Ray's POV, enjoy!

"Ray! How's it going, buddy? How's it been?" A chorus of greetings met me at the palace gates. There were separate greetings for the princess as well. There were a few out there jealous of me. Shaymin had amassed quite the fandom. I wasn't the jealous type, though. I knew her eyes were for me, and me alone. I had faith in her. She made a happy little chirping sound, perched atop my head.

There were all manners of Pokemon around, Groudon, Kyogre, Entei, Suicune, Raikou, Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina, all of the species the chosen ones represented were here, along with dozens more. All of the Pokemon the other word considered legendary Pokemon, we were quite common here.

These were my people, this was where I belonged. I loved this life.

"Hello everyone, how's it going?" I asked. There was a general positive consensus. I was glad. I gripped the basket I had in my hands a bit tighter. I knew they took notice of it. I knew they wanted the food inside, it was the best food in the kingdom. The first to get it though, would always be the people who had a hard time getting food. The citizens knew that, and those less fortunate were the people that were up front.

"Is that all?" a young Mew girl asked. The Mew wee small, pink, floating cats with long feet and a long tail. Her skin looked a bit pale, like she wasn't all that well-nourished or stayed inside a lot or was sick or something?

"No, of course not." Shaymin said, a smile even in her voice. "There's more. This is just the first basket." I frowned imperceptibly. She was lying, this was all we were planning on bringing out. It was a pretty big basket. I actually had a little bit of trouble carrying it out here. But… then again, there weren't usually this many citizens around the palace.

What usually happened was we brought out the basket and maybe a couple people came to partake in the food, then we would go for a fly through the surrounding area. It was good quality time spent together, and we were able to sometimes meet some citizens on the way and help them out. It was always a very peaceful morning.

This morning, however, there were at least a hundred Pokemon on the palace grounds alone. We didn't have that much extra food, but that was just like our princess, wasn't it? She didn't want to disappoint anybody. She had compassion that exceeded her years, compassion and wisdom. At times like this, you just sort of had to go with the flow with her on these things.

"Start eating up, we'll go get more. Come on, Ray." I turned around and went back into the palace gates. As soon as the doors were shut, Shay jumped off my head on the ground, in order to talk to me face to face.

"Hehe… there certainly are a lot of people who came to help us celebrate our marriage… I don't know why, but I wasn't expecting this many people this early. I guess that means there's a lot of mouths to feed." She had a troubled expression on her face.

"We can ask the kitchen to make some extra today?" I suggested.

"Yeah… Yeah! It wouldn't hurt to ask, anyways." Shay perked up. We went further into the castle towards the kitchen. There were about a dozen chefs running around, mostly fire and water type Pokemon. Their natural abilities played into the cooking of food very well. There were a few others with varying types, like a Darkrai, a shadowy creature. He was passionate about cooking, and really good at it, too. He just needed the use of tools that some of the others did not, and the king was happy to provide.

Turns out that a wedding requires a lot of food, so much they couldn't make it completely fresh that day. So they were making some of it now, and they were making meals for us… and now we wanted them to feel the people outside. Maybe… this wasn't the best of ideas. But Matie was determined.

"Attention chefs." She said, even though her voice was soft and sweet, it held great authority. Actually, it was those qualities that gave her authority. People wanted to listen to her. They all stopped what they were doing and turned towards her.

"Yes, my princess?" The Darkrai said, the head chef. I was… just a little embarrassed that I did not know his name.

"There are a lot of people outside, and the basket from breakfast…isn't going to cover them all. Is there any way to get any extra over there?" Shay asked. The Darkrai looked around a bit nervously, as the activity in the kitchen stopped.

"Uh… princess… while I admire your compassion for our visitors outside… We are a little swamped in here. It seems the entire kingdom is coming to see the two of you wed… and we need every bit we have to prepare meals.

"Hm…" Mel probably didn't think about that. The chefs stood silent, awaiting orders. The chefs. When I took a good look at them, they looked exhausted. They were doing the very best they could. They were working very hard.

"Is there any way we could help you make more? Help you in here?" I asked.

"Uh… uh sure! There's plenty you could help with. But, you don't need to, Ray. You should be out serving the citizens, cooking is our job, you know?"

"You are citizens, too. We insist upon helping you." Mel chirped.

And that was how Shay and I spent the morning wearing chef hats and cooking together. I ended up cutting a lot of meat with my claws, and mixing and bringing ingredients to various chefs. They had me do a lot of heavy lifting, but it was something I was more or less used to. I was pretty strong, if I did say so myself, and I volunteered that strength often, or other people volunteered it for me. Shay did some seasoning and such. I was kind of focused on what I was doing. She seemed cheerful, though. I just hoped that when she was queen, she wouldn't be so distracted by the trees to see the forest. The leaders of a kingdom had an important job to keep everything running smoothly. We couldn't do things like this every day, once we ruled. I hoped she would be ok with that. I was prepared for it, though. The king had taken me as an apprentice. I knew what I would have to do. I would just enjoy moments like this while I could, was all.

In the end, because of our contribution, we were able to bring out three or four baskets more of food. It was very satisfying to see the looks on their faces, hear their gratitude. Especially the Mew from before. She gave us each a kiss on the forehead.

"Thank you for thinking of us. May Arceus bless the both of you, and your union." She said.

"May he bless you, as well." I replied.

It only seemed natural to us to serve our people to the best of our abilities, and share our wealth and blessings with the masses as best we could. The current king treated them well, too. However, the king before him was…not quite as kind, no, not quite as kind. He taxed high and gave a lot to his powerful friends, all but ignoring the masses. There had been a revolution, and I had been a part of it. Just a small part, one of the commoners revolting along with thousands of others, but I was there, and I knew how to care for the people.

We spent the rest of the day helping various citizens. There were things they had lost, disputes that needed settling. One Rayquaza wanted an autograph and then asked us to help him find every pinecone…that one was a little weird.

We returned to the palace after hours out and about. Like I said before, my strength was volunteered a couple of times. That particular part, I wouldn't miss, although I guessed it helped keep the body strong. Still, kings had a lot less physical labor they had to worry about. Kings had a lot more to worry about concerning responsibility, though.

Arceus, I was tired. Being out in the sun all day probably helped with that. By the time we got back to the palace gates, I was almost too tired to keep flying and the sun had almost set. There weren't usually this many people around to help. And they were all there just to see us. It was weird… it sort of… put things into perspective. Or maybe not. My mind was going a little haywire. I really needed some sleep.

"Let's just get you inside and onto a bed, ok?" Mel said. "Here, since we're here, I can get off now and lighten the load." She jumped off of me. I didn't bother to tell her that her weight barely made any sort of difference. She felt like she was helping, this way, and I was glad to let her.

I limply floated inside, and headed for my room. I couldn't retire for the night, just yet, but I did need some rest. I ignored anyone who may have talked to me, and floated right into my bed. It felt so nice on me…and then I passed out.

As always guys, have an awesome day!