An irked Charizard stood impatiently with his arms crossed and an annoyed expression on his fierce face. He was facing the tall, imposing walls of Kyukonais, the capital of Solardie. Half an hour ago, he tried flying over the walls and into the city, only to be stopped by a Pidgeot and a Braviary who told him no one was allowed to fly into the city and he had to go through the gate on foot. The Charizard was baffled by this rule and tried to ignore the other fliers, which earned him some suspicion. He was thrown outside of the walls and the guards told him he would not be allowed through unless someone from the city came to escort him. The Charizard begrudgingly told the guards who was expecting him.
Finally, the Charizard spotted an Incineroar approaching the massive gateway from the other side. The guards bowed to the Incineroar, who spoke with them briefly. Then the Incineroar strode forward with his head and chest held high, making eye contact with the Charizard.
"Chadwyck Bryckhart, yes?" the Incineroar asked.
"Hello," the Charizard said.
"I am Count Ignatio Gaogaen, royal advisor to the king," said the Incineroar. "Come along; the princess is looking forward to meeting you," he instructed curtly.
Inside those grand, majestic walls, the city wasn't actually much to brag about. It was pretty much a normal, boring town. All the buildings were a dull wooden color and there weren't many pokemon walking around. Was this really all that the capital of Solardie had to offer? Chadwyck considered asking Count Ignatio where the bar was, or if there even was a bar.
The palace, however, was a different story. It was tall, made of brick, painted in many colors, and covered in decorative banners. The palace looked like it was worth more than the entire rest of the city combined. Chadwyck almost felt the urge to fly to the top of the central keep of the palace and spread his wings. How amazing it would be to own a place like this, the Charizard fantasized.
"Come along," Count Ignatio urged upon seeing the Charizard ogling at the palace.
Chadwyck shook his head, frowning at the ground in front of him as he resumed his trek. He reminded himself of why he was here: he was supposed to be a bodyguard for a princess. He still didn't know why he was hired, considering he was a mercenary from a faraway land. It was going to suck, too. He imagined having to follow some little pokemon without a care in the world around the town and other pokemon would gush over her existence. And he would have to be on his best behavior all day, every day. So why did he travel so far and why was he going to go through all of that? Because the pay was insane. He would make more money in a month than he used to make in a year of fighting as a mercenary. No matter what, he would endure it. He had to, for the money.
Chadwyck followed Count Ignatio into the palace, ignoring the intrigued gazes of various servants. He only got to marvel at the extravagant interior for a few moments before Count Ignatio exited through another door, leading into a courtyard. Chadwyck spotted a Ninetales and a Meowstic there, studying a map.
"This is Princess Helena Kyukon, who you are sworn to protect," Count Ignatio said sternly. "Princess Helena, I brought your new bodyguard," he said to the Ninetales. "I still do not comprehend why you chose this foreigner. How will you prove his trustworthiness?"
"There's nothing to worry about, Count Ignatio," Helena said confidently.
"Hmm. We shall see." With a parting look of skepticism, the noble Incineroar made his exit.
"So, Chadwyck! Welcome to Rokon Palace!" Helena cheerfully greeted the ticked-off Charizard.
"Nice to meet you, Princess," Chadwyck grumbled. Keep your mind on the money, he thought to himself.
"You can just call me 'Helena,'" said the Ninetales. "I'm sorry if Count Ignatio gave you a hard time. He and my father insisted that I get a bodyguard. I looked through the elite mercenary listings and was interested in you, but they didn't want to hire a foreigner or a commoner," she explained. "I'll make sure you get the respect you deserve, I promise."
"Err, thanks," Chadwyck said unsurely. "So what do I have to do as your bodyguard?"
"Glad you asked! Well, I don't actually need a bodyguard, but I do have big plans and I need a team to support me. I chose you for my team because the mercenary listings specifically said that you love to fight in the sun."
"Oh… did it really say that?" Chadwyck said, scratching his head in confusion. "That was just something I said randomly to a former boss one time…"
"But do you feel like the sun helps you fight better?" Helena pressed.
"Well, I do like hot days," Chadwyck said with a shrug.
"I'm looking forward to seeing if it's true," Helena said strangely. "Anyway, we have a serious bandit problem outside the city walls. I want you to help me deal with them."
"What? You're sending me off to hunt down bandits? I signed up to be a bodyguard, not a scavenger," Chadwyck complained.
"No no, it's not like that at all. I'm going after the bandits," Helena said boldly. "You're just coming along to help me as part of my team. You see, my father sent my older brother off with a few knights to hunt down some of the bandits, but they haven't come back with any bandits yet. So I figured I could get the job done instead."
"Oh great, so I have to hunt down bandits and protect you at the same time?" Chadwyck grumbled.
"I don't need a bodyguard," Helena reassured. "I'll show you why once we get outside the city. And also, the rest of my team is coming too. Like Max here," she said, nudging her Meowstic friend with one of her tails.
The Meowstic smiled serenely. "A pleasure to meet you, Chadwyck," he said with a bow. "My name is Maximillian Nyaonix."
"But you can just call him Max," said a new voice. A grinning Torracat appeared from behind a pillar and started walking towards the others. "Hello! I'm Terry. Sorry, I was hiding from my father since I'm supposed to be at home doing boring stuff. I can't wait to hunt down some bandits!"
"Max will protect us using Light Screen, Reflect and Safeguard," Helena told Chadwyck. "Terry, well, he doesn't do anything too helpful," she said with a smirk.
"Hey, take that back, Helena!" Terry fussed. "I'll show you what I can do." He started glowing white for a moment, then another Torracat split off from his body. "See my Substitute?" he said, both Torracats grinning widely.
Terry and his copy started walking towards Chadwyck, but Max saw where this was going. "Terry, halt. Refrain from using such moves within the palace," the Meowstic said sternly. His eyes glowed purple and a purple wave of energy blasted the fake Terry, making it fizzle out.
"Hey! But you just used Psychic!" Terry complained.
"He meant no irresponsible move usage in the palace," Helena teased. "Alright, no more fooling around. Let's head to the countryside and put down some bandits."
"We were analyzing all of the recent complaints of bandit attacks on a map before you arrived. We know exactly where we should go to catch the next batch," Max stated matter-of-factly.
"Eh? We're going out to fight already? I can't get a tour of this amazing palace?" Chadwyck protested.
"I have a feeling you will enjoy fighting with us more than a tour," Max said with a knowing smile. "You will see," he insisted after Chadwyck gave him an unconvinced look.
The four pokemon headed out of the magnificent Rokon Palace and into the bland streets of Kyukonais. After just a minute, Chadwyck flapped his wings irritably. "Can I fly us out of here?" he asked impatiently.
"Unfortunately not," Max said. "Only pokemon in the king's guard and the city guard are permitted to fly above the city."
"That's stupid," Chadwyck huffed. "What are bird pokemon supposed to do to get around? Walk on their tiny feet?"
"They can fly at ground level, but not any higher than a building," Max stated. "It is because we have our city walls that are meant to keep out unwanted pokemon. They would be rendered moot if pokemon were permitted to fly in, so all flying above ground level is prohibited. Our sky is protected by the city guard at all times."
"That's ridiculous," Chadwyck predictably grumbled.
"Well, haven't you heard of those stories of dragons flying over villages and setting everything on fire? We can't let anyone like that give us a fly-by!" Terry piped up. Chadwyck stopped in his tracks in front of Terry and glared down at the Torracat menacingly. "What? I'm not saying you'd do that. You're not even a dragon!" Terry remarked with a wide grin.
Helena laughed, and even Max let out a small chuckle. "Har har," Chadwyck said sarcastically, crossing his arms and turning his head away pointedly.
"Although, since you're technically my bodyguard, maybe I can get them to let you fly," Helena offered.
"Oh, really? Thanks," Chadwyck said, not expecting that. Maybe this princess isn't so bad after all, he considered.
Once they left the city and were on a path towards a village, Terry said, "Now I can show you what I can do!" He used Substitute to make a fake Torracat and walked up to Chadwick on one side with his copy on the other side.
"What is it?" Chadwyck asked, crossing his arms but trying not to grumble again.
Suddenly, both Torracats' faces turned a much darker orange and their yellow eyes glowed a deep red. Their carefree smiles simultaneously transitioned into open maws, ready to bite. Chadwyck surprisingly flinched in shock at the sudden change that came from Terry's Scary Face. Then, both Terrys let out an ear-splitting roar.
"Augh!" Chadwyck cried, his clawed hands darting upwards to cover his ears. He immediately swung around, his tail sweeping through and destroying Terry's Substitute then sending the real Terry rolling across the grass.
"What was that for?!" Chadwyck roared.
"Blame Helena for saying I had no specialty," Terry said innocently.
"Arceus, Terry, that was a little too far," Helena judged.
"Oh don't worry, I'll get him back," Chadwyck said threateningly.
"I'd like to see you try!" Terry chimed, completely unfazed from the tail smack and threat.
"You are truly playing with fire this time, Terry," said Max.
"Chadwyck, you're about to experience the short end of Terry's endless mischief!" Helena laughed. "Don't worry though, I've endured it for years. You'll be fine."
Helena, Max, Terry, and Chadwyck eventually came upon the outskirts of a small collection of farmers' huts in the middle of several large wheat fields. "I've been keeping track of every farm that's been hit by outlaws in the past month," Helena revealed. "This group of farms is the only one in the area that has not been robbed recently."
"So we're just gonna wait here and hope some bandits show up? In broad daylight?" Chadwyck asked. He wasn't sure whether he liked the idea of "getting paid to do nothing" more than the idea of "sitting around waiting for something that wasn't going to happen."
"Yes, in broad daylight," Max confirmed. "The villages and farmlands outside the city are owned by local counts. Unfortunately, those counts care little for the safety of their farmers as of late," he said solemnly. "With no one to stop them, the outlaws have grown bold."
"It got so bad recently that farmers started going to the city begging the guards to go out and stop the bandits," said Terry.
"My father sent my brother out with a few knights to catch some outlaws a few days ago, but they haven't come back with any results yet. If my brother cannot do the job, then I will," Helena said determinedly.
"Whoa, hold on, if knights are having trouble catching the bad guys then how are we supposed to do it?" Chadwyck complained.
"We won't have any trouble," Helena said casually. "In fact, I think you're going to have quite some fun. Just you wait." Chadwyck just stared at her, incredulous and perplexed.
"Eh, why wait?" said Terry. "Let's go talk to the farmers about this."
The team of four headed towards the villager huts, but oddly enough, they didn't spot any pokemon working in the fields. When they got to the closest hut, Terry knocked on the wooden door. "Hello!" he said cheerily. There was no response; it was oddly quiet inside. With a shrug, Terry opened the door a crack.
WHAM!
"Ahhh!" Terry cried, being thrown over twenty feet back and crumpling to the ground. The door swung all the way open from the impact, revealing an angered Darmanitan with a glowing fist.
Helena, Max, and Chadwyck gasped upon seeing their teammate get pummeled. The Darmanitan gasped as well when he saw them. "Princess Helena?!" he cried. "What are you doing here, Your Highness? I thought it was more bandits!"
"Sir, I'm here to hunt down some bandits," Helena hastily explained. "When you say 'more' bandits, does that mean you've seen bandits recently?" she asked eagerly.
"Yes! We were attacked by bandits not long ago!" said the Darmanitan. "They stole-"
"Which way did they go?" Helena interrupted, her eyes lighting up with eagerness.
"That way," said the farmer, pointing his burly arm in the direction opposite of the way they came from.
"Max, hop on! Chadwyck, let's go!" Helena commanded, getting ready to dash. Max leaped up and landed on Helena's back; there was no way the Meowstic's tiny legs would be able to keep up with the Ninetales otherwise. With her friend on board, Helena broke into a nimble dash. "Sir, please take care of my friend who you clobbered!" she requested over her shoulder as they passed by a groaning Terry who was cradling his forehead with his forepaws.
"Hey, why are you so rash?" Chadwyck half questioned, half roared as he flew after Helena and Max.
"We gotta catch those bandits before they get too far, obviously!" Helena hollered back.
There were many fields of wheat and grapes across the landscape, the crops obscuring their view. While holding on tight to his ride, Max unfurled his ears in order to use all of his psychic powers. He surveyed a wide area in front of them, trying to sense any other pokemon out in the distance. "I found one other pokemon out there!" Max reported.
Sure enough, when they passed over the top of a hill, they could spot someone making their way towards the woods with a heavy sack. Upon closer inspection, though... "There's four of them!" Chadwyck growled.
"Ah, dark types…" Max sighed sheepishly, hopping off of Helena once she stopped. They could see a Weavile, Mightyena, Shiftry, and Kabutops carrying a large sack of stolen goods.
"Alright, Chadwyck, are you ready to see why you're going to love this job?" Helena said with a confident smirk.
"What is it already?!" Chadwyck roared irritably.
Helena pointed all nine of her tails towards the sky, then faced upwards too. Bright white beams of light shot up from her tail tips, combining into a ball of white above her. The ball of light started slowly rising up, gaining size and speed as it traveled higher as well as the light becoming blindingly bright. The orb kept rising high into the air, past the clouds, so high that it looked smaller even though it was growing bigger, until it exploded, blanketing the nearby area with rays of warmth and light.
Helena lowered her head and tails, grinning widely. "Do you like my makeshift sun? It's a long lost Ninetales specialty," she bragged.
"A hidden ability called 'Drought,'" Max added.
To his own surprise, Chadwyck was feeling invigorated by the direct sunlight coming from Helena's Drought. His fire burned brighter than ever, just begging to be released. His wings and tail burned with a wicked orange glow, flames flicking off with every flap and swish. "Oh hell yeah, I could get used to this," Chadwyck declared.
"The mercenary listings did not disappoint; you do indeed have Solar Power," Max remarked.
"I knew you'd come around," Helena giggled teasingly.
"Alright, maybe this will be interesting," Chadwyck conceded. "But just because you can make a sun doesn't mean I'll throw myself in there on your command!"
"Don't you worry," said Helena. She opened her muzzle and exhaled a large plume of fire for show, the heat enhanced by the sun. "I've got your back, my friend," she promised, getting ready to follow.
"And I shall offer my protection from afar," Max added. He held up his paws, causing a Reflect to momentarily appear in front of Chadwyck before dissipating.
"Then it's time to light this place up!" Chadwyck declared, grinning widely.
Meanwhile, the bandits had stopped in their tracks, their attention caught by the bright light and slightly increased temperature from Helena's Drought.
Chadwyck wasted no time, swooping in and unleashing a massive, shining Fire Blast at the four bandits. The bandits screamed, dashing out of the way. The star-shaped Fire Blast exploded but didn't hit anyone… except the bag of stolen goods. It went up in flames, smoldering into a pile of rubble in an instant from Chadywick's intense, Drought and Solar Power boosted attack.
"You bastard!" the Weavile screeched.
"That was food for my daughter!" the Mightyena snarled.
"You'll pay for that!" the Kabutops threatened.
The Weavile and Shiftry dashed forward at lightning speed, leaping into the air towards Chadwyck with Night Slash attacks. The Weavile struck Chadwyck, but a psychic barrier, Max's Reflect, materialized in front of Chadwyck, taking the brunt of the blow so that Chadwyck was only slightly jostled. The Shiftry was about to land his attack, but Helena unleashed a powerful Flamethrower in front of Chadwyck, and the bandit dashed straight into the searing flames with a scream of terror. The Shiftry tumbled to the ground, fainted.
The Kabutops fired a Hydro Pump at his fire-type adversaries, although as the jet of water traveled through the hot air of Helena's Drought, it weakened as some water evaporated. Chadwyck roared menacingly and fired a Flamethrower which collided with the Hydro Pump. The two attacks erupted into hot steam, fogging up the battlefield.
Helena used her psychic powers to connect with Max telepathically. Max, use Psychic to clear the steam, she thought, her psychic powers sending the thoughts to her friend. Then Helena pointed her nine tails to the sky again just like when she activated Drought. Her tails started glowing bright green and green energy bundled up into an intense ball of light, rising up above her.
Purple waves of energy popped up and ripped across the battlefield as Max used Psychic to clear out the steam, giving Helena a line of sight from her to the Kabutops. She raised her forepaws up and slammed them down, her eyes focused on the water-rock type bandit. A bundled beam of bright green energy launched out of the ball that had risen above her, headed straight down towards the Kabutops. Helena's Solar Beam slammed into the Kabutops before he could even react, wiping him out of the battle.
Meanwhile, the Weavile had been harassing Chadwyck with quick, nimble strikes, much to the Charizard's annoyance. He kept trying to Flamethrower the pesky bandit but the Weavile was too fast. At least he barely felt the impact of the strikes thanks to Max's Reflect, which never failed to appear and blunt the enemy's attacks. Getting frustrated, the Weavile decided to pivot towards the source of the Reflect, spotting Max at the top of the hill and launching a Dark Pulse before dashing towards the Meowstic.
Max dodged the slow Dark Pulse with ease. "If only you were not a dark-type," he mumbled. He then unfurled his ears to unlock more of his psychic powers, his eyes started glowing deep purple, and he directed his little paw towards a big boulder embedded in the ground. Max used Psychic to lift the boulder out of the dirt and hurl it at the oncoming Weavile, the boulder surrounded in a powerful purple glow. The Weavile yowled in surprise and dived to the side to avoid the boulder. Max tried to slow the boulder down and turn it around towards the Weavile again, but Chadwyck beat him to the punch, swooping in and roasting the Weavile with a mighty Flamethrower.
Helena smiled, glad that Chadwyck's fighting abilities were living up to her expectations. She was suddenly surprised by the ground rumbling below her. Before she could react, the Mightyena, the fourth and last bandit, shot up from the ground, barreling into her stomach. "Oof!" she cried, completely caught off guard by the surprise Dig attack. She landed roughly on the ground on her side. The Mightyena landed on his paws only a few feet away then readied a Crunch, his fangs glowing white and elongating as he opened his jaws threateningly. The Mightyena pounced forward jaws first, but Helena rolled out of the way. She engulfed her fur in flames and tackled the Mightyena, sending him back with a howl. Before the bandit could regain his senses, a purple glowing boulder slammed into him, knocking him out. The three victors each breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at each other triumphantly.
"Wooooow! You all are so cool!"
Helena looked up towards the top of the hill and spotted an ecstatic Darumaka, hopping from one foot to another and waving his stubby little arms in the air excitedly.
"Darrell!" the Darmanitan from before scolded, making his way to his son. "I told you not to wander on your own when there are bandits around!"
"But Princess Helena defeated all the bad guys already. Look!" Darrell urged.
"Good day, sir," Max greeted, calmly walking over. "Thanks to your prompt directions, we have the situation under control," he said, gesturing towards the four defeated bandits sprawled across the ground.
"Wait, what happened to the stuff they stole?" the Darmanitan asked.
"Uh…" Chadwyck stammered, guiltily scratching his head with a sheepish look.
"That was my family's hard-earned harvest!" the Darmanitan exclaimed angrily.
"I will compensate you and your family in full," Helena pledged. "Thank you so much for leading us to the bandits! I'm so thrilled to show everyone that I caught them!"
Terry arrived behind the Darmanitan, lacking his usual jubilant smile due to the huge bruise on his head. "Aw, what? The battle is over already?" he cried.
"Sorry, Terry!" Helena giggled. She turned to the Darmanitan. "Can we please borrow a cart to carry these bandits to the city?" she asked eagerly.
As the sun was setting across the horizon, Chadwyck hauled a cart full of the four fainted bandits along the path back to the city. Max had volunteered to pull the cart first using his psychic powers, and he went pretty far, but even highly practiced psychic powers had a limit similar to one's physical limits. Chadwyck went second and pulled the cart with ease at first, but got tired rather fast. He was determined to last at least as long as the tiny Meowstic did, though.
"I'm tired," Chadwyck eventually grunted. "Terry, it's your turn."
"Eh? But how am I going to pull the cart? I don't have hands or psychic powers!" Terry complained. "You do it, Helena!"
"I'll take the last stretch through the city," Helena promised. "Don't worry, we'll help you tie the ropes to yourself so you can drag the cart," she said with a slightly devious smirk.
Terry's ears and whisker-like fur drooped as he pouted. "I'm injured, though," he whined.
"We all are," Chadwyck countered with a grin, stopping the cart and bringing the ropes to Terry.
Helena used Psychic to take control of the ends of the ropes and tie them across Terry's front like a harness. "There we go," she said matter of factly.
Terry took a step forward but struggled. "It's too heavy," he insisted.
"You simply need our help to get going, my friend," Max remarked. "Since the cart has wheels, once it gets going you only need a fraction of the force to maintain its motion. Do you not remember what we learned in physics?"
"Let's go!" Chadwyck declared, pushing the cart from behind. Helena laughed and helped with Psychic, causing the cart to glow purple.
"Okay, okay, I'm pulling!" Terry exclaimed.
Once the cart was moving, Terry was able to drag the cart along with relative ease, pulling just enough to overcome friction. Unfortunately, the path was not very smooth at all, which made the job harder but still manageable. Terry was doing a fine job until Chadwyck snuck up to his side and bellowed out a loud roar.
"Ahhh!" Terry cried, stopping in his tracks and flattening his ears against his skull. The next moment, the front of the cart slammed into the poor Torracat. He was sent forward but was abruptly jerked back due to the rope running out of length, plopping onto the ground in front of the rolling cart. Helena and Max quickly caught the cart with Psychic before it ran over Terry.
"What was that for?!" Terry exclaimed.
"Just a little thing I call 'revenge,'" Chadwyck said with an evil grin. "This won't be the last time either. I'm going to enjoy this," he chuckled.
"Can't say you didn't deserve it," Helena said with a laugh.
Terry glared up at the smug Charizard, his head scheming up several plots to get back at Chadwyck.
Helena's team finally arrived at the city gate, Helena pulling the cart with Psychic as promised. "Good evening, Your Highness… what is this?" a guard asked apprehensively.
"My friends and I went out and caught some bandits," Helena explained. "I shall present these outlaws to my father and most likely throw them in the dungeon."
"I see… very well, the guards shall take care of them from here," the guard said.
"No no," Helena said, holding up a paw. "I wish to bring this cart to my father directly."
"We cannot allow bandits inside our city walls unguarded," the guard argued.
"They're fainted," Helena said flatly, flicking her tails behind her towards the unmoving bandits.
"And if they arise?" another guard questioned.
"I'll knock them down again," Helena said. "But if you insist, you may 'escort' us, no matter how necessary it may be."
Several guards sighed. "Very well, let us all proceed to the palace," one guard conceded.
As they trudged down the boring streets of Kyukonais, Chadwyck couldn't help but wonder about his thought from earlier. He looked around and down the side streets but still couldn't find anything remotely resembling what he desired. It probably wasn't something to ask of a princess, but he figured Helena was cool enough. "Hey, Helena, are there any bars in this city?" he quietly asked the Ninetales.
Helena rolled her eyes but chuckled lightly. "Well, there is one place down that street," she said, pointing with her tails. "It's not much, though."
They passed by a small gathering of pokemon on the main street, catching the attention of many. "Good evening, Your Highness," one of the pokemon, a Leavanny, greeted.
"Good evening, Laura," Helena said pleasantly.
"May I ask what this is all about?" Laura asked.
Helena smiled. "I went out to the countryside and caught some bandits who were robbing a farming family," she explained.
"Oh my, how excellent of you, Your Highness!" another pokemon praised. "It's about time someone really did something to stop the bandits from terrorizing our countryside. Thank you!" Several other pokemon joined the praise, others simply marveling at the feat or staring at the cart of bandits, examining the proof.
When they approached the palace, Helena asked one of the guards to rush ahead and bring her father to the front entrance. They had to wait a few minutes outside the palace for the Ninetales king, King Nigel, to appear. The Weavile bandit started stirring in the cart, so a Machamp guard delivered a solid punch to knock the bandit out again.
The magnificent front doors of the palace opened, and an older Ninetales with a crown on his head showed up. He was accompanied by Count Ignatio and the guard that Helena had sent. "Helena, what is the meaning of this?" King Nigel immediately questioned after he saw his daughter standing beside the cart full of bandits.
"Good evening, Father," said Helena, speaking respectfully to the older Ninetales. "Since Brother has not come back with any bandits for several days now, I figured I would go out and catch them instead. It was easy with the help of my new bodyguard. I brought the bandits to you for your judgement. I hope this will relieve some of the complaints coming from the countryside."
"Why are you outside the city walls getting dirty when you should be preparing for your wedding?" the king angrily asked.
Helena's optimistic and proud demeanor evaporated. She sighed heavily, resisting the urge to growl. "I decided to make better use of my time and abilities," she said stiffly.
"Leave the bandits to your brother," the father commanded authoritatively. "Prince Horace von Haxburg arrives in three months. You must clean up your act by then, Helena. I will not tolerate any more of this nonsense. Guards, take the bandits to the dungeon. Helena, go tidy up and prepare for dinner." With that, the harsh Ninetales went straight back into the palace without another word.
The guards took hold of the bandit cart, prompting Helena to relinquish her psychic control of it. They dragged the cart away to the dungeon entrance somewhere else in the city, leaving Helena looking down at her paws and kneading them against the ground.
Chadwyck stood there the whole time, not knowing what to say and also not wanting to say something stupid in front of these authoritative figures.
"Theodore Gaogaen!" a voice boomed. It was Count Ignatio, and he was approaching them.
Terry gulped. "Yes, Father?" he asked meekly.
"It is the same deal with you," the Incineroar declared. "I will not tolerate any more of your escapades when you are supposed to be at home taking care of your responsibilities. We are going now." He walked past Terry down the street and Terry reluctantly followed with his head down. "Look at that bruise on your head," Count Ignatio pointed out. "An injury like that is hardly befitting of a noble," he scolded. "Clearly, you are not as prepared to combat bandits as you claim."
"Oh, and Princess Helena, you did an honorable deed today. However, please refrain from distracting my son from his duties."
Meanwhile, Chadwyck was having trouble keeping a straight face. Theodore is Terry's real name? Oh, I am so going to make fun of him! he thought giddily. Maybe when he's not already under fire, though.
"Do not be so melancholy, my friend," Max consoled, patting Helena on the side with his small paw. "There is still time for things to change."
"I guess you're right," Helena sighed. "Gotta keep fighting for myself." They started heading towards the palace. "Come with us, Chadwyck. I'll show you your room," Helena said.
Later that night, Helena reluctantly went to her father's quarters. After the guard let her in, she saw that her father was talking with one of the kingdom's well-known heralds, an Exploud named Eugene.
"Helena, what are you interrupting us for?" King Nigel asked in an irked tone.
"Father, I need some money from the vault," Helena said.
"What is it for?" her father grumbled.
"When I went to capture the bandits, we accidentally burned up the stuff they stole. I need to compensate the farmer who lost his stuff."
"Forget it," the king dismissed.
Helena sighed, looking disappointed, but it was actually just an act. While her father ignored her and returned to talking with Eugene, Helena used Psychic to slowly open a drawer, withdraw a key and slide it under the rug to where she stood at the doorway. At the same time, she listened to her father's business with intrigue.
"Recently, two noble families have quarreled in Lyonnais over the use of a new mill," Eugene reported. "The dispute has become so heated that the two parties seem set to raise arms against each other unless we can settle the issue."
"Let them fight it out," the king said.
"Are you sure that is wise, my liege?" Eugene asked. "Letting the matter slip is essentially giving Duke Percival even more autonomy and control over Lyonnais. We cannot have dukes taking land from other dukes with force. Your position as king will appear weak."
"Frankly, I do not care for what happens out in Lyonnais, as long as Duke Percival is loyal and pays his dues. I have more important matters to attend to. What is your next report?"
With the vault key in paw, Helena slipped out of her father's quarters, but not without a new plan scheming its way into fruition.
Helena strolled through the night streets of Kyukonais, carrying a sack full of money she stole from her father's vault. She suddenly heard a ruckus not far away and went to investigate. To her surprise, she witnessed a familiar Charizard getting kicked out of a building - the bar that she had mentioned to him earlier. "Wow, Chadwyck, getting into trouble on your very first night in this city? Impressive," Helena remarked with a smirk as she approached him.
"Is that you, Helena?" Chadwyck said with a slightly slurred tone. He swung his tail in front of him so that the fire's light would illuminate the area in front of him, although his tail control was a bit clumsy.
"Yup, it's me," said Helena, creating a small flame on the tip of one of her tails to illuminate herself. "What happened to you?"
"The prices at this bar are absurd! I couldn't even afford enough to get tipsy! I demanded more for my money and they kicked me out!" Chadwyck exclaimed. Then he gasped in excitement. "Is that my pay?" he asked eagerly, extending a claw towards Helena's money bag.
"No!" Helena exclaimed, swatting his claw away with a tail. "This money is for the Darmanitan who got robbed. You know, since somebody burned up the goods."
"Oh…" Chadwyck mouthed, his posture deflating.
"Get a good night's sleep," Helena directed. "Tomorrow, we're traveling to Lyonnais."
"Where's that?" Chadwyck asked.
"It's a province on the edge of Solardie," Helena said. "It may take us two days to get there."
"What are we going for?"
"There's a local noble who thinks he can do whatever he wants. I want to go there and show him who's boss since my father won't. Now go back to the palace and rest; I'm going to the Darmanitan's hut to give him the money."
Chadwyck shook his head, wondering if he was hearing her correctly. "Right now? Why are you going in the middle of the night?"
"We're leaving tomorrow, so I have to give him the money tonight."
"Uh, I'll come with you," Chadwyck offered.
"Sure, if you want," Helena said with a shrug. "Didn't you just have alcohol, though?"
"Like I said, I couldn't even afford enough to get tipsy," Chadwyck said. "And I'm supposed to be your bodyguard, right? If something happens to you, I sure as hell won't get paid."
"I said I don't need a bodyguard, but fair enough. Let's go," said Helena.
"What kind of princess goes off on her own in the middle of the night?" Chadwyck remarked critically as he and Helena walked down the countryside path under the darkness of the night sky.
"One who's in charge of her own future," Helena said determinedly.
"Wouldn't you be scared by yourself out here?" Chadwyck prodded. "You could get attacked by bandits," he said seriously.
"I can sense other pokemon coming with my psychic powers," Helena said.
"Aren't you afraid of the dark? Anything could be out here."
"Why be afraid of the dark when I can command the sun?" Helena declared with a cocky smirk.
"Kind of exaggerating, there…"
"Yeah, but it sounds good, don't you think?"
Chadwyck shrugged. "You are one strange princess."
"I alone will determine my place in the kingdom, not anyone else. And you're going to help me along the way," said Helena.
A/N 1/16/22: Welcome to the world of Kyukon Universalis! Like my previous story, this story takes place in an original medieval/renaissance era pokemon world. My love of medieval settings comes from playing video games set in that time period; most notably, Europa Universalis IV, or EU4 for short. A lot of ideas coming in this story (and the title!) are loosely inspired by things in EU4. However, the interesting thing is that EU4 doesn't have a plot; it's an open-ended history simulator where you control a country from 1444 to 1821 and can do whatever you want with random events happening every so often.
I played EU4 obsessively in 2020 and early 2021 and there was one strategy I kept doing in every playthrough that I thought, "Hey, I wonder if I can write a pokemon story around this idea?" So I started with that, and over the next few days and weeks, I took a bunch of random events from the game and arranged them into a loose plotline. Most of the chapter names come from the names of events in EU4. Over the next year, the ideas kept coming and the doc kept growing as I came up with characters and details for my own medieval pokemon world.
Anyway, just wanted to mention how I came up with this story and how it's inspired by the game Europa Universalis IV, but there's no specific knowledge you'd need to know about the game because it's all based on history with no plot and my inspiration is from random generic events. This story is basically an original story taking place in an original medieval setting. Also, I know I'm using the same old trope of the main character being a princess who wants to avoid an arranged marriage. I used the same thing in my previous story (The Ember and the Spark) and it's probably pretty common, but hey, I like it. Especially with pokemon since it feels pretty natural for any pokemon to learn moves and get strong. I promise this plot is (hopefully) unique despite the common princess trope. I hope you enjoy!
P.S. The story cover photo is Aurora Castle from Pokemon Conquest. Fitting since it's a medieval pokemon game. I played that game for at least 200 hours :)