Thanks for all your support for the previous chapter, everyone~! ^_^
~*~*~*~
Continuation...
"PRINCESS?!" Max shouted but then clamped his mouth shut when they heard audible footsteps nearing the room.
"Is everything all right in there?" The voice of their mother was heard through the door.
Glaring at her brother for a moment, May replied, "Uh- yeah! Everything's fine! Just...telling Max about something at school, he he..."
It was a while before their mother answered back, " I see but dinner's ready, please come down while its still hot."
"OKAY!" The siblings yelled.
~*~*~
Both Norman and Caroline stared at their children who ate dinner as if there's no tomorrow.
"C-Can you both slow down? You'll-" Norman started.
Ack! Cough, cough!
"... Choke." He sighed.
...
..
.
"So what happened next?"
~*~*~*~
Thud!
"AUGH!"
"May!"
The nine-year-old rubbed her sore bottom to ease the pain as the Genetic Pokémon ran to her side and helped her up.
"Are you okay?" He worriedly asked, checking her for any injuries then began to scold her, "You should know better than to stand on an unbalanced object to get something out of your reach. Next time, ask for my help."
May pouted while blinking her blue eyes. "Fine...~"
~*~*~
May tried to walk straight with her hands clasped together as Mewtwo called out,
"Keep your back straight, raise your chin a little higher- no, too high! Push your shoulders back , put your foot in front of the other...don't glare at me like that! You need to learn how to command respect with your stature alone!"
"...Why are you the one training me again?"
"Because Diancie is not here, now stop complaining and do another round!"
May laughed to herself at all the memories back then. "I remember how Mewtwo would glare at me whenever I do something purposely wrong and then command me to do something else." Then she shivered when a memory of his dark and annoyed face suddenly floated in her mind. "Then again... I never thought a Pokémon will be the one to train me in the 'arts of royalty'."
~*~*~
"... You what?"
Mewtwo rolled his eyes then sighed at the blank expression on the human girl's face before repeating his words again, "I said, I am going to train you in combat so you can at least defend yourself."
"... Are you sure this is not some payback for what I did last time?"
Once upon a time, May wanted to explore the outer grounds against the advice of both Mewtwo and Arceus who said that she is not ready yet and since she was not familiar with the place, May got like lost.
It ended with Mewtwo finding a screaming May being chased by a swarm of Beedrills after accidentally throwing a rock at one of their kind and somehow managed to convince them that it was actually Mewtwo who had done the act.
The Genetic Pokémon remembered it all too well but still shook his head in denial, but May knew better.
"You better not make me regret this."
Suffice to say, May was unconscious after.
~*~*~
"Everyone, I would like you to meet someone." Arceus announced to all the Pokémon present in the throne room and to the others outside. Since the balcony is near the position from where the almighty Pokémon is, his voice can easily be heard.
The crowd of Pokémon of different sizes, shapes and types murmured to each other and only quietened when the doors loudly opened.
"Everyone, I would like you to meet May, our future princess!"
Everyone gasped in awe as May walked in wearing a red flowing dress designed with jewels at the neckline, waist, wrists and edges. The dress was made of silk and there was a long blue cape that dragged on the ground, giving her a royal glow. Her hair was pet down with the tips waved in ringlets and on her head rests a crystal tiara nestling a diamond at the center.
The Pokémon made a path when she walked forward with all the grace and dignity she could muster. Some even couldn't help but bow at her presence.
Meanwhile, Mewtwo smiled smugly at his work and then chanced a glance at the King beside him. "Is there a reason that not a lot of legendaries are here?"
Arceus didn't even look at him as he responded, "I figure that news will reach them soon enough."
"... Can May succeed? I mean, she is still a human, a child at that..."
"I believe in her, just as the Crystal brought her to us."
~*~*~
"It required some work to get their while trust in me and some of those work happened to be very eventful...and painful." She winced as she remember falling down a ditch, getting chased, almost drowned, getting slapped at by a fish tail, and many more. But the end results was worth it.
Max leaned in closer. "Then what happened next?"
Upon that question, her sapphire eyes darkened and there was an unfathomable look on her face. May gazed at her brother with her lips pressed in a thin line. "Three months, or something, I never had any problems with the lands...until all the legendaries came together."
~*~*~
"So this is the princess of whom you say will rule us?"
"Why did you chose a human of all things?"
"Furthermore, a child?!"
All the legendaries began to share their opinions, some of which almost brought May to tears, until Arceus finally had enough.
"CEASE THIS BICKERING!" They all quietened. "The Mysterium Crystal chose her and so shall I! This pointless dispute of power and divergence is tearing Pokestria apart and the only one that can bring it back together again is someone that is not our kind. A human." Arceus stressed the last word as his eyes swerved around the room.
May snuck a look at her guardian Pokémon, Mewtwo, feeling disheartened at the legendaries' obvious unacceptance of her position. Maybe... This was a mistake. She quietly got off her huge throne and sneaked out to the balcony where the sun was in full shine, resting her elbows on the stone railings with her linked fingers under her chin.
Mewtwo watched her go from the corner of his eye and mentally sighed.
~*~*~
"And then what?" Max glasses glinted for a second due to the lamp light bouncing against it. He couldn't actually believe his sister is the princess of Pokémon! To think that she was able to keep this a secret for so long. Who else knows?
May sighed, remembering the talk she had with Mewtwo. "If you believe their words then what they say will only become true. Prove them wrong instead of giving them chances to make them right."
"Wooow! Mewtwo sounds cool!"
May giggled at the sparkling eyes of her brother. "... He is."
"So what did you do?"
"I followed his advice. I learned all about Pokestria, its inhabitants, the legends and mystery, and some were kind enough to train me."
"Train you? In what?" Max thought that Pokestria is a paradise of Pokémon.
"I know that look! Conflicts can happen at any time in their world you know!" She scolded him lightly. "Training not just my mind but also my body is important. At first, it wasn't really easy because my trainers can get too worked up and forget that I'm just a human." She winced at the memories of getting electrocuted, burnt, and doused in cold water.
(A/N Anyone willing to guess her trainers? Hint: Their names have numbers on them.)
"I became good enough with settling conflicts and befriending everyone that some legendaries begrudgingly accepted me."
"Begrudgingly?"
A triumphant smirk marked her face. "I'm not going to let them put me down just because I'm a human, you know! I showed them what I'm really capable of and Arceus was happy for me! Besides, some of the legendaries behave like human kids." A laugh escaped her lips at the last sentence. "They bicker at the most trivial things!"
She felt rather than saw her Pokémon laughing with her from their Pokeballs secured on her bracelet.
Max couldn't imagine it but figured it would be funny from how hard his sister was laughing.
The door abruptly opened that made both occupants tense then Caroline peeked her head through the slit with a smile; although, May can see the suspicion in her eyes. "I want both of you getting ready for bed and I don't want to hear any complaints on the dinner table tomorrow, understand?"
May nodded. "Sure, Mom, will do."
"Goodnight!"
"Goodnight." Both siblings responded in unison. As soon as the door was closed, Max was quick to turn to her more stories from his sister and became disappointed when May shook her head.
"Mom's right, we should be getting ready for bed."
"But I want to hear more!" He pouted in protest.
"I'll tell you the rest tomorrow." She promised, watching him groan and stomped towards the door while grumbling under his breath.
A thought came to his mind before Max can close the door behind him. "Hey, sis?"
"Hm?"
He hesitated for a second. "What... Happened to the crystal? After it brought you to Pokestria?"
Something in the air shifted after the question was uttered.
"We believe to have lost it, but earlier I found out who has it."
"What does it do?"
"Aside from sending people to my kingdom?" Max didn't respond. "Whoever possesses it will have unimaginable power, power rivaling Arceus himself. And if that person tries to use it for evil... Then it will be the end of both worlds as we know it."
Max nodded and closed the door. Alone in the barely lit hallway, his body trembled.
'May will do anything to retrieve the crystal, I know it from her eyes.' He stared with hard eyes at the door. 'Please, Arceus if you can hear me... Protect my sister. I don't want to lose her.'
Time skip to the next morning...
May was aware of Max sudden quiet behavior at breakfast. He was probably still digesting the fact that his sister was the freaking princess of Pokemon.
Speaking of it, a thought popped in her mind when she chewed on her food.
'ASH KNOWS THAT I'M THE CELESTIAL MAIDEN!'
"May! Chew your food properly, will you?" Caroline worriedly scolded her daughter when May choked on the food going down the wrong pipe.
Wiping her lips with a napkin and getting her bag, May saluted a farewell and ran out the house. Norman calmly sipped on his coffee as he read the newspaper while Max stared at the place his sister used to be.
"What's the hurry? She still has time to get to school." Said Norman.
'I got a feeling that's not it, Dad.'
....
With the help of her powers, May teleported to her school then continued to ran all the way to her classroom. Whether it's the anxiety of the fact that someone other than her friends and faculty knows her secret or the desperate feeling to just get it over with, one thing's for sure...
'I have to tread on this matter carefully.' She arrived at her class, pausing at the doorway to clear her thoughts. 'I trust Ash, but if he knows who I am then I must decide whether I should tell him more or not. I can't have anyone outside my protection get involve.'
"May?"
The brunette stiffened at the familiar voice and slowly twisted her head to face the person behind her.
Damn. Lady luck must be favoring her right now.
"Ash... Can we talk?"
~*~*~
"Whoa, is that it?" Meowth pointed a claw at the glowing crystal floating inside a cylindrical tube. Just from where he was standing, he felt this heavy feeling in his chest like he was supposed to show respect to it. He fell in a trance just staring at it.
"Uh, Meowth, what are you doing?" Jessie's bewildered question snapped the Pokemon from his induced daze.
"H-HUH?!-" He actually kneeled and he wasn't even aware of it!
"You feel its power, don't you?"
"What is it exactly?" James poked the glass as he asked the man hidden in the shadow at the glass corner of the room. "And where did it come from?"
"What you see is a crystal of immense power that suddenly appeared in the center of the region and attracted all kinds of Pokémon. The leader of Team Rocket was the first to get ahold of it because it will probably be useful in our goal. Then it was given to me for research."
Jessei was awed at the crystal and imagined its possible worth. "And what did you find out?"
"... It contains enough power that not even the legendary Pokémon we knew possessed. I also found out that it opens a portal, a portal to another world."
"Another world?" They echoed.
"I tampered with it a bit when it shot a beam of light on the wall of my lab, where a swirling vortex appeared for only a few seconds before it disappeared. I tried to make the crystal do it again to no avail." The man came closer but only his white coat was visible in the small lighting of the room. "Right now, we have confirmed that the crystal's light, when exposed to the outside world, can lure Pokémon towards it." He looked at Meowth who stiffened in attention. "Meowth's reaction is proof. Imagine the tremendous power we can gain of we learn to harness the power it possess? It may be even possible to capture all the legendaries and possibly recreate the portal that I'm sure will lead us to where the Pokémon in this world originated." He smirked at the endless possibilities as he stared at the pulsing light reflected against the glass.
Jessie, James and Meowth seemed to like the idea too.
"So, what do you want us to do?"
"... There is one person whom I believe knows the secrets of the crystal."
"Huh? Who might that be?" Meowth scratched his head.
"The Celestial Maiden."
~*~*~
Ash was already aware what May wanted to speak to him about. They headed to the rooftop where no one will eavesdrop on them and he settled on the bench while May leaned against the fenced wall.
"So..." She lamely began. "Leaf told me something interesting."
"About you being the Cel-" His mouth was immediately covered by a hand.
"SHUSH! Don't say it out loud! We don't know who might be listening!" May cut him off furiously. Ash immediately nodded to show his obedience. Sighing, she continued, "How long have you known?"
"..."
Oh, right. She uncovered his mouth.
Just as Ash opened his mouth to answer, the rooftop door slammed open.
"May! We got trouble! We got a code red situation!" Dawn yelled in alarm, striking a feeling of uneasiness in May's guts, but upon seeing Ash, she shut up.
Knowing that the news must be urgent, May threw all caution in the wind. "He's safe. Relay your message."
Glancing at Ash, Dawn wasted no time in speaking. "Remember that news about a boy coincidentally getting a blurry image of you in your you-know-what? It turns out, Brianna knows the guy and is planning on getting the soft copy of that photo and send it to some professional to do a mass match face sweep that can possibly expose your identity!"
"What?!"
"I know! So disastrous! Misty is planning on getting to that guy first while Leaf will manipulate his..." Dawn trailed off as she gazed intently at Ash.
"If this is about May being capital CM then yes." Ash immediately confirmed her thoughts.
"Then okay! Like I said, Misty will try to get the image first while Leaf will change the guy's memories of willingly giving it instead of crying and running away in terror when faced with Misty's demonic persona!" Feeling proud that she delivered the news without fail, the lunette decided to treat herself to some light shopping.
May stole a look at Ash and was surprised to see him already staring at her. His expression can only be described as a subordinate waiting for orders when put in a difficult situation.
"What's your plan? Because I don't think that kid deserves to see Misty in all her scary glory."