Our heroes continue to Ira City so that Ichigo can get his eighth badge. As they head for there, they pass through Klata Town. They also have a sight to behold.

"Check it out. Pokemon Talent Star is happening here." Ichigo said.

"But Orihime already has all four star medals. So there's really no reason to enter." Rukia said.

"That might be true, but it could still be fun to watch." Orihime said. "It might give me some ideas for when the Ultimate Talent Star begins."

"Good idea." Chad said. All of them went to go check it out, but a fancy dressed lady stood in there way.

"Excuse me, but are you Lady Orihime?"

"Yes. Who are you?" Orihime asked.

"My name is Charisse. We would like to make you our princess." When she said that, all of them were really surprised and confused. Orihime becoming a princess?

Pokemon

Every trainer has a choice

To listen to that voice inside

I know the battles maybe long

Winners may have come and gone

I will carry on

Yeah, this dream will last forever

This dream will never die

We will rise to meet the challenge every time

(Advance challenge)

Yeah, this dream keeps us together

This shows that you and I

Will be the best that the world's ever seen

Cause we will always follow this dream

Pokemon

(Orihime's voice): Royal Switcheroo

It was rather strange. Charisse was saying that they want Orihime to become their princess. They were brought over to a mansion and that was where they met the actual princess of Klata Town. She wore an elegant blue dress and the scary part was that she looked just like Orihime.

"Greetings. It's an honor to meet you. I'm Lady Annala."

"Wow. I've never met a real princess before." Ichigo said.

"It's freaky. She looks just like Orihime." Chad said.

"I'm sorry, but what does this have to do with Orihime becoming princess if your people already has one?" Rukia said.

"Of course. I'm sure you're all aware that Pokemon Talent Star is happening here." Charisse said. "Lady Annala has always been a big fan, but she's never been able to compete. Her responsibilities here prevent her from doing so."

"That was until I saw you perform, Orihime." Annala said. "I saw how much we looked alike and I had an idea in hopes that you would come here."

"I get it now. You want to switch places with Orihime for the competition." Rukia said. "Since you two look the same, Orihime would pretend to be you and you would pretend to be Orihime."

"Yes. In fact, I have my own pokemon that I would very much like to compete with." Annala said as she took out her pokeball. "Come out, Swanna!"

"Swanna!"

"Wow! It's beautiful!" Orihime said.

"Swanna loves to perform as well." Annala said. "Orihime, would you please consider this offer?"

"Of course!" Orihime said as she didn't hesitate in the answer. "I know how much it means to compete and I always pretended to be a princess when I was little. When would I get to become one in real life? I'll gladly do it."

"You will? Thank you so much!" Annala said as she was so happy about it.

"Should have seen that one coming." Ichigo said as they all knew it was going to happen. Once the agreement was made, Orihime and Annala switched clothes. You couldn't even tell that they switched at all.

"I feel like a real princess." Orihime said as she twirled in the dress.

"I'm glad you like it." Annala said. "I must admit that your clothes are rather adorable, but it feels a little drafty."

"Very convincing. You do look great, Orihime." Ichigo said and it caused Orihime to blush.

"Well, if you're going to enter as Orihime, we better get going." Rukia said.

"We'll be there to support you." Ichigo said.

"Thank you so much." Annala said. Once the switch was made, another loyal servant entered the room with Charisse showing Ichigo and the others out with the princess slipping by and he didn't even notice.

"Princess, are you ready? Your duties await." The servant said.

"Right. Of course." Orihime said.

"That is not the proper way to speak, Princess Annala." The servant said. This might be hard for Orihime than she thought.

….

Pokemon Talent Star

"You're all set, Loly. Good luck." The receptionist said. Loly was entering this competition. She was all set to go, but as she was leaving, she spotted Ichigo and the others and fell for the trick.

"Orihime? What's she doing here? No way she's entering. She already has four medals." Loly questioned.

"I can't believe I'm really here." Annala said.

"Easy. As far as these people know, you're Orihime and Orihime has one this before." Ichigo said. Annala understood and was doing her best to keep up the act.

Orihime

Orihime was trying to keep up the illusion that she was Princess Annala. She had to meet and greet all kinds of people from different lands and businesses. Orihime felt like this was dragging on.

"Excuse me, but how many more people do I have to meet and greet?" Orihime asked.

"Seventy-six." The servant said and Orihime couldn't believe she had to meet that many.

"And of course, when we're done here, there is all the paperwork you must do." Charisse said.

"Paperwork?" Orihime said as she didn't like the sound of that. She motioned for Charisse to come closer. "This isn't really turning out like I thought."

"I wouldn't think so." Charisse said as she gave an innocent smile. "I'm afraid being a real princess isn't like it is in fairy tales or those princess movies." Orihime was starting to see that now.

….

The Competition

"Greetings, one and all to Klata Town and to Pokemon Talent Star!" Haron said as he was hosting the competition. It went on like every other competition. Annala was able to enter under Orihime's name and remained in Orihime's clothes with her in the waiting room. While she was in there and waited for her turn, Loly spotted her.

"What?! She's actually here? That spoiled princess. She's trying to get more medals when she already has four? Not to mention she's going in her regular clothes. I'll teach her." Loly said as she went right over. "Hey!" Annala turned around and was met with her.

"Hello. I remember you. You're Loly." Annala said.

"Yeah. What are you even doing here?" Loly said. "You already have four star medals. So there's no reason you should even be here."

"Please do not fret about that. This is all in good sport." Annala said. Annala was trying to be nice, but Loly never really did like the real Orihime in the first place.

"You know what, it doesn't' matter. I'm getting my fourth medal and eve you won't be able to stop me." Loly said. She's determined to beat Orihime, even if that isn't the real Orihime.

Orihime

Orihime got done with meeting and greeting all the people. That alone had her exhausted. Of course, she knew she had a lot more to do.

"You said I have paperwork I need to do? What exactly do I need to do?" Orihime asked.

"You just need to sign some papers. That's all." Charisse said.

"That's all? That doesn't sound so hard." Orihime said. Orihime thought she just needed to sign a few papers, but she was wrong. Some servants of the princess came in and carried stacks and stacks of paper. "I have to sign all of that?!"

"I'm afraid so." Charisse said. Orihime couldn't believe this was happening to her. Being a princess is nothing like what she thought.

…..

The Competition

"That was a great performance by Loly. She scores a grand total of 47." Haron said as Loly and her Scolipede just got done with their performance.

"Never would have guessed Loly was here." Ichigo said.

"Absol."

"She hasn't earned that fourth medal yet." Chad said.

"Pay no attention to her. That girl is nothing, but trouble." Rukia said.

"Now for our next show-woman. It's….Orihime." Haron said with Annala coming out. This was the moment she's been waiting for.

"Swanna, come out!" Annala said.

"Swanna!"

"Swanna, Aqua Ring please." Annala said. Swanna formed rings of water around itself. "Now use Bubble Beam please." Swanna launched a barrage of bubbles and surrounded itself with them. "Now use Aerial Ace please." Swanna flew around and popped all the bubbles with that attack. There was such beauty and grace. It was a great sight.

"What a splendid display of the beauty and grace of Swanna." Haron said. "Let's take a look at what our judges think." They all watch the score dial up and saw it was….49 "A near perfect school! That is impressive."

"Wow! Not bad for a first timer!" Ichigo said as all of them loved it. All except for Loly. Since she thought that was the real Orihime, it made her resentment towards her even greater.

Orihime

Orihime was signing paper after paper and was making sure she signed it in Annala's name. She wasn't so sure how much more of this she can take.

"There. That should be the last one." Orihime said. She took a deep breath as she was practically exhausted from all this. "My wrist is cramped from all that signing. I can't believe Annala has to go through all this."

"Now you see why she couldn't compete before." Charisse said. That was when the male servant stepped in.

"Please no more. I need a break." Orihime said.

"I'm afraid there is no time for a break. You have another task that you must attend to." The servant said. Orihime wasn't sure how much more of this she could take.

The Competition

"As we move on to the battle portion of our competition, we will have Loly going against Orihime." Haron said. The battle part of Pokemon Talent Star has begun with the two facing each other. "Before we begin, we have a special guess for all of you. Please welcome Princess Annala." Every looked to the stands and saw Orihime as Princess Annala up there.

"Check that out. Orihime is actually here." Ichigo said.

"How funny is that? She would have ended up here anyway." Rukia said. Orihime was doing her best to keep up the act and waved to the crowd.

"I guess I ended up seeing the competition after all." Orihime said.

"What was that, Princess?" The servant asked, but Orihime was acting like she didn't hear anything.

"So let's get started." Haron said. "Orihime and Loly, if you two are ready, you may begin your battle."

"And I'm the one who is going to win this. Scolipede, let's take them down!" Loly said.

"Scolipede!"

"Swanna, come out!" Annala said.

"Swanna!"

"Swanna should have the advantage in this battle." Ichigo said.

"You would be right, but Loly has always been tricky." Chad said.

"Swanna, Aerial Ace!" Annala said. Swanna flew right in and was going to attack and it seemed like it was going to hit.

"Protect!" Loly said. Scolipede formed a barrier around itself and was able to block the attack. "Now use Poison Tail." Scolipede had poison flow through its tail and slammed it against Swanna.

"Swanna!" Annala said. Swanna took some damage, but was able to shake off the attack. "Try using Bubble Beam."

"Toxic." Loly said. Swanna launched the bubble attack, but Scolipede shot some poison and the two attacks cancelled each other out. "Now use Double Edge!" Scolipede charged right in a yellow aura and tackled Swanna.

"This is not looking good for Orihime. None of Swanna's attacks are working." Haron said as Loly took psychotic pleasure in this.

'Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe I'm not cut out for this.' Annala thought as she could see that she was losing this battle.

"Don't give up!" Annala heard someone call. She looked towards Orihime. "You worked hard for this. You can't just give up. You owe it to yourself and Swanna. So keep battling until it is over."

"Princess, stop this!" The servant said as he tried to get her to calm down.

"A surprise words of encouragement from the princess." Haron said.

"What happened to being royally impartial?" Loly said.

"Orihime…" Annala said as she was touched by what she said and it gave her some strength. "She's right. It's not over yet. Swanna, Air Slash!" Swanna flapped its wings and unleashed energy blades.

"Protect!" Loly said. Scolipede formed the barrier and was able to block the attack.

"Now use Bubble Beam!" Annala said. Swanna shot the bubbles and this time they hit Scolipede just as the barrier went down.

"Scolipede, Poison Tail!" Loly said.

"Swanna, Aerial Ace!" Annala said. Scolipede swung its tail at Swanna, but Swanna was able to avoid the attack and was able to land its own against Scolipede. It was a critical hit as well as Scolipede was knocked out after one hit.

"Scolipede is unable to battle. Swanna wins and that means the winner is Orihime." Haron said with people cheering. Annala felt good about herself and Swanna. They kept going and they were able to win the whole competition. "Congratulations to Orihime for winning." Harona handed her the star medal with it having a purple diamond in it.

"Thank you. This means so much." Annala said. Even if she disguised herself as someone else, she loved that she has this and got to be here.

Loly

"I can't believe I lost to her again." Loly said as she was upset about her lost and feels like she'll never beat Orihime. That was when Annala came into the room and stood next to her. "What do you want?" Annala reached down and placed the metal on her. "What's this?"

"It's my way of saying thank you. I always did enjoy your performances and I had a wonderful time." Annala said and left the room. Loly couldn't believe she actually did this for her, but now this means Loly has all four medals and will be heading the Ultimate Talent Star.

Annala's Mansion

"Feels good to be back in my old clothes." Orihime said as she and Annala switched back. "Being a princess was fun, but it's harder than it looks."

"Either way, Annala you were great out there." Ichigo said.

"Yeah. Especially for your first time." Rukia said.

"Thank you." Annala said. "Orihime, I greatly appreciate what you have done, but I do have one last favor to ask."

"Another favor…?" Orihime said as she worried it was more princess responsibilities.

"Yes. Please take Swanna with you on your journey." Annala said.

"You want me to have your Swanna?" Orihime asked.

"Yes." Annala said. "Swanna loves performing, but might not get another chance to do so. So please, I insist that you take Swanna with you." She asked as she held out Swanna's pokeball for her to take.

"I will." Orihime said as she proudly took Swanna's pokeball. "Want to come along, Swanna?" Swanna was really excited to come. Orihime brought Swanna back in its pokeball and was proud to have a new friend. "I promise I'll take great care of Swanna."

"I know you will." Annala said as he really believed that. Now that Swanna has joined the gang, they're on the move again.

Orihime has had an interesting experience today and now has a new Swanna as a reward for it. Two who were practically born to be performers. Perhaps these two will make a great pair….as the journey continues.

To Be Continued…