Title: Charm
Rating: T, mostly for language
Genre: Romance/ Tragedy
Summary: Aqua the Kecleon of the Explorer's Guild finds herself falling for a very important Ambassador when he visits her home town. And maybe, he shares her feelings? Whatever the case, there's a terrible plot at hand that can compromise everything they both worked for.
Author's Comment: My first story outside of my Evolution series, and like my main stories, it also draws inspiration from a dA group I'm in. My passion for writing has been fading as of late, so I'm hoping that starting this would get the creative juices flowing once more. I'm a bit nervous about it, as it's my first step out of my comfort zone, but hopefully some of you might like it...? :)

Chapter 1

Target sighted.

Hidden in the shadows of the cliff's edge, a black-cloaked Pokemon glares down at the narrow mountain pass below, at the caravan passing through. Within the central cart is the royal Ambassador from the land of Iapon, heading for Andalusst City to discuss important matters regarding their two territories. Too bad they'll never make it. For the hidden assassin has been sent by his Master to complete the mission at hand and although there are other agents involved in the plot, he alone would have the sole responsibility of removing the Ambassador from this mortal coil.

Surrounding the target are numerous guards ranging from Meinshao to Sawks, Machamps to Lucario, each ready to lay down their lives in defense of their charge. Very well, taking them all down should be less than child's play. He's been trained all his life for tasks such as this, and he had plenty of personal experience and plenty of bloodshed behind him to pull this off without so much as a sweat.

Pulling out several Starfe berries from within his cloak, the figure infuses the fruits with a green energy and takes aim at the head of the small brigade. Throwing the berries with deadly accuracy, the shadow watches with great intent as the projectiles smash into the ground, a massive wave of explosive Psychic power sweeping through the Fighting-types and knocking the cart clean over.

With such a powerful Natural Gift attack, many of the guards were rendered unconscious on the spot and those that survived are now in a daze from the unexpected assault.

Leaping from the cliff face, the assassin lands gracefully amongst the crowd, facing the few Lucario that were still standing. Glaring at the intruder, they each lunged at the cloaked figure, their paws glowing with Aura Sphere. But they only strike air as the ninja leaps clear over their heads with amazing speed and pulls out another berry, a Watnel berry, and throwing it at them.

One of the Lucario manages to dodge in time, although the rest of them are not as lucky as fire engulfs their bodies in a spontaneous burst. Screams echo through the canyon, sending any nearby Pokemon fleeing from the unknown danger. Looking on in horror as his dying comrades fall to the ground, the remaining Lucario doesn't have time to react as their attacker lunges with both speed and a Kunai and stabs it into his side. Yelping, the Lucario takes the opportunity to strike out with Close Combat, feeling a flash of hope as he makes contact. But the hope is misguided as his fist hits a wooden puppet instead.

Substitute.

Looking about for his target, he spots the ninja standing on top of the fallen cart, tossing another Watnel berry from hand-to-hand almost playfully. The Lucario growls, his fur bristling as the cloaked Pokemon turns away from him cockily and wretches open the door.

The Ambassador…

Throwing caution to the wind, the injured jackal gathers the remains of his strength and charges in defense. But it's hopeless as the Lucario grabs the figure's tail from behind in order to throw him off, only to have the cloaked figure pull away easily and stab at him with another Kunai…

… Right in the heart…

The assassin watches as the remaining guard falls to the ground, chuckling softly before carrying on with his mission. Looking into the cart's open door, the enemy agent spots the Ambassador tucked in the shadows of the cart's corner and lunges with murderous intent…

"Aqua, are you listening to me?" A voice breaks through the daydreams of a young, teal-colored Kecleon and her head jerks up from the table she is resting it on. Looking to her best friend, Blaza the Quilava, she offers a half-hearted smile, hoping to cover her moment of distraction.

"Of course I'm listening! What else would I be doing, sitting here and all?"

"Then what's the last thing I said?" comes the doubtful response, Blaza crossing her arms and quirking a brow. She knows her friend and her tendency to zone out; really, she's surprised she managed to snap her out of it on her first try.

"Uh, the last thing you said?" Aqua mutters, earning a nod. Her brain immediately coming up with a good response to her best buddy's inquiry, she grins playfully. "You asked if I could tell you what the last thing you said was!" She giggles as Blaza wastes no time in swatting her over the head.

"That's not what I meant, you smartass," Blaza tells her with her own laugh, shifting through the papers in her paws. "We have very important news concerning an Ambassador from Iapon."

"Iapon?" Aqua blinks at this. "Wow, that's quite a far way off. What's he coming over here for?"

"And y'see, this is why you need to pay attention!" Blaza reprimands, pulling out a piece of paper from the stack and hands it to her friend. "They're coming over to talk about a potential alliance between our lands. He, or she, I don't know, is supposed to be arriving some time tomorrow."

"Damn, so soon?" the Kecleon mutters in surprise, feeling anxious at the thought that someone so important will be visiting her city. And that anxiousness only gets worse when her mind flashes with a key note. "Wait, isn't that when the talent show is?"

"Yup," Blaza answers. "It says here that the show's to entertain the Ambassador. To make a good first impression, I'm sure." She glances at her buddy, noting the growing nervousness in her friend's eyes. "You scared to perform now, aren't you?"

"A… A little, I guess," the lizard answers, one of her hands rubbing the back of her crested head. "Makes me feel like the whole alliance thing relies on us making a good show… I don't wanna screw it all up."

"It'll be okay," the Quilava reassures. "We've been practicing so much we can do anything on that stage with our eyes closed!"

"Please don't make me do it with my eyes closed…" Aqua mutters, earning an eye roll and head shake from her friend.

"It's just an expression," She places a paw on her team partner's shoulder. "We'll do just fine. Just have some confidence!" She offers a few more pats before looking through the papers in her hold once more. "Alright, so another of our tasks wants us to wait by the city entrance to greet the Ambassador when he arrives tomorrow, and escort him to Mr. Rowan at the Main Guild Building." She glances at her friend. "It's in shifts. I can take the morning hours so you can sleep in-"

"I would've slept in even if you gave me the morning shift," Aqua informs with some humor, trying to quell her anxiety.

"Exactly," Blaza responds, knowing how true that statement probably is. After all, Aqua loves staying up late and expecting her to wake up early for anything would probably be too much to ask of her… "You can take the afternoon shift. I doubt the Ambassador will arrive any later than that, but if he does, I'll join you on the night shift so we can have equal work between us."

"Sounds like a plan." Aqua mutters with a glance towards the window. It's noon at the moment, so twenty-four hours seems like plenty of time to get ready for the potential meeting with the Ambassador. Still, to her, it couldn't be long enough…

"Wow, it's getting hot very, very fast…" Aqua mutters to herself as she waits by the city's main entrance for the Ambassador to arrive. Glaring up at the unrelenting sun beating down on her, she sighs wearily, her long tongue slipping a bit from her mouth as she pants. It's only the first day of summer and it's already brutal. Not even staying in the shade helped, and if it wasn't for the occasional splash from her water bottle, she's sure she would've fried up by now.

Turning her scales white in an attempt to deflect the heat of the sun's rays, she lays her belly down on the grass below and stretches her limbs and tail out as much as she can. At least the ground's a little cooler, though not by much.

She's been waiting here for a good full hour with nothing to do, and no sign of any new visitors. She's getting bored and exhausted with the heat, her eyes darting frequently towards the nearby ice cream shop. She's incredibly tempted to pay a quick visit, but she doesn't want to miss the Ambassador should he arrive while she's gone. It's absolute torture.

And after another hour inches by ever so slowly, she's thinking about going back to her Guild leader to have someone replace her so she can retire her shift early. It would make her feel bad, for sure, but this can't be healthy for a reptile like her. Plus, she can spend the extra time rehearsing for the talent show, so it won't be like she's giving up completely. She is about to make a move to stand when she hears the sound of running footfalls and rolling wheels just beyond the entrance. She can't comprehend the approach of the sounds fast enough and the very tip of her tail feels a pain as something runs over it.

Crying out, she shoots up and hugs her tail close, tears welling from her eyes at the unexpected trauma. Blowing on the bruised tip as she hears someone yell something in a foreign language, she delicately sticks the tail in her mouth, trying to soothe the pain.

She hears more footsteps coming towards her, but she doesn't acknowledge it even as she feels a cool shadow fall over her.

"I'm sorry," comes a male voice in an accent she can't quite distinguish at the moment. "Are you alright?"

"I'm… I'm fine," Aqua whimpers with her tail still in her mouth, looking up to see a Sceptile wearing a luxurious, brightly colored kimono, a beautifully ornate fan held delicately in his claws. He is quite large, almost twice her size, and his build, -from what she can see through the robes-, is sleek and surprisingly athletic for someone of his obviously lavish position. And his eyes…

She's never seen such piercing eyes, the pupils staring down at her mere vertical slits in the intense light of midday. His eyes are large and bugged out a bit from the side of his head; it's the first time she's seen a Sceptile with its eyes fully open, as they tend to have their eyes half-closed in a relaxed expression. She can't help but fold within herself a bit, intimidated by the calculating gaze and feeling like a mouse being sized up by a snake, even though the larger lizard's voice is heavy in worry.

"Fine? Iie, no. Your tail," he continues, kneeling down to her level to try and examine the tail. Aqua shrinks back a bit, but pulls her tail from her mouth to look. It is quite bruised, but hopefully nothing a little tending can't fix, although the Sceptile still looks bothered. "Sumimasen, I'm very sorry for this." He casts his eyes back, glaring at the young Riolu that was pulling the cart that ran Aqua's tail over. "I will punish my assistant promptly."

"No, no!" Aqua quickly squeaks, not wanting violence to be used for her sake, especially upon seeing the flash of fear in the young pup's eyes. "No need for that. It was an accident." She smiles again, more sincerely than the last one. "I'm fine, really. Thank you."

The Sceptile looks back at her for a moment before nodding and standing up straight. "Hai, very well." He holds a claw out to her and, after a few second's hesitation, Aqua takes it and allows herself to be pulled back up to her feet. Dusting herself off a bit as she carefully recurls her tail in its usual spiral, she looks up at the other reptile.

"Are you the Ambassador from Iapon?" she asks, certain of the answer, but wanting to be sure. At this, the Sceptile puts on a friendly grin and nods, confirming her assumption, and the Kecleon quickly puts on her business face. "Oh, that's great. I'm Aqua, from the Explorer's Guild. I'm to escort you to Mr. Rowan."

"Wonderful," the Ambassador chirrups. "I look forward to meeting him." He looks to his assistant. "Take the cart and park it somewhere safe, yes?"

The Riolu quickly gives a bow, not wanting to test his superior after that previous threat of punishment, and the young jackal pulls the cart with haste farther into the city. Watching him go, Aqua is about to say something when the Sceptile begins walking past her.

"Uh, shouldn't we wait for him?" Aqua asks, looking back and forth between the Ambassador and the vanishing cart. At this, the Sceptile's grin widens as he shakes his head.

"Iie, he'll catch up on his own," he responds with humor, obviously not bothered at the prospect of leaving the young Pokemon behind. Aqua hesitates for a bit before giving a soft sigh and rushing to the Sceptile's side. Along the way, her eyes catch something… strange about the Ambassador.

"Um, sir?" she starts, fiddling with her hands a bit. She doesn't want to seem rude asking, but she knows her curiosity won't tolerate being ignored. "What happened to your tail?"

"Hm?" the Sceptile grunts, distracted by the sights of the new city.

"Your tail," she awkwardly presses. "There's, like, a huge chunk of it missing…"

It's true, for more than three-quarters of his tail is completely gone, severed neatly from the base. Judging from the freshness of the resulting wound, it happened no more than a couple days ago. It's disconcerting, even more so when the Sceptile's eyes narrow dangerously. Whatever happened, it wasn't good. But, to Aqua's great relief, he doesn't reprimand her nosy question and answers her smoothly and with surprising calm.

"We were under attack on our way here," he tells her. "An enemy of our land sent a ninja in an attempt to assassinate me."

"What?!" Aqua can't help but pipe, her eyes wide. She is next to speechless as the Sceptile continues with a nod.

"My royal guards were incredibly incompetent, and I had to face the ninja alone. My tail dropped when he grabbed it and my assistant and I escaped to continue our journey here." He finishes his explanation, watching the girl intently from the corner of his large eyes as his hands tuck themselves into his sleeves.

"Oh wow…" She glances at his injured tail again and worry sparks in her eyes. "Will… Will you be okay? Does it hurt?"

"No, no, no," the Ambassador reassures, relaxing once more. "There is no pain in losing our tails, don't worry. It'll grow back in a few weeks, leaves and all, good as new." He smiles softly. "Better to lose a tail than lose a life, hai?"

"Most definitely can't argue with that, sir," Aqua agrees with a laugh, her own pained tail twitching at the conversation.

"Chuk chuk~," comes a soft, rather strange noise from the Sceptile's throat and Aqua hesitates for a second to make sense of it. At first she thought he choked on air or something, but he looks nowhere near uncomfortable. In fact, his face implies that the noise was... laughter?

That's... strangely adorable... comes the thought in her head, along with a rather uncomfortable feeling as the silent thought continues. And so is he…

She feels her body tense up. Where the hell did that come from?! And why is she getting that fluffy feeling in her chest?! Was that… attraction?! She's heard of the lightning bolt effect of love at first sight, but this is ridiculous! Sure, the Sceptile's laugh was cute and sure, he was big and fit and quite handsome if you can get passed the intimidation of his piercing gaze, but…. She can't possibly be interested in him in that way, right? He's the royal Ambassador of Iapon; he's way out of her league!

Well, at least she isn't blushing in her embarrassment, no… Instead her whole BODY turned pink as if to broadcast her feelings to the rest of the world… which is exactly what it was doing. Feeling her heart skip a beat, she cast a quick glance at the Sceptile, hoping he won't notice the sudden shift in both color and demeanor…

He is looking right at her.

Clearing her throat awkwardly at his curious scrutiny, she tries to avoid eye contact, focusing on the point of their destination. She tries to change her colors to something, ANYTHING, else, but her scales aren't having it this time. She keeps in a whimper when the larger lizard speaks up.

"Interesting how Kecleons can change color so quickly," he starts. "I hear it's like a mood ring sometimes, hai? You're certainly not blending into anything. What does this color mean?"

"Uh," Aqua drawls, trying to keep herself together as she thinks of an answer. She can't tell him of her little crush nor of the embarrassment it's bringing! Who knows what consequence that would hold! "Just… nervous, a little, I guess…"

Well, at least she wasn't lying completely…

The Sceptile watches her for a moment with interest before giving another of his strangely adorable laughs. "Chuk chuk chuk. Well, no need for nervousness, even if pink is a good color on you." He smirks at her in a way that made her heart skip a few more beats.

Oh dear Arceus, is he flirting?! Comes even more panic in her head, her scales deepening the shade of pink at the idea. No, no… he's just complimenting, is all. No need to jump to conclusions, ya lovesick lizard.

"Th-thank you, sir," she mutters softly under her breath, resisting the urge to speed their strides so they can get the main Guild building faster. The silence between them now is suffocating, at least it was for her as the Ambassador doesn't seem bothered in the least bit, his eyes darting from one point of the city to another.

At least they're almost there, so she can drop the Sceptile off and then bash her head on the nearest tree for being such an idiot…

"Wait!" comes a child's voice, with a very heavy Iaponese accent. The two of them stop and glance back, the Ambassador looking please.

"Ah, here's my assistant," he says as the young Riolu skids to a stop among them, gasping for breath. "I trust you parked our cart safely?" The child nods, too tired to voice his answer, and the Ambassador nods back. "Hai, very good." He returns his attention towards the Guild Building's main gate, hurrying for it with apparent eagerness.

Aqua and the Riolu rush to catch up, the Kecleon casting a concerned look at the child. He is clearly exhausted from the trip, his wide eyes staring at the ground as he pants.

"Are you alright, kiddo?" she can't help but ask, maternal instincts kicking in. The Riolu's tail bristles a bit and he immediately becomes more nervous upon being addressed. Aqua tilts her head at this, and at the shaky voice the child responds with.

"I-I'm okay, thank you." He mutters softly in his thick accent, and Aqua assumes he must be nervous about the foreign way he talks. She smiles reassuringly at him, but his nervousness only seems to be getting worse, especially as they paused at the Guild's Gate.

"I assume we're to leave you now?" the Sceptile speaks up, turning to Aqua with a smile. Receiving a nod, he gives a slight bow. "Arigato. Thank you for your service in guiding us here. Will you be participating in the talent show tonight?"

"Um, yeah," Aqua gives another nod. "I'll be performing with my partner."

"Then we'll see you there," the Ambassador tells her with a pleasant beam. "How do you bid farewell in your culture? Like so?"

To Aqua's great surprise, he takes her hand in his own and places a delicate kiss on it. Never has her scales turned such a vivid shade of pink, and she swears her blushed cheeks would still be visible regardless. She's speechless as the Sceptile chuckles at her reaction before making his departure through the gate with his assistant to meet with the waiting Pachirisu.

Aqua is frozen to the spot, barely snapping out of it enough to pick up on the conversation the Ambassador's having with Rowan as the rodent greets them by the building's door.

"… This way please, sirs," the Pachirisu starts as he opens the door, a spark of friendly interest in his usually jaded voice. "Again, sorry for the lack of proper reception. You've come all the way from Iapon, after all. Can't have you getting bored away from home."

"Bored?" the Sceptile chirps with good nature, despite the fact that it looks like the Riolu beside him is about to have a heart attack from sheer nervousness. "Iie, no, not at all! You're making us feel very welcome."

Aqua can't help but feel a spark within her at hearing that, glad she didn't make a bad first impression on someone so important.

"I am especially looking forward to tonight's entertainments," the Ambassador continues. "I hope to be seeing dancers, comedy, and hopefully some of your strongest warriors there…" He hesitates for a second, the falter in his smile hardly noticeable. "… Eto… I love martial arts~! Chuk chuk!"

That explains a lot, Aqua thinks to herself, remembering how the Ambassador told her he had to fight off a ninja. Explains why he looks so lean and hot too. She might as well make pink her permanent color now…

Watching as the trio disappears behind closed doors, Aqua looks down at her blessed hand, holding it delicately with the other. Sighing softly, she turns and starts heading back home, glancing over her shoulder at the Guild Building frequently. She's overthinking that kiss; he was just saying goodbye. She's hopeless…

Well… maybe she can make an even greater impression on him in the talent show tonight…

"Crap, I have to rehearse!" And with that, she dashes off as fast as she could, leaving her lovestruck worries behind, for now.