Princess Or No Princess?

**Princess Or No Princess?** is the twenty-first Season 1 episode of Leeko: The Beginning trilogy, and the twenty-first episode overall.

## Summary

Milly befriends Commander Ray (who is actually called Princess Ray); Leeko fights Salmonella after Leonardo duels Ray.

## Characters

### Primary

* Leeko
* Princess Ray/Commander Ray (*debut*)
* Milly
* Manny
* King Leonardo

### Secondary

* Bubbles (*no dialogue*)
* Chef Peppermint
* Chief Gordy
* Cindy
* Hover
* Lady Chanter
* Madeline
* Mayor Bay Brittleton
* Parker
* Princess Rain (*debut*)
* Professor Antico
* Randolph (*debut*)
* Salmonella (*debut*)
* Sir Chanter
* The Princesses' guards (*debut*)
* Tommy
* Viruses
* Various unnamed Puffy villagers

## Episode summary

The episode begins with the ending of a generic fairy tale read to Leeko by Milly at Castle Leonardo. As she and Manny comment on the story, their parents come barging in with urgent news, explaining that Princess Rain is coming to visit Usapia. King Leonardo soon hears word of this news, and immediately has plans to marry her, ordering the Viruses to prepare the castle for a wedding. As word spreads, Puffy Town prepares for the inevitable rush of visitors to the village. Once everything is ready, King Leonardo and his court meet their honored guest, who arrives in a red zeppelin on a runway on top of the castle's main dome. The ship opens to reveal Commander Ray first, who then introduces the princess proper as both exit the craft. After meeting with Sir Chanter and Lady Chanter, King Leonardo interjects and declares that Princess Rain will be his bride, which causes no exceptional response from the princess.

Following this introduction, Sir Chanter, his family, and the princess sit together for tea. Manny comments on how pretty the princess is compared to his sister, while Milly retaliates by complimenting Commander Ray as Leeko touches the flowers on the centerpiece. Commander Ray then introduces "himself" to Milly, Manny, and Leeko just before King Leonardo comes barging in with his usual boisterous laughter. After shoving Sir Chanter and Lady Chanter aside, King Leonardo offers to take the princess on a tour, but Commander Ray interjects, saying the princess needs rest. Later on, King Leonardo complains to Tommy about Ray's interjection, and decides he'll use the time to practice his propositioning, forcing Tommy to dress up as a princess for the bit and singing rather poorly as his Viruses provide the special effects.

The next day, Princess Rain meets the assembled Puffy crowd as Commander Ray walks the castle halls with Milly and Leeko. As they talk, Ray accidentally activates one of the king's trap doors, expelling the three from the castle, and giving Ray the idea of visiting Puffy Town instead. As they arrive in town, the Puffies are confused that the princess is not with them. Ray, in particular, is interested in Leeko, and enthusiastically follows his lead as the tour progresses; sampling the appetizers from the stalls, catching fish, and having the catch made fresh into sushi by Chef Peppermint. Manny later catches up with them, complaining about how the princess is "so boring". This causes Ray to briefly lose composure and nearly blow the act in front of the kids, but a rampaging sheep interrupts the group, and Ray gets a chance to save Leeko. As Milly goes to check on them, she finds that Ray's hair has changed from orange to violet, making her look like Princess Ray, revealing "him" to be a princess.

The group later discusses the circumstances - Ray revealing to be Rain's twin sister - in a secluded spot in the woods as Leeko continues playing, and despite the kids' insistence, Ray must soon return home before her cover is blown to the others. Back at the castle, as Rain continues to bore her guests, King Leonardo jumps in wearing a tuxedo and proposes to her with very little tact or subtlety. Ray, back in her commander persona again, jumps in and shatters King Leonardo's hopes for a wedding, which her sister confirms. Enraged, King Leonardo challenges, Ray to a duel, which she accepts. Milly urges Ray to reconsider, but she reveals that she and her sister will be made queens when they return to their home planet, and the duel will be her last chance to have any fun. The duel then commences, as King Leonardo and Ray battle with swords, but King Leonardo quickly loses the first engagement and runs off. He then reveals his secret weapon: a giant fish monster called Salmonella.

As Ray battles Salmonella, Leeko jumps in to help, which concerns her, since she has never seen him fight. Leeko attempts to vacuum-mouth the monster, but this does nothing, and instead eats King Leonardo's sword, turning into Sword Leeko. Sword Leeko and Ray then battle the monster once again, but make little progress. From the crowd, Peppermint tells the two to turn the monster into sushi. Ray and Sword Leeko strike together, cutting the monster's tail into sushi ribbons and defeating it. At that moment, another zeppelin comes down, out of which steps an elder, who lightly berates Ray for disguising herself again, revealing the ruse to the crowd. As the visiting royal court prepares to leave, Ray, now properly dressed as a princess, goes to give Leeko a medal of honor for his bravery, but decides to give him a less formal reward instead, hugging him before departing in her zeppelin. The episode ends on a framed photograph from the group's visit to Puffy Town.

## Trivia

* This is the first episode to air in 2002.
* Third episode that features the Sword Copy Ability.
* First episode to have a song.
* This episode marks the first and only time King Leonardo has ever been seen trying to use a sword, and it does not go well for him.
* This episode marks the first time Chef Peppermint prepared a dish that someone other than Leeko enjoyed.
* This episode shows misdirected love between some characters: King Leonardo falling in love with Princess Rain, Milly developing a crush on Ray while she's in her commander persona, and Manny initially having a crush on Rain.