Rarity Gets Caught

by lord_steak

2 - Meet The Team

{Ever been somewhere where you’re not sure if those around you are friend or foe}

Rarity came to. She rubbed at the aching on the side of her head where she hit. There was indistinct whispering nearby. As her eyes came back into focus, she squawked and jumped up. She was still in the odd round room with no exit. She grumbled, “Oh, horsefeathers, that wasn’t a dream??”

“Ah, you’re awake!” exclaimed a colt-ish high voice.

Rarity turned and saw a number of moving pictures on the wall. She blinked slowly, and cautiously made her way over to them. There were twenty of these pictures, four rows of five, each of a different strange creature. Rarity stood agape as she came to a stop by the panel. She shut her mouth, pursed her lips, and opened up as if it speak...inhaled, and closed her mouth again. Looking across the images, none of them look like a pony, or anything with which she was familiar. Frowning, she said, “I am sorry, erm, dears, but I have no idea who or what spoke. Or...what any of you are.”

Twenty voices answered in unison. Rarity stumbled back a step at the volume. She looked across the score of faces. She griped, “One at a time, now, please!”

The wall of faces had varying reactions between confusion, aggravation, timidity, impatience, and unevenly distributed points in-between. Rarity pointed at the upper left corner, and demanded, “You there! What are you?”

A gruff-looking, green, red, and white hawk-like thing was there, and spoke in a similar voice, “I’m a Hawlucha!”

“A...what now?”

“Hawlucha,” the Hawlucha answered with overt impatience. “Fighting-Flying type.”

Rarity shook her head. “Type? Huh?”

Hawlucha grouched, “That’s what kind of Pokémon I am! Geez! Aengus got a stupid one this time, obviously!”

Some murmured in assent, while others sounded annoyed. Rarity irritably beatboxed, “Mm-ppuh-kktch! Stupid!?”

Hawlucha nodded quickly with a condescending smirk. Rarity snarled, “Excuse you, Mr. No-Sense-Of-Fashion, with your over-the-nose hood, garish eyeholes, standing there like you can’t decide if you want a fight or a hug, so quick to jump to conclusions! I have no idea where I am, or what’s going on, or how to get out of this mess and get home! I don’t know what to make of being trapped in here, and never heard of anything of the like happening to anypony else! You, on the other hoof, are intricately familiar with the goings-on around here, and assumed I was already on the same page as you! Forgive my ignorance of this place, and I’ll forgive your insolence!”

“Whatever,” Hawlucha muttered, and his image flickered and disappeared.

Rarity grumbled and glared at the now-empty spot on the wall. After a moment, the same high voice as before said, “Don’t mind him. Hawlucha’s always been like that.”

A snobby yet suave stallion’s voice said, “I’m absolutely certain Aengus keeps him around in case there’s some fool trainer who wants to trade for one.”

“Um, I see...how about I introduce myself, and then I get the rest of your names?” Rarity suggested. “My name is Rarity. I’m the owner and proprietor of the Carousel Boutique in Ponyville, Canterlot Carousel in Canterlot, and Rarity For You in Manehatten, where every garment is chic, unique, and magnifique.”

The snobby one answered in more amiable tones, albeit still snooty. “Chic garments, did you say? That would simply be marvelous. I believe you and I will be quite close, Rarity, my dear.”

“Ooh-h-h!! Good to know somepony, uh, or something, has excellent taste!” Rarity cooed. “May I get your name, sir, and which of these pictures is yours?”

“Furfrou,” said the voice. “On your display, I should be second from the right, second row.”

Rarity turned. There was what looked a large black dog, a poodle-Afghan hound mix that seemed a bit shiny. He looked particularly well-groomed and pleased with himself, giving Rarity a wide, winning but cocky grin. A smattering of soft grumbles came from the others. Rarity looked to the other screens in confusion. “Is there something wrong I should know about?”

Some other green-faced figure, this one looking like it had a white mane, or hair, or something to that effect, said, “Oh nothing, just that he’s pompous as all hell because he’s a shiny Pokémon.”

Rarity’s head jerked back and her pupils contracted to pinpricks at the mild profanity. She shook her head, and asked, “So what if he’s ‘shiny?’ Maybe he just does a fine job at simple personal hygiene, and takes good care of his, dare I say, impeccable coat?”

“Not helping,” grumbled the green one.

Furfrou’s smile broadened has he bowed graciously. “Oh, you are most kind to have noticed, and have an excellent eye for detail, Mademoiselle Rarity! I think I’ve found the best friend a Pokémon could ask for!”

Rarity scrunched her eyebrows, “There’s that word again, ‘pokey-mon.’ What in the world does that mean?”

“WHAT!!?!”

Rarity fell back upon her haunches at the number of decibels roaring from the wall for the second time in as many minutes. She rubbed her right ear, shook her head rapidly, and slowly returned to all fours. Every face in the nineteen pictures stared in incredulous shock. Rarity looked across them all, and firmly declared, “Look, I said I don’t know where I am, or what's going on. I’m just a pony from the Kingdom of Equestria, who got trapped by some...thing that stands on its hind legs. Is that what happened to you, uh, folks?”

Several nodded. The one who spoke first after Rarity awoke said, “I was hatched, and there was Aengus.”

The rest of them murmured in agreement. Rarity asked, “I guess this ‘Aengus’ is the thing that stands on two feet? Which one are you, dear?”

It answered, “Raichu. I’m in the bottom-left corner. And yes, that young man’s name is Aengus.”

Rarity looked there. There seemed to be some strange mouse-like face, bright bronze in colour, with long black ears that curled at the end, and yellow spots on its cheeks. Rarity squealed, “Oh, you are just adorable! So you’re one of those ‘pokey-mon’ things, right?”

Raichu grimaced. “We all are. You too.”

“Excuse me, but I am not. I’m a pony who’s not from here,” Rarity insisted.

“A pony Pokémon, the same as I’m a mouse Pokémon. Let me ask you this, then,” said Raichu, quickly cutting off Rarity before she could retort. “If you’re not a Pokémon, then what are you doing in a Pokéball?”

“That’s what this prison is? A ‘pokey-ball?’” asked Rarity, staring at the roundness of the ceiling.

“It’s not a prison unless you make it one,” said Raichu. “You’re in a Safari Pokéball, or just a ‘Safari Ball’ for short. You should have a fun tropical feel for your room, Poképuffs, and Pokébed.”

“Does everything around here have ‘pokey’ in front of it?” Rarity huffed.

Raichu scratched his chin for a moment, then said, “I guess? But my question remains.”

“As I said, this is all new to me,” Rarity grumbled. “I had never seen the kind of creature that this ‘Aengus’ is before he attacked and captured me, nor this ‘pokey-ball’ prison-thing. Neither have I ever heard of a ‘pokey-mon’ before today.”

“Maybe she is a Pokémon, or maybe she isn’t,” said some mare’s voice. “If this is all new to you, I have to ask, do they love to battle where you come from?”

Rarity’s face and voice turned to shock and horror. “No! That’s a horrible thing to love! Why would anything enjoy that!?”

The same voice said, “Well, that settles it. She’s not truly a Pokémon, if she finds battle abhorrent.”

“Finally! Thank you!” Rarity exclaimed. “Which one are you?”

“Excadrill,” she answered. “One space to the right of Raichu.”

Rarity saw an armoured mole’s face, but with much larger eyes than any mole she’s ever seen. She looked across the others, and said, “Perhaps it would be easier, and save time, if we simply just went down the line of who’s who.”

Raichu said, “Aengus didn’t give any of us nicknames. He never does; even his Feraligatr, who he loves dearly, is just ‘Feraligatr.’ Just how he is.”

“I see,” said Rarity sadly. “Introductions then, please.”

Rarity started pointing at the new top-left space, worked her way to the right, and at each new row started on the left again. They answered as she pointed to them:

“Yanma.”
“Unfezant.”
“Goodra.”
“Noivern.”
“Zoroark.”
“Lumineon.”
“Sigilyph.”
“Still Furfrou, my dear.”
“Durant.”
“Confagrigus.”
“Tropius.”
“Roserade.”
“Croagunk.”
“Lanturne.”
“Raichu.”
“Excadrill.”
“Bibarel.”
“Skorupi.”
“Abomasnow.”

Rarity bowed courteously. “Pleased to make your acquaintances. So there are twenty-two of us held by this ‘Aengus’ character, being made to do what?”

“Oh, there are definitely more than 22,” said Raichu.

Shaking her head, Roserade muttered, “Oh my are there more than two dozen.”

Rarity cocked her head to the left and scrunched her eyebrows slightly. “That many? Then, why aren’t the others here talking? Are they unfriendly?”

Raichu sighed, his ears drooping a little bit. He murmured, “That’s not it at all. Pokémon in the same box can easily communicate with each other, as can the six on the active team, but getting messages between boxes or to the team is nearly impossible. I’ve been around Aengus long enough to know how he organizes the boxes. We’re in Box 4. Box 1 is where he keeps his A-Team, their alternates, and those he uses purely for traveling around where certain common obstacles present themselves. Box 2 is kinda the second-stringers, in case something bad happens to those out front, or if he’s somewhere where there’s an overabundance of the same type of Pokémon, like a gym or something similar. Box 3...the rejects, that he hasn’t successfully traded, but still thinks he can get a good deal on them. Anything he knows won’t get him an acceptable trade promptly is released, dumped off somewhere in the wild, and are rarely if ever seen again. And we’re in Box 4...awaiting judgment. Been here for seven years, and I don’t know why he hasn’t made up his mind.”

Rarity nickered angrily. With a snort she fumed, “So he thinks we’re his slaves, to do whatever he wants!?”

“Battle,” said Raichu. “We battle as Aengus trained us to. We rather enjoy it; maybe you will too once you get into the swing of things.”

Rarity grumbled, “I suppose I should get used to the idea of eating wild berries and grasses, since I’m a fashionista, not a warrior. Still would rather get home….”

Furfrou said, “Who’s to say if you fight well? You may surprise yourself.”

Rarity pursed her lips, shaking her head. “I just don’t understand this. What’s he trying to accomplish, conscripting innocent woodland creatures into a private army? He sounds like the kind of terrible beast from legends we ponies have back in Equestria.”

“Not actually from the woodland,” Excadrill muttered, holding up an armoured paw.

“Same, a desert tomb definitely isn’t a forest,” said Confagrigus.

The room shuddered. As Rarity looked around, Raichu shouted, “Looks like you’re heading out to the main party! Maybe you can get some answers there!”

Furfrou called out, “Bonne chance, Rarity!”

The nineteen pictures quickly disappeared before Rarity could do anything more to respond than inhale. The same disembodied voice from before said, “Departing to active party.”

A sense of acceleration came and went in a blink. Rarity scratched her chin, staring at the panel before her. “Okay, Rarity, use your wits. You can figure out how to operate this...whatever it is. Has to be the thing the others used to talk to me, I hope.”

Rarity fiddled around with buttons and levers, each marked with letters from an unfamiliar alphabet. A projected image shone on the wall, one that had the look of a map, a blinking red dot in one of its purple squares, some numbers, and more of the strange script. As she pondered the scene, five images like before popped up in a single row. A jolly baritone voice called, “Welcome to the team, rook!”

Rarity looked across the images. She said, “‘Rook?’ I’m a pony, not a raven.”

The image on the left was a laughing blue crocodile, and there was the sound of only one laughing. Rarity frowned as it said, “Means ‘rookie,’ rook. You’re new! How’re you feeling?”

“Lost, confused, and angry,” said Rarity flatly. “From what I heard from the others in the box, this Aengus character captures other species and forces them into battle for whatever his purposes are, and I want nothing to do with it!”

The blue gator gave her a confused look. “You’re an odd one.”

“I presume you’re the ‘Feraligatr’ the others spoke of?” Rarity asked, biting back on the venom.

“I am,” he said. “Don’t be mad, be happy; there’s plenty of butts that need kicking, and it looks like you’ve got the hind legs for the job! Though, you might want to cover your own; it looks like a sizable target....”

“What do you think you’re staring at!? And it is not the humongous thing you're implying!!” Rarity exploded as Feraligatr snickered.

“Not I, but somebody else is. Say hi, Rapidash!” Feraligatr said cheekily.

“For the love of...why do you always do that crap!? Just for once I wish you wouldn’t start such trouble with the newbies!!” grouched a stallion’s voice.

Rarity looked over one screen, and her eyes dilated as her mouth parted. There was a fine unicorn stallion, pale yellow-orange coat, red eyes, and a flowing, flaming mane. His features were well-chiseled, but had a kindness behind the annoyed look at his partner. Rarity caught herself looking over those pecs, delts, and so on, each rippling rock-hard and sporting some bulged veins. Rarity breathed a pair of syllables, shaking the words in a similar voice to Fluttershy: “Oh...my....”

“Think she’s taking a shine to you, old friend!” laughed Feraligatr.

Rapidash smiled warmly, shaking his head with a shrug. “Well, she’s also easy on the eyes, so...I don’t mind??”

Rarity giggled nervously, and stammered, “Well, I would say—and—you also—don’t mind if—that’d be—that’s to say—I—did it just get hot in here?”

Rapidash facehoofed while the other four laughed. Feraligatr said, “Hey! No fraternizing between team members!”

Rapidash gave him a disbelieving look as Rarity’s cheeks burned crimson. Feraligatr just guffawed. An awkward silence from the others ended when one said, “How about introductions? I’m Golem, and am part of the travel team.”

“Hi, Golem,” said Rarity unsure of herself, staring at the picture of a tan, carnivorous face stuck on a ball of rough, dark brown stone, looking like a few poorly-shaped clay pieces haphazardly slapped together. “I am Rarity. Um, how are you, dear?”

“Between amused and annoyed,” Golem answered bluntly with a half-hearted smirk.

Rarity could not tell whether Golem was male or female, at least not from voice alone. Golem’s mannerisms gave her the same confusion. She asked, “What do you mean by ‘travel party?’”

Golem said, “There are obstacles along the way that we deal with, but the moves that do aren’t necessarily good for battle. I know Strength, Rock Climb, and Rock Smash, but that’s not much variety.”

Rarity shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

“Honestly, neither does anybody else, man or ‘mon,” said Feraligatr. “They’ve more than enough money to provide well-paved roads between towns, but they leave greenbrier growing across bottlenecks on the way, or huge boulders that call for using the move Strength, or caves. They still go through frickin’ caves between towns. Not tunnels, caves! Why, oh why, the caves!?”

Rapidash nickered, though there were hints of snickering. A bird in one picture said, “It’s his pet peeve. Nearly everything else under the sun is a joke to him, but not caves. I, frankly, don’t get it. If anymon should be peachy-keen, it should be him. I mean, he’s a Water-type, for Mew’s sake! I have a significant type disadvantage in caves, and so does Rapidash, but he’s good to go.”

“Um…,” Rarity said with a wide-eyed, vacant stare.

“Sorry, forgot to introduce myself. I’m Pidgeot,” said the bird. “I, too, am part of the travel team.”

Rarity frowned. “You’re the second thing who spoke of ‘types,’ and assumed I knew what the hay that means. If you could explain these ‘types,’ that would be much appreciated.”

“I got this,” said the creature in the last picture, with a raspy alto. It looked like a blue Chinese dragon. Rarity quailed and shrank, dinner plate-eyed, jaw not exactly shaking or quivering, but going up and down much further and slightly slower, as if she were searching for something to say in vain. The dragon shut its eyes and shook its head. “Sorry, I have that effect on others. I’m Gyarados, and am the third member of the travel squad.”

“He-e-ey,” Rarity flinched.

“So then! Types: every Pokémom has one or two types, no more, no less,” Gyarados began, while Feraligatr mimed her. The others rolled their eyes or shook their heads at the starter’s antics. “For example, Feraligatr over there, he who must be childish at every opportunity, is a Water-type. I, however, am a Water/Flying-type. But that system of types isn’t just some person’s desire to pigeonhole us all. Our moves also fall into different types, the same types as we. The reason that matters is because a given type of move is more effective against certain types, but not so much against others. Since we’re talking about caves, Water-type moves are super effective against Ground-, Rock-, and Fire-type Pokémon; the first two of those three are plentiful in caves. Water-type Pokémon, however, are vulnerable to Grass- and Electric-type moves.”

Rarity stood there with glazed eyes and overwhelmed face. She muttered “What kind of place did that thing drag me to?”

“How about you ask Aengus directly?” Feraligatr said in a more serious tone.

Rarity saw Feraligatr, then the other four, all look upward and off to the left. She looked around the room, but couldn’t find what they saw. She heard a click. Then she found herself disappearing in a cascade of green sparks.

As the world became whole again, Rarity found herself in front of the same bipedal figure as before. Sapphire and icy blue eyes met the others’ gaze. Rarity’s lips pulled into a tight, long frown as she stepped forward.

Author's Note:

Still hasn't met the entire main battle squad, but Rarity at least has some answers...although they just spawned more questions. Time to confront Aengus; will she get the answers she seeks? Even if she does, can she come to grips with them? Only one way to find out.

Thanks for reading.

Comments

[LinktheLazy]

Lol this is good so far.
Kick his ass Rarity!

[StarzGecko]

Rarity giggled nervously, and stammered, “Well, I would say—and—you also—don’t mind if—that’d be—that’s to say—I—did it just get hot in here?”
Rapidash facehoofed while the other four laughed. Feraligatr said, “Hey! No fraternizing between team members!”

Best reply ever!

[Kaisumo]

Lols. That moment you fail because you are not a huge poke fan as your friend is. I was searching each pokemon name and when i search golem, I thought the bipedal dope looking golem was a pokemon. Then said friend pointed out the real golem pokemon right after I finished the chapter.