Tale 205: The Legend of Princess Gabrielle (Misty)

(real tale: Geirlug, the King's Daughter)

"One day a powerful king and his beautiful wife were sitting in the gardens of their capital city, talking earnestly about the future life of their son, who was sleeping by their side in his beautiful golden cradle." Misty begins. "They had been married for many years without children, so when this baby came they thought themselves the happiest couple in the world. He was a fine little boy, who loved to kick and punch the air; but even if he had been weak and small they would still have thought him the most wonderful creature on Arceus' green earth. They were so absorbed in making plans for him, that they never noticed a huge dark shadow creeping up, till a ethereal head with a gaping red maw stretched over them, and in seconds, their beloved baby was gone."

Ash grins--he knows who kidnapped the little prince. "For a while, the king and queen stayed where they were, speechless with horror." Misty goes on/ "Then the king got up, and holding out his hand to his wife, led her crying into the palace, and for many days their subjects didn't see them come out."

[That's awful...] Tarina brushes away a tear as Brock gently pets her to reassure her everything will be okay in the end.

"Meanwhile, Darkrai, the Nightmare Pokemon, soared high into the air, holding the cradle in his ghostly arms, and the baby still slept." Misty continues. "He flew so fast that he soon crossed the borders of another kingdom, and again he noticed the king and queen of the country seated in the garden with a little girl lying in a wonderful cradle of white satin and lace. Swooping down from behind as he had done before, he was just about to grab the cradle, when the king jumped up and cast a powerful light spell with his favorite gold staff."

Jao wiisha nes chiel com yutuul... Brock fills in the spell incantation.

"Darkrai reared back as the light stung him, but in his pain let the boy fall as he fled in panic." Misty continues.

"That was close," Brock grins in character as the king

"Indeed..." Melody murmurs as the queen before feigning surprise at a small rock. "But look, what is that glittering object that is lying out there?"

"The king walked in the direction of her finger..." Misty narrates as Brock heads for the rock Melody is pointing at. "and to his astonishment found another cradle and another baby."

Brock gasps in feigned surprise. "Darkrai must have stolen this as he sought to steal Gabrielle." he reports in character as the king.

"He knelt down, and he read the writing that was written on the fine linen that was wound around the boy, which said 'This is Garret, son of the king!'" Misty explains as Brock does this. "Unfortunately, the two neighboring kingdoms had had a serious falling out, and for many years had stopped speaking with each other. So, instead of sending a messenger to the western king to tell him his son was okay, the eastern king adopted Prince Garret as his own son, alongside Princess Gabrielle."

[And then?] a Meowth asks.

"For a while the children were quite happy, but there came a time when the queen could no longer run races or play hide-and-seek with them in the garden as she once loved to do." Misty intones. "But she was always nearby, watching them from a pile of soft cushions. Before long she gave up doing even that, and worrying rumors started flying in the palace. Even Gabrielle and Garret moved quietly when they approached her room. Finally, one morning, they were summoned by the king himself, who broke the news that the queen was dead."

Sniffles fill the tent at the bad news. "Garret and Gabrielle were understandably devastated, for they had loved their mother very dearly, and life seemed dull without her." Misty explains. "But the ladies-in-waiting who took care of them in the tower which had been built for them while they were still babies, were kind and good, and when the king was busy or away in other parts of his kingdom she entertained them as well as, if not better than, their mother. They were taught everything that a prince and princess should know."

"This is getting good...then what happened?" Ash is intrigued.

"Two or three years went by, when, one day, as the children were anxiously awaiting their father's return from a distant city, a herald rode into the courtyard and announced that their father was bringing back a new wife." Misty continues.

"Uh oh..." Brock grins, half excited--evil stepmothers usually mean magic--be it for good or evil--or a quest is not far behind.

"Now, in itself, there was nothing very strange about the king marrying again..." Misty assures the small audience. "But, as the old lady-in-waiting soon guessed, the queen, in spite of her beauty, was a witch, and as it was easy to see that she was jealous of everyone who might gain power over her husband-- which meant bad news for Gabrielle and Garret."

Brock smiles at hearing his prediction confirmed. "The faithful lady could not sleep, she worried so much about her charges, and her soul sank when, a few months after the marriage, war broke out with a far away kingdom across the sea, and the king and the troops marched off to battle." Misty continues. "Then what she had so long feared, happened."

The Pokemon swallow hard at this. "One night, the witch came to the tower." Misty intones. "What she did, no one knew, but, when the sun rose, the beds of Garret and Gabrielle were empty. At dawn the queen summoned some of her guards, and told them that she had been warned in a dream that some evil fate would befall her through a wild Pokemon, and bade them go out and kill every Pokemon within two miles of the palace."

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTT????" Ash is shocked and appalled that anyone would kill innocent Pokemon.

"But the only Pokemon they found were two beautiful shining Ponytas, fitted for royalty to ride." Misty assures Ash. "It seemed a pity to kill them, for what harm could two little Ponytas do, anyway?"

"Well, they kick,, they bite, they have a lot of Fire attacks...." Ash lists the offensive properties of Ponytas on his fingers.

"Misty didn't ask you." Brock shushes Ash, making everyone laugh.

After composing herself, Misty continues "So they let them run away over the plain, and returned to the palace. The queen asked them if they were SURE they saw no Pokemon, and the guards said they were sure. But the queen did not believe them, and when they had left, she ordered to her steward that at dinner the guards be offered extra wine in hopes they would tell the truth, and report to her whatever they said while they were tipsy."

She grins. "Later that evening, the steward reported that he had listened to their drabble from beginning to end, and nothing did they see save two shining Ponytas. He might have added more, but the look in the queen's eyes terrified him, and, bowing hastily, he fled her presence."

Everyone is on the edge of their seats to hear what the wicked queen did next. "A week later, the king returned victorious, and everyone was happy to see him." Misty calms the audience's jangled nerves. "Unfortunately, their joy was short lived; the very first night after the king's return, the queen told him about the evil dream she had, and begged him to go out the next morning and kill every living creature he saw within two miles of the city. The king, who always believed everything the queen said, promised to do as she wished. But before he had ridden through the lovely gardens that surrounded the palace, he was attracted by the singing of two little Fletchlings perched in a holly bush, which made him think of everything beautiful that he had ever heard of or imagined."

Ash grabs a whistle and starts mimicking every Fletchling song he knows for effect. "The hours ticked by, and still the Fletchlings sang, and still the king listened, though he never guessed that it was Gabrielle and Garret that mesmerized him. Misty explains over the whistle. "Before long, night fell; the Fletchlings' voices were hushed, and the king woke with a jump to find that for that day his promise to the queen would not be kept. When asked if he saw anything, the king told her about the Fletchlings, and said he would try again the next day. But he didn't know his wife planned to kill him."

Tarina swallows hard in fear. "That night the king hosted a huge victory feast. The three men whom the queen had sent out to slay the wild Pokemon held positions of trust in the household, for they had custody of the queen." Misty goes on. "Every time a feast was held their places were always next to the king, so it was easy for the queen to scatter a slow but fatal poison in their cups without anyone being the wiser. Before dawn the next day, the palace was roused by the news that the king was dead, and that the three officers of the guards were dying too. Of course, nobody's cries and laments were as loud as those of the queen."

She intones "But when once the splendid funeral was over, she told the crowds that she was going to lock herself up in a distant castle till the year of mourning was over, and after appointing a regent of the kingdom, she set out attended only by a maid who knew all her secrets. Once she had left the palace she quickly began to work her dark magic, to discover under what form Gabrielle and Garret lay hidden."

Korra displays her claws, but Misty assures her "Luckily, Princess Gabrielle had studied the magic of light under the royal wizard, so she was able to figure out her stepmother's plot, and quickly transformed herself and her adopted brother into a pair of Raichus, and fled in the direction of a lake."

She then sings as Princess Gabrielle Karuto, iichiida shou... before continuing as herself. "The queen turned herself into a Gyarados to chase them, but the two Raichus were way faster than her, barely skipping across the water."

Pikachu's cheering is the loudest as Misty continues "For several hours a fierce game of Meowth and Rattata played on the lake, with neither side gaining an edge. But the crowd of fishes that were watching knew well what happens when you pit an an Electric type against a Gyarados."

"Game, set, and match--Raichu!" Ash smiles.

"After a mighty struggle, the Gyarados floated dead and harmless on the surface of the water, the two Raichus were so exhausted that they had only enough strength to drag themselves onto the shore of a quiet little bay, and for three days they stayed there as still and motionless as if they had been dead themselves." Misty explains. "When the three days were up, their wounds were healed, and after returning to their true forms, they began to think about what to do next."

She concludes "They returned to Garret's homeland, and I can't even begin to describe the joyous reunion--That evening Garret was married to Gabrielle as a sign of forgiveness between the two kingdoms, and they lived happily ever after."