Day 4 - Fairytale
"He was the most ordinary man in all the world, and yet in her memory he'd become luminous, like the prince in a fairy tale." - Cheryl Strayed
In which Goh is a prince, but Ash is still far from ordinary, because I can't imagine Ash ever being ordinary /lh
I'm sorry I couldn't get this done in time, but I promise I'll have all the chapters out by tomorrow, everyone! Pinky swear!
"Name." The guard asked.
"Ashton."
"And your noble house?"
"The, uh… the Conlays."
"Conlays? Never heard of 'em!"
"We're, uh… from abroad?" Ash lied.
"A broad? What broad?"
"No, from abroad. From another country."
"Ohhh. Okay, then. I guess I need to brush up on my geography. Come on in!" Said the guard.
'Well, that was easy', Ash thought to himself.
The plan was simple. Get in, sneak out of the ballroom while everyone was dancing, steal all the riches in the treasury, sell them somewhere and use the money to help the needy. Like he always did.
"We got this, right, Pikachu?" He asked, turning his head to face the electric mouse on his shoulder.
"Pikapika!" It replied with a bold grin adorning its face. The two of them shared a fistbump, and headed inside the castle.
Ash was momentarily dumbstruck by how huge it was. The ballroom ceiling was so high up, and everything was so shiny! How many years could it have taken to build?
More importantly, the floor was packed full of guests, from visiting royals of other nations (much like he had just claimed to be), to a few affluent commoners. He couldn't resist bumping into a few of them by 'accident'.
"Oh, sorry ma'am!" He exclaimed as he deliberately ran into a wealthy-looking woman with dark pink hair.
"Well, I never!" She huffed. "To think someone so ill-mannered would come here! Hmph."
Ash paid no attention to her barbs, instead pocketing the expensive watch he just filched from her. No, it wasn't his main goal, but it was fine to take a few detours along the way, right? Besides, with how rich some of these people look, they'd hardly miss a few trinkets.
Actually… does he really have to head to the treasury right at this moment? It's not going anywhere, and there are just so many nobles around…
Ash ignores Pikachu's sigh of exasperation as he makes his way around the ballroom, doing his best to not attract suspicion. Which is difficult, since he couldn't dance well if his life depended on it!
"May I have the pleasure of this dance, my fair lady?" He cordially asks of a bubbly blue-haired girl around his age.
"Sure!" is her cheerful reply.
The girl is patient with him, in spite of his clumsy dancing and repeated attempt to snatch her purse (which he hopes he's disguising well). "So, what's your story?" She asks.
"I'm a wandering noble who decided to grace this castle with his presence", Ash lies again.
A part of him feels bad for lying, but what other choice does he have? His village is starving. There's no way they'll make it through the month unless he does something.
"Oh, I thought you came here because of the prize."
"P-Prize?" Ash exclaims, shocked. He had heard of no such thing! Serves him right for not doing any research on his targets!
"Yes! The one who wins the swordfighting tournament at the end of this party will get to ask the king for anything he desires!"
Ash's eyes sparkled. "Anything?"
"Yeah, anything! If I win, I'll ask for the hand of Countess Chloe in marriage. I know she has been promised to Prince Goh already, but I'm sure we can work something out." The blue-haired girl said.
Ash was a little surprised at her forthcomingness to a complete stranger, but he supposed that was his natural charm at work again. He just exuded a natural aura of trustworthiness, even when he was doing something underhanded, like right now.
Unfortunately, he got distracted and accidentally stepped on her shoe, instantly putting an end to their dance together. "Ow!" The girl squeaked in pain, leaving to deal with her bruised foot.
Whoops! And he didn't even manage to steal anything from her. Darn.
"Pikapi…", his Pikachu mumbled, used to its trainer and his two left feet.
Instead of taking another dance partner, Ash became lost in thought. 'Anything you desire', huh?
Pikachu made those squeaky rat noises Ash had learned to interpret as 'focus on the mission!' over the years, but he was quickly interrupted by a trumpet blaring from across the ballroom, announcing the end of the dancing and the beginning of the tournament.
Ash looked up to see a young boy standing on a balcony, high up. "It's Prince Goh!" He heard someone say.
The prince was the one dealing with most of the kingdom's affairs due to the king and queen's constant absences. But there was something different about looking at him in person, as opposed to a royal portrait. He looked more… real, somehow, even… more beautiful?
He had beautiful blue eyes like two sapphire gemstones, and hair and skin so dark, Ash wondered if they were even from the same kingdom. Prince Goh lifted his hands to the air to address his subjects, and Ash took notice of his voice, which carried an air of poise and self-assuredness.
"My dear subjects, I grace you with my presence today to announce our kingdom's annual swordfighting tournament! The victor will be given whatever he asks of me, so long as it's within my power to do." He announced. "I expect nothing but the best from all the contestants, so sharpen your swords and prepare yourselves!"
All of sudden, an idea germinated inside Ash's head, a silly idea, but one he dearly wanted to put into practice.
"I can do this!" He declared, psyching himself up for the upcoming tournament.
"Pika?" Pikachu muttered quizzically, uncertain of what Ash's plan was. Would he ask for riches? A lifetime supply of food for the village? What was he considering?
"I'll win this thing and then I can ask to marry the prince!"
"Pikaaaa?" Pikachu looked dumbfounded. "Pikapi! Pikapika!" It stammered, listing off all the reasons why that wouldn't work at all, from the fact that Ash was hiding his identity to the fact that he was a commoner.
"Hush, Pikachu. If you were in my place, you'd do the same thing."
"Pikachu?" It whispered, asking if the plan was to marry Goh and then convince him to lower the taxes or something to that effect.
"Oh, I hadn't even considered that! Good idea, Pikachu", Ash replied, rubbing Pikachu's head affectionately. "No, I just think he looks adorable and I want to wake up to his face every day."
Pikachu groaned. This wasn't the first time Ash confused butterfrees in his stomach for love. Ash then picked up a blade from a nearby weapon rack and started practicing.
As soon as the time came, all the nobles who were interested in participating in the tournament headed to the field of battle, on the outskirts of the castle. There they were greeted by an excitable woman named Chrysa, who explained she would be the one judging and narrating the tournament.
"First comes the preliminaries!" She told them, with a shine in her eyes that was a little disturbing. "Grab your swords and challenge anyone who catches your eye! The fighting continues until there are only eight contestants left, so go nuts!"
Chrysa blew on a whistle and the fighting began. It was chaotic and disorganized, but no one seemed to say anything about it. Some of the younger nobles thought it'd be a good idea to gang up on Ash, and he barely managed to fend them off. Thankfully most of the others left him alone after that display.
Honestly, who came up with the idea of hosting a swordfighting tournament right after a masquerade ball? Everyone's fancy suits and dressed were totally ruined now! Not to mention Ash's mask almost flew out of his face after one of the nobles tried hitting him with their weapon.
That would have been very bad indeed, considering then someone might recognize his face from the many, many wanted posters across the eight kingdoms. But oh well. He had to take a few risks if he wanted the chance to ask that lovely prince out.
The contestants got only a minute to catch their breath before Chrysa divided them into pairs and made them fight again. Looking at the eight contestants who had remained, Ash couldn't help but worry about his chances.
He was good at pokémon battling, but physically fighting someone with a sword was not a skill he'd honed during his years as a thief. He'd gotten rusty when it came to the direct approach. If someone who was formally trained in swordfighting were to come along, he might be in trouble!
But hey, he did come this far, right? He could learn as he went, he was good at that.
Not that his first opponent seemed to know much about how to fight, either…
"This is how you do it, right?" The other boy – Chrysa had introduced him as Cameron – questioned rhetorically. He was holding the sword backwards.
"Um, no… You have to hold the non-pointy end." Ash explained, trying to help his opponent have a fair fight.
"Non-pointy end?" Cameron looked at the sword for several minutes before he finally figured it out.
"Begin!" Chrysa shouted to signal the start of the match.
Their battle ended in a matter of seconds. Cameron had apparently forgotten to hold his sword as tight as possible, and Ash had no trouble disarming him and going for the (figurative) kill.
"Well, that was easy…" Ash muttered.
From the spectator stands, Prince Goh and his retinue watched the proceedings together. Goh had a look that could best be described as mild amusement.
"That boy who just lost, what noble house is he from? They should be ashamed of not teaching their son proper technique!" Goh commented to his loyal butler, Ren.
"I don't know, sire!" Ren replied. "But judging from his clothes, he must be from the Republic of Unova."
"Unova? That backwater place? They don't even have royalty!" Goh exclaimed, outraged. "And what of the boy who won against him? Where is he from?"
"Let's see here…" Ren took the guest list out of his pocket and looked for Ash's name. "It says here he hails from… 'elsewhere'."
Goh facepalmed. "They really do just let anyone in, huh?"
Back to Ash, having advanced to the second round, he came face to face with the girl from before.
"Don't hold back because I'm a girl, alright?" She said to him. "I won't hold back either! This is a matter of true love, after all!"
If one were to look at the spectator stands at that moment, they might notice the young Countess Chloe, hiding her face with an elaborate fan in embarrassment as her pet Eevee and Yamper cheered at the blunette fighting for her hand.
"Heh. Who said anything about holding back? Believe it or not, I'm fighting for love too!" Ash replied. Pikachu decided to follow Chloe's example and pretend to not be associated with whoever that loon in the arena was.
"The next match will be Duchess Dawn from the Sinnoh Empire, versus the mysterious Ashton, whose kingdom is unknown at this time!" Chrysa shouted. "Begin!"
Dawn, needless to say, was a much more competent fighter than Cameron, and had Ash on the back foot for most of the match.
"I can't beat her like this!" He yelled. But there was no way he'd give up that easily.
"That Ashton guy looks like he's having trouble", Goh remarked. "The duchess is skilled at many things, swordfighting being one of them, while he appears to be a novice. I don't like his chances."
Luckily, Ash happened to overhear Goh's remark. Emboldened by the desire to impress his newfound crush, he deftly stepped out of the way of Dawn's attacks and went on the offensive.
"Whoa!" Chrysa cried out. "Ashton is fighting as if his life depended on it! Where did this second wind come from?"
Finally, Ash had Dawn dead to rights. "Yield!" He shouted.
"Fine. Fine!" Dawn sighed in defeat. Ash extended his hand to her as a sign of good sportsmanship, and they shook on it.
Before going back to the audience stands, Dawn turned to face her beloved Chloe, who for the first managed to bring herself to lower her fan and look Dawn in the eyes. "I'm sorry, my Countess. Our day wasn't today." Dawn said with an apologetic bow.
"…It's alright", Chloe replied.
Ash, despite not knowing either of them very well, could tell Chloe sounded disappointed. It gave him pause. These girls had probably been yearning to be together for years, and he got in the way of their love just so he could have the prince to himself. It made him feel a bit selfish.
His brief regret was subsumed by the relief he felt once he noticed Prince Goh clapping at his efforts, with the other nobles following suit. "A very striking performance, mister Ashton. Surely, the next match will be just as impressive."
Ash's heart leapt upon hearing those words. There was no way he could let Goh down now!
His next opponent was a young boy, frail in appearance, who nonetheless held his sword aloft with determination. "Next, and for our final match of the day, we have Ashton, the contestant from an unknown region, fighting Horace of the Johto Kingdom!"
"Horace?" Goh exclaimed from the stands. "But I thought he…"
"Goh!" Horace exclaimed. "Do you still remember me?"
"Of course I do, Horace", Goh shouted, slightly tearing up. "You're alive! How can this be possible?"
"When the war came to our village, you might have thought I perished then, but I was merely taken prisoner!" Horace explained. "They barely fed me and stuck me in an underground cell with no sunlight. With the help of a fellow prisoner named Hodge, I managed to escape, and now you see me here before you!"
Kneeling down before Goh, Horace then said to him, "Goh. If I win this tournament… will you allow me to take your hand in marriage?"
Goh stammered and stuttered incoherently for quite some time in response to that. "Y-You can't just come out and say that!"
Ash felt a bit out of place, seeing this whole conversation go down. "Now, hold on just a minute!" He protested. "The entire reason I joined this tournament in the first place was so that I could ask for Goh's hand in marriage!"
The crowd gasped. "This random foreigner thinks he can marry our prince, just like that? Ridiculous!" Ren shouted. "And besides, Goh is already betrothed to the Countess, here!"
"Let them", Chloe interrupted suddenly.
"L-Let them?" Ren seemed puzzled. "Let them do what?"
"Let them fight for Goh's hand", she elaborated. "And whichever one wins, we'll agree to kindly forget about that whole betrothing business and make the victor be Goh's spouse instead of me. I think me and Goh would both be happier with that."
Goh, realizing what Chloe was intending, awkwardly nodded in response, though he was definitely torn. Wasn't marrying whoever won a tournament just as arbitraty as being betrothed to someone from birth, just in a different way?
Noticing Goh's uncertainty, both boys started making eloquent (they hoped) speeches to win him over. "My prince, our first meeting together may have been brief, but I know you felt the same spark I did that day upon meeting you!" said Horace. "This ruffian simply appeared one day and decided he had a right to you! He has no respect for the true beauty you have inside!"
"I'm no ruffian!" Ash protested. "And I'm no stranger to love either, I'll have you know! I may not have known him for a long time, but that doesn't mean I don't know how to treat a prince right!" Turning to Goh, he continued. "Prince Goh! If I win, I promise you I'll never let you down!"
"I know that song!" Horace interjected. "It was super-popular with all the regions' bards last year! You're just taking lines from songs instead of speaking from the heart!
"Am too speaking from the heart!" Ash insisted. "You're the one who's hitting below the belt!"
"Enoooooough!" Goh shouted. "If you want me as your husband so badly, then fight for it, already! Be men of actions, not words!"
"Fine!" Ash replied. "Fine!" Horace said as well.
They each took their positions on the arena and extended their swords. "Begin!" Chrysa yelled out.
"Sorry, but I'm the one who's gonna become Goh's husband!" Ash declared.
"Very presumptuous for someone who didn't know him until today!"
"You don't know that!" Ash replied, parrying Horace's move. "Maybe we were secretly childhood friends and we happened to forget!"
"That only happens in – hyah!", Horace interrupted himself as he narrowly dodged an attack from Ash and struck back at him, "corny romance novels!"
"So you don't believe in love at first sight, mister? How jaded of you."
"I do believe in that, because it's what happened to me when I met Prince Goh!" Horace retorted. "I can't allow myself to lose today!"
Their battle was the longest one yet, and it was hard to tell who would win at first glance. "Any bets on the victor, sir?" Ren inquired.
"Is this your way of asking which one I hope is going to win?"
"No, of course not!" Ren replied nervously. "I am simply asking for your impartial opinion."
"Well, Ashton obviously never had any formal training, and Horace did. Horace is fighting smarter than him, and that gives him an edge", Goh commented, analyzing the two combatants' performance thus far. "But Horace is using up too much of his strength with his lunges. He's not as physically fit as Ashton and that could spell trouble for him in the long run."
"You're so perceptive, sire!" Ren praised.
Indeed, the outcome of the match would show the truth of Goh's words. By the end, Horace was gasping for breath while Ash still seemed totally fine. "You okay?" Ash asked his rival with concern.
"That doesn't matter! I have to keep on fighting!" Horace insisted, lunging at Ash one last time.
Ash parried it, and Horace was so exhausted that the sword went flying out of his hand. Shortly afterwards, he fell to the ground, defeated.
"Hey. That was a good match. I'm sure Goh appreciates how far you went for him." Ash told him in what he hoped was a comforting voice. He didn't really know what to say in this situation. "Maybe next year?"
"Yeah, maybe…" Horace muttered dejectedly. Ash offered his hand to him and let him use it to get back up. "I guess I didn't pace myself very well."
"You don't look to be in any condition to be fighting, yet you came this far", Ash remarked. "You should be proud even if you didn't win."
Chrysa seemed to suddenly be on the verge of tears. "What incredible sportsmanship! Despite both contestants battling for the heart of their beloved, there are no hard feelings between either of them now! Such is the understanding that can only be born from battle!"
Ash and Horace looked at her, then back at themselves, and seemed a bit weirded out by the comment, but there did seem to be a bit of truth to it. After all, they were practically at each other's throats before.
"Please promise me you'll treat Goh right", Horace whispered. "He's an amazing person, and deserves nothing but the best. He deserves someone who can make him the happiest person in the world. Promise me you'll be that person."
"I promise", was Ash's simple reply. Horace was too tired to walk, so he carried him to the stands and sat him down.
Then Ash ran up to Goh and before Goh could say anything or even process everything that had transpired, he exclaimed "I think we have a few things to discuss, wouldn't you agree, my prince?" while batting his eyelashes at him provocatively. Were this an old cartoon, you'd probably see a few hearts floating out of his head, too.
Goh blushed furiously, in more ways than one. "Y-You may have won, but don't think you can just simply walk up here and marry me, just like that! I don't know you, so how can I feel comfortable with promising myself to you when I'm not even sure you're trustworthy?"
"My king, you wound me!" Ash said, feigning being hurt at the comment. "But I understand. If there is to be any bond between us, we must have no secrets between one another! And that's why I must confess-"
"PIKAAAA!" Pikachu screeched, running right back to where Ash was and pulling at his pantleg desperately. 'Don't do it!' it seemed to keep saying, over and over again.
"Oh, you worrywart, don't you see I have to do this? Sacrifices need to be made for love!"
Pikachu facepalmed at Ash's simpleminded nature and sighed. "Pika-pi, pika…"
"My name isn't Ashton", Ash explained, taking off his mask. "It's Ash Ketchum. I was born in Pallet Town, a little village in Old Kanto. Things haven't been going well for us and I had to resort to thievery to provide for my family and friends. Turns out I was quite good at it." He concluded with a hint of pride.
Everyone present gasped. "It's him!" Ren screeched. "The infamous outlaw who has been stealing all the valuables in the realm for the past couple of years!
"Only from rich people!" Ash protested.
"Prince Goh, disregard this man's request, I'll arrest him immediately-"
Ren paused as he turned to face his prince. Goh wasn't scared at all, in fact he seemed to almost be… fawning?
"I was talking to the famous Ash Ketchum this entire time? Ever since I saw the story of how you stole the Galarian Kings's prized collection of rubies and sapphires and took them back to the country they had originally been stolen from, I've dreamed of meeting you!"
"Oh, I remember that! It was my first big theft! The Hoenn Sultanate paid me a big reward for stealing those, let me tell you…" Ash reminisced fondly.
"W-What?" Ren and Chrysa stammered. "My prince, you can't be serious!"
"You never heard him fanboy about Ash Ketchum before? He's always going on about how noble he is and how he risks his life to improve the lot of the common people!" Chloe commented.
"I always vowed that when I became king I'd do something about all the inequality in our kingdom, so that you wouldn't have to resort to going outside of the law anymore. But you really inspired me!"
"Wow… I had no idea someone in your position had that opinion of me! This is so cool! It's like… destiny…" Ash said with his eyes glinting in excitement.
"…Is this really happening? Our prince is in love with an outlaw?" Ren asked out loud. "How did he never talk about that with me? Am I just a bad butler?"
"I mean, technically most of your time is spent fiddling with your magnet collection, so I could see how you'd miss a few things", Chrysa suggested.
"Says the woman who shirks her lady-in-waiting duties to gallivant with a Psyduck?"
"Well, haha", Chrysa laughed uncomfortably. "I suppose it's not only Prince Goh who has unusual preferences in who he loves…"
"See, Pikachu? Told you it'd all work out! You gotta trust my instincts!" Ash told his pet electric mouse, who squeaked happily and ran back up his shoulder where he belonged.
Clearing his throat, he continued talking with Goh. "Since I won the tournament, I can ask for anything I desire so long as it's within your power. That's what you said, right? So… is it within your power to love me back?" Ash concluded, with a bashful little smile.
"Hah! I'll love you more than anyone has ever loved anyone else, and more than you love yourself!" Goh boasted, beaming with pride.
"Oh, you flirt", Ash teased. "When do you want our wedding to be?"
"Whenever you want, dear…"
Chloe groaned and rubbed her temples. "Ugh, it's getting way too sappy in here. Come on, Dawn", she said as she and Dawn intertwined their arms and walked away. "We have things to discuss as well."
"Seems like everything worked out for the best for everyone!" Ash noted. "And to think I only came here to steal everything in your treasure room!"
"How would you even fit everything into your pockets?" Goh questioned, shooting Ash a quizzical look.
"I have my ways", Ash stated cryptically.
Goh sweatdropped. His new life with Ash was sure to be an adventure in more ways than one.
A.N. Fairytale or Victorian-like settings are nice. You can feel less weird about things like 'love at first sight' and whatnot because of the heightened reality of the setting.
I think regular Goh and Chloe probably run into a lot of situations where people tell them they'd make a 'cute couple', especially when they were younger and Ash wasn't around. So I made them royals who have an arranged marriage they're trying to get out of. I couldn't resist adding a bit of Dawn x Chloe (or DaydreamShipping, as we named it on the server) on the side!
Not to mention poor Horace, who really deserved better here, but unfortunately, it wasn't to be. Perhaps when the next tournament rolls around, he'll win and ask to form a polycule with Ash and Goh? Goh better be careful or he may find himself with a lot more husbands than he can really handle!
Okay, guys. Tomorrow will be December 7th, and I'll try my best to complete the last prompts (Awakening, Partner and Journey) by then. It's not outside of the realm of possibility I won't be able to, but you know what they say: Gotta finish them all! ;)
Well, that's not true, technically you don't have to follow any of the prompts or participate in all the days, but still.