The Primape King
It was another warm, damp day in the Pokemon Jungle. We awoke mid morning to find Marrill and Maki playing in the creek, splashing each other with water, something Marrill seemed to enjoy a whole lot more than the Makimur. Our memories of the night before seemed almost as a dream, except for the soreness in my back from the damp ground and the aching pain in my left shoulder, where I had received a bullet wound some months ago. Kameron appeared better than I, perhaps he was used to sleeping on uneven ground. If the night before seemed like a dream, realisation dawned when we saw the tattered remains of our belongings, the ones that had been left on the path because they were overlooked in the dark or too damaged to be bothered moving. Our emergency radio, already broken, was now nothing more than a few torn cogs and pieces of metal, my sleeping bag, devastated the night before, now resembled confetti. We were just lucky we'd managed to recover the first aid kit, the Pokedex, some bear Pokemon-gnawed food and our water canteens. After we had filled the canteens from the creek, I glanced at Kameron.
"What are we supposed to do now?" I asked, almost desperately.
He shrugged. "Well, we could go back and admit defeat, but something tells me you're not willing to do that, right?"
"We can't go back!" I almost shouted. "Imagine what Gary would say! We'd have failed the Doctor and it'd be so much harder for him to get funds for another expedition. Of course we have to continue."
"See," Kameron smiled.
We wrapped what was left of our belongings in the remnants of out tent and tied it onto Ponyta, who having spent the night resting in its Pokeball seemed much happier to procede then us. Kameron picked up Marrill and put it in his pocket.
"Why don't you put it in a Pokeball?" I asked, curious.
He shrugged. "How can she find a new home if she's trapped in a ball? Besides, I kind of like having her around."
"Marrill!" She said happily.
"I suppose I can hardly complain," I said with a wry smile, patting Maki on his round head. "Let's go."
"Ponyyyy-taa," it whinnied and we were off.
We reached the waterfall by mid afternoon, and it was a truly awesome sight to behold. We had yet to break for lunch, because neither of us fancied bear gnawed food. There was something playing in the water when we got there. As it saw us it swam to the other side, peering at us nervously.
Kameron pointed our Pokedex at it.
"No Pokemon found." It intoned, sounding the worst for wear.
Don't tell me its broken," Kameron sighed, and pointed it at Marrill who had just jumped into the water with an almighty splash.
"Marrill, the water mouse Pokemon. Marrill has very good hearing and can hear a pin drop 50 yards away."
"Marrill!" Marrill agreed.
"So, its working, why didn't it identify that Pokemon."
The creature had peered out of the water and was watching us with beedy black eyes. It looked a bit like Magumarashi, only there was something odd about it…
"You know, I think it's a real animal," I suddenly stated. "Doctor Warwick said there were still some left here, in isolated areas. Perhaps this is one whose niche has not yet been intruded on by Pokemon! The Doctor would love to know about this."
I pulled out my notebook, which had survived the bear attack, and drew a quick sketch of the creature. It was fairly small, no more than about two feet long and watched me as curiously as I watched it. Then Marrill demonstrated why these creatures were only found here.
"Marrill! Marrill!" She shrieked, seeming to notice it for the first time, and swam towards it. She then sprayed a jet of water at it, but the creature dove beneath the water and disappeared. "Marrill, rill," she swam back to the shore, sounding disappointed.
"This is interesting," I exclaimed, "I think Pokemon must outrightly just dislike any real animals they see. Perhaps they realise that these animals must compete with them for food and thus try and get rid of them. We can't leave Marrill here, it'd never co-exist with this animal, and this animal is rare."
Kameron yawned. "You're starting to sound too much like a scientist for me," he said, stretching out on a flat rock in the sun. Nearby, the thunder of the waterfall drowned out any external noise. It was a beautiful waterfall, at least twenty feet tall, the water seemed to erupt from the middle of the cliff and shower down in three steps, gaining more water each time, so the first step was a trickle, the second a pour and the third a torrent. The river above must funnel through all these tunnels.
"Ozmos, Razor, come out and play, but don't hurt the local wildlife," I said. I was confident that I could recall them in time if they decided to attack the animal. "What do you think it is?" I asked Kameron.
He shrugged. "I haven't a clue. You'll the wanna be zoologist."
Suddenly I realised that I had not seen Maki for a while. "Where's Maki? MAKI!" I called.
"Maki murr," he replied, jumping down from a tree holding what appeared to be a bag he must have made from scraps of my sleeping bag. "Maki," he opened the bag out in front of us. It was filled with fruit. Some of it was a little squashed, and other bits had obviously been nibbled at (probably by a hungry little Makimur), but the intent was clear.
"Thank you Maki," I said, giving him a hug and pushing aside Vaporeon who'd bounced over for a look. "You, go catch some fish or something, there isn't enough here for you, feed yourself for once."
"Vapor-eon." She said sadly, and I felt instantly sorry.
"Ok, just one little apple thing," I said, picking out one that had obviously been tested by Maki for its taste, I threw it at her and she caught it in one go, crunching it down, then looked hopeful. "No more," I said, "otherwise we'll starve and you'll never see pizza again."
That was enough for Vaporeon, not only did she return to the river, but she even brought up a Magikarp for us. It was plain she didn't want her pizza suppliers starving to death in the jungle!
Whilst Kameron tried to find dry wood for a fire, I attacked the Magikarp with our bush knife. Ozmos had even killed it for us, first off, so that I didn't have to worry about that unpleasantness. I rewarded Ozmos with another little apple-thing. They weren't quite apples, but they were nice, and I trusted Maki not to pick out something poisonous.
I had just finished making a rather nice culinary mess of the magikarp, when I heard a shout and a scream.
"Kameron's in trouble!" I shouted. "We've got to help him!" Instantly all my Pokemon, and little Marril jumped up or out of wherever they were and bounded after me as I ran towards the scream.
"Persiaannn," something hissed and I heard Kameron yelp in pain as something swiped a claw across his face.
"Quick Maki, Ozmos, go help him!" I shouted, leaping through myself, brandishing the bush knife as though it were actually a weapon, and not a kitchen item. Kameron lay pinned to the ground, whilst above him crouched something that I could not see in the gloom very well. It appeared to be two glowing yellow eyes.
"Persiaann," it yowled, flinging one paw in the air and sending a handful of circular objects at Ozmos and Maki. One hit Maki and sent him flipping over and into the dirt. Ozmos blasted high-pressured water at it, but it crouched close to Kameron and she missed. The creature was too hard to see in the gloom. Frustrated, she leapt forward to slash at it with her tail and it bowled her aside with one paw. She whimpered and crawled to a crouching position, ready to attack again, but I was not going to let her get hurt worse.
"Leave him alone!" I shrieked, throwing myself at the all but invisible Persian and slashing at it with my knife. I hit it and it rolled over, clawing at me with its sharp talons. No human was a match for a Pokemon, and I knew it, but I was damned well going to try. I could feel blood welling from the scratches as the thing turned me over and prepared to do away with me with one blow, when a torrent of water hit it in the cheek, strong enough to spin it off me.
"Marrill!" Marrill said determinedly, and water-gunned it again. Ozmos added her spray to the torrent and the Persian stalked away, looking offended. I dragged myself to my feet and rushed to Kameron's side. He was sprawled on his back, gasping for breath, and at first I thought his lung had been injured again. His trench coat was badly slashed, and stained with blood. He stared up at me weakly, gasping.
"Kameron," I cried, pulling open his trench coat (he still wasn't wearing a shirt underneath, it was too hot for both), "can you breath?"
"It… winded… me," he gasped. "Be… alright … soon…"
I looked around fitfully, was there anything I could do? I helped him into a sitting position, resting him against my body to support him. It seemed to be easier for him to breathe in this position, I didn't know why.
"My leg," he gasped, and I peered at his leg.
It was in a terrible state, the Persian must have slashed him across there first for the wounds were so deep I could almost see white under all the red. "Ozmos, fetch the first aid kit!" I ordered, and understanding the urgency, the Vaporeon rushed off.
"Maki maki ki?" Maki asked, crouching beside me and tenderly touching Kameron's cheek. Marrill came and stood beside us. She too looked concerned.
"Marril ril?" She asked. ("What can we do?")
"Vapor!" Vaporeon cried triumphantly through a mouthful of first-aid kit. She handed it to me and I immediately pulled out some antiseptic cream and bandages. Kameron winced in acute pain as I wiped away the blood with a moist towellette and applied the salve to the wound. He winced even more when I wrapped the bandages around it tightly. I hoped not too tightly.
"You're bleeding too," he said weakly, when I had finished binding the wound. My shirt was torn, almost embarrassingly so, although Kameron, fortunately, did not comment. The claws had torn chunks out of my flesh and I hastily applied salve and gauze to the worst ones. I then attended to the more minor of Kameron's wounds, which were fairly shallow. The cat's claws had been unable to fully penetrate the thick weave of the trench coat. Maybe there was a purpose in it after all! And then, with Kameron leaning heavily on me and a stick, I managed to help him back beside the waterfall.
His leg was a mess, he would not be able to walk for days comfortably. It meant we were stuck here, with no emergency radio. This jungle was turning out to be more dangerous than I had imagined. Razor stuck his head out of the water and glared at us.
"Sea draaa? Seaaaa seaaaa draaa!" He snarled. ("What happened? I wanted to help and you left me!")
Amazingly, the remnants of the Magikarp were still there, although something appeared to have nibbled at it. They floated in a pool of water. I glanced at Razor.
"You guarded our food well, I see," I said, walking to the edge of the river. He came over and tilted his head on the side, asking me to scratch behind his ear fin. He made an almost purring sound of gratitude.
"I could ride the Ponyta," Kameron suggested, but I shook my head.
"Not until it's healed a little, otherwise the wound will start bleeding again. It needs stitches or something. I think there may be a needle and thread in this kit somewhere."
"No!" Kameron all but yelled. "I don't want stitches, only from a doctor. It'll be ok in a while, I promise."
"And what if the cat comes back?"
"Vapor por!" ("We wash it!")
"Marrill!"
"I think these guys will chase it away. Maybe there's some tribes or something in here, you hear about tribes in jungles don't they? Perhaps they could help us?"
"Maki," I said, "is there perhaps a tribe in here?"
Maki pondered for a moment. "Makiki maki mur mur kimur." ("Yes, I think so, but was three years ago.")
"Could you lead me there?"
"Ma KI!" ("Of course!")
"Ok, Maki and I will go find this tribe, and the other Pokemon will keep an eye on you until I return. They should be able to keep any predator away, but just in case," I pressed the knife into his hand. "I'll just set up the tent, or what's left of it, in case it rains, and we can light a fire."
Kameron pulled a Pokeball from his pocket. "Give her a hand, Cubone," he said, "find dry wood."
"Cu bone bone." Cubone hurried off.
With the help of Maki, we managed to set the tattered tent up by stretching it across the trees and tying it in place. It was more or less just protection from above, but it was better than nothing. Kameron merely sat there and cursed about not being able to help, about being useless and slowing us up. I crouched down beside him and put an arm around him.
"I'm just glad your okay, my friend," I said, patting him on the shoulder. "It could have killed you, it could have killed me, but luckily your Marrill friend saved the day. I think she likes you."
"Marrill marrill!" Marrill bounced off her tail and landed in Kameron's lap. He chuckled and patted her round head.
"It's not your fault the Persian got you, I couldn't even see it at first."
"I know," Kameron said. "I had just picked up a piece of wood when it barrelled into me, throwing me into the dirt and slashed me in the leg as I tried to crawl away. It then pounced on me and I couldn't move. I never saw it coming, and when it attacked me, all I saw were those golden eyes. It was as black as sin!"
"I wonder if Doctor Warwick has ever seen a black Persian?" I pondered. "You'll be fine, you've got Marrill to guard you. Don't worry, I'll find us help."
"Marrill rill," Marrill said, trying to look staunch, something hard to do when you're spherical and cute.
At that moment, Cubone came back with an armload of sticks, "Cubone," he said proudly, setting a fire. Kameron pulled out his Flareon to light it. The Flareon then curled up beside him whilst Cubone set about cooking the fish.
"You keep a good eye on him now," I commanded all the remaining Pokemon. "Bye Kameron, I'll be back soon for the fish," I kissed him on the cheek, making him blush.
And then Maki and I wandered off into the gloom, the only Pokeballs in my pocket containing Snuggles and poor, injured Florion.
"Maki maki!" Maki, halfway up a tree, started shouting and pointing, I could dimly see the shape of some type of large stone structure buried in the trees ahead.
"That's we the tribe live?" I asked the Makimur and he nodded excitedly.
"Makiki."
"Okay, here goes…" I picked my way through the trees towards the structure. I'd brought the compass with me, so I'd set it to locate Kameron, it would be too easy to get lost out here, in the thick jungle. As I got closer, I realised it seemed to be some sort of temple, it was large and looked the worst for wear. The rock walls must have been there for centuries, and who knew where the rock had been collected from? There was rock around here, but none of that colour or size. Probably they'd used slaves to drag it from a quarry miles away. The stone was greyed with time and wore by the never-ending process of erosion. In short, it looked forboding and somewhat unnerving, but I had to help Kameron and if this was the only way to do it, this was the only way to do it.
I took a deep breath and felt my way around the wall, getting to what was probably the door – two huge doors, ajar about two, three feet, beneath a mighty arch. I reached up and knocked on the stone door. It made a quiet, thunking sound that even a Marrill would be hard pressed to hear, and I almost bruised my fist.
"Mankey, mankey," a ball of fur with tufted ears and a stubby tail came tumbling to the door. It jumped up and down excitedly. "Mank, mank!" And beckoned enthusiastically. It seemed to be all hands and feet, with a stubby nose and half-mad eyes. I glanced at Maki, who cowered on my shoulder, his fingers digging through my clothing.
"Makikiki!" He shouted at it. "Maki maki maki maki murrr."
"Mank man key key man."
What the two primate Pokemon were saying actually sounded very similar. Since the Mankey was still gesturing furiously for us to come inside, I followed it through the small opening. And what I saw, amazed me.
It was a stadium, a proper Pokemon stadium, but different from any that I had seen before. The floor was covered in moss and small plants, all vying for life giving sunlight and trees had erupted around the edges, forming what could best be described as seating. There was even a small pond in the middle, with an ornamental waterfall. And the trees were covered in Mankeys and Primapes, all of which twisted and peered at us, the clamour of excitement was almost deafening. Maki took one look at them all and tried to hide under my hair. The Mankey that had escorted us in held up one hand to halt me where I stood and darted off.
I paused and looked around the arena. It was the most amazing thing I had ever seen and I knew Kameron would have loved to see it, but where were the people? Maki had said this was a tribe, but the only things here were Mankeys, Mankeys and Primapes. And, what was that? A small dark-skinned boy of about six was hurrying around carrying a bowl of fruit. The Mankeys whooped in delight and jumped around him, grabbing handfuls of fruit from the bowl and quarrelling with each other. There was a boy, so where was the tribe?
"Maki mur mur ki," Maki muttered from my shoulder. ("I don't like this at all.")
I didn't know if I liked it either, for hundreds of primates were whooping and pointing at me. Those that weren't having elaborate little quarrels amongst themselves that is.
"Mank-KEY!" The Mankey that had brought me in said dramatically, and I saw that it had returned with a large, muscular Primape and a small dark-skinned child, wearing nothing but a loincloth and a collar, which was attached to a chain in the Primape's hand. I immediately regretted coming in here.
"Ape!" The Primape shouted, pushing the child to face us. "Prime Ape? Ape, primape primape primape ape ape ape!"
"You are in need of help, yes?" The boy said somewhat haltingly. He had a strong accent and seemed to have difficulty forming the words. "We help you, we have good healer. We help you, you help us yes?"
I was getting desperate. What could a Primape possibly need? "I'll help you in whatever way I can." I bit my lip, hoping it would not be too much of a promise.
"Ape! Prim Ape. Ape ape ape ape ape APE!" The Pokemon was certainly big on exclamation marks.
"Lead us to your friend. We heal him, you help us?"
I sighed with relief. They were going to help me after all!
The look on Kameron's face when two dozen Mankeys carrying a litter turned up, was priceless. I helped him onto the moving platform they were carrying and he was taken into the Primape temple. Here he was cared for by a small, delicate woman with dark skin, dark hair and a nervous twitch. The boy said her name translated as Happiness, but she didn't look happy, didn't look happy at all. The Mankeys were all very polite to me, they bowed in a bizarre, all arms and legs kind of way, that was quite comical and the small boy with the bowl brought it over to me and none of the mankeys stole the fruit. I was beginning to get worried about what was expected of me, in return for my friend's help. The pig-monkey Pokemon were endlessly amused with the Pokedex, which one of them found in Kameron's pocket and was passed around and pointed at each other until I knew the information about Mankeys and Primapes off by memory. It also earned several new teeth marks as some of the dimmer Mankeys tried to see what it tasted like. Eventually I managed to get it off them, with much apologetic noise from them. Razor, Ozmos and Marrill took up residence in the ornamental pool and Razor kept them chortling for hours.
He would single out a young, curious Mankey and lure it towards the water by aiming comical looks at its direction and glancing at Ozmos in a mischevious way. The young mankey, thinking he was about to play a trick on the Vaporeon, would come closer and Razor would slam him fins and tail down in the water and shower the poor little Mankey, which would generally run squealing in outrage to its parents. The parents were generally rolling around on the ground, huge feet in the air, chortling merrily. One thing the Pokedex was quite accurate about, was that they were quick to temper. I saw so many fights break out and so much fruit thrown that I wondered why they even lived together in the first place. Maki, much to my amazement, stayed on my shoulder the entire time. He seemed frightened on the pig-monkey Pokemon and I wondered why.
Kameron seemed to be doing well, he was lying in a bed made from leaves and moss (which made it damp, but soft), with fresh stitches in his leg and a poultice of various jungle plants wrapped around it. Florion and Dancer too had been treated, and Florion was moving with less pain, whereas Dancer could now almost fly again. It would be some time before they were fully recovered though. I curled up next to Kameron and slept, full of fruit and wonderment.
"ManKEY!" Came a loud voice next to my head and I peered open my eyes to see a large Mankey standing there, hands on its hips. The translator boy stood beside it.
"You come now, it be time for ceremony," he said.
"Ceremony, what ceremony?"
He looked at me as if I were foolish. "Your marriage ceremony of course. What else?"
I felt bewilderment flood into my mind. What in hades was he on about? Marriage ceremony? No one had said anything to me. Who was I to marry? Why? My confusion must have shown, because the boy went on to explain.
"You must marry our King, to help protect us against the mask eyes."
The Mankey grabbed me by the hand and attempted to drag me from the room, whilst other Mankeys helped Kameron into a sort of portable chair, so that, presumably, he too could watch the ceremony. I had said I'd do anything to get help, but this was the last thing I had expected. I was to marry a Mankey King… What would my mother think?
I was led into the arena and it was indicated that I should take a seat next to what I think must have been the King's mother. She was an elderly looking Primape with greying fur that was holding the remnants of someone's shirt as though it were a large and disgusting handkerchief. She smiled at me, as best a Primape can smile, which seemed to be flashing absurdly long canine teeth.
A Mankey wearing a ridiculous top hat with flowers and gnawed fruit tucked into the brim jumped up on the ornamental waterfall. I saw that our water Pokemon still floated in there, watching curiously and Cubone, Flareon and Shrubslash sat beside Kameron, whilst Marrill sat in his lap, all of them watching with interest. Dancer sat in the tree above him and Florion crouched near the pond, sitting in a rock crevice. Snuggles had taken one look at the whole scene and decided to stand behind Kameron's chair. Even the Ponyta was out of its Pokeball, happily munching on a bowl of apples that someone had offered it.
The Mankey in the ridiculous hat started spouting off in Pokemonese, whilst the small boy, sitting beside me, swinging his skinny legs, translated.
"It's been three years since we overthrew them humans that said they was out masters," he translated in bored monotone, his lips forming the words without his brain having to worry about it. "Now we celebrate our freedom by the union of our fine King with their human Queen. Our victory against the Mask Eyes is insured."
"I aren't a queen," I whispered, but the King's mother nudged me with her enormous elbow.
"Before the ceremony begins we must display our freedom by showing what we cast off. Let the fight's begin!"
Doors opened at each end of the arena and two dark-skinned people were pushed in by a hoard of Mankeys. One was male, the other female and both wore nought but loinclothes. I could almost see Kameron's eyes bug out from this distance. I however was much more reserved.
At each end of the arena, a Primape leapt into a tangled tree branch and started shrieking unintelligibly at the humans.
"Oh my god," I whispered, "it's just like an arena battle, only the wrong way around!" It was amazing, and quite plain to me what had happened. These Mankeys, and Primapes, must have once been kept by the tribe that lived here, the tribe that Maki knew. Actually, where was Maki? He'd been on my shoulder all day, but must have jumped off my shoulder whilst I slept. Oh no, now I had him to worry about too! I glanced around, half-hoping that I could run out of here, but there were Mankeys and Primapes everywhere and they were well-renowned for being of vicious temperament. I was here for the long haul. What annoyed me the most was that Kameron seemed amused at the whole thing. I'm sure he wouldn't be so happy if he were about to be wed to a smelly, hairy creature that was all arms.
In the arena the two humans were starting to fight, possibly at the Primape's instructions, but somehow I doubted it. The female threw herself at the male, clawing and biting, but he pushed her away with one hand, using his greater strength and bulk to force her back against the ornamental fountain. My Pokemon quickly retreated back into the water, except Florion who crouched as far from them as possible. They were all confused, confused to see humans fighting this way. The female may be lighter and weaker, but she was certainly faster. She dropped to her knees and spun away from him, grabbing him in the leg so that the force of her movement sent him sprawling into the moss with a squelching sound. As one, the pig-monkey Pokemon chuckled, in a strange, insane-human manner. It was kind of a high-pitched, manic giggle that sent shivers down my spine. The King's mother beside me nudged me again, pointed at the male and said something that I didn't understand. I saw his loincloth had come off in the attack. The woman now mounted him and twisted his arms behind his back, forcing his face into the moss. The King's mother laughed and said something smutty and unprintable, which the boy saw fit to translate, in the same monotone. I paled. I did not think that I wished to be a part of this society. It seemed I had little choice though.
The Mankey in the hat jumped back onto the waterfall and flourished his hat. He then said something, which the boy translated as, "and the female human is the champion."
A cheer rose from about half the Mankeys and Primapes seated about the arena, probably the female ones, but I was hard-pressed to tell the difference.
"And now the wedding begins!"
Suddenly large, muscular Primapes appeared at each side of me and dragged me from the branch. They each took my elbow in their over-exaggerated ones and marched me across the arena floor, my feet squelching in the moss. Another Primape knuckled down to take a position on the fountain and this I assumed must be the Primape King.
He was big, probably twice the size of the smaller Primapes, although not much bigger than those escorting me. Around his shoulders (or the closest Primapes had to shoulders, which was sort of the part where arm met body) was a black cape that looked the worst for wear. It was tattered, stained and probably smelt worse than the King himself. His arm bands were a shiny gold, instead of the duller bronze of the lesser Primapes or the darkened silver of the guards, and between his large pointed ears, sat a forlorn looking gold crown. It looked as though it had been sat on, chewed and thrown at the wall, a few too many times. It probably had. Otherwise, he looked no different from the other Primapes, aside from the spark of intelligence in his narrow eyes.
The guards deposited me at the foot of the fountain and the King reached down with his large hands. Swallowing nervously, I reached out and took both his hands in mine. I could still not grip very well with my left hand, but that hardly mattered, because the Primape squeezed my hand very tightly in his, so tightly that it felt as though the blood vessels were going to pop.
The Mankey in the hat started spurting off some more Pokemonese and the small boy, who had followed me across the arena, translated in his deadpan.
"With this union the bond between us Pokemon and them human is complete. They and us are now equal, equal in our war 'gainst the Mask Eyes. We be complete. You must now kiss your Queen."
I winced at the sound of it, and as the King leaned down, puckering his lips around his fearsome canine teeth. Just as I was expecting the worst (well, not the worst, for that would surely come tonight!), something much more exciting happened.
"REXIMUR!" A voice bellowed, sending terrified Mankeys skittering to hide between each other. I turned and stared at the door. Standing there was the most unusual Pokemon I have ever seen.
It was tall, almost six foot and resembled Maki in what was probably the most superficial meaning of the word. It too had a crown, but unlike the Primape King's, this crown was formed from the Pokemon's very top-knot and rose proudly between two large, pointed and white tufted ears. Golden eyes glared from a black mask above an equally dark muzzle and the mane that adorned Maki's shoulder was so exaggerated in this beast that it gave the impression of being a cape and not part of the creature at all.
"Prime ape, ape ape ape!" The King shouted, putting his hands on his hips (or the closest Primapes had to hips) and glaring balefully at his arch rival.
"You have no right to be here," the boy kept translating.
"Rexi reximur!" The Reximur stated. "Rex I mur mur mur." ("We have as much right as you.")
"Maki!" I heard a quiet voice shout from the vicinity of the Lemur Pokemon King's shoulder.
"Prim ape ape!" The King shouted.
"Show them away from here," the boy translated as pig-monkey Pokemon erupted from the trees and ran at their rivals, whom I realised now were the Mask Eyes the Mankey had talked about.
"Rex i murr!" The Reximur waved one hand in a semi-circle and suddenly all the Mankeys seemed to run into an invisible wall and tumbled into a pile of furry, fighting bodies. "Murrr!" Shouted the Reximur.
Lemur Pokemon much larger than Maki, but smaller than the Reximur suddenly flooded into the room. They grabbed Mankeys and Primapes by their tails and legs. The Mankeys and Primapes transformed into angry little whirlwinds, slashing and screaming at their enemies. I could not take it. I clambered to the top of the fountain, which the King had vacated to join in the battle himself.
"Stop it all of you!" I bellowed at the top of my lungs. Much to my amazement, they halted, some of them still holding onto the other ones.
"She is the Queen, she must be obeyed," the boy translated what the pig-monkeys were muttering about.
"Yes, it is true I am your Queen," I said, "and it is my desire that you stop fighting."
There were a few sad mutters of "mankey, mankey," here and there, but they were shushed hastily by their neighbours. Even the Lemur Pokemon were listening.
"You see, I have a friend who is one of the Mask Eyes," I said, as Maki came streaking across the floor and into my arms, a grey, blue, black and white blur, "and I believe you can settle your differences peacefully."
"Prim ape ape ape," said the King. ("But we like "Well, I am Queen and I say, that with my knowledge of human nature, you will manage much better if you do not fight!" This led to more muttering. "I shall talk to the King of the people you call the Mask Eyes and we shall work out a peaceful way to deal with things."
More muttering. Finally the King turned and looked at me (and I am translating here automatically, otherwise it's tedious).
"My subjects have decided that a human Queen is not exactly what we most like, lest of all one of your demeanour. As pretty as you are, and as valid as your ideas may be, we have chosen that you shall be removed from your position and also as being my wife. I regret that I must say this, but we cannot have you here, talking of peaceful alternatives when truth be told, we rather enjoy conflict. As a repayment for helping you, we shall accept you simply removing these Mask Eyes from our temple until we are better equipped to meet them head on." (Okay, okay, so I garnished it a bit, the actual speech was a whole lot less eloquent, but I'm sure that's what he meant to say, honest, it just got lost in the translation.).
So, at those words, I was freed from my marriage to the Primape King. A part of me was offended that he cast me aside so easily, but the most of me was relieved. What sort of fool wants to wed a Primape? I walked over to him and gave him a hug. He squeezed me back, almost cracking my ribs.
"I regret that I am not worthy of marriage to you," I said, trying to sound convincing, "but I have further things to study and further things to learn and I would be only too glad to extract these Mask Eyes from the premises." I turned to face Reximur, who was looking puzzled at the whole proceeding.
"I suspect that the reason you are here is because this little fellow told you I was in trouble."
"Maki!" Maki nodded.
"Rex," Reximur rumbled.
"I know it must have been a great trouble for you to come out here, to help someone you don't know and I don't think it be necessary that you stay here. If you leave peacefully, I will try and sort out a way to keep the Mankey and Primapes from attacking you frequently and come up with a compromise that suits both parties, yes?"
Reximur pondered for a moment, rubbing his chin in deep thought. After a few seconds he nodded and gestured to the larger, bipedal Lemur Pokemon sitting quietly at his feet. "Rex reximurr!" He said, and as one they turned and left.
The Primape King applauded, and so did the rest of the pig-monkeys in the arena. "Hrm," he said (and I'm translating again to save time), "perhaps you might be worth keeping around, just in case."
I paled, but only on the inside. "Oh yes," I said, "that would be wonderful, I'm sure that within two or three months you lot would be having tea parties and going out for walks in the jungle together."
This made the King pale. "Um, yes, perhaps it is best that you leave."
I smiled to myself. "I shall not annoy you with my presence anymore, but I just have one last question."
I turned to the boy. "Do you like it here?" I asked him.
For the first time, he appeared animated. "Yeah, its okay, the young Mankeys are fun to play with but I just wish they wouldn't make me translate long boring speeches. A tleast I don't have to do chores, or bathe, ever."
That made me shudder. Still, at least being a slave to the pig-monkey Pokemon did not seem to have too much of an ill effect of him. I pondered for a moment about the humans that had been fighting, but decided it was better not to push my luck. Possibly I could work out some way of getting them free later. I had several ideas, but I would have to talk to the Kings of both groups first.
"Come on Kameron," I called, "it's time to go!" I recalled all my Pokemon, which seemed pleased at my success (except Seadra who was busily swimming around the pool with a baby Mankey on his back, I put the baby ashore before I removed him from under it) and Kameron and I departed, Kameron sitting astride the Ponyta.
Before I left, I kissed my "husband" on the ear. His ears reddened. "I shall be back," I said, "for I have an idea to discuss with the Mask Eyes that may appeal to all of you, since it will allow you to fight without suffering horrible injuries." The King looked interested, so I continued. "Obviously, I would prefer it if you could live happily side by side, but if this solution works, then you will have no need for a Queen anyway, at least not one of your own species."
The King grinned toothily, and I could tell that he had been a bit nervous about marrying a human – probably he'd prefer someone who'd pick lice off him. I ducked out the door, leading the Ponyta, Maki crouching on my shoulder and waving exaggeratedly back at them.
"So," Kameron said, as soon as we were out the door, "I guess you really are a monkey bride!"
I snarled at him. "If you weren't injured I'd hit you for that one."
He chuckled. "But you've got to admit it, it's kind of funny. Now its over and all."
I chuckled in reply. You had to admit it, it actually was, but somehow I was apprehensive about telling Doctor Warwick that tale!
To be continued…