Another crumpled ball of glittering gold wrapping paper crossed sideways in front of Princess, the meowstic sitting cross-legged on a red cushion with her eyes focused on the levitating object as she tried to get it all the way across to the other side of the manor's main sitting room without having to unfold her ears. Madeline and her parents were paying little attention to her training efforts, the adults sitting down in their ornate chairs watching their daughter try on the second set of jewelled earrings she'd been gifted that morning, which the concentrating pokemon didn't mind. It meant that none of them witnessed the blue glow around the discarded gift wrap start to fade as it reached the opposite end of the sizable room, nor noticed her frown when she had to admit defeat and unfurl her ears. The red and yellow-ringed eye-like organs normally concealed in the undersides lit up with the same colour as the existing psychic energy and the scrunched-up rubbish was righted in the air, maintaining a perfect course all the way until it joined the rest of the used gift wrap in a bin that was close to full.
'Disappointing,' she thought to herself, eyes lingering on the bin while she refolded her ears. 'I still can't maintain control for long without raising them up. At this rate I'll never learn how to improve on my subtlety.'
It was yet another discouraging observation, Princess having made more than she'd liked over the past few months. From her reading of a few books about psychic types, the years spent by Madeline's side as an espurr while the girl did her homework having paid off in that respect, while there was usually some visual tell of a psychic move being prepared or used by a pokemon not many were burdened with the main outlets of their power being on two extendable 'antennas' just screaming out 'hit me, I'll hurt!'.
'Then again, it's not like there's much chance of any actual battles happening anytime soon…'
Princess struggled to get her frown under control when she turned her focus back to the birthday gift unwrapping taking place on the middle of the room's large red rug, any further training attempts put on hold for later in the day. The formally considerable pile of gifts had been steadily whittled down to none over the last hour while she had been distracted, a conclusion that Madeline also reached while the new pair of jewellery hanging from her ears glittered in the morning sunlight filtering through the full-length windows.
"Is that all?" she asked her seated parents while she herself remained kneeling on the rug surrounded by opened presents, as if the last gift she was now wearing didn't cost nearly half the average Kalosian annual wage. "What happened to all of the big presents I used to get?"
It prompted a scoff and huff from her father sitting down in his chair. "We both decided to ban large presents after the full set of designer trainer gear and supplies you begged us for last year ended up in the attics to gather dust. Remember that? There was enough there to equip an expedition into the middle of a Paldean jungle."
"It cost about as much to fund one as well," Madeline's mother added quietly before taking a sip of tea from an antique teacup. "Our money isn't completely endless, or just created from nothing."
While Princess couldn't exactly pretend to understand the complicated beast that was the human financial system, even after lending Madeline much-needed moral support during the teenager's assignment on the history of Kalosian coinage earlier that year, she'd picked up enough to estimate that her family's wealth wasn't under any actual threat from an expensive necklace or two… or two dozen. Apparently Madeline agreed.
"I already told you I changed my mind, why do you keep on bringing it up? It wasn't that much. You and Papa probably spend more on your fancy wines anyway." That particular comment earned Madeline two sets of furrowed brows directed at her, and the teenager changed tactics with a roll of her eyes and sigh. "Ugh, come on. I've been getting good grades, haven't I?"
"They've been… adequate," her father admitted. Then, after a glance to his wife with Princess noticing the knowing smile they shared, he refaced Madeline and made a show of rubbing his clean-shaven chin. "So I suppose that we may have one more, small present to still give…" With Madeline lighting back up in anticipation, the man leaned forwards in his chair and called out through the doorway into the corridor beyond. "Henri, if you could please fetch Henrietta and the final gift."
While the resulting high-pitched squeal of excitement from Madeline was irritating to Princess's ears, it was the way that both adults snuck a quick glance towards her that caused a feeling of unease to hit her. She was no natural empath like an indeedee or a gardevoir, but there was no need for psychic powers to tell that something was amiss given the concern in both of their eyes. Before any possible clarification could be gleaned however the dutiful pair of indeedee announced their arrival with a light knock on the doorframe, the object carried by Henri causing Madeline to jump to her feet and Princess's heart to drop.
It was a silver-laced purple cushion, upon which sat a white and red premier ball.
"Ohmygosh ohmygosh!"
It was testament to Henri's willpower and stoic professionalism that he was able to approach the gibbering teenager without even a hint of a grimace, his only reaction being a quick glance towards the stunned meowstic. Frozen on the spot, Princess just stared blankly while Madeline leapt forwards and snatched the premier ball up into her hands, her trainer's move to open it and release the new pokemon within temporarily paused by the interdiction of her father.
"Your mother and I met a charming young breeder during one of our charity dinners, and when the inevitable topic of pokemon arose during discussion she mentioned that many of them benefit from being around differing types as they grow and mature." He waved his hand in light dismissal from his own seat. "Something about helping them adapt better to unknown techniques or energies, I forget the exact specifics. Still, even if you remain undecided on pursing some time as a trainer and won't require Princess to battle, we both thought that at the very least she'll be able to have another pokemon as a friend if you're away for whatever reason."
As Henri withdrew with the empty cushion to stand beside his master's chair, the Lady spoke up after a quick sip of tea with Henrietta likewise smiling by her side. "If you do decide to attend Cours Lumiose for instance. That way your pokemon won't just be stuck alone in your room all day while you're in class."
"Uh huh," replied Madeline, barely listening with her eyes fixed firm on the pokeball in her hand. "So can I open it now already?"
The sigh from the Manor's patriarch was quiet enough to only be picked up by the ears of the three pokemon present.
"You may, just be…"
He had no chance to finish before Madeline pointed the pokeball at the red rug on the floor and released the creature within with a flash of light, Princess's empty look hardening into a glare as her competition took solid form.
It appeared grim. The new pokemon stealing all the attention was smaller than her with a rich purple and cream coat, a pair of vibrant green eyes blinking and looking around the room framed with twin streaks of bright violet. To Princess it was obvious that she and it shared some similarities with the new creature also likely to fall within the general 'feline' pokemon 'family' that her own species belonged to, but it was hard to ignore the less-physical differences that she was starting to pick up. For starters she couldn't help but feel a slight sense of unease when looking at the smaller and younger pokemon, and although her psychic abilities in the area of sensing the minds of others was greatly limited already compared to other psychic types, any attempt to pry even a surface emotion from the youngster was like mentally staring into an empty and dark room.
Madeline of course had no such ability to actually sense that the small and soft-looking kitten sitting before her was actually harbouring such a disturbing mind, not that she would have likely cared even if she did if the next squeal of excitement was anything to go off.
"Ah! A purrloin! I can't believe it!" Dropping into a crouch right before the dark type, the teenager cupped her own face with her hands and jittered on the spot. "It's soooo cute!"
"Mhmmm?" the new creature hummed out mid-glance around the room, eyes flickering over Princess for but a moment before the glittering jewels hanging from Madeline's ears caught her attention. "Oh, puurrty and shiny, I like!" Grin growing quickly, the dark type gave the opulent room another fast onceover before her tail started to wave from side to side at the premier ball next to Madeline. "It seems like they weren't lying, my new trainer might be acceptable after all. I think I even have servants!"
Princess didn't like the way that she was included in the sneaky flicker of green eyes at the other pokemon in the room, but while the purrloin's words were grating to her the purred observations obviously sounded better to human ears going off of Madeline's reaction.
"The girls are all going to be so jelly! I can't wait to see their replies when I send them the pictures!" Bending down, the teenager reached out for the new pokemon with a jig already in her step. The purrloin didn't waste anytime and leaned forwards into the embrace, Madeline lifting her up into a tight hug against her chest and twirling around on the spot with a giggle. "This is the best! You're such a cutie-pie Purrloin!"
The small feline purred back to the human and nuzzled back into the hold, the smug glance around the room that followed missed by all except one. Princess did little to keep her own look of contempt restrained while the dark type's gaze lingered on her a few seconds too long, but the new arrival only seemed to smile wider at the response with a wicked gleam of realisation shimming to life.
Before anything could be said however Madeline was on the move with the purrloin along for the ride, the excited birthday girl only making it a few steps towards the door to the hallway before a throat clear from her father stopped her just short.
"You're leaving already?" A pointed glance towards the boxes of gifts forgotten with the new pokemon's arrival. "What about your other presents? Picking a name?"
A huff and eye roll accompanied Madeline's response.
"Papa, they can wait. It's my birthday and I need to have my profile updated as soon as possible. Do you know how many photos and videos I'm going to have to take before the end of the day?"
"No," her father sighed. "Still, I-"
"Let her go take her pictures dear," Madeline's mother spoke up, Princess only just able to pick up the tiredness in her voice as she interrupted her husband with a wave goodbye to her daughter. "We'll be having lunch at two today Madeline, let us know if you'll have the time to join us for it, hmm?"
"…Maybe."
It was all they got before Madeline raced out of the room with her new purring acquisition in her arms, the matriarch of the family sitting back in her chair and pre-empting her husband's reply.
"You can't fight the tides; we've talked about this."
"Hmph, we have. It doesn't mean that I'm happy about it however." Standing up from his chair, the man first shook his head slowly at the sight of all the forgotten presents littering the room before he sighed again and nodded at the pair of indeedee standing off patiently at the side. "Thank you for the help you two. Please, don't worry about all this, I'll sort it out myself in a while."
"Yes, thank you both," the lady of the manor added with a smile. "Alphonse should be finishing up with the breakfast dishes in the kitchens by now, and he may need some help preparing for the lunch if you feel like it." Before either of the pokemon could respond, she hummed and turned her attention to the glum meowstic still sitting down on the red cushion. "Perhaps you'd let Princess come along with you, maybe even let her practice her skills on decorating the birthday cake? I know how Madeline can be when she's in the mood for taking photos of herself and I'm sure the diversion would be welcome."
Princess blinked and forced the afterimage of the new pokemon leering at her from Madeline's arms out of her mind at the words. The question was more directed at her instead of indeedee of course, the suggestion a little more loaded even if it was wrapped in what she could tell was genuine good intentions. It carried a decent point as well which Princess wasn't happy to admit, with her lack of enthusiasm for anything involving further birthday 'celebrations' outweighed by her apprehension of being in the same room as her human companion of six years fawning over a devious dark type usurper. Her options at the moment were, unfortunately, fairly limited.
So, after she managed to will her expression back into a more neutral tone and with a nod towards Madeline's mother, the meowstic stood up and raised her ears. With the eye-like organs glowing violet the cushion was gripped in a soft blue glow, and its levitated path back to its usual spot by the gilded sofa was nice and smooth in the air despite Princess's sudden urge to rend it apart in frustration. Setting it down safe and sound, she lowered her ears once more and made to follow the butler and maid pair into the hallway.
Neither Henri nor Henrietta visibly showed any signs of uncomfortableness at how the birthday present session had ended, but much like from the two adult humans Princess could feel the leaking hints of concern that caused ears to twitch. Thankfully they both seemed to decide against voicing it and instead allowed her to follow them with only brief smiles and nods, the trio of pokemon leaving the room and the mess of presents behind.
"Hold on."
The voice of the manor's lord caused them to pause and look back, the man giving a glance of his own towards the sitting room as he strode into the hardwood-floored corridor after them. Dwarfing all three of them, he stopped right before Princess with his steely blue eyes furrowed and his expression firm.
"I'm sorry if our choice of present has caused you distress. I have to admit that my daughter's attitude of late has been… challenging, and it might not have been the best time to bring in a new member of the household. With that said…"
The man bent his knees and placed a hand atop her head, and while Princess wasn't a fan of being 'pet' by anyone, it wasn't the time (nor the human) to remind otherwise.
"Even though I am not the most educated when it comes to pokemon, I can see how this change could bring up some unwelcome feelings. I'm hoping that the teething issues will be mercifully quick and any conflicts to be in short supply." He gave her a light pat on the head before withdrawing his hand. "I just want you to remember that you are still, and will always be, a part of the family. No matter what."
The announcement was followed by a brief moment of silence with all three pairs of eyes focused on the meowstic in the middle of the group, broken only when Princess fought back a single sniff and acknowledged the Master's words with a quick nod.
"Good," the man murmured, before he shook his head and returned his voice to normal volume. "Well with that I better get back to it. I've got a lot of expensive jewellery to find a home for and I doubt Madeline is going to get involved in cleaning up wrapping paper anytime soon. Have fun with the decorating, try to make the most of it."
He left as quickly as he had arrived, both Henri and Henrietta warmly returning his goodbye before resuming their walk back to the kitchens with Princess following along with them.
"Wasn't that nice of the Master to say?" Henrietta remarked with a smile from her left with her head tilted and her three-fingered hands clasped together. "How reassuring!" To the right, Henri nodded along wordlessly at his counterpart's observation of his trainer's words, his own arms folded behind his back while he walked.
Princess for her part also remained quiet as they continued down the hallway, not really in the mood to dwell any further on the man's reassurances, nor on the reasons as to why he felt they needed to be given.
Muffled laughter and the buzzing din of multiple conversations filtered through the crack between the balcony doors, and Princess tried her best to ignore it while she stared out towards the city of Lilycove and the star-filled night sky above. With her fur keeping her insulated from the crisp sea breeze and one of the wrought iron balcony chairs to stand on and boost her height to reach the railing, the meowstic had few other plans for the evening save for her current activity of sullenly lamenting the past month. It was almost depressing enough to make her want to just retreat to her pokeball for the night, a shame especially considering that the foreign city holding her attention was far from sleepy with its colourful lit up buildings and faint sounds of music.
Her options were limited, however. Madeline apparently only had enough space for one pokemon to accompany her out into town that evening and it was clear that Princess was no longer first pick. That meant that the choice was between sulking by herself in solitude or attempting to endure the party being thrown by Madeline's parents in their hotel room, and while the rooms the Kalos family were staying in during their trip to Hoenn had the spaciousness and furnishings appropriate to their level of wealth, spending her night surrounded by the mixture of upper-class human socialites and expensive wines wasn't her idea of the greatest time.
'So balcony it is,' Princess thought to herself with a huff. Her frown was easy to hold with her elbows on the railing supporting her head in her forepaws, a trio of blue and white flying types soaring through the air above the street in front of her. Whether they even noticed her lit up by the lights from the room behind her she couldn't tell, not that it mattered since they didn't bother to stop and say hello regardless. 'My first time out of the estate and in a new region, and even the first wild pokemon I see don't seem to care. How typical and boring.'
Unfortunately for the meowstic, even if the passing wingull had failed to help her fix her glum mood, someone else was more than willing to engage her in conversation at that very moment. A short chortle from the neighbouring balcony caught the psychic type's attention well before she picked up any presence of another mind, and with a twitch of her ears and her frown deepening Princess jolted her head right to match the green-eyed gaze of the interloper.
"Oh my, you should see how you look right now." Queeny, the unfortunately familiar purrloin, gave her forepaw a few quick licks to catch an out of place hair while she lounged on her own railing. "Out here by yourself all alone, especially on such a beautiful night in a new city. What a waste."
Princess managed to hold back a glare, but only just. "What does it matter to you how I spend my time?"
"I'm just worried about you." The quick flash of the fanged smile that accompanied the response chased away all pretence of genuine concern, and Queeny stretched all four of her limbs before she gracefully leapt across the gap between the two railings with no concern of falling six stories to the street below. Now perched on the thick iron rail formerly occupied by Princess, the smaller dark type continued on while giving her claws an idle inspection.
"You know, with how Madeline and me are going out for the night to see the city while you're stuck here with her parents. We're going to meet some more rich people, go late night shopping, see a big pokemon contest with some of the most beautiful pokemon in Hoenn… It's going to be so fun." An eye was raised. "Do you know about pokemon contests? One of Madeline's new friends was saying that they started in Hoenn, and the contest hall we're going to tonight is the best in the region."
Having leaned back and to the side at Queenie's arrival, her movement limited by the chair she was standing on, Princess's tightened her grip on the balcony rail.
"I'm aware of that, yes," answered Princess with her eyes narrowing. "I've watched contests on the television with Madeline before, dozens of times."
Queeny didn't miss a beat.
"Aw, how cute! It's a double shame that you're not going to be able to see one with her tonight then." A cheeky wink. "Don't worry though, I'll make sure to fill you in with how it goes when we get back. I wouldn't want for you to feel left out any more than usual, since it sometimes seems like you're less Madeline's pokemon and more just… around, you know?" The light snigger into a paw was the final insult that broke the dam holding Princess' glare back.
"Did you come out here for anything else, or are you just here to be annoying?"
"Pretty much just the last part!" declared Queeny with a grin, matching the glare with a predatory look in her eyes as if she was about to savour a delicious treat. "There's only so much time, and Madeline is just about to be out of the shower so she'll probably need my opinion on what jewellery to wear." Standing back up on all fours, the purrloin pivoted on the spot and gestured with her head towards the party going on inside while she balanced on the railing. With Princess following it, the dark type gave a pointed glance to the pair of indeedee occasionally visible between the throng of humans with their hands occupied with trays and bottles of wine.
"You could try to be more like them, you know? See how happy they are, doing their jobs with smiles on their faces? Being out here, all gloomy and miserable, is this really what you should be doing? Why not go inside instead and use those oversized ears of yours to move some serving trays around?"
Another flash of the fangs, and a wriggle of the hostile green eyes.
"You know… like the rest of the help."
A low thrum of energy filled the air as Princess's ears flipped open, the red and yellow spots nestled within flaring up with a warning glow. Even though her eyes started to close she could still see Queeny poised on the balcony rail grinning at her with perfect clarity, the image of the younger pokemon being sent flying off and out towards the long drop below with a pure blast of psychic power almost as easy to envision in the heat of the moment. Unfortunately however the dark type's dismissive reaction to the threat was accompanied by an impish cackle.
"Pfft, good luck with that," Queeny mocked while bounding back to the balcony of Madeline's room undisturbed. "You and I both know that pretty much everything you can try to do is useless against my typing, so why bother? I'll see you in the morning, Help." With a final chortle, the younger 'mon slipped back into the curtained safety of her owner's room, leaving the meowstic as the sole occupant of the balcony once more.
Target of her ire gone, and with the sobering reminder of dark types being blatantly unfair, Princess re-shackled her powers and folded her ears back down. Eyes reopening with a deeper frown than before, she struggled to return her attention to staring back out at the city with a huff. It wasn't ideal, but the purrloin's words were still rattling around in her mind and a part of her refused to chance a look back into the hotel room in case she spied another glance of Henrietta or Henri. It wasn't that she didn't have anything but respect for the two indeedee who had served as both her closet friends and teachers for the better part of six years, but what Queeny had said had cut deeper than Princess expected.
'Is that really how it is? Is that… how Madeline thinks of me now as well?'
She tried to think of something to counteract the disturbing thought and just write off the snide remark from the purrloin, but it was a struggle with the evidence growing stronger as she mentally recounted her interactions with her trainer since the fateful birthday gift. Or rather the lack of. While Madeline had obviously given up on becoming a proper trainer since becoming a teenager, leaving Princess alone to try and practice her skills with the pair of indeedee helping when they had the time, at least the nights spent watching movies together or struggling with homework had remained for a while. Even the dreaded role of being used as a practice dummy for the latest beauty products and fashion trends had been given over to the new dark type, and that was something Princess would have never guessed she would miss.
Now, however, she was lucky to even receive a second glance from her trainer. Even Henri and Henrietta, both treated by their respective humans more as a capable valet and maid than just pokemon, were the recipients of gestures of affection and attention from time to time. The pair's frequent attempts to include her in their activities around the manor also hadn't slipped by unnoticed, and while good natured at heart only served as another reminder that things between Madeline and her were less than ideal.
"I suppose that is how it is now," Princess muttered to herself, eyes still looking out at the city that Queeny was going to be exploring instead of her. "And to think I once thought that I was actually going to go on an adventure when I was an espurr, helping Madeline by battling other pokemon just like the teams on the tv. How stupid of me. Even if it ended up like that she probably would have still replaced me as soon as she caught a stronger pokemon anyway." Another huff. "I probably couldn't even beat Queeny, no matter how much I want to."
The deprecations bounced around in her mind while the quiet laughter and mirth remained behind her, the meowstic's mood a stark opposite to the inviting glow of the seaside city's lights. An entire city, the first one she could even remember seeing aside from the brief glimpse of Cyllage through the departing cruise liner's windows, filled with unknown sights and locations she'd probably never get a chance to witness in person. Granted it was probably also meant large crowds of both humans and pokemon with all of the irritating noise and clumsy jostling that came with them, but she could put up with it for at least a bit for the sake of the experience. It would certainly be preferable to her current fate of just eventually returning back to Kalos and spending the rest of her life lounging around the manor as a 'house cat', she believed to be the correct human term. If only she wasn't stuck on a balcony with the city just out of reach…
The sound of a vehicle travelling along the street six stories below drew her attention, Princess peering down and catching sight of the black limousine pulling up to the hotel's front doors. Her already glum look soured further while she watched her former trainer and the usurper excitedly board it before it took off to disappear behind the corner of a large red-brick building, her narrowed eyes following it all the while as it carried away them and them alone.
She recalled Queeny and the proclamations of contests, nightlife, and fun, a slow boil of anger bubbling up to take over the pit of sadness that had grown in her heart. A glance over to the balcony on her right before refocusing on Lilycove. Along with the bitterness at being left behind, other more rare and risky thoughts began to surface.
'…Why should it remain out of reach, exactly?' Another look back to the neighbouring balcony, or more specifically to the railing that Queeny had used to jump across the gap. 'She's not the only one that can do that. The city is right there, just waiting.' With a plan steadily taking shape in her head, Princess looked to one of the other balconies a floor below. Most of the lights in the other rooms that she could see were off, any occupants likely also out enjoying the city, and the jumps between each staggered balcony weren't that far apart. Sure, meowstics were not nearly as comfortable as purrloins were with performing feline acrobatics as far as Princess knew, but being bipedal didn't take away from the fact that she was still a pretty decent climber. That, and while she still had far to go with developing her admittedly limited powers, Princess was fairly confident that she could at least levitate across for a small amount of time if really needed.
Practical problem resolved, only the question of not if she could but rather should was left to overcome. It lasted a bit as she mulled it over, but a final glance towards the empty hotel room to her right helped the meowstic figure that one out as well.
'Again, why not? It's not like she'll know, and I don't think she would care if I disappeared for good at this point anyway.' Her conviction wavered a bit upon a final glance back to the party going on in the room behind her, any glimpses of the two indeedee or Madeline's parents lost in the crowd of suits and fancy dresses, but the mental recording of Queeny's previous words that evening hardened her resolve. 'Besides, as they've said I'm still 'part of the household', whatever that's worth. They'll come looking for me if I'm too late getting back, not that I'll be gone for that long anyway.'
The fleeting thought that there was also a possibility that she could be missed was pushed away as quickly as it rose, Princess instead opting to grip the railing with her forepaws and focus on plotting a path. Pulling herself up and standing on two legs, the meowstic had no issue balancing on the iron rail even with the sea breeze picking up in strength. Confident in her natural grace and steeling herself with the idea to just treat it as another form of training, she took a quick breath and jumped across to the other balcony without another look back.
The rest of the trip down to the street below was easier than she had first thought, the feline pokemon working her way across and down multiple floors of balcony railing with an agility she had not previously put to much use. There wasn't even a need for her to unfurl her ears and use her psychic abilities either, save for the final two stories where she used a few balconies to test out her ability to self-levitate. While it proved to be a lot of effort and strain for not much result at the current time, she did discover that she could use the force from her Confusion to propel herself away from a solid surface and extend her leaping distance. With one good thing already springing from her decision to venture out by herself into the city, her paws finally touched the smooth cobblestone pavers of the walkway beside the black road.
Only taking a moment to relish her first real feeling of freedom, Princess remained conscious of the hotel she found herself in front of with the entrance just a ten second's walk away. A quick check of the road lit up by streetlights to make sure it was clear of vehicles was followed by the meowstic dashing across to the other side, the short pokemon concealing herself somewhat in the shadows cast by the red brick building on the corner. Casting a final look back up at the balcony, Princess chased away the rest of her doubts with a deep breath and an attempt at a small smile to herself.
'It's done, I'm here. Now…' She focused in on the way the limousine had left earlier, the road it had taken leading deeper into the city itself where the main night-time activity seemed to be focused. 'It's time to finally go on an adventure. I can almost feel all of the fun and excitement already.'
As it turned out, fun and excitement weren't the only things Princess was destined to feel on her unauthorised night outing. A covering of clouds that had crept up upon Lilycove had brought a light rain with them barely an hour in, the droplets of water wetting her fur and sending her in search for temporary shelter. Leaving the street and its population of people and foreign pokemon (also scrambling for dry cover) behind she ducked into a small alleyway wedged between two brick-walled stores, the jutting balconies and roof outcroppings providing some relief from the increasing rain.
With a grumble to herself the meowstic shook her arms off at her sides and ruffled the blue fluff around her neck, only giving the alleyway she was in a proper look once most of the moisture was gone.
Due to the clouds above there was no moonlight and so the only illumination was from the streetlights behind her, the few doors set into the walls obviously not well-used enough to warrant their own light fixtures. It wasn't a massive issue for her however as, while not on par with any naturally nocturnal pokemon, her ability to see in low light was still fairly good even without the aid of her mental senses. As such after a second or two of her eyes adjusting to the dim her fellow occupants of the alley became visible, and Princess sighed with a frown.
"Well, not sure why I was expecting something a bit more interesting here," she muttered to herself, dismissing the trio of silver trash cans and small pile of discarded cardboard boxes piled up at the opposite end of the narrow pathway. It was a sorry sight compared to the night-time streets of Lilycove with all of the activity of busy nightclubs and streetside carts, but it had some benefits. "At least it's somewhere I can get dry and wait for the rain to stop."
With not much else to do save for sit down and wait, the pokemon instead opted to approach the forgotten boxes in the vague hope that she'd find something within to kill some time. While gingerly opening a few flaps with her paws revealed nothing but emptiness, the alleyway behind her remained anything but.
Princess jolted and turned with boxes forgotten at the sound of a pokeball releasing its occupant, her senses picking up the presence of three others a moment before her eyes gave her a much better picture. Two humans, one male with green hair and the other a female with twin-tailed blonde hair, along with a bulky raticate were standing in between her and the exit to the street. Both humans were dressed in glaringly bright shirts and shorts with alohan flower patterns, and strangely given the time of hour both had their eyes hidden behind pairs of shaded sunglasses. All three of them also wore wide grins that seemed far from friendly, but the large set of teeth on the raticate discouraged Princess from making any sudden moves.
"Well, well, well," the female human drawled, smirking as she bounced a pokeball repeatedly in her hand. "What's a pokemon like you doing in a dark place like this? You're a little far away from home, are you lost?"
"I think it is Cassidy," said the other human, before he gave a slow look around the alley with his smirk growing. "And I don't see anyone else around here but us, either. Seems to me like we've got ourselves a pokemon that's lost and alone. Heh."
Princess was already well aware that she was both in unsavoury company and in trouble, but any final doubts vanished when the woman named 'Cassidy' answered him with a chilling laugh of her own.
"One of our favourite types, Butch! Good thing you spotted it walking past, I don't imagine that the Boss would expect us to send him an uncommon Kalos pokemon from Hoenn of all places! Now…" She pointed a finger right at Princess, a gleam in her eye while the raticate standing before her tensed. "It's our lucky night, but not yours. Raticate, hit it with a tackle!"
"Yes master!"
Princess hadn't expected too much from her trip out by herself into Lilycove. Some sights, some sounds, maybe a peek at a contest or two, basic stuff. What she certainly hadn't expected was her first real battle apart from training with Henri and Henrietta, taking place in an alleyway against a big rodent commanded by a pair of humans who were acting incredibly suspicious. Sure, they could just be unaware that she wasn't wild and already had a trainer, but judging from their glee and hostile surface thoughts leaking out Princess doubted that they would care regardless. She still tried to at least let the raticate know, even if it had to wait for her to throw herself to the side to barely dodge the oncoming wall of hairy rodent.
"Hey, I have a trainer!"
"Don't care," grunted Raticate while he turned to face her again far quicker than a pokemon as fat as he was had any right to. "Master don't." With that he powered forwards and slammed his shoulder into her, and Princess gritted her teeth with a grunt of surprise as the force knocked her off her paws and into the pile of cardboard. She was unable to get back to her feet in time before he came at her again, forcing the meowstic to awkwardly scramble away on all fours while the two humans stood by and watched the one-sided fight with smirks wide on their faces.
'This is bad,' Princess thought to herself as she swiped at raticate on the way past with a quick Scratch, her trio of claws barely making a mark through the rat's scraggy coat. It did nothing to slow the other pokemon down either, and she had to wildly backpedal and jink away from yet another tackle aimed her way. 'I'm not ready for this at all!'
What her opponent lacked in agility he made up for in relentlessness, and the meowstic quickly realised that if the hostile pokemon continued on as he was unopposed then eventually he was going to get another hit in. With the amount of alley to dodge in critically limited and with two humans with potentially other pokemon blocking the only way back to the street, Princess had little choice but to try to go on the offensive.
Her ears flipped up and she forced a burst of power through them, her hasty Confusion catching the raticate mid-leap towards her. Dust and a stray piece of paper were flung outwards with the wave of violet psychic energy, and Raticate cried out in pain as his short flight through the air was halted by his back smashing against a brick wall. It wasn't enough to stop him for good however, with the now glaring normal type getting back to his feet with his whip-like tail thrashing around in the air. Not wanting to give him another chance to attack her, Princess closed her eyes and surrounded herself with a dark purple glow while the beginning of a Psybeam sparked to life in her outstretched front paws.
The reminder that her opponents weren't of high moral character came in the form of another pokeball opening before she was able to fire, the distinctive sound quickly followed by a snarling growl accompanied with a barked command from Butch.
"Bite it Poochyena!"
Pain, more than Princess had felt in her life so far, lanced through her right arm as two rows of sharp teeth dug through fur and sunk into the flesh beneath. With a shocked cry and eyes shooting wide open she instinctively tried to jerk her limb away from the opposing pokemon's jaws and gain some distance, but the poochyena held on strong and used its own weight to roughly hold her in place. Likewise the hurried and wild burst of psychic energy she threw out towards her attacker, all the power she'd intended for the Psybeam being dumped into an impromptu Confusion instead, also achieved close to nothing with the poochyena completely unaffected by the panicked attack while the two humans behind it only flinched as they dodged out of the way.
"Get off get off!" she almost wailed with tears building as her arm burned, the dark type mauling it just staring back at her with its own red eyes lacking all pity while it dug its four paws into the ground and pulled on her like her limb was a chew toy. "Ah, let me go!" The demand was backed up with another sloppy burst of Confusion, the meowstic flailing with her attacks with all trace of tactic forgotten in the heat of the moment.
Unfortunately for her, psychic attacks being useless against dark types wasn't the only thing she'd forgotten about.
The temporary relief upon the poochyena suddenly letting her wounded arm go was replaced a split second later by the impact of the raticate colliding into her from the left side, knocking Princess off her already precarious footing and sending her flying. The meowstic's head bounced off the cobblestone ground with a thunk on the way down, the impact blurring her vision and filling her head with a sharp pain. Any last trace of psychic energy bled away as her ears crumpled back up in an instinctual act of protection, the battered pokemon rolling to a stop with the fight knocked out of her and her arm warm and wet.
"Okay, that's enough you two. She's done." There was little relief for Princess at Cassidy's command, her stomach swimming and her eyelids growing heavy. The lines of the cobblestone floor her face was resting against were dancing around and blurring into one. "Guess our new catch is weaker than we thought."
"Boss 'll probably still be happy with it though."
"I'm sure he will be Butch. A few more like this one, and we'll have a nice set of gifts to guarantee yet another raise!"
It was the second to last thing Princess heard before she gave into the pain and blacked out, the wicked laughter from the two criminals and their pokemon chasing her off into unconscious.
"Ugh…"
Princess awoke groggy and in darkness, with a cool surface against her face and the smell of blood in her nose. A light ache still pulsed occasionally in her skull so she took her time sitting up in an attempt to not exasperate it, a wince crossing her face while her right arm protested her putting weight on it. Lifting the limb up she could spot no trace of the previous biting save for some dried blood in the blue and white fur, and with a quick sniff she picked up the traces of strong disinfectant and a faint hint of berries.
It seemed that her attackers at least deemed her valuable enough to spare a potion on, Princess having experienced the wonderous healing properties once before after a particularly rough landing during a spar as an espurr. Now the second time had occurred in less friendly circumstances, and the reminder of the attack in the alleyway prompted her to slowly look around to try and judge just how much trouble she was in.
To put it simply, it didn't look promising.
The first obstacle was the box that she was sitting in, the smooth surfaces all formed of some kind of hard plastic substance that was clear and transparent. A small amount of air holes sat at the top, set into a hinged flap that was secured with a metal latch and lock. There was no way to tell precisely how strong the cubic prison was and how it would hold up against her attacks without trying them, but with her current aches and the suspicion that her captors weren't exactly first-time pokenappers Princess wasn't too confident in her ability to try.
Further examination of the gloomy room she was trapped in revealed that she wasn't alone in her misfortune, a number of other cages of various sizes stacked on top of each other against the opposite wall. These were all more normal in form with simple metal bars and locks containing the pokemon within. Her eyes adjusted to the lack of light, the meowstic spotted a kecleon in one that appeared to be curled up asleep and also a small mudkip that was too busy sobbing to itself to notice her, with the remaining cages either empty or containing pokemon she didn't recognise.
Why those two hadn't tried to escape their apparently simpler restraints became more clear at the sound of shuffling feet, and with her headache still keeping her mental powers subdued she jolted on the spot when she turned her head around to find the raticate from before staring at her through beady black eyes.
"You awake," the big rat chittered at her, his voice gruff. "Shouldn't have fought."
Touching a paw to her pounding head at the reminder, Princess glared at him through the clear walls of her cube. "What else was I supposed to do, just let myself be captured by a group of criminals?"
The rodent's eyes narrowed, and he clacked his teeth together. "Yes." Then he snorted and shuffled close enough that Princess could smell the stench of cheap pokefood pellets on his breath through the air holes. "You weak anyway. Still got caught." Then before she could even try and defend his unflattering assessment of her, no matter how true it sounded in the moment especially with her bruised ego and other more physical pains still fresh and raw, he followed it up with a flick of his tail over towards the other cages. "They not try fight back, so not hurt as much."
Glare still strong, the meowstic's own twin tails flicked at his words. "So is that something you're proud of then, rat? Helping those humans attack and then throw other pokemon into cages even if they already have trainers?" Wrinkling her nose, Princess didn't take her eyes off of his. "You're filth."
The raticate made a growling noise in the back of his throat and his twin pairs of teeth gnawed together, but he didn't make any movements save for his tail flicking increasing in pace.
"Get good food for good capture. Master happy, me happy."
Then his eyes gained a glint to them, and his mouth contorted into what could maybe be called a smile if your jaw was also dominated by two opposing pillars wedging it open.
"Me also not one stuck in cage, cat."
Princess's reply to that one died before it could be fully formed, a shape at the far side of the room shifting in the gloom. "That one giving you trouble, Raticate?" There was a creak of a chair and Princess shifted her attention away from the addressed pokemon just in time to see the human named Cassidy stand up fully, a flickering screen of some kind of device bathing her back in dim light while she approached.
"No trouble, Master," the raticate replied uselessly, his tail calming down and his hackles relaxing. Eyes still on Princess he backed up and shuffled off to the side to give his trainer space, and Princess switched her glare from him to her new target as the women sauntered up to stand in front of her cage and smirk downwards. It was easy to see how she had at first missed the presence of the human in the room previously, with the rotten criminal having changed out her bright shirt and shorts for a black shirt and skirt with a white band around the edge. The only remaining colour was the bright red 'R' centred on her chest, sticking out in the dim light along with the purple of the human's appraising eyes.
"Ah, well look who's finally awake," said Cassidy, unknowingly mimicking her pokemon's prior words. "You know, I was actually worried for a while that we'd been a little too rough with you, Little Miss Meowstic." The following light chuckle and continued smirk in the face of Princess's glare lacked any sort of warmth or good-natured concern. "While I think the Boss is a big fan of feline pokemon, I assume that he wouldn't appreciate being sent one that was too faulty. He's already got Meowth after all!"
The meaning behind the meanspirited laughter that followed was lost on the trapped Meowstic, but the following gaze and greed in the woman's eyes wasn't.
"Oh, you're probably going to fetch him a nice little price on the market I bet. Some rich fool back in Kanto is going to be very happy with their purchase, and that means that the Boss will be happy as well. And, of course, that means another nice bonus for Cassidy and Butch, Team Rocket's top agents! Muhaha!"
Yet more laughter from the criminal followed the announcement, Princess's heart beating in her chest at once word in particular.
'Kanto!? Did she just say Kanto, as in the region!?' Her thoughts flashed back to Madeline, to Henri and Henrietta, to the rest of the family she had run away from. There was a chance that'd they'd look for her in Hoenn if she went missing, but Kanto? It wouldn't do. If she was taken out of the region and auctioned off to some foreigner, the possibility of ever returning home was dim indeed.
"You can't do this!" she protested in vain, Cassidy just looking down at her arms crossed in amusement. "Don't send me to Kanto, I have a trainer here who's probably looking for me right now! They'll… they're wealthy, if it's money you want then they will pay for my return!"
It was now that Princess wished her kind possessed the ease of telepathic communication that other, more empathetic or naturally inclined psychic types had. Even if (despite her own previous doubts) her claim was true and Madeline actually desired her back in her arms and safe with the family, it was useless to just shout it out at the human and her almost equally communication-challenged raticate. As such the human and rodent pair just scoffed at the meowstic and her crying pleas went ignored.
"That's enough," Cassidy said with a dismissive wave of her hand, already turning away from the trapped pokemon with a disinterested yawn. "Do us all a favour and quiet back down, in a couple hours you'll have a new special pokeball and you can just sleep through the rest of it. Come on Raticate, let it sit in there a bit and get used to it."
The other pokemon did as his master asked and followed along diligently, leaving Princess alone again with just her worried thoughts and churning stomach for company. An experimental test of gathering her power together ended quickly as another jolt of pain arced through her brain and ears, leaving the shivering meowstic with not much else to do but sit cross-legged on the floor of the cage and hope that she'd be able to recover enough to break out before the 'new' pokeball was ready.
Out of options, and partially borne from an instinctive urge to seek comfort in grooming, Princess set about cleaning her dried blood from her healed arm with the actual taste on her tongue somehow less unpleasant than the other bitterness in her mouth.
Princess didn't know how long she'd been in the pokeball for, only that enough time had passed during her artificial stretch of hibernation for her headache to finally recede. Now, her eyes blinking the last of the surprisingly soothing sleep away, she only felt the light breeze of airconditioned air against her fur and cool metal tiles underneath her feet. Looking down she took note of the large purple 'R' set into the otherwise grey floor, her foggy mind managing to match the symbol to the one on the shirt of the human who had stolen her from Lilycove.
"The species is named 'Meowstic'."
A man's voice, deep with middle-age, drew her attention away from the architecture. The speaker was seated about ten steps away from her behind a large hardwood desk, the man in a grey business suit looking at her with a wide smile on his face. The flash of multiple rings on his fingers and the gold clip on his vibrant red tie hinted that he was a human of wealth, but aside from that the meowstic found little else to go off. Strangely for a human, not even a trace of surface thought or emotion was leaking out that she could pick up on, which even given her inexperience was odd. The wicked look in his eyes and barely constrained dark glee in his voice was far more revealing, although it was soon obvious that any mischief going on wasn't directed at her.
"This one is female, one of the few pokemon with a substantial difference in look between the sexes. A pure psychic type," the unknown man continued with Princess stuck on the spot in the middle of trying to figure out how to react. "Probably not exactly what you had in mind I suppose, but there are some similarities between you two I'm sure."
In contrast to the human sitting down, the next mind was a bright flare of jumbled emotion with a particular feeling of seethe flowing forth at the final sentence said. Hesitant to completely let the first man out of her line of sight, Princess turned her head to examine the other figure that was standing off to her left side.
The first thing she noticed about the new human, aside from the wellspring of irritation and confusion, was simply the size of him. Standing a good head and shoulders taller than even Madeline's father back in Kalos, the brute of a man was also a clear winner in the amount of mass on his bones. With ample girth looking to almost rival a broad pokemon like Snorlax, the black-clad man with pinkish-white skin towered over the meowstic with the tips of her folded ears barely reaching the middle of his meaty thighs. Small blue eyes, almost beady when compared to the normal sized eyes that all the humans she'd met so far had, stared back down at her with furrowed eyebrows and a pursed frown.
The second thing she picked up on caused her to meet that frown with a glare of her own, that being the large red 'R' right in the centre of the large man's chest. Combined with the expanded pokeball held in a grey-gloved hand by the human's side, it left little doubt as to the allegiances of the pair she was sharing the cavernous room with.
"Ah, you've gifted me a small, bipedal, cat. Boss, you really shouldn't have."
If the heated stare off she was locked in with him wasn't enough to clarify his thoughts on the matter, the way his knuckles were white while gripping the empty pokeball and slow, measured reply to his apparent superior helped Princess get the idea that he too wasn't thrilled with the current circumstances. Not that the 'Boss' seemed to show much concern at the reaction from his strongly accented subordinate.
"Nonsense Smith, your lack of a pokemon was starting to grate. This one came up at the right time, and so I decided to give it to you to finally address the problem." The following chuckle was accompanied by and interlocking of fingers on the desk. "I'm sure you'll appreciate the learning experience that it will prove to be."
The immediate grumble from 'Smith' while he continued to stare off with Princess was followed up by a huff and a more understandable observation.
"I don't think it likes me," the large criminal flatly stated, his eyes narrowing further at the way the meowstic slowly nodded back with distain in her eyes. "In fact, I'm pretty sure that it's pretty pissed off, Boss."
Another dark chuckle in reply.
"To be expected really, you also seem to have that effect on people who aren't freshly stolen either."
"Hardy ha-ha."
"Besides," the Boss dismissed with a wave of his hand and a smirk. "Whether you manage to get it to like you or not is not my concern, as long as you learn to get it under control. I don't want to waste my time disciplining your pokemon for you."
Princess would have been more concerned at all the talk of being 'gifted' away to the hulking criminal by the obviously evil man in crisp business attire, had it not been overruled at that exact moment by the warm breath on the back of her neck and rumbling purr.
"Mhmm, but it could be interesting. It's been a while since I've been allowed to hunt something down for sport." Whirling around with the two humans well and truly forgotten, Princess's eyes widened as she came face to face with an absolute monster of a persian. Not only was the quadruped feline much larger than herself with a well-muscled frame underneath his tan fur, but the beast radiated an aura of arrogant power while his slitted red eyes seemed to stare right through her. "Especially one as exotic as you. I do enjoy how much you psychic tend to panic when I've got you under my claws…"
She didn't miss the way the persian decided to flex said claws at that moment, as if she needed to see his substantial natural weapons that easily dwarfed her own to get the very sharp point. It took all of her mental strength to not let her shivers grow into much more visible shudders on the spot, the large human who had been deemed her apparent new 'owner' exclaiming out one of her own panicked thoughts in his own peculiar way.
"Jesus Christ, where the fuck did he come from so quickly!?"
With the persian's piercing gaze occupying her vision Princess missed the twitch of the Boss's grin at the vulgar outburst, but his answer was tinged with a touch of displeasure.
"Persian is just helping to communicate the way things are going to work to your new pokemon, Smith. Control yourself, it will be quick."
At his master's words the big cat's fanged grin increased, the red gem set into his forehead gleaming while his curled tail slowly flicked from side to side.
"Your new master is an idiot, especially with pokemon," Persian stated as a matter of fact, the genuine distain in his voice making it clear that it would have been repeated word-for-word even if humans could understand them. "However, my own master wishes for you to belong to Smith from now on. That means that you will behave, and that you will do everything that we demand of you. If you don't, then I will be the one that you will answer to. Am I crystal clear, Whelp?"
Slowly, unable to control the shakes running through her as the glaring pokemon delivered the ultimatum, Princess silently nodded and hoped that it would be enough to satiate the intimidating creature. Long gone was the time to try and fight back, the raticate and poochyena were one thing but this new pokemon was in an entirely different league. Thankfully her wordless affirmative seemed to be good enough, the persian snorting through his nose before he suddenly broke eye contact and turned away from her.
"Good, we are done then," was all he said, the man behind the desk leaning back in his chair as his pokemon circled wide around to the side and slinked back to join by his side again.
Left shaking on the spot, Princess's wide eyes darted back to the Boss when the human moved again, a nod of his head towards her the only acknowledgement of the scariest moment of the meowstic's life so far.
"Splendid. With that sorted, return your pokemon at once Smith. We have other matters of business to discuss before I let you leave, and I have to be at the gym this afternoon so make it quick."
"Ah, s-sure… Boss."
If Princess wasn't as preoccupied with trying to get her chattering teeth under control, she might have noticed that her new 'master' handled the pokeball in his hand with as much optimistic grace as she had with her 'conversation' with Persian. His weak grip on it and way he unsteadily held it outstretched as far away from him as possible was missed completely however, and Princess found herself returned to the cylindrical prism only a few moments later.
AN: Irritated cat - obtained.
