Charlie: A Pokemon Cinderella Story. Chapter 01 by troy168 < Submission

Keywords male 1156742, female 1044838, pokemon 183506, human 104643, serperior 1173, delphox 1165, persian 602, ralts 518, liepard 426, rapidash 390, zebstrika 245, fairy tale 220, taillow 59

01: A dream of becoming a splendid young man

In the world that’s filled with luxury, life, flounder, hopes and dreams. Lies a land that’s full of Pokemon and Humans. And in the land that’s full of Pokemon and Humans lies a town that holds a lot of cheerful people and pokemon. A town that is called: Espérer. In this town, various shops and trades are happening, non-stop. Festivals of grandeur are well known in all of the land. And the sound of children’s laughter can be heard for miles on end. And for this special day is none other than the annual flower festival, a three day event that celebrates the blossoming of flowers. And among the folks of both Pokemon and humans to take part in the event, a lone figure is walking down the streets. With red and yellow fur on the body, as well as wearing a gorgeous blue hat and dress, this lovely figure is none other than the lovely Cinder, the Delphox.

She is visiting the festivals as a means of exploring some wonderful views on some lovely flowers. With a bag containing her art supplies in her arms, she prepares to search for the right moment to paint a lovely pictures. As she moves down the streets, three cheerful children are laughing as they follow each other through the crowds. She notices this and stops in her place, allowing the children move around her a few times, before moving on to something else. “Looks like the children are having fun in the first day of the flower festival.” Cinder said as she giggles. “It will sure bring me such a wonderful memory, when I paint it.” Just as Cinder was browsing at a flower store, a sudden gust of wind blew her hat out of her head. “Oh no. My hat.” Cinder said as she saw her hat flying away. She then proceeds to give chase through the street, as the hat continues to flew in the air.

The hat then eventually landed on a statue of an old man in the fountain, as Cinder makes her way to the fountain. She then gently place her bag on the ground, before proceeding to climb on the fountain. Cinder then manage to get near to the top of the statue as she manages to grab her hat and place it back on her head. But before she could get down, the sounds of music attracted her attention as she turned and saw a group of Pokemon and people huddling around a bunch of dancers. “Such lovely music. I can see why they would be dancing to such lovely music.” Cinder said as she starts humming to the music, while waving her finger to the tempo of the music. Once she was satisfied listening to the music, she proceeds to step back down. But she misstep as she stumbles for a bit and she ended up falling backward…

...only to be caught by someone. “Are you okay, miss?” the sounding young gentleman said. Cinder then looks at her saviour, and sees a rather young man with short straight black hair. “Yes. I’m fine. Thank you.” Cinder said to her saviour. The young man then gently bring Cinder to her feet. She then turns around and sees a tailor-made suit, that’s fit for a nobleman. The Nobleman then said: “It was nothing. I’m just glad that I could help.” “Charlie!” said the lovely sounding woman, before Cinder could even say something. “The parade is about to start. You don’t want to be late, do you?” “Coming, mother.” Said the young nobleman called Charlie. As Cinder was shocked to hear the name Charlie, he turned to Cinder and said: “I’m sorry. But I must be going now. I hope that you have fun with the festival, miss.” Charlie then heads towards where that lovely sounding woman came from. “Charlie…” Cinder whispered, as she sees Charlie heading towards a rather young-looking woman with long, blond hair. After Cinder sees the two of them talk to each other, they proceeded to walk together as Cinder waves then goodbye. So… This is Charlie. Well, he sure has grown up to be a fine gentleman.

Charlie Lestorm, the name that he is honored by. Though his first name was given by his lovely parents, his last name was given when her mother had to remarry, after the tragic loss of her loving husband. Yes, Charlie was born and raised as a nobleman. Throughout the years, all he can remember is all the good and fun times that he has with their parents. Though the loss of his father did startle him, he knows that he can’t lose faith in goodwill towards both Pokemon and humans. And as for her mother, Nancy Lestorm, she goes on these exhibition trips around the world as a presenter of art. Though the act of traveling between places is rather dangerous, it is the means of getting the family through some rather hard times. And while she would be sad to leave her only son alone, at least she knows that her new husband will take good care of him, once she heads out.

The two of them made their way through the crowds and ended up standing within the crowds, where they are watching a parade in progress. The parade that’s consist of acrobats balancing on colourful balls, a couple of clowns juggling some knives in the air, a couple of uniform men riding on Rapidashs and carrying a royal flag, and a lone piper blowing on a pipe and four Serperiors gracefully moving along to the sound of the pipe. “Isn’t it beautiful, mother?” Charlie asked as he watches the parade with full of glee and delight. Nancy giggles as she then said: “Why, of course.  It’s wonderful enough to make anybody’s dreams come true.” She then looks at Charlie and said: “Do you have a dream, my precious son?” Charlie then broke his view of the parade to look at her mother and said: “Of course, I do.” He then looks to his other side and stare at the gorgeous looking castle from the distance and said: “Someday… I hope that I can live in a wonderful castle, where I can help people and Pokemon with their problems. And hopefully, someone that I can trust and fell in love with.”

The castle that Charlie speaks of, is currently reign over by Pokemon. And although most of the town’s population is Pokemon, there hasn’t been signs of turmoil and wraith against the owners of the castles. And that’s thanks to the princess of the castle. While Charlie hasn’t met the princess of the castle at all, he has heard a lot of good things about her. The way her presence can attract the hearts of many men of both Pokemon and humans alike. The way her angelic singing voice that charm all those around her. And the way she moves is like a delicate water, gracefully moving across the stone without breaking her form. Yes, it is everything that he hears about her that captures the hearts of a lot of men.  And while he wonders if he ever gets the chance to meet with the princess, he knows that he has no reason to go up to the castle, just to meet her. After all, even though he’s a nobleman, his feats are nothing compared to the princess’s feats.

Nancy then places her hand on his shoulders and said: “Well, you know what they say. Some dreams do come true.” Charlie then turns to her mother and said: “I hope so, from the bottom of my heart.” “I’m sure that it will, my son. After all, you are a worthy gentleman. A strong man with a kind heart and a brave warrior with an honest soul.” “I’m not so sure if I can be brave, with you going away on that trip, mother…” Charlie said as he is saddened by the fact that while they’ll be moving to a new place once the parades are over, she’ll have to go out on her trip after the parade is over, meaning she does not have time to at least explore their new home. “I know that… But you know that it's very important for me to go on that trip.” Nancy said with a sad look on her face. But then she quickly smiles as she then said: “Now cheer up. I can promise you that once I came back, I will bring you lots of gifts from my travels.” Charlie look at her mother's face and smiles, knowing that her safe trip back home is an enough gift for him.

“I got it! I got it!” Said a rather energetic boy. This caught the attention of both Charlie and Nancy as they turn to the source of the voice. And they discover a strange thing hurling in the sky and a young boy with a grey shirt, grey pants and brown vest, chasing after it. Of course they recognize who the boy is as he managed to catch the strange thing, which turns out to be a wooden disc. “Ha! I told you that I got it!” Said the energetic boy. And further from the energetic boy, was an older boy with brown shirt, brown pants and grey vest. And an older gentleman with black hair and grey suit, while holding on to a book in his hand. They then recognize that the older gentleman was none other than Albert Lestorm, Charlie’s new step-father. And the two boys are Max and Alex Lestorm, Charlie’s new step-brothers.

From what Charlie knows, Nancy met Albert during one of her exhibition trips and they seem to get along pretty well. They discuss a lot of details about each other, including the loss of their respective spouses, with his earlier wife dying from an illness. They eventually got married and with the money pooled together, they manage to purchase their new home together, alongside his two sons. The older step-brother is called Alex, who is often the tougher of the two. And the younger step-brother is called Max, who is often the speedier of the two. Although he heard how the two boys like to bicker with each other, he believes that they get along just fine and how it will be fun to have two brothers to interact with. “Yeah, you may have caught it. But you could have hurt our mother by accident.” Alex said, causing Max to look confused at first before turning around and seeing the two. This causes Max to feel embarrassed as he said: “O-Oh! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to-” But Nancy giggles as she said: “Oh, that’s all right. You two were just having fun.” Albert starts to chuckle as he then said: “She’s right. There’s nothing wrong with having fun.” The two starts to laugh as Alex chuckles, while Max feels embarrassed. You know… Maybe things won’t be so bad, after all…

After the parade has ended, the family is in their carriage as they rode off to their new home. As Albert and his two sons are sitting on one side, Nancy and Charlie are sitting at the other side as Charlie is looking out the window to see the wonderful view from outside. “Now are you sure you can’t take a look at our lovely new home, my dear?” Albert asked, and Nancy replied: “Oh, you know that I can’t do that. I have to depart for my trip. But did you at least got the rooms set-up for our boys?” “Of course, my dear. I have made sure that everyone got their own rooms.” Albert said with confidence. After all, it was Albert himself that visit their new home first, so it made sense that he set up the rooms for their children. A few moments later, Charlie spot something from the distance and discovers…

...that his new home is actually a three-story mansion, with a patio on the second floor. He is amazed that he is going to be living in a lovely place. Once there carriage has stopped, their hired hand, Cesar, proceeds to get off of the carriage and open the carriage’s door for the Lestorms. As Albert and the two brothers get off first, a black and grey hair dog exits the building to see what the commotion is. But then it gets excited as it charges towards Charlie as he exits the carriage. He took a few steps forward, before being tackled to the ground by said dog. This alerts Nancy as she takes a look outside, only to start laughing as she said: “Oh Zeus, you know we have been gone for a few hours.” Even though that they were gone for a few hours, it didn’t matter to Zeus the Mightyena. He was happy to see Charlie safe as he shares his affection by licking Charlie’s face, and Charlie is laughing with Zeus licking his face.

After all, these two have been together since Zeus was a Pootchyena and Charlie was a child. And while these two have their ups and downs, they know that they’ll always be the best of friends. Once Zeus stops licking Charlie’s face, he wipes the saliva off of his face with his sleeve while saying: “It’s good to see you again, Zeus.” As Charlie gets on his knee and starts petting Zeus, two large cat Pokemon exited the mansion, as Albert walks up to them. To his left is a pale fur cat with a red jewelry on its head, and to his right is a purple and yellow fur cat with a pink “mask”. “I see that the two of you have managed to keep the place safe while we’re gone, Jen and Ruby.” Albert said as the two cat Pokemon starts to smuggle up to his legs. The cat Pokemon that was named Jen and Ruby are Albert’s pets, with Jen being a Persian and Ruby being a Liepard. Although Charlie didn’t get to meet them at first, he would always hear from his brothers that with Zeus around, it would pretty much tear the house down with their natural instinct to fight each other. But it looks like things are going well for Zeus, so Charlie believes that maybe it’ll take some time before Jen and Ruby would feel comfortable around him.

“Everything is all set, miss. Just say the word and we’ll head to the port, right away.” Cesar said as he places the last of their luggage by the doorway, aside from Nancy’s luggage. Nancy then looks at her family and said: “Now I know that my trip is going to be long. But I’ll try and hurry back as soon as possible.” “Of course, my dear. And I know that fame and fortune would never replace you, nor your safe return.” Albert said as he bowed his head. He then lift his head and said: “And I can assure you that me and the boys will take care of ourselves from here.” Nancy then smiles as she said: “That’s good. Just remember. If you need anything, feel free to ask Cesar.” Nancy then signals  Cesar to start the carriage. As Cesar starts the carriage, the Zebstrikas that brought them here began to move as Albert, Charlie and the brothers wave them goodbye. “Goodbye mother. I’ll miss you a lot!” Charlie said as Nancy looks behind her and smiles as she waves back to them.

Nearby, Cinder, the Delphox that Charlie saved earlier, is busy painting the scenery of the bridge with a beautiful stream from below the bridge. As she is painting the scenery, the sounds of the moving carriage caught her attention. When she looked away from the painting, she saw two Zebstrikas pulling the carriage with the driver near the top of the carriage. And although she cannot see who’s inside the carriage, she knows who it belongs to. Poor Charlie… It’s been six years since he lost his father. And now his mother is going away on an exhibition trip. She then turn and see Charlie and the family continuing to wave, as the distance between them and the carriage grew further and further. And all he has to comfort him are his step-father and his two step-brothers. Once the carriage is out of their view, Albert and his sons stopped waving as they grab their luggage and proceeds to enter their new home, while Charlie continues to wave goodbye to her mother. But I did promise his father that I will look out for him and that is exactly what I intend to do. I have a feeling that he is going to need a friend.

After a while, Charlie stopped waving his hand as he grabbed his luggage from the doorway. He then enters the mansion, with Zeus following behind him. Upon entering, he was amazed to see a huge lobby with a gorgeous set of stairs leading to the second floor hallway. The lobby itself is spacious and is decorated with luxury vases, beautiful paintings from various talented artists, and gorgeous flowers that can be found from the wild. As Zeus runs off to explore his surroundings in the first floor, Charlie proceeds to head upstairs. From what he’s told, their new home has four bedrooms in the mansion. Five, if you count Cesar’s room besides servant's entrance. And while Charlie is concerned and feels guilty that he has to sleep in a separate room, far away from them, Cesar assures him that as long as he can help him and his family, anything can be a home to him.

Once Charlie reach the second floor, he notices one of the doors opened. He makes his way towards the open door, and saw a huge room with Alex laying on the bed. The room itself has a lovely patio from outside, and a large dresser for him to use. Amaze by the room, Charlie enters the room and said: “Wow… Is this your room, Alex?” “It sure is.” Alex said as he turns his head towards him. Alex then said: “After all, since I’m the oldest, I deserve to get the biggest bedroom in the mansion.” “Isn’t the biggest bedroom in the mansion called the Master’s Bedroom?” Said Max as he enters the room. As Charlie turns around, Max then said: “After all, the Master Bedroom belongs to our father.” This causes Alex to sit up quickly as he said: “I-I know! I’m just saying that out of all of the normal bedrooms in the mansion, I get the biggest one!”

“Yeah, you may keep that dakny room, while I get a much better bedroom.” Max said as he heads to the door in front of him and opens it. Charlie then proceeds to walk up to Max’s room and saw that although his room is smaller, it does have a larger patio than Alex, and has a nice view of the sky from the ceiling. “Whoa… Your room pretty nice, Max.” “Hey! You never said anything nice about my room!” Alex said after he left his bedroom. Max then turns to Alex and said: “Maybe he didn’t say anything nice because he knows that my room is much better!” “What was that!” Alex said as he gets up close to Max’s face. But Charlie manages to leave Max’s room while saying: “Don’t worry Alex, your room is nice too.” As Alex and Max looks at Charlie, Charlie look through the hallway and notices that one of the doors is ajar. He then proceeds to open the door while saying: “I’m guessing that this is my room?” But when he opens the door, he discovers that it’s a simple bedroom with a patio, like before. But he also discovered that Jen and Ruby are laying on the bed with no intent on leaving their spot.

“Actually, Charlie. That room belongs to my lovely pets.” Albert said as Charlie turned to his side, and saw him, Alex and Max together. Albert then said: “They’re family to us. So it makes sense that they get their own room. Isn’t that right, Charlie?” Confused, Charlie said: “I… I guess… But… Where am I going to sleep? There aren’t any more bedrooms.” Albert then said: “Why… Yes there is. There’s the attic upstairs.” “What?!” Charlie said as he is shocked over what Albert has said. But what shocked him more is when Alex said: “Yeah. The rooms dusty, but at least you get a good view outside.” And Max then said: “He’s right. There’s no way you deserve to get a nice room like ours.” “But that’s not fair!” Charlie said in protest, but Albert then said: “The decision’s final. After all, with your mother gone, I’m in charge of this mansion. So you’ll have to listen to what I say.”

“Yeah! And you’ll have to listen to what we have to say!” Alex said as he walks up to Charlie. Alex then said: “So whatever we say to you, we expect you to do it.” “B-But…” Charlie said as he tries to voice his concern, but Max walks up to him and tosses him some clothing as he said: “And… You will have to wear this from now on!” As Charlie look at the clothing that Max tossed to him, he saw that the clothing is all ragged looking. Charlie then look at Albert and said: “B-But… This isn’t mine…” But Albert then said: “Yes it is. From now on, you will be responsible for every task we give you. Which includes cleaning, doing laundry, cooking, and whatever stuff we come up with.” This mortifies Charlie as he can’t believe that not only are they doing such cruel things to him, but they’re forcing him to do all of the work. “Now hurry up and move your things into the attic.” Albert said as he turned around and walked down the hall. While Alex said: “Yeah! You’ll need to look good as our servant!” As he proceeds to shove Charlie down to the floor. This causes him to fall to the ground as the brothers proceeds to laugh at him as they make their way to their room, while Max said: “And hurry up! You’re blocking the hallway!” As their bedroom closes, Charlie closes his eyes as he grippens his luggage. Why… Why are they cruel to me…? What did I do to them to cause this…?

Charlie manages to get back up as he slowly goes upstairs, to where the attic is. Once he reached the third floor, he opens the door and is greeted by a wave of dust. This causes Charlie to cover his mouth as he coughs, while the dust goes past him. Once the dust has clear, Charlie enters into a dark-pitch room with the only light source coming from the open door. Seeing a closed window, Charlie move to the window and proceeds to open it… Only for more dust to come from behind him, causing him to cough again. When he turns around, he saw that the room is quite dusty and its cluttered with some luggage (Most likely, the stuff that Charlie had packed before he moved.) Trying to make the best of the situation, he spots a small table and proceeds to place his luggage on the table. Upon opening, he saw a lovely antique Ralts doll that his late father bought for him. It was a special antique doll that sings a lovely lullaby to him when he was very young. It was very precious to him that connects him to his late father. When he pulled the doll out, he saw the other clothing that he had packed. Though now, he’s not going to need then, nor he risk the others tear it up with no remorse.

Just as he closes the luggage, unknown to him, both Ruby and Jen had sneak their way up the attic and hid behind some luggage, waiting for the right moment to strike. He then place the Ralts doll on the luggage as he stands up. Well… It’s going to be tough… But… I’ve got to make the best of it. Just then, a noise has caught Charlie’s attention. But when he turned to the source of the noise, he is greeted by the sudden wave of dust (Which was caused by Jen and Ruby) The dust goes through him as both Jen and Ruby quickly ran downstairs, just as Charlie is busy coughing from the dust cloud. “Charlie! What are you doing up there! And why aren’t you working!” Albert yelled from downstairs. A moment later, Alex yelled: “Charlie! I need you to come here and clean my suits! I need to wear them, tonight!” And then Max yelled: “Hey! I’m starving here! Hurry up and make me something!” After Charlie manages to clear the dust cloud, he said: “Uh… I’m coming…” He then looked down and saw his suit has been all dusted from the dust clouds from before. He sighs as he feels like it’ll be the last time that he’ll be able to wear them.

Once he changed into his ragged clothing, he went throughout the mansion to deal with the tasks Albert and his brothers has thrusted into him. Which includes grabbing Alex’s dirty laundry and cleaning them for tonight, making fresh bread for Max to eat for lunch, chopping down a series of wood for the fire stoves in the mansion, and cleaning and preparing the dining room for dinner for Albert and his step-brothers. And while that has been going on, Zeus has been watching the whole thing and is feeling sad for the amount of work and abuse that Charlie has to go through. But what he doesn’t realize is that both Jen and Ruby are right above him, and that Zeus is lying near a valuable vase. After the two quickly starred and nodded at each other, Jen proceeds to pounce on Zeus’s tail, causing the Mightyena to let out a howlering pain… Only for Ruby to quickly bounce off of the vase, causing it to fall on Zeus’s head.

This causes Zeus to get up and shake his head from the pain, as both Jen and Ruby landed near each other. Once Zeus turns around and spots the two culprits, he gets incredibly mad as he starts to growl. Jen and Ruby immediately got into position, before quickly running away as Zeus starts to chase them from all over the lobby, while barking at the two. “What’s going on out there?!” Said Albert as he enters the lobby from the second floor. This causes Jen and Ruby to run behind Albert while he’s on the stairs, while Zeus stays at the bottom floor and continues to bark at the two. “Oh my… Did this mean mutt try to hurt you, my girls?” Albert said as he pets his cat Pokemon, who responds by purring for him. He then looked at his right and said: “Charlie!! Get over here now!!” Charlie then quickly ran into the lobby and saw that the vase was on the ground (Not knowing that it was Ruby that done it.) He then picked up the vase and set it up, when Albert said: “Charlie, this dog is the cause of that mess and he’s trying to hurt my family. He is getting too big for his own worth. From now on, he is not allowed to stay in the main mansion.”

The news has pretty much shocked Charlie. Not only did he accused Zeus of the vase mess, but also banned Zeus from stepping foot in the mansion. Wanting to protest, Charlie said: “But… He’s been living with us since he was little.” Zeus then proceeds to stand by Charlie’s side as he then said: “Besides, if he can’t stay in the mansion, he’ll get very sad.” But this has caused Albert to stared fiercely at Charlie and said: “Are you questioning my authority, Charlie? I would advise you to hold your tongue, boy. Do not forget that I am the head of the household. It would be a great shame if your mother were to hear about your disobedience with me and my boys.” While Albert words have put a strain on Charlie, what comes next would shock him, as Alex arrives from the second floor and said: “You can’t, father! If our mother were to find out, it would put a strain on our family!” Then Max comes out from the dining room and said: “Yeah! We don’t want anything bad to our mother if she has to come home earlier than expected.” The two brothers then quickly rush to Charlie, as Alex said: “I know that you may think that father is strict, but he is quite serious when he’s angry.” “Yeah. Please let Zeus stay outside, for all of our sake. It’s not like he’s asking you to get rid of him.” Max said as he is pleading for his life. Charlie look at the two very scared step-brothers, then look at his step-father’s serious look. I never seen the two so scared before…  And I’m worried that my mother would be disappointed in me… And would my step-father kick me and Zeus out of the house…? Oh, mother… I wish things were back as they were before…

In the end, Charlie decided to go through with Albert’s order and brought Zeus outside. As Zeus is lying on the ground and feeling depressed, Charlie tries to cheer him up as he said: “I’m sorry Zeus… I’ll try and make this up to you.” Just then, they heard the sound of the moving carriage. The two turned to the source and saw that Cesar has returned from dropping off her mother from the pier. As Charlie goes up to him, he said: “Hey Cesar. Did my mother’s ship leave?” Cesar manages to stop the carriage as he said: “Of course, Charlie. The ship left as soon as the Duke shows up. As it turns out, they were waiting for him.” But before Cesar could ask him about the clothing he wears, Albert exits the building in a stylish suit with Jen and Ruby, causing Cesar to turned to him and said: “Oh. What can I do for you, sir.” Albert proceeds towards the carriage as he said: “My sons and I are going into town. Charlie, I want you to clean the entire mansion and prep dinner for us, when we come back.” And although Cesar is starting to get an idea on things, he still said: “Where to, sir?” “The town square to sign both Alex and Max up for the Bachelor Contest, where they’ll crown the Flower Festival’s Prince.” Albert said as he stands besides the carriage, while Jen and Ruby stand next to him.

Then both Alex and Max exit the mansion as Alex said: “Don’t get your hopes up, Charlie. Only the most stunning and cuning of men can  take the prize. So don’t bother signing up, it’s obvious you don’t fit the bill.” “Besides, with the two of us entering the contest, the others don’t stand a chance.” The two step-brothers then laugh as they enter the carriage with Albert, while Charlie said: “Well… Can’t I lease come with you?” But Albert replied with: “No, you cannot. You need to stay here and do your work. And remember, I want this place to be spotless.” As Cesar sees Charlie’s depressed expression, Albert then said: “Oh and I want you to be particular with the floor that “dog” of yours was on.” As much as Charlie wants to protest, he knows he cannot win, so he said: “Right away, sir.” “Oh, I almost forgot. I want you to wash and iron those sheets before you made our beds.” Albert said as he adds more chores into Charlie’s ever expanding list of chores. And then Alex added: “Oh and clean out my bedroom. It looks like some Tauros has been living there.” As much as Cesar wants to say something, as much as Cesar wants to help Charlie with his chores, as much as Cesar wants to tell Albert off, he knows that he’s not in a better position as Charlie if he dares challenge Albert’s authority. “Cesar!” Albert said as he signals him to go. Cesar didn’t say anything as he starts moving the Zebstrikas. Stay strong, Charlie…

As the carriage goes further and further away from the mansion, Charlie is still feeling depressed over how his step-father and his step-brothers treat him. Oh mother… It hasn’t even been a day yet… And they… As Zeus goes up to Charlie and lick his fingers to get his attention, Charlie look surprised as he turns around and saw Zeus. Charlie then smiles as he goes on his knee and pets Zeus, while saying: “Well, at least I got you, Zeus.” This manages to get Zeus happy, as Charlie suddenly got up and starts to run, allowing Zeus to happily chase him as Charlie starts laughing as he is having fun with Zeus. Meanwhile, Cinder is putting the finishing touches on her painting of the bridge, when the sounds of a moving carriage caught her attention again. When she looks at the carriage, while she saw the same driver as before, but also Albert and his two sons. “Man…. I can’t believe that Charlie is such a pushover.” Alex said as they’re laughing at his misfortune. I can’t believe that they would leave Charlie behind. It looks like their true colours are showing. I know that my paint is almost finished, but I think it’s time to check up with Charlie.

At the town square, the workers are busy setting up the judging booths and the wooden stands for the annual Flower Festival’s Bachelor and Bachelorette contest. The contest that pits the Bachelor and the Bachelorette in a show, where they present themselves to the audience and the judges as they try to woo the masses to them. And in the end, only one Bachelor and one Bachelorette will be chosen as the Prince and the Princess of the Flower Festival. And when they received the titles, they will be the representatives in the final days of the Flower Festival. As the workers are doing their jobs, Alex and Max are on the stage as they are practicing presenting themselves on stage, while Albert watches them. “Man, my body is so good. In fact, I’m confident that my strength will impress the ladies in the world.” Alex said as he starts flexing his muscles, though Max then jest: “Yeah right. As you’re too busy flexing your muscles, I’ll be quick on my feet to impress the ladies. In fact, I’ll be so quick, I can sweep ladies off their feet before they even realize it.”

“Yeah right, you stu-” Alex said, but Albert cuts him off by saying: “Stay calm, you two. Remember why I brought you here in the first place. Though I heard that this year is quite special.” Curious, the two brothers look at his father, as Max said: “What do you mean, father?” “I heard that the entire royal family will be there.” Albert explains, causing Alex to excitedly say: “Really? Are you sure?” Albert then confirms it by saying: “Yes. I heard that the King and Queen are looking for potential groom for their Princess. So my best bet is that they’ll be taking a close look at the Bachelor portion of the contest.” Max starts to get excited as well as he said: “Man… Can you imagine if the King and Queen were to notice me.” While Alex said: “And just wait until I get to marry the Princess.” Knowing his sons well, Albert said: “You two have the best chances out of any other so called “bachelors”. And since I married a lovely Noblewoman, there is no comparison over how charming and stylish you two are.” And while Albert is standing there, both Jen and Ruby starts to purr up on his leg, knowingly that he is a wise man to them.

Back at the mansion. After Charlie is done playing with Zeus,  he proceeds to take care of the sheets for his step-father and step-sons. As he places the wooden bucket full of sheets on the ground, he grabs one of them and hangs it on the hanger, while Zeus is looking at him with a sad look as he wants to help him. As Charlie spread out the sheet, he heard Zeus’s bark as he turns around and saw that Zeus is holding on to one of the bundle up sheets in his mouth. “Zeus. It’s nice of you that you want to help me.” As Charlie goes on his knee to grab the bundled sheet from Zeus, he discovers that although the sheet is almost dry, there are bits of Zeus’s saliva sticking on the sheets. Zeus also sees the drool stains that he mades and starts to feel sad, but Charlie then said: “Don’t you worry, Zeus. I can just wipe it off.” But a sudden gust of wind appears and blown the sheet away from the hanger and landed on Charlie. This caught Charlie off guard as he stumbles from getting up, and ended up falling backwards on the ground. He slowly gets up, while the sheet is on him, as he said: “Ow… What am I going to do now…”

Nearby, Cinder had made her way to where Charlie is while hiding behind a tree. Seeing his latest misfortune, she said: “Oh dear… It looks like Charlie is having a series of bad luck. I think it’s time for him to get a helping hand, but I must be discreet, for my time to meet him is not now.” Determined to help him, she pulled out her brush that she uses to paint the picture and starts to twirl it around. As it twirls, it magically transformed from a paint brush into her very own magic wand. With her wand gripped, she cast a magic spell over towards some nearby trees, while saying: “When a boy who’s pure and kind has fallen on the deep end, his friends will come and bring him back up.” As the spell dust lands on the trees, all of a sudden, six dark blue bird Pokemon flew from the trees and flies in the air. These dark blue bird Pokemon are known as Taillows as they spotted Charlie under the sheet. With their minds made up, they quickly flew down and the two of then grabbed the sheet that was on top of Charlie. Confused, Charlie quickly turns around and saw that the Taillows had place the sheet back on the hanger, much to Charlie’s surprised. Charlie also sees that the other Taillows are grabbing the sheets from the bucket and hanging them on the other hangers and paddening them out. As that was going on, one of the Taillows landed on Charlie’s shoulder as he said: “I’m… I’m amazed that you are willing to help me, when I didn’t do anything to help you.” As they continue to help them out, the Taillow that was on his shoulder begins to chirp, signaling him that they are ready to help him with more of his work.

As the sun begins to set, Cesar is driving the carriage back home as the others are done with their things. As they crossed the bridge, Alex said: “I wonder if Charlie the lazy has even attempted to start working.” “Yeah, it’s so obvious that he won’t be able to finish in time.”Max said. And then Albert said: “Well if Charlie doesn’t finish with his chores, then he’ll have me to deal with.” Back at the mansion, the Taillows has finished with the sheets and are now helping Charlie with cleaning the mansion. As he sweeps the remaining dust off the floor, with Zeus helping Charlie by skating on the floor with the brushes on each paw. As Zeus is skating on the floor, he was distracted by one of the Taillows riding on the brushes that’s sliding down the stair railings. Charlie turned around and said: “Watch out, Zeus!” As he saw that Zeus was sliding towards the bucket that’s full of water. Though it was too late for Zeus, as he bumps into the bucket and spills water all over the floor. Although it means that Charlie would have more work to do, he can’t help but give off a chuckle. Outside, some of the Taillows are grabbing some fresh flowers so that they can place them on the railings. But one of the Taillows spotted the carriage and realize that they’re running out of time. So that said Taillow proceeds to fly back to the mansion as fast as possible.

Back inside, Charlie is busy cleaning up the spilled water when the Taillow comes in and started chirping like crazy. Charlie heard the chirps and then realize that they are coming and said: “Oh no. I won’t be able to clean it up in time.” Seeing this, Zeus decided to use his body and slide on the floor to soak up the water. This manages to clean the floor up as Charlie said: “Thank you, Zeus. Nice work.” He then starts to chuckle, but then he suddenly heard Albert’s voice saying: “Charlie! When the Duke of the mansion arrives, you should be waiting at the door.” This alerts Charlie as he turns to the front door and said: “C-Coming.” Then Charlie proceeds to tell Zeus: “Zeus, you’re supposed to stay outside, remember.” Upon hearing that, Zeus nodded as he ran through the side door, while the flock of Taillows follow him out the door. Once the last of the Taillow went through, Charlie proceeds to close the side door as he sighs in relief. “Ha! I knew he didn’t finish his chores!” Max said, causing Charlie to turn around and said: “Yes I have. I just finish it, right now.” “Well let’s hope that it’s spotless, like father said.” Max said, while Alex notices the dirt on Charles face and said: “Well, how can you say that when you got dirt on your face.” As Albert, Jen and Ruby steps through the lobby to begin their inspection, Charlie said: “I just did the best that I can.”

As much as Albert does not want to admit, but he discovers that the lobby is quite spotless. While Alex and Max took a look and were amazed over his work, causing Alex to say: “Whoa… How did you manage to do all of this?” “Yeah… It’s so shiny…” Max said in amazement. And Charlie remains silent as he knows that Zeus and the flock of Taillows has helped him with the cleaning. After their investigation, they’re sitting in the dining room as the two step-brothers are hungry from all of the practices that they did, while Albert is checking the chair for any dust. He then said: “I must admit, you did an excellent job with the cleaning…” He then turned to Charlie and said: “But if I do recall, I asked you to clean the house and prep for supper, Charlie.” “Yeah, I’m starving!” Alex said as he gripped his stomach. Realizing that he forgot to get the pot on, Charlie said: “O-Okay then… I’ll prep up some of mom’s favourite stew.” “I don’t care what it is. Just hurry and make some, already!” Max said as he starves for something to eat, and Charlie knew that he doesn’t have much time.

In the kitchen, Charlie is busy peeling the potato skins with a knife, while having a lot more vegetables to peel and cut. What am I going to do? I know that they’re not the patient type… So I don’t know if I can get this all done in time… Just as he’s peeling the potatoes, he suddenly heard a flock of wings flapping in the room. When he looked up, he saw that there was a flock of Taillows has entered the kitchen. As Charlie is surprised by this, two of the Taillows grab some potatoes. And as two of the Taillows are holding on to the potatoes, two of the other Taillows uses their sharp wings to cut the skin off of the potatoes. And with the potatoes peeled, the Taillows that are holding onto them have proceeds to drop them on the counter, where the last two Talilows are. And one the counter, the Taillow used the chopper to cut the potato into pieces. And after the Taillow that has the chopper lifts it, the other Taillow move the potato around, allowing the Taillow to use the chopper to cut the potato into more pieces. And the cycle repeats with the Taillows as they help Charlie with the vegetables, causing Charlie to say: “Wow. Thank you. You guys are really helpful.”

With the vegetables all peeled and cut, Charlie proceeds to make the stew. And as he is watching the stew and stirring it occasionally, Zeus is helping Charlie by pressing the panel to increase the flames to boil the stew in the pot. As the Taillows stands-by to see if they need his help again, Charlie takes a sniff of the stew, before proceeding to say: “Wow. The stew is coming along real good.” “Charlie! Hurry up with the dinner, already!” Max yelled from the dining room. And then Charlie heard Alex yelled: “Yeah! Hurry up! I’m hungry!” “It’s almost ready, guys.” Charlie said. He then looked at the Taillows and said: “Could you guys add a bit more of salt and pepper?” The Taillows nodded as Charlie went to grab some bowls. Two of the Taillows then proceeds to swoop down and grab some shakers with their beaks. Then the two Taillows proceeds to fly onto the handle of the pot and starts shaking the shakers into the stew. Although they don’t know what “A bit more of salt and pepper means”, they continue to shake the shakers. But as they shake, the tops of the shakers suddenly came off and all of the salt and pepper fell into the stew, causing the two Taillows to drop the shakers out of panic. As the two saw the spilled content mixing into the stew, Charlie proceeds to grab a label and proceeds to scoop the stew into the bowl, much to the horror of the two Taillows, for Charlie does not know of the spilled salt and pepper.

After managing to fill five bowl’s worth of stew, Charlie proceeds to place the bowls in front of Albert, Alex, Max, Jen and Ruby. As Charlie heads to the corner of the dining room, Albert said: “Now… I know that you have spent so much time into making this stew, so I know it will be good. But… Just to make sure, we’re going to have a little taste first.” Ruby then proceeds to lean down and takes a lick out of the stew… Only for Ruby to suddenly leaned back, before proceeding to stick her head into a jug of water, which has shocked Charlie. Albert and his step-brothers then proceeds to taste the stew, only to give off this disgusted look on their face, as Max said: “Gah… This stew is way too salty!” “This is quite disgusting, Charlie.” Albert said, while Alex said: “Yeah, it could burn my mouth off. Did you even tasted this before you served this… This thing to us!” While this has caused Charlie to feel depressed over their hatred over his stew, Max then add salt to his wound by saying: “I should’ve known that he can’t cook. After all, he can’t fool our taste.” Alex then proceeds to pass his bowl over to Charlie and said: “Here. Why don’t you eat this thing. After all, I wouldn’t serve this gunk to that mutt of yours.” As Charlie grabs the bowl from Alex as he is horrified over what he’s about to eat, he looked over and saw a bunch of fierce stares from Albert, Max, Jen and Ruby (After she pulled her head out of the jug) over his expression on what he’s about to eat. “Go on. Taste it.” Albert said.

Unbeknownst to the group, Cinder quietly teleports besides the wall from the outside and peeks through the window. Upon seeing Charlie about to taste the bad stew, she pulled out her wand and said: “With their intent to make Charlie suffer. I’ll shall change this simple mistake into something they won’t forget.” And with a flick of her wand, the spell is cast as her spell dust fly through the window and into the bowl in Charlie’s hand, only for the dust to not only reflect and spreads through the stew, but also splits off into five different dusts. And each of the five dusts proceeds to land into each of the bowls, as well as the pot in the kitchen. When Charlie gained enough courage to take a spoonful of the stew and eat it, he was… Amazed… Like… It’s the exact same thing that his father has made. And as the others are waiting for his reaction, Albert said: “So… What do you think?” “I… I have to say that… It’s perfect. I’ve never made anything this good before.” Charlie said with confidence, which causes Albert and his step-brothers to be shocked by his reaction as they said: “What?!” As Max tries the stew again, out of curiosity, Alex slapped his forehead and said: “Man… I can’t believe that your taste buds are this bad, you consider this slop to be good.”

“Actually… He’s right. It is pretty good.” Max said with a surprised look. Which cause Alex to look at Max with a shocked reaction as he said: “What?! You too?!” Jen then cautionately leans down and gives a stew a lick. And with a satisfied look on her face, proceeds to eat the stew. Seeing Jen eating the stew, Ruby follows suit as she eats the stew as well, causing Alex to turn at the two and said: “Even you two like it?! But I don’t understand, it was awful before!” Charlie then look at Albert and said: “Do you like it, father?” And Albert replied with: “Yes. It’s quite excellent, Charlie.” As Charlie sighs in relief, and Alex now the odd man out, Albert then said: “And with that said. You are now capable of doing all of the chores and cooking all of our meals from now on.” And while Charlie is happy to hear how they love his food now, he is now saddened over how he’ll have to do all of the work, for now on. And with Alex feeling defeated, he sits down and said: “Well if everybody is enjoying it, now I want some as well.” He then looked at Charlie and said: “And you better get me a bowl of stew, before you even attempt to eat your own.” Knowing that he can’t argue with the others, he said: “Coming right up.”

After dinner is finish, Charlie is sitting on his dusted bed with Zeus, as Charlie is  feeling a bit starve over not eating anything. And although he only had the bowl of stew Alex gave him, and the family members only have two bowl’s worth of stew, he knows that he can’t eat it all himself when the others had help him out with the cleaning and prepping for dinner. So he brought both the flock of Taillows and Zeus a bowl of stew. And although they were hesitant on eating before Charlie had his fill, he insisted that they go ahead and eat without him. After all, he stated that without their help, he would have been in a worse situation than before. As the sounds of the Ralts doll singing a lullaby, Charlie then proceeds to stand up from the dusted bed and make his way towards the open window, while Zeus follows him from the bed. He then said: “You know… Today would have been a disaster, if it wasn’t for those Taillows and you, Zeus.” Zeus then let out an excited bark as he chuckles while petting Zeus in the head. Charlie then looked out at the window to see the nightly stars, when he saw his mother’s reflection in the skies as he remembers her words. You know what they say. Some dreams do come true. He then leaned out of the window and say: “I hope so, mother. All I have to do, is to believe in myself. I sure do miss you, mother.” And the two then spend the rest of the night staring at the stars, with the lullaby playing in the room.

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Charlie: A Pokemon Cinderella Story. Chapter 01

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