"You don't give up. And then one day, you just change. We all change." -Carol Peletier; The Walking Dead

Nova sat in the family garden, watching the Pokémon play. She'd always loved seeing them have fun, not having to worry about anything. Occasionally, Nova would play with a few of the younger Pokémon, but that was very rare. Seeing them interact with each other—that was something that was truly captivating.

"Princess?" Nova's head turned slightly, she could hear footsteps accompanying the voice. Someone was walking down the pathway before cutting off into the shrubbery. "Princess!"

"I'm over here."

Appearing out of the bushes and trees was Nova's maid, Livia. Livia had been an old family friend of Nova's since before she was born. Despite her age, Livia had a liveliness to her that others found very refreshing, admirable even. Not only that, but Livia took her position seriously. Whenever Nova's parents were away, Livia took care of their daughter, treating her as if she were her own.

When Livia saw Nova, sitting on the ground, she huffed, putting her hands on her hips. "Do you know how long I've been looking for you?" she said, narrowing her eyes slightly.

"Probably a while." A small, apologetic smile came across the Princess' face.

"Yes," Livia exclaimed. "A while. Your parents are worried sick; they thought something happened to you."

Rolling her eyes, Nova let out a sigh. Her parents, King Erik and Queen Diana, were overprotective at best, and while Nova found that to be irritating, she knew that her parents had the best intentions. "Where could I possibly go?" Nova exclaimed, standing up. "The guards would've told them what I was doing before I even left the gates."

"They've got good reasons to." Livia's voice became serious, her expression becoming a little bit more somber.

"Why's that?"

Walking over to the Princess, Livia wrapped her arm around Nova's shoulders, bringing her close to her side. "Just. . . .unsettling things," she sighed. "You shouldn't be worrying about it."

"I'm the Princess, Liv," Nova sighed. "One day I'll have to worry about it. And if I don't know what's going on. . . ."

"Then you shouldn't know," Livia interrupted. "Your parents are looking out for your best interest. OK?"

Pursing her lips, Nova nodded wordlessly.

. . . .

The remainder of the day had gone on in a very uneventful fashion. Nova's parents had her doing her daily routines, while the Princess' mind was reeling on Livia's words. To Nova, not knowing what was going on in the kingdom was something that bothered her. One day, Nova would be Queen, and if her parents kept her isolated from every problem that arose, how would she an effective Queen?

When night came, Nova got herself cleaned up and changed into her pajamas. She had been sitting in her bedroom for the past couple minutes, sitting on the edge of her bed. In the corner of her room, her Pichu slept on its specially made bed. Pichu had been a gift from her parents when she turned ten. It had been a couple years since then, and since Nova wasn't really allowed outside the front gates of the royal estate, she never really had the opportunity to train her Pokémon. But that didn't mean there wasn't some kind of bond between the two. Most days, Pichu seemed to enjoy spending time with the wild Pokémon that lived on the estate, other times it would be seen perched on the Princess' shoulders as she went about her day.

The two were practically inseparable a majority of the time.

Smiling softly, Nova's gaze went away from Pichu. Laying down on her bed, Nova let out a sigh. Looking at the ceiling of her room, Nova studied the little patterns that decorated it. She'd seen those patterns countless times before, studied them even. But that didn't seem to help distract Nova at all. Her thoughts went back to what she and Livia had briefly discussed earlier. Livia knew something, and it bothered Nova intensely. What was so bad that she couldn't know what it was? Why didn't anyone trust her enough to tell her? Whatever the reason, it didn't settle well in Nova's opinion.

But, as the night progressed, exhaustion soon came over Nova, and she fell asleep.

. . . .

It was late into the night—or, early in the morning, depending on how one looked at it—when Nova was awoken. She had been shaken borderline violently; and by the time she opened her eyes, she didn't even have time to comprehend what was going on before being dragged out of bed.

"Here, take this," a hushed voice said. A satchel was shoved into Nova's arms. "We need to go, hurry up."

Blinking the bleariness out of Nova's eyes, she tried to take in the person in her room, but they had already turned around, as if to avoid being seen. Quickly pulling up the collar of the shirt they wore, one of their hands shot out and grabbed Nova's wrist, yanking her to hurriedly follow behind them.

"Wait!" Nova tried yanking herself free. "Who are you? Where's Pichu?"

"The satchel."

The satchel in Nova's grasp moved, causing the Princess to look down at it for the briefest moment. Pichu's head popped out, looking just as confused—possibly frightened, even—as Nova would have guessed.

"Who are you?" Nova exclaimed, holding the satchel closer to her.

"Quiet." The response was harsh, making Nova flinch involuntarily. "I was instructed by Miss Livia to get you outside the front gates safely."

"Livia?" Nova stammered. "What's wrong with Livia? Where is she? What's going on?"

The two stopped for a moment, and that was when the person turned around. It was a young boy, probably just a couple years older than Nova herself. His light blonde hair was styled neatly, and by the way he was dressed, Nova knew he was a worker for her family. His expression let Nova know just how serious the situation was, but that didn't stop him from giving a brief explanation.

"There's trouble," he stammered. "A lot of trouble. The people are starting to riot, they're trying to break in."

Paling significantly, Nova swallowed thickly. "R-Rioting?" she stammered. "What. . . .? I don't understand. . . ."

The boy bit his bottom lip anxiously. "I have to get you to safety, Princess," he said quietly. "Miss Livia wanted it done. She's staying with your parents. Please, it's important that we go now."

'Miss Livia wanted it done.' That hung in Nova's mind for a moment before the boy grabbed her wrist and tugged her behind him. The people were rioting outside, and Livia was the only one concerned about Nova's safety? Her parents weren't? Nova's parents were always so protective of her, wanting to know where she was at all times. So. . . .if things were going as badly as she'd been told, why weren't they at all worried?

Grabbing her hand, the boy dragged her behind him, both of them trying to hurriedly leave.

"What about my parents?" Nova exclaimed. "What'll happen to them?"

"I take it Miss Livia will keep them safe," the boy exclaimed. "But you're my priority, Princess. You need to go."

As they hurried through hallway after hallway, a feeling of dread rushed through Nova's body. "Where am I supposed to go?" she stammered.

"As far from here as possible."

I'm supposed to just hide? she thought anxiously. There's an uprising, and I'm just supposed to hide?

"I understand this doesn't make any sense," the boy exclaimed, his grip on her wrist seeming to tighten. "But you must know that this is for your own good! Your safety, your wellbeing—that's what's important."

When they reached the end of one of the hallways, the boy pressed something on the wall, causing a small opening to appear. Nova stood there for a moment, holding onto the satchel tightly; Pichu's head popped out, looking around anxiously. It was in that moment that Nova heard faint footsteps coming from somewhere.

The boy quickly looked down the hallway, a grimace coming on his face. "Princess, you need to go," he murmured, motioning her to the opening. Before she even had a chance to say anything, the boy shoved her through the opening.

Nova didn't even have time to react before the opening closed.

(A/N):

I can understand if you find this first chapter bad. This is the first Pokémon story I've written, so please bear with me, OK? If you've got any suggestions on the story at all, don't hesitate to let me know!

Pokémon doesn't belong to me.

I hope you all had a wonderful New Year!

Thanks.

Kaia Milligan