So here's another short story for you guys! This was for a little writing competition with a few good friends and I enjoyed writing something different to normal. It's not anything that ties in with other stories right now, but maybe it will in future. Anyway, sit back, grab your favourite pillow and some popcorn and enjoy! Hope you all like it!

Chapter 1- Ruler

It should not need to be said that fire and water do not tend to mix particularly well. Especially if it was fire that was deep underwater, maybe within an ocean. It would certainly raise eyebrows if such a sight were to be witnessed, but Flaras Inseria was more than used to it by now- he had been living underwater for ten years after all.

Obviously it also should not need to be said that Flaras was certainly the only Flareon living within several miles of the city he called home. He was likely the only pokemon of his type that had ever lived in the underwater city of Aqua Centris, but that didn't mean he regretted being there at all, for being different did not have to be a bad thing.

As Flaras looked out through his bedroom window at the busy streets filled with bustling Jellicents, Sealeos and even the occasional Gyarados or Kingdra, it was all going to be a normal day today, as far as he thought anyway. He had never been more wrong in his life!

? PoV

I stared out of my window in my private chambers, wondering what I should do today; I'd arranged to meet Flaras so we could spend the day together, not that we needed to arrange anything since we'd been best friends since we were just six years old. It seemed hard to believe I'd only met Flaras ten years ago, but those years had been the best!

But back to the matter at paw of course: what was I to do? I wondered about maybe going on a picnic, or perhaps if we fancied something more adventurous there was a huge coral reef just on the city's doorstep that we could freely explore. Even distracted in my own head I heard the soft knocking on my door and smiled to myself. It must be Flaras, come to get me instead of waiting- great! I thought to myself as I headed over to the door, although I couldn't help but wonder why he was here this early in the morning…

"Hiya Flar-..." I began as I opened the door and then trailed off. There was most certainly not a Flareon waiting for me, but rather a Ralts servant. I sighed- clearly it was too good to be true after all. "Umm… what is it?" I asked, a little bewildered.

"The Queen wants to see you in her chamber right away, my lady," the servant said with a respectful tone.

"Now? But I just woke up! Do I have to?" I protested, not happy in the slightest. I had in fact been up for quite some time now, being the early riser I was, but I had a whole day planned with Flaras.

"Her highness says it's very important, I'm sorry to have to disturb you, my lady."

I sighed again; "Fiiiiiine… I'll be along in a moment…"

The servant nodded and briskly walked away as I slumped in the doorway. This ruined everything, since it didn't sound like she just wanted a chat…

A short while later

I reluctantly made my way up to the Queen's private chambers, dreading what awaited me. Whilst I could pray that it was just a short chat it likely wasn't- this was the ruler of the kingdom after all! I soon arrived at my destination and half-heartedly knocked on the door. It was briskly opened by a Vaporeon wearing an elegant cloak and a glittering deep blue crown atop her head. "Ah, Pulse! Do come inside. We have something very important to discuss," she told me as she headed inside and beckoned me. I sighed inwardly and followed her- it wasn't like I had a choice anyway. I took a seat across from her and stared boredly at the Vaporeon ruler, wanting this to be over as quickly as possible.

"As you well know Pulse, you are the princess and future ruler of Aqua Centris. It is important that you know how to act and how to behave around different pokemon. You've been taught much of this and I expect you to heed it for the sake of our family and reputation towards the kingdom," she said with a serious tone that sent no good messages to me. I rolled my eyes, not even pretending I was interested; "Sure, yeah, act properly. Got it," I muttered unenthusiastically, which instantly proved to be a mistake for the Queen's eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Pulse! Drop the attitude and listen to me. It's about time you grew up and started acting like a suitable heir!" she told me angrily, causing me to sit up straight and focus on her straight away, not because I cared any more but because I didn't want her to prevent me seeing Flaras.

"That's better. Now, today is a big day for you! I have something planned that you should enjoy," she said, eyes glittering with some unknown emotion. I perked up a little- something I would enjoy? That didn't sound so bad! I could do that and then hang out with Flaras later! "What is it? Something fun? Are we going somewhere?" I asked excitedly, babbling a little bit in a rush to get my words out. She chuckled at my eagerness; "That enthusiasm is perfect! I'm going out to visit another kingdom for a couple of weeks, so I've decided that it's time you gained some responsibility- you will be in charge here whilst I'm gone!" she told me, earning a gasp from me. In charge?! Me?! "B-but why me?! What if I do something wrong, or… or make a mistake that ruins something! I can't do it!" I protested, though what I really wanted to say was I don't want to do it! I never even liked the idea of ruling in the first place!

She chuckled lightly at my surprise and smiled. "Don't worry, you'll have the full support of the royal court, and Mirian will be at your side the whole time so you can ask him if you're not sure." This just got even worse by the second… I really didn't want to spend any more time with the Poochyena than was absolutely necessary. He was deeply in love with me and seemed convinced we should be together, despite my insistence that I didn't feel the same way at all. It wasn't that I disliked him as a pokemon, I just didn't feel attracted to him in any way. But of course he never cared and was constantly trying to change my view. "Can't I do it some other time? I really don't feel ready at all! Just let Mirian do it like he normally does," I tried one more time, but she shook her head firmly.

"You will rule in my stead, and you will learn to be the queen you are destined to be."

Chapter 2- Escape

Pulse's PoV

I sat dejectedly in the throne room, wishing I could be literally anywhere but here. I hated the fact that I was a princess, I wished I could just have a normal life like other pokemon. Like Flaras! But that was clearly never going to happen to me, so here I was loving my life to its fullest...

To my left, a little further down from the throne sat Mirian, and he was beside himself in glee at the chance to spend two solid weeks with me- yaaaaay… I was already bored, and I'd been here for half an hour! My eyes glanced around the room, looking idly at the golden beams stretching from floor to ceiling and engraved with water creatures that stretched along the surface. The floor was carpeted in the deep blue colour that represented the kingdome, and it too had intricate detailing in it, looking like a beautiful coral reef just like those outside the limits of the city. Tapestries and paintings were spread across the walls, depicting famous battles or former rulers and pokemon of significant power or influence. And right at the end of the far wall was a painting of the Vaporeon Queen standing with her daughter, both smiling happily. Though only one of the smiles was genuine.

I sighed and glanced at the door, almost begging it to open and bring some form of distraction. Anything to make the time go quicker I thought to myself. As if my thoughts were somehow heard, the huge doors sprung open to reveal a pair of Samurott guards escorting a Swablu and a young-looking Turtwig. "Princess Pulse, these two are here to swear loyalty to the kingdom," one of the guards briskly said, bringing the two pokemon forward to stand before me. He then retreated back to the doors along with his companion. The Swablu and Turtwig both bowed down to me and Mirian nodded up at me, indicating me to go through with the short ceremony. I sighed inwardly and forced a serious look onto my face- now I had to remember how to do this correctly or it would not look good at all.

Three hours later

I was still sitting here, exactly the same as before except that I was now even more bored than before. It had only been three hours and I already wanted to run away and hide somewhere for the next two weeks! A voice snapped me out of my thoughts and I turned to its origin; Mirian smiled up at me innocently, though the gleam in his eyes told me otherwise. "So how is my lady today? Reigning from such a magnificent throne, yet even that pales when compared to your beauty!"

I groaned inwardly but forced myself to smile back at him. "It's going well! I am fitting in and enjoying it quite a lot," I lied to him. The Poochyena chuckled and shook his head, then stepped forward and lowered his voice. "I can tell you're not really enjoying it are you?" he asked quietly with a surprisingly soft voice. I wasn't expecting that from him and in a moment that was maybe rash and unthinking I decided to answer him. "Not really… I just don't feel like this whole thing is for me, but what choice do I have? I'm the heir to the throne." I sighed hopelessly.

"What if I could get you out of here for a while? It probably wouldn't work for long but if you really wanted it…" He raised an eyebrow in questioning to me, and I had to admit that it did seem very tempting. After a moment of hesitation I nodded. "Please Mirian, if you can help me I'll owe you one later. I can't take another minute here," I pleaded, desperately wanting even just a moment of freedom. Mirian chuckled quietly and told me "Follow my lead."

The Poochyena turned away and then exaggerated looking back at me a moment later. "Highness, may I request you come with me for a moment? It's about the trade partnership we have discussed already." Is this really what he's planning? Surely this won't work… I thought to myself, though I simply said to him "Of course, do lead the way." Mirian nodded and headed out of the throne room with me following close behind. He took me down several corridors until we came to an outer door. As we stepped into the palace gardens I looked around furtively, but there was no need- he had actually gotten me away for a while!

"Wow! Thank you Mirian! I don't even know how you thought that up but I'm grateful!" I said to him, my voice full of appreciation. He smiled at me, and for some reason he seemed genuine too- no hint of teasing or trying to force his feelings upon me like he normally did! "Anything for you, it's the least you deserve for how hard you work," he told me. My cheeks coloured pink at his praise and I returned his smile.

"I guess that trick won't work on the court for long, so I should-"

"Would you like to go for a walk around the gardens with me?" Mirian interrupted as I was about to tell him I was off to find Flaras, causing me to wince inwardly. Something in me realised it probably wouldn't end well if I ran off like that, especially since Mirian could twist it around so I'd snuck away… "Oh, uhhh… sure," I said, trying to sound enthusiastic- as much as the Poochyena was being nice right now, I'd still rather have spent the time with a certain Flareon instead. He grinned delightedly and headed off into the nearest area.

The gardens were split into four sections, each designed with a certain theme in mind, and the one we were at was the forest garden. Lush greenery and healthy-looking plants spanned a wide area, Pidgeys and other bird pokemon were roosting in nests. Little Ledybas fluttered from flower to flower, and there was a real peacefulness to the atmosphere that I could greatly appreciate. For a while Mirian was silent, seemingly enjoying the peace, and I actually found myself liking his company- when he wasn't trying to show off he was quite quiet and kind.

Flaras' PoV

I looked around cautiously to make sure nobody was watching and then approached the walls surrounding the royal palace. I knew where I was going as I'd snuck in many times to see Pulse, so I wasn't feeling nervous or concerned in that regard. I felt around a section of the wall until I felt something give in my paw. I pushed that area and a piece of the stonework caved in; this loose part of the wall was our secret and as far as we both knew there wasn't anyone else that knew of it. I wriggled through the gap, easing myself quietly into the palace grounds.

I carefully replaced the loose chunk of stone before standing up and looking around. I was in the forest garden, in Pulse's opinion the best one, and now I just had to make my way through and up to the palace itself, then sneak along to her room- easy enough when I'd done it so many times by now. I crept almost silently between the trees and bushes, careful not to step on a dead leaf or rotted stick.

As I moved stealthily through the forested garden I heard sudden snatches of conversation. I halted for a moment and listened carefully, ears perked straight up. I was sure I could hear Pulse talking to someone, and I crept closer to see that I was in fact correct! She was with that Poochyena she often told me about- the annoying one. And yet Pulse actually looked happy at the moment…

Pulse's PoV

Mirian stopped in a clearing and I looked at him, a little confused. "Pulse, there's something I have to tell you," he said tentatively, looking a little nervous. My heart skipped a beat as I realised what he was about to say to me. But how could I break it gently to him that I didn't feel the same. I gulped and nodded. Mirian took a deep breath; "I'm sorry… I really am."

My eyes widened- he apologised to me! "Mirian… I forgive you. I know you probably didn't mean any actual harm to me," I told him with a soft smile.

He closed his eyes for a moment and sighed. "That's not what I meant…" he said with a defeated expression, and I stared at him in puzzlement. I opened my mouth to ask him… and then someone suddenly grabbed me from behind. I screamed in shock and struggled against my captor but his grip was firm and I could hardly even move. Mirian wouldn't look at me, his eyes firmly on the pokemon holding me down; "I'm sorry Pulse… but you cannot be allowed to rule. This is for the good of Aqua Centris," he told me quietly. I continued to struggle to no avail, desperate and scared of what would happen now- were they going to kill me?

Without warning a furry orange mound came barreling out of the bushes to the side and slammed into my captor, causing him to release me as he was thrown back. I stumbled to my feet and glanced at Flaras who nodded and smiled before directing his attention to Mirian, face contorting into a snarl. "If you want to get to Pulse, you'll have to go through me," the Flareon growled in challenge, eyes narrowed and ready to fight. Mirian returned the glare with equal anger, not in the least bit intimidated. "The princess is coming with me one way or another. It pains me but if you have to be forcefully restrained then so be it. Cyclone-" he pointed to my attacker, "-restrain the Flareon and bring the Vaporeon to me."

I gasped in surprise at Mirian's words- how could he do this?! But my gaze was quickly drawn away as the pokemon that seemed to be called 'Cyclone' stepped forwards. He was a Pawniard and a shiny one too. His armour glinted in the morning sunlight and he stared impassively at us both, not a trace of emotion anywhere on his face. I realised immediately that this pokemon would not hesitate to do what Mirian had said; we had to get out of here! If we reach the front of the palace there will be guards there that can help I thought to myself, trying to figure out a way for us both to be free of this traitorous Poochyena.

Lost in my own head for a moment I almost didn't see Cyclone surge forwards in a silvery-blue blur and he clearly caught Flaras off-guard too, knocking him back a few feet. Flaras sprung into action, cloaking himself in flames as he charged the Pawniard. Despite his type disadvantage the Pawniard held his ground and just as Flaras reached him he grabbed onto fur and threw himself right over the Flareon to land behind him. Flaras turned around but by that point it was much too late; a pulsing yellow orb of energy shot out from Voridus' arms at near instant speed and struck him hard, sending him straight to the floor, electricity arcing across his body as the paralysis took hold. I cried out and jumped at the Pawniard, intending to hit him with a water-based attack of some kind but another yellow flash had me on the floor before I even reached him. It had taken all of a few seconds for him to subdue both of us, we had never even stood a chance. I tried to struggle upright but the electricity proved too much and I felt my consciousness, and my hope, leave my body...

Chapter 3- Fear

Flaras' PoV

My eyes snapped open and I sprung to my feet with a start, looking around wildly as a rising panic seeped into my body. "Hello? Pulse?" I called out, seeing nothing. And when I say nothing I meant it- wherever we were it was pitch black and it scared me a lot. "Puuuuuuuulse!" I called again desperately, my voice breaking as terror captured me and forced hot tears from my eyes. I heard movement and then I felt a pair of paws grab me at the same time as a soft voice spoke in my ear. "Hey, Flaras I'm here, I've got you," Pulse told me kindly, and I gave a sob and hugged her tightly. Being best friends, Pulse knew I was terrified of the dark and being down here was like a nightmare come to life! She rubbed my back gently, speaking in soothing tones; "Flaras, I promise it'll be okay. I'm not leaving you, we can find our way out of wherever we are together!"

Her words helped immeasurably and I took deep breaths, calming myself down in her grip. Together… A thought popped into my head and I blushed, glad of the darkness for a moment. Eventually I lifted my head up and with a little concentration managed to ignite my tail with a small flame, providing a little light to allow us to at least see what was in the immediate vicinity. Dark stone walls surrounded us, cracked and old but standing firm. Metal bars ran across one wall, with a large wooden door in the centre of it, and there was no light or clear sign of entry besides the door. Beyond it, there was a passageway that I could guess eventually led to daylight, but my light wasn't good enough to see. It was eerily quiet- besides the two of us I couldn't hear a thing except for the drip of moisture onto the hard concrete floor.

"Where are we? Is this a prison?" I asked Pulse, thinking she might know- she did live in this palace after all. But to my dismay she shook her head; "No idea. I've never seen anything like this around the palace at all. But it looks like we're in a prison cell of some kind," she mused. I approached the bars and tested my paws against them, finding them to be just as immovable as I'd expected. Pulse tried the simpler approach: she pushed the door. I would have laughed despite our predicament but to my shock the door swung open! "It was unlocked?! Why?" I spluttered. It didn't make any sense! "Sense or not, we have to get out of here- I need to get back to the palace before Mirian takes control," she said urgently as she darted out of the door and glanced back at me. I shook my head and followed her out quickly, realising we needed each other now more than ever; I was afraid of the dark and she needed a light source.

The passageway didn't seem special, but it was our only direction to go in so we both set off without another word. As we walked though, I couldn't help my mind wandering. Why had the door been unlocked? Was this a trap? As soon as the thought was there I began to feel paranoid. I heard scratching around us and the skittering of feet across the ground, and I drew closer to Pulse instinctively. She looked at me and gave a small smile, looping her tail across my fur for comfort, but if she heard the same noises she didn't comment. After just a minute of walking we came to a crossroads with three more directions to go in. My eyes darted around as I waved my tail down each pathway. Left and directly ahead of us looked the same: darkness and stone walls. But to the right was different: the same stone passage as the others but it turned left after a short distance and a flicker of light came from an unseen source around that corner. I turned to tell Pulse my thoughts when I saw something that chilled me to the bones.

Eyes. A pair of deep, blood-red eyes in the darkness straight ahead of us, staring unblinkingly in our direction. I nudged Pulse to get her attention, not daring to look away in case it moved. She looked at me and then followed my gaze and I knew she saw it too when she gasped in fear at the sight. My own fear was rising and I felt a sudden need to run away, but when I tried to avert my eyes I couldn't! It was like I was paralysed, my body completely unresponsive to the threat ahead. I heard Pulse calling my name, but it seemed far away, like we were suddenly miles apart. All I could see were those red eyes- wait, were they bigger? To my horror I realised they were moving towards me as the unknown creature approached. I strained to look away but I couldn't, I was completely helpless!

And then a paw grabbed mine and tugged, and suddenly I was free. I looked and saw Pulse had intervened, snatching my attention away even as she started to run down the corridor with the light, pulling me along until I regained responsiveness in my muscles a few moments later. We ran around the corner, not daring to look back lest those eyes be there, and then we stopped to catch our breaths a short distance down the new corridor. The light here was brighter than ever and it seemed to be coming from beneath a door on the left of the corridor, though there was another door on the right, this time with no light seeping out. "What was that!" I squeaked timidly, and in any other instance I'd have been embarrassed. Pulse shook her head, eyes wide and alert; "I don't know Flaras, but I really hope it doesn't follow us! We need to hide in one of these rooms and hope we aren't found."

That sounded more than a good idea and I darted for the first door, pushing it open even as Pulse rushed forwards with a cry of "Flaras! Wait!" I glanced around as I entered- it looked kind of like a bedroom, with fancy purple furniture and a large double bed. But not a moment after Pulse had entered the light disappeared, leaving us in the pitch-black. I whimpered and again felt the Vaporeon's soft paws wrap around me, offering comfort in waves that travelled through my body and fought the fear. And then the light reappeared, except this time it was a fierce red colour. A lampent descended from the ceiling, but this one was different; instead of the usual purple, this one's light was crimson, and its features contorted in anger. "You DARE to step into MY quarters. Do you think yourself SMART? Do you believe I will simply let you LIVE?" it screamed in a horrible voice that sent tendrils of terror through me. I sunk down to the floor, my trembling paws unable to hold my weight any longer. I was certain now that we would not leave this dark labyrinth, even if we overcame this new horror before us, and that only added to the terror of the situation.

But Pulse stepped forwards, placing herself between the Lampent and me, a defiant glare on her face. "You're not touching him, not while I'm standing!" she growled, stoic and unflinching in the face of such horror. The Lampent's red flames swelled up at her challenge, and it somehow looked even more threatening than before. A long black arm shot forwards towards Pulse, and she jumped back, not missing a beat as she swung her tail around and sent a slicing blade of water spinning to hit the Lampent, although the attack simply caused it's flames to swell even further as if completely unharmed. "You will not STAND when I am finished. You will BEG me to end you!" it shrieked, the eyes on the glass smoking before it released a beam of pure fire. Pulse cried out in alarm as the beam hit her and she flew backwards, crashing into me, but already those long arms were reaching forwards and snagging one of her back paws.

Now her own gaze turned to one of fear and she called out to me in panic "Flaras! Help me!" I was frozen in terror until that point, but now a surge of emotion deep within brought me to my paws and I leapt forwards and clamped my mouth around the Lampent's arm, biting down hard. The flames inside it burned yet hotter but being fire-typed gave me natural resistance to the heat. I bit down harder and forced it to release Pulse in favour of grabbing me. But instead of pulling me closer the Lampent threw me as hard as it could into the wall and I screamed in pain as I felt something snap in my paw. Pulse was at my side in an instant, entwining her tail around mine and holding me tightly, as much for her own comfort as mine. The Lampent's furious gaze focussed just behind us and the door opened.

Standing in the doorway was a dark bat, tall and fierce-looking. But it was the eyes that got me: they were blood-red and exactly matched the eyes I had seen at the crossroads before. I opened my mouth to speak but before I could say anything the Gliscor darted forwards and as I tried to move I knew I was too slow; sharp fangs pierced my shoulder, earning another scream as bolts of white-hot pain surged through my body. Pulse tried to get hold of the Gliscor but the Lampent's snaking arms shot forward and fastened around both of her back legs, ripping her away from me. The fangs pierced deeper into my shoulder and all I could see was Pulse being pulled towards the raging inferno of the Lampent's flames as she screamed and-

Pulse's PoV

My eyes shot open as I screamed for a few moments until I realised something- I was not being agonisingly burned to death by a Lampent, nor was Flaras having the blood sucked from his body by a Gliscor. Speaking of the Flareon, I immediately moved close and tightly hugged him and we both sat on the floor holding each other tightly as a familiar Poochyena came into view. I saw the Pawniard- Voridus- step backwards, a purple glow receding from around him, and I realised what had truly happened. "That was a nightmare…" I gasped, my limbs suddenly feeling shaky. Mirian gave me a dark and menacing stare; "Yes, Voridus put you both into a nightmare. Now that you're suitably shaken, you are going to do exactly as I tell you to as heir to the throne."

I shook my head and growled at him. "Never! I would die before I follow your commands!" But scarier than him getting angry, Mirian just flashed me a nasty smile and gestured to Voridus, who stepped forwards with a purple energy reforming around him. I realised what was about to happen and shrank back, but it was no use. I had time for one final thought before the darkness overcame me once again;

It wasn't the Gliscor or the Lampent, or anything else I may see in my head… for his lack of remorse and his pleasure in doing this, truly Mirian is the scariest monster of them all...