Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
Pokémon: Sinnoh no Isekai
Chapter thirty-eight: Political Problems
It was early evening, with the orange sky above indicating sunset. It was at this time that the heroes, following Princess Salvia's win in a Pokémon contest earlier that day, returned to Arrowroot Palace, following along behind Princess Salvia herself and her servant Freesia. "It pretty grand of you to have the lot of us over for dinner, Princess," Brock remarked.
"After what you all did for me today," Salvia replied, "Helping me to have my dream of competing in a Pokémon contest, winning one no less, as well as what all that Dawn and Kenny did to expose that Jessie lady who belongs to that horrid Team Rocket, it's the least that I can do."
The group followed Salvia and Freesia to a large double door, and watched as Freesia opened the door. However, to the group's surprise, a number of people were waiting inside and, the moment that they saw Salvia, they all began clamoring to tell her this and that, completely overwhelming the poor girl. Similarly, the heroes were a bit taken aback as well, given the wide range of emotion that was coming from the group.
Eventually, everyone was cut off when a man yelled, "QUIET!" Everyone, now silenced, turned to look at a formally well dressed man, clearly some manner of nobility; he was an older man, at least in his sixties, and although he towered over Brock by a head, he was comparatively as slender. His brushed back hair was graying, he wore a pair of round lens glasses, and he had a notably bushy moustache that looked neatly combed. He lacked any other facial hair.
Stepping forward, this older man said towards the others who were clamoring, "You need to give the princess time to hear everything out one issue at a time! Throwing everything at her all at once will do nothing but overwhelm her!"
Salvia nodded to the man who had afforded her some breathing room. "Thank you for your assistance, Archduke Alvin."
"You know this guy, Salvia?" Kenny asked, gesturing to the older man revealed to be named Alvin.
"Kenny, that's Archduke Alvin Alvahrah," Freesia explained as she whispered to the heroes while Salvia talked to Alvin and the others, "He's the highest ranking noble from the kingdom that Princess Salvia comes from. As a matter of fact, all of the people here in the room are nobles from Salvia's land."
"Why are they all here?" Dawn asked.
Freesia shrugged. "If I have to guess, it's either that the nobles who question Princess Salvia's right to rule our country are getting uppity again, or-"
"Are you serious?" Salvia could be heard exclaiming, cutting Freesia off and making her plus the heroes turn to look over to where Salvia was talking to Alvin and the other nobles, "That absolutely cannot be done! It would ruin all of the effort and hard work that the honest Pokémon coordinators here in Sinnoh had put into their craft this year!"
"I understand that you sympathize with the coordinators, your highness," Alvin said, both his tone and expression making it clear he hated having to tell Salvia something that made her upset, "But you need to think about your station. You were within close proximity to a member of that heinous criminal organization Team Rocket. You do remember what all that their actions had wrought in our country last year, do you not?"
Salvia relented, looking sad and guilty at the same time. "...The coordinators will blame me for the cancellation of the Sinnoh Grand Festival. I just know they will."
The heroes all went wide eyed with shock over what they had just heard; the Sinnoh Grand Festival is apparently going to be canceled, and Princess Salvia is connected to it somehow. They were going to want answers to this, as well as answers to a number of other points that had come up in the course of the conversation taking place.
Gesturing to Salvia, one of the nobles behind Alvin said, "You need not have to concern yourself with the petty concerns of those beneath us, your highness. They will understand." The tone of the noble who spoke just now made him come off as questioning Salvia's ability to be a royal.
"You go too far, Marquis Brahman," said a moderately slender older noble woman, clearly sounding like she was on Salvia's side, as she scolded the noble who was questioning Salvia.
"Is he, Countess Graline?" said another noble woman, this one at least half the apparent age of the now identified Countess Graline, "After all, her highness Princess Salvia has shown she has trouble holding the reins on our country. Why else do you think Archduke Alvin here is the effective ruler of our land right now?"
"That's enough," Alvin scolded, getting all of the nobles to settle back down, "We don't need to have this heated discussion right now, least of all since it's barely been more than an hour since those Team Rocket criminals had escaped, and we need to organize defense for Princess Salvia while she is here in Sinnoh on her goodwill tour."
The nobles, some doing so more or less, all agreed. "These are some troubling events to deal with indeed," Countess Graline remarked, sounding mildly concerned, "We ought to offer up prayers to the three lords for guidance."
"Turning to faith when events trouble us does seem wise," said an early thirties nobleman, "Luckily there's a room here in Arrowroot Palace set up for Crahtanity services." Some of the nobles then proceeded to file out and off, supposedly to the room set up for services for their country's faith. When most of the nobles were gone, the heroes saw that only Salvia, Freesia, and Alvin remained behind.
Turning to address Salvia and Freesia, Alvin said while gesturing to the heroes, "Might I ask who these well meaning commoners are?"
"Oh, we can explain in private, Archduke," Freesia replied as she led everyone over to the room that the heroes first met Salvia in earlier, so that they could have some privacy.
"So what's this about some of the nobles of your country questioning if Salvia's fit to rule?" Dawn asked.
Alvin let out a troubled sigh. "You see, Princess Salvia is, due to tragedy, the only living member of our nation's royal bloodline."
"She's the only royal you guys have left?!" Ash nearly exclaimed.
Freesia nodded somberly in confirmation. "...About this time or so last year, we had lost Princess Salvia's mother, Queen Obelia." At the mention of her mother, Salvia went over to a dresser, opened a drawer, and pulled out a framed photo. She brought it over to the heroes to look at. To their mild surprise, Queen Obelia looked an awful lot like Dawn's mom Johanna, except she wore glasses.
"...Take the glasses off," Kenny said, sounding amazed by the similarities as he held the framed photo which showed Obelia with Salvia, "And she looks exactly like Dawn's mom Mrs. B." Handing the photo back to Salvia, Kenny asked, "How did she die?"
"A traffic accident," Alvin said, "That, upon through investigation, was not a genuine accident but rather one carried out on purpose by Team Rocket due to how our country has cracked down on their organization's activities within our borders."
The heroes all looked shocked by that. "Even the guys we deal with all the time don't go that far," Ash said. Shuddering a bit, the Kanto region native added, "...At least, as far as I'm aware of."
"But what does this have to do with the Sinnoh Grand Festival being cancelled?" Dawn asked.
"It's a matter of security," Freesia explained, "Not just for our country, but the government of the Sinnoh region will be bound to agree that canceling the Grand Festival will be a good idea. After all, a known member of Team Rocket had been revealed to have been competing in the contests in Sinnoh all this time, using an assumed identity. The innocent coordinators were in danger due to how they were in close proximity to a member of a major criminal organization."
"That not only endangered Sinnoh region natives competing in the contests," Alvin explained, "But it also endangered coordinators who came from outside of Sinnoh. It'd be a political nightmare for the Sinnoh region if, say, that coordinator girl from Hoenn, May, was confronted by Team Rocket while she was competing here in Sinnoh in a contest."
Ash chuckled to himself. "I doubt that May would be in any danger from Team Rocket," Ash said under his breath, a confident and mildly amused small smile on his face.
"Sinnoh would face backlash on an inter-regional scale if a coordinator from outside of Sinnoh competing in a Sinnoh Pokémon contests was harmed by Team Rocket," Freesia pointed out, "And don't even get me started on how well Sinnoh would fare if Team Rocket had gotten to Princess Salvia. Some of the more uppity nobles of our country could try using that as a reason to declare war on Sinnoh."
The heroes all tensed up a bit out of alarm, rattled by just how close they could have gotten to seeing a full blown bonafide war break out in Sinnoh. "...I guess the nobles won't like it if the last royal your country has is endangered," Brock said dryly, "Despite how they question if Salvia is fit to rule the country."
"Just half of the nobles of our land," Alvin clarified, "The other half of the country's nobles, among which I count myself wholeheartedly, firmly believes in and support Princess Salvia's royal right of rule."
"Why do half of your country's nobles question if Salvia's fit to rule the country?" Dawn asked.
Salvia sighed in a troubled tone. "...It has to do mostly with how young I am. You see Dawn, I'm in the same general age group as you, Kenny, and Ash. The nobles who doubt my ability to rule feel that I am too inexperienced due to my age. It doesn't help at all that, in accordance to my country's rules of royal ascension, I am too young to go through the coronation ceremony that would see me rise from princess to queen."
"You're too young to become queen according to the rules?" Kenny replied, "How come?"
"Part of the coronation ceremony that would see me go from princess to queen requires me to drink from a goblet of red wine," Salvia explained, "I cannot legally drink the wine that I am required to drink during the coronation ceremony until I'm twenty-one years of age. I'm roughly a decade away from being able to rise to the status of queen that my late mother held before her tragic death."
"The coronation ceremony also requires that Princess Salvia be legally old enough to drink the red wine that she is required to drink to complete the ceremony," Alvin pointed out.
The heroes all nodded in understanding to that, although Ash and Brock both expressed surprise that Salvia had to drink alcohol as part of the coronation ceremony for her country's royal family. "Now what's this about that Crahtanity thing that the other nobles were all talking about?" Kenny asked, "Is it some kind of religion?"
Freesia nodded in confirmation. "Yes. Crahtanity is the primary religion of our country. Crahtanity is mainly about the worship of the legendary Pokémon Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina, who are referred to in Crahtanity teachings as the three lords. Our faith teaches that the three lords guide everything and have some degree of influence in the world."
"Although all in my country who practice Crahtanity reveres all three of the three lords," Salvia began to explain, "Individual practitioners of the faith tend to revere one of the three lords more over the other two." Gesturing to herself, Salvia went on, "I, for example, revere Lord Giratina the most, and my late mother had revered Lord Palkia the most."
"It seems strange that your country's main religion involves the worship of Pokémon," Brock remarked, "Uhh, no offense."
Dawn folded her arms over her chest. "Well Dialga and Palkia are described in Sinnoh mythology as deities, and Giratina is equal to the two of them. It shouldn't come as a surprise that there are some folks who worship them." Turning to look at Salvia, Dawn went on, "I have an idea on how you could convince the nobles of your country who doubt your royal right to rule that you still do indeed have that very right."
Salvia, along with Freesia and Alvin, looked at Dawn with a look of curiosity on her face. "...What do you mean?" Salvia asked.
Later outside, in a private undisclosed location, Salvia, along with Freesia and Alvin, looked up with surprised expressions of awe as the slowly backed away. Understandable, given that Dawn and Kenny had brought out Tsukune and Black respectively. The two legendary Pokémon looked down at the three foreigners who worshipped them. Salvia was the first to kneel before Dawn's Palkia and Kenny's Giratina, followed by Alvin and Freesia.
"This... this is more than anyone from our land could ever hope for," Alvin said, "To see two of the lords in person...!"
Holding up a hand, Dawn said, "This is my idea. Salvia has a tag battle against some random challenger. If it's one of the nobles who questions her royal right of rule, so much the better. In said battle, Salvia will use Tsukune and Black at the same time. They'll follow her orders to bring victory to Salvia."
"Ah, I get it," Kenny said, "The idea with that is when the nobles see Salvia command two of the three deities their country's main religion reveres in battle, see said deities do as she says, then the nobles will stop questioning Salvia's royal right of rule."
Salvia stood up from kneeling to Tsukune and Black. "...I would have to be very careful with that. It cannot seem like I'm bossing slash ordering them around, because that would be considered sacrilegious as I'd be seen trying to control Lords Giratina and Palkia."
Gesturing to Salvia, Dawn said, "How about when the battle starts, instead of sending out any Pokémon, you drop to your knees and pray for aid, at which point Tsukune and Black fly on in, looking like they're personally answering your prayers directly, and indicate that they will lend you their aid in battle."
"That could work," Freesia said, "But you referring to Lords Palkia and Giratina by the names you and Kenny have given them. That would also be viewed by some as sacrilegious." Gesturing to the heroes, Freesia said, "If we do carry out this plan to reaffirm Princess Salvia's royal right of rule in the eyes of the nobles who question her, then she will have to address them properly when she leads them in battle."
"Fair enough," Dawn replied, "I hope that you can give us the necessary details in order to work everything out so that we don't accidentally upset any of the nob-"
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Dawn was cut off when she and the others all heard someone cry out in fright. Dawn and Kenny ran on ahead, and stopped short when they saw Team Rocket's balloon flying in the air. The two reborn trainers were still hidden amongst the trees, so they weren't spotted yet. The Team Rocket balloon had a mechanical arm extended, and it was pulling away some Pokémon belonging to some of the nobles from Salvia's country.
The two reborn trainers turned to go back to the others. "It's Team Rocket," Dawn said, "They're trying to steal Pokémon from the nobles from Salvia's country."
"Those fiends!" Alvin exclaimed, looking offended similar to how both Salvia and Freesia looked, "They must be stopped! We have to-"
Kenny held up a hand to cut the archduke off. "...Let the princess take this one," Kenny said, "Because Team Rocket showing up here now and acting up will let us use our plan to reaffirm that the princess is in the right in the eyes of what nobles doubt her." Kenny turned to look at Black. "I hope you're ready for your cue, Black."
Dawn, realizing what Kenny was getting at, saw that the timing really was good. "...I hope your ready for your cue as well, Tsukune." Both legendary dragons nodded in agreement. As for Salvia, who was admittedly nervous, she went out nonetheless to confront Team Rocket and put a stop to their thieving here in Arrowroot Town.
...
"If I can't be in the Sinnoh Grand Festival," Jessie screamed as the Team Rocket balloon's mechanical arm pulled away Pokémon belonging to the nobles, "Then these Pokémon will have to serve as a consolation prize! At least until I can track down Sir Artemis and get my revenge on him for blowing my cover!"
Turning to look at James, Meowth whispered, "Wow, James. Jessie must be really upset that her cover in Sinnoh contests was blown and her ribbons revoked and rendered void."
As the nobles looked up at Team Rocket, Countess Graline yelled, "You foul criminals won't get away with this!"
Sneering down at the nobles, Jessie laughed, "Ha! Name one person who can sto-"
"That will be me!" Salvia loudly declared as she stepped forward, getting all eyes drawn to her.
Seeing their princess, the last royal that their country had, come out into view, the nobles all immediately grew alarmed. "Princess, you must get out of here and take cover!" Countess Graline pleaded, "Team Rocket is here! Remember what their organization did last year!"
"I do remember," Salvia said, "Which is why I am here to keep them from doing to any of you what they had done to my mother!"
Team Rocket looked confused by the sudden appearance of Salvia, especially since they knew she was a princess having seen her before, although who they saw as Salvia was actually Dawn because who they saw as Dawn at the time was actually Salvia. "Hey it's the princess," Meowth said, "You think she'd be worth taking hostage to demand a ransom?"
"And we'll demand the surrender of Sir Artemis in return!" Jessie said as she tossed out two pokéballs, "Go Seviper and Yanmega!"
Seeing Jessie send her Pokémon out, Salvia immediately dropped to her knees and clasped her hands together as she closed her eyes. "Oh lords," Salvia began praying, "Please hear my humble plea and help my people in dealing with these foul criminals who belong to those who troubled my family, countrymen, and country."
"Ha!" Jessie laughed, "A fat load of good praying will do for you! Seviper and Yanmega, go capture the princess and bring her to me!" Jessie's Pokémon rushed in towards Salvia, frightening the nobles who saw that their country's last royal was about to be attacked by the very criminal group who had already caused so much trouble to their country.
...However, everyone heard something, two very large somethings actually, rush out from the woods behind Salvia. Those two very large somethings rushed in and threw Seviper and Yanmega back, preventing them from so much as touching Salvia. By the time the dust had settled, everyone saw who it was that had come to Salvia's recuse, and now stood by her side in opposition against Team Rocket. Who they were took everyone seeing it by complete and total surprise.
"Is... is it really possible?" Marquis Brahman said as he and the other nobles looked up at who had come to Salvia's rescue, "Lords Palkia and Giratina? In person?!"
True enough, it was indeed Palkia and Giratina who had rushed in and threw Seviper and Yanmega back from Salvia. The two legendary dragon Pokémon roared angrily at Seviper and Yanmega, who both freaked because that's the natural reaction one usually has when large dragons roar angrily at them. Palkia and Giratina both turned to look at Salvia, gave her knowing nods, then turned back around to face Team Rocket.
Speaking of, Team Rocket were all now sufficiently alarmed. "The princess had just called in two big legendary Pokémon!" James yelled in alarmed panic, "We're mincemeat if we stick around to try and fight them off!"
Growling in annoyance, Jessie snarled, "That just means we can take them and present them to the boss! Just imagine how he'll reward us if we present Pokémon like those to him!"
"Hey yeah, gambles do tend to be risky," Meowth said as Team Rocket turned to look at Palkia and Giratina.
As for the two legendary Pokémon, they both growled annoyedly at Team Rocket. However, they turned to Salvia when they heard her say, "Lords Palkia and Giratina." Looking down at the princess, Palkia and Giratina heard and saw her say, "You would really personally lend me your aid to get rid of these criminals?" Palkia and Giratina nodded in the affirmative again before turning to look back at Team Rocket, ready to show them the meaning of divine wrath.
Over where the nobles all stood, Countess Graline said, "...Remarkable. Lords Palkia and Giratina personally answered Princess Salvia's prayers and are lending her their aid in battle against those heinous criminals from Team Rocket."
"...If I recall correctly," Marquis Brahman began, "The late Queen Obelia personally revered Lord Palkia the most, and Princess Salvia personally reveres Lord Giratina the most. Are they personally answering prayers from our country's last remaining royal out of respect for the pious reverence that had been paid towards them?"
Over where Salvia was confronting Team Rocket, Jessie called out, "Seviper, use Poison Tail on Palkia! Yanmega, use Ancient Power on Giratina!"
Salvia raised a hand up before aiming it so her extended index finger pointed right at Team Rocket. The look on her face made it quite clear that Salvia was in no mood to have Team Rocket here. Their organization was responsible for tragedy last year in her country, Jessie having infiltrated the contest scene in Sinnoh will most likely lead to the Grand Festival being canceled, and now Team Rocket was trying to steal Pokémon from the nobles of her country.
She has long since run out of mercy. At least against Team Rocket.
"Lord Giratina, use Dragon Claw on Seviper!" Salvia said, "Lord Palkia, use Power Gem on Yanmega!"
The two awesome legendary dragons acted the moment that they got cues to fight, with Giratina rushing forward to slash at Seviper with claws glowing fiercely with draconic power, while Palkia aimed its right hand at Yanmega as its right shoulder pad glowed brightly, making that same glow emanate from Palkia's out held hand as shots of light came out from it to pelt Yanmega right into oblivion. Both of Jessie's Pokémon were soundly beaten back, thrown right into the basket of the Team Rocket balloon.
"Lord Giratina, use Slash to sever the mechanical arm that's pulling away with the Pokémon belonging to the nobles," Salvia asked, prompting Giratina to fly up and slash at the mechanical arm, severing it and freeing all of the kidnapped Pokémon, who all proceeded to run to their respective owners. Once all of the kidnapped Pokémon had been rescued, Salvia turned her attention right back up to where Team Rocket was floating up in their balloon.
"...This is for my mother," Salvia muttered quietly under her breath. Pointing up at Team Rocket, Salvia said, "Lord Palkia, use Spacial Rend on that hot air balloon!"
"Wait a minute!" James exclaimed, "Time out! Time out!" But Palkia didn't listen. The legendary Pokémon pulled its right arm back, the pearl in its right shoulder pad glowing fiercely, before slashing the air in front of it to conjure a large crescent shaped projectile that flew right at Team Rocket, blasting right into them, blowing the balloon up and sending all of Team Rocket blasting off again clear into the horizon.
After Team Rocket was gone, Palkia and Giratina landed on the ground, and right away all of the nobles, as well as the Pokémon belonging to the nobles, all knelt respectfully to the two of them. The two legendary Pokémon nodded in acknowledgement to them, then turned to look at Salvia. Palkia and Giratina both nodded towards her while giving cries of acknowledgment, right before the both of them took off, disappearing into the woods behind Salvia, vanishing from sight.
The following morning, the heroes were invited to Arrowroot Palace again to have a private breakfast with Salvia. Only Freesia was there aside from the princess and the heroes. "So all of the nobles who doubted your ability to rule your country now all support you," Ash began.
Salvia nodded in confirmation. "Indeed. All of the nobles, not just the ones who previously doubted me, saw it when Lords Giratina and Palkia acknowledged me. Having personal votes of confidence from two of the three lords have really helped solidify my royal right of rule."
"What about the security measures?" Brock asked.
Salvia closed her eyes, gave a resigned sigh. "...As it turned out, the main reason why the Grand Festival stood a chance at being canceled was due to how I am currently here in Sinnoh, and the government of the region does not want to risk ill relations with my country by having me in close proximity to criminal elements like Team Rocket. I still do not wish to see the Grand Festival getting canceled, especially on my behalf, so I had pleaded the case with both Sinnoh's government and the contest committee for contests here in Sinnoh."
"And?" Kenny asked as he and the others leaned in.
"...It was ultimately decided that the Grand Festival will NOT be canceled," Salvia explained, "But rather be delayed until after my goodwill tour here in Sinnoh is over, and I am back in my homeland."
The heroes all cheered upon hearing the good news. "So it won't be shut down entirely, just pushed back a bit," Ash remarked, "Do you know when it was pushed back to?"
"Sometime after the Lily of the Valley Conference," Salvia replied, "It will give the Sinnoh contest committee time to hold additional contests to re-award the ribbons that were voided and revoked from that horrid Team Rocket woman."
"Speaking of the Lily of the Valley Conference," Freesia said, "I had gotten a call from a man in Sunyshore City, saying that all repairs have been made and that Volkner is ready to take challenges from Ash and Kenny."
Both boys aiming to enter the Conference cheered, eager to earn their respective last badges needed to qualify for the Lily of the Valley Conference. Dawn, who had already earned all eight of the Sinnoh gym badges she needed, merely smiled in mild amusement as Ash and Kenny both went on about how they would respectively take on Volkner at the Sunyshore City gym. It was quite clear that the boys wanted to head on over to Sunyshore City as soon as possible.
Dawn couldn't blame them, given that she too is just as excited for the Lily of the Valley Conference as they are.
END, CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Author's notes;
Here we see Salvia deal with some of the more troubling aspects of being a foreign dignitary who is visiting a different land, as well as how she's got some problems from home. Luckily, the problems were all solved, allowing the heroes to focus on how Ash and Kenny can now go in to battle for their respective last badges needed to qualify for the Lily of the Valley Conference. After that, the heroes will move out to head on over to Lily of the Valley Island, where they will meet destiny.
Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Chi-Chi (female Infernape), Cyrus (male Staraptor), Akiza (female Roserade), Leni (female Lucario), Germany (male Garchomp), Tsukune (Palkia)
Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Roshi (male Torterra), Kermit (male Politoed), Cell (male Scizor; shiny), Shallot (male Glaceon), Elay (male Sandslash; shiny), Black (Giratina)
Ash's Pokémon: Pikachu (male), Staraptor (male), Swampert (female), Infernape (male), Torterra (male), Gliscor (male)