A lone Leafeon trodded towards a field of wheat holding a basket by the handle with her tail. "Harvesting wheat sucks," she complained aloud. She raised a front paw forward and made a bright green Leaf Blade extend out of her paw in front of her. "It's the same thing every day," she grumbled as she slashed the grain off the tops of the wheat stalks with her Leaf Blade, catching them in her basket.
She took a break much earlier than she was supposed to and sat down, gazing into the distance. She could see a beautiful blue sky and gorgeous mountains past the end of the plains and beyond the forests. "I wish I could go explore those mountains," she said for what was probably the millionth time. That was just wishful thinking, however. She had to harvest wheat every day or else her family would not have enough bread to eat. Why did eating have to be such a necessity?
Helena, Terry, Max, and their new teammate Chadwyck arrived at a decent-sized town after nearly two days of travel. They brought a small, light cart with them which held food and tents for them to sleep in, although it was often warm enough to sleep outside and it didn't rain often. Helena marched towards the large estate in the middle of the town with purpose. Villagers gave them intrigued looks, recognizing that they weren't from the village. This relatively remote village far out in the countryside didn't get visitors often.
The estate stood grandly compared to the surrounding huts made of wood and straw. A large, tall fence surrounded the property, protecting it from the outside. While Chadwyck and Terry admired the estate, Helena went straight to the front gate. There was no one there, so she stood up on her hind legs, grabbed two of the bars of the gate with her paws, and rattled them to draw attention.
Soon enough, a Bisharp arrived at the gate, looking irritated. "What do you want?" the servant demanded.
"I seek an audience with Duke Percival, sir," Helena requested.
"We do not accept unsolicited visitors."
"I am Princess Helena Kyukon," Helena said pointedly. "I have important matters to discuss with Duke Percival. On behalf of my father, King Nigel," she reluctantly added, knowing it would catch the servant's attention.
"...I will have to consult the duke first. Wait here," the servant said, heading into the large manor.
The servant returned to the gate ten minutes later but only allowed Helena in; the other three were told to depart the area before Helena was allowed past the gate for "security reasons." Helena brushed off her friends' concerns and told them to leave, then followed the servant into the yard. Once inside the magnificent manor, she was greeted by Duke Percival, a Pyroar.
"Princess Helena," Duke Percival greeted in a curious tone. "What brings you all the way to Lyonnais?"
"I have some urgent matters to discuss with you, Duke Percival," Helena said.
"Boris, please arrange some tea and a place to rest," the Pyroar commanded the Bisharp. "A princess's stay must be comfortable."
"That will not be necessary," said Helena. "Let me get straight to the point. It has come to my attention that you have unlawfully displaced Count Graham of Vertlyn by force, replacing him with your own son in charge of the village. Vertlyn Village is not part of the province of Lyonnais, so you are acting beyond the scope of your power as merely the Duke of Lyonnais. I find this unacceptable and demand that you withdraw your influence from Vertlyn Village and restore control to Count Graham and his liege, Duke Qasimir."
"What gives you the authority to make such a demand, Princess?" Duke Percival fired back.
"This is an order from my father," Helena lied.
"Very well, then. You can march right back to Kyukonnais and inform your father that he has no business interfering with my activities out here in Lyonnais."
"So you choose to disobey your liege's orders? You will not relinquish Vertlyn Village?"
"I send my taxes and offer my knights just fine. A little extra village changing hands will not affect your tribute. You may leave now," Duke Percival said coldly.
"Very well. I shall return to Kyukonnais and inform my father," Helena said. She turned to leave, swishing her tails haughtily.
"That was fast," said Terry once Helena found them. "You didn't settle down and drink tea?"
"You know I don't care for time wasters," Helena said. "Let's get going. We can reach Nuohnais before dark."
"What? Isn't that a whole province away?" Chadwyck exclaimed. He scratched his head, trying to recall the map that Max had shown him earlier.
"What are your plans?" Max inquired.
Helena leaned in closer and lowered her voice. "As expected, Duke Percival will not budge. So, I will take Vertlyn Village back by force and return it to its rightful owners. Let's go to Nuohnais and arrange a force to back us up."
"We walked and hauled this cart all the way here for two days and we're leaving already?" Chadwyck asked incredulously.
Helena shrugged. "It's not like there's much to see here anyway, right?"
Chadwyck craned his neck around in all directions irritably. "I guess not," he admitted. "No way in hell they have a tavern in this sucky village."
Helena's team reached Nuohnais that evening. It was rather tiring, although they did get to admire the countryside scenery and the beautiful mountains out in the distance.
"Princess Helena!" Duke Qasimir, a joyful Quagsire, greeted from outside his estate. "Welcome to Nuohnais! We are honored to host your visit."
"Thank you, Duke Qasimir. My friends and I are here to help you reclaim Vertlyn Village from Duke Percival," Helena announced.
The Quagsire's tiny eyes widened ever so slightly in surprise. "Truly? Consider myself blessed! Count Graham will be especially delighted to see you, Princess. Come inside," he said with a welcoming gesture, heading into his estate. "All are welcome!"
Helena introduced her friends to the duke and they settled down in a lounge room decorated with fine silk carpets and expensive furniture. Chadwyck regrettably had to take extra caution not to hit something with his powerful tail. They were soon joined by Count Graham, a Granbull, who was staying with Duke Qasimir after getting ousted from his own estate and village.
"I am humbled by your offer of assistance, Princess Helena," Count Graham said with a bow. "We were under the impression that no one would check Duke Percival's aggressive ambitions. Please give your father my thanks for the change of heart."
"Actually, the choice to help you is mine alone," Helena revealed. "My father cares little for the activities occurring at the fringes of the kingdom. Lyonnais and Nuohnais are the furthest provinces from the capital, after all. However, I believe that leaving Duke Percival to his own musings will not bode well for the future. I mean, look at how he has disrupted an entire village already! I will show my father that I can help run this kingdom effectively by reigning in Duke Percival."
"Well said, Princess," Count Graham nodded.
"I am all for putting our dangerous neighbor back in his place and retaking what is rightfully ours," said Duke Qasimir. "I have one concern, however. Do we actually have the means to reign in that menacing Pyroar? I can summon all of my knights and mercenaries, but you are aware that my forces are but a fraction of the forces that Duke Percival commands, yes?"
"Not a problem. I will lead us to victory personally," Helena said bullishly.
"Are there reinforcements coming from other provinces in the kingdom?" Duke Qasimir asked.
"No, it's just my team and me."
"I am afraid we do not stand much of a chance against Duke Percival, then," Count Graham said dejectedly.
"Can we convince some of the villagers to come?" Helena suggested.
"Villagers?" Duke Qasimir questioned. "This is a knights' job, the job of the nobility. Peasants need not be involved. They are not trained, either."
"Anyone can contribute a little to a battle. I will personally provide payments as an incentive," Helena said.
"Untrained pokemon would merely get in the way," Count Graham argued with his arms crossed.
"No matter," said Helena. "My team will surely be enough to swing the battle in your favor," she said, waving her tails towards her friends.
"Indeed, my dear duke," said Max with a bow. "My psychic powers will protect our forces and blunt our enemies."
"We will set them ablaze with the power of the sun," Helena said fiercely. "Right, Chadwyck?"
"Huh?" Chadwyck grunted, not expecting Helena to address him. In past jobs, he usually zoned out when nobles spoke, considering his typical role as a hired grunt. "Uh… yeah!" he exclaimed, copying Helena's tone and hoping he chose the right answer.
"If Duke Percival thinks you're weak, he wouldn't expect an attack at all. We'll attack them with the element of surprise!" Terry said excitedly.
"I do not know if this is wise…" Duke Qasimir contemplated.
"You can't sit back and do nothing, Duke Qasimir," Helena insisted. "Duke Percival will only get stronger and take more of your land. My father will not help you later. I am giving you an opportunity to take back what is yours right now. And Count Graham, how can you sit here idly while Duke Percival holds your land?"
"My fists do burn with vengeance," Count Graham growled.
Duke Qasimir gave a reluctant sigh. "Your points are true, Princess," the Quagsire conceded. "Very well, I shall send the word for my counts and their knights to meet us at the outskirts of Vertlyn Village tomorrow morning."
"Excellent. You won't regret this, Duke Qasimir," Helena pledged. " I'll prove to you what I'm capable of."
At the crack of dawn, Boris knocked fervently on Duke Percival's door. He was greeted by a drowsy and very irritated Pyroar. "My lord, my sincerest apologies for disturbing you at this hour," the Bisharp said with a deep bow. "I have received word from our spies that Duke Qasimir has summoned his forces for an attack on Vertlyn Village this morning."
"What? Impossible," Duke Percival growled. "That blue, rotund fool should know he stands not a strand of a chance against my might."
"According to my sources, it was Princess Helena who persuaded Duke Qasimir," Boris remarked.
"How dare she, that arrogant little girl," Duke Percival seethed. "I paid my taxes to the king already; She has no business disturbing my rule over Lyonnais. I will crush her beneath my paw!"
"Are such words wise, my lord?" Boris questioned, concerned. "I cannot imagine harming your liege's daughter to be a wise course of action…"
"Alert my counts from the other villages," Duke Percival commanded, ignoring his advisor's advice. "Then meet me at Vertlyn Village at once!"
The angered Pyroar quickly got himself ready and was about to leave his estate when he was intercepted by his daughter. "Father, where are you going? Are the preparations for my birthday party complete?" she asked.
"No, Priscilla, I have business to attend to," Duke Percival said sternly, sidestepping his daughter.
"What can be more important than my party?" Priscilla whined.
"Your brother is in trouble in Vertlyn Village and my power is being challenged," the older Pyroar growled. He left without another word.
Duke Percival gathered all of his guards then headed to the town bell at the center of the town. He rang it vigorously, the sound of the large bell blasting through the air. The villagers of Lyonnais trickled to the town center.
Duke Percival stood atop a wooden stage so he could look down upon the gathered crowd of peasants. Once he decided most of the village was present, he announced, "Our newly conquered Vertlyn Village is under attack. I require one member of each family to accompany me on a trip to defend it!"
The villager families broke into hushed, frantic murmurs and whispers. "Sire, it is harvest season," an elderly villager spoke up. "If we do not harvest as much grain as possible right now, it will be lost for the year."
"Any family who does not offer me support will incur an additional bread tax," Duke Percival countered. "Those of you who will accompany me, stay. Everyone else, return to the fields."
A small crowd of anxious villagers trailed behind Duke Percival and his guards as they traversed the road to Vertlyn Village. Roughly two-thirds of the families at Lyonnais opted to endure the threat of an extra bread tax over leaving more of their fields unharvested. If they waited any longer, the grains at the top of the wheat would dry up and be lost to the heat; it was hard enough to make enough bread for the year already. Those who followed Duke Percival did so reluctantly, apprehensive of what was to come. As Duke Percival's group made their way to Vertlyn Village, they were joined by knights and counts from other villages across the province. They bowed to Duke Percival and promised to uphold their oath to defend his holdings.
The knights were followed by many of their peasants too, all taken under threat of additional taxes or other punishments, except for one jubilant Leafeon. She pranced forward, admiring the landscape that any other pokemon would find boring.
"Lily, what are you doing here?" one of the villagers asked. "You are the best harvester in the village. How could your parents send you off at a time like this?"
"Oh, they told me to stay in the field, but I left anyway!" Lily said matter-of-factly. "I'm so excited to see the world outside our village!"
"What are you talking about, little girl?" an old, gruff villager interjected. "This is no time to joke around. We are going to get hurt!"
Lily shrugged off all of the villagers' comments, only thinking about how lucky today was that she got to do something other than farming in the wheat fields.
Duke Percival's small army arrived at the outskirts of Vertlyn Village just in time; his son and the knights he had assigned to protect it were about to face off against the army of Duke Qasimir. Duke Percival narrowed his eyes, spotting the unmistakable golden fur of an arrogant Ninetales at the helm of the enemy forces. He unsheathed his claws, digging them into the ground beneath him at the sight.
"Charge forward and crush them!" the Pyroar commanded.
Several knights led the attack, marching towards their adversaries. The villagers didn't know what to do until some knights in the back pushed them forward. They reluctantly, nervously followed. Some of Duke Percival's knights marched off to the side to flank the opposing army while others stayed in the back with Duke Percival to protect him.
Lily eagerly trotted along right behind the knights at the front. "What do we do?" she asked.
"Imagine those enemy pokemon are stalks of wheat and slice at them!" a knight instructed.
As they joined up with the defenders of Vertlyn Village and approached the enemy forces, Lily suddenly felt a wave of pleasant heat wash over her fur. She looked up and saw a ball of light casting bright, warm rays down on the battlefield like a second sun! She stopped walking for a moment, admiring the new sun with a look of wonder. Her amazed gazing was interrupted when a Charizard swooped towards them and unleashed a massive streak of fire.
Tons of villagers screamed and scattered out of the way of the Flamethrower, tripping over each other in panic. As the Charizard continued his fiery onslaught, a Zebstrika knight at the front fired a Thunderbolt at the wicked Charizard. However, a Light Screen materialized in front, stopping a lot of the attack so that the remaining electricity only mildly disrupted the Charizard. In the meantime, Duke Qasimir's knights began their own charge, ready to engage with Duke Percival's distracted forces.
Lily ran away from the Charizard's fire like everyone else, but surprisingly, she felt full of energy, even more than she usually did! Her body felt as light as a feather as her paws took her across the field at a blinding speed. She zig-zagged across the field in joy at her newfound speed. When she glanced at her paws, she noticed that her leaves were glowing bright green. She glanced up again and took note of the new sun, recognizing its blanket of warmth across her fur. Maybe the strange new sun was giving her energy? She shrugged it off when she heard the Charizard unleash more flames into the crowd. She cheered when one of the knights on her side landed an attack on the Charizard, then gasped as a bright green beam of light punctured into the knight, sending him flying back and sprawling across the ground.
As knights clashed with each other in the front and villagers feared for their safety, Lily noticed a group of knights attacking the enemy on the side. Seeing as the front looked pretty busy and too crowded already, she decided to go around the side as well. She zipped across the field using her newfound speed. Another bright green beam struck the knights on Lily's side, catching her attention. Lily spotted the pokemon who was making those crazy beams - a Ninetales in the center. Hey, those beams of green light are the same color as my Leaf Blades! Maybe I can do that too! Lily thought, but then she realized she didn't have the slightest idea of where to start. With a mental shrug, she decided it might be a good idea to take out that Ninetales before all of her fellow villagers ran away.
Lily scurried around the line of combatting knights, got behind the opposing lines, and started running towards the center. She was intercepted by a Kingler who fired a jet of water out of his smaller claw. Lily dodged the Water Gun and ran straight at the Kingler determinedly. The Kingler raised his larger claw, glowing blue from Crabhammer. Leaping upwards, Lily created a vibrant Leaf Blade extending out of her paw. With her super speed from the sunlight, she slashed at and soared past the Kingler faster than he could begin to slam his Crabhammer down. Lily's Leaf Blade clanked against the Kingler's shell and the Kingler collapsed on his back with a yelp, wiped out.
Lily dissipated her Leaf Blade as her forepaws hit the ground and she continued running, feeling completely exhilarated. She felt awesome! The next pokemon in her way was a Torracat standing out in the open and staring at her intently. She ran straight at the Torrcat, jumped, and extended her Leaf Blade again. The Torracat looked like he was about to roar at her but she was too fast; her Leaf Blade ripped through her opponent. However, when Lily landed and glanced behind her, the Torracat had disappeared! A split second later, she heard and felt a gush of fire coming her way. She just barely managed to dash out of the way using her extraordinary speed. She spotted the Torracat again, who had made the Flamethrower and looked completely fine! But Lily didn't bother thinking about it; she just charged at the Torracat again and hit him with Leaf Blade. This time, the Torracat cried out in pain as he was hit by her attack.
Feeling triumphant, Lily set her sights on the Ninetales again. Unfortunately, the Ninetales was now in front of the other enemy knights and unleashing ridiculous amounts of fire alongside the Charizard. Instead, she spotted a Meowstic and then a Quagsire nearby; that might be an easy target. Before she ran for the next opponent, though, her attention was caught by the Meowstic who had strangely unfurled his ears. His green eyes had turned solid white, which made him look quite creepy. Just when Lily was about to forget about the odd Meowstic and start running, a huge purple force blasted her out of nowhere, knocking her back with a cry. Undeterred, she got back on her paws, took a few speedy steps forward, then got blasted by the purple attack again!
More fire came her way, but Lily was able to dodge that with ease since she could see it and feel it coming. She spotted the Torracat and attacked him with Leaf Blade again, but like the first time, her Leaf Blade met no resistance and the Torracat disappeared. Lily was dumbfounded. How come the Torracat kept disappearing? How could she avoid that purple attack if it came out of nowhere? Lily noticed two more hostile knights looking at her and decided to run far away from the battle. At least no one could catch up to her with her newfangled super speed! Speaking of which, that was a mystery too. There were so many new things that she needed to figure out! What other crazy things could she see if she didn't have to farm the wheat fields all day?
"Max! What happened to your Reflect?" Helena hollered.
"My apologies; resuming now!" Max replied, his ears and paws glowing. "I had to stop for a moment because Terry got attacked by a Leafeon. I had to use Psychic to protect him," Max explained.
"Forget Terry and protect me! I'm doing all the heavy hitting," Chadwyck called from above with a conceited smirk.
"Protecting Max and Helena is important! But if you insist on some heavy hitting…" Terry dashed forward, gathering flames in his mouth and chest. His ears started smoking. Then he leaped up and shot a large ball of fire into the enemy crowd that came with a trail of smoke. His volatile fireball exploded on an enemy knight and split up in several directions, sending smaller smoky fireballs towards several other pokemon. Those also exploded on impact, sending out even more tiny fireballs, causing mass panic across the remaining villagers on the other side!
With the help of Max's protection moves, Terry's Flame Bursts, Helena's Solar Beams, and Chadwyck's Fire Blasts, Duke Qasimir's knights were able to gain the upper hand over Duke Percival's knights despite a two-to-one numbers disadvantage. Chadwyck, Terry, and Helena's Drought-empowered attacks had mostly scared off the unfortunate peasants that Duke Percival had dragged along, even some of the Pyroar's knights, too! As Duke Percival's forces retreated, Helena charged forward relentlessly, launching a Solar Beam that wiped out one of Duke Percival's personal guards.
"My lord, we should retreat," another guard pleaded.
"Never," Duke Percival growled. "I will take out that meddlesome princess myself. We have superior numbers; we will win." The Pyroar marched forward.
"This is most unwise," a guard grumbled.
"Come, we must protect our duke," Boris countered, the Bisharp trudging after his liege.
Duke Percival glared at the oncoming Charizard and Ninetales, his mane glowed white, and he let out a Noble Roar, the sound emanating throughout the battlefield.
Chadwyck cringed at the awful sound, flying off course. A Rock Throw hit him the next moment, sending him tumbling to the ground despite Max's Reflect slowing the rock down. Helena, however, simply pressed her ears against her fur as best she could and stayed the course. She fired a huge Flamethrower at Duke Percival, who was still roaring and not dodging. Boris bravely stood in front and took the attack, the Bisharp getting knocked out in one hit from his weakness to fire.
Duke Percival did not waste the precious seconds that Boris's sacrifice afforded him. His entire mane glowed an angry red and he unleashed an Overheat attack with all his might. Helena used Fire Blast to cancel out some of the fiery onslaught but was hit by the rest, shielding herself with her tails, Max's Light Screen helping marginally. She emerged from the flames injured but still in fighting condition. Duke Percival was immobile, having spent so much of his energy in the Overheat. Helena's next Fire Blast was on its way towards him, and none of the guards were as willing as Boris had been to take the hit. The Pyroar was seared right in the face and went skidding across the dirt. He tried to get up but was then met with a faceful of dreadful mud. Duke Qasimir, whom Duke Percival had once dismissed as a weak neighbor to be conquered, was now slapping mud across the arrogant Pyroar.
Duke Qasimir's knights drove away or knocked out the remainder of Duke Percival's forces, leaving Duke Percival captured and helpless. Helena drove this point home by stepping on his mane with a dirt-filled paw. The dirt on her golden paws had hardened from all the fire, which made it even worse. "Get off of me, you abhorrent fox," Duke Percival cried.
"Not until you agree to a treaty," Helena said. "Duke Qasimir, your demands?"
"You shall return the Vertlyn Village to Count Graham, who answers to me," the Quagsire started, looking quite pleased with his stance above the Pyroar who had once intimidated him. He then demanded a hefty sum of money.
"I have two terms to add," said Helena. "One, your noble feud shall come to an end. You may not expand the borders of Lyonnais any further. The villages you control now are the limit to your rule. This is an order from the crown of Solardie, and if you disobey, I will have to come here again and strip you of your title and holdings. And two… I would like to speak with one of your soldiers personally."
The next morning, Lily trodded towards her family's field of wheat, holding her basket by the handle with her tail as usual. She began mindlessly cutting the grains from the wheat stalks using Leaf Blade like she always did. Why was she back in the boring old field again? She wanted her super-speed back and wanted to go exploring again!
She took a break much earlier than she was supposed to and sat down, gazing into the distance. Then she spotted a Torracat. "Hey!" he called with a friendly smile. He started jogging over to her. "Uh, hi?" Lily said unsurely. Wait, weren't they enemies just yesterday? What was he doing here being friendly?
"Hi, I'm Terry! Do you remember me? We fought each other yesterday!" he said with a beaming smile.
"Yeah, I remember. I'm Lily."
"You looked really cool yesterday!" Terry complimented. "You're so fast!"
Lily sat down, feeling more relaxed now, and beamed back. "Thanks! Although I'm not usually that fast, I just turned super speedy during the fight. I'm not even sure why," she admitted sheepishly.
"It's definitely because of Helena's Drought!" Terry explained. "Do you remember the sun that was over the battlefield? My friend made it."
"Your friend made a sun?" Lily gasped in wonder. "That's so cool! How?"
"It's a Ninetales specialty," Terry said with a shrug.
"Oh, your friend is the Ninetales from yesterday? She looked really, really strong! Hey, is that her?" Lily asked, pointing behind Terry.
Terry turned around to see and nodded. "Yup. Hey, Helena! I found her!" he hollered.
"I'm not blind, Terry!" Helena called back with an amused tone.
Lily looked past the Ninetales and spotted the Meowstic too. He looked completely normal and pleasant right now, but Lily could still remember that creepy appearance when he launched his attacks. She then spotted the scary Charizard. He still looked just as scary.
"Um, what are they doing here?" Lily nervously asked Terry in a hushed tone. "What are you doing here?" she added.
"We're hoping you can join our team!" Terry said cheerfully.
"Your… team?" Lily questioned. "What kind of team?"
"I'll leave that to Helena," Terry said. "Helena, this is Lily!" he introduced.
"I'm so glad to meet you, Lily," Helena said with a warm smile. "I'm Helena."
"Hello!" Lily greeted.
"And I am Maximilian," said Max with a bow. "My sincerest apologies for the Psychic attacks yesterday, Lily. I was simply doing what I could to assist Terry. I do hope past conflicts will not prevent future friendships."
"Oh, no problem at all, Masima- uh…"
"You can call him Max," Terry said, stifling a laugh. Max gave a nod of agreement.
"Thanks, Max," said Lily, feeling slightly embarrassed. "And yeah, no hard feelings! Honestly, I don't even know why I was fighting for that Percy guy, so of course we can be friends!"
They all turned to Chadwyck, expecting him to introduce himself. "Hi, I'm Chadwyck," he finally said.
"Hi, I'm Lily!" the Leafeon said cheerfully. "You're a really strong dragon!" she complimented.
"Nah, he's not even a real dragon," Terry snickered.
"Hey!" Chadwyck growled.
"So Lily… are you really just a villager?" Helena asked.
"Uh, yeah… what else would I be?"
"I thought you were a knight for sure, considering how good you are at Leaf Blade," Terry complimented.
"I have to harvest a lot of wheat," Lily said with a shrug. "I wish I could go exploring, though."
"Oh, that's perfect!" Helena nearly squealed in excitement. "Lily, would you like to travel with us?"
"I'd love to!" Lily immediately said, brimming with delight at the opportunity to go anywhere. "Where do you go and what do you do?" she asked eagerly.
"Well, I have big plans," said Helena. "Fighting bandits, putting greedy nobles like Duke Percival in their place, to name a few… we're going to head back to Kyukonnais, the capital of Solardie. Do you want to explore and battle with us?"
"That sounds amazing!" Lily exclaimed, jumping for joy. "Oh, but there's one problem though… I'm not allowed to leave the village. I have to farm this plot of land to make bread to eat… forever…" she said, her joy deflating.
"Not if I have anything to say about it," said Helena. "I'll make it happen," she promised.
"How? We can't leave the village," Lily complained.
"Well, I happen to be the Princess of Solardie," Helena said with a smirk. "I'm above Duke Percival and he has to listen to me, especially after we defeated him in battle yesterday. I can also provide some money for your family to help them out while you're gone," she promised.
"Really? You can do that?" Lily asked, eyes shining with hope.
"Yup! I'll do that so you can join us," Helena said happily.
"But why me?" Lily questioned. "I thought princesses are supposed to be surrounded by knights and stuff."
"You were quite the formidable opponent yesterday," Max brought up. "Your Leaf Blades are exceptional. And on top of that, you wield the power of Chlorophyll."
"Chlorophyll?" Lily asked.
"It's an ability that gives you extra speed when you have access to lots of sunlight," Helena explained. "And I can make tons of sunlight for you. You'd be perfect for our team! So what do you say? Will you explore the kingdom and battle with us?"
"Yes!" Lily squealed. "This is so exciting! Thank you!" She went up to Helena and gave her a hug.
Terry smiled at Lily's excitement and antics. He was super happy that she was joining them. To his surprise, Lily turned towards him next and tackled him with a hug too. The next moment, he was enveloped in leaves and soft fur.
"Thanks for finding me, Terry!" she exclaimed.
Terry smiled, his cheeks warming. "Y-you're welcome!"
A/N 1/21/22: Back in the days of Pokemon X and Y around 2014, I used to play a ton of triple battles on Pokemon Showdown and XY Battle Spot on the 3DS. I had a ton of different teams, one of which was a sun team: Ninetales with Drought, Charizard with Solar Power, Meowstic with Prankster, and Light Screen/Reflect/Helping Hand/Sunny Day, Leafeon with Chlorophyll, Venusaur with Chlorophyll, and Mega Houndoom with Solar Power. That sun team is where some of the inspiration for Helena's team comes from!