Chapter One
I could hear Princess growling next to me. She was staring so intently at the corner of the room. Her hackles were raised, she was ready to attack!
"Princess, hush!" My father's voice called commandingly into my room. I could see him looking at her from my doorway, a stern expression on his face. His slender face was framed by his medium length black hair, his green eyes narrowed as he scowled at Princess.
Instantly, she relaxed against me and gave me a hesitant lick on the face. I could feel my skin burning at her touch, but I was used to it now.
"Alessa, it's time for dinner," my mother's cheery voice called from down the hallway. I could feel Princess jump at her voice, still acting protective over me for some reason.
"It's alright girl," I chimed, a wide smile across my face. It was pretty easy to be happy when you were that young. I was only nine years old when things started to change, when I knew I wasn't going to be just like everyone else in our kingdom.
I got to my feet and stared to stomp out of my room, Princess hard on my heels. The sharp horns atop her head jabbed me as she tried to be as close as she could to my side. Her paws left singe marks in the plush pink carpet as we wobbled along. As I walked through the doorway, my father grabbed a fistful of her magnificent blue fur.
"I've had just about enough of this," he grunted as he started to pull her aggressively down the hall and into the kitchen. Seeing his anger at our family houndoom, I stopped and watched in confusion as he pushed her into a large metal cage in the corner of the kitchen.
"Now, Varian! I don't want to see you being mean to Princess again," my mother spoke commandingly from somewhere in the cooking area. I could tell that she wasn't pleased.
"I just don't like her being so close to Alessa. Fire Pokémon have fire for a reason," he muttered. I made my way down the long hallway, careful not to knock over any of the expensive decorative pieces perched precariously on long legged end tables. My family's wealth had acquired us countless collectibles over the years, many which I didn't understand the need or necessity for.
As I made it to the end of the hallway, I looked into the massive kitchen. Princess was laying in her large metallic cage directly across the porcelain kitchen floor, smoke billowing from her nostrils as she glowered at my father.
Varian, my father, was sitting at our immensely long, mahogany dining room table. His face was dark with stress, his eyes shadowed with suspicion as he stared out one of our kitchen windows.
My mother, the kind and fair Lady Talia, was standing at our massive glass stove. I could see her hand, gripping tightly the spatula which she held. I wasn't sure if she was upset with my father, or if something else was happening.
"What's for dinner mom?" I asked, trying to lighten the mood. At the sound of my voice, Princess started to whimper in her cage.
"Ugh, just let her out Varian," Talia sighed as she slammed the spatula on the counter. I looked over at Princess, noticing that she was staring at me desperately.
What is up with her, I thought to myself as I carefully pulled out a chair and sat myself at the tall, dining room table. Varian smiled at me, his stress seeming to ease a little at my presence.
"We're having food, obviously," he chuckled as he poked me in the forehead with his right pointer finger.
As my mother made our plates and started to place them on the table, someone suddenly burst through the large double doors into our kitchen. He was wearing a large tabard, adorned with the colors and patterns that I had recognized as our kingdom crest.
"Your majesty! The Dark Coven are at the front gate, requesting your presence," the guard spoke quickly and urgently. His palms and forehead were slick with sweat.
"You two can start dinner without me," Talia spoke kindly before following the guard out of the kitchen and down into the foyer. It was eerily quiet without her presence. Outside one of our towering, stained glass windows, a Pokémon with a magnificent orange hide soared by. I watched as flames flickered from its mouth as it continued to glide out of sight.
"Stop staring out the window and eat your dinner please," Varian scolded me, his voice light but commanding. She could tell he was more disturbed from the Dark Coven's presence than what he wanted her to believe.
I absentmindedly jabbed my fork into the mashed vegetables on the edge of my plate. They didn't really look very appetizing.
Varian dropped his silverware onto the counter and stood up quickly. "I'm going to see what's happening with your mother," he said under his breath as he turned and quickly strode out of the kitchen. I watched the massive doorway after his departure, wondering if I was still meant to be eating my dinner.
I set down my fork and started to tangle my fingers into my dirty blonde hair. Turning my attention back to the window, I noticed that the usual orange skinned flying Pokémon were no longer patrolling the skies. It seemed like the sky was growing dark with night, despite that it was only about a quarter to six o' clock.
I gasped as an unknown face appeared, pressed against the stained glass of the window. It was a balloon shaped Pokémon, with button like eyes and long tendril arms with hearts on the end. I cracked a weak smile and waved, not sure if this Pokémon was just being friendly.
Princess started to bark aggressively in her cage, scaring the balloon Pokémon away from the glass. I looked over in her direction and noticed that she was looking very distressed as she tossed her head back with a howl.
At that same moment, I could hear a commotion from down in the foyer. There were raised voices and crashes as objects were presumably flung about. In a blink, one of the guards appeared at the entrance to the kitchen.
He hesitated, glancing towards Princess as she bucked in her cage like a raging Tauros. "Where's mom," I asked fretfully, seeing his face creased with worry.
"Talia wishes for me to take you to the cellar. It seems the Dark Coven have started a battle against Her Majesty."
A battle! Her mother was having an actual, real, Pokémon battle! Alessa jumped down out of her chair, sliding a little in her socked feet. "But I want to see the battle," she protested, crossing her arms across her chest.
The guard was shuffling his feet, clearly not wanting to scold the young princess. "Now, Alessa. Your mother knows what's best, so we should probably just go saddle up in the cellar now..." he says, trying to sound cheerful.
I looked over at Princess, who had stopped bucking and howling. She was standing erect, her ears perked as if listening intently to something even Alessa couldn't hear.
The guard also turned to look at the well groomed, brilliant blue pelted houndoom. Noticing I had a chance to escape, I quickly took off passed the guard and out the doorway. I could hear him turn to follow her as I ran down the spiral stone staircase into the foyer.
Here was my mother's throne, sitting tall on a large, red carpeted platform. The walls here were made of stone, a stark difference from my home upstairs with its wooden paneling.
The foyer was vast in size, full of tables and chairs for her guards and citizens to sit and discuss everyday matters and make serious decisions. It was this way, that the citizens of our region had the chance to be heard by their queen.
This made her very beloved by her people. All except for the Dark Coven. While she had been distracted, a booming noise had begun behind the large wooden double doors at the far end of the foyer. That was the door to outside.
"Alessa!" The guard was just making it to the bottom of the staircase now, intent on intercepting me. But the heavy armor he was wearing weighed him down, he was panting heavily as he leaned against the doorway into the foyer.
"I'm going to see that battle," I commanded, a slight edge to my voice. The guard stared for a moment, clearly thinking what he should do now.
Boom! A decent sized explosion sounded from somewhere upstairs in the living quarters. I didn't wait for a second chance, quickly sprinting down the foyer. When I got to the door, I placed my palms against its wooden surface and pushed as hard as I could.
As the door gave way, I could finally see the scene enfolding outside. My mother was standing with her back to me, her shoulders hunched under her lilac morning robe. At her side, clenched in her right hand, was a shiny red and white pokeball.
I gasped as I saw her Pokémon leap forward, spraying fire from its mouth across the battle field. She recognized this Pokémon, it was one her mother often let out of its ball to relax in the castle.
Infernape, the name flashed into my mind. Yes, this Pokémon was an Infernape. It danced forward on its back paws and flung its paws at its foe, attempting to slash it. That's when I noticed the opposing Pokémon. The Pokémon of the Dark Coven.
It was massive, almost resembling a large metal and rock golem. It's eyes glowed an eerie green, the rocks groaning as it slammed its palms together to launch a sinister dark wave towards the Infernape.
My mother didn't flinch as her Pokémon was hit. The Infernape looked to have taken quite a bit of damage, but it was still screeching as it danced on its feet to deliver its next blow. I gasped as I watched her deliver her command.
"Close combat, Infernape!" Her voice was deep and commanding, just how she would sound giving orders to her troops. The Infernape dashed forward and threw wild, jabbing blows at the large rock golem. I could tell with each hit, it was growing weaker.
"Golurk! Iron Defense!" A dark, husky voice called from the other side of the battle field. In response, the golem Pokémon's rocky skin shined a brilliant silver. Infernape's punches were bouncing right off like water on rubber.
But in a flash, the iron like armor on the Golurk shattered. Infernape dove in to deal another blow, his fist engulfed in a blazing fire. As it connected, the opposing Pokémon reeled back in pain and sunk down to its knees. It emitted a monotonous tone and fell over, fainted.
The black robed figure on the other side of battle field raised one, pointed finger towards me. "I will have her, Talia! You can not stop me!"
And with that, a magnificent smoke screen appeared and the Dark Coven vanished from sight. Talia turned sharply to lay her eyes on me, looking worried.
"Varian, take Alessa upstairs," she asked, turning to her king. He quickly strode over to me and took my hand.
"You should have stayed inside," he scolded me softly as he led me back towards the castle. I tried desperately to look over my shoulder, to catch a last glimpse of that mysterious person in the black robe. But before I knew it, the castle doors were closing and I was brought into protective custody once more.