Princess Misty

"Daddy, before I go to bed, you have to read me a bed time story."

Elizabeth was giving her father a stern look, to which he laughed.

"Of course sweetheart," Ash smiled, "it's what we do every night."

"Okay, but…" Elizabeth toyed with her dark red hair.

"But what?" Ash scanned Elizabeth's book shelf, "what book do you want me to read?"

"That's the thing," Elizabeth frowned, "we've read all those books so many times."

"So what do you want me to read?" Ash scratched his head.

Giving a wide grin, Elizabeth suggested, "You should make up your own story!"

"My own story?" Ash blinked. Elizabeth nodded. "I don't know Lizzie, I'm not very creative."

"Please Daddy?" Elizabeth begged, grabbing her father's arm, "will you please try? I know I'll like it, no matter what!"

Ash sighed and sat down on the side of Elizabeth's bed, "alright, I'll try."

Elizabeth clapped and threw herself down onto her pillow. Ash giggled and pulled the girl's pink sheets up over her shoulders. He closed his eyes to think for a minute and with a smirk, re-opened his eyes and began, "once upon a time…"

3

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful girl named Misty. She had bright red hair, and the most beautiful green eyes anyone had ever seen. When she was little, her mother and father left for a very long trip, leaving Misty with her three older, evil sisters. They were to take care of Misty until their parents returned. But by the time Misty was a teenager, the girls' parents were still away. And so, Misty remained under the care of her bossy sisters.

"Misty, get up and scrub the floors!"

That was the eldest sister, Daisy. She had golden blonde hair, and sea green eyes that always seemed to be full of anger when she looked at her beautiful youngest sister.

"Okay Daisy," Misty mumbled as she climbed out of bed.

Every day, Misty would have to do all of the chores, because her sisters were too lazy to do them. Not only were they lazy, but they were also very vain, and they feared that doing work would get their outfits dirty.

As Misty scrubbed the floors, her best friend in the whole world, her sweet little Togepi, would dance happily next to her.

"Togepi, you really are the best Pokémon ever. You always know just how to cheer me up!"

"Misty, get that filthy Pokémon of yours off our spotless floor!"

That would be the second eldest sister, Violet. She had bright blue hair, and very fierce brown eyes. She was even bossier than Daisy!

Once Misty was done scrubbing the floors, she would have to clean the windows, and make all of her sisters' beds.

"Misty, you didn't make my bed neatly enough! Make it again!"

And that was the third eldest sister, Lily. Her hair was a vibrant pink, and she had often narrowed blue eyes. Out of the three older sisters, Lily was the bossiest, and meanest, to Misty.

But poor Misty never spoke out against her sisters. She simply smiled and agreed to do every last thing they asked for. Of course, she wasn't happy living this way, but she didn't know any better. This was how she had lived her whole life, and she thought it was normal.

Elsewhere in the kingdom, there was a very handsome prince. His name was Prince Ash. He had hair as black as midnight, and eyes that were big, brown, and shining. Prince Ash's best Pokémon friend was a cute little Pikachu, who was always eager to protect the young Prince.

Prince Ash, however, was only happy when he was with Pikachu, or out searching for other Pokémon. His parents had been on their son's case for many months, trying to get the boy to marry a beautiful young princess so they could be the new king and queen of the kingdom. But Prince Ash had no desire to get married. His parents refused to accept this fact, and showed off every princess from every nearby kingdom to him, in hopes that the young prince would be able to find one to his liking. But he had turned down every single princess he was introduced to.

So, the prince's best human friend, a noble named Brock, came up with a perfect idea. Brock decided that the king and queen should hold a ball, and invite every girl from the kingdom; not just princesses. That way, Prince Ash could pick whichever girl he wished to be his queen. Prince Ash's mother and father agreed to this, and began to send out invitations to all the girls in the kingdom.

So, one day, as Misty was sweeping through the house, the door bell rang. She answered the door, and was surprised to find a member of the royal court at her doorstep. He bowed to the young girl, and handed her a very fancy invitation that was addressed to Misty and her three older sisters. Misty heartily thanked the man and closed the door. She looked around, to make sure that none of her sisters were nearby, and she quickly opened the invitation. It was gold script, pressed into a pure white piece of thick paper. The invitation read:

You are cordially invited to a royal ball, hosted by the King and Queen for their son.

The ball will be held at the royal palace tomorrow night, from 7 pm until midnight.

Your attendance is greatly appreciated!

"Togepi?"

"Oh Togepi!" Misty smiled down at her spike ball Pokémon, "I've been invited to a royal ball! Can you believe it! I can't wait to go!"

But when Misty asked her sisters if she could attend the ball, they laughed in her face and denied her permission.

"But why can't I go?" Misty whimpered, "I've finished all my chores!"

"Because this invitation was obviously a mistake," Lily snickered, "whoever would want you at a royal ball?"

"But…"

"No buts Misty!" Violet stuck her tongue out, "you are not to attend the ball and that's that!"

The next day, Misty refused to leave her room, only wanting to sprawl out on her bed and cry all day. Togepi was very sad to see her trainer so upset and now matter how hard she tried, she couldn't cheer Misty up.

Shortly before 7, Misty walked out of her room and peered down the stairs. Her older sisters were all ready for the ball. They had done their hair up, and they wore some of the fanciest dresses Misty had ever seen. She sighed sadly to herself. Her sisters had always teased her and called her ugly, but how could she look beautiful like them when they wouldn't allow her to dress up like that? Misty really was a beautiful girl, but her sisters made fun of her so much that Misty simply believed she wasn't.

After her sisters had left for the ball, Misty went to sit outside behind the house. Togepi sat idly in her lap, still patting her trainer's leg. Misty simply stared sadly at the pumpkin patch she had grown. The pumpkins were as orange as her hair, and looked ready to be picked. No matter how much she tried not to, Misty could only think about the royal ball and how she was missing out on all the fun. Misty buried her face into her hands and began to cry again.

As Togepi continued to try and make Misty happy, a shower of bright pink sparkles appeared just above the pumpkin patch. From the sparkles appeared a fairy. Even though the fairy was a boy, he had bright purple hair, angry looking eyes, and a permanent scowl. He also wore a short, glittery pink dress, and carried a sleek silver wand. Misty was so busy crying, however, that she hadn't noticed the fairy's sudden appearance.

Sighing, the fairy sauntered forward and tapped Misty on the top of her head with his silver wand. This finally caught Misty's attention, and the read head looked up at the fairy. She shrieked (which is understandable considering how scary this boy fairy looked) and fell backwards, sending Togepi flying. Luckily, the little Pokémon landed safely on a nearby pumpkin.

"Relax," the fairy scowled, "I'm just your fairy godmother is all."

"My fairy godmother?" Misty sniffed.

"Yeah. See, you're upset because your older sisters wouldn't let you go to that ball right? Well, I'm here to fix that."

"How?"

"By sending you to the ball, duh," the fairy crossed his arms.

"That'd be lovely!" Misty jumped up, sighing dreamily. But soon, she regained her dejected look and added, "But I can't go to the royal ball looking like this."

"That's what I'm here for," the fairy gave Misty another gentle smack with the wand. Misty gave him a little glare for that, but soon recomposed herself.

"So, what will you do?" Misty tilted her head curiously.

"Well, first of all, you're right. That outfit is simply atrocious. And not just for a ball. I'm talking about everyday here."

Misty looked down sadly at her simple yellow dress, with its short poofy sleeves and skirt that ended just below her knees. Her white apron was dirty with dust and her handprints from various chores.

"You won't have to worry about that," the fairy moved his wand in a circular motion, "I'll give you a much nicer dress."

Misty's plain yellow dress suddenly transformed into a beautiful ball gown. It was strapless and was the same dark green color as her eyes. It also sparkled in the early evening light.

"Your hair is also a mess," the fairy scowled. He was eyeing Misty's unkempt ponytail, which was half out of its rubber hand. With another wave of his wave, her hair became long and flowing, with lots of gentle curls.

"Now, you're going to need to get to the ball somehow. I have an idea for that."

The fairy turned to the pumpkin patch and hit the biggest pumpkin with his wand. It grew larger and larger until finally it grew two pairs of wheels, a door, and a window.

"A carriage?" Misty smiled, "how cute! I love it!"

"Now for its finishing touch," the fairy laughed darkly as he turned his glance to Togepi, who was shaking nervously. With another wave of the wand, the fairy transformed Togepi into a very regal Rapidash, decorated with gold accessories.

"My Togepi!" Misty gasped, covering her mouth.

"Don't worry. It'll go back to normal by the end of the night."

"What a relief," Misty covered her heart.

"That's the other thing," the fairy raised his wand in warning. Misty gave him another confused look, to which the fairy gave a disgruntled groan, "once the clock strikes midnight, everything will go back to normal. Your dress, your hair, the pumpkin, your Togepi. Everything goes back to the way it was."

"So, I have to leave the ball by midnight?" Misty blinked.

"Yep," the fairy nodded, "unless you want everyone seeing how you usually look."

Misty scowled at this, but shook it off quickly.

"So I should head off to the ball now!"

"Yeah, I would say so."

"Thank you fairy godmother!" Misty waved happily to the fairy as she climbed into the carriage.

"Yeah yeah," the fairy waved her away.

Misty couldn't believe it! In just a little while, she would be at the royal ball! Maybe she'd even get to meet the King and Queen!

Once she finally arrived, Misty hurried into the palace ballroom, and stood at the top of the long, winding staircase, looking down at the party. Girls in beautiful ball gowns danced with handsome boys, all dressed up in outfits with gold accents. She had to make sure her sisters didn't catch a glimpse of her. Walking down the stairs, Misty pulled up her skirt so she wouldn't trip on it walking. She looked down at her shoes, which she hadn't noticed before. They were made of glass, and they sparkled under the bright chandelier light. At the bottom of the stairs, Misty continued to look around, eyes shining with pure joy.

On the other side of the room, Prince Ash stood next to Brock, his arms folded and his eyes narrowed.

"This is an excellent party your parents have thrown your highness," Brock nodded with approval.

"They only threw it to find me a wife," the prince scowled, "why can't they understand that I don't want to get married? I like going out with Pikachu on adventures, and I can't do that if I'm running a whole kingdom!"

As the prince continued to turn down every girl that asked him to dance, he suddenly found himself staring at a beautiful red headed girl in a sparkling green dress.

"Look at her," Prince Ash nudged Brock and pointed to the girl, "she's…beautiful."

"Why don't you go dance with her?" Brock gave the prince a sly smile. The prince was very tempted to begin chasing his friend around the ballroom, and even call Pikachu down from his quarters to give Brock a good jolt. But he knew his parents would firmly scold him for that, and he was far too fixated on the beautiful red head.

"I think I will," Prince Ash puffed his chest out and sauntered over to the girl. Misty looked up at him and smiled, until she realized it was the prince. Her heart began to beat furiously.

"Hello," Prince Ash greeted warmly.

"Um, hello," Misty gave the prince a courtesy. Her cheeks were burning, and she was infuriated with herself for blushing.

"Would you like to dance?" The prince offered Misty his hand. She stared at his pure white glove for awhile completely entranced, before finally snapping her head up and giving him a foolish little nod.

Misty and the prince danced, and danced, and danced. Unfortunately, Misty lost track of time, and before she knew it, the clock had struck midnight!

Gasping, she pulled away from the prince and ran off.

"Where are you going?" Prince Ash cried desperately.

"I'm terribly sorry, but I have to go!" Misty called back, still hurrying. Before the prince knew it, the beautiful red head was out of sight.

"But you didn't even tell me your name," Prince Ash mumbled sadly to himself. Looking down, a sparkling object on the ground caught his eye. He bent down to pick it up, and he carefully studied the item as he tilted it in his hands.

It was a glass slipper.

"This must be the girl's!" The prince cheered, "That's how I'll find her! I'll simply send out the messenger tomorrow morning, and he'll find that beautiful girl. Once we're reunited, I can ask her to marry me!"

So the next morning, the messenger followed the prince's order and headed out with the glass slipper, visiting the home of every young woman in the village in order to find the prince's true love.

When the messenger arrived to the home of Misty and her sisters, the red head was busy gushing to her now restored Togepi about how wonderful the ball had been.

"And I danced with the prince all night!" Misty sighed dreamily, "he was so lovely. I would love to dance with him again. Too bad that's only a dream."

From all the way in her room, Misty could hear her sisters clamoring and arguing over something.

"What are they causing such a fuss about?" Misty jumped up, placing her hands on her hips, "I should go find out before Violet and Lily try to rip out one another's hair again."

Misty shuffled to the front door, where she saw her three older sisters pushing and shoving in front of a messenger from the royal court.

"What's going on?" Misty piped up. Her sisters stopped arguing and turned to give her glares.

"None of your business!" Lily teased, sticking her tongue out at the red head. Misty narrowed her eyes just a little, and then looked up towards the messenger.

"I have been sent by the prince to find the owner of this glass slipper," the messenger held up the sleek shoe. Misty gasped. That was her slipper! She had realized once she got back to the carriage that it was missing, but immediately after, her clothes had reverted back to the way they were before the ball, so she hadn't thought twice about it.

"And the prince wants to marry whoever owns that slipper!" Violet added matter of factly. Misty blushed fiercely at this.

"So, I just need the four of you to try on this shoe," the messenger finished.

"You mean the three of us," Daisy eyed Misty, "the runt doesn't get to try."

"Yes I do!" Misty squealed. Her sisters gave her shocked stares, and Misty's tone reverted to its usually softness, "I have just as much right as you three to try it on."

"NO!" Violet and Lily shrieked.

"All four of you will try it on," the messenger sighed.

"Humph. Fine," Daisy folded her arms, "but I get to try it on first. I'm the oldest, after all."

So Daisy sat down and tried to put on the slipper. But it was too small!

"WHAT? I do NOT have big feet!" Daisy roared, balling her hands up into fists. Next was Violet. Her foot was also too big.

"That can't be right!" Violet howled, "I have perfect feet!" Third up was Lily. The slipper finally went on, but this time, it slipped right off. Lily's foot was too small.

"At least I don't have monster feet like you two," she screeched at the giggling Daisy and Violet.

Last up was Misty. The youngest of the sisters sat down in the chair, her three older sisters snickering behind her.

"That shoe will never fit her!" Daisy commented.

"Yeah, she wasn't even at the ball!" Violet assured.

"And even if she was, she's too much of a runt for it to fit," Lily nodded, "I bet her feet are even smaller than mine!"

The messenger leaned down to put the slipper on Misty's foot. It slid on easily…and it stayed on!

"It fits!" The messenger gasped.

"WHAT?" Daisy, Violet, and Lily screamed. Misty was grinning boldly. She knew it. The slipper was hers!

And so, the messenger whisked Misty off to the castle, where she was reunited with the handsome prince. Misty's older sisters, meanwhile, were stuck in their house, forced to do all of the chores they had once made their youngest sister do. Misty and Prince Ash, however, got married and lived happily ever after.

3

"The end!" Ash was beaming. He was quite proud of the story he had just told. Why, he had made the whole thing up, right on the spot, and in his opinion, it was quite an entrancing tale. He looked down at Elizabeth, hoping the young girl felt the same. She looked sleepy, but was awake, her eyes narrowed as if in deep thought.

"What's wrong pumpkin?" Ash raised an eyebrow. Elizabeth sighed and touched her father's arm.

"Daddy, that story was about you and Mommy. All you did was tell me the story of Cinderella, and you replaced Cinderella's name with Mommy's, and Prince Charming's name with yours."

"That's not entirely true," Ash scratched his head, "I made my own unique changes to the story!"

"Yeah," Elizabeth sat up, "there were three evil sisters instead of two. And they were Aunt Daisy, Aunt Violet, and Aunt Lily. And they're not that evil. It's like Mommy says, they're just really shallow brained."

"I guess…" Ash tilted his head.

"Then there was the fairy godmother," Elizabeth continued, "you made her a guy. And it sounded a lot like that guy you really hated when you were younger. What's his name…"

"Okay, bed time!" Ash cheered, gently pushing Elizabeth back down, "you got your story sweetheart, now it's time to go to sleep."

"Okay," Elizabeth shrugged, hugging her Teddiursa doll close to her and closing her eyes.

Ash gave the girl a kiss on her forehead and walked over to the door.

"Daddy?" Elizabeth called quietly, her eyes still closed.

"Yes Lizzie?" Ash turned around, a grin on his face.

"I think that tomorrow night, my bed time story should come from my book shelf."

Ash groaned, "Aw, come on Lizzie."

"Good night Daddy!" Elizabeth giggled.

Sighing, Ash smiled again and responded, "Good night Elizabeth."