"Meowstic! Lady Meowstic, are you out there?" Serena called out.
After sending the flyers out to search the skies, the twerps decided to split up and search the forest on the ground, in case the balloon was hidden beneath some trees or some other place that was invisible from the above. They'd been walking around for an hour now, with still no sign of the villains...
"Hopefully the others are having better luck," Serena sighed.
"Brai..." Her Pokémon nodded in agreement.
Just as they said that, however, they saw a familiar blue-haired man running in their direction, a familiar Inkay at his side, and a familiar Meowstic unconscious in his arms.
"Stop right there!" Serena ordered, holding her palm out in front of her. Braixen drew her wand, ready to fight the criminal and retrieve the stolen Pokémon.
"Twerpette?!" James said, skidding to a halt in front of her. But then, a roar sounded off behind him, reminding him why he was running. He and Inkay leaped behind Serena, using her as a shield against the raging Pangoro.
"H-Hey! What's going on?!" Serena yelled, noticing the Pangoro charging towards them. About ten paces away, however, it stopped and examined its surroundings. It seemed to have realized that the humans were now well out of his territory. It drew a line on the ground, gestured at it, pointed at the humans, and then drew an invisible line around its neck.
"I-I think it's saying if we cross that line, we're dead?" James said. The Pangoro nodded, then turned back and disappeared into the forest. "Phew..." James sighed. He wasn't planning on returning any time soon anyway. "Oh no, Meowstic!" he cried, suddenly remembering the injured Pokémon he was carrying. "Meowstic, are you okay? Speak to me!" He set her down against a tree.
"All right, you crook, give Meowstic back to its owner!" Serena demanded.
"Shhhh!" James shushed, trying to focus on tending to Meowstic's wounds. "Look, I'll ask Meowstic if she wants to go back to him when she wakes up. If she doesn't, I'll let her go free into the wild, simple as that," he explained, much to Serena's confusion.
"What do you mean? Why wouldn't Meowstic want to go back?" she asked. "...And why would you just let her go free? Didn't you say something about a promotion if you offered her to your boss? Something's fishy here..."
"I'll explain everything in a minute. Right now..." James pulled out a Potion and set to work fixing Meowstic up. A few sprays and bandages later, Meowstic looked a lot better, though still unconscious. "She just needs to rest for a few minutes now," James said, laying her comfortably against the tree. Serena looked impressed with the man's medical know-how. But she still had a mission.
"Okay, now give me one good reason I shouldn't have Braixen roast you and take Meowstic back to her rightful owner!" Serena said.
"Braixen!" her Pokémon added, drawing her wand again.
"Because Meowstic's miserable at home..." James said, closing his eyes. "She told me so herself."
"Wh-Wha? How can she be sad? She's living in the lap of luxury..." Serena said.
James chuckled. "You don't know anything about being a noble, do you?" he said. "When you're that rich, your freedoms get severely limited. There are several rules you always need to be following, and everything you do has to be refined. You can't even eat without tutors criticizing your form. Every day is back-to-back lessons on etiquette... Every night is back-to-back social gatherings where you must be on your best behavior and have no fun whatsoever, lest you appear carefree and silly... It's a horrible life," James explained.
"How do you know so much about being a noble?" Serena asked, surprised at his insight into high society.
"Because I am one. Or... I used to be. Hmm..." James scratched his chin. "I ran away over ten years ago. Do I still count as a nobleman?"
"Yes, you do. Nobility isn't something that expires," Meowstic said, remembering her lessons. She walked over to them shakily. James ran up to support her.
Serena and Braixen gave them shocked looks. "You can talk?!" Serena exclaimed. "And you're a nobleman?"
James joined Meowstic in rolling her eyes this time. He got this reaction fairly often when people found out he was technically a member of the nobility, and Meowstic had to once again explain that yes, she can indeed talk.
"I'm a marquess, to be exact," James explained. "The Marquess of Parfum, right here in Kalos. My mother and father are dukes and duchesses in Kanto."
"Wait a second... Parfum?" Serena said. "As in, Parfum Palace?"
James nodded. "My father was good friends with King Allister. The good king gave me the title as..." James sighed. "...an engagement gift for me and his niece..."
"You don't sound too happy about that," Meowstic said.
"While the king and queen were kind, their niece was anything but!" James explained, shuddering. "She's the main reason I ran away..."
"I can imagine," Serena said. "We met his daughter, Princess Allie, at the palace. She was a spoiled brat!"
"And I think I've met your fiancé at a ball or two..." Meowstic said. "Countess Jessebelle, right? She certainly was a piece of work."
James let out another sigh in response. It looked like Meowstic and Serena were going to probe him further on his family life, but he really didn't want to dredge up any more of the terrible memories he had of Jessebelle and his childhood. So before they could fire off any more questions, he decided to change the subject.
"Enough about my boring life," he said, diverting attention away from himself. "Why don't you tell the twerpette about how you learned to talk?"
"I have a name, you know!" Serena said, a little indignantly. "But yeah, I am pretty curious about how you learned to speak."
"It's nothing extraordinary," Meowstic said, shrugging. "I just took speaking lessons. It was among the many lessons I unwillingly undertook in their quest to groom the first Pokémon aristocrat."
"I see..." Serena was a little taken aback by this. "But why do your owners want you to be an aristocrat so badly?"
"Because they're braggarts," Meowstic said matter-of-factly. "Narcissists. Egotists. Being the first to add a Pokémon to the ranks of the aristocracy would just be another achievement for them to brag about. And they'll do anything to achieve it - even force a poor, innocent little Espurr into doing whatever they say..."
"You know, I've been wondering..." James said. "It's understandable for me, since I was my parents' only son, but for you... why didn't your owners toss you out when it was obvious you wouldn't cooperate, and then find some other Meowstic or Espurr to do their bidding? It sounds like that would be a lot less trouble, not to mention a lot more moral..."
Meowstic shook her head. "It's not that simple," she said. "You can't just pick a Pokémon up off the street and expect to be able to groom it into a noble. I mean, listen to your Meowth's horrible accent. He'd never pass for an aristocrat! No, they specifically chose me..." Meowstic began telling them the story of when she was born...
Flashback
"M-Milord, the egg is hatching!"
"Yes, yes, I see it. Stand back a bit to let the Pokémon come out."
"Yes, milord."
The baby Espurr heard those words as she emerged from her egg. With a flash of light, everything came into view for the small Pokémon. She was instantly dazzled by the surroundings she emerged into. There was gold...gold everywhere. Lining the walls, hanging from the ceiling, framing paintings... Everything was so shiny and she loved it. She looked at the faces surrounding her - there was a wealthy looking man and an equally wealthy looking woman, another man dressed in servant garb, and a third man wearing a black blazer with purple trim.
"Well, judge?" the wealthy-looking man said to the man wearing the purple-trimmed black blazer - the judge? "How fares this Espurr's potential?"
"Hmm, I see... I see..." the judge said, scrutinizing the newborn Espurr. "This Pokémon's potential is outstanding overall. Highly intelligent, a quick learner, obedient... It's exactly what you wanted."
"Yes, yes, very good!" the wealthy man said. He took out a large wad of cash from his pocket and handed it over to the judge.
"Thank you, sir. But may I ask why you need an obedient, intelligent, quick-learning Espurr?" the judge asked.
"That's none of your concern. Go on, out! Out!" the wealthy man said, shooing the judge out. When the judge was fully outside, the wealthy man turned his attention to the newly born Espurr.
Espurr, being an innocent newborn Pokémon, waddled up to her new owner, hoping for some love and affection. But...
"Hss!" Espurr cried out upon getting hit by a spray bottle. Why did they spray me? she thought.
"Now now," the wealthy man said. "That's no way for a lady to walk and talk. Now, repeat after me... 'She sells seashells down by the seashore!'"
"Es...purr? (Excuse me?)" the Pokémon said.
"Wrong!" the wealthy man let out another spray of water. And thus, Espurr's lessons began...
The group stared at Meowstic with looks of sympathy.
"Oh my..." Serena said. "I had no idea growing up wealthy could be so difficult..."
Meowstic and James nodded knowingly.
"So it's true? You don't want to go back to your home?" Serena continued.
Meowstic shook her head. "No, I'm not going back. Truth be told, I let myself get captured. I could've broken out whenever I wanted to."
Serena nodded. "And you..." she said, looking at James. "Why would you help Meowstic? You don't sound like your normal greedy self..."
James shrugged. "Because I can relate to her," he said. "Sort of like how I helped you and Braixen out with your branch problem." Braixen and Serena looked at him in surprise. "What, you really didn't know 'Jeeves' was just me in disguise?" James assumed it was obvious, that at least one of them saw him jump in the air and change clothes, that they heard him cheering Braixen on as he blasted off...
"N-No, I didn't," Serena said. "I guess that explains how he just disappeared after Team Rocke- er, you guys attacked..."
James sighed. "Well, now you know. Anyways..." He got back to the topic at hand. "I know how terrible and monotonous it is to live like that. I wouldn't wish that fate upon anyone. Plus, she sort of saved my skin back there, taking a hit from that Pangoro in the process."
"Hmm..." Serena thought about whether she should trust James. She remembered all the times Meowth tricked them into thinking he had benign intentions, but ended up backstabbing them. So she was a little skeptical.
"I trust him," Meowstic said, stepping up for James. "If it was one of the other two, I'd be skeptical, like you, but this man actually seems really nice. He fed me and refused to abandon me when the Pangoro attacked."
"Braixen brai!" Braixen said, looking at Meowstic expectantly. The talking Pokémon got the message.
"Braixen says that she trusts him too. That he sounded really sincere when he helped her with that branch problem you guys talked about," Meowstic translated.
"You too, Braixen?" Serena said. Braixen nodded in response. "Well...all right, then. If you two trust him, then I will, too. So should we ask Lord William to release Meowstic?"
James and Meowstic both shook their heads vigorously. Meowstic knew her master would never willingly let her go, and James knew it too, remembering his parents' willingness to use force and trickery to try to get him to come home.
"If we asked his permission, he'd drag me back to the mansion, kicking and screaming all the way," Meowstic explained. "You saw the leash he put on me? Next time, it'll be a cage."
"That's horrible!" Serena said. She wanted to say that Lord William seemed like a nice guy and probably wouldn't cage his Pokémon, but then she remembered his behavior at the mansion, and especially the leash... A cage seemed like something he would actually do.
"Welcome to high society..." James said, throwing his hands up.
"So what's the plan, then?" Serena asked. She recalled Lord William mentioning something about getting all of his dozens of servants plus the entire local police department to comb through the forest for the criminals, so simply walking out wasn't an option.
"Well, if your twerpy friends help out, we can use the balloon to make our escape..." James started, before realizing something. "Oh no, our balloon! And Jessie... and Meowth! They're all still in that territorial Pangoro's territory!"
A look of worry appeared on Serena's face, as well. "Ash and the others went in there, too. We have to help them!" she said. James nodded in agreement and set off back into the Pangoro's territory. Before they left, however, Braixen approached him.
"Brai!" she said, giving a little bow, looking to Meowstic to translate.
"She's saying thanks for helping her with her branch problem that day," Meowstic translated for him. "I see you have a habit of helping the damsels in distress, eh?" she teased.
"Ehehe..." James chuckled nervously. "You're very welcome, Braixen. I understand how it feels, caring so much about an object, with people not understanding or caring how much the object means to me," he explained.
"Braixen..." she said, nodding. Then, she ran up to him shyly, gave him a quick hug, and trotted back to Serena's side.
"She really likes you," Meowstic said, giggling. "I can get why. I, too, just had someone that understood me and my situation completely, and then offered to help me out."
"Really? Who was it?" James stupidly asked, to Meowstic's chagrin.
"Oh, just some clueless, oblivious idiot, apparently..." she sighed.
A/N: Woo. I made up the part about James being a noble lol. I don't quite know much about nobility, I just googled a bunch of noble titles and stuff and played through Long Live the Queen a bunch of times :3. Hopefully the situation I put James in is believable and not wildly inaccurate lol.
Also, the Parfum thingy was inspired by the theory mentioned by the guy writing Birthday Getaway (Malbara)! I thought it was interesting how they theorized that Jessebelle was related to Princess Allie of Parfum Palace (given their personalities). They didn't seem too similar, though (accent and eye color comes to mind), so I figured I'd make them cousins instead of sisters.
Anyway, any reviews/thoughts/criticisms/corrections would be much appreciated!