Rarity Gets Caught

by lord_steak

19 - Vs. Lieutenant Colonel Surge

{So begins the last hurdles towards Aengus’s goal.}

As Aengus and Rarity proceeded down the corridor, she kept looking at him with concern. Shortly before the upcoming doorway, she said, “Darling, you’re much too tense to be thinking clearly. We’re almost done, as it were.”

“Not quite,” said Aengus, shaking his head.

“No?”

Stopping, Aengus said, “It’s not just the challenge that’s on my mind. We still have to get you back to Pastoria. I’m trying to devise what’s the best solution of getting from Point A to Point B in a timely fashion.”

“Okay, how would we go by air? I haven’t seen any dirigibles in your skies,” Rarity said.

“It may be possible to yoke up enough Pokémon that levitate, or Flying-types that don’t use wings, and make an aerial carriage. A few supposedly have Pokémon that can use the HM move Fly to go between regions, but that’s highly suspect.”

Rarity grumpily said, “That doesn’t sound feasible, so much so that I’m at a loss as to why you suggested it at all, darling.”

Aengus sighed. “You’re right; I shouldn’t have thought about going by air. By land is, as anyone could imagine, the long way. Assuming the skies are safe, Fly can take us straight to Cerulean City swiftly, and then comes the trouble. On a normal route, that distance between the end of Route 25 and Twinleaf Town would take at least two full days at a stiff pace and limited sleep. Over rough terrain, that easily doubles...maybe more. Add regiments of super-feral Pokémon, and assuming we live, there’s no way that’s taking under a week and a half.”

“There’s still the ship,” Rarity said hopefully. “Other than your brother convincing me of that falsehood, the voyage was simply divine.”

Aengus punched up something on his PokéGear as he said, “That’s out.”

Rarity scoffed, “Darling, I wasn’t planning on touching the tequila again!”

“That’s not why,” said Aengus. “After you put yourself back in your ball, I checked the weather. It’s...not good. At all.”

He held the screen to where Rarity could see it. South of Johto and Kanto was a Category-V typhoon, except part of it was missing. It looked as though along its north-northwest side someone had used a razor guided by a straightedge, and sliced off a good twenty percent of the storm. Its projected route brought the storm’s eye right into Pastoria City in Sinnoh. Rarity tottered backwards melodramatically, and Aengus caught her with an annoyed, chastising countenance. She murmured, “Why does your kind allow storms to grow huge? Your weatherponies, or whatever human analog you have, are slouching off on the job.”

“That’s Kyogre’s doing, and the firm line is where his power is in conflict with Groudon’s,” Aengus said as though he was trying to bring a silly preschooler back to reality. “If we could just control the weather, we would. But as it stands, all ships coming to or leaving port in Johto, Kanto, and Sinnoh have been ordered to harbour or to reroute. This is far, far more than a small craft warning; a storm like that could snap a frigate like a toothpick, turn a sloop to pulp, or make a cruiseliner’s next port-of-call the bottom of Davy Jones’s Locker.”

Rarity frowned. She pursed her lips briefly and said, “Perhaps we should worry about that bridge when we come to it? We have a task at hoof here.”

“Aye,” Aengus sighed. “You’re right, again. ‘The Lightning American’ awaits, if he still calls himself that.”

“Do I even want to know what an ‘American’ is? You haven’t had many happy explanations,” Rarity sighed.

Aengus snorted a snicker. “Then we’ll skip it; it’d take too long and there’s only so many times I care to see you roll your eyes in a given day. Devontae was an American.”

Rarity rolled her eyes at the eye-roll comment. They stepped inside the chamber. Aengus laughed aloud at the changes in decor: the room was in standard US Army block-like camouflage in green and brown, though the lines of the battlefield remained white. Numerous cathodes, electrodes, and other displays of arcing electricity lined the sides of the room. At the far end, in front of a barred door, stood a very tall and broad man in a green Class A uniform. He wore a peaked cap, a thick assortment of awarded ribbons over his left chest pocket, black tie, well-polished black shoes, and four dangling medals. Only the medal on the right caught Rarity’s eye, because it looked like a gilded Pokéball with a lightning bolt embroidered in the medal’s white ribbon.

As Aengus approached, he bowed, and saluted, rotating his arm at the elbow and stood there with the palm facing outward, tip of his index finger at the end of his eyebrow. The soldier returned the salute, but brought his hand straight to the eyebrow’s tip, with his palm facing the ground. Both of them ended the salute by bringing their hands to their sides swiftly. With a grin Aengus said, “Congratulations on your promotion, sir.”

“Much appreciated, young man! I am Lieutenant Colonel Surge, of the Elite Four!” he answered loudly. “Have to be tough to make it this far! I like that in a young man! With a little training, you could be a fine soldier, yourself!”

Aengus bowed in a much more European fashion than Asian. “Thank you, sir.”

Surge looked at Rarity. He continued bellowing, “Now you, however, I don’t think you’d make it long in combat! Not with your puny power and freshly-shampooed snow-white coat! Pretty purple curls have no place on a battlefield! That eyeliner won’t do! You need real camo! Where’s your war face!? You can’t wander around all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed when you’re dodging bullets or shelling an enemy fortification!”

Rarity blinked in unease, at a loss for words. She leaned a little closer to Aengus and muttered, “I...think I’m afraid of Americans.”

“You’re damn right you are!” Surge resumed. “Anyone with any sense knows better than to mess with the US Army!”

“I see you haven’t change at all since I last saw you, about ten years ago. That was at your Gym in Vermilion,” Aengus said with a grin.

Surge grinned too. “I suppose you remember when it comes to Electric-type Pokémon, I’m still number one! They saved me during the war, and a few times since!”

“Aye, I do remember,” said Aengus.

Surge cocked his head to one side, and said, “Hey, I think I remember you! You were just a tyke then, but that look on your face when you won! You looked far too pleased with yourself with that vicious smile! That’s what I like to see in a soldier! You really should enlist, now that you’re old enough!”

Aengus reached for a Pokéball as he said, “Never ruled out that possibility. Maybe I will once I have certain affairs set in order!”

“Good man! That’s the spirit!” Surge cheered. “Come, show me what you caught in your world travels! I’ll show you what I caught in mine!”

{Elite Four battle begin!}

Aengus threw the Pokéball and yelled, “Excadrill, let’s go!”

Surge threw a ball of his own, shouting, “To arms, Heliolisk!”

“Starting with a Kalos Pokémon,” Aengus muttered to himself. Excadrill looked back at Rarity, giving a thumb’s up and a grin. Rarity returned the smile as Aengus yelled, “Excadrill, use Earthquake!”

“Rain Dance, Heliolisk!” Surge answered.

Heliolisk flared its saurian collar, as it made an indiscernible shriek. Rarity felt the drops hitting her...indoors...with a complete ceiling overhead...and another floor and then a full roof above that. She growled irritably. As her curls slowly began to unfurl, she grouched at Aengus, “What’s the point of it doing that?”

“In terms of Pokémon battles, rain does two things,” said Aengus as the ground took to shaking viciously. “First, the move Thunder, which is a high-power special attack with comparatively low accuracy, will not miss while it’s raining.”

“But Excadrill’s part Ground-type.”

“Aye, but that brings me to point two,” Aengus continued as Heliolisk toppled over and disappeared back into its Pokéball. “Rain also powers up Water-type moves.”

Rarity frowned. “How many Pokémon are dual Water- and Electric-type?”

“I can think of only a variant form of Rotom, and one evolutionary line,” said Aengus with palpable frustration.

Surge yelled, “Lanturn, go!”

“...not surprised,” grumbled Aengus, shaking his head.

A blue angler fish with a yellow lower tail fin, yellow mask around the eyes, and a cheerful smile as opposed to a natural world angler’s threatening maw of spiky teeth, popped out. Rarity grimaced and said, “Looks like she could be my friend, if she weren’t our opponent. How far away did he have to go to bring her here?”

“Fishing on the Routes we took after New Bark Town,” Aengus said flatly. He looked over at Surge and said, “I suppose this would have been on your team, had I not ventured from Johto?”

“Right you are! Lanturn, use Hydro Pump!” Surge shouted.

Aengus patted Excadrill on the back and said, “You’ll probably only get one shot, so make it count. I believe in you. Earthquake!”

The ground trembled again under Excadrill’s command. Lanturn was bounced, knocked around, and rolled over, but managed to right herself with a woozy expression. She shook her head with eyes that looked out of focus for a moment. As she opened her mouth, a blast of water issued from her gullet. Excadrill had not sidestepped in time. She tottered, and fell onto her back, fainting. She returned to her ball as Aengus sighed through his nose. He began reaching for one of his Pokéballs, stopped, and moved his hand down one more slot on his belt. Throwing that ball, he called out, “Mismagius, it’s time to fight!”

The purple ghost from the screen coalesced with an eerie, disturbing noise. It broke into a peculiar, W-shaped smile. Surge raised an eyebrow, but otherwise showed no reaction. He ordered, “Lanturn, use Thunder!”

“And it’s not gonna miss because of this rain?” Rarity said with a shiver. She had a fully-wet mane, no hints of curls to be found.

Aengus still ignored the Pokémon-induced weather as he nodded. He said, “Magical Leaf, if you please.”

Glowing leaves surrounded Mismagius, then darted forward. They turned, ducked, bobbed, and weaved with Lanturn’s every attempt to dodge them. She had fainted and disappeared in pink sparkles before the last leaves struck. Surge threw another ball. “Manectric, go!”

A cerulean dog-like creature appeared, with royal yellow tufts on its front feet, around its thighs, and its head except all but the top of its muzzle. Aengus said, “Use Mystical Fire!”

“Thunder Wave, boy!” Surge answered. He also turned the Pokéball medal around and gave it a pinch. The spinning light from earlier that day, when the shameless girl went and did something in public that would have made her father hit the roof, as Rarity remembered it, was here as well.

Aengus blurted, “On your officially awarded medal??”

“And this is how I earned it, too!” Surge fired back.

As the sphere around Manectric broke apart and faded from view, Rarity pursed her lips off to one side of her face at the sight. Manectric now looked as though someone dressed him in some brass plates that came well above his back, connecting in a blade-like shape, extending all the way over his head to the base of his tail, with a fully-attached, single piece gorget, and horn-like projections that served as ear protection. Manectric roared again in its mega form. Rarity muttered, “Does every Pokémon that ‘mega-evolves’ come out with an even more ridiculous appearance? This look is neither functional nor sporty.”

“Not everything can be, as you like to say, ‘chic, unique, and magnifique,’” Aengus poked with a half-grin and head shake.

“While both true and a crying shame, that doesn’t mean the beast needs a glamour faux pas and impractical armour each and every time this ‘mega evolution’ takes place,” said Rarity aghast. Fidgety yellow light left Manectric and settled over Mismagius in uneven waves. Mismagius twitched as some electricity arced across it. Rarity nudged Aengus and asked, “What just happened?”

“Paralysis,” Aengus grouched.

Rarity looked underneath Mismagius, then back up at her trainer. “Um, Aengus, darling? She doesn’t have any legs. How can you be paralysed if you don’t have any legs?”

“Status effect; I didn’t mean she’s now a paraplegic. It likely will interfere with her ability to fight,” Aengus grumbled. His tone became encouraging as he turned toward Mismagius. “You can get through this! Use Shadow Ball!”

Rarity shook the water off her back as Surge yelled, “Manectric, use Thunder!”

Manectric roared at the ceiling. Flashes appeared among the would-be clouds, coming together as a large, harsh lightning bolt that made Rarity see spots and cover her ears. Mismagius twitched again, but could not do anything more. Aengus muttered, “This is bad.”

The rain stopped. Rarity looked upward and silently thanked whatever saint in Aengus’s family’s religion had domain over the weather, if there was one such entity. She shook off again, splashing Aengus the whole time. He shot her a sideways glance with a scowl, but nothing more. Surge triumphantly shouted, “Snarl, Manectric!”

Aengus said, “Gimme a Shadow Ball! Come on!”

Manectric growled and bared his teeth at Mismagius, much louder than expected. As the distorted air swept over Mismagius, she shook, then collapsed onto the floor. She returned to her ball in a series of dark spots with purple edges. Rarity saw Aengus’s growing frustration and said, “It’s even at two apiece.”

“That can swing quickly either way when trainers this skilled with Pokémon this strong meet,” said Aengus with narrowed eyes. “Better make it go my way. Salamence!”

The dragon emerged from the Pokéball with a cocky glare at Manectric. Surge returned it with a cocky, dubious glare of his own. He hollered, “Thunder again!”

Aengus reached into his pocket as he said, “Salamence, use Dragon Claw!”

Rarity gasped in understanding as Aengus rubbed the stone on his pocket watch, and flicked it open. The same light returned, covering Aengus and Salamence. When it was done, Salamence’s wings were gone, replaced by a large red circle with a smaller circle removed from the anterior quarter of it. His countershading had turned red as well, and it looked like his front legs were held in a canister for a microwavable prepackaged pastry meal.

“My earlier comment stands,” scoffed Rarity, looking particularly unladylike in how her face turned unamused and dismissive at Salamence’s new form.

“Well, it does make him stronger and faster,” Aengus said with a shrug. Despite this, Manectric called the lightning before Salamence could strike. The bolt hit Salamence in the tail. A grunt was about all the more acknowledgement he gave as he swooped in and tore at Manectric with a rear-claw rake. While he was forced back a step, Manectric was not bleeding from the blow. Salamence hovered back to Aengus. Surge yelled, “Again, Manectric!”

“Yeah, again, Salamence,” said Aengus with a knowing grin.

Salamence tightened his focus on Manectric’s every tiny movement, muscle twitch, and where he gazed. As Manectric lifted its head to roar, Salamence jolted forward and to the left, eluding the Thunder attack. Manectric, however, jumped aside too soon to dodge, affording Salamence more than enough time to adjust his attack vector. Both rear claws grazed the length of Manectric’s blade-like back, and he keeled over.

“Vikavolt, take him down!” cried Surge, sounding like a soldier who mentally was still in a trench somewhere.

Out of the teal Pokéball with a net pattern on its top emerged an oversized blue scarab with excessively long mandibles. Sparks danced along the yellow outsides of its jaw. It appeared to have a crystal in one of its claws, shaped like a somewhat flattened octahedron. Rarity tapped at her chin, trying to remember if that meant it fell into a tetragonal, orthorhombic, or cubic crystal system, but without any of the Pie sisters there to confirm an answer, she had to stop. The question itched in the back of her mind anyway.

“New species. Oh well; keep it up, Salamence!” Aengus said with a smile, but not nearly as dark as the one he had at the Sunyshore Gym.

Surge had a sinister smile of his own. “Vikavolt, time for a little Gigavolt Havoc!”

“Gigavolt what?” blurted Aengus as Salamence charged. The rear claws connected again, leaving Vikavolt staggering and struggling to stay upright. It started to collapse, but pushed itself back into a standing position, as if sheer force of willpower alone kept Vikavolt from fainting from the blow. It looked back at Surge as if to smile.

“Damn!” shouted a voice overhead. Rarity looked up and saw Devontae in the spectator section with a hand on his hip and shaking his head in disappointment.

Rarity uttered a befuddled, “Huh...??”

In front of her, she saw a battle-hardened, decorated, foreign war veteran soldier, wearing the lofty rank of Lieutenant Colonel, dressed in his Class A uniform, dancing like a six-year old. Some strange yellow light surrounded him, then cloaked Vikavolt. The light coalesced between its mandibles in the form of a growing static charge. Vikavolt fired the charge in an arcing pulse that zipped at Salamence. The dragon could not dodge; he twitched and toppled as it struck, and disappeared back into its ball.

Aengus grumbled, “Has everyone else been to Alola or something?”

“You should go sometime, once you have enough leave saved up to make it worth your while!” Surge said with a grin.

“Orthorhombic! That’s what it is!” Rarity said triumphantly with a self-satisfied smile, completely out of the blue.

Aengus shot her a baffled look. After a pause he asked, “What are you on about, and where did that come from?”

Patting her cutie mark, Rarity said, “Since my special talent is finding gemstones, I take interest in crystals I see. I had a hard time telling what system Vikavolt’s crystal fell into, but with three different lengths on...each...I’ve totally lost you, haven’t I?”

Aengus’s blank stare affirmed this. He and Surge shrugged at each other. In rolling her eyes, Rarity noticed above her that Devontae had done so as well. Rarity scoffed and stomped, pouting slightly. Surge said, “Now that that’s done....”

“Right, Rapidash, let’s go!” shouted Aengus. Rarity’s eyes dilated at the name. The flaming horse appeared. He looked back at Rarity with a smile...that ran away from his face as his eyes found hers. He turned toward his opponent, looking down emotionally. Rarity stood on the brink of tears with a quivering lower jaw. Aengus ordered, “Poison Jab, Rapidash!”

Surge’s face contorted. “Vikavolt, use Guillotine!”

“Use WHAT!?!” Rarity shrieked in horror. Rapidash lowered his horn as he started at Vikavolt. Eyes welling up, Rarity desperately and quietly whimpered, “No, no, no, no, no, no, no, please no, don’t let it get you, please...!”

Purple mist flowed around Rapidash’s horn. He rammed Vikavolt solidly, driving his horn between its eyes. Vikavolt flew into the back wall, leaving a crack. It then disappeared back into its specialised Pokéball. Aengus looked down at her and said, “That move would just make him faint, not behead him.”

Rarity eased, releasing a long breath about as dramatically as she could for not speaking nor doing much with her forelimbs. Surge frowned, and yelled, “Come on, Magnezone!”

Aengus continued looking Rarity in the eye as he raised an eyebrow with an amused, knowing smirk worming across his face. As a strange floating mechanical thing with three eyes, its central eye far larger than the others, appeared before Surge, Aengus teased, “Oy lass, diya’ intend to make him your fella?”

Rarity flushed deeply as she stared at the ground. Pawing at a line between a brown and green part of the floor, she pitifully squeaked, “...maybe.”

“I want to, but every time I see you face-to-face, you look too much like a filly. It’s tearing me up,” lamented Rapidash. A tear ran down Rarity’s face.

Surged shouted, “Magnezone, use Tri Attack!”

Aengus said, “Flare Blitz, Rapidash.”

There was a mechanical snicker. Magnezone said, “I thought I was here for a battle. Are you here for one too, or do you want to keep going with your soap opera?”

“To hell with you!” Rapidash snarled, coating himself in fire and going from standing still to a racehorse gallop in a single step. Magnezone had time only to let its central eye widen before Rapidash trampled it. Magnezone just lay there still as a stone before fading back into its Pokéball.

“Oh, my last one!? We never give up!” Surge said in shock. He threw the ball as he hollered, “Come, my old friend! Raichu!”

The Raichu that appeared wore a desert camouflage headband tied behind its head, with one strap lying over his shoulder. In its mouth was a tiny cigarette. Tattooed on Raichu’s left upper forearm was a ribbon, like the one of the many in Surge’s fruit salad: green and black in the middle, black on the edges, and beige in-between, with a single blue, white, and red stripe within, reversed on either side of the centre. Raichu took a draught off his cigarette as Aengus asked, “So this is the little guy that saved you during the war?”

“Damn right he did!” Surge proclaimed proudly. “My platoon and I were just arriving in the combat zone in...well, that’s classified, but the ‘130 had a sudden power failure. Raichu strapped himself into the circuitry, and restored power before we crashed. We all arrived safely and unharmed, thanks to him!”

Raichu nodded cordially. Aengus returned the nod, and said, “Well done, little guy! I have nothing but respect for veterans, but I’m afraid you stand between us and the championship. Rapidash, use Megahorn!”

“Thunder Wave, Raichu!” Surge yelled.

Raichu threw his cigarette aside as it hit Rapidash with the twitchy yellow light, just like what hit Mismagius earlier in the battle. Rarity whimpered a little as the sparks jumped across Rapidash’s back. With a tremor Rapidash ran down Raichu with his horn. Raichu stumbled back, threw the ties of his headband back behind his head, and marched back to his spot in front of Surge. The soldier yelled, “It’s not over yet! Raichu, use Double Team!”

Aengus said, “You can do it, buddy. A Poison Jab should be enough.”

Raichu flexed, and dashed, making it look as though there were three of him for a moment. Rarity said, “I thought he said ‘Double Team,’ not ‘Triple Team.’”

Aengus sighed. “There are misnomers all over. Why do they call it a ‘Gym?’ Why does ‘Grass-type’ include Pokémon that are more like trees, shrubs, flowers, cacti, and seaweed? Do I need to keep going?”

Rarity snickered briefly. “Point taken.”

Rapidash couldn’t move for the arcing electricity across him. His eyes were still vacant for a moment after it ended. Rarity sighed with worry, looking at Rapidash full of concern. He did not seem to notice, but instead was trying to focus and work through it. Surge yelled, “Use Thunderbolt, Raichu!”

Aengus stood next to Rapidash’s head and said, “Pull through this, boy. If not for me, then for your girl. Use Poison Jab!”

Rarity blushed and looked down, more from sadness than embarrassment. Rapidash looked over at Rarity, undoubtedly searching for something to say that would not land him in hot water. All he came up with was, “I really wish I could speak in human from time to time.”

The arcing on his back struck just before Raichu’s Thunderbolt did. He shook his head, eyes slightly glazed. He began to run with eyes out of focus. His ears kept turning slightly. Raichu began moving around, looking like there were three of him again. Rapidash was nearly to the three images when both of his ears flicked in the same direction, and he veered his horn into the rightmost image. A thud, and just the one Raichu rolled in reverse somersaults before skidding to a stop, disappearing back into his ball.

{Victorious!}

Rarity cheered, and heard Devontae above do the same. She jumped and wrapped her hooves around Rapidash laughing. When he did not return the affection, she looked up at his face. Rapidash looked dumbfounded, that he honestly did not know what he should do right then and there. She nuzzled against his neck briefly, interrupted by the static arcing across him, including into her forelimbs and the soft tip of her nose. She yipped as she let go, holding her nose with a mostly numb foreleg. Aengus returned Rapidash to his ball as Surge said, “Argh! You got me! Truly you are very strong, young man!”

“Thank you,” said Aengus. “You’re still superb with your favourite type.”

The door behind Surge opened. He stood aside as he said, “But it wasn’t enough today! Go forward like lightning! Your next opponent awaits!”

{One down, three to go.}

After Aengus and Rarity walked through the door, it closed and barred behind them. Aengus stopped, grabbing multiple things from his bag and applying them to the Pokéballs on his belt. Rarity said, “I suppose now would be the time to use those curative sprays.”

“Typically they’re called ‘healing items,’ but your description isn’t wrong,” said Aengus. After setting down a few yellow octahedrons from using them, he continued, “If the rumours are true, I’m glad I got the chance to battle him one more time.”

“You mean, the colonel’s leaving?” Rarity asked.

Aengus said, “Yeah. The rumours are he’s to return to his home country and begin instructing their military about Pokémon use. I’d like to think they knew years ago that he was knowledgeable enough to instruct others, but who knows what makes Americans tick, really? Maybe if Devontae can do well at matches here at the League, he could replace Surge. It’s how Will replaced Lorelei when she left the Elite Four.”

“What’s his specialty? From what you’ve said, it sounds like you must have one to be a member of The Elite Four,” Rarity said.

Aengus put away his mess as he said, “Fire. He’s actually much better than Blaine, the former Gym Leader while the Gym was at Cinnabar Island. Well, that was while there still was a town on what was Cinnabar Island; the island was a dormant volcano. It’s no longer dormant.”

Rarity blinked with her face pulled taut and her eyes wide. “Oh. Oh dear. Was it bad?”

Aengus nodded. “You’d think they’d be wise enough to move the town after it erupted the first time. Nope. The second eruption four years later shattered what remained above water. They...unfortunately, never found anyone’s body.”

Rarity covered her mouth with a hoof, but otherwise looked about the same. “That’s horrible!”

Aengus continued, “That’s putting it mildly. Blaine moved his Gym over to the Seafoam Islands after the first eruption, but after he retired, people thought it was absurd to have a Fire-type Gym in the coldest place in the Kanto region. It was moved to Lavender Town...well, Lavender City at this point. Morty moved his Ghost-type Gym to Lavender City when the space became available, and...shoot, what’s her name...Racquel, maybe? Well, whoever that girl is took over the Ecruteak Gym, and made it a Fairy-type. Long story short, a Fire-type specialist would be a good addition.”

Rarity nodded as they continued down the hallway. “So he has his own Rapidash.”

Aengus said, “If he does, it’s not with him. He showed me his team along Victory Road. He’s currently using an Arcanine, Houndoom, Flareon, Magmortar, Typhlosion, and Charizard.”

“And he lost to a Psychic-type specialist who ‘dresses weird?’ Am I about to be subjected to a fashion nightmare?” Rarity asked like one does when anticipating aggravation.

“See for yourself,” said Aengus as they stepped through the door, which slammed closed behind them.

Author's Note:

First of the Elite Four defeated.

Yes, I know it's an hour earlier than usual. That's 'cuz the upper management wanted to have an all-hands meeting today, in spite of them saying before that it'd be tomorrow. Hooray?

Given when Pokémon Red and Green were released in Japan, Gulf War I was the last military theatre called a "war" in American history. Since Surge is "The Lightning American," speaking of how they saved him in "the war," I can only assume he meant this conflict.

Secondary classic rock reference may be a bit of a stretch...it's courtesy of David Bowie, who cannot be denied as a major figure in classic rock, especially glam rock, but...it's a later piece of his. Does it still qualify?

Next time we'll check up on how things are going back in Sinnoh. Specifically, Starlight Glimmer and Rainbow Dash's investigation into the Daycare. What have they found out? Are they even done yet? Have they actually gotten anywhere at all? And if they're not done...what will they find? How will the others take the news?

Comments

[Booster Spice]

So far, so good, but I take it far more towards Battle Mountain an everyone at Level 50 equalised combatants, instead of story in game style player can grind far higher than even the Champion?

We need yet another level of power. Lets add wings. but it already has wings, then add more wings.

[terrycloth]

How many eggs did they inadvertantly create?

[lord_steak]

7915188
I believe I've had it something to that effect. Given some of the stat distributions, STABs, and type effectiveness, many of those rounds would likely play out in a similar fashion (Excadrill having high physical attack, and Heliolisk's physical defense being poor, add a STAB and super-effective damage, and one shot of Earthquake dropping it becomes expected).

7915193
None inadvertent, ten intentional. Last data we had, Paddy kept one, Dashie brought back another, and the other eight are somewhere out there.

[Zolgard]

Hoping Keldeo makes an appearance next chapter and maybe able to find the real Trixie before Starlight and RD or even team up with them in their search.

Though I do have a feeling that somepony(/ies) are probably going to learn a new move in the near future. *CoughSacredSword!*Cough

[harts fire]

7922984
hum I can think of too ways this code go down.
I will op for #2 Luna ends up with her own poky super guards.

[ThatBadGuy]

m.popkey.co/b07db7/DymEe.gif
AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!
THE NEXT BUTTON DISSAPIRED!!!
whatdoido
Whatdoido!?
WHAT DO I DO?!
media.tenor.co/images/bed96e4b6a47f7141e608029bbca3446/raw
m.popkey.co/0bcbe5/aOWk3_f-maxage-0.gif

[RandomNPC]

Hmm... You get an upvote from me. This has been entertaining to read, and my only nit-picking bits are the fourth wall breaks that don't feel natural for this story. It plays out too serious and in-character normally for the fourth-wall breaking to fit in without some work. Mentioning readers breaks immersion that is otherwise surprisingly well kept despite having the pokemon world actually have bits from the games that wouldn't fit in a story world at times, particularly back early on. Other than that, very fun.

[lord_steak]

7931364
Glad you're enjoying. And thanks for the feedback; I'll keep it in mind for m' growth as a writer.

[RandomNPC]

7931738
You're welcome there. Keep up the good work!

[lord_steak]

7930091
Check back on Wednesdays, just after 8pm Eastern time.