It had been a while, but it was Marie and I walking with Marcus once again this time. Didn't he say something about trying to keep us separate as much as possible? Hmm… maybe he just forgot. Whatever the case was, it was I, Princess, and Marie, at Marcus' side as we traveled through a cave within Mt. Coronet, the only way one would be able to reach Hearthome City from Eterna City. I suppose I didn't really have any reason to complain for once, not that I was complaining in the first place. I was just glad to finally be as far away from Grass- and Bug-types as possible.

We were walking on a path that ran alongside a cliff, a small lake beneath us. I could see the exit of the cave some meters away, but we didn't break out into a run. Fortunately enough, all three of us knew to be careful here, lest the cliff collapse and we all wind up in the drink, best case scenario. I had fought a few battles, and Marie had fought a few battles. We were hardly tired, since we were trained well enough at this point, but that didn't mean we weren't a little weary. Still, my senses remained sharp. I kept a Keen Eye out for any dangers that might be lurking. Not that we had any real reason to worry about that sort of thing.

At least, that's what I thought until something moved suspiciously in of the corner of my eye.

I turned around, and thought I saw something blue retreat behind a rock behind us. "Marie, Marcus," I called, "I've reason to believe something's following us."

Both Marie and Marcus turned around and looked in the direction I was facing. Of course, all they saw now was a normal rock. "Something the matter, Princess?" Marcus asked as Marie transformed and got ready to translate for me.

"I could have sworn I saw something just now," I replied. Then, with a shake of my head, I added, "I couldn't tell what it was, though."

"Yeah, I've noticed something blue and somewhat irritating following in our footsteps for some time now as well…" Marie replied as she stroked her chin.

"Very amusing," I deadpanned. "This is why Marcus wanted to keep us separate." I then motioned for them both to follow me as I went to investigate. "Come, this may be worth investigating."

I saw Marcus turn to Marie and shrug before following me. The Zorua-girl sighed before following suit.

I approached the rock carefully, ensuring that I wouldn't spook whatever was behind it. Whatever it was, I got the feeling it didn't want to be noticed, so seeing me come up to it was most likely going to startle it into attacking. Once I finally got to the rock and carefully peaked over, I saw… nothing. There was nothing behind the rock. Well, that was actually a lie. There was a tiny Joltik crawling along the rock. It looked up at me and squeaked something I couldn't hear before turning around and scuttling away from me.

"That's what you had us stop for?" Marie asked. I turned around to see both Marcus and Marie standing behind me. "You had us worried over a Joltik?"

"I swear, I saw something much larger than a Joltik!" I replied, feeling myself become a bit flustered. "I swear upon my royal honor!"

Marie eyed me with a raised eyebrow for a moment before she shook her head and turned around. "We'll be out of here any minute now," she said. "Let's not waste any more time."

I tried to call Marie back, but she had already walked off. I looked up at Marcus quizzically. I'd have asked him, "You believe me, right?" but Marie was already gone, so she wouldn't have translated for me.

"Maybe you're just still a bit jumpy after our little escapades in and around Eterna City," Marcus replied with a laugh. "Come on, Princess, I bet we're not gonna see any more Grass- or Bug-types for a while."

I was about to protest, but I decided against it. I sighed and walked away from the rock, Marcus following behind me. As I walked, I kicked a pebble that was in my path in Marie's general direction. It didn't hit her, but rather rolled off the edge… followed by several other pebbles, none of which I touched.

"Eh…?" I asked as I watched the pebbles fall. Suddenly, I could hear a rumbling noise beneath us. Marcus recognized it instantly.

"Marie, come back here!" he called, but it was too late. All of a sudden, the portion of path Marie was walking on began to crumble and fall towards the water below. It was a Rock Slide!

"MARCUS!" Marie cried as she was swept away by the crumbling ground beneath her. Her illusion failed as she tumbled as well. Marcus pulled out Marie's Pokeball and ran to try to return her, but by the time he ran to where Marie was originally, she was already halfway down the cliff face, outside of her Pokeball's range.

"Shit…!" Marcus said. "This is bad."

Meanwhile, I could only watch as Marie fell towards the water below. I couldn't help but think to myself that this wouldn't have happened if I hadn't stopped us for that stupid Joltik. Marie was in peril because of me. As much as I wanted to be happy that Zorua was about to be out of the picture, something in me suddenly made me realize that I couldn't let her fall. As much as I hated to admit it, she was my teammate, my friend… my family. I also realized that I was the only one who could save her. Marcus didn't have the agility, and Blitz was useless in both rocky and watery terrain.

I clenched my flipper and ran forward. "Hold on, Marie, I'm coming!" I shouted as I dived off the cliff after Marie. I heard Marcus shout something at me, but I didn't hear him. I was too focused on what I had to do next. I reared back and started attacking the rocky surface in front of me with Bubblebeam to the point where it was moist and somewhat smooth, then landed my belly on the surface I had hit and started sliding down the cliff. I kept this up to create a path towards Marie, my speed increasing as I slid. However, I couldn't make it in time before Marie fell into the water. I had only one choice. I leaped off from where I was sliding and dove in after her.

Underwater, I could see easily and breathe somewhat, but Marie was a different story, so I had to work fast if I wanted to save her. I looked around, and saw the Zorua stuck at the bottom of the roughly four-meter-deep pool, a rock trapping her tail. I quickly swam over to her, and noticed that she was desperately struggling while holding her breath. Without hesitation, I fired another Bubblebeam to shatter the rock she was trapped under. She smiled and started to swim up, but then, all of a sudden, she stopped, and started struggling to swim. She was out of breath! I swam under her and started pushing her up towards the surface. I managed to get her up for just a moment, but then, all of a sudden, a Pokemon used Tackle on me, knocking me backwards and causing me to drop Marie before she could get a full breath. I turned and saw two things. One, Marie had swallowed some water when she was inhaling, and now she was struggling to swim again. The other, the Pokemon that had Tackled me was a Buizel, and it looked angry. It probably thought we were the ones who triggered that Rock Slide and messed up its home. I tried to explain the situation as best I could, but before I could even start, a second Buizel attacked me from behind, this time with Aqua Jet. I spun forward, but I was able to quickly right myself, in perfect position to see Marie slowly drowning.

"I don't have time for this!" I said out loud before rearing back and attacking Marie with Bubblebeam, hoping the force of the attack would be enough to launch her out of the water. Fortunately, my gamble paid off, and she flew out of the water. Hopefully she'd get enough airtime to manage a proper breath before she fell back into the water. Meanwhile, one of the Buizel had turned around and chased after Marie, while the other one swam towards me and tried to deal another attack. This time, it used Swift. I braced myself against the attack, knowing I wouldn't be able to dodge it. As I suffered each star-shaped blow, I silently wished Marcus were there with me. That is to say… I could fight just fine without him telling me what to do, but I wanted him there to witness my glory.

"You're going down, Princess!" the Buizel shouted at me as it moved in for another attack while I was still being hit with the Swift. Wait, did that Buizel actually know my name? I didn't have much time to ponder this as I saw it come up to me and get ready to attack with Double Hit.

I wasn't about to let that happen, though. "No one said you could touch!" I shouted as I reared my flipper back and got ready to counter with Pound. However, I'd forgotten that I forgot Pound in favor of a different move earlier in the cave. I mentally cursed myself as the Buizel got ready to hit me, but I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that I had managed to block his attack anyway by thrusting a still-glowing flipper forward. He tried to hit me with the second hit of Double Hit, but I managed to block this with my other flipper, which was also glowing. Of course! The move I'd learned in favor of Pound was Fury Attack. How could I have forgotten? I saw my opportunity. "I'll smash you to pieces!" I shouted as I reared my flippers back. Then, with a mighty cry I was mimicking from a comic book I'd read once, I unleashed a powerful volley of strikes with Fury Attack with a speed I'd never imagined I could manage before. Once I was satisfied with how much damage I'd dealt, I swam down a little, and finished the Buizel with an uppercut that knocked him clear out of the water. I shook my flipper off a little and muttered, "Good grief…" before turning around to find that Marie had already fallen in the water and was being harassed by the other Buizel. I swam after the two, and attacked the Buizel with another Bubblebeam, not aiming to injure it, but distract it long enough for Marie to get away. This seemed to work better than I'd hoped, however, as the Buizel swam away after it recovered from my hit, followed closely by the other Buizel that I'd knocked out of the water earlier.

I took a moment to sigh with relief before swimming over to Marie and helping her up and out of the water. I held her above water for a moment so she could get a few breaths before I swam up and poked my head out of the water to get some fresh air as well, letting Marie tread water from there.

"Are you alright, Marie?" I asked after we'd both had a chance to breathe.

Marie nodded and coughed a little before turning to me. Her fur was droopy with how wet she had become, and it honestly looked rather silly. "I'm fine…" she said while panting. "Thank you… Princess."

I smiled before puffing out my chest and turning my beak up proudly. "You can grovel at my greatness after we get back to Marcus," I replied. I then motioned for her to follow me as I began swimming back towards the cliff we had just fallen from. There was a small bit of shoreline where we'd be able to recover before figuring out how to get back up to where Marcus was.

At least, I tried to swim there before I felt something wrap around the lower half of my body and suddenly pull me back under the water. I didn't get a good look at my new assailant, but whatever it was, it had thrown me all the way to the bottom before moving back up and doing the same to Marie. When I finally recovered, I saw that it was a Dragonair that had attacked us. (Could it have been what I saw following us earlier?) Not only that, but it hadn't thrown Marie, but rather coiled around her, attempting to strangle her!

"I don't know why everyone suddenly has it out for that Zorua…" I said to the Dragonair as I clenched my flippers, "but annoying as she is, I'm not letting anyone hurt her!" I then swam at the Dragonair at full speed and attacked it with Peck. My beak impacted on the back of the Dragonair's head, causing it to flinch, but it didn't release Marie. It turned back around towards me and attacked me with Dragon Rage, which blew me backwards a few meters. I looked back up, and caught a good look at Marie. The Dragonair had managed to strangle all the breath out of her, and she looked like she was about to lose consciousness. The Zorua took one last look at me, a desperate plea in her eyes, before she finally lost it, her eyes rolling into the back of her head and her struggling against the Dragonair ceasing.

In that moment, I think I snapped. This Dragonair had come out of nowhere, and tried to kill Marie, who, like it or not, was the closest thing to my best friend at the time… and it succeeded. I felt myself filled with a rage unlike any I'd ever felt before. How could I have let this happen? What would I say to Marcus?

What would Marie say to me if she had one last opportunity?

I clenched my flipper and swam forward at incredible speed towards the Dragonair. "I'LL KILL YOOOOOU!" I shouted as I dove into it with a powerful Peck, this time hitting with enough force to cause it to lose its grip on Marie, who started limply floating to the surface. I then reared back before hitting the Dragonair with a full-force Fury Attack. I hit it once, and then again, and again, and again, all in rapid succession. The speed of my punches kept increasing and increasing, and I could feel the rage I was putting into my attacks fill my entire body. I'm not sure how long I attacked it for, but I know I finished it with one final punch that sent it flying away and into a far rock wall, shattering the rock it impacted on and kicking up a massive cloud of dust. I then saw more rocks fall onto it. I could reasonably doubt the Dragonair survived what I'd just done to it.

I breathed a sigh of relief, but I didn't dare rest for long before I looked up and saw that Marie was still floating. I quickly swam up, grabbed Marie, and leaped out of the water onto the rocky shore in one fluid motion. I hadn't even realized I could do such a thing, but that hardly concerned me. I laid Marie down on her back and knelt over her. Her eyes were closed and her mouth hung open.

"No…!" I shouted as I placed my flippers on her chest and started compressions. All the Starters were taught human first-aid back at the lab on the off chance that we'd have to perform it for our trainers in the future, since we'd be their only hope for at least a little while on our journey, and that included the "CPR" that I was trying to do at that moment, but the truth was that I barely paid any attention in that class, nor did I know if it would even work on another Pokemon.

Still, I had to try.

"Wake up, Marie!" I shouted as I pounded on her chest harder. I felt tears well up in my eyes as I continued to get no response from the Zorua. I suddenly remembered something else from the first-aid class. I took a deep breath and leaned in, placing my beak over Marie's lips and exhaling into her mouth. I found it incredibly gross – especially considering that this made my first kiss with another female – but I didn't care. I just wanted my friend back…

As I pulled away and was about to give up, Marie suddenly coughed and sputtered, water coming out of her mouth. She rolled over and spat more water out before taking a deep breath and started panting. I'd done it! She was alive!

"Marie, you're okay!" I shouted with joy, not caring about maintaining my royal demeanor at the time. I leaned down and hugged Marie, beginning to cry a little.

"M… Marcus…?" Marie asked as she slowly returned to consciousness. I honestly felt insulted at that moment, but I didn't voice it. I pulled back and looked down at Marie.

"No, someone a little more royal," I replied with a half smirk.

Marie opened her eyes wide and blinked once. "P-Princess…?" she asked. "Is that you?"

I leaned back and put my hands on my hips. "You weren't hoping it was Marcus because I kissed you, were you?" I asked jokingly.

Marie shook her head and looked up at me again, her eyes still wide. "Princess… I think you should-" she started.

"Marie! Princess!" I heard Marcus shout. I turned around to see Marcus sliding down the collapsed rock wall, secured to the top by an Escape Rope around his waist. He looked over at us, and then started staring at me with an expression similar to what Marie had just now. "Princess… is that you?"

"Why is everyone asking me that?" I asked as I stood up. "And is no one going to acknowledge that I just saved Marie's li-" I stopped suddenly when I looked back down to indicate Marie. I think it was at this moment that I realized what everyone was so surprised about. For one, I was a lot further from the ground than I normally was when I stood up. For another, when I looked a little further down, more towards myself, there were two sets of dots on my belly instead of the one pair. I looked at my flippers to find that they were no longer entirely cyan, just the tips were. The rest of my flippers were a darker shade of blue. I reached up to touch my head, and felt two horn-like things protruding from my beak and over my head.

I… had evolved!

"Princess, you've evolved into a Prinplup!" Marcus cried as he undid his Escape Rope and ran over to us. He knelt down to help Marie to her paws before they both turned back to me. "It must've happened while you were fighting down there!"

I tried to recall everything that had just happened, trying to pinpoint when it was that I actually evolved. "I was still a Piplup when I dove into the water…" I thought out loud, bringing a flipper to my chin as I thought. "I was definitely still a Piplup when I was fighting the Buizel. When I had attacked the Dragonair, though… after I saw Marie almost die, and felt that incredible rage…"

"That must've been it!" Marie concluded. She looked back up to Marcus before stepping back, transforming, and continuing. "I bet the reason you evolved was because you realized that you actually do have a heart and care about me."

I scoffed and rolled my eyes. "Once again, very amusing," I replied dryly.

Not that Marcus or Marie noticed, but I didn't add anything onto that for once.

"I guess you really have grown a little, Princess," Marcus said with a chuckle. "You definitely wouldn't have stuck your neck out for Marie like you did when our journey first started."

"Well…" I started, rubbing the back of my head with my flipper. Suddenly, I realized that I needed to regain my composure, and did just that, placing my flippers on my hips and puffing out my chest once more. "Of course, even if I am royalty, I can't let anything happen to my escorts, now can I? Even if that means getting my own flippers dirty once every decade or so." With a smile, I looked up at Marcus and added, "That said, don't you think my new form warrants me a new title? I'm thinking, 'Empress' has a nice ring to it. What do you say?"

Marie was laughing to herself as she translated what I said, and Marcus laughed out loud as soon as he heard my words. "We're gonna keep calling you Princess, Princess," he said. "No offense, but 'Empress' can't be said with as much sarcasm as 'Princess' can."

"Wait… MY NAME IS SARCASTIC!?" I shouted, only just then realizing what Marcus was saying, earning more laughter from both Marcus and Marie. "But… but I'm royalty…!"

"Well, excuuuuse me, Princess," Marie added with a chuckle. "Maybe you'll get your new title when you evolve again." With a joking tone but uncomfortable wink, she added, "I might need more than a kiss next time, though."

"Wait, what?" Marcus asked as he eyed Marie suspiciously. "Did I miss something?"

"Nothing, really," Marie said with a shake of her head. "Come on, I'd rather dry myself off in the sun so my fur will poof less once I'm done."

Marcus looked between the two of us quizzically for a moment before finally shrugging and walking back up to where he had left the rope. He tugged on it once, and Blitz poked her head over the top near where the rope was secured, looking down at him. "Blitz, I'm tossing another rope up to you!" Marcus called. "You're gonna need to hold this one yourself, though!"

As Marcus tossed the rope that was likely intended to haul Marie and I up, I started to walk towards Marcus. However, Marie stopped me.

"Princess, can I talk to you for a second?" she asked. I turned around, and she had gone back to her normal Zorua form.

"If this is about the kiss, you should know that I'm only interested in males," I replied. "I don't know about you, but I was joking." Feeling a couple drops of sweat form on my forehead, I added, "Please tell me you were too…"

"Yes, I was," Marie replied with a quick nod. "Arceus, you need to get your mind out of the gutter." Then, with a shake of her head, she continued. "That's not what I wanted to talk to you about, though. First of all, thank you for saving me from those Buizel and that Dragonair."

I huffed proudly. "Yes, I authorize you to start groveling now," I said.

Marie rolled her eyes at me before continuing. "Second, I wanted to ask you something. Did you notice anything… strange about that Dragonair?"

I wasn't expecting that kind of question. I tapped my flipper to my beak and hummed for a moment, trying to think back to the battle. "I… don't think so," I finally replied. "Why? Did you notice something?"

Marie shook her head. "Actually, it was something that I didn't notice that's bugging me," she continued. "Its face. I could imagine it would be expressionless if it really was some kind of psychotic killer, but… I don't think I noticed anything about its face at all."

"Oh…?" I asked. I started to think about what I saw about the Dragonair. Sure enough, I couldn't recall any of its facial features either. "That is strange… what about the Buizel? Did you notice the same thing with them?"

"No, I remember their faces clearly," Marie replied. "Princess… I don't think that Dragonair even had a face."

I scoffed. "Now that's just crazy talk," I said while waving my flipper. "True, there are some Pokemon who don't have much to call a face, and fewer still who really do have none at all, but I happen to know that Dragonair isn't among that number."

Marie sighed and shook her head. "Maybe I was just hallucinating from lack of oxygen…" she surrendered.

"Besides," I continued, "that's well in the past now. I doubt we'll ever have to worry about that Dragonair again. If it's still alive, it's buried under a bunch of boulders right now. Not much point in trying to solve this mystery, the way I see it."

"Hey, you two coming?" Marcus called to us. Marie and I both looked over to see Marcus had re-tied his rope to himself, and was holding the other rope out to us. The other end of that rope was held securely in Blitz's mouth at the top of the cliff.

Marie looked back at me and looked like she was about to say something, but shook her head and started trotting over to Marcus. I followed suit, and we both held still in front of him as he tied us together with that rope. All the while, I couldn't help but look over at the spot in the water where I had launched the Dragonair. The rock wall above it had collapsed some, and there were some Zubat and Geodude, among other Pokemon, gathered around where the incident had occurred. I knew that I didn't have to worry about it, but… I just had this terrible feeling in my gut as I looked on…

I couldn't entertain that feeling for long, though. It was a momentous occasion for me. Not only did I save the life of one of my escorts – lest I accidentally call Marie a "friend" outside of my own private thoughts and feelings again – but I was also one step closer to claiming my throne as an Empoleon, and, with a little luck, thusly being treated by Marcus and the others like the royalty I truly was.

It was gonna be a long, strange, roundabout journey to that point, but I was going to get there. I knew it in my heart.