18 - Mob Justice at Victory Road
{The final test begins...again. How final can it be if this is his eighth time?}
Almost immediately upon entering Victory Road, the cavern turned pitch black. The glow of the reception gate’s entryway was dim, even though they had not traveled more than twenty paces from it. Rarity could not see the floor, but for a cave, it seemed surprisingly level. And dry. The dry part of it registered more heavily with her. She wasn’t a relation of the Pies, but even from her gem-seeking expeditions she knew a cave like this should have had water to cut it into existence. She would need her sight if she were to confirm her suspicions and find tool markings. An ordinary light spell wasn’t doing much. Aengus said, “Use Flash instead. I believe it has more kick in places like this.”
Rarity nodded, despite that no one could see it. Quickly the light swirled outward, and the inside of Victory Road was plainly visible. There were places they could hop down, but climbing back up it was not feasible with hooves. A rope bridge with rickety support posts and partially dry rotted planks hung directly overhead. The walls were smooth, sloping up at fifteen degrees or so short of plumb, while the floor did not have the tool marks Rarity suspected. The mix of sandstone, greywacke, and limestone surfaces all appeared fairly fresh.
“This was recently hewn,” said Rarity, continuing to look around. In the distance she saw a ladder passing through a hole in the ceiling, but its bottom was on an upper ledge. She pointed toward it.
“Can’t say I’m surprised,” Aengus said with a nod at that ladder. “I’ve made it a point to go through Victory Road each time I’ve made my challenge, despite that since my first time, I could have Pidgeot use Fly to bypass this place. Seems they switch it up every now and then. This will be the fifth different rendition of Victory Road I’ll pass through before reaching the Plateau.”
Movement caught Rarity’s eye. In different places she saw more humans, but none of them near each other. Some were adolescents in red jackets and shoes, with black trousers on the boys and black volleyball shorts on the girls. A different pair, seemingly a couple, also wore red and black, but red vests and kepi caps, with shirt and trousers in black, and ropes at their sides. One young man wore a karate gi. A large man with a large beard wore a camping backpack and carried a tall walking stick. A young woman in a white robe and purple capris had her Pokéballs levitating around her. Near that ladder was a woman with a long scarf and a long dark coat, looking to be in her mid-thirties. Rarity looked up at him until he met her gaze, and she said, “Looks like you’re not the only one who thinks you can be champion.”
Aengus nodded. “That’s how it goes. Some of these folks are probably employed by the League, here checking on Trainers and making sure no one is hurt, or hopelessly lost. Likely what those two Rangers are doing here. Let’s see...yeah. Usual crowd: ace trainers and veterans, with a few others thrown in there for flavouring. A handful of black belts, hikers, psychics, maybe a dragon tamer or two on the floors above, but not much more than that. It’s possible there are a few other specialists in here too, but mostly ace trainers and veterans.”
Rarity gave him an odd look and asked, “Does everything get pigeonholed in this world?”
“Seems like,” Aengus said with a snort. “This ‘pigeonholing,’ though, has more to do with how a person trains their Pokémon. Specialists stick with few types, usually only one. Those that have demonstrated a good deal of skill with diverse teams are ace trainers. Veterans are the same, just with more experience.”
“Safe to say you’re considered a veteran, darling?” Rarity mused.
“Yeah,” Aengus said. “Though some might just say ‘Trainer,’ since I don’t feel compelled to dress the same as the other veterans.”
“It’s the pony!!” some teenaged boy angrily shouted at the top of his lungs. Aengus and Rarity looked up to see one of the boys in a red jacket standing on the bridge, pointing down at them. “They really did come here!”
Many of the other trainers stopped what they were doing, looked over, and began their way slowly. Rarity pressed closer to Aengus and tried not to whimper, “Why...why are they approaching us like that? I can’t think of anything we did to offend them!”
“Me neither, but that, uh...doesn’t appear to matter much right now,” Aengus said sheepishly as eight of them approached in an arc, most of them ace trainers, led by a mid-thirties woman.
“Aengus?” asked some lower baritone among those trainers.
Aengus looked over, and a huge smile broke over his face. He cheered, “Devontae! Been too damn long!”
A young man, close to Aengus’s age and of a muscular build, stepped out from the opposing line, laughing happily at the sight of Aengus. He had much, much darker skin than the others there, and fuller lips. His hair tightly curled and was kept short, though it seemed to have a wave-like pattern on top of his head. He wore an armless hoodie, undershirt, unlaced work boots, and jeans so low there was no question about the blue plaid pattern of his underwear, but what caught Rarity's attention was that the hoodie and jeans were a perfectly matched butter yellow, while the undershirt, belt, and boots all were an untouched black, as though he wore all these clothes for the first time today. Aengus met this Devontae with an elaborate handshake and a hug.
The slightly older woman barked, “What are you doing!? We won’t allow the pony through, or you either if you stand with them!”
Devontae turned to stand beside Aengus against the other seven. Rarity immediately noticed how different the inflections in his voice were as he yelled back, “To hell with that, and to hell with you! Grew up with this guy! Never turned my back on him then, not doing it now!”
The sound of seven Pokéballs opening echoed across the chamber. Rarity recognized most of the species in front of her. Aengus muttered, “Of course the veteran has a Tyranitar. Hmm, a Skarmory, Ampharos, Glaceon, Venomoth, Blastoise, and a Togekiss. Nothing like no common weakness to complicate matters.”
“Do any of those learn Wide Guard?” asked Devontae.
Aengus grinned. “No. They don’t.”
Rarity’s horn began to charge as Devontae said, “Just like old times, huh?”
“If we weren’t seriously outnumbered, we were taking it easy that day, right?” Aengus chuckled. He then turned to Rarity and quietly said, “Do you think you can manage that storm of gemstones again?”
Rarity bit her lip and looked around nervously. She sheepishly said, “I can try?”
Devontae threw a ball and out came an Arcanine. He looked at Aengus and joked, “You can have a heart-to-heart with the pony later!”
{Not quite the same, but hey, why not?}
“Cheeky,” chuckled Aengus. Then his face and voice hardened. “Now, Rarity!”
“Use Heat Wave, Arcanine!”
“Earthquake!”
“Ice Shard!”
“Aura Sphere!”
“Hydro Cannon!”
“Bug Buzz!”
“Stealth Rock!”
“Thunder!”
The Glaceon fired a series of semi-sharp bits of ice at Rarity. She grumbled and winced from the barrage, but concentrated on the charge in her horn. Devontae’s Arcanine roared, emitting a red-hot gas that quickly swept over the numerous trainers’ Pokémon. Skarmory looked to be in the worst shape after that, but Glaceon and Venomoth appeared to be hurting worse than the others as well. Tyranitar and Blastoise seemed unfazed.
The magic in Rarity’s horn came to a point, and she stood up straight and proud as she cast the spell. A barrage of sapphires, emeralds, rubies, topaz, aquamarine, and onyx, with only a few diamonds here and there, erupted from the floor en masse. Skarmory, Venomoth, and Glaceon all fainted, and Togekiss did not look far behind. Blastoise did not seem to like that near as much as the Heat Wave. The other trainers murmured in shock, while Devontae laughed in shock with a whoop. Tyranitar just looked confused, and said, “Where did you learn that?”
“That’s my little secret, Tyranitar,” said Rarity as she brushed a curl out of her face with a devious yet somewhat flirty grin, looking into his eyes. “My little secret.”
“She can speak to Pokémon too!?” squawked the leading veteran.
“Darling, you need only use your ears,” Rarity said, trying to prevent a condescending laugh and falling short on the last syllables. She then looked the woman up and down, and shook her head, saying, “But please at least use your eyes! That outfit, it’s...it’s...let’s call it ‘anachronistic.’ We have to find you some better habillement than that!”
The woman’s eyes narrowed as she scowled. A blue white sphere grew in front of Togekiss, and fired straight at Rarity. She gave a slight ooph as it struck, but frowned slightly as she brushed her coat on her chest back to an even lay. Water jetted from both guns on Blastoise’s back, hosing down Rarity and driving her back several metres. As Aengus helped her back to her feet, he asked, “‘Anachronistic?’”
“‘Out-of-style’ wasn’t strong enough,” Rarity said flatly as she shook the dazed feeling from her head. “But why are they all attacking just me?”
“Maybe it’s because you’re a bitch!” yelled the veteran.
Rarity scoffed and started to retort, but could not form syllables as the ground began to shake as Tyranitar stomped a foot. By the time it was done, Arcanine did not look well, and the opposing Ampharos simply keeled over. The dancing sand scratched at her and Arcanine, but both stayed up, as did the Togekiss across from them. More Pokémon came from the other opposing trainers, a Primeape, a Tauros, a Lickilicky, and a Slowking. Rarity shook the water off of her as Aengus said, “That Tyranitar will be trouble, especially for Arcanine. Hit it with an Aura Sphere.”
Rarity nodded as Devontae yelled, “Thunder Fang, boy!”
“Tyranitar, one more time!”
“Extrasensory!”
“Just hold tight, Blastoise! I’ll stay by your side while you recoup from using that move!”
“Power Whip!”
“Stomping Tantrum!”
“Iron Head!”
“Heal Pulse!”
The sounds of Pokéballs opening was deafening for a moment, immediately followed by a firm and angry “Enough!!”
{That’s enough of that, then.}
On the surrounding rocks and walkways and behind both battle lines there were easily another dozen and a half trainers...likely more. Most of them were in the red vests and hats with black underneath. Most of the rest wore police uniforms. A policewoman, middle-aged and without the hat, stepped forward from the others who showed up, behind Aengus. On her epaulettes were a pair of parallel silver bars, with two very thin connecting slats. Hers was a similar skin tone to Devontae, but her grey-streaked hair was pulled back into a tight bun. She slowly walked forward, meeting everyone’s gaze with her glower. Nervousness lay on the nine trainers’ faces. As she neared them, Rarity started, “My apologies for my part of this, but I can assure you—”
“I didn’t ask you a damn thing, pony!” snapped the policewoman with an unforgiving glare.
Rarity shrank and her ears flattened, her eyes wide with fear. Devontae shifted nervously, and said, “Captain, Ma’am, it’s—”
“Or you, mister!”
Devontae took a step back, putting his hands up. The police captain continued her slow walk towards the thirty-something in the middle of the opposing line. Pokémon returned to their balls, including Arcanine. The captain stopped in front of the veteran trainer and said, “You’re coming with me. And don’t even try to feign innocence; we heard you as you came through the reception gate!”
The veteran met her gaze, then started to walk away. The captain ran and tackled her on the hum, quickly applying the handcuffs. Several uniformed men rushed to assist nigh unto instantly. Rarity breathed, “Oh my goodness!”
As the men hauled the veteran out of there, the captain stood up, and turned as she yelled, “Let me make this clear! This is not happening again! All o’ y’all been in League matches enough to know the rules! Don’t try it, don’t even think about it! Or you’ll be coming with me, too! I got a few officers with not a lot of inmates to watch! They get pretty bored, coming to work, day after day with nothing to do! You mess up, they’ll have something to do! You, on the other hand, won’t have much to do at all! You’ll get to decide if it’s better staring blindly into space, or at the bars, or the tiny window, or doing pushups, or whatever for a year! Do you get that!? If I hear of another melee happening, you’ll lose at least a year of your life to me!”
As the captain straightened out her back after yelling, an uneasy silence filled the cavern. She looked around at everyone again, and waited a moment before shouting, “Any questions!?”
Water dripped somewhere, but no other answer came. Taking the time to meet all of them in the eye again, she said, “Good! Now get moving!”
The other trainers began wandering off, some relieved they weren’t the ones in trouble, some with a glare at Rarity, and the others with slight hesitation before being on their way. Rarity said, “I’m glad they came when they did. I think I see why the rules are that at most it can be three-on-three.”
Devontae said, “Rumour has it in Alola there’s free-for-alls.”
“But this isn’t Alola, so it doesn’t matter here what they do there,” said the captain as she started past them. She looked at Rarity with a scowl. “Just because the Champion is okay with you being here doesn’t mean the rest of us are. You’d best watch yourself. I can’t drop everything all the time to save your ass, pony!”
Rarity scoffed, halfway between surprised and indignant. Aengus said, “She will be fine, ma’am, if I have anything to say about it. We’re just finishing our business together before we part ways and she goes back to her own world.”
“Then you best make sure you two get it done quickly,” the captain growled. “And don’t give me any reason, any reason at all, to keep either of you. If I catch either of you with a toe or hoof out of line, it’s gonna be a long, long time before you can leave.”
She gave them one last glare before continuing away with the other officers and rangers. Aengus shook his head, then looked at Devontae and said, “I suppose you also have a problem with her?”
“Nah, what’s-her-face made it sound like them ponies mean to take over the world,” Devontae explained. “But she doesn’t sound like a conqueror. Hell, you saying she means to go home soon is proof enough for me. No hard feelings, right?”
“None here,” said Aengus with a slight grin, shaking his head some more.
Rarity nickered, “You changed sides so quickly then; why should I believe you won’t do it again?”
Devontae said, “‘Cuz this is my dude, right here. Look, we both grew up poor, east side of inner Goldenrod. Didn’t have a damn thing but each other. Got each other out of tight spaces, shared food whenever one or the other of us had empty pantries, and so on. We both took to training Pokémon to keep bread on the table, and watched each other’s back then the same as we did before.”
“What about that ‘Yoshinori’ kid Paddy mentioned?” Rarity asked.
“Damn, man, that kid got us into trouble all the time, especially you,” Devontae griped, giving Aengus a quick look. “Nothin’ but bad news from him. Was better for us all when his parents moved him away. Heard he ended up in Celadon, but I didn’t see him while I was there.”
“I’m happy you finally got over to Kanto and got the other eight,” said Aengus as they started on their way again.
Devontae nodded. “Yeah, as you know, mama wasn’t doing too good. Had to take care of her, until she passed. If she had just quit smoking....”
“I’m sorry, man,” said Aengus, putting an arm around him.
“It ain’t your fault; it was them three packs a day,” Devontae said.
“Are your brothers okay?”
“Yeah. It was hard, still is, even after six months, but we’re doing all right. Guess her whipping our asses worked; not one of us is on the street. Jacob’s a carpenter, Deshaun is a ship mechanic in Olivine, and Freddie’s an apprentice itamae in Ecruteak now, and loving it. A very promising apprentice, last I heard,” said Devontae, brightening as he spoke.
“That’s great news!” Aengus said happily. “He ate so much of that stuff I’m surprised he didn’t wrap himself in seaweed.”
The two laughed. Rarity shot them a puzzling look, asking, “Why would you wrap anything in seaweed? That sounds unpalatable at best.”
Devontae gave Aengus a surprised but disapproving stare. “You haven’t taken her to try any of the fine cuisine we have here?”
“We just got back to Johto yesterday,” Aengus protested. “Oh, speaking of great news, I’ve got the best!”
“Well, don’t leave me hanging.”
“Dad’s home.”
Devontae gasped with delight as his face lit up. He pulled Aengus into a crushing hug with thrilled laughter, nearly shouting, “That’s awesome! ‘Bout damn time that I finally get to meet this man!”
Rarity cocked her head to one side. As Devontae let go, Aengus caught her gaze. He asked, “What’s on your mind?”
“I was just remembering something, what you said earlier about Raichu,” Rarity said. “You mentioned a friend and an Arcanine, like your friend’s Pokémon. Was that the same one?”
Aengus nodded, his face halfway between surprised and impressed. “I forgot I mentioned that.”
“Good to know you’re finally using the little dude,” Devontae grinned. “I swear Raichus ain’t supposed to be that strong.”
“Well...,” Aengus began, hanging his head slightly.
Devontae sucked his teeth and grouched, “Still not?? But still keeping him around? Come on, brah...you counted him out wrong.”
{Way to be a terrible human being, chica. Slick. Screw you.}
They rounded a corner. Rarity looked forward just in time for something very hard to hit her in the nose, enough that a flash of white filled her vision for a second. She yelped, staggering backwards and holding her muzzle where it struck. Aengus snarled as Rarity whimpered, still with her eyes closed. He looked down at Rarity as Devontae picked up the thrown object. Nearby some teen girl screamed, “Get out of here, pony!!”
“Ah, hell nah! Bitch, you threw a full can of hair spray at her in ambush!? You are so gonna get it!!” snapped Devontae, reaching for his Pokéballs.
Aengus said in worry, “Let me see how bad it is.”
Rarity wiped her nose as she opened her eyes, still whimpering. Then she nearly shrieked. Where she wiped, her hoof was red. Blood red. Tears continued leaking out as she growled, half from pain, half from anger. The girl, in one of those red jackets with the short black shorts, cockily yelled back, “Am I? Because she’s not a person, and she’s not a Pokémon, I didn’t break a single law!”
“That does it,” Rarity growled.
“Wait...,” urged Aengus.
“No,” snapped Rarity. “She wants to start trouble, she’ll get trouble.”
Rarity marched out as Devontae recalled Arcanine, even though he had just deployed it. Aengus warned, “I think she cracked your nose bone, Rarity.”
Rarity only snarled in response.
“Go, Yanmega!” yelled the girl. A huge dragonfly emerged from her mostly blue Pokéball.
Aengus began, “Rarity, use—”
“I got this,” growled Rarity.
The girl mocked, “Do you indeed? Let’s see about that! Yanmega, use—aaie...!!”
A beam fired out of Rarity’s horn...at the girl. She struck the ace trainer in the nose, knocking her down. As the girl sat up, starting to cry, her nose was also bleeding quickly from both nostrils. Yanmega flew over to its trainer, buzzing near her nose, and gently nuzzled the girl on the cheek. It then turned to Rarity and demanded, “Why!?”
“She gave me a little ‘gift;’ I simply returned the favour, as the generous pony that I am,” snarked Rarity.
“Tit for tat?” Devontae mumbled to himself.
Rarity smirked at Devontae with a wince. “Doesn’t sound like I’m breaking any laws either; since I’m neither human nor Pokémon, I don’t believe there are any on the books about my kind.”
Aengus laid a hand on her withers, and knelt beside her. He urged, “I think you should return to your ball for now, and not participate in any battles if it can be avoided. This is getting out of control, and I don’t want to see you get hurt anymore.”
Rarity nodded sadly. With a click and a flash of green light, she found herself back in the round room. Four pictures of familiar faces immediately appeared on the wall, minus Rapidash. Feraligatr started, “Well, look who—oh my.”
“What happened!? Are you okay?” exploded Gyarados.
Rapidash’s picture appeared. Full of alarm he asked, “She’s hurt?? Oh...oh no.”
Pidgeot slowly and sadly asked, “Who did what to you?”
Rarity wiped more of the blood from her nose. “Ow, geez. Apparently some trainers hate me just because I’m a pony. One hit me with a metal can as we rounded a corner. Just waited there for us to come.”
“That’s not okay, and they have no right to attack you,” said Rapidash, sounding more like a fellow consoling his girlfriend than anything else. “How bad is it, dear?”
“Aengus thinks it may have cracked a bone, darling,” Rarity said, grabbing a tissue and sopping up what she could.
{Give them some space, you guys.}
Rapidash flushed some in his picture while the other four looked between each other. Pidgeot suggested, “I think we should step aside and let them talk?”
“Yeah, let’s,” said Gyarados.
The other four screens clicked off and disappeared. Rapidash’s frame expanded to fill most of the wall. Rarity smiled coyly as some pink crept into her cheeks. “I’m your ‘dear’ now?”
Rapidash flushed deeply as he stammered, “Well, it’s a-a-a-a, um, i-i-i-it kinda just...I dunno.”
“It’s okay; I like it, very much,” said Rarity with a contented smile. “I had hoped to hear it from you.”
Buzzing through Rapidash’s projection, Golem’s voice yelled, “Feraligatr, you stop eavesdropping on them right now!”
Rarity and Rapidash shared incredulous looks. After a moment they sighed almost in unison. Rapidash muttered, “That guy, I tell you what.”
Rarity shook her head. “Always the joker, but at least he means well.”
“You like it when I called you ‘dear,’ huh?” Rapidash asked shyly.
Rarity blushed again. After a beat she answered, “Yes. Yes I did.”
Rapidash blushed in turn. “We-e-ell, um...well, I-I-I, uh....”
Rarity said, “It’s okay, darling. Let’s just take it slow and easy.”
“Okay, dear.”
A whirling sound was accompanied by a flash of green light, and Rarity found the Experience Share back on her head. She scoffed, “How rude....”
Rapidash frowned. “That thing never looked good on anymon.”
“Heinous,” spat Rarity. She put her hooves in little quotes as she sardonically grumbled, “But it’s ‘purely pragmatic.’ I’ll give him that point, at least.”
“Do you know how to use the replicator?” asked Rapidash.
“Yes, but I don’t know what language this is,” Rarity said.
“Let me type a few things in here, so you can get cleaned up. I don’t think you want dried blood on your coat,” said Rapidash as he punched away at the buttons in front of him.
Rarity nodded. Symbols appeared on the screen in rows. She began typing them in as she said, “It’s a shame we never had the chance to talk like this sooner. I’d like to know you better.”
“There’s not much to know,” said Rapidash. “I was just a Ponyta on Route 22 when Aengus found and caught me, and I’ve been with him since. I don’t remember much of anything before I evolved. But Aengus saw to that pretty quickly; that much I recall. He was much younger and smaller back then, very much still just a boy. But in the decade since, lots of traveling, battling, and training, challenging the Elite Four every now and then, but always being stopped by Bruno. And here we go again, but Aengus seems more confident this time.”
“Sounds dreadfully boring,” said Rarity as some moist pads materialised.
As she started wiping below her nose, Rapidash said, “Sure was at times. What about you? You’re from another world; I’m sure you have stories to tell.”
Rarity chuckled, “I have quite a few....”
Over the next several hours, Rarity told a sizable chunk of her life story’s most noteworthy events. While Rarity averaged a higher number of “darlings” per thousand words than usual, Rapidash had not said “dear” more than a hooffull of times throughout. Rapidash asked many questions about her life before Aengus came along, her occupation, living outside a Pokéball, cutie marks, and her friends, showing intense interest about Equestria. Occasionally they were interrupted when Rapidash was sent to battle. A few times he returned looking worn out; once he had fainted. After being Revived, he muttered something about “strong bugs” before the conversation resumed as it had been going prior to that. Not long afterwards, Feraligatr’s picture appeared on the wall and said, “We’re almost out.”
{Guess what time it is boys and girls?}
Almost immediately after the words left his lips, Rarity found herself back in the cave. Devontae was still there. There was a dim light up ahead that was mostly trapezoidal in shape, tall enough for a human to walk through, but not wide enough for them to go two at a time. Aengus loosened and removed the Experience Share, to which Rarity sighed in relief. He then pulled a thin strip of black cloth out of his bag. Rarity asked, “What do you want me to wear now?”
“This is an ‘Expert Belt.’ Attacks you use that strike an opponent’s weakness will hit harder while you wear it,” said Aengus.
Rarity levitated the Expert Belt in her magic. She looked up at Aengus and asked, “Does it have to be worn like a belt to work?”
“No, why?”
Rarity wrapped it around her neck, tying it off such that the belt looked more like a chic narrow scarf. She looked up at them and said, “There. Much more fashionable.”
Aengus chuckled some while Devontae shrugged. Aengus said, “Well, now that the kid is behind us, I think we’re good.”
“Why is there a child in here?” asked Rarity.
“That child is a damn good Pokémon trainer, that’s why. He was one of those bug-catching types, back there a little ways,” said Devontae. He shook his head with an overwhelmed grimace, and said, “Never thought Bug-type Pokémon were all that strong, until he sent them out.”
“He had a stubbornly-tough Shuckle, a Yanmega, a Scizor, a Heracross, the strongest Venomoth I’ve ever seen, and mega-evolved his Pinsir,” said Aengus, shaking his head. “That kid’s team was the mightiest one we faced in Victory Road.”
Rarity scrunched her forehead. “Mega-evolved?”
“I’m surprised you didn’t ask earlier today when you saw it,” said Aengus. “Remember that Lucario who showed you Aura Sphere?”
“Yeah. That was it ‘mega-evolving,’ I presume?”
“Correct. To do so, a Pokémon needs the right kind of stone, the trainer needs a key stone, and there has to be a powerful bond between the two,” Aengus explained.
“Do you have one such key stone?” Rarity asked.
Aengus pulled out a pocket watch, chained to a belt loop. On the covering plate Rarity saw a small, well-polished semi-prismatic stone, with a reticulating recurved pattern etched into its broad face. Aengus said, “Naturally.”
As they started toward the exit, Devontae asked, “Which one of us challenges them first? Do you want the first crack at them?”
Aengus grinned. “If you’re offering. I guess you’ll watch from the spectator balcony?”
“Of course. Gotta get some intel,” Devontae laughed.
Rarity squinted as they emerged from Victory Road. Even with the sun setting and being in her Pokéball beforehand, the light felt glaring and painful after the unnatural dark. Eyes watering, she wiped her face downward. Before them was a large and foreboding red building with a golden roof, a pair of archways between them and the front door (not surprisingly on the south-facing side), and trees flanking the path. Devontae laughed and pumped a fist in the air, cheering, “Finally! Knew I’d get here someday!”
Aengus took a deep breath. “We’ll get a moment to rest as they process the paperwork. Are you ready?”
“Absolutely!” Rarity beamed. “As much as I’ve enjoyed our time together, darling, and all the great research, I would dearly like to sleep in my own home, and where everything's at a size that’s just right for me. Nor did I forget how I got here,” she finished on a sterner note.
“Sorry,” Aengus mumbled, hanging his head.
{That’s right, it’s time for those two to finally come face-to-face.}
“Rarity!!”
A coltish voice sounded behind them. They all turned, and descending the outcrop with Victory Road’s north exit a small equine creature. He had a thick puff of scarlet fur on his head, an off-white coat that had powder blue around its neck and chest, and matching tail. His hooves were a dark blue, and his thick, overly long horn was about the same shade. Three tufts stuck out of his scarlet hair, one of them lime green, the second orange, and the third pale blue. The figure approached them as Rarity said, “Um, hello? I believe you have me at a disadvantage.”
“Never you mind that; we need to leave now,” urged this other.
Devontae sheepishly offered, “I, guess I should go first?”
Aengus said in a similar tone, “Yeah...yeah, you probably should. I don’t know how long this’ll take.”
Devontae headed inside, looking back at this newcomer for a moment. Rarity said, “Forgive me, but I have no idea who you are, why I suddenly need to leave with you, or where you plan on taking me.”
The other said, “Call me Keldeo. The situation around the portal is deteriorating. You and all of your friends need to return to your world before anything else shows up.”
“Did Twilight send you?” Rarity asked.
“No, she didn’t. I listened to her and some other named ‘Rainbow Dash’ talking about looking for you. Now will you stop asking questions and come along? It’s a five-day run, but with a little luck we can whittle down that time considerably,” Keldeo urged with waning patience.
Rarity frowned. “Please, can you wait for just a little while? I have business to conclude with Aengus presently. I appreciate that you want to help me get home, and will gladly accept the offer afterward. It shouldn’t take too long.”
“No,” said Keldeo. “The longer you wait, the less likely you are to head home.”
“Hey, you said it’s a ‘five-day run;’ why can’t it wait for maybe an hour? I heard there could be a fight for control of the sea and sky. Is an hour really going to make a difference with that?” Rarity asked.
“With them, no. With him, yes,” said Keldeo, pointing a hoof at Aengus.
“What ever do you mean?” Rarity scoffed.
Keldeo sighed and said, “That’s a Pokémon League building.”
“Yes, I know,” said Rarity. “My part of the bargain is to help him become champion.”
“And if he becomes champion, you might not be leaving that building until he’s dethroned,” Keldeo growled. “That could be years from now.”
Rarity shook her head, “No, he agreed that once he’s champion, he will return—”
“You can’t trust a human!!” Keldeo snapped, baring his teeth for a moment.
Rarity jolted back at the outburst, blinking. She looked up at Aengus, then back at Keldeo, and then back to Aengus, asking, “Are you listening to this little guy?”
Aengus shook his head. “All I’m hearing is it saying ‘Keldeo’ over and over, other than when he called your name at first. If I recall, he’s a mythical Pokémon from Unova, but that’s several regions away.”
“That part is true,” said Keldeo. “But just because I can use human speech doesn’t mean I will. They can’t be trusted.”
“Why can’t he be trusted?” Rarity demanded. Aengus gave Keldeo a surprised and disapproving look.
“He’s human.”
Rarity grumbled, “Prejudiced much?”
“Everything he’s done is so typical of a human, thinking they’re the best thing there ever was, and entitled to whatever they want. And it was the same with how you’ve been treated. The guy breaks into your world, abducts you, and gets you to fight for him with what trifle in return?” Keldeo asked accusingly. “And if he succeeds, what obligation does he have to keep his word? And if he should fail, what then?”
Rarity paused, cocking her head to one side. She looked back at Aengus for a second, before echoing, “If he should fail?”
“Yes. What happens then? What will come to pass if you cannot carry out your end of the bargain?” Keldeo pressed.
Rarity pursed her lips for a moment, then slowly said, “Then we regroup, switch up strategies and try again, I would like to think.”
Aengus nodded with a confident grin, scratching her behind the ears. Keldeo frowned. “I don’t buy that for a minute. I’ve seen this before. Come on.”
Keldeo took Rarity by a forelimb and started pulling her away from Aengus. She cried out, “Whoa, I said I’m going to keep my end of the bargain, and you don’t need to be so hoofsy!”
“We need to go now!” Keldeo insisted, tugging harder.
Aengus wrapped his arms around her and tugged back, but Keldeo was strong enough to keep pulling them both away. Rarity growled, “Let go of me! We’ll go then, but not before!”
Keldeo growled back, “There won’t be a then! He won’t let that happen!”
Rarity looked back at Aengus, then at the Pokéballs on his belt. Giving her forelimb a slight twist, she slipped from Keldeo’s grasp. At the same time, she flicked her tail, smacking the button at the front of her ball. It cracked open, and she disappeared in a shower of green sparks.
Keldeo rolled over, and stood up. Seeing her gone, he stomped hard enough to fracture the stone beneath him, cracks spreading in five directions from his front hooves as he screamed, “Arceus-dammit!!”
Aengus shook he his head at Keldeo with an expression as if he meant to ask what’s the matter with you. Keldeo hunched into a battle-ready position, gritting his teeth. Aengus frowned and said, “I don’t know what all you said to her, but I will keep my word. We will head back to Sinnoh after this and get her home, one way or another. And she is right about what happens if we somehow lose this thing. You need to cool your jets. It won’t be long.”
With a careful regard of Keldeo, Aengus turned and headed inside the League building. Keldeo hung his head and closed his eyes, muttering, “No, you won’t. But are you lying to me, or to yourself?”
He shook his head again, and continued, “Flirting with disaster by not coming, Rarity. Now there’s no way to get you back before the savage one arrives.”
Keldeo looked up at the sun lowering in the sky, and at Mt. Silver looming below it. He said to himself, “I know your next move, human, but I don’t know where it is in this region. Don’t think it’s back there, so....”
Keldeo ran forward and began descending into Johto on the western side of the plateau.
Back in the round room, Rarity breathed heavily for a moment. Feraligatr’s image appeared first, quickly followed by Rapidash. Feraligatr asked, “Did something go wrong?”
“Yeah,” said Rarity. “Some ruffian Pokémon named ‘Keldeo’ tried to pull me away from Aengus, literally tugging on my front leg! I hope he didn’t dislocate my shoulder.”
Feraligatr blinked at her. He said, “Huh. That’s...weird, to say the least. Guess everymon loves you.” A cheeky grin broke over his face as he finished, “Right, Rapidash?”
Rapidash turned beet red as Feraligatr doubled over in laughter. Rarity felt her own cheeks burning for a moment, then a green light shone around her and on both screens. She felt the ache throughout her muzzle and the throb in her shoulder joint both fade to nothing. Rarity said, “We really could use that machine in Equestria.”
The mare’s voice of the P.A. sounded over the speakers, “Changing party members.”
Feraligatr grinned. “Battle time.”
Three more screens popped up. Excadrill was the only one Rarity recognized. Beside her picture was something purple with a malevolent grin and red eyes that were yellow where they should have been white, above which its head looked like a permanently-attached spiny steeple cap of the same purple. At the end was a dragon’s head of cerulean with cherry red marking atop its head, and off-white countershading. Rapidash said, “Excadrill, Mismagius, Salamence, good to see all of you again. The Elite Four await.”
The purple thing spoke first, in an eerie, distorted alto, “Likewise, Rapidash, Feraligatr. Ah! The pony is here. I’m Mismagius.”
“And I’m Salamence,” said the dragon in a gravelly contrabass. “How do you do?”
Rarity cordially bowed and said, “I am well now, thank you. My name is Rarity. How do you do?”
Salamence nodded in turn, and Mismagius flashed a delighted, but still somewhat unsettling, smile. Excadrill tittered, “Elite Four matches!? How exciting!”
“It’s what we’ve been training for,” said Feraligatr. He grimaced a moment, then said, “And she’s out of the ball again. See you soon, Rarity!”
Rarity materialised in an opulent lobby. There were several different areas with folks behind a counter, and a large, heavily decorated central doorway with a guard and turnstile. Aengus led Rarity over to a lady at the nearest counter to that. As she flipped through different papers, Devontae emerged from the turnstile, shaking his head in disappointment. Rarity called, “Devontae, what happened?”
He ambled over to them, complaining, “Friggin’ Will, man. That dude’s tough, even if he dresses weird.”
Aengus said, “They’re all tough. These are some of the most-skilled trainers in the world, and are arguably the best of both Johto and Kanto.”
“I saw that,” said Devontae. “I had no idea a Xatu is that strong a Pokémon.”
“Only in Will’s hands,” said Aengus. “Everybody else, not so much.”
Devontae said, “Well, I’m heading upstairs to watch. Good luck, man. Knock ‘em dead!”
They parted with the same elaborate handshake and hug. As Devontae started up the nearby staircase, the lady behind the counter said, “Mr. Meagher? Everything’s in order and you are free to begin your challenge. Be advised, though, because you went around the world and brought such Pokémon with you, the Elite Four and Champion’s Pokémon lineups have been altered to counter that new-found diversity. Good luck!”
Aengus’s shoulders slumped at the news as he started for the turnstile. He muttered, “So much for feeling confident...now it’s like every time before now.”
“Don’t doubt yourself now,” said Rarity. “We’ll win this!”
Aengus gave her a sad smile as they passed through the turnstile, up the stairs, and through the archway. The shuttered door closed and locked behind them.
Well then. Keldeo wasn't expecting resistance from Rarity, and got a frustrating surprise. Certainly doesn't like our species that much...hate to hear what he'd say if he saw what we've done to this world. 
I suppose with people seemingly scared to death of the unknown, and acting out poorly, he probably doesn't like us for that, either. Has to be part of this anti-pony sentiment that's popped up (though the pony patrols around Sinnoh are doubtlessly adding to it).
Speaking of frustration, Aengus wasn't counting on that because of his departure to other parts of the world, the Elite Four were ready and waiting for just such an occasion. So much for knowing what teams he faces. 
This ought to complicate things. Not to mention...with one of them switched since he was there last time, as he mentioned awhile back.
So...what about Rarity and Rapidash? I'm not sure if we can call them a couple yet...for one, no such question has been asked. Is it a prereq for being an item, that one of them drops the question, or can we just say "for all intents and purposes?" 
She finally asks about Mega Evolutions, but doesn't seem to care much. A gloss-over explanation apparently was enough. 
I think I'd want more than that if I were in her shoes.
Secondary classic rock reference this time is courtesy of Molly Hatchet.
Elite Four battles! Aengus's team: Feraligatr, Rapidash, Excadrill, Mismagius, Salamence, and Rarity. Can he do it? Lieutenant Colonel Surge next week, same time, same place! Thanks for reading. 
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And I don't think they have time for Rarity to go play with him in a daycare for a while, if things are getting that bad at the swamp.
Rarity and Aengus both have some seriously skewed priorities.
Oh well, been ill, so havent got as far as the pile in in Alola, though I got a bunch approaching L80 in Pelago.
Wonder who the super dark is that Keldeo is worried about, and cant remember who it is, apart from Red, that usually hangs around Mt Silver.
There is a major problem with Twixies as well. If you give a reward for everyone returned, then as Lord Vetinary said on trying to deal with the plague of rats.
Tax the Rat Farms.
How many Human ghost types have thre been in the show? Ash and Pikachu, the Butler, and ghost of Maidens Peak at least? but were they treatable in that state like any other Ghost type, or is there a maturity level before pokeballs work as normal on them?
Especially with the entry on Bewares.
My overall thoughts of this chapter:
Considering that Alola's free-for-alls only have up to four trainers at a time all going against each other, and not a freakin' seven vs. two ambush, I'd say that the officer definitely made the right call here...
7897336
The super dark is most likely the Mewtwo that emerged from the other chapter.
Looks like the possible KeldeoxRarity ship has sunk. Not that I mind though, it has been becoming much a cliche' with MLP/PKMN crossovers anyway (I think he could be compatible with Dash or Twilight too). Also, I was expecting more of a reaction from Rarity when first seeing him, being pony like and all that, but oh well.
Hmm... considering megaevolution was brought up, will we be seeing Rainbow Power Rarity in this?
7897228
Indeed. Time's running out. It's gonna be bad when the savage one gets there.
7897302
Best use of understatement I've seen in a long time.
7897475
Any way you dice that one up...it's better for Rarity, etc., that the one couldn't keep her yap shut. Still, taking a full hair spray can to the face...yeouch. At least it didn't crack and go boom on her too.
Of course, if the one guy hadn't recognized Aengus, it would've been eight-on-one.
7897514
Correct, on both points. The overabundance of Rarity & Keldeo shipfics is part of why I'm steering clear of that. But I doubt I'm giving anything away that wasn't already figured out when I say his role is far from over.
7897815
Maybe? I'm not entirely sure how that works. The MLP wiki doesn't have an entry for Rainbow Power, and both times it happened, all of the Mane Six were there to trigger it.
...I had completely forgotten about that power.
7897963
in my head canon, I believe that with any element held by the bearer will act as a megastone for mega evolution
7892007
7902926
Aengus has questionable morals. It's part of what drives the conflict and plot. The story follows the sort of trouble popular in 19the Century fiction: a contemptous man has the hero(es) stuck where they really have no choice but to work with the contemptous man. Prime examples are Melville's Moby Dick (Captain Ahab being the contemptous man, Ishmael stuck working with Ahab because he's on Ahab's ship), and Vern's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Captain Nemo being the contemptuous man, Pierre, etc., stuck working with Nemo because they're on Nemo's sub). Here, Aengus is the contemptuous man, with Rarity stuck working with him because Aengus dragged her into a different world. Sorry if that's not your thing.
It is time for Rapidash and Rarity to get together.