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Chapter 34: Royal Look-A-Like
Thanks to the Pokécomms Ash and Nikki received from the professors they now knew where to find the first Area Boss Ash needed to challenge. With Red Sands Desert their destination the group continued on with their journey.
"I wonder what kind of challenge I'll face with the Area Boss," Ash spoke.
"Who knows. It could be anything so you'll need to make sure you're prepared," Nikki advised.
"Don't worry, we'll be prepared," Ash declared. "Right, Pikachu?"
"(Right!)" the Electric Mouse Pokémon agreed. As the group continued on Buneary spotted something along the side of the path.
"(What's that?)" she asked.
"I think it's a Pokémon," Nikki answered. The Pokémon was a grey feline with a long swirling tail. Ash recognized it immediately.
"It's a Glameow," he stated. Nikki was curious to know more about this Pokémon, and so she took out her Pokécomm and scanned it.
Name: Glameow
Species: The Catty Pokémon
Pokécomm Entry: It hides its spiteful tendency of hooking its claws into the nose of its trainer if it isn't fed.
"That could be painful," Nikki commented.
"(No kidding,)" Buneary agreed.
"Still, I think a Pokémon like that would be perfect for Contests," Nikki continued. She prepared to grab a Poké Ball when Ash called her attention to something.
"You might want to check and see if she already has a trainer first," he advised. Nikki had completely forgotten she could do that thanks to the Pokécomms she and Ash had received, but when she checked the Glameow once again what she discovered left her feeling slightly disappointed.
"She does have a trainer," the Pinegrove coordinator sighed.
"She does look too well groomed to be a wild Pokémon," Ash commented. He took a few steps towards the Glameow, but before he could get too close an arrow struck the ground in front of him, causing him to stumble backwards.
"Ash!" Nikki shouted. She quickly ran to his side.
"Are you alright?!" she asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Ash replied. At that moment they all turned their attention to the mysterious arrow. Ash got back to his feet and walked over to it, removing it from the ground.
"Who do you think shot it?" Nikki questioned.
"I don't know, but I think that Glameow had something to do with it," Ash assumed.
"What do you mean?" Nikki asked.
"I think whoever she belongs to shot that arrow at us," Ash explained. Shortly after saying that two strangely dressed individuals approached them. Both were wearing what could only be described as medieval armor. One was brandishing a sword while the other had a bow. Both Ash and Nikki assumed he was the one who fired the arrow moments ago.
"Back away from that Glameow, thieves!" the one with the arrow demanded.
"Hold on one minute! We're not thieves!" Nikki declared.
"Your lies mean nothing to us! We know you coveted that Glameow!" the one with the sword accused.
"Well… yes, I did want to catch that Glameow, but that was before I knew she had a trainer," Nikki argued.
"Hmph, a likely story," the arrow-wielder spat.
"It's the truth!" Ash stated.
"You know nothing of the truth!" the sword-wielder countered. "We'll hear no more of your lies!"
"For the last time we're not lying!" Nikki argued.
"Silence! We shall tolerate your lies no more!" the arrow-wielder declared.
"What is the meaning of all this noise?!" Ash and Nikki had no idea who had spoken, but whoever it was sounded rather annoyed with everything that was happening. Another thing that surprised them was the fact that the two mysterious individuals who had accused them of being thieves had gone down on one knee with their heads bowed.
"Forgive us, Princess, but we found two thieves trying to steal your Glameow," the arrow-wielder said.
"Wait! Did they say 'Princess'?!" While Ash and Nikki were left stunned the person who called out to the two armored individuals appeared. She wore an elegant white dress, and as soon as she appeared the Glameow ran to her side.
"That must be her," Nikki commented. While Nikki was in awe of the princess Ash saw something that left both him and Pikachu speechless. Her voice and attire wasn't the same, but in Ash's mind there was no mistaking that face or that red hair. The princess saw Ash staring at her.
"Is there something wrong?" she questioned.
"… Misty? Is that you?" Ash asked. His seemingly innocent question angered the two armor-wearing individuals.
"Insolence! How dare you disrespect Her Majesty!"
"That's enough, Dante!"
"But Your Highness, the way this commoner addressed you was very disrespectful," the knight known as Dante argued.
"You forget that we are visitors to this land and my royal status is not known outside our kingdom," the princess explained.
"I… Yes, you are right." Dante then faced Ash and Nikki and bowed.
"Please, forgive our insolence," he begged.
"Don't worry about it," Ash said.
"Yeah. All is forgiven," Nikki added. "But I have to know… are you really a princess?"
"I am. My full name and title is Princess Susanna, heir to the royal throne of the Kingdom of Aquina," the princess replied. "Accompanying me are the kingdom's two best knights, Sir Dante and Sir Lando." The two knights bowed, a gesture that Ash and Nikki reciprocated.
"May I ask you names?" Susanna asked.
"I'm Ash, and this is my partner Pikachu," Ash said.
"(Hello,)" Pikachu greeted.
"My name's Nikita, but everyone calls me Nikki," Nikki stated. "And this is Buneary."
"(Nice to meet you,)" Buneary said.
"Likewise," Susanna replied. "I must say your Pokémon appear to be well taken care of. I am impressed."
"Thank you, though I can say the same for your Glameow," Nikki stated.
"Yes. My dear Glameow our kingdom's symbol," the princess replied. "For generations the rulers of our kingdom have had a Glameow by their side. It is true for my mother, the Queen, as it was for her mother. For that reason we take great pride in the appearance of our Glameow."
"I had no idea," Nikki commented. At that moment Dante approached the princess.
"Your Highness, we must be going," he said.
"Yes, I suppose you are correct," Susanna agreed.
"Where are you heading?" Nikki questioned.
"To the north. The princess has a meeting with a representative of this region we must attend," Lando explained. "We were preparing to depart when you arrived."
"We're heading north as well," Ash commented.
"Truly? I would enjoy the pleasure of your company for a while," Susanna offered. Ash and Nikki weren't expecting the offer, but knowing this was more than likely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity it was once they weren't going to pass up.
"We'd be honored to accompany you," Nikki responded.
"Excellent. I thank you," Susanna replied.
"I shall fetch the carriage," Dante said. He bowed and left to carry out his task, leaving Ash and Nikki to anticipate what was coming next.
For Nikki this was nothing short of a dream come true. As a little girl she always dreamed of this, but never in her life did she ever think she'd be riding in a carriage with an actual princess.
"Are you enjoying yourself, Nikki?" Susanna asked.
"Very much. To be honest this is something I've dreamed of doing when I was a little girl," Nikki admitted. The carriage itself was big enough for Ash, Nikki, Susanna and their Pokémon to ride in comfortably. Outside Lando held the reins to the two Rapidash pulling the carriage while Dante kept an eye out for trouble.
"I am curious. What are your goals on your journey?" Susanna inquired.
"I'm trying to qualify for the Legenda League. I've already got two badges and now I'm on my way to the Red Sands Desert for my first Area Boss battle," Ash explained.
"I've heard of the difficult challenges posed by the Legenda League. I find it impressive that you are taking up that challenge," Susanna praised.
"Thank you. We know it's not going to be easy, but that's just how we like it. Right, Pikachu?" Ash stated.
"(You bet!)" the Electric Mouse agreed.
"I am confident you will do well," Susanna said. "And what of you, Nikki? Are you attempting to qualify for the Legenda League as well?"
"No. I'm following in my mother's footsteps as a coordinator," Nikki answered. Upon hearing that Nikki was a coordinator Susanna's eyes lit up.
"I simply adore attending Pokémon Contests. We host Contests at the castle on a regular basis," the princess explained.
"I didn't know. Maybe one day I could compete in your kingdom," Nikki commented.
"I would consider it an honor if you did," Susanna said. Before the conversation could progress further the carriage came to a sudden stop.
"What is the meaning of this? Why have we stopped?" Susanna questioned.
"Forgive us, Your Highness, but our path forward has been blocked," Dante reported. Ash, Nikki and Princess Susanna exited the carriage and looked ahead. Just as Dante had said a massive tree had fallen across the path, preventing them from proceeding any further.
"Oh man… that's a huge problem," Ash commented.
"(You said it,)" Pikachu agreed. As the group gazed at the massive tree Buneary noticed something strange.
"(Hey. Does it look like someone or something cut that tree down to you?)" she pointed out. Upon closer inspection they realized Buneary was right.
"Strange. If what you say is true then it seems that this was done for the purpose of stopping us," Lando assumed.
"But who would do such a thing, and why?" Dante wondered. Before an answer could be given a loud commotion erupted behind the carriage. Moments later another tree fell behind them. Now they had no way of going forward or back.
"We've been boxed in!" Ash shouted.
"Who would do such a thing?!" Susanna asked. At that moment laughter filled the air.
"Who's there?! Show yourselves!" Dante demanded.
"As you wish." Shortly after that three figures appeared before them.
"I should have known it was you three!" Ash spat.
"Out of the sky, falling with grace.
A spark in the eye, arriving with haste.
Ready and willing to put twerps in their place.
Jessie!
James!
Meowth's the name!
Team Rocket, burning a trail!
Blazing a path!
Kickin' some tail!
Wobbu Wobbuffet!
Mime Mime Mime Mime!"
"Acquaintances of yours?" Susanna inquired.
"Not a chance. That's Team Rocket, a group of Pokémon thieves," Nikki explained.
"How uncouth! I shall not tolerate Pokémon thieves in my presence!" Susanna declared. "Dante! Lando! Dispatch of these hooligans immediately!"
"At once, Your Highness!" Dante replied. The two knights stood before Team Rocket, prepared for battle.
"You three! We demand you remove yourselves from the princess's presence at once!" Lando demanded.
"Princess?" Meowth questioned. As Team Rocket looked at the group they spotted Princess Susanna.
"Hey! It's the redhead twerp!" the Scratch Cat Pokémon called out. "I thought she stayed behind in Kanto."
"Who cares? The fact that she's here means we can get revenge on her for what she did to us in Kanto," Jessie declared.
"(Hey, Ash. They think Susanna is Misty too,)" Pikachu whispered.
"Yeah," Ash replied.
"Okay, twerp! It's time to pay you back!" Jessie declared. She and James each grabbed a Poké Ball, forcing Dante and Lando to do the same.
"We shall protect the princess! To my side, Grovyle!" Dante called.
"Charmeleon, prepare for battle!" Lando shouted. Their Poké Balls opened and revealed their Pokémon. Team Rocket appeared less than impressed.
"We've taken out tougher-looking Pokémon than those," Jessie spat. "Seviper, come out!"
"You too, Tropius!" James added. Two Poké Balls flew through the air. Jessie's opened to reveal Seviper while James's simply fell to the ground unopened.
"Not again! Would you start listening to me, Tropius?!" James wailed.
"Quit your bellyaching and send out a different one!" Jessie demanded. Grumbling James picked up Tropius's Poké Ball and grabbed a second one.
"If Tropius won't listen then I'll go with Carnivine!" he declared. He threw out his second Poké Ball. This time it did open, but rather than prepare for battle Carnivine turned around and bit down on James's head.
"Attack them, not me!" James shouted, removing Carnivine from his head and throwing him back onto the battlefield.
"Grovyle, Bullet Seed!" Dante commanded.
"Charmeleon, Flamethrower!" Lando instructed. A barrage of seeds spewed forth from Grovyle's mouth while a stream of flames erupted from Charmeleon's.
"Haze, Seviper!" Jessie ordered. As the attacks approached them Seviper blanketed Team Rocket's side of the field with a thick Haze cloud. The two attacks entered the cloud, but gave no indication of whether they hit their intended targets or not.
"Cowards! Have you no honor?!" Dante criticized.
"Of course we don't!" Jessie stated.
"Honor is for goody-good loser like you and the twerps," James commented. "We battle to win by any means necessary."
"Speaking of which… Seviper, Poison Tail!" Jessie ordered. From within the Haze cloud Seviper's tail shot out, striking Grovyle across the face.
"Vine Whip!" James shouted. Shortly after Seviper's attack two vines shot out and slapped Charmeleon away. A short while after that the Haze cloud dissipated, revealing Team Rocket's Pokémon.
"Our attacks failed!" Lando shouted.
"As will your attempts to defeat us," Jessie declared. "Use Bite!"
"You too!" James added. Carnivine and Seviper charged forward, their mouths opened. Right then Ash knew Dante and Lando needed help. He grabbed a Poké Ball and threw it out.
"I don't think so, Team Rocket! It's time for you to meet an old friend!" he declared. The Poké Ball opened, and with a roar Team Rocket's worst nightmare made his presence known.
"C-Charizard!?" Team Rocket screamed.
"(Surprised to see me?)" the Flame Pokémon growled. Both Seviper and Carnivine cowered in the face of the large dragon.
"Let's give them a going-away present, Charizard! Flamethrower!" Ash called. The dragon smirked right before spewing a massive stream of flame from his mouth. The flames engulfed Team Rocket briefly before an explosion sent them on their way.
"I wasn't expecting him to have Charizard!" James wailed.
"Would it have really mattered?!" Meowth griped.
"Maybe next time!" Jessie declared. "But this time…"
"We're blasting off again!" Now that Team Rocket had been disposed of everyone could relax.
"Good work, Charizard," Ash praised.
"(That gets easier every time,)" Charizard commented.
"You certainly made that look easy," Nikki agreed. While this was going on Dante and Lando were making sure Princess Susanna was alright.
"Are you unharmed, Your Highness?" Dante inquired.
"Yes, I am alright," Susanna replied. "Thank you, Ash. Your assistance was most helpful."
"I agree. The power your Charizard showed was astounding," Lando praised.
"Thank you. Charizard has always been one of my stronger Pokémon," Ash explained. The Flame Pokémon let loose a stream of fire to further emphasize Ash's point.
"His power most definitely helped us dispose of those villains," the princess praised.
"Now if only they could help us clear these trees out of the way," Nikki commented.
"I'm confident they can," Ash said. "What do you think, Charizard?"
"(We'll have this cleared in no time,)" the dragon declared.
"In that case I say we get to work," Nikki suggested. "The sooner we start the sooner we'll have the road cleared." Ash and Nikki called on the remainder of their Pokémon and proceeded to clear the trees from the road.
As expected the road was cleared rather quickly with all the Pokémon pitching in, and soon they were once again on their way. Their trip was once again going smoothly until a fork in the road forced them to stop. Ash and Nikki's journey took them one way while Princess Susanna's meeting took her another.
"Though our time together has drawn to a close I feel fortunate to have met you, Ash and Nikki," Susanna declared.
"Thank you. We feel the same way," Nikki reciprocated.
"If my stay in Legenda would allow it I would feel honored to witness one of your performances in a Pokémon Contest," Susanna said.
"I hope it does. I'd love to perform in front of a royal audience," Nikki commented.
"In that case we'd better go find you a Contest to perform in," Ash suggested. He and Nikki were just about to continue on their journey when the princess called out to Ash.
"One moment, Ash. There is something I wish to ask you," she said.
"What is it?" Ash inquired.
"Both you and those villains acted as if you knew me. Why is that?" Susanna questioned.
"Yeah, and when we first met her you called her Misty," Nikki pointed out.
"Oh. You see, when I first started out as a trainer I had a friend named Misty. She's the Gym Leader at the Cerulean City Gym in the Kanto region. You and her look almost identical," Ash explained.
"Do we truly look that similar to each other?" Susanna asked.
"(Oh yeah. If I didn't know better I'd say you two were long-lost sisters or something,)" Pikachu stated.
"As a matter of fact I should have a picture of her somewhere," Ash said. He took off his backpack and began searching through it. Moments later he took out a photo.
"This is her," he said. The princess took a look at the picture. The photo was of Misty in her mermaid costume. With her hair extensions in she looked exactly like Princess Susanna.
"Goodness me, her resemblance to me is astounding," she commented. Dante and Lando looked at the photo as well and had similar comments.
"Tis true. Her resemblance to the princess is uncanny," Lando said.
"Indeed. She could easily be mistaken for Your Highness's sister," Dante agreed. Even Nikki had to agree that it was shocking mow much Misty and Princess Susanna looked alike.
"(It's too bad we don't have a picture of the princess to show Misty,)" Pikachu commented.
"But I know how we can get one," Nikki stated.
"Really? How?" Ash wondered. To answer his question Nikki took out her Pokécomm.
"We can just use the camera function on the Pokécomms," she replied.
"(That's a good idea,)" Buneary said.
"It is," Ash agreed. "You don't mind, do you?"
"Of course not. It would serve as a reminder of our time together," Susanna said. With an okay from the princess Nikki got ready to take the picture. It only took a few seconds for the photo to be taken.
"Okay, I've got the picture," she announced. "Now we can show it to your friend the next time we're at a Pokémon Center."
"(I bet Misty will be surprised,)" Pikachu commented.
"I know she will," Ash said. "Thank you."
"It was my pleasure," Susanna replied. "Until we meet again, my friends."
"Take care," Lando added.
"May you stay safe in your travels," Dante said.
"Goodbye," Ash said.
"Until next time," Nikki added. The two parties started on their separate paths, constantly waving to each other until they were out of sight.
"Come on. There may be a Pokémon Center up ahead," Ash said. He, Nikki and their Pokémon picked up their pace, hoping that what Ash said would prove to be true.
Thankfully for them Ash's assumption was correct, for a short while after departing from Princess Susanna's company the group happened upon a Pokémon Center. As soon as they entered Ash headed for the nearest videophone and called Misty.
"Cerulean City Gym. Misty speaking."
"Hey, Misty," Ash greeted.
"Ash! I wasn't expecting you to call," Misty replied. "How are things in Legenda?"
"Great. I'm making great progress in trying to qualify for the Legenda League," Ash bragged.
"(It's true. We're really on a roll now,)" Pikachu confirmed.
"That's great," Misty praised. Right then she noticed Nikki.
"You must be Ash's traveling companion," Misty said.
"That right. I'm Nikki," Nikki said. "And this is my partner, Buneary."
"(Hello,)" Buneary greeted.
"Such a cute Pokémon," Misty cooed. "Wait a minute. You didn't destroy her bike, did you?"
"No, Misty, I didn't destroy her bike," Ash said.
"Oh," Misty replied, somewhat shocked.
"… Team Rocket did," Ash said.
"Team Rocket?! You mean to tell me they followed you all the way out there?!" Misty shouted.
"Yeah. Big surprise," Ash groaned.
"I swear, it's like those three don't have anything better to do," Misty griped.
"I certainly feels that way," Ash agreed.
"So did you just call to talk or what?" Misty inquired.
"Actually we met someone who might surprise you," Ash announced.
"Really? Who would that be?" misty wondered.
"Your long-lost sister," Ash revealed.
"Come on, Ash. You know I don't have a long-lost sister," Misty argued.
"After seeing this you may think otherwise," Nikki stated. She took out her Pokécomm and pulled up the picture she took of Princess Susanna. When she showed it to Misty the Cerulean City Gym Leader gasped.
"Oh wow… you guys weren't kidding," she gasped.
"I know. At first I thought she was you, and even Team Rocket thought she was you," Ash explained.
"Amazing. To think there's a princess out there that looks like me," Misty commented. "It seems like you guys are having all kinds of interesting adventures out there."
"You wouldn't believe the half of it," Ash said. From then on the three friends traded stories of their adventures, from ones Ash and Nikki had in Legenda to ones from Ash's beginning years as a trainer. In the end a good time was had by all.
A brush with royalty has given Ash and Nikki an experience they will never forget. Now that the focus is back on Ash's upcoming Area Boss battle what preparations will be made by the Pallet Town trainer? Find out in the next chapter of Search for Power!
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