Switching Lives

PokemonFreak90: Time for the first official chapter as we introduce our two main characters. We hope that you enjoy!

MDM: I totally agree! Let's roll it!

Chapter 1

Wish for the Better

Princess Salvia was reading a book in the castle's huge library when a servant knocked on the door. "Come in." She said as she closed her book.

The servant then came in and said, "Princess Salvia, the Queen wishes to see you in her chambers immediately."

Salvia controlled her urge to groan. After all, a princess does not complain. "Very well." She complied.

She gracefully left the library, subtly checking her appearance in giant mirrors as she walked down the hall. Her midnight blue hair was kept back neatly in a bun and headband, her blue eyes were wide awake, and her casual blue sun dress didn't have a single wrinkle. Her white low heels were also polished nicely. Sometimes though, Salvia wished that her appearance didn't have to matter so much.

After a few minutes, she came to two huge white doors and knocked. "Enter." A voice called from the other side.

Salvia slowly entered into the room, where luxuries of all kinds were either on the walls or on desks and drawers. She then saw her aging mother on a soft velvet blue armchair, wrapped in a loose sky blue silk blanket. It was obvious that Salvia was the spitting image of her mother, since they both had midnight blue hair and eyes and pale skin. The queen wore an aqua green sundress with white lace around the trim, and she wore white satin slippers instead of her yellow low heels.

"Sit, my darling." Queen Johanna patted the matching plush chair adjacent to hers. Salvia walked up to her mother and sat down in the spare chair.

"What did you need to speak with me about, Mother?" Salvia asked.

Johanna took a deep breath and said, "I have called to inform you that another suitor will be arriving tomorrow."

"Not another one, Mother!" Salvia retorted, but quickly regained her calm composure when Johanna glared at her sternly. But still, she wasn't pleased. This had to be the fifteenth suitor that had come for her hand.

"Hear me out, darling. This prince is from Kanto, and from what I've heard, he is rich and a respectable young man. He had never answered any other proclamations of marriage until now." Johanna explained.

Salvia thought about it for a few seconds. This prince probably mostly keep to himself if this was his first time answering something such as this. None of her other suitors were like this. They just wanted her for her kingdom, since she was the soon-to-be-queen. They didn't really care about her and Salvia had rejected each one. But still, she wanted nothing to do with this.

"Mother, I know that it is my duty as princess to consider things like this. But do I have to get married so soon? I am only eighteen. Even you waited a bit before you were wed."

"I know, Salvia." Johanna said. "But you know that I am not going to be around forever. I just want to make sure that you will be taken care of before I pass."

Salvia felt tears welling up in her eyes. She wished that her mother wasn't dying so soon. But also, she wished that she could at least have a say in something.

"But this is about my life." She said, controlling her urge to shout, but her voice was slowly raising as she continued. "I will allow him to visit, but as I have done before with the others that have come, I won't go through with this." With that, she got up and left the room, leaving her mother, angry tears streaming down her face.

Johanna sighed. Her daughter was just as stubborn as she herself was when she was her age. But she had no choice but to do this for her. It was for the best.

In her own chambers, Salvia was sitting by her bed, quietly shedding tears. A huge winged Pokémon then came beside her. Togekiss hated seeing her mistress sad. She rubbed one of her wings on her back with a reassuring coo.

Salvia softly stroked the head of her beloved Pokémon with a sad smile. "Hopefully, things will change, Togekiss."

She stood up from her bed and walked out to her balcony, seeing every inch of her kingdom. She loved this land. She would do the right thing, even if she didn't like it. But she still wondered what life might be if she wasn't a princess.

What if she was free to live her own life the way that she wanted? As a princess, she had known for her entire life what her future would be: to take over the throne someday. She had no choice in what her future would be.

Elsewhere in the kingdom, there was a large house that belonged to a wealthy man named Cyrus. Working in his house was a servant named Dawn, who had lived a much different life than the princess had.

Growing up in an orphanage, she knew nothing about herself except her name. Once she had grown old enough to support herself, Cyrus had hired her as his servant. But each day, she worked from dawn 'til dusk. Cyrus just constantly threw chores her way, and at the end of the day, he didn't pay her full wages and that always makes Dawn frustrated. Cyrus would sometimes treat Dawn coldly, but sometimes with some mercy.

Still, she had three meals a day and a place to sleep at night, and if she decided to leave, she would just be living out on the streets, so Dawn never thought about leaving. This life was all that she'd ever known.

Sometimes, she would look out one of the windows of the servants' quarters, which had a nice view of the castle in the distance, dreaming of a life supposedly fit for a princess. She wished that she could live a wealthy, easy life with her own servants that did everything for her. Ironically, she didn't know that a certain princess in said castle was often looking out her own window, wishing the exact opposite for herself.

Little did they know that today, they would each get their wish!

On this day, Dawn had just finished cleaning the chimney of Lord Cyrus' household. She wore a ragged black work dress and work shoes. Her hair, face, and clothes were now all covered with soot. She felt out of place, seeing all of the fine things around her on the shelves in the room. Piplup, her loyal Pokémon, was standing beside her.

Dawn had met Piplup several years ago while she was running an errand for Cyrus. Piplup had been abandoned by his owner and Dawn took pity on him and brought him back with her. Cyrus didn't seem to mind that Dawn now had Piplup by her side, as long as he didn't cause any trouble and stayed out of his way. Dawn also had to be the one to care for Piplup, on top of all her chores. It wasn't easy, but Dawn was glad to have a friend.

As Dawn was walking to the bathroom to clean herself up, Cyrus stopped her. He had spiked light blue hair and was wearing a dark grey suit with a black cape.

"I have an errand for you, Dawn. I have a letter that needs to be delivered." he said in a serious tone.

"Lord Cyrus, I need to wash up first after cleaning the chimney. I should look somewhat presentable before..." Dawn began.

"No!" Cyrus demanded, cutting her sentence off. "This cannot wait. I need this delivered to the castle NOW."

Dawn wasn't sure if she had heard him correctly. She was going to the royal castle?! A look of excitement came over her face. She had always dreamed about seeing what it was like inside the castle, where she could see what her perfect dream life could look like.

"Yes, sir! I'll go right away! Come on, Piplup!" she cried.

Dawn took the letter and she and her Pokemon dashed out of the house towards the castle, the place that Dawn had always dreamed of seeing. But she had no idea what was waiting for her when she arrived.

MDM: We hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I wrote Salvia's scene while PokemonFreak90 wrote Dawn's.

Well, we'll see you guys in Chapter 2! Please leave a review about what you think!

Got to fly! ;)