Finn's POV

The audience erupted into applause while The Good King Redmond and the Queen swept to the front of the stage and took up positions. The applause continued until the King raised his hands in the air.

"Welcome to Castle Trale! On behalf of me and my family, we would like to wish you all a Happy New Year!" the King exclaimed to the crowd of people.

The crowd cheered once again in response until the King was forced to make another quieting gesture to continue his speech.

But I for one wasn't able to fully take in his words. It was all a little overwhelming to be honest. I found myself just staring at him and the Queen. They had an aura about them. Something that wasn't exactly easy to define. Their presence filled the room and made people pay attention to them. I honestly think that even if they weren't royalty, they would have been able to command this room with ease.

"It's a bit intimidating isn't it," Calum whispered in my ear.

I quickly glanced up at him and smiled shyly. "That obvious huh?" I whispered back.

"Yeah. I mean your mouth may have dropped a bit, but don't worry about it. It's a fairly common reaction for a first timer." Calum said, grinning slyly.

"It's just I've never really seen a true, genuine King in person. It's kind of crazy to be in the same room as someone like that," I said and tried to return his grin. I think it came off more sheepish than smooth but I can't be sure.

"Well King and Queen Redmond are a particular case. Most royals don't have their gravitas. It's surprising at first but after the initial awe, it's rather comforting to know that these magnificent people are leading us," he said admiringly and moved his gaze from me back to the stage.

I studied his handsome profile a little bit and thought about asking him why he seemed to know more about other royals, but I let it go because the King was still speaking. I turned back to the stage and looked down because my phone vibrated. I reached for it and changed my mind, I can just wait to see what it says after the speech.

Alex's POV

I'll admit. I was still shaken by the sudden realization that the person I was just casually joking about the buffet with was the Princess Seraphina.

She stood on the stage, behind the marble table, and serenely looked around the room. As her eyes roamed around the room I swear she stopped on me for a quick second and winked.

Alright yeah that's her. I know a princess now I guess.

This. Is. So. Awesome!

I pulled my phone out and texted Finn.

"Guess what amazing, really cool thing happened to me while you were talking to some rando hot guy!"

I started to type out the full story, but I was stopped. Not by a person, but by a sound. An alarm had started to ring in the castle.

I my head peeked up and I saw the King attempting to quiet the suddenly nervous crowd down and begin an orderly evacuation. The alarm kept ringing louder and louder as the evacuation process began.

I craned my head and tried to find Finn when suddenly I heard another noise. Someone had thrown something onto the stage. It bounced once, twice, then rolled across the stage. I saw the King grab his wife and try and pull her back but it was too late.

Finn's POV

BOOOOOOOOOMMM

The stage imploded.

Burning fragments of the stage started falling into the crowd and they immediately burst into a frenzy. Everyone was pushing and shoving, trying to get out of the once calm ballroom but they ran into a blockade.

Dozens of trainers and Pokemon dressed in black modern armor had appeared and were blocking the exits. The attackers began to wreak havoc among the crowd. Mightyena and Primeape began to weave through the crowd: pushing, biting and punching whoever was in sight. Flying type Pokemon were released above the crowd and started launching attacks. Soon members of the crowd began to fight back but they were completely unorganized against the onslaught. A Steelix materialized, separating the crowd from the attackers. A gigantic older man, who was obviously a royal himself, climbed onto the Steelix and began to take charge of the crowd and lead the fight against the invaders.

"Louis! Felix! Defend us against those attackers!"

I called out my Golduck, Louis, and Crawdaunt, Felix, to fend off enemy Pokemon. Louis immediately began using Confusion to repel a Crobat that was dive bombing the crowd and Felix posted up next to me, readying a Crabhammer for any threats that came nearby.

"Felix, Protect!"

Felix's star on its forehead pulsed with blue energy and expanded into a shimmering wall of blue energy around me and him. I used the protective wall to try and get my bearings.

Calum had quickly disappeared into the crowd. Worry for him fleeted through my thoughts but I pushed that away. I couldn't focus on him, I needed to find Alex and we needed to get the hell out of here. She had said that she'd gone to get food so hopefully she was somewhere near there.

"Guys! Form up around me! We've got to get near that stage!"

Alex's POV

As soon as the conflict broke out, I called out Tegan and Aidan to defend me. Tegan, my female Meowstic, immediately began analyzing the situation while protecting me from any incoming attacks.

"Aidan! We need to get on that stage!"

Princess Seraphina had rushed to her injured parents' side, but right now she was completely undefended. I scooped up Tegan while Aidan, my Sceptile, expanded its arm sprouts into twin Leaf Blades and we began to push through the crowd.

Tegan used Psybeam to destroy a Sludge Bomb directed at the Princess. Aidan launched himself into the air and intercepted a Mightyena that was leaping to maul the Princess. The Mightyena slammed into a wall on the far side of the room and Aidan immediately stood guard over Seraphina.

I ran up the stairs and went to the Princess but I stopped in my tracks.

The King and Queen were dead. There was no doubt about it. Their bodies were bent at an impossible angle on the charred stage. Princess Seraphina was kneeling next to her parents' bodies, clearly in tears.

I let go of Tegan and began to go to her. I didn't know what I was going to say, what I could even do in this moment, but I knew something had to be done. Suddenly, I was stopped by an enraged voice from the other side of the stage.

"-AWAY! GET AWAY FROM THE PRINCESS"

I looked towards the voice only to see a powerfully built Liepard racing towards me with outstretched claws.

"Aidan! X-Scissor!"

Finn's POV

Me and my Pokemon were pushing our way through the ball room turned battlefield. Louis and Felix were fending off aerial and ground Pokemon but I still hadn't seen any sign of Alex yet.

"FINN," a voice screamed to my right. I turned around hopefully only to realize that that definitely was not Alex's voice.

I whipped my head to the right only to see Conrad! I'd completely forgotten about him in the crash of activity but I needed to help him right now. An invader with a Primeape and Sawk had cornered him against a wall and was clearly preparing for something nasty.

"Bit! Louis! Use Psychic!" I yelled as I released my Starmie to stand next to Louis.

The jewel on Golduck's head and the core of Starmie's body both began glowing pink as psychic energy surrounded the enemy fighting type Pokemon.

The Sawk and Primeape were lifted into the air and launched at each other. Hard. They hit with a sickening, dull as they landed in a pile on top of their Trainer.

I grabbed Conrad and said, "Are you OK?" and began to check his head. He had a large, but shallow, cut on his head and was gingerly handling his left leg. Beyond that, he seemed mostly fine, just in shock.

"Finn. Oh my God. Oh My GOD! What is happening?"

"I don't know, but we need to get the hell out of here. We need to grab Alex and freaking go! Have you seen her at all?"

Conrad looked over my head and said, " No I hav-" but he cut himself off. He pointed behind me and said, dumbfounded, "Well actually, it seems like she's fighting the Princess' Royal Guard."

I whipped around to seem what he could possibly mean only to see Alex on stage in a heated battle around the devastated Princess and her parents' prone bodies. Her Sceptile was fighting blow for blow with a powerful looking Liepard while Tegan was dancing around the claws of a massive Ursaring. Alex herself was physically fighting someone who I couldn't quite see over her shoulder.

I grabbed Conrad and began trying to get back to the stage in earnest. Alex ducked under the man's fist and I gasped in shock.

Alex was fighting Calum! What the hell is happening?

Alex's POV

This guy was friggin tough!

I have some experience with fighting of course (I'm a traveling Trainer, it's a necessary skill). But this guy was at a completely different level. Aidan and Tegan were definitely holding their own against his Pokemon, but this guy must have been professionally trained. The best I could do was try to buy time until my Pokemon could assist me.

"Alex! Calum!" a voice from the crowd called.

I quickly glanced to see who said my name and just had enough time to recognize Finn supporting Conrad in the chaos before I was taken to the ground.

The guy had taken advantage of my lapse in concentration and took me down hard. He quickly pinned me to the ground and got in my face.

"Who are you and wh-" he began to yell but he was swept off of me by a burst of water.

I looked back at Finn and saw that his Golduck had just launched a quick Water Gun to get that guy off of me. I didn't have time to thank them because I saw a more immediate problem.

"Shea, Protect!"

My Flygon materialized above the Princess and created a blue barrier to protect her from a Sableye that was attempting to grab her. The Sableye was pushed off balance and stumbled away from the Princess.

"Bit, Water Pulse!"

Finn's Starmie launched a glowing ball of water and energy that slammed into the off balance Sableye. The attack launched Sableye away and it landed with a long skid off the stage.

I sighed in relief and turned to locate Finn when suddenly I felt two familiar arms grab me and begin checking for injuries.

"Are you OK? You seem physically fine but there might be an injury from hitting the ground," said Finn worriedly.

"Oh definitely. But I'm good beyond that. You?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine!. No injuries. Conrad may need some help but beyond that we should be good. Well not good, just not injured."

"Yeah I second that!"

While we were talking Conrad had grabbed that guy I was fighting and helped him up, he started explaining that Finn and I had come with him but as soon as he said that the guy got up and ran to the Princess. He kneeled down next to her and put his arm around her. She collapsed into him but she didn't seem to be crying as much. Still in shock.

Our Pokemon had caught up to what was happening and set up a perimeter around the stage to protect us. We had some advantage because we were above the rest of the battle but it was clear that the fight was only getting nastier.

Most of the civilians had been evacuated by now so the only people who were left were the true fighters and castle guards. The battle raged all over the ball room as people in their torn up finery were taking on the invaders. Individuals battles were shaping up but it was still unclear what side was going to take the day. The man on the Steelix was protecting the entrance so that the last of the evacuees could get out. He seemed to be holding his own but there were so many more people attacking then expected.

"We need to go, Calum. Now"

We looked in the direction of the voice but we were surprised to see it was the Princess. She stood up and looked up into Calum's eyes, still clearly distressed, but she was trying to pull herself together.

"We have to leave. The castle isn't safe for us anymore. Not for anyone who was loyal to the Redmond Crown."

"We're coming to, you're going to need all the help you can get escaping this mess," I exclaimed. She looked back at us in quick surprise, but then she nodded in approval.

"Thank you."

"My Lady, we don't know these people. We don't know their motives or their past or-," Calum implored with worry in his voice.

"Calum, they have proved themselves to me. They defended me when I was unable to defend myself, without any hesitation. And Conrad has always been a trustworthy friend to the crown. I think we are going to need all the allies we can get after today and I am not willing to push away help when it's been offered. Conrad, are you able to drive a boat in your condition?"

"Yes, My Lady."

"Good, then we will need your assistance! Follow me!"

Princess Seraphina rushed down the hall where the royal entourage had just made their grand entrance moments ago. How quickly things had completely changed since that entrance just moments ago.

Calum ordered his Ursaring to pick up Conrad and they rushed to catch up to the Princess. We quickly followed in the rear as the rest of our Pokemon launched attacks to defend against any people following us. Right after we had all entered the hallway, an explosion rocked the stage. We heard something collapse and smoke and dust filled the air, but we just kept running.

We ran down hallways and stairs until suddenly I could smell salt water. We finally exited into a large open harbor underneath the castle. The harbor was completely empty, everyone had probably fled or gone to defend the castle at this point. Calum broke into the harbormaster's office and grabbed a set of keys, while the rest of us returned our Pokemon.

We climbed into a rather large speedboat and Finn released his Starmie and Golduck in the river to act as a guard.

Conrad started the engine and drove us out of the harbor, down The Arching River. We began to head South away from the castle and the city of Trale.

Seraphina and Calum appeared to be comforting each other. Finn grabbed my hand and squeezed it as suddenly the events of the day began to catch up to us. I couldn't believe what had happened. I couldn't believe what we'd just witnessed.

Suddenly we heard explosions and we all jumped. We looked up and saw it was just fireworks from Trale.

"Oh yeah," I said softly, "it's New Years."

The City of Trale was still celebrating. They didn't know what had just happened to their country and their world. Everything seemed normal and happy for them now but tomorrow the public would find out about everything. Their King and Queen were dead, The Princess was nowhere to be found, and who knows how many people had been injured or killed in the battle. The fireworks may have been beautiful but they were a fleeting joy.

Today was a dark day in Rova's long and immense history.

"Happy New Year, everybody," I said dully while we sailed away, into the complete unknown.