" Sir Aaron asked.

The question was unexpected and he had to think it over before answering. "...I don't know..." it was the truth since he didn't know when the war would even come. How could he say that he needed to stay here without looking like he was leaving his friends behind? They wouldn't just come here, that was never going to happen...

"Do you want to see your friends?"

"Of course I do!"

"Am I stopping you?"

His eyes widened. How could he possibly answer that? The answer was yes, he was stopping him. It was the only reason why he was here, and even if he didn't exactly want this to happen, the fact that he was given a chance was something that he could not pass. To save his life...to somehow save this man who could give so much more to the world. Anytime, he could go back to his friends and end his journey in this time period, but no, he would never do that. The problem was how he was going to say such a thing without most of those important details.

"Aiden?"

Ash avoided his gaze, still thinking. Messing this up wasn't an option. "...yeah, you are...but I want to learn. Maybe not be an Aura Guardian, yet I want to use this power to help other people too."

"And your friends?"

He exhaled sharply. "I...didn't get lost, Sir Aaron, I came here because I wanted to meet you. I have already told them that and they're fine with it."

"So you lied...you lied about your purpose for coming here."

The words stung. "I'm sorry, Sir Aaron..! I just couldn't tell you the truth..."

"And why is that?" the boy couldn't tell if he was angry or not. His expression was serious though.

"I...I thought that...you wouldn't take me in as your student?"

It was his teacher's turn to sigh. "Fair enough. You were most likely nervous when I asked you all those questions, so I forgive you."

"R-really?"

"Just do not do it again."

"I won't."

"Do you promise?"

"Yeah...I...I promise."

Ash sure hoped that he could keep it.