Switching Lives

MDM: Holy smokes! Sorry for taking a long time. But things have been pretty busy with school finishing up for the summer. But I hope you all have been patient.

PokemonFreak90: Yeah, I've been anxious to get back to work on this story! So, we won't keep you longer! Roll it!

Chapter 7

Making a Stand

As Salvia and Candice walked through the village, the sad conditions of the people only made the disguised princess even more sorry for them, feeling her heart bleeding for them. But it wasn't just the people, the Pokémon were also suffering. Salvia wished that there was something she could do. Unfortunately, with her appearance at that moment, there probably wasn't much. Still, in her mind, she vowed once again to restore her kingdom to its former state once she became the queen.

Soon, she and Candice arrived at the marketplace. At least there was still food being sold. The only problem was that not very many people could afford to pay for it.

Suddenly, there was a ruckus from one of the fruit stands. Two teenage kids were chasing a dirty Glameow, who had an apple in its mouth. It likely stole it from the stand and was now making a break for it.

"Get back here, you dirty cat!" The teenage boy shouted after the Glameow, his female partner following suit.

That did it. Salvia knew that she couldn't just stand there and do nothing. She gave Candice her basket.

"I'll be right back!" She told her as she took off running after the two teenagers and the Glameow.

"Dawn, wait!" Candice called after the disguised princess. But Salvia was already out of sight, with Piplup hanging tight onto her head. Candice quickly went after her.

Salvia followed the two teenagers and the Glameow into a dark corner of an alley, where the Normal type had no chance of escape.

"Got ya now!" The boy said.

The girl stomped over to the Glameow and tugged the apple away from the starving Pokémon. "Get out of here now!" She shouted. "We don't need another mouth to feed!"

"Stop right there!" Salvia shouted, using her authoritative voice. The two teenagers turned to look at her.

"This street Pokémon stole a fruit from our stand." The boy explained. "We only sell what we are able to sell without letting ourselves go hungry."

"Can't you see that the poor thing is starving?" Salvia asked, walking over to the Glameow. The cat Pokémon backed away a little bit, nervous about the new person.

"It's alright." Salvia said gently. "I'm not going to hurt you." She reached into the pocket of her apron and pulled out a slice of bread. "I'm not going to eat this. I want you to have it."

The Glameow cautiously walked up to Salvia and the bread that was in her hand. It looked up to Piplup, who nodded to it in reassurance. The Normal type then sniffed the pastry and meowed in delight as it began to gobble up the slice of bread. Salvia giggled as she watched.

"Wasn't that your lunch?" The girl asked Salvia, but she didn't sound angry. Instead, she was curious.

Salvia nodded and said, "Although people don't have much themselves, they should at least give some of it to those who have nothing at all."

"I wish that were possible." The boy said. "The ones with the most food to sell are the traveling merchants. But hardly anyone has enough money to buy their items."

Salvia had a look of determination on her face. "I might be able to fix that." She said. "Follow me!"

With that, she took off running again, with the teenagers and the Glameow following behind her. They even passed by Candice, who just groaned and began to follow them again. Soon, everyone was back in the marketplace.

"Which one is one of the merchants?" Salvia asked the teenage boy.

"Over there." The boy pointed to a man who had a cart filled with baked goods. Salvia went over to him.

"Excuse me, sir. Would you mind if you share all that you have to offer here?"

"What makes you think that I'll do that, servant girl?" The merchant demanded.

Salvia opened her mouth to retort back, but she quickly looked over her attire and saw that she indeed was still a servant girl and not Princess Salvia.

Or maybe not. She thought, when her eye caught something on her right ring finger. The ring that placed there was small and golden with a small blue diamond in the middle with the royal crest reflected inside. Her royal ring, which symbolized her position and what she'd never leave behind, might be able to change his mind.

But then, my one taste of freedom will come to an abrupt end and Dawn will be in danger. Another voice in her head said.

Salvia, however, pushed away those thoughts. Right now, there were more important things than being free. She knew that a true ruler's duty was to put her subjects' wants and needs before her own.

"By order of Her Royal Highness, Princess Salvia, and your future queen." Salvia said proudly, stepping up.

The merchant laughed, while Candice and the two teenagers were confused. "And what makes you think you're the princess?" He asked Salvia.

Here we go. she thought. No turning back now.

"With this." She held up her hand that had the ring and showed it to the merchant. The man's eyes widened. That ring bore the royal crest and only two were ever made. Since the queen was ill and much too weak to make the journey, that could only mean that this girl was telling the truth.

The merchant quickly bowed down to her. "Your Highness, forgive me!" He said. "I didn't recognize you."

Salvia lowered her hand. "Rise." she said. "It's quite alright, my good sir. I had to disguise myself so that I could see for myself the conditions of my people. I have learned and seen that they are suffering, but I plan to change that."

"They would be most grateful, Your Highness." The merchant said. By now, a crowd had begun to gather.

Salvia smiled. "Now, about that share. You give what you can give and when I get back to the castle, I'll make sure that you get your pay."

"Of course, princess." The merchant said. The crowd began cheering as Salvia grabbed some of the bread and started to give them to the people, one by one.

The teenage kids came up to Salvia. "Thank you, Your Highness." The boy said.

"You'll make a wonderful queen someday." The girl added.

Salvia blushed. "Thank you both. Now go and get your share." The kids brightened up and headed to the stand.

Glameow came up to the disguised princess and purred at her, rubbing against her servant's dress.

Salvia giggled. "Of course I haven't forgotten about you." She said, handing it a piece of bread. Glameow gratefully took it and ate it while Salvia petted it.

Candice was in shock the whole time. Dawn wasn't really Dawn this entire time! She was actually Princess Salvia! That explained everything! Her strange, cheerful behavior, her shock when she saw the village, it all made sense.

But then, another thought came to her head: If Salvia was pretending to be Dawn, then that would mean that Dawn was pretending to be the princess. But why did those two look so similar? As Candice dwelled on that thought, she noticed that they both had the same midnight blue hair, sapphire blue eyes, and fair skin. How was it possible?

Unbeknownst to everyone at the joyful scene, Saturn was watching everything from behind a house. He had a look of surprise on his face, but it quickly morphed into a sinister smirk.

"Master Cyrus is going to love hearing about this." He whispered to himself before he disappeared behind the crumbling building.

PokemonFreak90: It looks like Salvia's secret is out! What will this mean for the princess for the rest of the story?

Still, Salvia uses her power as the princess to help out the people of her kingdom and even makes a new Pokémon friend along the way! Glameow will be staying with her from now on.

Be sure to stay tuned for the next chapter, where Dawn will make a new Pokémon friend, too! Can you guess who it will be?

MDM: Leave your guesses in the reviews! Until then, we'll see y'all!

Got to fly! ;)