Helloooo all you wonderful readers!
It's been a while, but here's chapter 91!
I also have a Poll Series I want to do for these last chapters, but more on that at the author's note at the end. For now, I'll let you all read on!
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size!
Queen Misty
Grade Four
May (9), Misty (10), Dawn (9), Leaf (9), Gary (10), Drew (9), Ash (10), Paul (10)
Misty didn't mind doing school plays, but it was always worrisome when the teacher was handing out the roles.
She didn't want to end up in a role she didn't want - definitely not one where she had to dress extra-girly. She had her likes and dislikes when it came to outfits, and she really disliked anything that would make her sisters tease her. And they always teased her when she went near anything to do with dresses and makeup.
So as Mr. Robertson announced the roles for this year's class play, Misty sat tensely, thinking, Please nothing girly, please nothing girly, please nothing girly...
"Dawn," Mr. Robertson said when he reached Dawn's name on his list. "You will be the Maiden of the Lake."
"Oh, nice!" Dawn said, eyes shining.
Maiden of the Lake wouldn't have been too bad, Misty thought. The Maiden was the guardian of a magic lake. It would have been a cool part to play, but maybe Misty would have had to dress up in frilly, girly clothes for the role, if she'd gotten it. Maybe it was for the best she didn't.
"Leaf," Mr. Robertson said. "You will be... the King's Advisor."
Leaf grinned. "Works for me!"
Misty couldn't help but grin too. An advisor was the perfect role for Leaf!
"Drew," said Mr. Robertson. "You will be the Queen's Gallade Knight #2."
"Not bad," Drew said, flipping his hair. Last year, he'd had to be a tree - Misty could see he liked this role much better. Though she had to wonder if he'd been made a Gallade because of his green hair.
"And Ash," said Mr. Robertson when he'd reached him on the list. "You play the role of the Hero."
"I get to be the main character!" Ash exclaimed, beaming with excitement.
Huh, thought Misty. Last year, he'd gotten to be the main villain, and he'd played it really well. This time, he was the main hero - the teachers must love him in central roles. Now that she thought about it, sometimes he really did make her think he was meant to be the protagonist of a movie, or some TV show.
"May," said Mr. Robertson at May's turn. "You will be Singing Pokemon #5 - a Wigglytuff."
"Oh." May looked thoughtful. "Well, I am really good at singing."
"Gary..."
Gary perked up when his name was called. Last year, he'd gotten a minor role, and Misty knew he wanted a bigger part this time.
"You will be the King of the South."
Gary pumped a fist in the air. "Awesome! Finally, a good part."
"Paul, I have you down as Tree #4."
Paul, who'd been watching the teacher warily, relaxed, and Misty heard him let out a relieved "yes" under his breath. Misty rolled her eyes. Most people loved getting main roles, but not Paul.
At this point, there were hardly any main roles left. That meant Misty wouldn't get to have a big role, but at least there wouldn't be anything her sisters could embarrass her about.
Guess I'll end up being a singing tree too, Misty thought. Or one of the singing Pokemon. Or—
"And Misty..."
Misty snapped to attention when she heard Mr. Robertson say her name. To her surprise, he had a smile on his face - the smile she'd seen him have when he did something he thought the students liked.
Why would he have that smile if he was going to give Misty a minor role?
Suddenly, Misty had a bad feeling.
"Misty, you will be the Queen of the North."
"Please Mr. Robertson," Misty said, going up to the teacher's desk after class while everyone else got ready for recess. "Please can I have a different part."
Mr. Robertson frowned. "Why? I thought you'd like having a major role."
"Yeah, but..."
Truth was, Misty did want a major role. Ever since she'd been little, she'd had to be side characters in school plays. But she knew what would happen the moment her sisters found out she had to be a fancy, dressed-up queen. The teasing would be merciless.
"Give it a chance," Mr. Robertson said. "I think you'll be wonderful as the Queen."
Misty remained glum when she joined her friends outside. Dawn seemed baffled by Misty's low spirits.
"But you got such a good part!" she said. "Why don't you want it?"
Misty shrugged. "It's just... I don't know. Queens wear dresses and jewellery and makeup and... I don't think it really suits me."
"It could, if you find the right outfit," said Dawn. To Misty's annoyance, she started eyeing her up and down, as if she were in charge of designing her costume. "Hm, if you have the right clothes, we can really make you the most perfect Queen of the North this school has ever seen!"
Whatever Dawn had thought up, Misty was sure she wouldn't like it.
"Yes, yes!" May exclaimed. "We should all get together and help each other come up with our costumes! It'd be so much fun!"
"May, that's genius!" Dawn shrieked in delight. "I have so much dress-up stuff at home - we can hang out at my place!"
"Like, a girls makeover day?" said Leaf, grinning. "I'm in!"
"What about us?" Ash asked. The girls had left the boys entirely out of the conversation.
"I don't really have boy clothes," Dawn said, frowning. "Maybe you guys can have a boys costume day at one of your houses."
"I guess we could do that," Drew said thoughtfully. "My tailors can probably make custom-made stuff for us."
"Hey, really?" Ash's eyes brightened. "That'd be awesome!"
"Yeah!" Gary said, and Misty was a little surprised, because she'd expected him to call the idea girly. "If your tailors can make it exactly how I want, I think I can come up with a really cool king outfit!"
"I really don't need a tailor," Paul said, shrugging. "I just have to be tree."
"I still have my tree costume from last year," Drew said. "If you want, I can lend it to you."
"No, I'm good," Paul said, a thoughtful look on his face. "I think I know what I'll wear..."
With her friends so excited about their outfits, Misty tried to pump herself up too. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad. She got to play an important character, after all - that'd be fun, being on stage for important scenes. She would leave the worrying about the costume for later.
There was still a long time until their performance, so they didn't need their costumes right away. The eight of them focused on memorizing their lines, sometimes hanging out together to help one another out.
Misty found she liked the Queen's character. She was a powerful, dignified ruler who had to guard her queendom from the invading King of the South. She made smart, important decisions on how to protect everyone, and even went onto the battlefield herself.
She was the kind of role Misty had always wanted.
Then, when the day for the performance came nearer, Dawn proposed the girls have their makeover day to prepare their costumes.
"We need to figure out what to wear so we'd be ready and looking our best onstage!" Dawn declared. "Ash told me he and Gary and Drew already have Drew's tailors making their outfits. They're going to wear special, custom-made stuff, so we gotta look just as good when do our parts with them!"
Ugh, no, Misty thought. If she was forced to go to this makeover day, she knew Dawn would insist she try on dozens of outfits she wouldn't like.
So she said, "I don't think I'll come, actually."
"Huh?" Dawn looked surprised. "Why not?"
"I already know what I want to wear."
"Oh yeah?" Leaf looked interested. "What is it? Can I see?"
"I'll wear it on performance day. You can see it then."
Truth was, Misty actually didn't know what she was going to wear. But she'd figure something out, probably. She just wanted Dawn off her case.
"Aw, I wanna see, though," said May.
"You should come over anyways," said Dawn. "Maybe we could help you take it to the next level. And we can try out different makeup from my makeup kit and see what we could use on the day."
Noooo thank you, Misty thought. Out loud, she said, "Really, Dawn, I know what I wanna wear. I have a lot of homework to do anyways, so..."
Dawn tried to convince her for a while longer, but Misty stood her ground. Finally, Dawn let it go with a disappointed sigh.
"Fine," she said. "But everyone has to come over to my house on performance day so we can get ready together. Even you, Misty, got it? Leaf, you drag her over here if you have to."
Leaf saluted, smirking. "Yes ma'am!"
Well, Misty wouldn't be able to avoid going to Dawn's house before the play, but at least she got out of the costume selection hassle.
Though she really did need a costume.
At home, Misty sighed as she searched through her closet. She didn't like the girly stuff her sisters liked, so none of her clothes matched what a queen might wear. She only managed to find one dress - a lacy, yellow and shocking pink dress that had belonged to her older sister, Lily. Lily had given it to her to wear to a party once, but it had clashed so much with Misty's preferred style that she'd hidden it away at the very back of her closet.
This is probably the closest thing I have to royalty-wear, Misty thought glumly. Even if it didn't suit Misty, it didn't look too bad, really.
Maybe I could get some accessories to make it more my style...
"Whoa, like, is that the dress I gave you?" Misty whipped around. She hadn't even noticed Lily come into her room!
Yet, there she was, eyes wide as her gaze ran over Misty holding up the dress. A wide grin broke out on her face.
"I thought you said you lost it," Lily laughed. "Were you hiding it? Why'd you take it out? Unless..." Lily gasped exaggeratedly. "You actually do like it! And you wear it in secret!"
"I do not!" Misty snapped. "Be quiet, Lily!"
But Lily's laughter had attracted the attention of her other sister, Violet. Violet peered in through the door, raising an eyebrow. Misty, fuming, tried to shove the dress back into her closet.
"Was that Lily's old dress?" Violet said.
"Yes!" Lily said, still laughing. "Misty likes wearing it in secret!"
"I do not!"
"Then why did you have it out?"
"Have what out?" It looked like the final sister, Daisy, had also appeared.
"My old dress!" said Lily. "You know, the pink and yellow one I gave her a while back?"
Daisy raised an eyebrow at Misty. "You don't even like dresses?"
"I wasn't wearing it!" Misty yelled. "I was looking for something else, and—"
"Does this have anything to do with that play you have coming up?" said Violet.
"What play?" said Lily, turning to her curiously.
"The grade fours are doing a play soon, if I remember right," said Violet. "I saw it in the school newspaper."
Darn it! thought Misty. She'd been careful not to mention the play anywhere around her sisters.
"Reeeeally?" Lily's eyes glinted as she turned back to Misty. "What part did you get?"
"It doesn't matter!"
"I think it matters very much if you're thinking of wearing a dress!"
Misty fumed. THIS was why she didn't want to get the Queen role! Her sisters were going to make this insufferable!
After she finally managed to kick her sisters out of her room, she looked back at the dress. A moment ago, she'd been willing to try it out, even if she didn't like it much, but after her sisters' mockery, she didn't even want to give it a chance. It didn't suit her, she didn't like it, and her sisters would make fun of her for trying to wear a dress to the play.
She hated dresses.
And now, she would be forced to wear one in front of everybody.
"Come on, Misty, show me!" Leaf said, a glint in her eyes.
"No way." Misty was adamant. She held the large bag stuffed with the pink and yellow dress tightly in her arms, in case Leaf tried to snatch it away.
It was the day of the performance, and in a few hours, they would be backstage. As Dawn had insisted, all the girls were going to get ready at her house and head to school together, and Leaf, true to her promise, had made sure to bring Misty along.
She'd also pestered Misty the entire way, asking to see what she was going to wear.
"I don't get why you're hiding it," Leaf whined as they walked down the pathway to Dawn's front door. "You're going to have to take it out to wear in a few minutes anyways."
Misty kept her chin up as she rang the doorbell. She knew Leaf was right, but she wanted to delay everyone seeing for as long as she could.
"Hey guys!" Dawn said, bubbling with excitement when she opened the door.
Leaf and Misty turned to wave at Leaf's mother who was watching from the car, and she waved back and drove off - Dawn's mom would be the one getting everyone to school.
"May's already here," Dawn rambled as she led Misty and Leaf to her room. "We already started getting ready - you should see how she looks in her costume!"
Dawn's eyes shone as if May had dressed like a model, but how fancy could a Wigglytuff costume be? Misty thought.
Plenty fancy, as it turned out.
Misty stared in stunned admiration.
Instead of a full Wigglytuff costume like Misty had expected, May wore a frilly, Wigglytuff-pink and white dress, with matching pink tights, and pink shoes with white buckles and soles. Small pink bows ran in a neat line down her hair on each side, pearly pink earrings dangled from her ears. To top it all off, she wore a pair of Wigglytuff ears on her head, and over her eyes, a pair of large, round sunglasses with a thick, white frame, and lenses the same shade of blue as a Wigglytuff's eyes.
May twirled, bringing the glasses up and down from her eyes. "How do I look?" she squealed.
"You look amazing!" said Misty.
"More than amazing!" Leaf exclaimed. "That outfit's so cute!"
"I knowww!" May hopped in excitement. She rested the glasses on her forehead. "When we had that makeover day, Dawn said she would lend me this dress and told me to wear it instead of buying a Wigglytuff costume," May explained to Misty. "It's a cute dress, but I wasn't sure how it would make me look like a Wigglytuff, so I wasn't sure. But then I bought all the extra accessories Dawn told me to wear, and then Dawn helped me get ready before you guys arrived, and now..."
May twirled again. "I love it so much! And I look like a Wigglytuff without having to wear those baggy costumes!"
Misty would never had thought to make a Wigglytuff costume like this. With Dawn's instruction, May was looking her best without having to wear an uncomfortable, baggy costume, which, from the ones Misty had seen, often looked a bit silly.
Dawn pointed at Leaf and Misty. "Now, time to do the same to you two!"
Leaf had brought some of her own clothes - which, apparently, Dawn had told her bring as well - and Dawn finished the look with a coat and accessories.
In the end, Leaf looked stellar. She wore dark brown dress pants, a tucked-in white dress shirt, a beige knitted vest, and polished, dark brown dress shoes. Over her shoulders, she draped Dawn's long, dark brown leather jacket, and Dawn styled her hair in an elegant braided bun.
Wow, Misty thought. Both her friends looked fantastic. She held the bag with her dress tighter in her arms. How was she going to wear her ridiculous dress next to her friends?
"You're next, Misty!" Dawn announced as she helped Leaf pick out a pair of earrings from her jewellery box.
"Finally!" Leaf said, grinning. "We get to see what you're wearing!"
Misty's stomach squirmed.
"Um, I think you should get ready too, Dawn," Misty said. "If all you do is help us get ready, you won't have time for yourself."
"Hm, try these ones, Leaf," Dawn said as she handed Leaf a pair of elegant, dangly gold earrings. She turned to Misty. "Aw, but how am I going to make sure you're looking your best?"
Since when is that your job? Misty thought, irritated. She shouldn't be irritated with Dawn - she knew she shouldn't - but it was so frustrating, not having a great outfit like her friends.
"You don't have to help me with anything," Misty said, managing to keep her irritation out of her voice.
"But Dawn's so good at it!" May said, bouncing with excitement. "I can't wait to see how you'll look!"
"Yeah, come on, Misty," Leaf chimed in as she put on the gold earrings. "Is your outfit embarrassing, is that it? Is that why you don't want to show us?"
Dawn frowned and eyed Misty suspiciously at Leaf's words. Misty glared at the floor so she wouldn't meet her gaze.
Leaf, on the other hand, had finally put on the earrings and beamed at herself in the mirror. "Perfect!"
"You look so pretty, Leaf!" May exclaimed. "No, 'pretty' isn't the right word. You look sophisticated! Elegant!"
"All right, if you're both ready, out!" Dawn said suddenly, pointing at May and Leaf.
The two looked surprised. "What?"
Dawn plastered a huge grin on her face. "It's time for me and Misty to get ready, and we would like some privacy!"
"What! But you guys didn't have to leave when we were getting ready," Leaf protested.
"May got ready when you two weren't even here yet, and you got dressed in the walk-in closet. But if Misty and I get ready at the same time, one of us is going to have to use the room, and the other the closet, so you two need to get out," Dawn reasoned.
"Awww," May whined, but trudged out the door anyways, Leaf behind her. Leaf cast a disappointed glance at Misty - Misty knew she was still curious about the outfit - but soon, she and May were both out the room, the door shut behind them.
Honestly, Misty was also a little surprised Dawn had sent them out. But it wouldn't make a difference, Misty thought glumly. Sooner or later, she was going to have to be in front of her friends wearing her ugly dress.
Dawn locked the door and turned to Misty, the smile no longer on her face. "You hate it," she stated. "Your costume."
Misty's attention snapped to her, surprised. "What do you mean?" How did she find out?
"I can tell," said Dawn. "May and Leaf are so happy with their outfits, they look like they want to show them off to the world! But you've been hiding your costume since day one. You don't like it, do you?"
Misty scowled and shrugged. "It doesn't matter. I have to wear it anyways."
"It DOES matter!" Dawn said vehemently. "It's so, so important to love the way you look, and I will not have my friends go onstage feeling like they hate themselves. Show me what you have!"
Dawn stretched her arms out, as if she thought Misty was going to hand over her costume without a fight.
"Look, it's fine, Dawn," Misty lied, growing irritated. "In case you don't remember, I'm not really into clothes anyways, so I don't care what I wear."
"Show. Me. What. You. Have." There was a fire in Dawn's eyes, and Misty realized she wasn't going to back down.
It wasn't like she wouldn't find out anyways, Misty thought miserably as she passed her bag over.
Dawn reached into the bag and pulled out the dress. She let the bag fall and held the dress at arms length to inspect it. She was silent while she looked it over.
Misty sighed impatiently. "Look, just say it. It's ugly, isn't it?"
"It's not ugly," said Dawn thoughtfully. "It's actually a very pretty dress."
Misty knew Dawn had to be saying that to make her feel better, and that only made her feel angry and humiliated. She did not want to be pitied!
"You're lying. It's ugly, and you know it," Misty said accusingly, trying to shove down the lump in her throat. She could feel something in her eyes, and she blinked angrily against it. Why did she feel like crying? It was such a silly thing to cry over - she couldn't cry!
"It's not," said Dawn. "I mean it."
Misty started to retort, but Dawn interrupted.
"But," she said, "I don't think it really suits you. And you don't like it, so I don't think you should wear it."
Misty crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "I don't have anything else, Dawn. This was the only dress I had."
"Well, come on, I might have something." Dawn put down Misty's dress and headed into her walk-in closet. Misty was mortified to feel a couple of tears leak past her eyelids, and she quickly wiped them away. But if Dawn had seen them, she didn't say anything.
"I don't think you'll have anything that'd fit me," Misty said. Misty was taller than Dawn - Dawn wouldn't have anything in her size.
"I don't know about that," said Dawn. "Sometimes I see something I like in stores, but it's a bit too big for me. But I buy it anyways because I might grow into it."
She led Misty to the very back of the closet and started looking through some clothes at the very end of the hang bar. Misty doubted she'd find anything she'd like. What could someone like Dawn, who liked fashion as much as Misty's sisters, have that someone like Misty would look good in?
"So," said Dawn as she shuffled through the clothes. "How do you like the Queen's character?"
Misty shrugged. "I like her."
"What do you like about her?"
Misty wasn't sure why Dawn was asking - probably because the silence was getting awkward.
"She's... a really strong and cool Queen," said Misty. "The King of the South is waging war on her, but she's not like a damsel in distress or anything, you know? She handles it herself. She gives the orders to her soldiers, and she even goes onto the battlefield to fight. She's like... a smart, warrior queen."
Dawn nodded. "A clever warrior queen," she murmured as if Misty had given her crucial information. She pulled out a fancy, dark green jacket with gold buttons. "Try this on."
Misty stared. "That's a jacket."
"Try it," Dawn insisted.
Misty sighed. No use fighting it. Might as well show Dawn how much it didn't work so she'd get off her case.
Misty put on the jacket. It came to her thighs and had a sash around the waist that Dawn helped her adjust. Misty looked at herself in the mirror and, to her surprise, she didn't hate it. In fact, it looked... good.
"What do you think?" Dawn asked.
"I like it," said Misty. She frowned a little at her reflection, trying to picture herself wearing this as the Queen. "But... I don't know. Something's missing."
Dawn nodded. "I was thinking the same thing. It looks great on you, but maybe something a little more... queenly?"
Misty took off the jacket and Dawn placed it on her bed.
"Let's put it aside for now and see what else I have," she said.
After that, she had Misty try an orange jacket, but declared it looked too orangey with her hair. She gave Misty another, shorter jacket that was brown with lots of buttons that looked perfect for a warrior, but they weren't sure what kind of pants Misty would wear with it, since Dawn didn't have a matching pair of pants in Misty's size. Misty even tried on a long, navy blue dress and was stunned at how much she liked it, but they decided it didn't have the warrior factor Misty wanted.
"I've never taken so long picking an outfit in my life," Misty commented as Dawn went back to searching through her clothes.
Dawn grinned. "But you seem into it."
"I'm normally not. It's just that... these outfits are actually nice."
"You have a really specific style, so most clothes don't interest you. But I like all clothes, so it looks like I do clothes stuff more. Truth is, lots of people like spending time on clothes, if it's the clothes they like."
Misty thought about that. She couldn't see herself going shopping for hours in a mall, but spending a little extra time on an outfit wasn't so bad. At least, when her sisters weren't sticking their nose in her business. Misty wasn't into fashion much to begin with, but her sisters always made fun of her every time she tried to dress nicely, so she'd stopped bothering at all.
But maybe, if she had someone like Dawn helping her pick things that suited her and didn't make fun of her for it, it wasn't too bad. Her sisters had simply never given her the option to explore her own style, like Dawn was.
"This one," Dawn said, handing her another outfit.
It was a dark red coat dress with black buttons and a pleated skirt. Misty put it on; it was elegant, regal, and it had a bit of a medieval look to it. Most importantly, when Misty tried to imagine herself as the Queen, she found it had the queenly warrior feel she wanted too.
"I think this is the one, Dawn," Misty said, staring at her reflection.
Dawn's face broke out in a large grin. "Yes, I think it is."
With the coat dress, Dawn gave her a pair of new black leggings she hadn't used yet; the leggings were a little short, since they were in Dawn's size, but the shortness was covered up by Dawn's pair of fancy, knee-length boots. The boots had a bit of a heel too, which made Misty feel taller and powerful, like a queen should be.
"Hmmm, what else?" Dawn thought. "Oh! I just thought of something, I'll be right back!"
She sped out the door before Misty could say another word. She could hear May and Leaf outside, calling to her.
"Are you guys ready... Wait, you didn't even change yet, Dawn!"
"Give me five minutes!" Dawn yelled back, and Misty heard the front door opening.
"Where are you going?!"
"Lucas's!" And the front door shut loudly.
"Who's Lucas?" Leaf called in confusion.
Dawn was back by the time Misty had finished tightening and tying the complicated laces of her boots.
"Here," Dawn said, panting as she handed her a... sword?
"Where did you get this?" Misty asked, bewildered. It was a plastic sword with a silver hilt studded with fake, red jewels, and a black, intricately designed sheath that could be worn around the waist with a belt.
"Lucas," Dawn said, still breathing hard. "He lives... a few houses away..."
When Dawn had finally caught her breath, she moved onto Misty's hair. Since Misty's hair was short, Dawn decided to leave it mostly open, but made two small braids at each side of her head, which she clipped behind her head with a rose clip.
Misty's ears weren't pierced, but Dawn had clip-ons - Misty selected a small pair of gold and red ones, and Dawn gave her approval. As Misty strapped on the sword, Dawn ran into her closet for one more thing.
"Okay," she said. "I normally don't lend my tiaras to others, but your outfit will look so good with this one!"
She held up a slim, elegant tiara with dark red jewels and placed it on Misty's head.
"There," Dawn said, looking Misty up and down with a proud and satisfied smile. "Perfect!"
Misty looked at herself in the mirror. She did look perfect. She had always thought she hated the way her sisters obsessed over their looks, but was this what they were doing? Making themselves feel this amazing?
"You look a lot happier with this outfit," Dawn said, nudging her playfully.
"Yeah, I am," Misty admitted. "Thanks so much, Dawn."
"You know," said Dawn. "It's okay to worry about how you look. Looking nice feels good. And if you feel bad about not looking the way you want... that's okay too. I know you don't really like my girly style of things, and people always say trying out clothes and stuff is girly and somehow bad" - Dawn rolled her eyes - "but we should get to spend time looking our best, no matter what our style is."
Misty wasn't sure what to say. She hadn't realized it before, but Dawn was right - she had been worried about how she looked, and she'd felt... almost guilty about wanting to look nice, since she spent so much time resisting her sisters' views on dressing up.
In all honesty, Misty had often thought that when her sisters, or even when Dawn, obsessed over things like hair and clothes, they were being ridiculous, but maybe she should consider that people had different ways of dressing to feel good about themselves. If they wanted to appear a certain way - girly or otherwise - Misty should respect that, even if she didn't think it was a big deal. After all, she had ways she wanted to appear as well, and it hurt when her sisters made her feel like she couldn't look nice too.
There was a knock on the door.
"Are you girls ready? We need to get going, or you'll be late!"
It was Dawn's mom. Dawn turned to Misty with a smile. "Well, looks like you're ready."
Misty looked back... and paused, eyes widening. "And it looks like you're not."
Dawn blinked. Then her eyes widened in horror. "I haven't changed!" she shrieked and bolted into her closet.
Fortunately, Dawn had her outfit ready. Unfortunately, she was too rushed to properly do her hair and had to have her mother style it.
Dawn's costume was a lot simpler than Misty had expected: She wore a long, slender, pale blue dress with white slippers and light blue jewellery. Her hair was mostly left open and straight, expect for a single braid running down her hair behind her head. To top it all off, she wore a small, white tiara with blue and silver jewels.
"I was thinking of looking like an elegant, ghostly lake guardian," Dawn explained. She twirled, her dress swishing around her. "Also, I love this dress. See? It even has pockets."
She showed Misty the unnoticeable pocket slits hidden in the folds of her dress.
May and Leaf, of course, loved both their outfits.
"You guys look so goooood!" May squealed.
"Why didn't you want to show us your outfit before, Misty? It's amazing!" Leaf said admiringly.
"I sort of needed... the Dawn touch to make my outfit better," Misty admitted. No need to add in that she and Dawn had come up with the costume from scratch just now.
There wasn't a lot of time to stand around admiring one another, though - they'd spent too much time getting ready, so Dawn's mom rushed them into the car.
Fortunately, they didn't arrive late. Backstage, the girls looked around for the rest of their friends.
"There you guys are!" Looked like Gary had found them. "I almost thought you weren't... coming..."
Gary trailed off. He seemed caught off-guard by their outfits. That only made Leaf's grin widen.
"You like our outfits?" she asked, adjusting her coat over her shoulders.
"Did you guys get custom-made stuff too?" he finally managed to say. "You look way too good to come up with all this yourselves."
"Oh no, it was all Dawn," Misty said, grinning.
"Yep! Everything Dawn touches becomes ten times more fashionable," said Leaf.
"I mean, look at this!" May gestured to her costume. "I thought I would have to wear one of those huge Pokemon costumes!"
"Aww, you guys," Dawn said, flushing with pride at the praise.
"Did you find them— Whoa!" Ash, who'd appeared behind Gary, stopped short when his eyes fell on the girls. A huge grin broke out on his face. "You guys... you guys look awesome! Man! Did you secretly have Drew's tailors make your costumes too?"
"Hear that, Dawn?" Misty said, turning to her blue-haired friend. "Ash says these outfits look as good as a professional's!"
Dawn beamed.
"Hey Drew!" Ash called. "Paul! Get over here, you guys!"
Drew was as amazed as Gary and Ash. "Wow," he said, taking in the girls' costumes. "I knew you knew about fashion, Dawn, but you went above and beyond here!"
"Thanks so much!" said Dawn, at this point radiating with pride. "Though have to say - you guys are also stunning!"
Misty had to agree: The boys' outfits were just as stunning as Dawn claimed.
Gary really did look like royalty - everything from his swishing cape to his bejeweled crown looked too expensive for a fourth grade play.
Ash had a simpler outfit - the Hero had humble beginnings - but his commoner clothes were expertly designed, and if Misty didn't know better, she would have thought he somehow got an actual commoner outfit from a museum or something. He had a bag with a fancier costume too, which he was going to switch into when the Hero set out on his journey.
Drew's Gallade costume was perfection as well. Like May, he didn't just wear a store-bought costume, but wore an outfit in Gallade colours: white, with long white boots, white and red gloves, a sleek cape, and a helmet that looked like a Gallade's head to complete the look. (Next to Drew, the other Gallade Knights looked embarrassed and self-conscious in their less elaborate costumes.)
"Wait," said May, looking closely at Drew. "You look like a Gallade, but sort of different."
"My tailors made it a Mega Gallade costume," Drew explained. "I told them to do Gallade, but I guess they liked making the Mega Gallade cape."
"Are you allowed to do that?" Misty asked. "You were supposed to be just a Gallade."
Drew flipped his hair, smirking. "Too late now."
Misty was pretty sure he liked the cape too.
"Hey, where's Paul?" Leaf asked.
"I'm over here," came an irritated voice from behind the boys.
"Oh, there you are!" said Leaf. "Didn't see you there!"
It was clear to see why he hadn't stood out - he wasn't dressed nearly as elaborately as the rest of the group. In fact, Paul wasn't even wearing a tree costume. Instead, he was dressed head to toe in dark brown - a baggy, dark brown hoodie, casual, dark brown pants, and dark brown sneakers.
"PAUL!" Dawn shrieked. "Where's your costume?! You're supposed to be a tree!"
"I am a tree," said Paul.
"No you're not! Where're your leaves and stuff!"
"I'm a dead tree," he explained.
"You... you can't be a dead tree! Everyone else is dressed like an actual, live tree!" Dawn gestured at the other students who were trees in the play. "You're going to ruin the whole look!"
"Nothing says I can't be a dead tree."
"But the trees are supposed to be part of the magic forest with the magic lake that I'm the guardian of! I can't have a dead tree in my forest!"
"Looks like you will."
Paul's nonchalance only seemed to infuriate Dawn.
"Mr. Robertson!" she said, going straight to the teacher. "Paul didn't get an actual tree costume! Tell him to dress like a tree!"
Mr. Robertson, who was already frazzled from trying to organize all his students, looked alarmed. "Paul, you didn't get a costume? There might be time to go to the prop room and get something, if you need—"
"I do have a costume," Paul said, glaring at Dawn. "I'm a dead tree. I want to be a dead tree."
"You're a..." Mr. Robertson looked Paul up and down, frowning a little. "If that's what you want, I guess it's okay. It's creative, that's for sure."
Paul gave Dawn a smug look (enraging the latter further), and Mr. Robertson went to deal with someone else. As Paul went off to join the guys, Dawn seethed.
"Dawn, you spent the whole time at your place talking about how people should be able to wear what they want," Misty said, a little exasperated. "If he wants to wear a costume like that in front of the whole school, why not let him?"
"Because he's a part of my scene," Dawn said through gritted teeth. "He's going to make my scene look bad." She turned sharply and started heading towards the prop room. "I'm going to go see if there's something I can use to fix this."
Misty didn't think Paul would let her make additions to his costume, but she didn't get to tell her because the next thing she knew, Mr. Robertson was telling her to get ready to head onstage.
Misty was suddenly nervous. She didn't usually get nervous being in front of a crowd, but her sisters were going to be here. They'd claimed they would take the front row seats and record her, but she knew they only wanted to make her feel embarrassed in her pink and yellow dress.
Well, she wasn't wearing that dress! They were going to be disappointed!
Misty peeked through the curtains; sure enough, her sisters were right up front, video camera ready as they snickered amongst themselves. Misty's stomach felt like it was full of Butterfree - what if her sisters still thought she looked ridiculous in this outfit? What if they still made fun of her? What if...?
No. Everyone liked her outfit, and, most importantly, she liked it. She wouldn't let herself care what her sisters thought when she felt so good in what she wore.
With that thought in mind, Misty filled herself with all the determination she had. At Mr. Robertson's cue, the curtain lifted.
Misty stepped forward.
The spotlight came on.
This opening scene was meant to be a monologue where she was thinking aloud about the King of the South waging war on her queendom; Misty took a deep breath, held herself up proudly, and channelled all her bravado into her role of the Queen of the North. It started off well, and when she paused for breath at one point, she couldn't help it - she finally allowed herself to glance at her sisters.
They were staring at her, stunned. Lily's video camera was aimed at the stage, but Lily looked like she'd forgotten all about it. Misty's three older sisters had clearly not been expecting Misty to look so amazing.
Misty filled with a fresh wave of triumphant pride. Her sisters couldn't help but be impressed too! Even if they pretended later that they weren't, Misty had seen this first reaction: She knew what they really thought.
Misty completed the opening scene flawlessly.
The play went on.
Soon, Misty, the Queen of the North, informed her Gallade Knights of the upcoming war. Drew hadn't been supposed to be anything special, but because of his more elaborate costume and his obvious appearance as a Mega Gallade, it looked like the other Gallade Knights had reluctantly started treating him as their leader.
Then came a scene with Gary, the King of the South, getting advice from his advisor, Leaf. The two of them were perfect for their roles, and Gary and Leaf were an excellent duo - Misty found herself looking forward to their scenes because of how good their dynamic was when they played together.
Then was Ash's scene - he started off as a poor commoner determined to stop the war so the kingdom and queendom wouldn't destroy each other. After an uplifting song by a bunch of Pokemon (with May standing out with her Wigglytuff outfit), Ash decided to go to the Maiden of the Lake for advice.
Then came the scene with the Maiden. The students playing Trees lined up along the back of the stage, and it was obvious to Misty that Dawn hadn't made any changes to Paul's costume. He looked off, standing in a row of leafy tree costumes, but it wasn't like he stood out too much.
Dawn walked onto the stage, and the spotlight fell on her.
"I am the magical Maiden of the Lake!" she announced to the audience. "With my magic powers, I can do lots of things, like keeping my forest nice and healthy!"
Misty frowned. That last line wasn't in the script.
Mr. Robertson looked worried too. "Did she forget her lines...?" he muttered. He tried to get Dawn's attention, but she didn't look his way.
Instead, Dawn walked all the way down the line of trees and stopped in front of Paul. Misty couldn't see much of his expression from where she was watching from backstage, but she guessed he was as confused as everyone else. And probably annoyed too, because Dawn stood close enough that the spotlight fell on him as well.
"Oh no!" cried Dawn. "It looks like one of my trees has died! No worries, I shall use my magic to bring him back to life!"
She reached into her dress's pocket, pulled out a fistful of something, and tossed it onto Paul, chanting, "Come to life! Come to life!"
When Misty realized what Dawn was doing, she had to clamp her hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing out loud. Behind her, Gary was barely holding back his snickers, and Ash muttered, "Ohhhh, he's gonna be so mad..."
Once Dawn was done, she stepped back, looking pleased with herself, and gestured to Paul for the audience: Paul, who was staring at Dawn looking utterly bewildered, was now covered head to toe in sparkly green confetti.
"Look!" Dawn exclaimed. "It's growing leaves again already!" The audience chuckled.
She went back to centre stage and introduced herself with the correct lines. Even though Paul was no longer in the spotlight, Misty could see him still staring at Dawn. When the trees' song started, he just stood there, sending death glares her way.
Ash joined Dawn onstage, and Dawn, as the Maiden of the Lake, told him he was going to be a hero, and gave him advice to help stop the war.
They all returned backstage so the stage could be set up for the next scene. Paul strode up to Dawn, looking murderous. Most of the confetti had fallen off him, but some still clung to his hair and clothes. Gary took one look at him and burst into laughter.
"Be quiet!" Paul snapped at Gary, who continued laughing. To Dawn, he said, "What in the world was that for!"
Dawn crossed her arms. "I wasn't going to have a dead tree in my forest."
"Nobody would've even noticed!"
A part of Misty wanted to hear how their argument would turn out, but it was time to for her to go onstage again.
Now, the Queen of the North was on the battlefield, along with her Gallade Knights and a bunch of others who made up her army.
"Today," Misty announced, "we are going to fight the King of the South, and bring victory to our nation once and for all!"
For emphasis, she unsheathed her plastic sword and raised it in the air. "Onward, my army!" Her army cheered.
On the other side of the stage, the King of the South appeared with his army.
"Not so fast," he said, holding himself up confidently, practically glowing as he grinned. (Gary was in high spirits because he'd been laughing at Paul backstage.) "You think you can defeat me? Ha! You don't have what it takes."
"We'll see about that." Misty pointed her sword at Gary. "Time to take you down!"
"Wait!" Suddenly, the Hero had appeared: Ash ran between the two armies, stopping them from advancing.
"Stop all this fighting! War isn't the answer!"
"And who are you to know anything about this?" the King demanded.
"I know, because I've grown up on these lands," said the Hero. "I..."
Ash trailed off. There was an awkward pause, then he tried again. "I've grown up on these lands, and I..."
Misty's eyes widened a little. Ash had forgotten his line! Ash glanced desperately at Mr. Robertson, who was saying the correct line to him from backstage, but he wasn't speaking loud enough, and it didn't look like Ash could lipread that well.
Misty had to do something. She couldn't let her friend get embarrassed during the main scene of the play!
So, summoning every bit of queenliness she had within her, she took a step forward and said, "So what! We've all grown up on these lands! Why are you so different?" And, to give him a hint of the next line, she added, "What do commoners see that makes war so bad to them?"
It didn't seem like Ash remembered the next line at all, though. However, his eyes brightened at Misty's made-up lines, and he improvised right alongside her.
"Lots of things," he said. "People and Pokemon get hurt all the time!"
"We're fighting so no one else gets hurt!" Misty said. It wasn't exactly the line she was supposed to say, but it was similar enough - she had to make it sound like she was responding to what Ash was saying right now.
"Yeah," Gary joined in. "If we defeat the Queen of the North, she can't fight and hurt anyone from my kingdom anymore."
"And if I defeat the King of the South," said Misty, "he can't hurt anyone from my queendom anymore!"
"But everyone's only getting hurt because you're fighting," said Ash. "If you stop your war, you'll stop fighting, and then no one will get hurt!"
Misty and Gary looked at each other. They were very off-script at this point, but there was no way to go back. They had to play it out the way it was going.
"What do you say, King of the South?" Misty said, a challenge in her voice. "Think you can go back on your war declaration? You were the one who started it."
"Hey, I only started it because your soldiers have been invading my lands and stealing from my towns," said Gary. "Do you think you can back off?"
Misty made a show of tapping her chin, as if thinking very deeply. "I never sent my soldiers to your lands. I'll look into it and keep a better eye on my soldiers."
"Then there's no need for us to go to war," said Gary, returning to the script.
They'd done it! They'd improvised most of the scene, but they'd gotten through it, even with the forgetting-lines scare!
They wrapped up the scene and headed backstage.
"Wow, thanks a bunch, Misty!" Ash said gratefully. "I wasn't sure what to do when I couldn't remember my lines! But then you started making up lines, and everything went great!"
"I did too," Gary put in.
"Excellent job, all three of you," Mr. Robertson said, beaming. "I'll admit, I was worried at first, but you three handled it wonderfully! I knew I made the right choice giving you three these roles." He smiled at Misty. "I can see you're enjoying being the Queen after all, Misty."
"Yeah, you're, like, a real queen!" May exclaimed, tackling her in a hug.
Dawn tackled her in a hug too, giggling. "Yeah, you're amazing!"
"I kind of wish I got to improvise like that," said Leaf, joining in on the group hug.
Misty flushed with pride. "Come on, guys, the next scene's starting!"
The rest of the play went without a hitch, and soon, the curtains closed, and the play was done.
The fourth graders went onstage once more to get their applause from the audience, and returned backstage, where Mr. Robertson had one more thing to say to them.
"I've decided," he said. "You all performed so wonderfully, I'm going to throw you all a little pizza party next week!"
That got even some of the less enthusiastic actors excited.
Soon, everyone was chatting about the performance or changing out of their costumes. The costumes Misty and her friends wore weren't uncomfortable, so they decided they'd change at home.
"Too bad we're only wearing this once," said Ash, looking down at his outfit. "I mean, mine's really awesome! You gotta tell your tailors thanks from me, Drew!"
"We can probably wear parts of our outfits, like the coats and boots and stuff," said Dawn, looking over the girls. "Though Ash is right, Drew. Your tailors really outdid themselves - you all look amazing!" (She was purposefully not looking at Paul - Misty didn't know how their quarrel ended, but apparently, they weren't talking now. Knowing them, this would take at least a couple of days to blow over.)
"But most of our outfits belong to you, Dawn," said May, looking down at herself. "Like, this dress is yours."
"I can lend it to you whenever you need it," Dawn offered. "It looks good on you, May!"
Misty looked at her own outfit too. She liked it - she liked it a lot - but once she returned it to Dawn, she couldn't see herself asking Dawn to lend it to her. It made her feel a bit sad; here she was, finally in a fancy outfit she liked, but she wasn't even going to get to keep it.
Later, the girls returned to Dawn's to change and return the parts of their costumes that were hers.
"Here," Misty said to Dawn. She'd changed back into her own clothes and had everything she borrowed folded up in her arms. Then, making sure the others weren't within hearing distance, she added, "Thanks a bunch for helping me get ready. Super glad I didn't have to wear the dress I brought and instead wore something I actually liked."
Dawn looked thoughtfully at the pile in Misty's arms. "You know what? Why don't you keep it?"
Misty was surprised. "What do you mean? I can't just take all this."
"Maybe not all of it," said Dawn, picking up the tiara she'd lent her, which Misty had placed on the top of the folded outfit. "The tiara, I keep, and also, that sword's Lucas's. But the rest... I did tell you it was too big for me, didn't I? I bought all this stuff because it looked nice, and I thought I'd grow into it. But why leave it doing nothing in my closet for who knows how long when you could be wearing it instead?"
"Yeah, but..." Misty wasn't sure if she should just take a bunch of clothes like this, especially when it looked kind of expensive.
"Misty," Dawn said firmly. "You rocked this outfit today. I think it's meant for you." She grinned. "Promise me you'll wear this from now on instead of that other dress you didn't like."
Misty was hesitant, but Dawn was insistent. Finally, Misty couldn't help but smile. "All right, then. I'll keep it."
"Perfect! You'll rule the world in that outfit, Misty, I know you will!"
Misty laughed. She didn't know about ruling the world.
But, honestly, dressing and looking the way she wanted made her feel like a real queen.
Annnnd done!
Whew, this was one of the longer chapters! Let me know what you thought in your reviews!
Also, in the author's note at the beginning, I mentioned a Poll Series. So here's more on that:
I'm curious as to what everyone's favourite chapter is. This story has gotten thousands of views at this point, with dozens of readers who probably have all sorts of different opinions on the chapters. By the time this fanfic ends, I will have written 100, so I thought it'd be fun to see which one ended up being the most popular overall.
Except having a poll with 100 options might make it a bit difficult for people to choose. So I'm dividing it up into many polls - for instance, Poll 1 will ask which chapter from chapters 1 to 10 is your favourite. Poll 2 will ask about chapters 11 to 20, etc.
The poll will be updated on my profile every time I update these last chapters. So with this chapter, Ch. 91, we have Poll 1. For Ch. 92, I'll update it to Poll 2, and so on. And I can list the most-voted chapters on my profile for each poll.
So. POLL 1 is up! Go vote - let me know which of the first 10 chapters is your favourite! Poll 1 ends when I post the next chapter!
And with that - bye bye for now!
Have a great day, and smile all the way! :)