The Charizard's eyes lit up when he spotted the walled city out in the distance. "Finally!" he shouted, flapping his wings for the final stretch of his journey. Once he was close enough, he tucked his wings and dived towards the city, the wind rushing between his horns.
"Stop right there!" a Braviary hollered, flying in front of the Charizard and brandishing sharp, glowing silver Steel Wings.
"Ack!" the Charizard exclaimed, spreading his wings to stop himself. "What the-"
"This is a no-fly zone!" a Pidgeot screeched. "Ground yourself, immediately!"
"Jeez, what do these pokémon want?" the Charizard muttered under his breath, slowly descending to the ground.
"Outside the walls, you idiot!" the birds commanded, flapping their wings and sending Gusts the Charizard's way.
"Okay, okay, I get it!" the Charizard roared, flying outside the walls and landing outside the gate. "I'm here for a job in Kyukonais. Why are you stopping me?!"
"You are not allowed into the city unless someone escorts you. Who is expecting you?"
"Someone named 'Count Ignatio,'" the Charizard grumbled.
The Pidgeot flew off into the city while the Braviary kept a keen eye over the Charizard. The Charizard stood with his arms crossed and tail twitching against the ground, a harsh glare plastered across his face.
Finally, after at least an hour, the Charizard spotted an Incineroar approaching the massive iron gateway from the other side. The guards bowed to the Incineroar and raised the gate. Then the Incineroar strode forward with his head and chest held high, making eye contact with the Charizard.
"Chadwyck Bryckhart, yes?" the Incineroar asked.
"Hello," the Charizard said.
"I am Count Ignatio Gaogaen, royal advisor to the king," said the Incineroar. "Come along; the princess is looking forward to meeting you," he instructed curtly.
Inside those grand, majestic walls, the city wasn't much to brag about. It was pretty much a normal, boring town. All the buildings were a dull wooden color, and there weren't many pokémon walking around. Was this really all that the capital of Solardie had to offer? Chadwyck considered asking Count Ignatio where the bar was or if there even was a bar.
The palace, however, was a different story. It was tall, made of brick, painted in many colors, and covered in decorative banners. The palace looked like it was worth more than the entire city combined. Chadwyck almost felt the urge to fly to the top of the palace's central keep and spread his wings. How amazing it would be to own a place like this, the Charizard fantasized.
"Come along," Count Ignatio urged upon seeing the Charizard ogling at the palace.
Chadwyck shook his head, frowning at the ground in front of him as he resumed his trek. He reminded himself of why he was here: he was supposed to be a bodyguard for a princess. He still didn't know why he was hired, considering he was a mercenary from a faraway land. His claws clenched and his face hardened as he imagined having to follow some little pokémon without a care in the world around the town. Other pokémon would be gushing over her existence, and he'd have to play along and act respectfully no matter how much his flames raged on the inside. So why did he travel so far, and why was he planning to go through all of that? Because the pay was insane. He would make more money in a month than he used to make in a year of fighting as a mercenary. His flames burned brighter just at the thought of that kind of money.
Chadwyck followed Count Ignatio into the palace, ignoring the various servants who snuck side glances at him and whispered. He only got to marvel at the extravagant interior for a few moments before Count Ignatio exited through another door that led into a courtyard. Chadwyck spotted a Ninetales and a Meowstic there, studying a map.
"This is Princess Helena Kyukon, who you are sworn to protect," Count Ignatio said sternly. "Princess Helena, I brought your new bodyguard," he said to the Ninetales. "I still do not comprehend why you chose this foreigner. How will you prove his trustworthiness?"
"There's nothing to worry about, Count Ignatio," Helena assured with an unwavering smile.
The noble Incineroar narrowed his eyes. "Hmm. We shall see," he said before leaving.
"So, Chadwyck! Welcome to Rokon Palace!" Helena cheerfully greeted the ticked-off Charizard.
"Nice to meet you, Princess," Chadwyck grumbled. Keep your mind on the money, he thought to himself, fiddling with his claws.
"You can just call me 'Helena,'" said the Ninetales. "I'm sorry if Count Ignatio gave you a hard time. He and my father insisted that I get a bodyguard. I looked through the elite mercenary listings and was interested in you, but they didn't want to hire a foreigner or a commoner," she explained. "I'll make sure you get the respect you deserve, I promise."
"Err, okay… So what do I have to do as your bodyguard?"
"Glad you asked! Well, I don't actually need a bodyguard, but I do have big plans and I need a team to support me. I chose you for my team because the mercenary listings specifically said that you love to fight in the sun."
"Oh… did it really say that?" Chadwyck said, scratching his head in confusion. "That was just something I said randomly to a former boss one time…"
"But do you feel like the sun helps you fight better?" Helena pressed.
"Well, I do like hot days," Chadwyck mentioned with a shrug.
"I'm looking forward to seeing if it's true! Anyway, we have a serious bandit problem outside the city walls. I want you to help me deal with them."
"What? You're sending me off to hunt down bandits? I signed up to be a bodyguard, not a scavenger," Chadwyck complained.
"No no, it's not like that at all. I'm going after the bandits. You're just coming along to help me as part of my team. You see, my father sent my older brother off with a few knights to hunt down some of the bandits, but they haven't come back with any bandits yet. So I figured I could get the job done instead."
"Oh great, so I have to hunt down bandits and protect you at the same time?" Chadwyck grumbled.
"I don't need a bodyguard," Helena reassured. "I'll show you why once we get outside the city. And also, the rest of my team is coming too. Like Max here," she said, nudging her Meowstic friend with one of her tails.
The Meowstic smiled serenely. "A pleasure to meet you, Chadwyck," he said with a bow. "My name is Maximillian Nyaonix."
"But you can just call him Max," said a new voice. A grinning Torracat appeared from behind a pillar and walked towards the others. "Hello! I'm Terry. Sorry, I was hiding from my father since I'm supposed to be at home doing boring stuff. I can't wait to hunt down some bandits!"
"Max will protect us using Light Screen, Reflect and Safeguard," Helena told Chadwyck. "Terry, well, he doesn't do anything too helpful," she said with a smirk.
"Hey, take that back, Helena!" Terry fussed. "I'll show you what I can do." He started glowing white for a moment, and then another Torracat split off from his body. "See my Substitute?" he said, both Torracats grinning widely.
Terry and his copy started walking towards Chadwyck, but Max saw where this was going. "Terry, halt. Refrain from using such moves within the palace," the Meowstic said. His eyes glowed purple, and a purple wave of energy blasted the fake Terry, making it fizzle out.
"Hey! But you just used Psychic!" Terry complained.
"He meant no irresponsible move usage in the palace," Helena teased. "Alright, no more fooling around. Let's head to the countryside and put down some bandits."
"We were analyzing all of the recent complaints of bandit attacks on a map before you arrived. We know exactly where we should go to catch the next batch," Max stated matter-of-factly.
"Eh? We're going out to fight already? I can't get a tour of this amazing palace?" Chadwyck protested.
"I have a feeling you will enjoy fighting with us more than a tour," Max said with a knowing smile. "You will see," he insisted after Chadwyck craned his neck down towards the Meowstic and narrowed his eyes.
The four pokémon headed out of Rokon Palace and all its tall keeps and bright colors and into the streets of Kyukonais. Chadwyck's eyes grew bored of the bland brown, one-story buildings and stale air. After just a minute, he flapped his wings irritably. "Can I fly us out of here?" he asked.
"Unfortunately not," Max said. "Only pokémon in the king's guard and the city guard are permitted to fly above the city."
"That's stupid," Chadwyck huffed. "What are bird pokémon supposed to do to get around? Waddle on their tiny feet?"
"They can fly at ground level, but not any higher than a building," Max stated. "It is because we have our city walls that are meant to keep out unwanted pokémon. They would be rendered moot if pokémon were permitted to fly in, so all flying above ground level is prohibited. Our sky is protected by the city guard at all times."
"That's ridiculous," Chadwyck grumbled.
"Well, haven't you heard of those stories of dragons flying over villages and setting everything on fire? We can't let anyone like that give us a fly-by!" Terry piped up. Chadwyck stopped in his tracks in front of Terry and glared down at the Torracat. "What? I'm not saying you'd do that. You're not even a dragon!" Terry remarked with a wide grin.
Helena laughed, and even Max let out a small chuckle. "Har har," Chadwyck said, crossing his arms and turning his head away pointedly.
"Although, since you're technically my bodyguard, maybe I can get them to let you fly," Helena offered.
"Oh, really? Thanks," Chadwyck said, cracking a small smile. Maybe this princess isn't so bad after all, he considered.
Once they left the city and were on a path towards a village, Terry said, "Now I can show you what I can do!" He used Substitute to make a fake Torracat and walked up to Chadwick on one side with his copy on the other side.
"What is it?" Chadwyck asked, crossing his arms but trying not to grumble again.
Suddenly, both Torracats' faces turned a much darker orange, and their yellow eyes glowed a deep red. Their carefree smiles simultaneously transitioned into open maws, ready to bite. Chadwyck flinched in shock at the sudden change from Terry's Scary Face. Then, both Terrys let out an ear-splitting roar.
"Augh!" Chadwyck cried, his clawed hands darting upwards to cover his ears. He immediately swung around, his tail sweeping through and destroying Terry's Substitute, then sending the real Terry rolling across the grass.
"What was that for?!" Chadwyck roared.
"Blame Helena for saying I had no specialty," Terry said with a cheeky smirk.
"Arceus, Terry, that was a little too far," Helena judged.
"Oh don't worry, I'll get him back," Chadwyck promised, his claws forming fists.
"I'd like to see you try!" Terry chimed, skipping along merrily.
"You are truly playing with fire this time, Terry," said Max.
"Chadwyck, you're about to experience the short end of Terry's endless mischief!" Helena laughed. "Don't worry though, I've endured it for years. You'll be fine."
Helena, Max, Terry, and Chadwyck eventually came upon the outskirts of a small collection of farmers' huts in the middle of several large wheat fields. "I've been keeping track of every farm that's been hit by outlaws in the past month," Helena revealed. "This group of farms is the only one in the area that has not been robbed recently."
"So we're just gonna wait here and hope some bandits show up? In broad daylight?" Chadwyck asked. He wasn't sure whether he liked the idea of "getting paid to do nothing" more than the idea of "sitting around waiting for something that wasn't going to happen."
"Yes, in broad daylight," Max confirmed. "The villages and farmlands outside the city are owned by local counts. Unfortunately, those counts care little for the safety of their farmers as of late," he sighed. "With no one to stop them, the outlaws have grown bold."
"It got so bad recently that farmers started going to the city begging the guards to go out and stop the bandits," said Terry.
"My father sent my brother out with a few knights to catch some outlaws a few days ago, but they haven't come back with any results yet," said Helena. "If my brother cannot do the job, then I will!"
"Whoa, hold on, if knights are having trouble catching the bad guys then how are we supposed to do it?" Chadwyck complained.
"We won't have any trouble at all," Helena said. "In fact, I think you're going to have quite some fun. Just you wait." Chadwyck just stared at her, wondering whether the money was still going to be worth it.
"Eh, why wait?" said Terry. "Let's go talk to the farmers about this."
The team of four headed towards the villager huts, but oddly enough, they didn't spot any pokémon working in the fields. When they got to the closest hut, Terry knocked on the wooden door. "Hello!" he said cheerily. There was no response; it was oddly quiet inside. With a shrug, Terry opened the door a crack.
WHAM!
"Ahhh!" Terry cried, thrown over twenty feet back and crumpling to the ground with a whine. The door swung all the way open from the impact, slamming against the hut's weak straw and clay wall and nearly flying off its wooden hinges. In the doorway stood a Darmanitan with wildly flaming eyebrows and a glowing-white fist.
Helena, Max, and Chadwyck gasped upon seeing their teammate get pummeled. The Darmanitan gasped as well when he saw them. "Princess Helena?!" he cried. "What are you doing here, Your Highness? I thought it was more bandits!"
"Sir, I'm here to hunt down some bandits," Helena hastily explained. "When you say 'more' bandits, does that mean you've seen bandits recently?" she asked, her ears perking up.
"Yes! We were attacked by bandits not long ago!" said the Darmanitan. "They stole-"
"Which way did they go?" Helena interrupted with a slight hop, her paws itching to move.
"That way," said the farmer, pointing his burly arm in the direction opposite of the way they came.
"Max, hop on! Chadwyck, let's go!" Helena commanded, getting ready to dash. Max leaped up and landed on Helena's back; there was no way the Meowstic's tiny legs would be able to keep up with the Ninetales otherwise. With her friend on board, Helena broke into a nimble dash. "Sir, please take care of my friend who you clobbered!" she requested over her shoulder as they passed by a groaning Terry who was cradling his forehead with his forepaws.
"Hey, why are you so rash?" Chadwyck half questioned, half roared as he flew after Helena and Max.
"We gotta catch those bandits before they get too far, obviously!" Helena hollered back.
There were many fields of wheat and grapes across the landscape, the crops obscuring their view. While holding on tight to his ride, Max unfurled his ears in order to use all of his psychic powers. He surveyed a vast area in front of them, trying to sense any other pokémon out in the distance. "I found one other pokémon out there!" Max reported.
Sure enough, when they passed over the top of a hill, they could spot someone making their way towards the woods with a heavy sack. Upon closer inspection, though... "There's four of them!" Chadwyck growled.
"Ah, dark types…" Max sighed sheepishly, hopping off of Helena once she stopped. They could see a Weavile, Mightyena, Shiftry, and Kabutops carrying a large sack of stolen goods.
"Alright, Chadwyck, are you ready to see why you're going to love this job?" Helena said with a confident smirk.
"What is it already?!" Chadwyck roared irritably.
Helena pointed all nine of her tails towards the sky, then faced upwards. Bright white beams of light shot up from her tail tips, combining into a ball of white above her. The ball of light started slowly rising, gaining size and speed as it traveled higher, and the light became blindingly bright. The orb kept rising high into the air, past the clouds, so high that it looked smaller even though it was growing bigger, until it exploded, blanketing the nearby area with rays of warmth and light.
Helena lowered her head and tails, grinning widely. "Do you like my makeshift sun? It's a long lost Ninetales specialty," she bragged.
"A hidden ability called 'Drought,'" Max added.
To his surprise, Chadwyck felt energy bubble up within his body as the direct sunlight coming from Helena's Drought graced his scales. His fire burned brighter than ever, just begging to be released. His wings and tail burned with a wicked orange glow, flames flicking off with every flap and swish. "Oh hell yeah, I could get used to this," Chadwyck declared.
"The mercenary listings did not disappoint; you do indeed have Solar Power," Max remarked.
"I knew you'd come around," Helena giggled.
"Alright, maybe this will be interesting," Chadwyck conceded. "But just because you can make a sun doesn't mean I'll throw myself in there on your command!"
"Don't you worry," said Helena. She opened her muzzle and exhaled a large plume of fire for show, the heat enhanced by the sun. "I've got your back, my friend," she promised, crouching her forelegs to sprint.
"And I shall offer my protection from afar," Max added. He held up his paws, causing a Reflect to appear momentarily in front of Chadwyck before dissipating.
"Then it's time to light this place up!" Chadwyck declared, grinning widely.
Meanwhile, the bandits had stopped in their tracks. Helena's Drought cast an intruding glint in the corner of their eyes, and the sudden temperature increase pricked at their skin.
Chadwyck wasted no time, swooping in and unleashing a massive, shining Fire Blast at the four bandits. The bandits screamed, dashing out of the way. The star-shaped Fire Blast exploded but didn't hit anyone… except the bag of stolen goods. It went up in flames, smoldering into a pile of rubble in an instant from Chadywick's intense Drought and Solar Power boosted attack.
"You bastard!" the Weavile screeched.
"That was food for my daughter!" the Mightyena snarled.
"You'll pay for that!" the Kabutops threatened.
The Weavile and Shiftry dashed forward at lightning speed, leaping into the air towards Chadwyck with Night Slash attacks. The Weavile struck Chadwyck, but a psychic barrier, Max's Reflect, materialized in front of Chadwyck, taking the brunt of the blow so that Chadwyck was only slightly jostled. The Shiftry was about to land his Night Slash, but Helena unleashed a powerful Flamethrower in front of Chadwyck. The bandit dashed straight into the searing flames with a scream of terror. The Shiftry tumbled to the ground, his leafy arms flopping to the sides.
The Kabutops fired a Hydro Pump at his fire-type adversaries. However, as the jet of water traveled through the hot air of Helena's Drought, it weakened as some water evaporated. Chadwyck roared menacingly and fired a Flamethrower which collided with the Hydro Pump. The two attacks erupted into hot steam, fogging up the battlefield.
Helena used her psychic powers to connect with Max telepathically. Max, use Psychic to clear the steam, she thought, her psychic powers sending the thoughts to her friend. Then Helena pointed her nine tails to the sky again like when she activated Drought. Her tails started glowing bright green, and green energy bundled up into an intense ball of light, rising above her.
Purple waves of energy popped up and ripped across the battlefield as Max used Psychic to clear out the steam, giving Helena a line of sight from her to the Kabutops. She raised her forepaws and slammed them down, her eyes focused on the water-rock type bandit. A bundled beam of bright green energy launched out of the ball that had risen above her, headed straight down towards the Kabutops. Helena's Solar Beam slammed into the Kabutops before he could even react, wiping him out of the battle.
Meanwhile, the Weavile had been harassing Chadwyck with quick, nimble strikes. Chadwyck roared, flailed his flaming wings, and kept trying to Flamethrower the pesky bandit, but the Weavile was too fast. At least each Night Slash felt only as bad as a drunk pokémon's punch, and Chadwyck had stomached countless of those. He had Max's Reflect to thank, which never failed to appear and blunt the enemy's attacks.
Landing on the ground and scowling up at the Charizard, the Weavile decided to pivot towards the source of the Reflect, spotting Max at the top of the hill and launching a Dark Pulse before dashing towards the Meowstic with sharpened claws.
Max dodged the slow amalgamation of deep black energy with a simple sidestep. "If only you were not a dark-type," he mumbled. He then unfurled his ears to unlock more of his psychic powers, his eyes started glowing deep purple, and he directed his little paw towards a giant boulder embedded in the ground. With a flick of his paw and a twitch of his ears, Max used Psychic to lift the boulder out of the dirt and hurl it at the oncoming Weavile, the boulder surrounded in a powerful purple glow. The Weavile yowled, his body tensing up for a split second before diving to the side to avoid the boulder. Max tried to slow the boulder down and turn it around towards the Weavile again, but Chadwyck beat him to the punch, swooping in and roasting the Weavile with a mighty Flamethrower.
Helena smiled, glad that Chadwyck's fighting abilities were living up to her expectations. Then her paws shook as the ground suddenly rumbled below her. Before she could react, the Mightyena, the fourth and last bandit, shot up from the ground, barreling into her stomach. "Oof!" she cried, her eyes widening from the surprise Dig attack. She landed roughly on the ground on her side, her tails a tangled mess. The Mightyena landed on his paws only a few feet away, then readied a Crunch, his fangs glowing white and elongating as he opened his jaws threateningly. The Mightyena pounced forward jaws first, but Helena rolled out of the way. She engulfed her fur in flames and tackled the Mightyena, sending him back with a howl. Before the bandit could regain his senses, a purple glowing boulder slammed into him, knocking him out. The three victors each breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at each other triumphantly.
"Wooooow! You all are so cool!"
Helena looked up towards the top of the hill and spotted a Darumaka hopping from one foot to another and vigorously waving his stubby little arms in the air.
"Darrell!" the Darmanitan from before scolded, making his way to his son. "I told you not to wander on your own when there are bandits around!"
"But Princess Helena defeated all the bad guys already. Look!"
"Good day, sir," Max greeted, walking over while holding himself high. "Thanks to your prompt directions, we have the situation under control," he said, gesturing towards the four defeated bandits sprawled across the ground.
"Wait, what happened to the stuff they stole?" the Darmanitan asked.
"Uh…" Chadwyck stammered, guiltily scratching his head with a sheepish look.
"That was my family's hard-earned harvest!" the Darmanitan exclaimed. He pounded his two giant fists against each other then slammed them into the ground in front of him, leaning forward with a scowl written across his large, round face.
"I will compensate you and your family in full," Helena pledged. "Thank you so much for leading us to the bandits! I'm so thrilled to show everyone that I caught them!"
Terry arrived behind the Darmanitan, lacking his usual jubilant smile due to the huge bruise on his head. "Aw, what? The battle is over already?" he cried.
"Sorry, Terry!" Helena giggled. She turned to the Darmanitan. "Can we please borrow a cart to carry these bandits to the city?" she asked, her tails wagging subtly.
"I'm sure you can find one yourself in the village, Your Highness," the Darmanitan grunted. He scooped up his Darumaka son and lumbered back to his farm.
"Cheer up, Dad!" Darrell said, patting his dad's side with his stubby arm.
As the sun was setting across the horizon, Chadwyck hauled a cart full of the four fainted bandits along the path back to the city. Max had volunteered to pull the cart first using his psychic powers, and he went pretty far, but even highly practiced psychic powers had a limit similar to one's physical limits. Chadwyck went second and pulled the cart with ease at first but got tired rather fast. He was determined to last at least as long as the tiny Meowstic did, though.
"I'm tired," Chadwyck eventually grunted. "Terry, it's your turn."
"Eh? But how am I going to pull the cart? I don't have hands or psychic powers!" Terry complained. "You do it, Helena!"
"I'll take the last stretch through the city," Helena promised. "Don't worry, we'll help you tie the ropes to yourself so you can drag the cart," she said with a slightly devious smirk.
Terry's ears and whisker-like fur drooped as he pouted. "I'm injured, though," he whined.
"We all are," Chadwyck countered with a grin. He stopped walking and planted his palms against the front of the cart. The cart's momentum forced the large Charizard to dig his toe-claws into the ground with a grunt, kicking up some dirt. Chadwyck snatched the ropes and carried them to the small Torracat, looking down at Terry with a glint in his eyes and a smirk.
Helena used Psychic to take control of the ends of the ropes and tie them across Terry's front like a harness. "There we go."
Terry raised his forepaw but couldn't take a step forward. He leaned forward with his whole weight, but he was stuck. "It's too heavy," he insisted.
"You simply need our help to get going, my friend," Max remarked. "Since the cart has wheels, once it gets going you only need a fraction of the force to maintain its motion. Do you not remember what we learned in physics?"
"Let's go!" Chadwyck declared, pushing the cart from behind. Helena laughed and helped with Psychic, causing the cart to glow light blue.
"Okay, okay, I'm pulling!" Terry exclaimed.
Once the cart was moving, Terry could drag the cart, pulling just enough to overcome friction. Unfortunately, the dirt path was not smooth, so the rickety wooden wheels constantly created more friction. Terry gritted his teeth, sweat building on his forehead as he dug his claws into the dirt with each step for more traction. He was managing okay, maybe even taking a little pride in himself, until Chadwyck snuck up to his side and bellowed out a loud roar.
"Ahhh!" Terry cried, stopping in his tracks and flattening his ears against his skull. The next moment, the front of the cart slammed into the poor Torracat. The impact sent him forward, then the rope ran out of length and jerked him back, plopping him onto the ground in front of the rolling cart. A sharp, high-pitched tone rang out as Helena and Max abruptly threw their Psychic attacks at the lumbering cart before it ran over Terry.
"What was that for?!" Terry exclaimed.
"Just a little thing I call 'revenge,'" Chadwyck said with an evil grin. "This won't be the last time either. I'm going to enjoy this," he chuckled.
"Can't say you didn't deserve it," Helena said with a laugh.
Terry glared up at the smug Charizard, his head scheming up several plots to get back at Chadwyck.
Helena's team finally arrived at the city gate, Helena pulling the cart with Psychic as promised. "Good evening, Your Highness… what is this?" a guard asked apprehensively.
"My friends and I went out and caught some bandits," Helena explained. "I shall present these outlaws to my father and most likely throw them in the dungeon."
"I see… very well, the guards shall take care of them from here," the guard said.
"No no," Helena said, holding up a paw. "I wish to bring this cart to my father directly."
"We cannot allow bandits inside our city walls unguarded," the guard argued.
"They're fainted," Helena deadpanned, flicking her tails behind her towards the unmoving bandits.
"And if they arise?" another guard questioned.
"I'll knock them down again," Helena said. "But if you insist, you may 'escort' us, no matter how necessary it may be."
Several guards sighed. "Very well, let us all proceed to the palace," one guard conceded.
As they trudged down the dull streets of Kyukonais, Chadwyck couldn't help but wonder about his thought from earlier. He looked around the main road and down the side streets but still couldn't find anything remotely resembling what he desired. It probably wasn't something to ask of a princess, but he figured Helena was cool enough. "Hey, Helena, are there any bars in this city?" he quietly asked.
Helena rolled her eyes but chuckled lightly. "Well, there is one place down that street," she said, pointing with her tails. "It's not much, though."
They passed by a small gathering of pokémon on the main street, catching the attention of many. "Good evening, Your Highness," one of the pokémon, a Leavanny, greeted.
"Good evening, Laura," Helena said pleasantly.
"May I ask what this is all about?" Laura asked.
Helena smiled. "I went out to the countryside and caught some bandits who were robbing a farming family," she explained.
"Oh my, how excellent of you, Your Highness!" another pokémon praised. "It's about time someone really did something to stop the bandits from terrorizing our countryside. Thank you!" Several other pokémon joined the praise, others simply marveling at the feat or staring at the cart of bandits, examining the proof.
When they approached the palace, Helena asked one of the guards to rush ahead and bring her father to the front entrance. They had to wait a few minutes outside the palace for the Ninetales king, King Nigel, to appear. The Weavile bandit started stirring in the cart, so a Machamp guard delivered a solid punch to knock the bandit out again.
The magnificent front doors of the palace opened, and an older Ninetales with a crown on his head showed up. Count Ignatio and the guard that Helena had sent accompanied him. "Helena, what is the meaning of this?" King Nigel immediately questioned, seeing his daughter standing beside the cart full of bandits.
"Good evening, Father," said Helena, speaking respectfully to the older Ninetales. "Since Brother has not come back with any bandits for several days now, I figured I would go out and catch them instead. It was easy with the help of my new bodyguard. I brought the bandits to you for your judgement. I hope this will relieve some of the complaints coming from the countryside."
"Why are you outside the city walls getting dirty when you should be preparing for your wedding?!"
Helena froze, her muzzle half-open. She felt the excitement evaporate out of her body and sighed heavily, resisting the urge to growl. "I decided to make better use of my time and abilities," she said, standing there with her legs stiff and her paws clenching.
"Leave the bandits to your brother," her father commanded authoritatively. "Prince Horace von Haxburg arrives in three months. You must clean up your act by then, Helena. I will not tolerate any more of this nonsense. Guards, take the bandits to the dungeon. Helena, go tidy up and prepare for dinner. Now." With that, the Ninetales went straight back into the palace without another word.
The guards took hold of the bandit cart, prompting Helena to relinquish her psychic control of it; the light blue glow faded away. They dragged the cart to the dungeon entrance somewhere else in the city, leaving Helena looking down at her paws and kneading them against the ground.
Chadwyck stood there the whole time, not knowing what to say and also not wanting to say something stupid in front of these authoritative figures.
"Theodore Gaogaen!" a voice boomed. It was Count Ignatio, and he was approaching them.
Terry gulped. "Yes, Father?" he asked meekly.
"It is the same deal with you," the Incineroar declared. "I will not tolerate any more of your escapades when you are supposed to be at home taking care of your responsibilities. We are going now." He walked past Terry down the street, and Terry reluctantly followed with his head down. "Look at that bruise on your head," Count Ignatio pointed out. "An injury like that is hardly befitting of a noble," he scolded. "Clearly, you are not as prepared to combat bandits as you claim."
"Oh, and Princess Helena, you did an honorable deed today. However, please refrain from distracting my son from his duties."
Meanwhile, Chadwyck was having trouble keeping a straight face. "Theodore" is Terry's real name? Oh, I am so going to make fun of him! he thought, twiddling his claws. Maybe when he's not already under fire, though.
"Do not be so melancholy, my friend," Max consoled, patting Helena on the side with his small paw. "There is still time for things to change."
"I guess you're right," Helena sighed. "Gotta keep fighting for myself." They started heading towards the palace. "Come with us, Chadwyck. I'll show you your room," Helena offered.
Later that night, Helena dragged her paws along the velvet carpets towards her father's quarters. After the guard let her in, she saw that her father was talking with one of the kingdom's well-known heralds, an Exploud named Eugene.
"Helena, what are you interrupting us for?" King Nigel snapped.
"Father, I need some money from the vault," Helena said.
"What is it for?" her father grumbled.
"When I went to capture the bandits, we accidentally burned up the stuff they stole. I must compensate the farmer who lost his stuff."
"Forget it," the king dismissed.
Helena sighed, lowering her ears and head, but it was actually just an act. While her father ignored her and resumed his talk with Eugene, Helena used Psychic to slowly open a drawer, withdraw a key and slide it under the rug to where she stood at the doorway. At the same time, she listened to her father's business with intrigue.
"Recently, two noble families have quarreled in Lyonnais over the use of a new mill," Eugene reported. "The dispute has become so heated that the two parties seem set to raise arms against each other unless we can settle the issue."
"Let them fight it out," the king said.
"Are you sure that is wise, my liege?" Eugene asked. "Letting the matter slip is essentially giving Duke Percival even more autonomy and control over Lyonnais. We cannot have dukes taking land from other dukes with force. Your position as king will appear weak."
"Frankly, I do not care for what happens out in Lyonnais, as long as Duke Percival is loyal and pays his dues. I have more important matters to attend to. What is your next report?"
With the vault key in paw, Helena slipped out of her father's quarters, but not without a new plan scheming its way into fruition.
Helena strolled through the dark streets of Kyukonais, carrying a sack full of money she stole from her father's vault. She suddenly heard a commotion not far away and went to investigate. To her surprise, she witnessed a familiar Charizard getting kicked out of a building - the bar that she had mentioned to him earlier. "Wow, Chadwyck, getting into trouble on your very first night in this city? Impressive," Helena remarked with a smirk as she approached him.
"Is that you… Helena?" Chadwyck said with a slightly slurred tone. He swung his tail in front of him so that the fire's light would illuminate the area in front of him, although his tail control was a bit clumsy.
"Yup, it's me," said Helena, creating a small flame on the tip of one of her tails to reveal herself. "What happened to you?"
"The prices at this bar are absurd! I couldn't even afford enough to get tipsy! I demanded more for my money and they kicked me out!" Chadwyck exclaimed. Then he gasped in excitement. "Is that my pay?" he asked, extending a claw towards Helena's money bag.
"No!" Helena exclaimed, swatting his claw away with a tail. "This money is for the Darmanitan who got robbed. You know, since somebody burned up the goods."
"Oh…" Chadwyck mouthed, his shoulders slumping.
"Get a good night's sleep," Helena directed. "Tomorrow, we're traveling to Lyonnais."
"Where's… that?"
"It's a province on the edge of Solardie," Helena said. "It may take us two days to get there."
"What are we going for?"
"There's a local noble who thinks he can do whatever he wants. I want to go there and show him who's boss since my father won't. Now go back to the palace and rest; I'm going to the Darmanitan's hut to give him the money."
Chadwyck shook his head, wondering if he was hearing her correctly. "Uh, right now? Why are you going in the middle of the night?"
"We're leaving tomorrow, so I have to give him the money tonight."
"Ugh, I'll come with you," Chadwyck offered.
"Sure, if you want," Helena said with a shrug. "Didn't you just have alcohol, though?"
"Like I said, I couldn't even afford enough to get tipsy," Chadwyck said. "And I'm supposed to be your bodyguard, right? If something happens to you, I sure as hell won't get paid."
Helena chuckled. "I said I don't need a bodyguard, but fair enough. Let's go."
"What kind of princess goes off on her own in the middle of the night?" Chadwyck remarked as he and Helena walked down the countryside path under the darkness of the night sky.
"One who's in charge of her own future," Helena said.
"Wouldn't you be scared by yourself out here?" Chadwyck prodded. "You could get attacked by bandits. Seriously."
"I can sense other pokémon coming with my psychic powers.".
"Aren't you afraid of the dark? Anything could be out here."
"Why be afraid of the dark when I can command the sun?" Helena declared with a cocky smirk.
"Kind of exaggerating, there…"
"Yeah, but it sounds good, don't you think?"
Chadwyck shrugged. "You are one strange princess."
"I alone will determine my place in the kingdom, not anyone else. I will become so influential, so notorious that no one would dare try to shake me away. And you're going to help me along the way," said Helena.
A/N 1/16/22: Welcome to the world of Nine Tales of Liberty (formerly titled Kyukon Universalis)! Like my previous story, this story takes place in an original medieval/renaissance era pokémon world. My love of medieval settings comes from playing video games set in that time period, such as Age of Empires, Civilization V, and most notably, Europa Universalis IV, or EU4 for short. A lot of ideas coming in this story are loosely inspired by things in EU4. However, the interesting thing is that EU4 doesn't have a plot; it's an open-ended history simulator where you control a country from 1444 to 1821 and can do whatever you want with random events happening every so often.
After playing the game so much, I suddenly had a thought: I wonder if I can write a pokémon story around the random events in EU4? And thus, Kyukon Universalis was born. Over the next year, the ideas kept coming, and the doc kept growing as I came up with characters and details for my own medieval pokémon world. For that reason, a bunch of the chapter titles will be little references to EU4.
Anyway, just wanted to mention how I came up with this story and how it's inspired by the game Europa Universalis IV, but there's no specific knowledge you'd need to know about the game because it's all based on history with no plot and my inspiration is from random generic events. This story is basically an original story taking place in an original medieval setting. Also, I know I'm using the same old trope of the main character being a princess who wants to avoid an arranged marriage. I used the same thing in my previous story (The Ember and the Spark), and it's probably pretty common, but hey, I like it. Especially with pokémon since it feels pretty natural for any pokémon to learn moves and get strong. I promise this plot is (hopefully) unique despite the common princess trope. I hope you enjoy!
Have you ever found yourself reading a pokémon story, a returning character shows up, but you forget what species they are? I have this problem pretty often, so in order to address it, I make my characters' first names start with the same letter as their species name. (Helena is an obvious exception, but that's because I came up with her name before matching first letters.) Hope that helps!
P.S. The story cover photo is Aurora Castle from Pokémon Conquest. Fitting since it's a medieval pokémon game :)