Genres: Alternative Universe & Historical Romance
Main Shippings: Wishfulshipping (Iris/Cilan), Ferriswheelshipping (N/Hilda) and Advanceshipping (Ash/May)
Notes: The story has been inspired by the many wonderful stuff about The Tudors. I hope you all enjoy the story. Just so you know, Lord Gropius is N and Kamon is Silver, the rival from HGSS. Giovanni is also Ash's father, as well as Lance and Gary's uncle in this story.

The Other King

In 1593, The Dragon Empire was in jeopardy. In a short amount of time, The Dragon Empire consisted of most of Asia, as well as two of the major pokemon regions in Japan; Unova and Johto. The very thing that formed the empire in the first place would tear it apart. Queen Iris of Unova had made a controversial decision. Lady Clair believed that Queen Iris had made a terrible mistake. Queen Iris had broken herself out of the the arranged marriage to Lance. He was the King of Kanto, as well as Clair's paternal cousin. She was the godmother of his children. Drayden, the queen's grandfather had arranged the marriage with Lance's grandfather, Drake when he was still alive. Iris and Lance's passion for dragons was the fuel to their marriage. The result of it was a wealthy empire and two healthy sons.

Clair gazed into the night sky and then faced her dragonair swirling around her. She patted the dragonair and asked her, "Why would Iris leave Lance for an irrelevant duke?"

Her dragonair did not know the answer. The duke she was referring to was the Duke Of Striaton, Cilan Dento. He was an energetic man with a love for theatre and the arts. He was slim and would often boast about his divine rhythm and beautiful green hair. The very sight of Cilan made Clair roll her eyes and cringe. All she could see in the queen's future husband was a man who loved himself too much.

Iris' father, Kei and his wife, Nancy had not long passed away due to a mystery illness. Her stepbrothers and cousins had been pushed away out of the limelight. Her nostalgic vision of Iris was damaged. Clair remembered Iris as a bright young girl who would do anything to keep her friends happy. Iris insisted she was in love in Cilan, but she still couldn't understand Iris' logic of risking everything she and her clan fought to gain for the sake of a common boy.

Iris promoted Cilan greatly, but Clair would always see him as common folk. He was just an ordinary man with a decent relationship with his pokemon and brothers. She made no hesitation to compare him to her cousin. Lance was brave, strong and cunning. Everything that Clair considered herself to be too. Lance had soothed a civil war between elders and prevented Kanto armies from invading Johto and Unova. Cilan couldn't even run from a slowpoke. Clair couldn't understand it. Lance had many women swoon over him, but he would never date any of them; it simply wasn't his style.

Lance had been engaged to Iris since she was a toddler. Their grandfathers, Drake and Drayden, had been planning the marriage for many years. Drake was in his final years and Iris' mother, Queen Lola, had been missing. Lance and Iris were both next in line to the throne in their respective regions, and they were both already popular all around Asia. As soon as Iris was 15, the two of them were married. Iris gave birth to Prince Pagan a year later. Lance believed that it was his destiny to become king. With the marriage coming to an end, Clair's mind became invaded by Iris' two sons. The oldest was eleven years old whilst the youngest was only six years old. The poor boys: their innocence would soon be snatched away.

From the distance, Clair saw Lance ride on his dragonite as they tumbled down from the moon. Lance waved at Clair and she waved back. Clair's heart bounced. It was the first time she had met her cousin since Iris announced her engagement to Cilan. She had expected Lance to be broken, silent and bitter. But he was smiling.

Lance jumped off his dragonite and said, "Good evening, Clair."

"Good evening Your Majesty."

"Her Majesty will be married soon," Lance said. He lowered his head as he spoke. The movement of his arms became rigid and then subtle. "I wish her well. I hope that Salem and Pagan get on with their new step father."

"Why are you letting go so easily?" Clair snapped. Her firsts curled up into a ball as her face turned red. "I'm disgusted with the way you've been tossed about after everything you've done for the country. The ungrateful witch!"

"Iris is clearly happy with Cilan," Lance interrupted Clair. "I know any other man would be angry at something like this, but for me I feel rather... delighted."

"Delighted?" Clair gasped. She didn't think that any of it was true. "But you've just been betrayed."

"Judge it any way you like Clair," Lance responded. He remained calm, polite and full of dignity. He was like a man who was gracious in defeat. He pulled his cloak over to his shoulders and continued to praise Iris. "Our love for dragons brought us together. I am happy to have known such a vibrant woman like Iris. She's an intelligent woman and also a great dragon trainer. She knows the hearts of the dragons well. It was not my decision to divorce, but she had clearly fallen in love with Cilan. I politely walked away, knowing it was for the best. We will still be friends."

"Are you going to the wedding?" Clair asked.

"Of course," Lance said in pride. "It will be the perfect opportunity to see Salem and Pagan. We've only been in touch through letter nowadays. Iris has asked me not to enter the castle again."

"That's insane," Clair spat out. "Denying a man the right to see his children."

"I can sneak in."

"I'm going to talk to Iris about this!" Clair was determined. She felt that Lance was hiding his sorrow. He loved Iris very much. Clair had no doubt about that. And she couldn't bear to see anyone from her family unhappy. She considered herself a good problem solver. "I'm not letting Cilan destroy everything you've worked so hard for."

"You must forever hold your peace," Lance requested. "Can you do that?"

Defeated. Clair lowered her head. "If you insist. But I'll promise you if something bad happens to my godsons, I'll have to break that promise."

Lance approached Clair and gave her one the biggest hugs she could imagine. Clair felt warm, but startled. The last time Lance gave Clair a hug was when she was a little girl. He gazed into her eyes and whispered, "Clair, you have been ever so good to me." Clair could see his eyes welling up. "Thank you for looking out for me at such a fragile moment of time."

Princess Delia stood behind the windows staring at the fearows passing by. Out of the blue, she stated: "I'm so proud of my little boys. They've both grown up into brave soldiers and fine princes." Her eldest son, Ash was knighted by Queen Cynthia, Queen Iris and King Lance. He and his Pikachu fought bravely in battle and won many wars for various regions. He was known as The Red Prince. Her youngest son, Kamon was known as The Silver Prince. Kamon trained as a solider like his brother before him.

"So you should be," said the voice of the man behind her. The man was her husband, Giovanni Ketchum: The Archduke of Viridian. He brushed Delia's auburn hair with fingers as he saw his tired face reflect upon him. He admired her pink dress with blue lacing. Delia had been bright and optimistic just as she was when Giovanni first met her.

"They always wanted to be king." Delia twirled and faced Giovanni. Persian, Giovanni's beloved cat pounced on-top of Delia and licked her hand. Giovanni stroked Persian as he rolled on the ground waiting for his stomach to be rubbed. "Even though I couldn't pass the throne down to them, they were still determined to be fine kings. Not to mention Gary married the Duchess of Cerulean - Ash admired her greatly. She was his childhood sweetheart."

Gary was Delia's nephew, and her older sister's son. Delia had also had a niece called May that became a servant for Mew and was now known as Sister Daisy. She lived in Lavender Cathedral, next to the tower where all of Kanto's executions take place. Delia could never forget the look of disappointment on Giovanni's face when his sister-in-law gave birth to Gary. Giovanni had hoped that his side of the family would snatch the throne by giving birth to sons.

Three hours after her nephew was born, Delia's long awaited child, Ash was born. Ever since she was a child, she wanted nothing more than be a mother. She yearned for the responsibility and the rewards. Ever since she was born, Delia was expected to have everybody do all the work for her. She didn't it at all. She found taking part in the housework therapeutic. Three years later, Delia gave birth to Kamon.

Delia and Giovanni reflected on how far their children had came. Their bravery and determination to become king had driven them to become great soldiers. Giovanni told his wife, "King of Hoenn is anxious for Ash to marry his daughter. Our eldest son has obviously found someone who can make his dreams come true."

Delia raised her head and walked over to the family portraits above the fire place. The one at the top showed Prince Ash clinging onto the three-year old Misty. Ash's red tunic brought out the brightness in Misty's ginger hair and yellow dress. As she gazed into the portrait, she said to her husband: "Call me old-fashioned but I want my children to marry for love."

"You don't think Ash loves May?" Giovanni asked. He raised an eyebrow then stood behind Delia.

"Of course he does," Delia replied. "But not the kind of love he felt for Misty."

"But that was years ago," Giovanni reminded her. He held onto Delia and carried her away from the portrait. "Ash will get everything he ever wanted."

"But Norman and Caroline have a son. He could be king."

"I very much doubt that Prince Max will become king. He wants to become a priest. And judging by the letters I have received by Norman, it seems he wants to pass the throne to his daughter."

"May... She's a lovely girl." Giovanni carefully placed Delia on a red chair. She turned and saw a portrait of Iris when she visited Kanto when she was pregnant with Salem. Whenever Kamon was in the room, he would stop and stare at the paintings of Iris. The fixation was so intense that a portrait of Iris had to be painted especially for Kamon's chamber.

"Kamon never stops looking portraits of Unova's Queen," Delia said. "I think he's infatuated with Iris."

"Tracey Sketchit paints charming portraits," Giovanni admitted. He admired the glow and the vibrant colours Tracey used. Tracey's paintings really brought an atmosphere that no other artist they knew could do. "The Queen of Unova: A very powerful woman. When she married Lance, the dragon empire boomed. Because of the dragon empire, they were saved from extinction. A remarkable lady. His taste is impeccable. Iris has left Lance for another man. If Kamon keeps his eye on the ball..."

"You think Kamon has a chance with Iris?" Delia asked.

Giovanni smirked. "I think our silver prince has a good chance of sending Iris to her knees. Iris is everything Kamon desires; a heart strength and a soul of victory."

"You know this reminds me of the time when you promised Ash and Kamon that you would make their dreams come true."

"I have been working on that," Giovanni announced. "Now it is certain that Ash will become May's King. We just have to find a way to bring Kamon into Iris' attention. And she will notice him."

"Don't overwork yourself," Princess Delia requested. She wrapped her arms around Giovanni and smiled. "No matter what happens they'll always be our two little kings."