//------------------------------// // 17 - Dressed For Success // Story: V for Victory, V for Victini! // by zelkova48 //------------------------------//         Victini, like most, if not all pokemon, never really understood the vivid fascination that humans, and to a lesser extent, ponies, had with this thing that they called clothing. Even Leavanny, the nurturing pokemon, known for creating clothes made of leaves for other pokemon often found it head-scratching whenever they encountered a human that gushes over their creations. It must’ve been because humans had no real fur, scales, or external bone plating of their own. Only bits and patches of hair here and there that offered almost little to no coverage on the body. Maybe that’s why they created clothes. To protect themselves from the unrelenting fury that is mother nature. Or perhaps it’s a method of intimidation that they’ve developed as a defense mechanism against predators like certain pokemon have. Considering how gaudy and flashy some clothes are, it might as well be on par with the threatening patterns upon an Arbok’s hood. Either way, both ideas sounded plausible to him. Yet, ponies also wore clothing despite being fully capable of surviving without it. Why? He’ll never know for the life of him. Reasons to wear clothings aside, Victini grew up and lived alongside humanity for a good chunk of his life. He was there during the rise of the Kingdom of the Vale, as well as its fall. He had seen Eindoark town built from the ground up of the ruins of the former kingdom. But perhaps most appropriately, he had seen all the changes in fashion that humanity had to offer over the course of his long life. For some time now, he had had a growing interest in wearing clothing that most pokemon wouldn’t usually have. And honestly, why would they? They look and do just fine the way they are without being dressed up like some kind of Thanksgiving turkey. But today was different. And it’s not because he nearly set fire to a friend’s house. No, it was because today he’s finally gonna be able to try on the tuxedo that Rarity had tailor made just for him. Both he had Drilbur had some made especially for them, with the former having his own thrown together at the last minute. Now, they there both in the Carousel Boutique dressing room trying to figure out how to actually wear the clothes. The real challenge begins now. * * * “So, these pants... you’re telling me that these are meant to be worn on your head?” Victini asked with his head slightly tilted to the side like a curious Lillipup. “How could you know that? You’ve never worn clothes before.” “I haven’t. But look at them,” Drilbur pointed to Victini's tuxedo pants. “They were obviously meant to keep your ears warm. After all, these were made specifically for you.” “Hmm...” Victini assumed a thinking pose, tapping his tiny feet on the floor. “Well, you do have a point,” said Victini as he put the pants on his head. Sure enough, the pants fit over his head and over his ears snug as a new pair of gloves. Not only that, the pants came with a belt that allows it to be properly adjusted to the contours of his head. He wiggled his ears back and forth, taking in the comfort that they provided him. “I like it. I like it a lot!” he chirped happily. Next was the dress shirt and jacket that came with the set. Drilbur had also told him that these were to be worn upon his lower half, with the dress shirt to act like some form of underwear. The reasoning for its design as assumed by the pokemon? The two long sleeves on the side was meant for your legs, while the hole in the middle was for when they had to go and do their business. Ingenious, they both thought. Ingenious indeed. By then, Rarity had already entered the dressing room carrying in what looked to be a random assortment of junk and trash floating in her magical grip. She had an old semi rusted colander, a plunger with a splintery handle covered in unmentionables, and a raggedy checker board patterned baby blue dish towel where one edge was nothing but shredded scraps. It may have been trash, but to Rarity, as the old saying goes, one mare’s trash is another mare’s treasures. “Oh, Victini and the mole thingy!” Rarity sang in a sing song voice. “I’m ba-aaaaaah!” she screamed, dropping all of her trash in a startled jolt of movement as she saw Victini wearing the fabulous clothes that she made for him all wrong. So very wrong. “Tini!” Victini cried happily as he floated over to the startled mare and nuzzling her cheek. He was clearing enjoying his new garbs. They made him feel nice and sophisticated. “Tini, tini, tini!” he said before pulling up and chewing upon the fine piece of satin that was held in the pockets of the jacket.           “Oh, no! Oh, no, no, no, no, no!” Rarity spoke in exasperation as she used her magic to tear off all the clothes on Victini. “You’re wearing it all wrong!” she shouted aloud as she began to forcefully slap all of the clothing back onto Victini, scraping a few patches of his fur and sending shocks up his spine in the most unpleasant of ways. Victini nearly let out a miniature heat wave hadn’t he forced himself to calm down after being so viciously manhandled like that. He needed to control himself lest another potential fire break out. But then he felt his airway being cut off as the bow tie was wrapped around his neck and tightened like a noose. Again, the air around him become swelteringly hot. Hot enough to boil water and bake an egg out in the open air in a matter of seconds. Tears welled up on the lower edges of his big blue eyes, now bulging fish eyed as he struggled to maintain his willpower and deprived oxygen levels. “There we go! All nice and proper!” Rarity exclaimed, marveling at her work all while failing to notice Victini’s face turning slightly pink, then a deep purplish blue as he his breaths came out short and labored. “Well, aren’t you just the cutest little thing. Cute as a button!” she patted him on the head. “T-tini...” the poor rabbit whimpered, utterly hating the way his ensemble was now slowly killing him while making him look good at the same time. Thankfully, Rarity had already turned her attention to Drilbur, giving him a brief window of opportunity to undo the noose around his neck. Fumbling with his fingers, he quickly pulled on both ends of the tie and pulled on them until he could feel acceptable amounts of oxygen return to his deprived lungs.         With the fear of losing control of his own flames smoted for good, he took a great big breathe as he turned to face his mole friend who, to his earnest surprise, looked rather dashing despite his accoutrements being composed of nothing more than random junk that Rarity picked out from her trash can.         “Drilbur!” the mole exclaimed aloud as he looked himself over. The old rusty colander was worn atop his head, almost like a poor king’s crown. Though as dirty as it was, Victini couldn’t get over his primal instinct to enjoy the shine that part of the colander gave off as it gleamed in the sunlight. The raggedy dish cloth was somehow repurposed into a swanky little cape, with the tattered edge acting like little decorative frills. Then there was the plunger, gripped in his claws like a mighty scepter, with which he rules over his imaginary kingdom.         “Hmph, not my finest work, but easily one of my more... unique ones,” Rarity mused as she adjusted Drilbur’s little cape. She reminisced back to the time when she had created all of her friend’s gala dresses to suit their personalities and interests, as thoroughly described by them of course. That turned out to be quite a disaster. Then there was the time she made a hat out of bendy straws during her short excursion to the Crystal Empire, interesting moment that one was. “Phew, there we go. All done.” “Drilbur, drilbur, dril, drilbur!” the mole thanked Rarity as he joined up with Victini. His usual lighthearted demeanor shifted to confusion when he noticed that he was wearing his clothes upside down. “Hey, Victini. Why’re your clothes like that?” he asked. “I think this is how I was suppose to wear it,” Victini deadpanned. “Hmm, funny. I was sure pants were something that you wore on your head,” Drilbur said as he shook his scepter (plunger) before Victini. “Look! I got this, this... I don’t know what this thing is actually.” “Is that even considered clothes?” Victini raised his brow as he looked the scepter (plunger) over. “I think it is if she gave it to me,” replied Drilbur. “Huh, it must be a pony thing. I think humans would do the same too.” “Probably. I mean I’ve once saw this person a long time ago wearing so many feathers on their clothes that I thought they’d been attack by an angry Swanna!” he chuckled as Drilbur bursted into laughter beside him. They continued to laugh jovially until a unicorn shaped shadow looming overhead caused them to quickly shut up and stumble backwards in surprise. They nervously backed away from Rarity as she inched them into a corner, taking note of the devious gleam that sparkled wildly in her sapphire blue eyes. * * * “So, how are they?” She asked, feeling extremely proud of her accomplishments. “Are they fantastic? Magnificent? Extraordinary? Grand? I’d even go as far as to say that they’re remarkable, wouldn’t you say?” “...Tini?” Victini blinked. “...Drilbur?” Drilbur blinked as well. “...” Rarity mentally slapped herself for forgetting she can’t understand rabbit or mole speak. She berated herself for being so lost in the moment, but she knew that all her troubles would pay off in the end. Victory was just a moment away. “I’ll just take that as a compliment,” she extended her hoof to them, putting on her best smile in the process. “Please, accept these clothes as a token of friendship. From me, to you.” “Tini, tini, tini,” said Victini as he flew over and curtly shook Rarity’s hoof. Although, Victini oddly felt wary before his friend, feeling a tight knot form in the pit of his stomach as he pulled away. The feeling itself was, however, justified upon seeing Rarity’s expression rapidly shift and contort between a multitude of emotions all in a single go. At first it was glee, Rarity had a smile so wide Victini was sure it would’ve snapped her face clean in two. What followed next was excitement. For some strange reason, she levitated a bit overhead and flipped it into the air. The coin spun in mid air and unceremoniously clattered onto the floor with a clink and a clang. Almost immediately, her excitement fizzled away to express disappointment. She tried over and over again, frustration taking over shortly afterwards. Before long, frustration morphed into seething anger, and both Victini and Drilbur found their backsides unconsciously pressed up against the front door of Carousel Boutiques, feeling the need to make a speedy getaway if what they suspected were to happen came around full circle. Rarity growled and cursed something vulgar beneath her breath, an act very unbecoming of a refined lady as herself. She knew she needed to keep her cool, just like she did earlier. But time and time again she kept fumbling with the coin in her possession, expecting for her gamble to pay off, only to be sorely mocked over and over again by fate’s hand. She was slipping, and it showed in her attitude. It was clear that she didn’t receive any of Victini’s power of victory, so she chose wisely to cut her losses. She stopped herself from losing all control and simmered down before things could escalate even further. She gently placed the bit down on a nearby table and began taking deep breathes to ease away the stress building up at the back of her head. Inhale... exhale... inhale... exhale... She repeated the calming motion until she felt calm enough to turn around and flash the two terrified pokemon a smile free of any thinly veiled ulterior motives. “I’m terribly sorry about that,” she apologized as Victini and Drilbur visibly relaxed, eliciting a breathy sigh in turn. It looked as though the two pokemon had averted another potential crisis. “I’ve just been very stressful lately. Work, you know?” “Tini?” Victini looked perplexed. “Tini, tini tini tini?” “Eh... yeah, sure. Let’s go with that,” Rarity replied with a wave of her hoof and a glimmer of her horn, enveloping the two pokemon in a warm baby blue glow as they were both levitated off the ground. With both Victini and Drilbur trapped in Rarity’s magical grip, they floated helplessly in the air, unsure of what to make of the abrupt change to their current predicament as they were being led outside of Carousel Boutiques. “Well, I would love for you to stay but I’m afraid that my workload has been piling up and it needs my immediate attention,” said Rarity, setting the two pokemon down before dropping her magic around them. “I do hope that we can meet again soon. It has been a very lovely afternoon! Ta ta!” without so much as another word, or even a glance, Rarity spun around and bolted back to her home/business. With a loud thud and jingling bells, she slammed the door behind her, leaving behind two very confused , and well dressed, pokemon in her wake. * * * “What was that about?” Victini asked Drilbur, scratching his large ears as he turned to face his mole friend. “I don’t know. But hey, at least we look cool now!” Drilbur beamed, flaunting his new attire for the world to see. He twirled his scepter (plunger) in his claws and then tipped his crown (colander), smirking triumphantly with a frivolous throw of his cape (dishcloth). “Hmm. Clothes are great, I can see why humans would wear them now. Although, I don’t think we’re ever going to wear these more than once unless we had a trainer.” “Agreed. Although this thing is still a little too tight around my neck,” Victini tugged on the collar of his dress shirt, loosening some buttons and even going as far as to bite some of their stitching off just to feel less stuffy in his Mankey suit. “Phew, it gets hard to breath in this thing sometimes. After today, I think I’ll put this away along with the rest of our other stuff.” “Sounds like a good idea. We wouldn't want ruin such a good thing by wearing it all the time,” said Drilbur. The two pokemon nodded to each other in agreement and turned to go back home to their little burrow on the outskirts of Ponyville. Today, at least to Victini, was much a success as it was yesterday with Applejack. He had confirmed that Rarity was indeed being genuinely nice to him and that she wasn’t after his abilities for victory. It was a comforting thought to know that another was being earnest with him, and it showed with the suits and clothing that she made for both him and his friend. He had absolutely nothing to worry about from her from here on out. As they made their way back, with Drilbur walking and with Victini floating right beside him, they eventually came across Gummy who appeared to be out for a leisurely stroll around Ponyville. Blinking his violet eyes as they reach the mole and the rabbit, a nonexistent smile appeared on his stoically blank face and he walked on over to greet his fellow, and only other pokemon comrades in Equestria.  “Good morrow my fine friends!” Gummy spoke enthusiastically. “What brings you about on such a fine day, and to be dressed so impressively I might add?” he complimented. “We just got back from Rarity’s place. She made us these clothes as a way of expressing her friendship to us,” Victini replied, pointing to his new and partially damaged suit. “Hmm, as expected from one of master Pinkie’s friends. Her dressmaking is as impeccable as ever,” Gummy looked over his two friends. “Save for the few missing buttons on your clothes, it looks wonderful on you, Victini. It is amazing that she can create such magnificent clothes for everyone, even for pokemon like us.” “Thank you,” replied Victini with a bright smile and a flash of his signature V for victory symbol with his fingers. “Say, how is Pinkie Pie doing? She’s still not upset about the whole town trying to capture me, is she?” “She is... recovering,” Gummy spoke hesitantly, “I’ve never seen her so saddened before, even after everything that she had experienced what with crazy deities and misplaced paranoia. It pains my heart to see such a vibrant body of energy snuffed out like a flame in a dark wet cave.” “Sheesh, sounds bad,” Drilbur added. “I hope she gets better soon. I like her. If anyone makes her sad again I'm gonna drill rush them into next week!” “I appreciate the sentiment my dirt digging friend,” said Gummy. “Say, why don’t we forget all about the doom and gloom and join me on a quick trip to the mud puddles and waddle about it in an animalistic and highly enjoyable manner before going to comfort Pinkie?” he offered. “Well, we were on our way back home...” said Drilbur as he went into deep thought, scratching his chin with the tip of his claws, ”it has been a while since I waddled around in mud.” “And it does sound very fun...” Victini joined in as he too went deep into thought. “It’s right next to a berry bush,” Gummy added. “Done,” both pokemon uttered at once without a shadow of doubt. “Brilliant!” Gummy ecstatically exclaimed. “Now, on our merry way to a smashing good time!” with a waggle of his tail, he led his compatriots to the nearest mud hole for a time mirth and merriment. * * * Rarity rubbed her temples with her hooves, an exasperated sigh escaping her lips as she sipped on her soothing chamomile tea. To think that in only the span of a few hours after going shopping for sewing supplies had left her completely tapped out after running into Victini and what’s his face. The mole thingy whose name didn’t matter to her in the slightest. She had everything planned out exactly the way she wanted and her estimated chance of success was relatively high. But in the end, it seemed that Victini just wasn't the type to give out victory all willy-nilly like, much to her partially scorched home and looming migraine. But being the clever unicorn that she is, she was sure that her back up plan would work in spades. Victini was to her nothing more than a flying billboard that was cute, adorable, and was a much talked about object of interest now that the town knew about him and what he could do. Free advertisement that was sure to rack in orders from all around town once they see him prancing about in an outfit that came from the one, the only Carousel Boutiques. Even the mole had his uses, proving that she could do practically anything when clothing and dresses were involved.   She didn’t care that she failed to receive victory this day, not in the slightest. There was always tomorrow, and another day to cozy up to the flaming floating furball. So for now, she’ll draw up a nice hot bath, light some scented candles, and proceed to pamper herself while she formulates another plan to gain victory.           Just as she finished lighting the last of her candles, however, a faint yet familiar joyful chirp echoed to her ears that drew her eyes over to her bathroom window and outside to a field several yards away from her home. She pressed herself up against the window and squinted, she couldn’t see who it was so she rushed out of her bathroom and dashed back in with a pair of opera glasses held in her magical grip before peering off into the distance and pinpointing the location of the sound.         To her horror, she could see Victini, Gummy, and the mole clear as day, dancing around and swimming in a mud puddle next to a berry bush. She felt a part of herself whittled away as her artfully crafted suits were stained and smothered with mud and dirt as though they were nothing at all.          The resulting snap going off from within Rarity’s head was almost audible if anyone was around to hear it.         Lethargically, she dropped her opera glasses to the floor and slowly made her way to the kitchen, where she fetched herself a half empty bottle of fine wine and unceremoniously dunked herself into the tub, not caring about whether or not water splashed about and got her floor all wet.         Usually she wouldn’t drink wine unless it was a special occasion, nor would she do it during the day. But she just really wanted to forget everything that had happened today. It wasn’t even the evening yet, but knowing that she failed to gain victory, and have her clever back up plan backfire in the same day warranted a good memory blocking amount of alcohol to be consumed. “ *Sigh* Well... bottoms up...” and with that, she uncorked the wine bottle and chugged away, while Victini and the others played.