10 - Departing Sinnoh
{In a cave, whoo! Poor Feraligatr....}
Rarity pulled the red comforter around her tighter as she continued to look for what she could make into a sewing needle, or at least use as one. Aengus and Paddy were just ahead of her. They all descended the rough staircase in the cave into a much colder room, covered in a dense fog. Aengus summoned his Pidgeot to deal with it while Paddy called for a weird miniature hot air balloon for the same reason. The fog disappeared nearly immediately. Water lapped against stones nearby. As a wild Golbat swooped at Paddy, Rarity walked up to Aengus. She shivered as she said, “How did it get so cold, darling? I thought it was summertime.”
“It is, but Mt. Coronet is always cold, and its icy winds sweep down the north face into the forest beyond. The name ‘Snowpoint City’ is quite apt,” said Aengus, while behind him Paddy’s Espeon blasted the wild Golbat with a vicious psychic wave, rending its wings right off. The maimed Golbat fell into the water, where nearly immediately a dorsal fin cut the surface for a brief moment. Aengus slowly turned away from that scene with a nauseated face and muttered, “Again. He’s at it again.”
Rarity’s face began twitching rhythmically, most pronouncedly her lower left eyelid. She somehow blanched in spite of her natural colour, turning a whiter shade of pale before looking a little green in the face. She murmured, “Why would he??”
“That was unintentional; she just got a solid critical hit, amplified by the structure of this room that managed to hit perfectly on the shoulder joint. I doubt we could’ve pulled that off intentionally,” said Paddy as he looked back at Aengus and Rarity. He shrugged and added, “Not that I really mind. I’ll just have to wait a few more before the next time.”
Rarity covered her mouth as her torso wavered and cheeks bulged. Aengus scoffed, “You oughta be horse-whipped!”
“For what? Doing my duty to help wild Pokémon?” Paddy said, looking miffed at his brother.
“‘Help!?!’ Your Espeon killed that thing!!” Rarity squawked.
“Well...almost correct. Pokémon moves can’t kill other Pokémon, but on rare occasions they can cause serious harm if something goes wrong, like this. She didn’t strike a fatal blow, but she did doom it to die; that fin told me it was a Gyarados’s breakfast. Feeding isn’t exactly a Pokémon move, so...,” Paddy said, trailing off as he looked at the water. Aengus spat at the ground while Rarity’s body lurched. A very small burp left her lips, to which she covered her mouth as her cheeks turned a little pink. Paddy held up a hand in front of Aengus and continued, “But yes, this helps. Certain evolutionary lines of Pokémon aren’t just overpopulated, they are drastically overpopulated. Zubat and Golbat are one of those lines, and the worst of them.”
“Your excuse is population control!?” Aengus barked.
“Not an excuse, but a duty,” Paddy said defiantly. “You forgot, I’ve been a Pokémon Ranger every summer since they started their program in Johto.”
Aengus muttered to himself, “Ah yes, I nearly forgot your summertime obsession with Grass-types.”
“Your ‘duty,’” Rarity said full of questioning doubt, looking Paddy right in the eye.
Paddy started toward her at a slow pace as his Espeon returned to the ball. “Have you ever seen what happens to a farm when there’s a Rattata/Raticate infestation? It’s damn ugly. Scores of acres of grain disappear overnight. Livestock run out of feed minutes after it’s put in storage. You can open a barn door and watch as a carpet of them two layers deep scurry away. There are so many they literally crawl all over each other in their frantic escape, and are more than happy to Bite each other so that they can get into a safe hiding place before another does. They knock each other out, and unconscious Pokémon block their intended escape routes. Then comes the frantic clawing and gnawing on the knocked out ones, which hardly qualifies as a Pokémon move, either. The barn devolves into a bloodbath in less than a minute now that they’ve foregone proper Pokémon moves. Even the ‘winner’ is so bloodied that it, too, is dying. That gives somebody the task of removing tonnes of their dead bodies, not figurative tonnes, but the actual unit of weight. Within a fortnight there are just as many as there were before, but the bloodstains remain. Now, imagine that many Rattatas not at a farm, but just out in the wild. What do you think that does to the food supply for everything else?”
Paddy stopped within arm’s reach of Rarity while she just glared at him. He paused a moment, then continued, “I can tell you exactly what happens, because it happened my first summer as a Ranger. That was five years ago, on Route 32. They ate everything. I mean, everything. It was so bad we had to fall back to the Ruins of Alph for two nights for our own safety, and it was a week and a half later before the outbreak had been finished off. But it was terrible. We had to nurse half-starved Mareeps, and Spearows, and Woopers, and so on, back to health. Not all of them made it. A baby Aipom died in my lap while I was trying to bottle-feed it. Its mother had withered away, unable to eat enough to produce milk and keep itself at a healthy weight, because the Rattatas ate everything. Then there’s the Rattatas themselves. Since Pokémon moves cannot kill, it fell to us after making them faint. Do it as quickly and painlessly as possible. So very many times. We don’t like to think about it, let alone say it aloud.”
“Sorry you have such a dreadful memory, but shouldn’t the Rangers have let the predators have a field day when that sort of thing is going on?” Rarity grumbled.
“You would like to think so, wouldn’t you? But no, it doesn’t happen like that. Ekans don’t need to eat that often. And along Route 32, its only other native natural predator is like hen’s teeth now. They’re nearly extinct in the wild period,” Paddy said irritably.
Aengus rolled his eyes. “Would you get off the stage.”
Paddy said, “Seriously.”
“Yeah? What is this supposedly rare Pokémon?”
Paddy snorted. “Along Route 32, Totodile.” Aengus jerked his head back in surprise and disbelief. Paddy nodded at him slowly. Looking between the brothers, Rarity frowned. Paddy resumed, “And it’s the same problem in every region. Certain Pokémon lines are given to children who become trainers, taken from the wild in such numbers long ago that these days, trading and gifts to new trainers are the only realistic way to find them now. And as a direct result, every region has a least one ever-present small mammalian Normal-type Pokémon that no longer has enough predators in the wild, and what’s worse, they’re not even worth bothering to train. Thankfully there’s only been the one here in Sinnoh. But back home in Johto, you’ll see two of them. Kalos has five. Zubat/Golbat, and Tentacool/Tentacruel, are bloody everywhere.”
“You make it sound like these evolutionary lines live all across their regions,” Aengus said, scratching Rarity behind the ears.
“They are, but you don’t come across them much where they’re still prey,” Paddy said. “Ever notice, brother, how you almost never see Rattatas or Sentrets around Blackthorn City? There they have Lickitung and Skarmory hunting them; there they have to be careful so as to not get caught. Elsewhere, there’s no such danger.”
“And Rangers keep the populations down where their native predators are gone?” Aengus said unconvinced.
Paddy continued down the path. Aengus and Rarity followed as Paddy said, “As I said, we don’t talk about it often, even amongst ourselves, because it’s not a happy job. Every few females, don’t just make it faint, but kill it as I said, quickly and painlessly, so that it can’t reproduce. It’s not so much with the males, since any one of them can impregnate many. Keep the numbers from getting out of hand. Keep the wild Pokémon safe from starvation. And when an outbreak does happen, extermination. It’s the only way to keep people and Pokémon safe when it happens, and nature too, obviously. Nature must be maintained at all times.”
Aengus muttered, “A Chikorita, hunting? Gimme a break.”
Paddy chuckled. “Those were my exact words when I was told the first time. Only saw it happen once, and boy did he look ashamed of himself when he realised we saw the whole thing. Haven’t looked at them the same since. Haven’t looked at Sentrets the same either for the same reason.”
They turned to the right and ascended some stairs. Aengus and Rarity looked at each other in shared irritation. Rarity muttered, “So you cull the packs of Rattatas and Raticates, Zubats and Golbats, Tentacools and Tentacruels, and what else? Just want to know when I should look away. I don’t want to see my breakfast twice in one morning.”
Paddy scoffed. He shook his head, waiting at the top of the stairs for them. As they rounded the corner to the left, he said, “Sentret/Furret, Zigzagoon/Linoone, Bidoof/Bibarel even though Bibarel is a good HM slave, Patrat/Watchog, and Bunnelby/Diggersby. If I ever make it to Alola and meet up with Rangers there, I’m sure there’ll be something new for me to deal with.”
{Back in the snow and cold once again}
Rarity sighed, giving a flat, annoyed expression towards whatever lay ahead of her. The trio reached the end of the tunnel and stepped outside. Wind swept down the mountain from the south. Rarity exclaimed a nonword noise as she pulled the comforter around her tighter. The snow was deep all the way up and down the north face of Mt. Coronet and continued to fall. Rarity sank past her knees on the first step. She whimpered, “Cold...cold....”
Paddy laughed, “Oy, where’s your bloody stamina?”
“Easy for you to say, Mr. Fully-Dressed!” Rarity snapped. “Why don’t you try it with just a blanket around your shoulders!?”
Rarity grouched to herself things that no one else could hear as Paddy continued to chuckle. She looked around and saw people further up the mountainside; they were sliding down the snow with a plank of wood strapped to each of their feet. She looked at Aengus for a moment, then back at these people as they continued their descent. She asked, “What the heck am I looking at?”
Aengus said, “It’s called ‘skiing.’ Some folks find a thrill zipping down snowy mountains at breakneck speeds. The crazy ones do that through trees and over rocks, and so on.”
“Huh,” said Rarity. Her face perked up for a moment, then she rolled her eyes. “Oh, right. When I think about it, there was that one stallion at Starlight’s village who did something like that. What’s his name, ‘Double Diamond’ I think? Sounds right, at least.”
Aengus sighed, “No wonder Paddy is convinced you’re all different Pokémon. Your names are just as quaint as theirs are.”
Rarity nickered and rolled her eyes again. “Why are all the skiing people dressed in nearly identical clothes?”
“I assume it’s just practical wear for skiing,” Aengus said.
“Well, that style certainly doesn’t pop,” Rarity said with a shiver. She telekinetically pulled the comforter tighter around her backside. “Maybe I can draw up something that’s both functional and sporty, once we’re indoors.”
“We’ve a long ways to go.”
They continued on. As they started down the gully, the snow suddenly deepened. Rarity found herself nearly up to her neck with a yelp. She clamped up, eyes opened wide with pinprick pupils, ears flattened, mouth tightly shut, and shivering like mad. Aengus stopped, looked back, and started toward her. Just above a whisper and near the absolute top of her vocal range she squeaked, “Eeeeeiiaaaaaaah...!!”
She began to hyperventilate, unable to advance. Paddy had stopped and turned to see her like that. Aengus reached her, knelt down, and asked, “Are you okay? What happened?”
In the same voice and volume as before, she barely got out, “We’ve a small patch between our hind legs that has no fur, and oh it’s cold there...!”
Aengus sighed, long and low. He rubbed the side of her face and said, “Do you want back inside your ball?”
Rarity blinked for the first time since sinking into the deep snow. She started to shake her head, then Aengus said, “Rarity, listen to me. There’s snow this deep in many places between here and Snowpoint. You said you wanted to see the styles we have...well, you’ve seen about all you’re gonna see out here until we reach town. It’s all gonna be ski suits with ski masks, parkas, heavy gloves, ushankas, down-stuffed coats, waterproofed boots, toboggans, chest-high snow pants, and thick scarves. Everything out here is pragmatic with no hint of high fashion. You’re not gonna see a lady walking around here with her hands in an ermine muff, wearing a well-trimmed multi-layered dress, velvet cape with fur lining, and a bedecked wide-brimmed chic hat. I know you don’t like the Pokéball, but I think it’s the best thing for you right now.”
He held up her Safari Ball. She met his gaze as he asked, “Are you okay with this plan?”
Staring vacantly into the snow ahead, she weakly nodded. Aengus pressed the button and Rarity slipped away in a barrage of points of green light.
Rarity collapsed onto the floor of the round room. She took a number of deep breaths, and pushed herself back to standing, shaking off the comforter. She sighed, “That’s much better. At least this thing is at a comfortable temperature.”
“Hey, look who finally showed her lovely face! Where’ve you been?”
Rarity turned and saw Feraligatr’s smarmy grin on the wall. Pictures of Gyarados, Pidgeot, and Golem were to the right of his. Rarity shook off the melting and already melted snow from her fur and started toward the images on the wall. She said, “Hello again.”
“I’m serious; where’ve you been? We know Aengus has you in the active party, but you’ve not been in your ball,” Feraligatr pressed.
“Well, it sounds like you answered your own question,” Rarity said as she looked around the room. She grumbled, then asked, “Don’t these Pokéballs have a place for a lady to relieve herself, or to bathe? I would like to handle both matters without prying eyes.”
Feraligatr laughed. “Don’t worry; I don’t think Rapidash is looking for you right now.”
In his picture, Golem closed his eyes and clenched his fists for a few seconds. As his eyes opened, he grumbled, “Dude, knock it off. That’s not cool.”
“What?? I just don’t think he should throw in the towel so quickly,” Feraligatr said flatly. “You saw how upset he was after talking to her face-to-face.”
Rarity flushed a little, but pressed, “This is not helping me find the little filly’s room!”
“That’s easy; just type it in,” Pidgeot said with an encouraging nod.
“Uh...,” Rarity uttered, staring at the symbols before her.
“What’s wrong? Don’t you know how to spell it?” Pidgeot asked with his head cocked to the right.
Rarity looked at the strange letters, then up at Pidgeot’s image, then back to the strange letters. She said, “I don’t know what language I’m looking at, dear, much less how to spell anything in it! Which one’s the ‘B?’ Or an ‘R’ or ‘T’ would also do just fine; I know a few synonyms.”
“Oh! A language barrier. I get it,” said Feraligatr. “Okay, type these symbols in this order, left to right.”
Beneath Feraligatr popped up a trio of the unknown letters:
トイレ
Rarity took a good minute to track the three down on the array of buttons. A whirring noise whispered behind her, and she turned to see a wall with a door manifest from green light. She ran to the door, opened it with her magic, and shouted back to the wall, “One moment, please!”
A few moments and a flush later, she emerged, walking much slower and with visible relief on her face. She sighed contentedly. As she returned to the pictures, Feraligatr chuckled, “Better?”
“Oh my Celestia, yes. Thank you, darling,” Rarity said.
Feraligatr put his hands up in front of his chest as his eyes widened and breathing sped up. “Whoa, throttle back there, missy! We’re not in the same egg group, and all I did was show you how to get a bathroom! Most of all, Rapidash is a dear old friend; I would never do him dirty like that!”
“Huh?” Rarity said, taken aback. “You didn’t think I meant you and I should be a couple, did you? I don’t fancy you like that.”
Feraligatr let out a long sigh and took a few deep breaths. Rarity looked at the other pictures and saw similar relief from the other three. “Okay...okay, good. You really shouldn’t call anymon ‘darling’ if they’re not your dearest one. Everymon’ll be confused.”
Rarity grimaced. “I didn’t realise the word is such a big deal here. I’m used to addressing everypony I call friend ‘darling,’ though I should probably say ‘everyone’ to include ponies, humans, and Pokémon.”
“It’s okay,” said Feraligatr. “It’s not like we’re gonna go find a Daycare together or something.”
As Feraligatr guffawed, Rarity saw Golem facepalm, Pidgeot hang and shake his head, and Gyarados frown with a harsh sigh. Rarity grumbled, “Speaking of daycares, did you hear what Trixie did? I can’t believe her.”
“Trixie?” Gyarados asked.
Rarity said, “Yeah, Trixie. Aengus let Paddy get into Equestria, and he caught an aggravating mare named Trixie.”
“She’s also a non-Pokémon pony, like you are?” asked Pidgeot.
Rarity nodded. “Paddy decided to leave her there with his Zebstrika, and she...of all the worst things she could’ve done, this is thee...worst...possible...THING!”
The four Pokémon stared at her glassy eyes for a moment, wondering why she zoomed in on herself in chunks. An awkward silence followed for a good moment or two. Gyarados sheepishly bit her lower lip while her eyes darted back and forth. Golem tentatively asked, “Did she refuse to lay any eggs or something?”
The left side of Rarity’s face scrunched together while her right eyebrow raised and head cocked. She said, “Lay an egg?? Trixie may be a little panicky in the face of danger, but she’s not that kind of chicken. Ponies don’t lay eggs.”
Golem said, “Huh. I could see what that would be a problem.”
“No, eggs have nothing to do with it, dar—sorry, habit,” said Rarity. “No she...I’m sorry, I’m trying to find a polite way to say this, but...she...she let him mount her!! In front of others! I simply cannot even....”
Feraligatr gave Rarity a long look while the other three Pokémon appeared seriously underwhelmed. Rarity’s own face shifted from being scandalised to confused. “Why do all of you look like this isn’t a problem? Don’t you know how shameful it is?”
Feraligatr blankly said, “No....”
“Wha…‘no??’ What do you mean, ‘no!?’” Rarity squawked.
“Don’t you know what a Daycare’s for?” Feraligatr asked incredulously.
“Yes, I do. It’s a safe place working parents can leave their foals while they’re out earning a living,” said Rarity in blunt and annoyed overtones. She saw four stunned, vacant expressions looking back at her. “A place they are cared for during the day?”
Feraligatr’s head slowly turned and backed off, giving Rarity a semi-sideways glance. Golem’s eyes widened. Pidgeot and Gyarados both appeared frozen in place. Feraligatr hesitated, and asked, “When you say ‘foals,’ you’re...not really putting children in a Daycare, are you?”
“But of course...why?”
Four exclamations of disgust boomed from the screens. Gyarados moved off-screen and retched. Feraligatr barked, “What the hell, Rarity!?”
Pidgeot muttered, “That’s just sick....”
Golem spat, “Oh my Arceus!”
Rarity shot them all an unamused, disbelieving glare. She snipped, “What in the world is wrong with that?”
Gyarados curtly said, “Look, let’s just drop talk of Daycares altogether, before this devolves any further. You were saying a bit ago that you wanted a hot bath? Here’s what you press.”
As a few symbols appeared on the screen, Gyarados turned away and started to go. Rarity called out, “I meant no offense, and while I’m still not sure what all of you found appalling, I apologise for upsetting you.”
“I said drop it!” Gyarados yelled as she continued away.
Pidgeot asked, “Where are you going?”
Gyarados looked back long enough to answer. “I’m getting up to splash my face to clear my head, and to find a mop to clean this mess.”
Gyarados’s screen disappeared. Rarity looked down guiltily. After a silent moment, she began pushing the symbols Gyarados indicated to her. Feraligatr said, “I wouldn’t right now if I were you.”
Rarity stopped and looked down again. “Did she give me the wrong symbols?”
“Nah, those are all in the right order,” said Feraligatr. “We’re still out on frigid Route 216, and at any moment, there could be—”
A flash of red lights and an alarm interrupted him. Rarity looked up at them as he continued, “...that. You’re on point; you’re going to battle. Have fun!”
About a minute later, Rarity coalesced inside the ball again, shivering. As she reoriented herself, she saw Feraligatr’s laughing face on the wall. All the other screens had closed. He snickered, “And that’s why you don’t want to take a bath right now! Your fur would be soaked clear down to the skin, and then you’re suddenly outside in the freezing cold and snow. You’d be a Rarity-popsicle for sure. I wonder, would that be marshmallow-flavoured?”
Rarity glared at him, to which he nearly buckled with laughter. She grumbled to herself, “Why am I getting that in this world, too?”
Feraligatr’s laughing slowed. As his tone normalised, he said, “Just couldn’t pass it up, sorry. What was out there, anyway?”
“Aengus called it a ‘Snover,’ and asked me to use Flame Charge against it. The little thing fainted right away,” Rarity said. “Does that give you something else to mock?”
“I was going to ask if you needed any more help with the replicator,” Feraligatr said. His cheeky grin returned. “But, if you’re in the mood for mockery, I’d be happy to oblige!”
Rarity sighed. “I can’t imagine any garments I make in here could be taken into the outside world.”
“Eh, I’m not into clothing. But I’ve still had a mouthful of food when Aengus has brought me out for battle on a number of occasions,” Feraligatr said.
“Ooh! It may work after all! I simply must try!” Rarity squealed in delight. “I shall need your assistance.”
{Did not get there in a timely fashion, but they did get there}
Aengus and Paddy arrived in Snowpoint City ten minutes before midnight. Both of them stumbled in and out of the Pokémon Centre, long enough for the nurse to heal them and leave. They went to a hotel near the port, got their own rooms, and said their goodnights. Aengus closed the door behind him, blinking slowly. He retrieved the Safari Ball off his belt and pushed the button. He gasped as Rarity coalesced. She did not have her red comforter. Instead she wore watertight boots, a pseudo-military long coat with attached capelet, and an all-white bearskin hat with neither chinstrap nor plume on the side. The coat and boots were white with purple faux-fur trim, and evocative of a World War I Russian infantryman’s winter uniform. The hat bore her cutie mark, embroidered with silk thread. She posed a few times, showing off its details, and how the lines accented her figure. She smiled coyly and asked, “Do you like?”
Aengus blinked in surprise. He paused, then said, “Yeah...yeah, it’s great! That looks amazing on you. Very nice. But how did you get the material?”
Rarity curtsied. “Feraligatr showed me how to use the replicator machine in there. I don’t know if the outfit will fade away outside the ball, but it gave me some practice.”
“I couldn’t tell you,” Aengus said with a yawn. “But it’s late, and the ship departs early enough. I am knackered.”
Aengus flopped upon one of the beds and was out. He had not changed out of his thick traveling outfit, nor had reached the pillow. Rarity snickered. She carefully removed her work, hanging it up upon the coat rack attached to the wall. She climbed under the covers, and was asleep in minutes.
{Oh look, a line. Let’s go stand in it}
The sun had barely crested over the eastern waters when Aengus, Paddy, and Rarity stepped out of the hotel. Her outfit from the night before was gone; she had only a long pink scarf and matching earmuffs. Both brothers were in near-identical black winter wear. The line at the dock had already formed, and the gangplank was being lowered at that time. Rarity smiled with dilated pupils as she looked upon the luxurious cruise liner. Paddy got in line first.
A uniformed man beside the gangplank shouted through a bullhorn, “Good morning! Thank you for traveling with Blue Horizons, Voyage 84 from Snowpoint City in Sinnoh to Olivine City in Johto aboard the S.S. Sakura! I am Commander Tanaka, the ship’s First Officer. Please have your ticket ready, and your Pokémon out, when you prepare to board. As it is on every Blue Horizons vessel, we ask you bring no more than five Pokémon with you, and none that weigh over a hundred and fifteen kilos. You are free to battle as much as you’d like within the designated areas, but please refrain from the moves Hurricane, Twister, Surf, Magnitude, and Earthquake. The gangplank will be raised once it is 7:50am, or all passengers are aboard, whichever comes first. Thank you for your patience in line and boarding orderly, so that we may be underway as soon as possible. Once again, thank you for traveling with Blue Horizons!”
The surge of flashing lights made Rarity blink, from so many Pokémon coming from their Pokéballs all at once. A few people got out of line and sprinted toward the Pokémon Centre. Something patted her on the shoulder. Rarity looked up and saw Feraligatr’s cheeky grin up close. Excadrill stood just behind him. She looked thrilled, and excitedly gave Rarity a hoofbump. On the other side of Aengus was some other Pokémon she hadn’t seen before. It looked like its purple and green face sat on a pinwheel coming out of a rock that floated barely above solid ground. And there, on the other side of Feraligatr, was Rapidash. He stared straight ahead proudly. Rarity kept her eyes on him. His closer eye drifted until it met hers. She smiled at him with some pleading in her face, but he hurriedly turned his entire head away, angrily swishing his tail. Rarity’s smile faltered and she looked downward for a moment.
Rarity took a look at what Paddy brought with him. Espeon was right in front of her. On the other side of Paddy stood a bipedal blue frog, which looked like it was wearing its own tongue as a scarf. Front and centre of his crew was some navy blue oversized badger with no stripes on its back, and a fiery mane...Rarity thought it looked like it was wearing a brick red vest. To the badger’s left was the biggest stag beetle Rarity had ever seen, even though it was a beige-tan in colour. And posted on Paddy’s right hip was Trixie in her hat and cape.
Aengus nudged Rarity and said, “I think you should make peace with her. She’s the only other one from your homeland around.”
Rarity grumbled, “I know, and you’re right. I’ll try.”
“Just don’t get too close, or they’ll think you’re cutting in line. I really don’t feel like waiting another hour to get aboard.”
The alabaster unicorn took a step forward, sighed to herself, and began, “Hey, uh, Trixie?”
Trixie’s head lifted slightly, but did not turn back. Rarity said, “Can we start over? Meaning, wipe the slate clean on both sides, and be friends?”
A slight swivel of the hat showed she had turned her head some, but not enough to make eye contact. Rarity continued, “We’re the only two Equestrians here. We should stick together whenever we can.”
Trixie still refused eye contact, but raised a hoof in an obscene gesture as she said, “Whatever, Rarity.”
“Why you...!!” Rarity grouched, and advanced on Trixie, who had already resumed looking forward. Before she got more than two steps, she felt two hands grab in the crook where her hind legs met her abdomen. She looked back as she was pulled to see it was Feraligatr who had snatched her. He shook his head no with a firm look into her eyes. Aengus sighed and shook his head too. “Go figure.”
“Knew in my gut she’d say something like that. It’s impossible to get through to her,” Rarity grumbled as she took her place at Aengus’s side.
Aengus muttered to himself, “True, but not for the reasons you’re thinking.”
They stood in line for twenty-two minutes before Aengus’s ticket was punched, and they climbed aboard. Rarity had quite lost interest in Trixie as she looked around at the amenities on the deck alone: shuffleboard, two levels of swimming pools, swim-up bar, volleyball net, basketball court, and that’s just what she could see from there. Aengus whispered to her, “It’ll be much warmer by this afternoon, once we’re away from the winds off Mt. Coronet. The voyage takes five days.”
“Aengus, this is simply divine. First-class accommodations, service, activities,” Rarity began as her nose began to twitch. “And I smell h’ordeuvres-s-s!”
Rarity led Aengus inside, where they both partook of food before heading to their shared suite with Paddy. The other passengers came aboard one-by-one, and the S.S. Sakura set out at 7:58am, two minutes ahead of schedule.
Stats
Page generated in 0.027 seconds
Total duration
830 users online
622,676 hits today, 2,280,440 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Ok, yeah, I can't really support this anymore. All that talk of extermination at the beginning of the chapter is not only unnecessarily dark, but wholly inaccurate to what Pokémon Rangers actually do in the games. Sorry, but I'm out.
Wouldn't mass extermination of pokemon just lead to swarms and swarms of pissed off ghastlys?
Still not endeared to Paddy at all. Kind of a self-righteous ass. Though I suppose his refusal to see them as sapient is a coping mechanism of sorts. Perhaps pokemon can often only truly display their sapience when with a trainer.
Also, Trixie. Get the stick out your flank. Getting knocked up is supposed to make you more agreeable, not less.
7763719 Depends. If you follow the dex entries, this isn't that far off from the world that's described in it. And be honest, the encounter rate for those pokemon is unreasonable. Also, it's not that far off from the world the mangas display either. My friends and I were talking about it yesterday, pokemon is a majorly dark world. You just never realize it cause most of the 'mon are cute.
7763719
Someone doesn't read pokedex entries. Particularly Ghost ones.
There is some REALLY dark stuff in there.
How about both entirely new, and something old that's new again? I am, of course, referring to Yungoos/Gumshoos and Alolan Rattata/Alolan Raticate.
...Actually, Yungoos' page from the official Sun/Moon website even says that it "was brought to the region to help deal with the explosive population of a certain other Pokémon, and now Yungoos are commonly seen around the Alola region." That certain other Pokémon: Rattata. It's precisely because of Yungoos that led to Rattata developing a new form.
7763719 You'd be surprised how accurate this is to both the Pokemon universe and real life.
One of the most well known examples is from Yellowstone. When wolves were eradicated from the park, the elk population exploded and had a catastrophic effect on the ecosystem. They absolutely decimated the riparian systems around rivers, removing food and shelter for migratory songbirds, and causing increased erosion and decreased water quality. Bears had less berries and elk carcasses to feed on, and had to hibernate earlier in the year. Beavers all but disappeared. All efforts to control the population failed. It wasn't until 10 years after the re-introduction of wolves that the area finally began to heal as the balance of nature reasserted itself.
Another example would be wild boar in Texas. They were introduced for hunting, but without natural predators, and having a high reproductive rate, their numbers exploded. They cause billions of dollars annually in property damage and crop destruction. There are no hunting restrictions against them, and millions are killed each year, yet their population continues to grow. They are the number 1 pest species in Texas, and there's really no way to quell their numbers other than to just kill the bastards, and even that is an imperfect solution.
As a Wildlife & Fisheries Sciences major, and having interned with Texas Parks & Wildlife, I can tell you from experience: humans are VERY good at fucking up nature. We're not very good at UN-fucking it up.
7763907
7763805
7763787
I probably could have been more clear. I am plenty aware of the myriad horrors lurking in the lore, but putting them in just doesn't make sense for this story. Previously, the most unsettling element was the slavery bit, and even that was pretty much played for laughs. The abrupt tonal shift is what killed my enjoyment, not the tone itself.
7764055
Ah, I see.
Well, I suppose it was sudden, but Paddy DID just rejoin the group. Between this and breeding Trixie, it seems like the author is trying to portray him as a character who's logic-based thought and no-nonsense attitude contrasts and conflicts with that of his brother Aengus.
Excellent chapter
got a bit more insight into paddy. Still not liking the dude, but now we got a glimpse of what makes him tick.
regarding your authors note: It's always great when characters take on a life of their own and pull the story along with them. Some of the best stuff happens that way. And you don't have to think about their responses, they just speak for themselves. I haven't quite reached that point myself yet, at least not with anything recent. Do keep up the good work, I for one am looking forward to more, and thats saying something considdering my love hate relationship with pokemon.
When are Rarity and the others going to learn the differences in their worlds' daycares?!
oh well...
7765362
They'll get it eventually...we hope?
7764055
Well, I'm sorry to hear that. Hope this doesn't dissuade you from reading anything else I've written.
7763851
Yeah, but he doesn't know that.
7763907
Yes, exactly. Didn't know about the boars in Texas, but Ohio is overrun with Bambi.
7764198
7763787
Like his brother, Paddy is of questionable morals. More on him will be revealed, and soon.
lol japanese
7774039 I have to ask. Are you/ do you watch theodd1sout?
Yes, and I suppose you can smell the colour purple too?
An hors d'oeurve is an appetiser, a bite sized piece of food that you can eat with your hands, so unless she can smell quantity and method of consumption she does not smell hors d'oeurves. She smells food.
That said good chapter.