It was a bright day as the egg started getting cracks on the surface.
"Markus! It is hatching!" The Raichu nearly jumped in joy and excitement.
The Ampharos smiled as he came closer to the egg. "Finally. He took his time."
Marianne smiled. "You don't even know if it will be a male."
Markus grinned. "I just know it." He watched the egg seeing more and more cracks appear on the surface. Some sounds could be heard from the inside and after some more seconds of waiting a little paw broke through the surface. Marianne already wanted to help the Pichu but Markus stopped her. "He has to do it himself."
She looked to the egg nervously.
After some more seconds another paw broke through the hole and broke more of the egg shell off till it was big enough to let them see the Pichu inside. The Pichu broke through the shell and nearly fell out of the egg but Markus caught him and lifted him up to look at the Pichu. It was a male and had one green and one red eye.
Markus smiled. "A strong male. And he doesn't even cry. He will be a strong king one day!"
Marianne took the baby Pichu. "You are already pushing him into a role that he can't fit yet." She nuzzled the baby happily. "My baby!"
Markus grinned. "He is very brave. I know how we will call him. He will have the same name as the greatest king this kingdom ever had. Brighton. The founder of the kingdom of Volt. He will be named Brighton after our ancestor and Alexander after my father. Brighton Alexander von Volt. A strong name for a strong prince." He took the Pichu again and went with him to the window showing him the palace and the city. "One day all of this and much much more will be yours, Brighton Alexander von Volt. You will be the 99th king of this kingdom!"

Brighton was about four years old and Markus was dressing him up with some noble clothings. "Daddy I wanna go playing..."
Markus shook his head. "No. Today you will come with us and start learning about politics. You are a prince and have to learn a lot."
Brighton pouted. "Boo! That's boring!"
Markus smiled at him. "You will listen to me! Do what I told you! It is important that you learn it! One day you will be the king and then you have to know how to talk with other kings and their representatives."
Brighton stomped with his foot onto the ground. "But I don't want to!"
Markus looked at him serious. "Brighton! You have to follow my orders or I will have to punish you for not listening!"
Brighton looked to him angry. "But I don't want to!"
Then the Ampharos grabbed the Pichu, lay him over his lap and started spanking him.
For a moment Brighton just lay there shocked and looked at his father. Then he started crying. He couldn't understand why the Pokémon that raised him with so much care and gave him everything that he ever needed or wanted now hurt him.
Markus glared at him. "I gave you an order. It is important for you to learn about politics. One day you will have to be king and then you will have to know all this or you will lead the kingdom to ruin!"
The Pikachu still cried. "I HATE YOU!"
The Ampharos looked at him and stopped. He put him down again and stood up towering high over him. "You are my son. You have to listen to what I say. You have to follow my orders. And now you will calm down, Take on your clothes and come with me to the negotiation and watch what happens there. After the negotiation I will test you about what happened to make sure that you learned something out of it."
Brighton looked at his father with a mixture of anger, confusion and sadness but he nodded.
Markus nodded. "Good. Now come."

It was at his seventh birthday that his father organized Brighton's first ball. He already had evolved into a Pikachu what was thanked to his parents love and care towards him. Many nobles as well as the other kingdoms kings, queens, princes and princesses were invited and Brighton had to learn how to dance before the festival. Brighton actually had fun at the ball but only because he didn't know that the most of the nobles and kings and queens only saw this as an opportunity to get more power.
Markus grinned as he saw Brighton dancing with a daughter of a noble. She was a Plusle and just a year younger than Brighton. "She would be a good candidate don't you think? She is nearly his age, comes from a good family and father is loyal to the crown. Also their children would either be Plusles or Pichus what is in terms with the tradition that only electric types would become hairs to the throne."
Marianne looked at him rather angry. "You already planning on engaging him?"
He looked at her calmly. "We were engaged as I was just 5. It is tradition."
She glared at him. "If you ever do this to him I will never talk to you again."
He sighed. It really seem to bother him for some reason. "How about this? If he wants it too then we will engage him."
She still glared at him. "He doesn't even understand yet what that means. He doesn't know that it would be for the rest of their lives. You are already pushing him to be adult but he is still a kid. Let him at least be a normal kid for now."
The Ampharos sighed. "He isn't a normal kid. He is a prince."
Suddenly a scream echoed through the hall and everyone got quiet. Even the music stopped playing.
Markus looked to what happened and paled. He quickly stood up and ran to the middle of the hall. There in front of him lay his son on the ground. He wasn't breathing anymore.

Markus looked to the doctor. "Please tell me he is alive."
The doctor, a Kadabra, nodded. "Yes your highness. The prince will be fine in a few days. He has a weak heart but nothing too serious. I can mix a potion that will support his heart and will make sure that it is strong enough for a normal life. Maybe I can research further into it to create a medicine so he just need to take it on daily basis but for that I will need resources."
The King looked at him. "Money won't be the problem. Take every help you need. I will pay everything."
The Kadabra bowed down. "As you wish your highness."
Markus went past him and entered the room where his son was lying on a bed. He was sleeping now. The Ampharos went to the bed and sat down on a chair next to his son. He softly stroked the Pikachu's head. "I will make sure that you won't need to worry about that anymore..."
The door opened and a Raichu entered the room.
"What are you doing here?" Markus glared at the Raichu.
The Raichu sighed. "I made so many mistakes in my life. Let me at least do some things right. Don't repeat my mistakes my son."
The Ampharos growled. "You didn't care for my life so why do you care for that of my son now?"
The Raichu sighed. "Markus. Why did you gave him my name?"
Markus looked at him. "Even though you were a bad father you are still my father." He looked to Brighton. "Sometimes... at good times... like the day he hatched... I remember that we had some few good times. But at moments like this I only remember the bad ones."
Alexander nodded. "I know exactly what you mean... Do what you must do. But you are my son and he is my grandson... You are a good king. A better king than I ever was. That is why I retired so early. Do him a favor and don't retire till he is really ready. Let him have a normal childhood. Let him have some friends... Let him enjoy life." He sighed. "I know now that I should have done the same for you. Don't repeat my mistakes."
Markus growled. "I have to prepare him now. Nobles are already trying to use their daughters to get an opportunity of him falling for them. I will have to teach him that he can't trust anyone and I will have to teach him about politics. You on the other side made it easy for me and I should thank you for that."
Alexander shook his head. "Don't thank me for that. One good thing about being old is that your get wisdom. Now I can see that I made many many mistakes. Don't do to your son what I did to you."
The Ampharos glared to him. "I will do what I want to do. You gave up on the throne. You have no right to tell me anything anymore. Now go and leave me and my son alone old man."
The Raichu looked to the young Pikachu and sighed. He turned around to leave. "I hope you won't make so many mistakes that you will regret like I did..." He then left.

Brighton sighed and put his pencil aside. He looked to his father. "Finished."
Markus took the papers and started reading through them. "Looks good so far. I will read it completely later. You can take some time off."
Brighton jumped from the chair and smiled.
Markus stopped him before the Pikachu left the room. "Before you go... That Emolga. You seem to get pretty well along with her."
Brighton blushed and looked to him nervously. "Why you ask?"
The Ampharos looked at him serious. "Are you two a pair?"
Brighton blushed even more. "Dad! That is really something that I don't want to talk with you about..."
Markus sighed. "Yeah... I can understand that a bit. But it can be important. After all you are a prince and every little action you do will be judged by others. You are ten years old now. Soon you will... want to do other things with females."
Brighton squeaked. "I-I know about these things already!"
Markus sighed relieved. "Thanks Arceus... Well..." He went to his drawer and took out a vial. "I want that you take this. Drink it. I will make sure that you get more of them tomorrow."
Brighton took the vial. "What is that?" He opened the plug and gulped the purple-ish liquid down. It was pretty bitter and Brighton made a grimace.
Markus sighed. "I want that you drink one of these every day before you meet a female. It will make sure you won't accidentally have a kid. Of course I want some grandsons one day but for now I want to be sure to not have grandchildren too early. It would damage the image of the kingdom and would force me to marry you with whoever female you have kids with."
Brighton glared at him. "You don't trust me?"
Markus looked to him calmly. "You forget that I was young once too. This will make sure that you can have fun without consequences and I would recommend that you use that time. Enjoy your youth. You should sow your wild oats. One day you will have to take a wife and make sure that you will have a hair to the throne. If you don't choose a fitting mate yourself I will choose one for you."
Brighton looked at him shocked. "W-What?"
The king looked to her. "I want that you make sure that you will have a son one day that will become the king himself one day and I want that the mother of your future son will be from a good house."
Brighton glared at him. "So you only care for continuing this damn cycle and that I don't damage the image of your damn kingdom?!"
Markus looked at him calmly. "The image of the kingdom is as important as having enough food and resources for the kingdom. You can't understand it yet but you will eventually one day."
Brighton growled. "I don't care for the damn kingdom!" He ran out of the room.
Markus looked at the Pikachu as he left. He sighed and shook his head. "I hope you understand it one day..."

"I hate this. How long do you want me to take this potion?" Brighton was gulping down the bitter liquid.
Markus looked at him. "Till I am sure that you can suppress your instinct to breed every female that lifts her tail for you."
Brighton sighed and looked to the King. "Dad I-"
"I know what you want to say. You are able to keep it under control. But I think you still need some time to really decide that. You are 12 years old now. You are starting to become mature and most important is that you are a Pikachu. Rodents are known to have one of the strongest breeding instincts of all Pokémon and the Pikachu line is even known to be the ones who have one of the strongest of all rodents. Just imagine there is one female in heat or that one would use Attract on you. You would be lost within seconds." He looked to his son with a serious face. "And stop calling me dad. You are old enough now that you should call me 'my lord' or 'your highness'."
Brighton grit his teeth. "Yes 'your highness'." The last two words he said with some venom in his voice.
Markus didn't seem to be bothered much by it. "You are the future of the kingdom. If you ruin your future I will have to rely on your sister. I doubt you want that."
Brighton now glared at his father with pure hatred. "Don't you dare to drag her into this. She is just a year old and she should have a normal life... At least as normal as it is possible as your child."
Markus nodded. "As long as you behave she can do whatever she wants."
Brighton still glared at his father. "Can I go now 'your highness'?" Again his voice was venomous as he said those words.
Markus nodded. "Go and have some fun. Tomorrow you will have to attend to the meeting with me."
Brighton rolled his eyes. "Yes... Of course." He left.
Just some seconds later Marianne entered the room carrying a little Pichu girl in her arms.
Markus smiled and went to the two giving his wife a kiss and softly stroked the Pichu's head.
Marianne looked to him with curiosity. "Brighton seemed to be very angry."
Markus sighed. "I had to remind him that he should follow my orders..."
Marianne softly nuzzled her daughter. "Why are you doing that to him? I know you love him. I know that you want him to be happy and that he wouldn't need to go through what you had to bear from your father..."
The Ampharos sighed and went to a window looking out of it. "What I want and what I have to do are sadly two different things..." Down in the court were some knights that were sparring while Lux the head of the guards was overlooking them. "I kinda wish that my father would still be alive... I would tell him that I forgive him..."
Marianne looked to him worried.
Markus saw how Brighton entered the curt and talked with Lux. Shortly after that some knight apprentices were ordered by the Luxray to spar with the prince. "I know that he was seriously convinced about his actions back then but at the same time I also understand him now... How much everything can change within four years..."
Marianne looked at him with curiosity. "What do you mean?"
Markus sighed. "There is a time of change ahead of us. The kingdom might not survive through this if Brighton isn't prepared... He just needs to know how to handle these kind of stuff and he needs to be strong for it... If I just give him what he wants like a spoiled kid and don't prepare him he won't be able to save the kingdom from war and suffering..." He turned to Marianne. "I need to become my father... I need to be cruel to him... I hate this more than anything but I have to... But you my love... You can be his anchor. You can show him how to love and care for others. You have to teach him how to be kind and gracious. I don't want that he repeats my mistakes or this world will never change..."
Marianne softly cuddled onto her side while holding the little Pichu. "Why you don't just tell him?"
"No! Whatever happens. Never tell him the truth." He looked to the Pikachu down in the court that was beating one knight after the other. Markus was a bit proud seeing how strong his son actually was. He would be a good fighter if he needed it one day. "He is too young yet and wouldn't understand why I am doing this... And when he is old enough to understand he would suffer from the conflict that I have put him into. Don't ever tell him. You have to promise me that." He looked to the female Raichu. "Just be there for him and give him all the love you can. Give him all your love. Don't do it only for your or for his peace of mind but also for mine."

The 14 years old Brighton growled. "You can't do that to me!"
Markus glared at him. "She is the daughter of some lousy farmers. She is not worthy to be together with a prince! You won't meet her ever again. I made sure of that."
Brighton looked at him in disbelieve. "What did you do..."
The Ampharos looked to him calmly. "I paid their parents to move away. They won't need to worry about the next few years and even could have more children and would still have some money left for buying a new farm somewhere else. Did you even see how they were living? 14 Pokémon in a shoddy little house. It's a wonder that they survived till now!"
Brighton grit his teeth. "I don't care! I really liked her!"
He shook his head. "You just were after her tail. Just take a female already and get a load off. Then you will probably be able to think straight again."
Brighton nearly lost it. "I hate you!" He ran out of the room slamming the door behind himself. He ran through the corridors and left the palace. He made his way through the streets and ran to the place they wanted to meet. She wasn't there. He looked around for any sign of a note. He looked behind the loose stone and under the shoddy box and even climbed up the pipe to see if she placed something under the roof in the hole that they used at the beginning of their relationship but there wasn't any sign of her. Maybe he was too early? Maybe she just was a bit late? He sighed and sat down on the box looking onto the street that led to the market place. He waited for nearly two hours but she didn't come. He stood up and made his way to her house. As he finally reached it it was already evening. He knocked at the door but nobody opened. He opened the door himself and as he entered he saw that his father told the truth. The house was empty. No furniture and no Pokémon was inside except for himself. He could feel the tears running down his face. He let himself sink onto the ground and started crying.

"Your highness? Lord Jemu would like to speak with you." The Luxray bowed down.
Markus nodded. "Bring him to me Lux."
Lux nodded and left the throne room just to enter shortly later followed by a male Manectric and a female Electrike. The Manectric went in front of the throne and bowed down. "Your highness, I have a problem. You see? Prince Brighton had a relationship with my daughter not so long ago." He glanced to the Electrike.
Markus glanced to the female as well and then to his son who was sitting not far away on a desk writing everything down.
Brighton looked at the Manectric and the Electrike with distrust in his eyes.
Markus sighed and looked to the Manectric. "Why should that be a problem?"
Jemu the Manectric looked to the king. "Well... She is pregnant."
Brighton jumped from his chair and wanted to say something but Markus lifted his paw signing him to be quiet. "Is that so? And why should I be concerned?"
The Manectric grinned devious. "Well the father is clearly the prince. He has to take responsibility and marry her. That would be the only right thing to do."
Markus looked to Brighton with curiosity.
Brighton knew what his father wanted to know and shook his head.
Markus looked back to the lord and stood up. "You really want to tell me that my son is the father of that bastard?"
The Manectric looked at him. "Well it is his child there is no doubt."
Markus glared at the female.
The Electrike squeaked and seemed to be extremely nervous.
Markus nearly growled as he looked back to the Manectric.
The lord was grinning victorious as if he knew that the king would marry his daughter to the prince knowing that he would get more power by that than he ever would have dreamed of.
The king glared at him. "You dare to come here claiming that my son has impregnated your daughter without having any proof of that?" His voice started to get louder now. "You dare to lie such things to your king? You really think that you will get away with this?! YOU DARE TO FAKE THIS?!" He stepped down the few steps that separated his throne from the rest of the room. "JUST THAT YOU KNOW! MY SON IS GETTING A POTION THAT MAKES HIM TEMPORARILY STERILE! DO YOU STILL WANT TO CLAIM THAT MY SON WOULD BE THE FATHER OF THAT BASTARD?!"
The lord paled and the female tried to hide behind her father.
Markus took a deep breath. "Hereby you are stripped from all your lands and titles given to you by this kingdom. Your betrayal shows that you are disloyal to the kingdom only aiming for power. You are dismissed."
The Manectric looked to the king shocked. "I won't accept that... The other lords-"
"The other lords won't do anything. Do you think Pokémon without title and a daughter that carries a bastard has any word at the council? They won't even let you into the room. Now leave before I decide that the punishment wasn't high enough!"
The Manectric growled and looked at Lux. He then left together with his daughter.
Markus looked to Brighton. "You see? That is the true nature of the Pokémon. Even the females aren't trustworthy if you didn't gave them everything already. Everyone just tries to use us." He turned around and sat down on the throne again.
Brighton still stood there. He was shocked. He actually had trusted that female but now? How could he ever trust anyone now?

Brighton sighed and finished his report. "Here." He gave the sheets to his father.
Markus looked through them and nodded. "Good. Seems as you finally overcome your rebellious phase." He looked to his son. "Your 17th birthday is soon. Any wishes?"
Brighton chuckled and shook his head. "Nothing that you would grant me." He stood up and turned to go. He stopped and looked at his father. His expression was blank, nearly empty. "Am I allowed to leave your highness?"
Markus looked to him for some seconds quietly before answering. "Yes."
Brighton bowed down and left.
Markus sighed and sat down on the chair. "What have I done?"
Marianne looked to him. "You broke his will. Did you really think all the things you did to him wouldn't affect him? He is 16 and has no friends or any female that he is in a real relationship with. He feels alone and doesn't know who he could trust." She sighed. "I mean the last female he had some kind of relationship with was Lux's daughter and you know how well that went after the thing with Jemu." She shook her head. "He lost trust even in Lumia after this... There are things that he can't talk with me about and he really needs a friend. The problem is he doesn't trust anyone because of you and the few he trusted were driven away by you." She took his hand. "He needs a solution... Some way to be able to escape this. At least for some time."
Markus sighed and nodded. "Are you sure there is no other way?"
She shook her head. "He needs some freedom..."
Markus looked to Lux who was training some young knight apprentices. "I think I know one way... But that will need some preparations and I will need your help for that. You will have to act a bit for that..."
She looked to him with curiosity. "What is your plan?"

It was nearly like if a festival was going on in the city. Many Pokémon were crowding on the market place and Brighton looked around with curiosity. "What is all this fuzz about? I don't remember that today would be any holiday..."
Marianne smiled as she was looking at some clothes that seemed to be from a different kingdom. "I don't know." She bought a dress before she took a coat holding it around Brighton to see if it would fit. "This is good. What do you think?"
Brighton looked at the coat and nodded. "Yeah that is fine."
Marianne smiled and took the clothes. "OK. Now let's see why the Pokémon are so excited. Maybe there is something really interesting to see."
Brighton nodded and together they went to the crowd of Pokémon. They didn't need long to get through it since the most Pokémon either stepped aside themselves or were pushed aside by the guards that were following the queen and the prince.
There in the middle of the crowd was a group of Pokémon and everyone seemed to cheer them like some heroes.
Brighton looked at them with some curiosity and noticed some badges signing that they were explorers from some guild. "Why are they cheering the explorers so much? We have a guild here in the city too..."
Marianne smiled. "Oh. They are from the crystal city guilds. To be more exact they are the team of the guild leader named Anubis. You see that Lucario? That is Anubis. He was one of the Pokémon who ended the war. They are heroes. Also their guilds are special. They are independent. They don't follow any ruler and have their own rules. Also they are not restricted by any kingdom rules. All their members are free and don't need to follow any orders of any king or queen. Even your father can't tell them to do anything."
Brighton's ears twitched and he actually was surprised. "Wait... You mean their members are free no matter who they are? They could be from another kingdom and would be free to do what they want?"
Marianne nodded. "As long as they don't break any rules of the guild yes. Even you would be free from your father's reign in their guild."
This made Brighton's heart jump. This was a solution. It was his solution. The solution to all his problems.
Marianne smiled. She knew exactly what Brighton thought about. "Let's go home. Maybe you can see them later. I bet Anubis will come to the palace as well to speak with your father."
Brighton widely grinned and nodded following his mother. He finally saw a light in his darkness.

Brighton grit his teeth. Nearly a year long he had prepared this day. He hated to leave like this but he somehow had to do this. He only had left a letter on his bed for his sister and mother. Now he had to hurry since the servants would find it in about five hours. He would only have a five hours head start and knowing his father he would send Lux after him. That Luxray was the only one who was fast enough to catch him and he would also be the only one who was able to track him down... Brighton climbed up a statue of one of his ancestors and hid behind it while the guards passed the corridor. He quickly climbed down again and looked at the Pachirisu. "Sorry Michael..." He quickly ran down the corridor as quiet as he could. He quietly opened the window and climbed out of it. Luckily there was a wedge that he could stand on and close the window again. Otherwise the guards would have found the open window and would have known something was wrong and Brighton would lose his head start. He climbed down to a roof of another building and then carefully walked to the edge on the other side. He looked down. The guards were still patrolling in the area so he had to wait a bit. He looked into his bag again. He had a lot money, some seeds and some berries. The chesto berries should keep him awake till he reaches crystal city and the money should be enough to make some Pokémon look away while he passes through cities. He took a deep breath as he saw the guards go around a corner. He had three minutes. He climbed down the building and ran over the court to the palace wall. He quickly climbed it up only peeking over the edge at the top to see if everything was clear. He had studied the patrols for the last three weeks. He knew every little hole in it and knew exactly where he had to go to be out of sight of the guards. The wall was clear right now since the guards were switching right now. One more minute. He jumped onto the top of the wall and quickly ran to the other side. There he looked down seeing the cart with straw that he had placed there in the evening. He grinned and jumped down into it. It was a hard landing and he had to suppress a yelp. He quickly covered himself with some straw just in time since he could see some lights appear above him on the wall. He took another deep breath. Ten minutes till they would turn to check on the court. Then he would have two minutes to get into some side streets. He grinned. Everyone was going like he planned. The lights disappeared and he quickly jumped out of the cart before running into the side streets. Now he just had to avoid some patrols in the city and had to get over the city wall to be free.
Markus smiled while he looked out of the window.
Marianne sighed. "I wish he would have said good bye to me at least..."
Markus smiled still staring at the point where his son jumped from the wall just minutes ago. "He left a letter or something for sure..." He turned to her. "I am sorry that I had to make it this way..."
She nodded. "I understand you even though I don't like it..."
He kissed her softly. "We will visit him."
She nodded.
Markus looked to Lux. "Follow him. Make sure he doesn't see you. Once he is close to Crystal City you put up that show we talked about. Make it look like if you really want to take him back. Let him get away but don't make it obvious. Also make sure he gets to the guild unharmed."
Lux bowed down. "Yes your highness..."
Markus sighed and looked out of the window again still holding his wife in a hug. "You are a good friend Lux... I don't say that enough..."
Lux bowed down and left.

Author's note: Here you have it. Seems like Markus is different than we thought... He has chosen a hard path to act like this towards his son... I would actually like to know what you think about Markus now. Also you know a bit more about Brighton's past now.