The Prince, the Princess and the Pauper (An Amourshipping and OC Tale)

Chapter 7

Brock slowly wakes up to the sound of Fletchlings chirping in the morning. He gets up and stretches before turning to Happiny and lightly tickles her awake.

"Good morning, Happiny," Brock greets. "Did you sleep well?"

"Happiny," the white and pink egg-shaped Pokemon replies with a smile.

"Good," Brock says please. "Let's go wake up Ash and Pikachu. Hopefully, Ash is in his right mind after a good rest."

Without another word, Brock gets dressed and together he and Happiny walk over to Ash's bedroom.

"Ash, Ash," Brock calls out as he knocks on his door. "Time to get up, buddy,"

He doesn't hear a response from the other side of the door. Brock shakes his head as he opens the door saying, "Typical Ash, if there's anything we can count on it's that we're going to find him sound asleep without so much as a -"

Brock and Happiny freeze into place as they look inside the bedroom. Where they saw a raven-haired man and his Pikachu last night there is nothing but a neatly made bed and not a soul to be found. Brock runs over to the bed and then looks around the room only to find that there is no one in the room but him and Happiny.

"ASH!" The tall man cries out in worry.

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Several streets away from the house, Timothy and Electchu are walking down the road ready to face the day. As they walk, however, the Pikachu turns to where they left and his ears drop.

"Pika," he says sadly.

The prince turns to his companion and gives him a sad, sympathetic look.

"Yeah, I know, pal," Timothy says. "I'm not proud that we had to leave like that and I hope Brock and Happiny aren't worried too much about Ash and Pikachu thinking we are them, but we've got a job to do. Only I have the power to stop those soldiers from taking everyone's food and it's high time that I use it."

Electchu nods in agreement until he feels a rumble in his stomach. Both the man and his Pikachu frown as they know what's wrong.

"Yeah, I'm pretty hungry too, Electchu," Timothy admits. "But remember that however hungry we are is nothing compared to what my father's citizens are going through. Given that my father has been sick for a while, I can only imagine how long people and Pokemon have been starving over here. We need to start giving back before things get worse."

Electchu reluctantly nods in agreement while secretly daydreaming about a plate full of Pokemon chow and a mountain of Pokepuffs.

"Still, the question remains," Timothy says as the two of them continue to walk. "Who could be behind stealing food in the king's name?"

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Meanwhile, back at the halls of the royal guard, Calem is woken up by Powuru rudely kicking his bed, startling the pale man. The sergeant quickly gets up and salutes his father and captain despite only dressed in his undergarments.

"Nice, to see you up and about with no hesitation, Sergeant," Powuru mocks. "Remember, however, that standing up quickly won't help you if your camp is attacked by enemies and you have nothing to defend yourself except for the 'dignity' of having something to cover your fun parts."

"Y-y-yes, sir," Calem answers, barely managing to sound professional.

Powuru scoffs in amusement at his son's embarrassment as he orders the young man to get dressed with a mere gesture of his hand. As Calem dresses into his uniform, Powuru turns away from him and continues speaking.