-Aurora Kingdom Castle, Pom-
“Again I am sorry about the Wooloo, but I can’t do anything about them being perverts. Just be glad you’re only dealing with just five of them and not their entire flock like I have to.” King Evan, I wish I could just deal with one at the best of times. “Also be glad that they won’t touch you unless you explicitly give them the okay to do so or they are attempting to rescue you from something.”
“It’s okay our most fluffy and venerable kindest of kings!” Geoff was still going at anything that so much as moves with an endless stream of honest affectations, his unit companions even wolf whistled at their king. “Also we appreciate personal space… except when within our flock, personal space is for the weak there and everyone cuddles!”
“Thank you for telling me that King Evan, I’ll keep that mind.” Something to be thankful for, Wooloo are thankfully the ‘look and never touch unless expressly given the go ahead’ kind of pervert. “So… now what?”
We kind of invited ourselves in and sat down for drinks and some snacks without as much as a ‘how do you do’. King Evan simply accepted us being here without question, most likely my presence was to blame for his amiable feelings towards us considering the number of problems I noted with the castle having traveled across the plains to get here from the mountain valley.
For one it was quite sorely... understaffed.
“Well we shared snacks and drinks with you with our admittedly low resources already, but I guess we never went over things." King Evan seemed to be as enamored with me as when we first arrived, at least he wasn’t crawling into my lap and asking for pets... not yet at least. The little fox was quite cute though.
“Like who they even are in the first place?! They just kind of waltzed on in with our ‘militia unit’, ugh, I can’t even say it without the air quotes!" The one currently speaking was Maiden Jigglypuff, the advisor to the king was wearing a straw hat with a pink bow on it. She looked like a round pink balloon with some styled fluff, big expressive eyes, along with tiny feet and arms with no digits. She also seems to inflate like a balloon when angry or exasperated. “They come on in and you’re first instinctive reaction of seeing the white woolly female that resembles an oddly proportioned Wooloo was that you liked her, just on sight alone. You bade, no practically begged, her group to have snacks with you! You didn’t even talk much when you were having snacks, aside from getting complaints about the Wooloo constantly hitting on everything. Which seems to be the only thing in this country that seems functionally normal as our kingdom of normal types wouldn't imply! Also, need I remind you that you used some of our limited medical supplies on Ms. Talia, our country is being bullied by fighting types from the north who may or may not be from Pugilis and goodness knows what’s taking Captain Skeeball so long in making sure our alliance down south is secure!”
“My name is Pom Lambchop. I guess we’re simply travelers at the moment, we’ve been on a protracted adventures of surviving life and limb situations that I wish I could get away from.” There was an awkward silence following my words. “This place seems to be missing a lot…”
“If it seems that way to you, then it really is quite obvious to even outsiders with no functional knowledge of our country!” Maiden Jigglypuff seems to be inflating out of exasperation. “How am I supposed to work under these conditions?! I know it’s not your fault that we’re kind of in dire straits here King Evan, but we really need any help to fix things before they become a spiral we can’t actually get out of.”
“Exasperation or anger?” I quickly asked Ocellus.
“More towards exasperation.” Well that explains why Ocellus isn’t leaning away from her. “I’m Ocellus by the way. Also, we don’t know anything about this kingdom or Pokémon in general.”
“My name is being Shanty.” Shanty offered up over a bottle of strange fermented blue fruit rum.
“I’m Smolder and our companion here is Dolly.” Smolder introduced Dolly, because the ‘normal’ people that weren’t some form of canine or canid might not understand Dolly.
“Yep, Dolly D. Dalmatian.” Dolly said conversationally, she seemed really curious about all the Pokémon and she wasn’t the only one. Maiden Jigglypuff was a weird looking one compared to Evan being a fox and Geoff being a sheep.
“Does that one not know how to speak?” Maiden Jigglypuff asked in an honestly worried tone.
“She was speaking just fine to me.” Which meant that while Evan understood Dolly, Maiden Jigglypuff did not.
“She’s functionally only able to be understood by those who speak in barks, which I do.” My answer was swift and to the point. “Since we’re here already, can I ask if you know a place where we can stay?”
“You can stay here with us! All of you, even the Rattata that tried to rob you are welcome!” Evan’s tail was wagging and he was very much excited to have a slumber party, the poor young thing didn’t seem to have many friends after becoming king of this castle. “Is you’re brother okay with being hired Talia?”
“I don’t know about my brother, but even if he and his unit won’t. I will want to be hired regardless of what you can pay me!” Talia was a pinkish purple Rattata and seemed enthusiastic about joining. “I also want you to thank you for bringing me here and bringing me back to health, you also fed me when you didn’t have to too! You’re kindness when you don’t have much going for yourself is an inspiration King Evan!”
According to Geoff, Evan has only been king for about a week or two. I had a number of questions about what was going on in this kingdom and why Arceus wanted us to be here. It appears we arrived in the morning while Geoff went out to gather food with his unit and the traveling from the mountain valley, with the short battle with Teeth’s brigand unit, had eaten up most of our day.
“What say you?” Evan turned to me expectantly, it wasn’t like we had anywhere else to go for the time being and Arceus pretty much set this is motion.
I hoped to hear from you soon Tianhuo...
“We’re only staying for a short while, don’t expect us to become permanent residents here if you’re willing to house us.” The guy seemed very much willing to house us, even if we were just going to be guests. “In fact, I think you’d be letting us stay at a cost yourself.”
“Okay!” Evan stated immediately with his ears perked up and Maiden Jigglypuff sighed audibly while dragging her limbs slowly down her face.
This two floor castle was notably absent of life or much in the way of interior decorations, because we entered and the first thing we saw was Evan sitting on a small cushion in the middle of the room from the entryway of the castle. The cushion wasn’t even an opulent one, it seemed like Evan was used to the simpler things in life.
“I want to know a few things about this kingdom, what happened to it?” That was my main question.
“What hasn’t happened to it? I’m in a long line of Maidens trained to assist the king and keep the kingdom running smoothly. I’m the current Maiden Jigglypuff, but you can call me Jig… it’s what Evan does. I hope to eventually become Maiden Wigglytuff of this kingdom.” Maiden Jigglypuff didn’t seem happy with 'Jig', but she looked like she was willing to tolerate it. “I was trained by the last Maiden who watched over the smaller details in the kingdom, I’m from a long line of maidens trained to at least keep things functioning if we lose a king. Unfortunately the last king just left us in a lurch, it was an Aipom that didn’t have the heart to actually build the kingdom and was mostly going through the motions after the previous king put the kingdom in their paws. I was left running things by myself for a month after they left. We needed a new normal type king to sit the throne, because that isn’t in my job description. Evan was the best choice we got since he showed up and actually said yes, like him everyone else was either looking for help or were just civilian Pokémon asking about current trade goods and kingdom trends surrounding us.”
“I didn’t do it for noble reasons though, I was originally one of those who came to this castle looking for help only to find a beleaguered maiden begging for a king to lead the normal types.” Evan’s ears wilted. “I became king because I required the help and in doing so managed to fulfill my needs selfishly with the coffers of the kingdom. However, I do not intend to leave my duty until I’ve paid this kingdom back three fold for giving me the aid I sorely needed by becoming it’s king until otherwise deposed. I actually want to be worthy of this position, even if I may not be the physically best Pokémon for it.”
“That’s just it, it’s not always the strongest or the brightest Pokémon that are the best fit. Traditionally speaking, you are perfect for the position of Aurora Kingdom’s king. The king that best suits this region is and has always been one with the ability to put their very heart into the kingdom and I will not say that you aren’t trying, you’re just not… used to being in a leadership role yet.” Well Maiden Jig, I could probably lend some aid in that direction considering I knew leaders like the emperor longma family and Dragon Lord Ember. There was also Twilight Sparkle and other rulers of whom I’ve met in passing. “It's a very frustrating position for me to be put in considering the late Maiden I’ve taken over for was someone who was keeping the entire kingdom’s populace in order.”
“Can we go over each issue in order of most dire to least?” I asked and drew the attention of my friends and family, they were eyeing me smugly like they knew where this was going.
“The direst would be the Riolu and Lucario raiders, usually Riolu and Lucario are Pokémon who lean more towards heroics and are very much less likely to pick on the weak. There’s even legends of a heroic rescue team built by a Riolu that became a mighty Lucario on the far side of the planet where Mystery Dungeons are said to dwell in many places, thankfully there are no mystery dungeons on this side of the planet and we don’t have to actually deal with those ridiculous mazes. These villainous acts means something is seriously wrong and that they are being perpetrated by what should be good and noble fighting type Pokémon means we are at a grave disadvantage should we try to fight back.” When you say disadvantage Jig, it brings to mind quite literally being incapable of fighting them for some reason.
“Normal type Pokémon are weak to fighting types, it’s one of the few major weaknesses we have.” Geoff stated as he finally spoke up. “All those rippling muscles, the sweat on their brows, the ability to move mountains with their raw strengths… oh my goodness their women are also super hunky in Pugilis too! So much strength and beautiful passion… I could watch them flex all day...”
Ugh, Geoff was drooling and off in his own little world now with his four Wooloo companions.
“What’s Pugilis?” Ocellus asked, that’s when Jig rolled out a map of the world once again revealing the shape of Arceus in the form of an entire freaking continent.
“This is the region of Ransei. This here is the entirety of the Kingdom of Aurora. We’re quite small in comparison to the surrounding kingdoms. We’re also known as kingdom of dawn, our country is always said to rise from even the most ignoble of states to be stronger than those that immediately surround us. Our kingdom has done it before with barely two Poké, the currency of our world, to scrape together.” Jig was finally catching on to the fact that we knew absolutely nothing of this world and apparently the money we temporarily got from Teeth’s unit was what Poké was. She looked like she would start making an effort to educate us on the world we found ourselves in. “In any case we’re a kingdom of normal type Pokémon. To the northeast is the kingdom of Ignis the where fiery fire type Pokémon gather. To the south is Fontaine, the kingdom of water type Pokémon. To our west in the Greenleaf Kingdom, the kingdom of Grass type Pokémon. To the north of Ignis is Pugilis where fighting type Pokémon reign and the strongest is usually the leader of those lands. Strength does not always lead to greatness or mean that the leaders are of great character though. Ignis seems to be ignoring our plight and are letting these raiders through.”
“I’ve noticed something, Geoff said there were eighteen kingdoms.” Good eye Smolder.
“That’s because the eighteenth kingdom is Titania, the kingdom of Fairy type Pokémon. It’s hard to plot on a map because they are tricky about keeping their kingdom’s location hidden. Their kingdom is the one most steeped in mystery and it scares the dragon type kingdom of Dragnor.” Clearing her throat, Jig continued on as I took note of Dragnor in the far north eastern part of the continent far from us at the crown of the Arceus continent’s head. “Next problem down from there is that we sent our one lone military unit to Fontaine for diplomatic relations and they haven’t returned yet, something is definitely going on down south that is keeping Captain Skeeball from returning. She’s the only military unit that we have that will work for basically nothing what with the upheaval from not having a king. While she may seem a little unusual, Skeeball is without a doubt the most loyal to the people of the kingdom of Aurora. Though she would be at a disadvantage against the Riolu Raiders, she would still put up quite an impressive fight and might even win an impossible victory for us that we sorely need to remind the world we aren’t pushovers. Even if we may not like the Wooloo, it would be a slaughter to send our only militia against those raiders which number about four full units worth of Pokémon. We don’t have the numbers to even handle one unit because of the disadvantages normal types have to fighting types. Ignis has a lot to answer for in failing our peace treaty, but we can’t even bring them to task. We’d need more Pokémon units to do that, which is why Captain Skeeball went south to ask for help from Fontaine. The water types have an advantage over the fire type Pokémon, they also have the best navy around and they can aid in getting Ignis to stop ignoring our pleas. This is all putting us between a rock type and a hard place where the rock type is continually pummeling us into the side of a mountain, the mountain being less likely to give in before we do.”
I’m beginning to see all the issues and how they were stacking up to completely crush the Aurora kingdom's will to continue existing.
The smallest issue was the one that was drawing my attention, I motioned for Shanty to ask the question and Shanty looked a little curious at first, but she looked to the west of Aurora and thought of something.
Shanty, I think, just realized that this was an opportunity to learn larger scale leadership than what I could teach, something a worldly pirate captain might need to know.
“What does Greenleaf be doing during all this?” Shanty would need to learn to learn the political landscape and situation of any given country she visited back on Equus should we make it there.
“Now that, I do know since I used to live a little west of the castle and some of my friends growing up were grass type Pokémon! Greenleaf seems to be eyeing things and preparing for trouble in their own way.” Evan brightened up and his smile could light an entire room in an instant as much as his wagging tail or his adorable fox like fluff bristled with excitement. “Aurora has plenty of medical supplies in two areas. The first is the oran berries which will heal minor wounds when eaten, they are also tasty and nutritious to everything. The very existence of the fruit is that it is a gift that anyone can eat from the great lord Arceus that gave birth to all Pokémon, the fruits are the most commonly known worldwide! The second berry we grow here in large quantities is the pecha berry, a berry that will cure you if you are poisoned by a variety of Pokémon that can do attacks to that effect. It will literally and quickly deal with any poison upon consumption, which is helpful when we’re next door to three kingdoms who all have semi poison type Pokémon within their borders. However berries neither will heal serious major wounds, except over time of continually eating oran berries for meals, nor can we cure the more esoteric sicknesses that will pop up with pecha berries as they are exclusively a cure to poisoning. That is where the herbs of Greenleaf come in, Greenleaf is a major purveyor of medicinal plants of all kinds and we used some of those plants to deal with a sickness that was hurting Talia quite badly.”
“Now we’re low on Greenleaf medicinal supplies, but with the attacks from the north and the lack of Pokémon power we’re not able to send anyone to pick up more. It won’t be long before plagues start sweeping our kingdom unless we can distribute medicines to the locals.” Jig seemed really upset about that and maybe that was something we could do in the small scale that won’t run us into immediate danger. “The only thing that seems to be going correctly is the funding, but finding Pokémon willing to fight for very little is hard to come…”
“I am Jiri, I wish to make a unit and support my kingdom!” It was what Geoff called a Buneary, she looked like a small and weak brown furred rabbit with thick wooly covering of fluff around her waist and legs and at the tip of her ears.
“By…” Finished Maiden Jig lamely. “Do you have a unit you can field already or are you just by yourself?”
“By myself ma’am, king!” Jiri seemed like a livewire of energy, despite being by herself she didn’t seem put off by the prospect of taking on a full unit of six Pokémon by herself. Not that Aurora was fielding a full six Pokémon unit unless Talia convinced her brother Teeth to work for King Evan. Going to be honest, the Rattata really didn’t seem like much and King Evan looked to be jumping at any chance to get support moving forward.
“You do realize we can’t pay you much.” Maiden Jig stated.
“Don’t care, I know you helped that Rattata out! I’m not letting another good king’s heart fall into despair if I can help it. Give me a mission, any mission, I’m good for it!” Jiri seemed willing, but she didn’t look capable. “I’ll see it completed even if I have to do it alone!”
“Well okay then, we do have a Miltank run you can do.” It seems Evan was willing to trust the Jiri. “All you need to do is head to Greenleaf tomorrow to order and pick up supplies, you can’t do that now because it’s too late and will be too dark to be traveling.”
“Can we go with her?” I ask, because it seems simple enough.
If this kingdom really needed those supplies, then we could absolutely ensure it gets them.
“I wouldn’t mind a little company for my first mission out for this kingdom…” Jiri stated shyly pawing at both her ears.
“We can’t very well send the Wooloo milita out to do this Jig.” Evan stated to Maiden Jig, Jig was busy eyeing Jiri up and down. We were all outright ignoring the praises coming from Geoff and his Wooloo companions were singing for how beautiful Jiri was and would become, they were also praising her for her bravery. “We can send just Geoff with her and keep the rest of the militia on standby perhaps?”
“Right, that’ll work. I have a question for Jiri before we can even begin to think of sending her off in the morning with our… strange travelers and that thrice damned Geoff! Since the medical supplies cannot be ignored under any circumstances.” Maiden Jig side eyed us as we weren’t doing much here. “If Talia actually gets her brother Teeth to accept being a unit of this kingdom with promise of pay when we can afford to at a later date, then they will be our only military unit and I do not want to leave this kingdom in the paws of a bunch of Rattata. I will be seeing to their training as a functional unit whether it kills me or not if they choose to sign up for this downhill experience.”
“I do, you helped my sister, my minions and I owe you a lot!” Teeth stated with his head raised.
“See, don’t be so dour Jig. Things are actually starting to look up and we’re gaining both traction and support.” Evan stated with an honest optimism.
“Yeah, not nearly fast enough for my tastes, given how quickly our last regime fell apart. That and we’re being beaten down by Riolu and Lucario.” Jig stated sourly. “Not many normal types are willing to get in front of four full units of fighting types working together like that.”
“I’d fight them even if it would leave me a bloody pulp!” Jiri shouted loudly and bravely with her fists on her hips.
“Which brings me to my question… do you even have a title to form the basis of a unit around? I’m Maiden of course even if my unit is administrative related. Evan has King, which can be both combat and administrative. Even Geoff, begrudgingly enough, has Cleric and goodness knows how Skeeball got the ‘Captain’ designation before she even met her husband.” Maiden Jig stopped and shivered violently. “The less said about Captain Skeeball’s antics the better, you’ll know what I’m talking about if you ever meet her. Even Teeth has a title… though Brigand is not exactly that noble or great a title, I’m willing to accept even that with how things are going.”
“I’ll make it a worthy title boss, least I can do for you helping out my sister!” Teeth stated to Evan and he nodded back to the Rattata in acknowledgement.
“… It’s kind of embarrassing… I don’t think it fits me personally.” Where there once was exuberance there was now a little bit of shyness. “I’m... Dragoon Jiri.”
“How…” Maiden Jig seemed to have a twitching eye problem. “Does someone like you have that title?! Our strange visitors being travelers is understandable, but Dragoon!? You don’t even have a spear!”
“I can always get one… eventually…” Jiri the bipedal bunny idly twiddled her paws.
“Fine.” Maiden Jig sighed in an insufferable manner.