A Game of Chess
A Pokémon Conquest Fanfic

Sitting at a dimly-lit table in Spectra Castle, a young woman and a young man sat, studying the chess pieces on the board in front of them. At last, the woman moved a large black piece—a queen—forwards to the last row, next to the white king. "Checkmate," she said, smiling.

The young man frowned. "Checkmate?" he repeated, looking over the board. "No, that can't be right, Nō. Can't I just take your queen with my king?" As he reached for the board, the purple-haired woman shook her head.

"No, Yoshitatsu, look. The bishop is defending her."

Yoshitatsu stared at the board a moment longer before grabbing the bishop and throwing it harshly towards the stone floor. But before it could touch the ground, his partner Pokémon, a Duskull, caught it and replaced it on the board. "Why is a member of the clergy in a war game, anyway? Chess is stupid."

"Be reasonable, Yoshitatsu!" Nō reprimanded. "It's just a game; the point of it is to have fun and enjoy ourselves, not to get all worked up over it."

"Don't scold me like that, Nō. I'm your older brother! You have no right to say things like that to me!"

Immediately, Yoshitatsu's Duskull and Nō's Misdreavus floated in between the two siblings. They had endured fights between the siblings many times, and they were used to breaking them up.

Fortunately, they didn't have to. A ninja suddenly melted out of the shadows of the room and bowed towards the two Warriors sitting at the chess board. "Lady Nō, Lord Yoshitatsu! Lord Dōsan, the Warlord of Spectra and your father, has summoned you to the throne room immediately." Bowing again, the ninja faded back into the shadows and disappeared.

"This sounds urgent," Nō said. "Let's go."

She got up from the table, and Yoshitatsu followed, grumbling.

Upon entering the throne room, though, their lighthearted mood crashed. Though Spectra Castle was always one of the most somber ones of the seventeen kingdoms of Ransei, with dark rooms and corridors lit only by a few dim candles and a few wandering Litwick and Lampent, Lord Dōsan's cheerful smile and upbeat attitude normally lightened the entire atmosphere of the castle. But presently the siblings found their father seated on his throne with a serious expression on his long, drawn face. Lady Omi, Dōsan's wife, was seated as his side, wearing a similarly grave expression. Their partner Pokémon, Lord Dōsan's Lampent and Lady Omi's Beedrill, floated at their side.

"Sit," Lord Dōsan said with an air of authority. His two children sat on the ground in front of him wordlessly.

"As you know, I am growing older," he said. "And… well, your mother and I have discussed this." He looked at his wife.

When he didn't continue, Lady Omi said, "Your father is retiring from being the Warlord of Spectra."

Nō and Yoshitsugu both gave a start at that.

"Father, you're not that old!" Yoshitsugu protested.

"I'm old enough to have two children, either of whom is competent enough in battle to be Warlord in my place." He looked at his two children for a moment before continuing, "Indeed, I shall name Nō the new Warlord of Spectra."

The room fell silent as Lord Dōsan's words faded away. Finally, Yoshitatsu stood up and stormed over to his father, his Duskull floating behind him.

The two men stared at each other, one in anger and one in shock. Then Yoshitatsu slapped his father across the face. "What do you mean, Nō is the new Warlord? I'm your oldest child, and I'm a man! Leadership naturally falls to me!"

As soon as Yoshitatsu slapped Lord Dōsan, Lady Omi was up from her seat and was grabbing her son's hand.

"Don't treat your father like that!" she scolded. When Yoshitatsu didn't respond, she turned him towards her. "Look, Yoshitatsu. You can't deny that Nō is a better Warrior than you are. You lose your cool whenever you're in battle, leading you to be reckless. You're a sore loser, while being a Warlord requires you to know when to give up the Castle. Your sister is also married to Lord Nobunaga, so she already has a strong ally. And, unlike your sister, your partner Pokémon isn't your Perfect Link."

Duskull made a noise at that last sentence, and pushed Lady Omi roughly to the ground. Her Beedrill was up in a flash, and fight immediately started between the two Pokémon. An instant later, Yoshitatsu and Lady Omi broke out into a fist fight.

"Hey, cut that out!" Lord Dōsan commanded, standing up. When neither his wife and his son nor their Pokémon stopped fighting, he and his Lampent rushed over to them and forcefully separated the two pairs. Even then, the four parties glared at each other murderously.

"Omi, you know that Lampent is not my Perfect Link, either, right?" Lord Dōsan yelled. "And Yoshitatsu, you leap to violence far too easily! Do you really want to make my last action as Warlord to fire you two, my son and my wife?" When they continued to stand, ready to strike, Lord Dōsan screamed. "I'm doing this. That's it. You two are hereby no longer in the Spectra army. I know Ittetsu has been dying to be part of it since his two friends Bokuzen and Morinari were enlisted, and I'm sure I can find a sixth army member. So, go ahead. That's it. You're out of here."

Once again, the room fell silent. Yoshitatsu suddenly wrenched himself out of Lord Dōsan's grasp and ran towards the entrance to the throne room. At the door, he turned around and gave a wave. "Well, if you don't need me, I'll just head on over to Viperia or Nixtorm or somewhere. See you later, Father! Goodbye, Nō! I'm never talking to you again, Mother!" With that, he exited Spectra Castle. His Duskull floated through the door after them.

With them gone, Lord Dōsan turned to his wife. "You and Beedrill, go back to your room. I'll deal with you two later." He shoved her roughly towards the door, and she glared at him before complying. He then turned towards Nō and sighed. "Of course you're still sitting there, doing nothing. Then again, you may just be the most reasonable of us, Nō." He returned to his throne and took a moment to compose himself. Adopting again his royal tone of voice, he continued, "The coronation will take place tomorrow evening. The priestess Okuni will perform the ceremony. It is a public event, so anyone may attend, but to be honest, it's not much of a ceremony, anyway. Okuni will recite several lines, and then you say, 'I do,' and then that's it."

"So kind of like marriage?" Nō asked.

"Yes, you're marrying the Kingdom of Spectra," Lord Dōsan said with a smile. "Unless you have any questions, that's all I have to say to you tonight. I shall see you tomorrow."

Nō nodded, and got up from where she was seated. Inclining her head slightly towards her father, she left the throne room and returned to her own room, where the chess board was still set up, the black queen threateningly close to the white king.

Lady Omi did not attend Nō's coronation. The next morning, she left Spectra to stay with her cousin Mitsuhide at Nixtorm.

"Please don't take offense to this, Nō," she said before she left. "I don't mean to miss your coronation, but your father is really, really, really getting on my nerves, and I can't stand him another minute! But I'll see you soon, I'm sure—and then you'll be Warlord of Spectra!"

Nō smiled. "Yes, thank you. Have a safe journey, Mother."

With that, Lady Omi left on the blimp, along with her Beedrill. Nō watched the blimp fly off for a moment before turning back into the castle to find her father. This was a big day for both of them.

Walking inside, she bumped into Okuni, the priestess who would oversee Nō's coronation. Okuni's father, Blacksmith Sanemon, was Lord Dōsan's favorite blacksmith, even though he was not a Warrior and consequently had no partner Pokémon. As the Warlord and the blacksmith became close friends, their daughters did as well. At her father's insistence, Okuni had become a priestess of Spectra's Church of Arceus, but she had once confessed to Nō that her real dream was to be a dancer.

"And of course," she had added, "to find a man in my life! And, since Arceus has no gender, members of the clergy are not allowed to have any sort of romance in their lives… It's only a matter of time before I give up being a priestess—but don't tell my dad that, OK?"

Presently, in the halls of Spectra Castle, Nō found the priestess and her partner Pokémon, Whirlipede, looking very nervous.

"Okuni?" Nō said. "Are you all right?" Her Misdreavus repeated her question towards Whirlipede.

"Not really," Okuni said. "Whirlipede and I were just about to announce to Father and Lord Dōsan that we were going to…"—She glanced nervously around the room before leaning forwards and continuing in a whisper—"to become true Warriors, in the sense of being eligible to join an army. And naturally, giving up the title of priestess. I would be able to explore Ransei more easily and find a husband this way, and to spread my love of dancing and music." She leaned back. "But I guess I have one last job to do, don't I? I heard about last night, and about Lord Dōsan's retirement and your coronation. I'm so happy for you! Still… this'll be my last act as priestess. I'm… a little frightened."

Nō smiled warmly. "Don't worry, Okuni. I'm sure you'll do great, and your father will understand perfectly well."

Suddenly, Okuni's face morphed into a devious one. "Father will most certainly not understand. But I plan to make my resignation with style tonight, after your coronation."

Before Nō could ask what was going to happen, she heard footsteps behind her. Turning around, she found her father, Lord Dōsan, stepping towards her. "Hello, Nō. Exciting day, is it not? I just announced to the public that I would be retiring today, and people of Spectra have… mixed feelings about it. But what's done is done." He beamed towards her. "In just a few hours, you'll be the Warlord of Spectra!" He turned towards Okuni. "Hello, Priestess Okuni. Hello, Priestess Whirlipede. I trust that you are ready for tonight?"

Okuni bowed. "Yes, my lord. Absolutely."

"Good." He turned back towards his daughter. "All right, Nō. You should be getting ready. It may still be morning, but evening will be here before you know it—you know how early nighttime comes in the Kingdom of Spectra." He placed an arm around his daughter's shoulders, and led her away to her chambers.

Lord Dōsan was right; dusk fell in Spectra in what felt like a blink of an eye. Dressed in a regal purple gown, Nō stood just inside the front door of Spectra Castle, looking out through a window. Overcast skies, with a tinge of purple. Ominous, perhaps, in other kingdoms, but in Spectra, dark nights were a good omen.

Okuni came to stand beside her. "You ready, Nō?"

"I'm sure it will be fun," Nō said.

"All right, I think it's time," said Lord Dōsan, coming up to the two women. "Let's go. Your future subjects are waiting."

He threw open the doors, and the three of them stepped out onto the ceremonial stage set up in the front lawn of the castle. Almost immediately, they heard cheering as they found themselves surrounded by Spectra citizens and their Pokémon, come to observe Nō's coronation.

Lord Dōsan stepped forwards, and the crowd quieted almost immediately. He spoke. "As you all know, I am retiring as Warlord of Spectra. Henceforth, the title shall be given to my daughter, Lady Nō!" The crowd burst into applause. "Do not worry, however; I shall continue to serve as a Warlord in the army, but I shall no longer command it." He paused solemnly for a moment. Then, he smiled a great big smile. "Let the coronation begin!"

Okuni and Nō took their place next to Lord Dōsan. Okuni turned to Lord Dōsan and held up the Holy Book, on which Lord Dōsan placed his hand. "Lord Saitō Dōsan," Okuni said. "Do you willingly give up the position of Warlord of Spectra?"

"I do," Lord Dōsan swore.

"And do you give your blessing to your successor, Lady Nō-hime?"

"I do."

Okuni now turned to Nō, who placed her hand on top of her father's. "Lady Nō-hime, do you swear by Arceus to accept the duties and responsibilities of the Warlord of Spectra?"

"I do," Nō said.

"And do you promise to defend the castle and your kingdom to the best of your abilities within the divine laws decreed by Arceus?"

"I do."

Okuni nodded towards Whirlipede, and the poison- and bug-type turned to Lampent and Misdreavus and repeated the oaths.

Lampent and Misdreavus agreed.

"Then, by the power of the Alpha Pokémon Arceus, I hereby pronounce Lady Nō-hime and Misdreavus the Warlord and First Pokémon of Spectra!" Okuni carefully placed the Holy Book on an ornate stand, and retrieved from it two large, jewel-encrusted crown. Whirlipede placed one on the Misdreavus's head, and Okuni placed the other on Nō's head. Okuni stepped back, and the crowd, who had been dead silent until this point, burst into applause and cheers.

Nō turned towards her father, who was beaming. "Congratulations, my daughter," he said.

"Thank you, Father," she replied.

By this point, the applause had died down enough for Okuni to speak once again. Placing the Holy Book gently on a nearby stand, she said, "Lady Nō may have just been crowned Warlord, but we're not done with tonight yet!" She took a deep breath. "I am hereby relinquishing the title of Priestess of the Church of Arceus. From tonight onwards, I will be a Warrior and a dancer!"

A funky beat suddenly started to play from what seemed like nowhere (Nō later found out that it was some weird sound system technology that Okuni had imported from Valora and had hidden around Spectra Castle's lawn). Okuni shed her ceremonial robe, revealing a much less cumbersome red-and-white outfit. Immediately, she broke out into a dance, one that transitioned swiftly between smooth, flowing movements and sudden, jerky ones. Her Whirlipede twirled her way around her partner Warrior, as well.

The dance ended as suddenly as it had started, and Okuni and her partner Pokémon took a bow.

A large, muscular man in the front row suddenly stood up. Nō recognized him as Blacksmith Sanemon, Okuni's father. This wasn't going to end well.

He stepped onto the ceremonial stage and grabbed his daughter. "What are you doing, Okuni?" he demanded.

"Sorry, Father," Okuni said, "but I'm going my own way. I've decided to become a Warrior, and travel the region of Ransei. I've told you that I've never wanted to be a priestess, but you wouldn't listen to me."

Blacksmith Sanemon frowned angrily, but before he could say anything, a Gastly flew onstage and struck Lord Dōsan's Lampent with a fierce Lick attack. Lord Dōsan grabbed his partner Pokémon and shielded it from the attacking ghost-type.

The crowd of Spectra citizens froze in shock. Suddenly, Nō spotted movement in the lawn. Shoving people aside, a young man with a scowl on his face approached the ceremonial stage—Yoshitatsu, Nō recognized. Her brother.

"Look, Father," he said fiercely, turning towards the former Warlord of Spectra. "You and I both know that I deserve that crown far more than Nō does. I'm a great leader—I can command an army, I can control a castle, I can rule a country. I even found myself my Perfect Link Pokémon, this Gastly. And Nō is just… a common Warrior who happened to have married Nobunaga."

Lord Dōsan, still hunched over his Lampent, turned towards his son, but before he could say anything, Nō grabbed Yoshitatsu's hand.

"Say that to my face," Nō said in a dangerously quiet tone.

Yoshitatsu looked at his younger sister for a moment. Then, wrenching his hand away from hers, he spat out, "You'll make a terrible Warlord, Nō." He turned towards the crowd of Spectra citizens and made a signal. From it, a small army emerged—five Warriors, enough to complete one full army, along with Yoshitatsu himself.

For a tense moment, Yoshitatsu's army stood on one side of the ceremonial stage as Nō, Lord Dōsan, Okuni, and Blacksmith Sanemon stood on the other end. Then, Yoshitatsu's Gastly struck at Nō's Misdreavus, and chaos broke out.

Both Warrior and Pokémon engaged themselves in a brawl, one that was far less orderly than the battles over Castle possession. Nō found herself facing a Warrior with an Excadrill. Midreavus flung herself at the Excadrill, leaving Nō behind to deal with the Warrior himself.

The Warrior looked at Nō, still dressed in the ceremonial robe, and he hesitated, apparently apprehensive about hurting a beautiful woman. Nō, however, had no such problems with hurting the Warrior. She smirked and slammed into the Warrior's foot with her high-heeled shoes.

"Look, person," she said. "I don't know what my brother told you to convince you to do this, but there's no way that I'm losing Spectra to him. He can't even lose a chess game without losing his cool. If he can't accept defeat, he will never truly enjoy the experience of battle."

Before the Warrior could respond, another man shoved Okuni in between the Warrior and Nō, effectively cutting off their conversation.

Noticing Nō, Okuni managed to say while struggling against the man, "Nō, you need to get the rest of Spectra's army here—Bokuzen and Morinari. And Ittetsu, if you can find him."

"Shouldn't they be in the audience today at my coronation?" Nō asked, but Okuni and the man had already pushed their way past her.

Nō turned around, almost tripping over Okuni's Whirlipede battling a Froslass, and managed to push herself off the ceremonial stage and onto the lawn.

The lawn was almost cleared; only a few stragglers were still struggling through the gate. There, she noticed where Bokuzen, Morinari, and Ittetsu were—they were leading the remaining Spectra citizens away from the violence on the stage.

She was about to call out to them, when a hand suddenly clasped around her mouth. She heard a very familiar voice speak to her. "Hello, my sister. You're not going to win this game of chess today." He forced her to turn around, and she glimpsed something shiny in his other hand. A knife.

Nō frowned. She and her brother had never been on bad terms, even when he got upset at her for winning too much. And yet here he was, apparently about to kill her. Then again, Yoshitatsu had always been power-hungry and prone to irrational violent outbursts.

Yoshitatsu held the knife at the ready, apparently about to stab Nō. "This is nothing personal, Nō. You just stole something very important to me: the title of Warlord. And to get it back, I'm going to have to get rid of you. Sorry." He raised his knife.

Nō just smiled.

Yoshitatsu stared at his sister, baffled. "Wh—Why are you smiling?" Nō just starting laughing in response.

A moment later, a flurry of white and red barreled into Yoshitatsu. His knife flew out of his hand and buried itself, blade-first, into the lawn.

Nō walked nonchalantly over to him and leaned over. "You don't remember the rules of chess, Yoshitatsu. A queen is the most powerful piece in chess, especially one promoted late in the game. And she cannot be harmed by a usurper king like you when she is defended by her bishop. Or former priestess, in this case." She nodded gratefully towards Okuni, who was still pinning Yoshitatsu down. "Do you want to know why I was laughing? Because this fight mimics our last chess game perfectly. And do you remember how it ended? I won. Checkmate."

Nō stood up and kicked her brother hard in the ribs before turning around and facing the stage. Though Okuni was taking care of Yoshitatsu, the fight on the stage was not going nearly as well for the Spectra army. Without either Nō or Okuni, Lord Dōsan and Blacksmith Sanemon were hopelessly outnumbered; the Pokémon were faring little better, the three loyal to Spectra just barely managing to keep the six attackers occupied.

"Lady Nō!" a voice from behind her called out. She turned around to find Ittetsu and his Drifloon pointing to the gate. "I believe we have some help!"

There, riding on a Hydreigon, was a man dressed in black and purple armor: Nō's husband, Nobunaga.

Nobunaga and Hydreigon soared past Nō towards the stage, and immediately, the attackers scattered. They did not want to face the wrath of Ransei's most fearsome Warlord.

Nobunaga laughed evilly and returned to his wife. "How are you, Nō? It seems that Nobunaga has just missed your coronation. But it seems to have been an exciting one." He glanced at the fleeing figures. "Your mother has just stopped by Dragnor to announce your coronation; Nobunaga would not have known about it otherwise. Did you not think it fit to invite your own husband to it?" he added teasingly.

Nō just smiled and shrugged. "It must have slipped my mind."

It was past midnight, and the dim moon cast long shadows across the stone floor of Spectra Castle's throne room. Nō sat on the throne, her husband at her right and her army—Lord Dōsan, Bokuzen, and Morinari—seated on either side of the Warlord couple. Seated on the floor were Okuni, Blacksmith Sanemon, Ittetsu, and Yoshitatsu.

"I suppose we must settle this now," Nō said. She turned to Ittetsu, the Warrior whose friends Bokuzen and Morinari were already part of Spectra's army. "Ittetsu. As you know, my father's last decree as Warlord of Spectra was to dismiss my brother and my mother from the army. Now that there is a vacancy, you can at last join friends. Your actions earlier today, helping to herd the citizens of Spectra to safety, was just one example of why you are so deserving of a spot in Spectra's army. Please come up here and take that empty chair."

Bowing, Ittetsu thanked Nō and complied, giving smiles to Bokuzen and Morinari as he passed them. His Drifloon quickly followed.

"Okuni and Blacksmith Sanemon," Nō continued. "Your situation is a little different. I must thank you both deeply for fighting alongside me tonight. Blacksmith Sanemon, surely you cannot deny that your daughter is a skilled Warrior, nor that her Whirlipede is a capable battler. They both demonstrated their exceptional abilities tonight, fighting alongside you."

Blacksmith Sanemon looked as though he was about to argue, but he quickly closed his mouth and said nothing.

"I know you're still upset, but please consider this proposition." Nō quickly gestured towards Nobunaga to stand. He gave her an odd look, but he complied. "Okuni, I ask you to join my army."

A look of bewilderment crossed both Okuni's and her father's face.

"I know," Nō continued. "It's not quite the same as wandering freely across the land, but… I would greatly appreciate it if you stayed with me at least a little bit longer. I was going to return the seat to my mother when she returned, but I think that I would greatly prefer it if the seat were filled by such a good friend as you."

Both Okuni and her father were silent. Finally, Blacksmith Sanemon muttered, "Go ahead, Okuni."

Upon hearing those words, Okuni hugged him and said, "Thank you so much, Father!" She ran past Nobunaga to take the seat that he had vacated.

"And Blacksmith Sanemon," Nō continued, "I can grant you a monetary reward for helping us so much today. If there is any other favor that I may help you with, please do not hesitate to ask."

"Thank you, my lady," Blacksmith Sanemon said.

Finally, Nō turned to her brother, whose arms were tied up behind his back and whose Gastly was caged. "Yoshitatsu, what you did today was horrible. Battles are something meant to be enjoyed; they're not meant to be a bloody brawl. And you tried to murder me. Your own sister. I don't even know what to do to you." She glanced at his Gastly. "What have you done with your Duskull, anyway?"

Yoshitatsu said, "He's in a cave nearby, waiting for my return."

Nō frowned. "Nobunaga, could you please go to this cave and get the Duskull back here?" Nobunaga nodded, and he mounted his Hydreigon and flew out of the throne room. Returning to her brother, Nō said, "All right, Yoshitatsu. Here's what I'll do for now. I'll put you in a jail cell for the next month with both of your Pokémon. And I'll give you a chess set to pass the time. Perhaps then, you'll learn to have fun in battle."

Before Yoshitatsu could protest, two ninjas melded out of the shadows, grabbing Yoshitatsu and Gastly's cage roughly and escorting them out of the throne room.

When the door slammed shut, Nō sat back with a sigh and smirked. "Well, tonight was fun." She suddenly stood up and faced her new army. "We'll wait for Nobunaga to come back with Yoshitatsu's Duskull, and then we can all head off to sleep. I'm sure that our time together as an army will be like a good game of chess: competitive, yes, but ultimately, enjoyable."

Author's note:

This fanfic is filled with both historical references and historical inaccuracies; I hope to address them all here. Except for Blacksmith Sanemon, all named characters in this fic are Warriors in Pokémon Conquest.

Historically, Nō's family was the Saitō clan, from the Mino Province in Japan. Nō herself was relatively unimportant in history; all that's important about her is that she married Nobunaga. She is normally referred to as Nōhime, which means Lady Nō; her "full name" used in this fic, Lady Nō-hime, is actually redundant. In Samurai Warriors (the game series that Pokémon Conquest is partially a crossover with), Nō is portrayed as a femme fatale; however, other than her design, which is held over from that series, Pokémon Conquest's Nō has only vague indications of being a femme fatale; she just seems to be a mysterious woman who strives for enjoyment and pleasure above all else. This is the portrayal of her that I chose in this fic.

Nō's father was Saitō Dōsan, the so-called "Serpent of Mino" (his Perfect Link with Arbok is a reference to that historical nickname), who was once a merchant (thus his sprite in Pokémon Conquest being the same as the male merchant). He was the head of the Saitō clan, which in this fic, translates as the Warlord of Spectra. Nō's mother, Omi no kata, is speculated to have been the cousin of Mitsuhide, but has otherwise very little historical record.

Saitō Yoshitatsu was Nō's older half-brother; Omi no kata was historically not his mother. For one reason or another that is not historically clear, he decided to form an army and attack his retiring father, Dōsan. He ultimately succeeded in the Battle of Nagara-gawa, becoming the new leader of the Saitō clan. Obviously, this fic deviates from that by making his usurpation fail. Historically, Nobunaga also sent forces to help Dōsan in the battle, but they were too late; in this fic, however, Nobunaga just barely makes it to the battle.

Ujiie Bokuzen, Andō Morinari, and Inaba Ittetsu were the so-called "Mino Triumvirate," three generals who served the Saitō clan. Other than that, they're not particularly special; even Ittetsu, who is singled out in this fic, was just chosen randomly from the three.

Okuni was a shrine maiden ("priestess" in this fic) at the Grand Shrine of Izumo. She left to go to Kyoto to dance and act, eventually founding Kabuki, which is a type of musical theater and dance. Her father, Nakamura Sanemon, was a blacksmith. Neither Okuni nor Sanemon had anything to do with Mino or the Saitō clan; I'm not quite sure why Okuni was put with Nō in Pokémon Conquest.

As a final note, Nō's ultimate army in this fic (Nō, Okuni, Dōsan, Bokuzen, Morinari, and Ittetsu) is the army that the player faces in the game's main story.

Published July 16, 2013