Charlie: A Pokemon Cinderella Story. Chapter 23 by troy168 < Submission

Keywords male 1170189, female 1059490, pokemon 186409, human 106109, fantasy 26286, lucario 11786, gardevoir 3465, mightyena 1203, delphox 1189, greninja 985, persian 607, liepard 426, rapidash 392, pangoro 358, gallade 290, zebstrika 247, fairy tale 222, machamp 170, gothitelle 162

The Plan to Assassinate the Princess

In the Lestorm’s house. Charlie is working on a hat for Max’s costume. Today, Albert is throwing a costume party and as expected, Charlie has been put in charge of preparing everything for the party. Max then proceeds to say: “Are you finished sewing that hat in?” And Charlie replied: “Not yet, but I’m almost done.” Charlie was told by both Alex and Max to get the costumes ready for them when the costume party started. And even though Charlie doesn’t have a costume himself, he is at least glad that his friends will come to the costume party, especially with his new found girlfriend Maria. Alex then says: “Hey, Charlie. What’s with this fake flintlock pistol?” Charlie then says: “It’s a part of your costume, Alex. You can use it to let people think that your armour is invincible.” This causes Alex to say: “I see, thanks, Charlie.” Max then proceeds to say: “Hey. Charlie. Mind passing that belt to me.” And as Charlie says: “Sure. Just give me a few minutes.” Max then says: “I’m not going to go out and get the belt when my hands on the pants. Just hurry and grab the belt.” This causes Charlie to say: “Okay. I’ll-” But before Charlie could stand up, Ruby proceeds to grab the belt and hurries over to Max. Max then grabs the belt from Ruby as he says: “Thanks, Ruby.” As Ruby walks away from Max, she looks at Charlie as Charlie whispers to her: “Thank you, Ruby.” Ruby nods as she’s glad to be on his side. Just as Charlie finishes sewing the hat together, Max says: “Charlie. Are you finished with it?” And Charlie stands up and walks towards Max as he says: “Yeah. Just now.” As Charlie hands Max the hat, they hear Albert’s voice saying: “Charlie! How’s the preparation for the party! Alex and Max. Where are your costumes?” As Charlie turns around, he sees Albert walking into the room as Charlie says: “I’ve sent out the invitation, just as you ask. And I just finished with their costumes too.” Alex and Max then peek out of the folding screen as Alex says: “Yeah, we got these costumes just for us.”
As the two brothers step out of the folding screen as the sight surprised Albert. Alex’s costume consists of a Hercules’ type armour with a couple of fake flintlock pistols on his holsters, while Max’s costume consists of a Robin Hood’s type of clothing with a green feather hat. But this causes Albert to say: “Why are you two wearing such ridiculous costumes! There’s no way you two can be seen in those costumes!” But Max proceeds to say: “But Father. You were the one that said that this is a costume party. And our costumes are going to be the best ones.” But Albert proceeds to say: “Just because we’re having a costume party, that does not mean you get to go and play dress-up.” As Albert takes the armour and hat off of Alex and Max and hands them over to Charlie, Albert then says: “With the possibility of the princess accepting our invitation, we cannot make any mistakes when it comes to this party. I want the two of you to wear your finest suits so when the princess does show up, you will prove to her how you are meant for royalty while the others would rather play dress up.” As Alex and Max take off their costumes, Alex proceeds to say: “Oh. I get what you’re saying, Father.” Max then proceeds to look at Charlie as he proceeds to say: “In that case, we’ll let Charlie decide on which costume is better by letting him wear them himself.” As Max hands his costume over to Charlie, Alex says: “Yeah… Good idea. Although he’s not that smart, I do know that he’ll pick mine for sure.” And as Charlie says: “Really… You want me to be at the costume party?” Albert proceeds to say: “Absolutely not, Charlie.” Albert then takes the costume away, which saddens Charlie, as Albert then says: “This party is not for you. This is only for my real sons. Your role is to only serve the guests we have for this party.” As the two brothers look at each other with disappointment that they’ll never know which costume is better, Albert then says: “Now go and get the food ready.” This causes Charlie to say: “Yes, sir.” As Charlie proceeds to leave the room and head down the halls, he spots Jen with a worried look on her face as he says: “What’s wrong, Jen?”

As Charlie just found out when he enters the kitchen, the bread and the pastries are all burnt. He figures that when he went to help Alex and Max with their costume, he didn’t estimate how long it would take to help them, which causes the bread and pastries to burn. As Jen, Ruby and Zeus are sad about this, Charlie sees them sad as he says: “It’ll be okay. I can just hurry and bake some more, right…” Just then, they heard the door open as they heard: “Hello, everyone. I hope I’m not too early.” Charlie then looks over as he sees Cinder with a couple of trays of food as Charlie says: “Oh, hello Cinder.” Cinder proceeds to walk downstairs as she says: “I made some treats for the costume party going on.” Charlie then grabs the tray from Cinder as he says: “Thank you.” As Charlie sees the tray full of food, Charlie says: “Wow. They do look tasty.” As Cinder then says: “I hope they taste good as well. I haven’t baked in a long time.” As Charlie goes over to the counter to place the tray down, he proceeds to say: “I’m sure that they will love it.” Cinder then proceeds to look at the burnt loaves of bread and pastries that are on the counter. She then concluded that Albert and his family must have worked him to the bone and had forced him to let the food burn. This causes Cinder to say to herself: “I guess it’s time to help him out.” She then proceeds to cast a spell on the burnt food, which changes into freshly made loaves of bread and pastries. Cinder then says: “By the way, Charlie. Did you make these?” Charlie then looked over and said: “Yeah. But they’re burnt. I’ll have to start over.” But Cinder proceeds to pick up one of the pastries as Cinder says: “You sure?” While I don’t know much about cooking, I do think that they’re fine.” Confused, Charlie walks over and sees the bread and pastries that are not burnt. This causes Charlie to say: “How did it… I could’ve sworn that they were burnt.” As Ruby, Jen and Zeus figure out who it was, Cinder proceeds to leave the kitchen as she says: “I’ll see you at the party, Charlie.” Charlie then asks: “Hold on. Will I be able to recognize you in your costume?” Cinder then proceeds to turn around and says: “You’ll have to find out at the party.”

Meanwhile, at the abandoned house. Maria and Skarlet are staking out the house from the distance as they look for anyone entering the place. As Skarlet says: “Hopefully, we can capture someone and bring them to the king.” Maria says: “I hope so too… And hopefully, we can explain Emily’s traitorous plan to my Mother and Father with Nicole, once Emily’s gone. Hopefully, we can stop her in time.” And she also hopes that once they manage to stop Emily’s plan once and for all, she can confess to Charlie that she’s actually a princess. But for now, her plan is focused on stopping Emily’s plan, since she has the advantage in the eyes of the King and Queen, due to Maria’s past reckless adventures. And even though she has Nicole and Skarlet on her side, she’ll have to do this with them or else Emily would take the kingdom over. Some time has passed as they haven’t seen anything yet as Skarlet says: “I wonder if Nicole will manage to convince the king to listen to us.” And as Maria says: “I hope so-” The sound of flocks of Fearows can be heard in the distance, catching both Maria and Skarlet’s attention.

As the two see the flock of Fearows flying away, Skarlet says: “Wonder what spook them?” Maria starts to get suspicious as she says: “Yeah… I wonder as well…” It was then that Maria thought to herself. There’s no way that a flock of Fearows would just fly in a flock like that. And it was at this moment that Maria came into a horrifying realization. And that there’s a good possibility that Emily’s army is already heading their way to invade the castle. This causes Maria to look at Skarlet and says: “The castle must be in danger. Let’s go.” As Maria takes off on her Rapidash, Skarlet follows her as she says: “I’m with you.” As the two hurry to return to the castle, a lone man is staring at the two from the distance as he says: “It’s time.” The lone man then quickly flees the bridge, just as the two are getting near the bridge. What the two don't know is that there’s a bomb planted below the bridge. And just as the two got on the bridge, the lit fuse went inside the bomb, causing the bomb to explode and taking out the bridge in a fiery explosion.

Over at the castle of Espérer. Captain George is overseeing the training of his soldiers as part of his usual drill. But as his drill is going well, he notices one of his soldiers falls to the ground as he starts to cough.as he falls to the ground. As George is alerted, he soon sees the other soldiers starting to cough as they fall to the ground. George proceeds to runs up to the fallen soldier as he says: “What happened?!” And the fallen soldier proceeded to say: “Don’t… Don’t drink the… root…” The fallen soldier then closed his eyes as he slumped his head. George quickly checks the pulse and is relieved that he’s still breathing. This causes George to believe that his soldiers were poisoned by a paralyzing drug and there’s only one place he can think of. George then quickly runs towards the pub as he knows what that fallen soldier was talking about. Upon entering, George quickly sees most of the soldiers are enjoying a cold mug of root beer as the few remaining soldiers are waiting for the waitress to serve them. George then proceeds to shout: “Don’t drink the root beer! The drink’s tainted with a paralyzing drug!” As the few soldiers who didn’t have the drink stand up in shock, most of the soldiers proceed to drop the mugs as they have that terrifying look on their faces. George proceeded to head to the bar and said to the waitress: “Tell me! What happened to that broth!” The waitress was silent at first, but then she lowers her head as she says: “I’m sorry…” But then they hear another voice saying: “Don’t blame her…” Suddenly, a rogue with a cloak and mask on stands up with a dagger behind the waitress’s back as he says: “She was only doing what we told her.” This angers George as he says: “You coward…” But before they could draw their swords, several soldiers in black clothing rushed into the pub and pointed their rifles at them. Even though George could take the rogue on, he knew that most of the soldiers were already affected by the tainted broth, forcing him and his men to surrender. This causes the rogue to say: “Good… You made the right choice, “captain”.”

As more soldiers enter the unguarded castle, the servers and maids are hiding in fear as they do not know what they would do to them if they get caught. As more soldiers flood the castle floors, the king and queen are watching this from the throne room with Nicole. As King Lionhart says: “Just who are these people?” As Nicole sees the soldiers as well, she has a look of fear in her eyes as she realized that Emily is putting her plan into action as she looks at the Queen and King and says: “Your highness, we must hurry and find safety for the two of you.” The King and Queen are confused as Queen Oracle says: “What are you talking-” “M-My lord. L-Look out.” Said one of their servants as the three turns and see the soldiers breaking into the room as they have their servants captured, as one of the soldiers in black uniform proceeds to say: “Don’t move!” As they cut off their exit points, Queen Oracle proceeds to say: “What is the meaning of this?” But the soldiers proceeded to draw their swords and pointed at them. As the three are trapped, King Lionhart proceeded to say: “Who are you?! And who’s commanding you to do this foul deed?!”

“I believe I can answer this question for you, my “lord”.” Said an all too familiar voice. As some of the soldiers proceed to step sideways, the three see Emily, Lucard, Maximilian and Razor are with the soldiers that invaded the castle. This causes Lionhart to say: “Emily… You tratious dog. You’ll never take this kingdom from me.” But Emily simply replied: “Oh, but I’m afraid that you don’t have a choice. As of today, I will be taking over Castle Espérer and I will be relieving the two of you of your royal duties.” As Nicole proceeds to say: “Do you really think that the citizens would let you get away with this?” Emily proceeds to say: “Your worries are not needed, Nicole. I know of a way to get them to listen to me…” Lionhart then says: “Your plan will never go through…” Emily then says: “Oh, I think it will. But as a token of my gratitude, I’ll let the three of you stay here in the castle, as long as you agree to follow my command.” With Oracle saying: “How can we be so blinded in trusting you…” Lionhart then says: “And what about our daughter? Do you think that she would follow you?” But this causes Emily to laugh as Oracle starts to worry as she says: “No… You didn’t…” But Emily simply said: “Now… I’ll be taking what’s mine.” Emily then proceeds to walk up to Lionhart and snatches his crown as she places it on her head. As Emily’s soldiers hold the three back from her, Emily sits on her throne as she says: “Take the three to the dungeon, where all the others will be waiting.” As the soldiers drag the three away, Emily starts to laugh with her new position in the castle. Once the three are gone, Emily proceeds to say: “Lucard. Send a carrier to Reaper. Let him know that we have taken the castle.” Lucard then bows as he says: “As you command, your highness.”

Over at the town of Espérer. Tony and Capra are waiting for May to show up since they planned on going to Charlie’s costume party. As Tony and Capra got their clown costumes ready as they waited on the fountain, with Capra’s costume and make-up taking up most of the time, Tony proceeds to say: “I wonder what’s taking May so long?” As Capra wonders as well, the two suddenly heard a giggle as they heard: “Hello there, you two.” This causes the two to turn around and see what they thought was Princess Maria, is actually May in her costume as Tony says: “M-May?!” May then walks around the fountain as she says: “That’s right. Feast your eye on the one and only Princess Maria’s double!” While Capra is amazed by May’s costume, Tony bows his head as he says: “Amazing as always. You managed to pull off Princess Maria’s look again.” May then says: “Yup. And I have even taken a few lessons on how to act like a princess. I’m sure we can make them believe that I’m the real thing. Now let's go to the party.” Tony then proceeds to bow down as he says: “Of course.” May then proceeds to rub the back of her head as she smiles while saying: “Oh… I can’t wait to see the looks on their faces…” And when Tony lifts his head and sees what May is doing, he quickly said: “Hold on, May. You’ll give yourself away if you do that.” May then lifts her hand away from her head as she wonders what Tony meant as Tony then says: “The Princess tends to be a mature woman with a polite personality. If you want to convince them that you’re a princess, then you need to be polite.” This causes May to say: “Yeah… You got a point.”

Unbeknownst to them, several bachelors notice the two as they thought that May is actually the princess as one of the bachelors says: “Is that the princess?” Another bachelor proceeded to say: “Yeah. There she is.” As more bachelors join the group so that they can see the “princess”, Capra notices the group and proceeds to tap on both Tony and May’s shoulders to get their attention. And when Tony and May turn and notice the group, they get worried as they’re attracting too much attention right now as Tony says: “We should run…” And May said: “Agree…” The two then proceeds to run with Capra on Tony’s shoulder as the bachelors try to catch up to the two, just so they can interact with the “princess”. But when the bachelors see the two going around the corner, they follow them, only to see nothing but a dead-end ally. And while the bachelors are confused over how they managed to get away, the three teleport to a separate alley as they successfully flee from the bachelors.

Back at the destroyed bridge. The four men are looking at the bridge for any signs of life. Just then, the fifth guy came up to them and said: “We’ve got word that our client has taken the castle.” The guy that was called Reaper thought to himself before proceeding to say: “Very well. Send the carrier back to our client. Tell them that we have finished with our job and will return to inform them of the Princess's life.” The guy then said: “Consider it done.” As the fifth guy heads back, one of the other guys said: “So have you confirmed that the Princess is dead?” Reaper proceeds to say: “Not yet. But our client should be expecting us soon. So let’s head out for now.” Just as Reaper proceeds to climb the hill, one of the men says: “And if she’s alive.” As the other mens climb the hill as well, Reaper then says: “We’ll give her to our client as a gift.” Yes, these five men are assassins, hired by Emily to take out the Princess. And should the Princess live after Emily takes over the castle, then they’ll kidnap her and bring her to Emily.

What the five assassins don't know is that Maria and Skarlet were only blown away from the explosive as they and their mounts only received minor scratches. As the two hide near the destroyed bridge, using the broken bridge piece that lands upward as cover, they peek over and see the five assassins riding away on their Zebstrikas. As Maria says: “It looks like we’ll be expecting trouble.” And as Skarlet says: “If they’re here… Does that mean…” Maria then says: “Yeah… There’s no doubt.” It was then that Maria knew that Emily had succeeded in taking over the castle. Even though she has regretted not stopping her earlier, she knew that as long as she is still breathing, she’ll do anything to stop Emily and take back the castle. Maria then says: “We’ll have to be careful in evading these guys if we want to take the castle back.” Skarlet nodded as she said: “Of course.” The two then quickly get on their Rapidashes as they go around the destroyed bridge.

But just as they made it to the other side, Maria quickly spots Reaper as he fires his rifle at them. As Maria nearly dodged the bullet, one of the assassins handed Reaper another rifle as he fired at them. As the second bullet hit the ground near them, Maria proceeds to say: “Let’s go, Skarlet! Quickly!” As the two flee, the five assassins give chase as they ride down the path. As the five are catching up, Skarlet knew that it would be a matter of time before they would catch them. So Skarlet looks at Maria and says: “Maria! Hurry back to the castle as soon as you can! I’ll stay and hold them off as long as I can!” Even though Maria doesn’t want to put her friend in danger, she knew that letting the assassins catch them is not an option. So Maria looks at Skarlet and says: “Okay! But be careful and stay safe!” Skarlet nodded as she said: “Understand!” Maria then proceeds to ride off as Skarlet turns around and unsheathes her sword and says: “Come face me!” Skarlet then proceeds to charge at the five assassins with her sword raised. But as she gets close, Reaper proceeds to jump over Skarlet which forces her to stop as one of the assassins manages to get by her.

As Maria continues to flee, Reaper and the assassin are in hot pursuit. As Maria goes through a thick forest, she knows that trying to outride them is out of the question as it will only make her Rapidash tired. But when she leaves the thick forest, she has an idea of how she can evade them. As she rode down the path, she quickly jumped and hid on one of the branches on the tree near the branches. As Reaper and the assassin leave the thick forest, they see the Rapidash without the Princess as they are confused. They then stop in their path as they search for any signs of the Princess as Reaper says: “Keep your eyes peel.”. But while the two kept their eyes peeled, Maria manages to get the drop on the assassin and cover his mouth to prevent him from alerting Reaper. And as Maria proceeds to drag the assassin off of his Zebstrika, Reaper turns around and sees the assassin gone. Suspicious, Reaper gets off his Zebstrika and heads towards the other Zebstrika as he looks around. He then notices the heavy footprints on the ground as he says: “So that’s where you went.” Reaper then proceeds to get on his Zebstrika as he rides off.

What the Reaper doesn’t know is that Maria is actually hidden nearby with the tied up and gagged assassin. She then looks over and sees Reaper heading down a path as the path leads to the Lestorm’s house. Seeing that has caused Maria to say: “No… He’s heading to Charlie’s house.” As she recalls, Charlie’s family is having a costume party at their house. And even though she is invited to come to the costume party, both as the Princess from Albert and as herself from Charlie, back then, she couldn’t afford letting Emily go for one day. Though that changed when Emily took over the castle. And with Reaper heading to Charlie’s house, she has a feeling that not only is Charlie and his family would be put in danger, but the guests that are enjoying the party would also be put in danger. Maria was about to head out, only to stop and see that since she is wearing her Princess outfit, the assassin would’ve easily spotted her. She then looks over at the assassin and notices the clothing that he has. She then decides to take the clothing off of the assassin and wears it herself. While the clothing is a little tight, it at least conceals her Princess outfit. She then proceeds to run towards Charlie’s house in an attempt to stop Reaper from hurting the guests.

Back at the Lestorm’s house. The costume party is going on as the guests are enjoying themselves while wearing their costumes. Among them is Cinder as she is wearing a witch costume. Charlie, Jen, Ruby and Zeus see Cinder’s costume as Cinder says: “So, what do you think?” Charlie then proceeds to say: “Wow… You look like an actual witch.” Zeus then proceeds to say that she is, though Charlie couldn’t understand what he said, which gives Cinder the chance to look around as she proceeds to say: “Well thank you. But it looks like “Princess Maria” is the one that’s stealing the show, today.” Charlie then looks over and sees Tony and Capra with their clown costumes as well as May in her Princess Maria’s outfit as Charlie says: “Yeah. May is a great actress.” Over to the three, May proceeds to bow gracefully as she says: “It’s an honour for the two of you to invite me.” Of course, May is talking to the two brothers as Alex says: “Oh, it’s nothing compared to your beauty, my Princess.” But then Max proceeds to move past Alex as he says: “Would you like to dance with me, my Princess?” Alex then looks at Max and says: “Hold it, Max. I’ll dance with the Princess first.” Nearby, Albert is watching the two brothers fight as usual as Albert proceeds to say: “I’ll need to teach them not to fight in front of the real Princess…”

As the costume party continues, Reaper is hiding nearby as he notices the Princess is within the crowds as he says: “Well… Aren’t you clever, Princess…” He figures that she uses the crowd as protection as he knows that if he tries to attack the Princess, he’ll get pinned down in a matter of seconds. So he’ll have to be clever to steal the princess and leave unscathed. At the party. Alex proceeds to say: “So, I heard that you’re one of the best sword fighters in the region.” Tony then jumps in as he says: “That’s right. Not only is she the best in the region, but she’s also the best showman.” This excites the brothers as Max says: “Would you mind showing us your sword skills?” Tony then proceeds to say: “She’ll never deny any requests from some fine gentleman.” With May knowing that Tony is setting up an audience for her, she nods her head as she says: “If that’s what you want…” May then proceeds to draw her sword from her sheath and lunge her sword to the air a couple of times as the crowd gets excited. May then notices someone as she points her sword as she says: “You there. You seem like a good fighter, how about a challenge from me?” The crowd then looked as they saw Reaper, who was trying to sneak into the party without notice. But much to Reaper's confusion, the crowd starts to cheer as he wonders what sort of plan the Princess is doing.

With the two into position, May proceeds to say: “Now… Let’s begin!” The two begin to clash swords as although Reaper has more experience, May is able to handle herself with a few sword fighting lessons she received. As the two continue to clash, the crowd cheered for May as Tony says: “That’s right! The Princess’s skills are like no other! She will surely defeat this man and claim another victory!” As the crowd continues to cheer for May, Reaper is getting furious as even though this was supposed to be a duel, he believed that the Princess is going to make a fool out of him and he won’t let that happen. Reaper then proceeds to push forward with his attacks as May is forced to walk back with her sword as she says: “H-Hold on. You know we’re only acting, right?” But Reaper continues with his attack as the two go further and further away from the party. But the crowd continues to cheer for May as they think it’s part of the fun. It was then that Albert said: “Well, that was fun. But I think it’s time we have ourselves some refreshments.” As Albert leads Alex and Max to the tables, the crowd follows them as Tony knows that the act is over now as he proceeds to say: “Okay, May! The show’s over! You can come back now!” But there’s silence as Tony says: “May!” But with no response, Charlie says: “Something strange is going on…”

As Reaper continues with his attack, May starts to panic as she sees Reaper slashing the tree as she says: “W-What are you doing?! T-The show’s over now!” But the Reaper simply said: “Do you really think that you can escape from me, Princess?” And as May continues to try and block Reaper’s furious attacks, May panicky said: “H-Huh?! What are you talking about?! I’m not the Princess!” But Reaper said: “You can’t fool me, you coward!” As May continues to back away from Reaper, she ends up stepping backwards as she falls backward from a cliff. As she hits the ground and got knocked out from the impact, Reaper looks down at May as he says: “I thought that you were the best. Such a disappointment.” “May?! Are you okay?!” The voice of Charlie is heard as Reaper looks behind him and sees Charlie, Cinder, Tony and Capra as he thinks that they’ll try to stop him as he heads down the hill. The four see Reaper as Tony says: “No… May!” As Tony runs after Reaper, Charlie says: “Hold on!” As Tony continues to try and help May, he sees Reaper placing May on the back of the Zebstrika as Tony says: “May!” As Cinder and Charlie catch up to him, Cinder says: “Come on, we’ve got to help that girl.” But then Charlie notices the cliff as he says: “Wait! There’s a-” But it was too late as Tony slips on the cliff and manages to hold on to the edge of the cliff, while Cinder slips off the cliff as well as she manages to grab on to Tony. Charlie tries to stop, but he ends up sliding off the cliff as he grabs on to Cinder for dear life.

Back on the ground. Maria is able to catch up as she spots Reaper getting on a Zebstrika with what it looks to be Princess Maria herself. Maria then proceeds to draw her rapier as she stands in front of Reaper as she says: “Hold it!” But Reaper simply rides ahead as Maria is forced to step aside. Charlie looks down as he sees Maria as he says: “Maria?” But then Charlie slips off of Cinder’s costume as Capra manages to grab Charlie and teleport him to the ground, giving Charlie a slight bump below. As Charlie looks at Capra, he says: “Thanks, Capra. Now help Tony and Cinder.” Capra nodded as he went to save Cinder and Tony. Charlie then turns her attention to Maria and says: “I wonder what Maria’s up to?” As Maria looks forward, she sees that he’s already got some distance and she needs to hurry and catch up with them. But when she turns and sees Charlie, Maria proceeds to say: “Charlie! It’s very important that I need a carriage!” While Charlie doesn’t understand what’s going on, he nodded as he said: “Okay, we can use our carriage.” As the two make their way back home, Maria and Charlie quickly get on the carriage as Cesar says: “W-Wait, what are you-” But Maria proceeds to drive off with the two Zebstrikas in tow. As she drives the carriage, Charlie proceeds to sit next to Maria, which surprises her, while Zeus, Jen and Ruby sit in the back of the carriage, after they got on while Maria was taking off with it.

Back in the castle of Espérer. Emily asks: “Tell me Maximilian, have we received word from our carrier?” Maximilian then explained: “Yes, your highness. We’ve received word that they have completed their task and they’re on their way back to let us know the fate of our former Princess.” Emily then starts to laugh as she says: “Good. Even though I have taken over the castle, I cannot say that I feel confident unless I know that Maria is taken care of, once and for all.” Meanwhile, in the dungeons. Most of the soldiers that are in the dungeon are recovering from the paralyzing drug as Captain George says: “We’re sorry, my lord. We failed to protect you and the kingdom with our lives…” But Lionhart proceeds to say: “Do not give in to despair. We know that they will be punished for their wrongdoings. And until we lose our breath, we must keep fighting.” Just then, they heard a Pidove flying as they look up and see a Pidove with a small note wrapped around the leg. As the Pidove lands near Oracle’s shoulder, Nicole says: “What does the note say?” Oracle gently grabs the Pidove and grabs the note as she begins reading. And while she gasps at first, she then starts to cry with a smile on her face as she says: “My daughter… My daughter is okay!” This causes the guards to cheer as they know that they will save them from Emily.

Back in the fields. Maria and Charlie continue to chase Reaper as Charlie says: “Hurry, Maria. We can’t lose them.” Maria nodded as she says: “Got it.” As they continue to drive the carriage, Charlie sees the Castle of Espérer as he says: “What? Does he work at the castle? Is May going to be punished for impersonating the Princess?” But Maria said: “No. That guy is bad news. He thinks that I’m his captor.” Charlie was confused as he said: “Huh? What are you talking about?” Maria didn’t respond as Skarlet proceeded to ride alongside them as Skarlet says: “Maria!” Maria looks at Skarlet and says: “Skarlet.” Skarlet then says: “Emily has locked the army in the dungeon with a paralyzing drug. But I have managed to find back up.” Maria then looks over as Charlie is still confused. But then he sees a bunch of soldiers in white clothing and armed with weapons. This causes Charlie to say: “Hold on, Maria. Could you explain what’s going on?” But Maria simply said: “Now’s not the time. We need to hurry to the castle, or Espérer will fall to the wrong hands.” As they continue forward, Skarlet gives out a signal to the army nearby. This causes the army to ride out towards the castle.

At the castle gates. Two of Emily’s men are guarding the gate as they see Reaper riding. They let him pass without a word as they continue on their guard. But then they spotted a carriage as one of the men says: “Halt! No one is allowed on this property!” Maria stops in front of the gate as she says: “I’m taking this castle back, now!” Maria then draws her rapier as she leaps from the carriage as the two men draw their swords. But before they could manage to attack, Maria ends up taking the two men down in one swoop. As Maria heads forward, Charlie gets out of the carriage as he says: “Wait, Maria!” As Zeus, Jen and Ruby follow Charlie, Maria’s army proceeds to lay siege at the castle while they shout: “For Espérer!” As the two army clashes, Charlie then says: “Where are you going?! And what are you doing?!” As Maria says: “Like I said before, I’ll explain later.” Charlie then says: “Explain it to me, now! I need to know what’s going on!” As Maria stops in her tracks, she picks up the fallen sword from one of Emily’s men as Maria says: “Charlie…” As Charlie wonders what Maria is going to say, Maria walks back to Charlie and proceeds to hand him the sword as she says: “I know that you are wondering about a lot of things. And I will explain everything to you once the whole thing is over. But for now, I want you to trust me.” As Charlie is still confused about her words, he ends up grabbing the sword that Maria handed him as she says: “Now follow me, Charlie.” As Maria runs into the castle, Charlie says: “Maria!” As he follows her with the three following him.

As the group runs down the hall, Charlie can see the two armies continuing to clash as Maria’s men are gaining control. Just then, Maria and Charlie spot three of Emily’s men as Maria says: “This way!” As Charlie and his friends follow Maria, Maria continues down the path as she heads towards the throne room. Charlie is even more confused when he sees that Maria is able to navigate through the halls as he says: “How did you know which way to go in this castle?” As the four enter the room, they spot four more of Emily’s men as the two on the stairs draw their swords as one of them says: “Face us!” As Maria charges forward with her rapier, Charlie spots the other two of Emily’s men charging at him as he gets his sword ready. As Maria and Charlie get into a sword clash, Maria is able to knock one of the soldiers over the railing as the other soldier tries to attack Maria. But Maria manages to dodge as he hits the railing of the stair as it gets stuck, allowing her to knock the soldier down. Charlie on the other hand is busy dealing with the two soldiers as he tries to find an opening to disarm them. Thankfully for him, Maria’s soldiers make their way into the room as they easily defeat the two soldiers, causing Charlie to sigh in relief as he says:” Thanks, guys.” As Charlie goes up to Maria, they see Emily’s men blocking the path as one of them says: “Give up now! We have the advantage!” But Maria is not intimidated as she says: “I won’t give up to the likes of you. And unless you’re willing to throw away your lives on this losing battle, then lay down your weapons!” As she walks towards them with a serious look on her face, Emily’s men start to get scared as they back off.

In the throne room. Reaper brought May to them as he says: “I am back and I have the Princess in my clutches.” Emily then starts to laugh as she says: “Good… Good… With her in our grasp, I can now feel safe in running this kingdom unopposed.” Maximilian then proceeds to say: “And just in time. I heard from our chambers that she was going to help “save” this kingdom from your “evil” clutches. I can imagine the look on their faces when they see that we have the Princess.” Emily then said: “Of course. But we have to teach her some lessons about not messing with us anymore.” Hearing that, Razor picks May up with his fist as he says: “You want me to teach this spoiled girl a few lessons?” Emily then says: “Oh sure, but don’t be too hard. We don’t want her to build up any fighting spirit by mistake…”

“Y-Your highness! Y-You got someone at the door!” Said one of Emily’s servants. Emily starts to get angry as she says: “Fine, but this better be important.” But when the doors opened, they saw both Maria and Charlie with his three friends as Maria had grabbed the servant. And when the doors opened, Maria shoved the servant aside as the group walked into the throne room as Maria says: “Emily… You will set these people free.” This causes Emily to say: “I don’t have to take orders from nobodies like you!” Lucard then draws his sword as he says: “Leave them to me, your highness. I’ll make quick work of the two.” But as Charlie says: “Maria, are you…” But Maria cuts him off as Lucard charges at her. The two cross blades as they face each other in a serious duel. Even though Lucard is quick with his attacks, Maria manages to deflect and attack with quick succession as Charlie, Zeus, Jen and Ruby watch with amazement and worries for Maria’s safety. As the two continue to clash as their positions get switch around, Lucard makes a quick lunge at her, only for Maria to knock his sword away as it slides on the ground as Maria defeated Lucard.

“Hold it right there!” As Maria turns around, they see that Razor has May hostage with a dagger to her throat as Razor says: “Listen here. Drop that sword or the Princess will get a new hole that she won’t like.” And as May says: “Someone… Someone help me!” Maria says: “Your bluffs won’t work when you don’t even have the Princess hostaged in the first place.” Charlie then says: “It’s true. That’s only May the Double Face pretending to be Princess Maria. It’s all a misunderstanding.” May then says: “It’s true! It’s true! I was going to be the Princess at the costume party! It’s all true!” But Razor says: “Nice try. But I’m not going to get fooled again.” Emily then says: “It doesn’t madder. Castle of Espérer now belongs to me. And if you are smart about it, then you will obey my commands.” Emily then looks at Razor and proceeds to say: “Now… Get rid of her.” This causes May to shout out: “No! No! You’re making a big mistake!” But before Razor could make his move, Maria starts to laugh as she says: “Do you honestly think that you have the real Princess Maria, despite the fact that you served under my parents for quite some time?” This confuses Emily as she says: “What? What are you talking about?” Maria then grabs the clothing from her left shoulder as she then says: “That girl is not the real Princess. I’ll show you what it means to be a true Princess and how I’ll stop your traitorous plans!” Maria then proceeds to rip the clothing that she has as she reveals her Princess outfit to everyone in the room as it shocks everybody. This causes Razor to drop May to the ground as May says: “Thank you! Thank you, your grace!” As Maria cuts the rope, May proceeds to remove the Princess costume from her as Maria says: “Are you okay, May?” This causes a huge shock to Emily as she stands up and says: “How! How did you escape from my assassins!”

But the biggest shock out of all of them is Charlie. He is quite shocked that the Maria that he knew, the Maria that he met in town, the Maria that has a tendency to tell lies, is actually the Princess Maria of Espérer. He is quite lost for words since he believed that she wasn’t the Princess, to begin with when she told him the lies the second time they met and when he saw the farm keep chasing Maria. But no matter how many times he can try and figure it out, he can’t deny the fact that Maria the Liar is the same Gardevoir as Princess Maria. Emily then proceeds to say: “What are you waiting for! Get her! I want her gone forever!” Just as Reaper, Razor, Lucard and some of her remaining soldiers are ready to face Princess Maria, Maria’s soldiers burst into the room with Skarlet as they attack the soldiers. With the soldiers dealing with each other, Skarlet faces off against Reaper and Lucard while Maria deals with Razor and Emily. During the midst of the battle, Charlie grabs May and carries her out of the room as he says: “Let’s get you to safety, May.” While they head to the exit, Emily’s Houndooms go after the group, though they end up crashing into the doors by Charlie closing the door behind them. As the battle continues, Maria says to Emily: “I always knew you had a traitorous heart, Emily! And I will not let you take over my Father’s kingdom when I’m still around to defend it!”

Back at the lobby of the castle. Many of Maria’s men have captured most of Emily’s men as Charlie brings May around the stairs to find a different exit so that they don’t get caught up in the conflict. But as they are fleeing, Charlie spots Maria dealing with Emily and Razor as he stays behind to watch. With a misstep from Emily, she ends up grabbing Razor as they trip and fall down the stairs, knocking the crown out of her head as they tumble to the floor below. As few of Emily’s soldiers go to her aid, Emily proceeds to say: “Maria! Do not think that you have won! I will make sure that I’ll do everything in my power to make sure that this kingdom belongs to me!” Maria then says: “This kingdom will never belong to you. As long as I still breathe, this kingdom and this region will know of you and your traitorous ways. And anyone who is working for you and knows of your traitorous ways will be faced with the same punishments as you.” Razor then grabs a leaf-like ball as he says: “You won’t get rid of us that easily!” He then proceeds to toss the ball into the ground as the room below is quickly filled with smoke. As Maria’s men scramble through the smoke to capture them from escaping, the smoke clears up as it reveals that they escaped, leaving behind a crown for Lionhart. This causes Maria to say: “Search the kingdom for them. Make sure that they don’t escape.” The army then said: “Right away, your grace!”

As Maria’s men search the kingdom, Skarlet comes downstairs as she tells Maria: “Maria! We’ve rescued the men that have been captured, including Nicole and your parents.” Maria turns around as she says: “Good. And what about the assassin and Lucard?” Skarlet then says: “We’ve captured the assassin as well as Maximillian. But Lucard had managed to escape from us.” This causes Maria to say: “I see. Still. Thank you Skarlet. And thank you, my men. Your good deals will not go unrewarded.” While that’s going on, Charlie is still processing the fact that the Maria that he knew is actually the Princess of Espérer. And on one hand, he should be happy. After all, they did become a couple and they have kissed before. He even remembers all the times that they had fun together. What he should be doing is to go over and embrace her and confess his love to her. But it was then that something appeared in his mind. What if she’s mad at me for the things I said to her… It was in fact Charlie himself that gave her the nickname Maria the Liar to begin with and how he dismissed her from the start due to her lies. Not only that, but he also dismissed her as the Princess since he saw her stealing from the royal fields. But now that it is true, what would she say to him after all these times that they have been together. Would she be glad or will she be mad… As Maria looks around, she spots Charlie as she smiles at him as the two stares at each other. But… In the end… His fears won as Charlie bow his head as he says: “I-I’m sorry, miss. Goodbye!” Charlie proceeds to run off, which shocks Maria as she says: “W-Wait, Charlie! Charlie!” But despite her calling out to him, he continues to run.

After the whole ordeal is over and with the night skies shining over. May is driving the carriage back as Zeus, Jen and Ruby sit next to her as they can’t believe that Maria is actually Princess Maria. Charlie, on the other hand is sitting in the back of the carriage as he is feeling quite depressed. As May says: “Wow… I never knew my day would be quite an experience. I mean a hostile takeover, me as a hostage. And Maria being the Princess. I’ve got to say, you must be the luckiest boy in the region to have her as your girlfriend.” But Charlie simply said: “That’s not the case…” This confuses May as she says: “Huh? You mean the rumour about you and Maria being together is not true?” But Charlie then says: “No… It’s that I ended up being together with Maria that I knew… Before today happened…” This confuses May as she says: “Well in that case, why don’t you go and be with her? I’m sure that she wants that.” But Charlie then says: “You wouldn’t know… We introduced you to us when we were good friends. But back then… I wasn’t exactly on good terms with her. I mean… She would tell stories about herself… But I didn’t believe her for a moment. Had I known that she was a Princess, I would’ve believed her in an instant and I would apologize for my harsh words against her… But now… I don’t even think that she wants to talk to me anymore… I can’t be part of her world anymore…” As May realizes the situation that Charlie is in, Charlie starts to remember the times that they’ve been together. Like how they first met, how they interact in the fountain, how he calls her a liar, how he gave her the nickname, how they help Roberto and Elizabeth get together, how she help him when he was ill, how she taught him how to sword fight, how she was worried for him when they fought off the bandits and how they became a… But that was in the past. Maria… I’ll never forget the moments that we have… But I do hope that you can find your happiness soon… Goodbye… Princess Maria...

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Charlie: A Pokemon Cinderella Story. Chapter 23

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