Interlude:
Luna knew she was smart. This conclusion wasn't her being arrogant but rather a simple fact and not acknowledging such a feat would be stupid.
She was not the smartest however, he was, but she believed herself to come very close to it.
Okay, not really close but closer than everybody else.
It was with this mindset that the psychic moved the pawn in front of her queen to the middle, aiming to claim the center.
The 4 squares in the middle of the board were the most important ones, being in control of those four meant that the other player had to work around your pieces.
Luna loved being in the middle, she always had been in the center of his world.
Dust moved his own black pawn two spaces forward, mirroring her and from that moment she was no longer the only one in the center.
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Luna watched Riolu, now named Fay, sleep in the corner of the room, lying on a small pile of pillows her trainer had given.
Somehow it irked her, she was truly glad that she was the only one who was allowed to sleep on his bed, but the total lack of appreciation on Fay's side just annoyed her.
It had been a nice offer but Fay seemed to be determined to suffer in solitude, cast away in the corner like some wild Pokémon.
If the story would simply end with that then there would have been no problem but no, of course, her trainer had to feel bad about Fay's attitude. Despite what he tried to make-believe, every failed attempt to socialize with Fay that had been shot down made him feel bad about himself.
They could just leave her there if they were quiet enough and could probably abandon her in the Pokémon Center and be gone before dawn.
But he was against it.
That moment Luna realized that things would change, the moments where there were only two of them would be gone, a relic of the past. Things would never be the way they were before.
Luna knew that this could not continue.
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The game of chess advanced, the white knight jumped over her own line of white pawns to defend her valuable pawn in the center. He did not seem to be surprised by it, it was a fairly standard move after all.
After some consideration, he moved the pawn in front of his king forward only one square in order to assist his own center pawn.
More pieces were moved and two battlefronts were formed, Luna's white shining knights against his black knights.
Nothing of great importance happened for a while until Dust moved a pawn forward. The pawn that previously had been supporting his center pawn. Now the one in the middle had been left defenseless, ready to be slaughtered.
An opportunity arose.
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An opportunity, perhaps.
Luna was better than Fay in combat, she was so much more than her. If she really wanted to, Fay couldn't even scratch Luna with those weird shiny claws.
Especially if Luna applied the strategy Dust called: 'Camping'.
Fay was inferior in the art of battle in almost every imaginable way, there was no technique behind her attacks, no thoughts or strategy.
Only the anger and sadness channeled into her desire to land a hit.
Luna felt slightly bad for her, but not a lot.
Like how one would feel if a forest fire killed the Pokémon who always bullied you but he took the secret to where his secret berry stash was with him into the fire.
Such a waste.
But Luna would not lose to Fay, never! Like he had said Luna was not just a Ralts, she would be his unbeatable knight.
She would remain her master's number 1.
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An unexpected development! When Dust moved the supporting pawn away and left his center pawn defenseless she had missed a small detail. The bishop that had been blocked by the pawn was no longer trapped by the pawn she had just slain.
The situation around the center escalated, unwilling to cut her losses, Luna doubled down on it and sent more forces to claim center stage.
Dust didn't mind escalating the situation, which was odd for him since he always played so carefully, never willing to even give up on an unimportant piece.
The escalation continued and unfolded into an all out war.
Pieces on both sides fell, mostly unimportant pieces that could be missed, pawns, knights and bishops, all sacrificial to their goal.
Still, it was a bloodbath.
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She was hugging him!
Oh, why does it feel so good? If only this video could last forever.
Her heart was having a meltdown as she was holding onto his arm.
Sadly he was not paying a lot of attention to her, instead, his eyes were glued to the screen.
A broadcast was playing, something about Gyarados in Seawave City causing trouble. The water in the video had turned red from all the blood and in the middle of it all was the ringleader, a gigantic Gyarados that towered over everything.
Luna was not afraid though, as long as she and her trainer were alright, the world could burn for her part.
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Dust suddenly castled his king and rook, swapping the two pieces and completely changing the course of the game.
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The target she had been focusing on was gone, hidden away in a corner with a rook in its stead.
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Looker laid out his plans in a way where Dust would be the most important part of it all, of course, he would be, he was just cool like that.
"What do you think about this?" Her trainer asked her.
She felt a bit tired and although the idea of stopping evil with her trainer was appealing to her, it was soon going to be sleepy time.
But a major factor was at play here.
Fay, the enemy, was out. She had battled and lost consciousness because she was simply too weak to win a fight against Chimchar. Something she had done with ease.
She and Dust were alone again, this was her chance. It would be just like that time with Crimson, just the two of them.
And if Luna agreed to expose her trainer to danger he would need her, she could save him.
Like in one of those tales or legends about shining white princesses saving their loved ones. And those stories always ended with a-
Luna eagerly nodded, this was her chance. The enemy was nowhere in sight and victory was within her grasp.
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Things were not going well, suddenly his queen razed across the board and began attacking out of nowhere.
This can not continue.
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Terrified, Luna watched her trainer hug Fay while he was sleeping. True, Fay had been acting a lot nicer but this was straight-up breaking all the unwritten rules. This was a declaration of war!
Except it wasn't really one.
The audio file revealed sinister events that had plagued them, events she could not even remember.
She had failed, she knew that much.
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Dust smiled at her, a ruthless smile that remained on his face as his queen slaughtered her forces. He kept placing her in a check, forcing her to defend her king while he slowly but surely began to pick off the smaller pieces.
She managed to advance her own pieces as well but not nearly as much as she wanted.
"Don't worry about it." He smiled as he saw her stressed expression. "There's not a lot you could have done there, it was a nasty move but hey, it's just a game right?"
Dust moved his queen once again but this time he attacked not only the king bu also the rook, putting her in a so-called fork.
With great reluctance she moved her king out of the way and watched as the black queen took the white rook and removed it from the game.
She had to think up something fast!
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With wide eyes Luna saw Pikachu break through her defense with an explosion of electricity.
Lightning zipped through her body and her world became a blur.
A yellow flash too bright to comprehend knocked the lights out.
Once again she was powerless to do the right thing. And it was all her own fault, Fay had fought and won which was actually a nice surprise. For some reason Fay acted a lot friendlier, almost nice and if it wasn't for the fact that Fay tried to hog Dust's attention she would almost call her a friend but not now.
She had failed where Fay hadn't, she had beaten Aipom while Luna failed to fight Pikachu.
Fay had even scratched Pikachu while Luna didn't even last a full 30 seconds.
Fay made her look bad.
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Luna placed her queen in his queen's path, challenging him to trade pieces. It would get rid of both pieces but Luna would finally be free of that little pest of a black queen that caused her lines and strategies to crumble.
It was a very bold move to trade pieces but she had enough of his queen.
Luna's patience was over, she snapped.
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Anger, so much hatred, Luna could almost taste it.
The Riolu glared at Hunter J with such intensity it was almost deadly. They had been surrounded on all sides, Dust was weaponless and he was being threatened by this blue haired human.
She held no sympathy for them, Hunter J merely thought it was amusing to see their reactions, a twisted little game to kill her boredom.
Luna had to do something.
Then an idea struck her.
"That's Hunter J! She's the one who killed her!" Fay cried out with anger.
If Luna had to teleport one Pokemon less it would allow her to cover a greater distance, not a whole lot but every small step would be a blessing. Fay might even entertain Hunter J long enough and maybe it would even leave her satisfied enough to not give them a chase.
Fay was at her breaking point, intense emotions washed over her and they were like an Electrode ready to explode with only the right trigger.
If Luna added the right amount of fuel to the fire they could use it to make their great escape.
It would be like eating two Pidgeys with one stone, saving her trainer and getting rid of Fay.
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An unknown feeling washed over Luna, reluctance.
She started to like Fay, a little bit, but still. Their squabbles had been fun and the constant competition between the two was actually good for a lot of laughs and good times.
Fay was like an annoying rock that kept cutting your hand but you kept around because it had such a cool color.
However a sacrifice had to be made and it was a price she was willing to pay, Fay wouldn't be missed for too long anyway, probably.
At least she would have him all for herself again.
Luna translated what Fay just said to those that did not understand Pokéspeak.
It was the right trigger to blow up the emotional bomb inside of Fay.
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Both queens fell and Luna soon realized she had overlooked the importance of her own queen. Her defenses crumbled as she could no longer move around as much without a queen defending all her pieces.
This had turned straight into a nightmare.
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Big mistake, big mistake!
'No, don't look at me like that! Don't think that! I am so sorry!'
She truly was sorry.
While Luna dropped from the sky, back into the nightmare of a desert underneath her, she wasn't scared for her life. Sure, there were things she would miss but in the end, it was nothing more than an inevitable outcome.
No, she was terrified to lose the little faith her trainer had in her.
She had to succeed, right now!
'Sorry!'
Somewhere in this mess, they would find Fay, they would rescue her and things would go back to normal, hopefully.
'Just don't be mad at me.' Luna screamed.
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One by one all her pieces were slain, at a heavy cost but a cost he could afford to pay.
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"He's somewhere in here."
"I know," Luna replied with a deep sigh.
The small room they had woken up in was locked airtight, probably a prison or something.
A bad prison with food, a bed and a tv and a Gibble plush but still a prison considering Dust was not here.
How had she even gotten here?
Fay hit the door once again with her claws and made deep dents in the surface of the metal. The door didn't budge, however.
Luna could feel many other entities around her, through the walls and through the ground. It felt like she was inside a human building but she had no idea where they actually were.
She felt a lot of happiness and relief, some were grieving and others were frustrated but the overall mood seemed to be bright. Yet this gave no clue to what was going on and more importantly, the whereabouts of Dust.
This was beyond desirable.
She could sense him, in a vague and faint way like he was dreaming. His personal signature was the only thing that made him actually stand out.
Was he okay? She couldn't tell.
Luna felt less than worthless again.
This can not continue.
Her trainer had told her to always have a backup plan, an ace in the hole.
Luna had her own trump card, the one she hadn't used yet. Instead, she opted to keep it a secret.
She always thought herself to be very smart, he would never expect this and he would love her again!
No longer would she be the useless Ralts.
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Luna smiled and moved the unnoticed pawn forward to the last row of the board, far behind his and her own lines. It had been moving forward in the background, getting further ahead while the conflict between black and white ravaged the board.
And now the pawn had reached the other side.
She promoted the pawn to a queen.