Chapter 6 - Sword, Spear, Seer, Sovereign
Chapter 6 – Sword, Spear, Seer, Sovereign
“Kingdra, Hyper Beam!”
A gout of blinding white energy erupted from the aquatic dragon's snout and washed across the battlefield, striking her opponent's Charmeleon head on. It had already been weakened by her previous attacks and she was fairly sure she could've taken it out with far less effort if she'd wanted to, but that wasn't how she did things. She – and her pokémon – liked to make an impression. A deep impression. Just to make sure nobody else started doubting her position as head of the Johto gym leaders. People had to be reminded once in a while, after all; that much was quite evident from the events of this last week.
“Charmeleon is unable to battle! Challenger Allen is out of pokémon! Gym leader Clair is the victor!”
The announcer's voice boomed through the gym's arena, and cheers echoed from the crowd that, despite the early hour, filled most of the balconies surrounding the central platform. Clair swept her long blue ponytail to the side – it always tended to get in the way, but she hadn't the heart in her to cut it off – and flourished her cape. “Kingdra, return.”
Her opponent stepped down from the platform opposite hers, carefully mounting the narrow staircase suspended over the lava lake beneath them, making his way down to the central platform with obvious nervousness in his steps. Clair had no such qualms with her workplace and home, and simply sprung into the air with her cape spreading wide in the air behind her. A few of the first-timers in the crowd, young children and visitors to Blackthorn in particular, gasped in fear as she left the relative safety of her platform to hover above the mass of burning metal and stone, but the regulars didn't bother. She leaped from her own platform to the central one effortlessly, crouching down as she landed with a barely audible grunt escaping her lips.
Flourishing her cape as she rose, she walked up to the defeated challenger hovering over his fainted pokémon. “Well? Do you have anything to say?” By all accounts Clair was a tall woman; she managed to loom over him fairly well.
To his credit Allen didn't fluster or lose his head, all smirk again now that he was safe from any lava pit hazard. Then again, that level of professionalism was the least you could expect from an Ace Trainer, even one with his mediocre level of skill. “Fine, then. Looks like I was wrong about you being a pushover.”
The pretty-faced brat had no chance of dodging the right hook she slugged at his smirk, and she stomped up toward him where he lay toppled to the floor. “That's not what I fucking meant, and you know it!” She grabbed him by the collar and pulled him up, eyes alight with rage. “I get the whole ace attitude thing a lot from you shitheads, and I honestly don't really care. But accusing me of cheating? Accusing the elder and even my cousin, who is completely fucking unrelated to this, of bloody nepotism to keep control of the gym? Who the fuck do you think you are!? Well? You imagining a worthless trainer like yourself as the next Blue Motherfucking Oak, are you? Quit dreaming, you rat!”
The cheers had mostly died down, but an air of agreement enveloped the crowd. The beat-up challenger hadn't exactly been subtle in his slander when he came to town, and Blackthorn wasn't exactly rich on people with that sort of sentiments. The Dragon clan had built the city centuries ago, and a good part of its inhabitants were actually members of the clan itself, distant or not. The only people with sentiments against Lance were probably Team Rocket or other shady elements – that in itself said something about what sort of company the shithead lying panting on the floor must be keeping.
He might just be really damn jealous, I suppose. Ace trainers get like that sometimes with people they can't surpass.
“You oughta be thankful we don't deal justice the way your associates do, Allen. I haven't fed the Slugmas in a while.” She released her grip, and Allen scurried away from her, rage battling fear in his eyes. She flourished her cape again and walked toward the rear exit, eying the assistant trainer that had been overseeing the match. “Put him on Route 45, Mike. Maybe a nice, long walk can give him some time to rinse that skull of his. And I don't want to see him in the city ever again, you hear?”
Mike gave her a quiet nod and went up to the defeated trainer, hoisting him to his legs without care for his newly acquired hurts. “I hope you've got a few Revives, 'cuz our pokémon center doesn't serve scum like you...”
The rest of his rant was cut off as the gym's back door closed behind her, and after taking a few steps she sunk down to the ground, leaning against the wall and hiding her face in her hands. What the hell am I doing... She shook her head and lowered her fingers a bit, just about revealing the watery path to the Dragon's Den to her eyes. The townsfolk are all and well, but I'll get my gym leader seat revoked if I keep doing stunts like this...and nevermind that, the Elder might even decide I'm not worthy of using Dragon-types anymore! Man, what the fuck am I supposed to do...
The watery blue was suddenly obscured by a mass of spiky red hair leaning down toward her. “Trouble, cousin?”
Clair let out a surprised squeak – much to her embarrassment – and tried to back herself through the wall, struggling to put some distance between her own face and the one belonging to the only person in the world she couldn't keep her calm around. “L-Lance! What are you doing here?” Her cheeks were burning – he was the last person she wished to see her like this – but at least she managed to keep herself from blubbering random nonsense this time. That was an incident she did not wish to repeat.
Thankfully Lance backed off a bit, flourishing his cape – man, he is so much better than me at doing that – as he straightened up. “Well, I was going to investigate some strange rumors over in the Mahogany district, but I stopped by here on the way from Indigo Plateau and heard, well, some even stranger ones...” He scratched his head, growing a concerned frown on his face. “Clair, honestly. Who did you antagonize this time? You know what I've been telling you about making enemies. Why do you keep giving grandfather so many reasons to hold against you?”
Clair scrambled to her legs, all of her cool gone with the wind. “I didn't antagonize anyone! He started it! I have no idea why, but he just waltzed into the city and started behaving like some bloody...dissident! And don't bring the Elder into this!”
Lance burst into laughter, and Clair's face felt like fire again. “A dissident! Really, girl, did you become a politician while I weren't watching? Or,” he leaned close, brandishing a conspiratory grin, “is it perhaps you who's been leading the resurrected Team Rocket from the shadows, dear cousin?”
Clair blinked several times, still flushed crimson, before turning her head away with a sniff. “So that's why you're here. Don't you ever get to do anything fun as the Champion?”
She was about to back away when Lance put a finger to her forehead, spinning her head back around to face him. Much to her annoyance, the concerned frown was back. That face doesn't fit him. It makes him look old. Disregarding the fact that he in fact was several years older than herself, her traitorous cheeks flared up again, competing with Lance's hair for colour. She squirmed uncomfortably under his gaze. Those eyes of his are so...so...
She couldn't finish that thought.
“Hey, Clair. Sure, that's why I'm in Johto, but that's not why I'm here. Sure, saving the world is important, but making sure you don't thrust yourself into misery is even more so. If Johto gets taken over, we can just take it back. You, there's only one of.”
She felt like she'd fallen into the gym's lava lake.
Later – she couldn't tell how long it had been, her mind had been too busy to keep track of time – Lance spread his cape out on the ground and sat down. “So. What did you do to the guy?”
At some point Clair had sunk down to the ground herself. She still felt like all the dragons in Blackthorn were raging across her skin, but at least she was conscious. I have to do something about this stupid issue, she grumbled to herself. “N-nothing at all!” she said out loud, gesturing. “I mean, well, I-I kind of beat the crap out of him after the match...but that was just now! I didn't do anything to make him start spreading those rumors! Really! And he deserved a good beating – at least! – for those things he said. It wasn't my fault, Lance!”
I need to get a hold of myself. This is embarrassing! What if someone else saw me behaving like this? What if–
Lance grabbed her by the shoulders and leaned close to her, and her mind went blank once again.
An eternity seemed to pass – his face only centimeters from hers, his warm mint-scented breath blowing across her cheeks, his eyes like endless wells of wisdom threatening to drown her – before he spoke up. “I know you're feeling troubled by this, Clair. Don't try to deny it. As a gym leader – as a public person – you'll have to get used to it, but I know it can be tough. It took many years for me to get used to being the Champion, and all that it entitles.”
He leaned back a bit, and the Dragonair wrapped around her chest eased up the pressure just a little. “And before it grew on me, I paid frequent visits to the shrine to calm my mind, to find myself. I'm sure Grandfather will be happy to help you with this, as well.”
He rose, cape swirling in a sudden gust of wind. “So, shall we?”
He extended a hand toward her, and it was all she could do to nod and follow as he pulled her to her feet. It was all she could do to not faint just because they were holding hands. It was all she could...
I really need to get a hold of myself, Clair thought, barely registering the fact that Lance's Gyarados was carrying them across the water, closing in on the entrance to the Dragon's Den at a modest pace. If this keeps going any longer, I'm really going to lose my mind.
-/-/-/
Princess Flame spread her burning wings to slow her descent, approaching the snow-covered mountain like a solitary flicker of warmth. The round peak had a circular hole in it, much like a volcano's crater, but it was noticeably devoid of any lava. Which honestly was all fine with her. For one she'd made that hole herself to have easy access to her nest, and secondly she'd never really liked that much heat in one place anyway. Paradoxical as it was, Princess Flame had always preferred the cold over the warmth. I get enough of that just from existing, anyway.
Regrettably she hadn't the stamina to stay in the snow forever, and she always felt decidedly weak when she woke after sleeping a night in its welcoming embrace. So while her siblings had established themselves in the very loci of their respective elements, she had struggled to find somewhere that was cold enough to satisfy her, but not so much that it was threatening. Finally, she had found this peak only months ago, with only its silent guardian to possibly bother her – which, much according to his nature, didn't happen – and she had finally settled down after years and years of searching. Thinking back on it made her feel almost grown-up.
The silent guardian remained where he was, only barely acknowledging her presence before resuming his vigil. His red-cheeked companion gave her a slightly longer look, which she answered with one of her own before the mountain swallowed her. A shiver in her spine rose, and she had to fight to force it back down. It is hard to accept, a Dweller like him... That the humans have so much power, even if it is just one of them, does not bode well. Even if he has proven himself worthy.
She'd met the guardian twice previous to taking up residence on this mountain. Once in her old nest in the caves of “Victory Road” as the humans called it, where he'd rudely awoken her from her sleep by straying too far off the usual path. She'd tried to chase him off, but the power of the Beasts serving him had managed to overpower her, and she'd been forced to flee and abandon her nest altogether. The second time had been in the southern islands, when he'd managed to interrupt her sacred meeting with her sister, climbing up the mountain they were on for some reason or other. In a bout of sheer fury at the Dweller's impunity of impeaching on her time with her dear sister, she'd chased him off.
He was a curious creature, to say the least, and Flame thought of him often when she lacked other things to do. What drives a Dweller to wander so in the first place? Is it not against their nature? Her brother had never managed come up with an explanation for that, despite all he'd learned of the humans from observing their machines with his ability. To him it was an insult to his power – like just about everything else – but to her it was a quite worrisome development. After all, if they could not depend on the Dwellers staying in their dwellings, what could they depend on?
In contrast to their earlier encounters, she had simply stumbled upon the guardian by chance two weeks after settling into her new nest. She had been circling the peak, observing the patterns of the wind, when she'd spotted him at one of the outcrops, sitting by a crude construction that was obviously his attempt at building his own dwelling – it was definitely not one of those tent things her brother had described to her. Yet however crude it was, it still meant that this was the guardian's nest. She hadn't been willing to risk her own yet again by trying to chase him off, and evidently neither had he. Since then they'd gone from caution to grudging mutual respect and quiet acceptance, and aside from the implications his presence had, she was not bothered by it anymore. Besides, her duties were far more important than dealing with one single human, even if he was the silent guardian.
Flame flared her wings as her claws touched down on the rocky bottom of her nest. As she landed she felt exhaustion coming on hard, and she shook her head, spraying white-hot sparks all around her. I need to rest. She walked over to a small stream of water and lowered her beak to drink, but had barely swallowed once before she noticed something gravely wrong.
A tiny ball of purple and green that had slipped her notice uncurled itself, revealing a creature unlike anything she'd seen before. That part was not very important, however. By the King's breath, there is a Beast in my nest.
A few moments passed by with her simply staring at the thing, unable to believe what was happening. Then, she snapped. “You insolent creature! How dare you encroach upon the territory of your Sovereign!? You shall feel my wrath, cur!” A gout of flame wide as her wingspan filled the cave, enveloping the Beast in its fiery might. It burned, it fell, it twitched...
And then stood right back up, as if nothing had happened.
Well, that was probably quite an overstatement – it was still quite singed, with several of its scales now charred black, and it was chattering and gesturing in wild panic – but for all intents and purposes, all of her might had not managed to do more than frighten the creature. Of all she knew of the Beasts and their multitude of shapes, only one kind of them could manage to withstand something like this.
A rogue drakechild. Just what I needed.
Luckily, however, an idea quickly sprung up in her mind to replace the obviously bad alternative of pecking it to pieces and having to clean the entire nest out again, not to mention the disgusting taste in her beak such practice always brought with it. With her flaring rage letting her ignore the mounting exhaustion as much as she liked, she flared her wings again and took off, grasping the drakechild in her claws. Paying no heed to its cries and whimpers she ascended, drawing deep on her powers as she neared the exit.
Cresting the peak, she grasped hold of the wind. With a howl matching her own furious screech it ripped the drakechild out of her talons, carrying it toward the northwest.
Somewhere in the back of her mind a nagging thought tried to get her attention, but after all that she was all too tired to think of why she hadn't understood the drakechild's cries. She needed rest, and went down to fulfill that need as soon as the drakechild was out of her sight.
After all, there was no saying when the silent guardian might decide he wanted this mountain for himself, and if that happened she needed to be ready for all of his might, with all of her own.
-/-/-/
Clair had been meditating for several hours when she sensed a disturbance in the immense lake surrounding the underground shrine. She opened her eyes and looked at the Elder who was sitting next to her, like he had for the entire time they'd been there. “I felt something, something strange. It's here.”
The Elder frowned at her, and scratched his beard. “Is that so? I did not...” Clair was about to retort, but he shook his head in apology. “No, that was not how I meant. You have been meditating this entire time, so you are likely more in tune with the shrine than I am right now. If it was something, then it is likely something small. Are you sure you wish to interrupt your training for something that may well turn out to be entirely inconsequential, or even impossible to find at all?”
Clair opened her mouth hastily, but closed it again, thinking about how the disturbance had felt to her. Is it worth it? No matter how much she tried to convince herself otherwise, however, she could not reach any other answer. “Yes, Elder. I apologize, but this disturbance is...” She grasped for words for a moment. “It must be important. It cannot possibly not be, with how it felt. I must go now, before I lose track of it. Like you said, the lake is large, and I do not wish it to be impossible to find. Tell Lance he can join me if he wishes.”
She almost gasped when those last words came out of her mouth – where did that come from? – but luckily she barely held it back, instead stalking out of the shrine with heavy steps. She just about remembered to not tear the door open with all her force, instead pushing it to the side as gently as she could manage; well out, she raised a hand to her mouth and whistled once. “Dragonair, come!”
Her companion rose quietly from the rippling blue waters of the lake, and she climbed onto its slim back with practiced ease. Whatever it was that had caused this disturbance, she would find it. She had to.
And hopefully she'd manage to do so before Lance caught up to her, and made her start going crazy again. Why the hell did I say that? Why?
Suppressing her stray thoughts she let Dragonair carry her into the murky darkness of the Dragon's Den, and she focused on the strange feeling of direction still ringing in her head, pointing toward the disturbance like a shining arrow that only she could see. Please, let me find it. I have to find it. I have to.
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it's always spike isn't it....?
2415354
Now, now, cheer up. It could've been worse. I mean, if he'd run into Articuno instead...dragons and Ice-types, you know. >_>
D'aawww, the shipping.
Meh... one more Spike's side stories woo hoo...
That asterisk... beware, I sense something... elusive
Well, interesting Spike chapter. Can't wait to see how you pit him against Claire. Also, I know Twilight's probably in Saffron City, but where was Pinkie again?
2415450
Viridian Gym.
i am very very very confused
At first I thought the 'silent guardian' was Regigigas, but then it became obvious it was Red.
.............
Dun't matter who dafuq you are, you don't mess with Red.
The Clair x Lance was NOT something I'd been expecting. Also, do they have laws about distance in genetics with marriage in da Pokemanz? I guess we'll find out.
That goddamn Kingdra...
Sorry. Flashback to Silver.
In any case, great stuff. I love the sections done from the legendaries' points of view. As for Spike, I imagine he'll have quite the tale for Clair when they meet. Also, I can't help but wonder how his messaging breath is going to work...
Looking forward to more. I'm definitely not complaining about wrapping this up before moving on.
I'm sorry, but that little speech really rubs me the wrong way. It looks more like an overly competitive 12 year old after she's won a game than a professional Gym Leader. You really need to chill out with the curse words. Also, why Blue? He got owned, like, 5 minutes after winning the Championship. You'd think Clair would be using Red here instead.
Otherwise, a great chapter. I'd really like to see what kind of training Clair is going to put Spike through--if she can train him at all. Also, hope he never evolves:
What? Spike is evolving!
Clair: About time! Seriously, 30 levels with this weakling I had to put up with, and now...
Spike has evolved into a greedy dragon! Spike uses Outrage! Trainer Clair blacked out....
From the way Clair and Lance were talking about leadership, I expected them to be the ones to find Twilight. It would have fit thematically. But of course, it also fits that they'd find Spike. Interesting relationship dynamic, by the way.
Red is at Ho-oh's nest? Now that is interesting.
2415433
*Probably not.
2416141 That is Moltres, Ho-oh lives on Tin Tower not Mt. Silver.
I'd assume Moltres used Hurricane to make Spike go flying.
2416121
Well, that might be true, but take a second to think back on the Johto gym leaders we see in the games. Whitney cries like a bitch when she loses and has to be reminded twice to actually give the badge away. Chuck sits under a waterfall and doesn't give a shit about challengers until they remove the waterfall, at which point he gets mad at them for interrupting his training. Last but certainly not least, our case in point here, Clair refuses to acknowledge her opponent as worthy of a gym badge, and acts condescending and generally mad as hell until the Elder shows her where the locker goes. Sure, I amped up her language a few degrees, but this ain't a kid's show anymore, fellas. Clair IS pretty immature in many ways, and indeed is overcompetitive as fuck. She doesn't act like you'd expect from a professional gym leader, because she isn't very professional at all. She's just a really damn good battler, and just so happens to have deeper ties with the Dragon clan (that rules Blackthorn) than anyone else except maybe Lance and the Elder himself. Bitching as he might be, I never said Allen was actually lying, did I? :3
As for Blue over Red? Honestly, it doesn't take much to tell. Red doesn't like the spotlight very much. He defeated Blue, yes, but he quickly found other things to deal with. No matter how much he accomplished, he always kept himself in the dark. It may be a bit of protagonist syndrome, but even in HGSS they only refer to him as "that boy who defeated team rocket" and so on. Blue on the other hand was famous enough to begin with, being Oak's grandchild and student, and the deal with him taking over the Viridian Gym, not to mention being a former League champion, has only made him more famous.
Blue is a famous trainer, outgoing and public, who has accomplished a great deal of impressive feats on his own for one so young.
Red is a silent legend, larger than life itself. Even legendary pokémon cannot stand up to his power, and to the average trainer - not to mention other people - that's not impressive, that's scary.
Challenging Blue is grasping at fame, power and greatness beyond what most people ever can hope of achieving. Challenging Red is like challenging Arceus - only a madman would ever dream of trying.
2415600
Not even Moltres messes with Red. In return, he doesn't mess with Moltres either...hue hue hue.
2416121
Moltres, not Ho-oh. And yes, They do share a mountain, that much is canon as of HGSS.
2416313
Hurricane indeed. There's also something else about Moltres and the other birds' powers going on - which I'm sure you've noticed me implying throughout her part - but that's the basics of it.
2416432
Why do I have a feeling we are going to see this challenge?
2416313
I wondered why she was nesting on a mountain instead of the tower.
2416546
In the words of a wise man (me),
Gotta say, I do like how you wrote Moltres in this chapter. And it looks like the other legendary birds will be relevant at some point, which is definitely a good thing. Weird how Spike apparently can't communicate with Moltres, since you've already established the Dragon's Tongue thing Dragon-types have, but perhaps he's simply too young for that ability to manifest yet.
That aside... you're not going to write a romance between Clair and Lance, are you?
I can't be the only one who got that impression here. I mean, they're cousins for crying out loud.
Red ain't shit against what gold will become
I like the idea, but so far it's going really slowly...
2417206
My good sir have you ever heard of the term "wincest" :3
That said, it's not likely to be a major plot point. There's no [Romance] tag here, after all.
2416573
Elements of Harmony (together, with friendship powers activated) Vs Red and/or Arceus.....
Remember, they were able to defeat a reality bending God-tier being, who moved the Sun and Moon like he was juggling, while breaking the laws of physics/logic enough to give M.C. Escher a headache.
Place your bets everypony!
2417786
Princest is wincest.
25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5tn1wYaga1ql7gu3o1_1280.png
2417786 You're the author, you are like god. You can change everything, what are we to know? Write it if you want, I like it.
Oh and I hope the story becomes semi Spike-centric, because he needs a good story, and he's off to an epic start.
2418253
You sure you replied to the right comment? I'm pretty sure that I'm not the author of this story.
That is, unless someone's not telling me something...
2418326 DERPDERPDERPDERPDERP
I opened your comment that replied to the author, and clicked on his quote button in there. I guess it's not working, or I'm really derpy. I'll go edit that comment now >.>
EDIT: Although...i wonder what this story would be if it was written by an irish zombie...
2415467 May the Progenitor have mercy on that poor shmuck, Giovani's soul.
Is it just me, or does it seem like Clair has a crush on her cousin?
If so, then she is the best one to find young Spike. For they both have a love that can never be.
The Legendary Birds as royalty? I can see that. If HoOh is the "Emperor", is Lugia the "King", or is that still HoOh?
2419080
Lugia, as their Trio Master, is indeed King. More on that later...
R-Red...
*squee*
Ace Trainer Allen
he is from Johto Route 44
proof
2419310 Ahhhh, this story. I dug through my old stuff and found my GBC and Silver version. Turns out that when I played it over ten years ago, I did nearly the exact opposite of what the game guides would have said to, yet had five level 90s and beat the Elite 4 like 200 times. MEMORIES!!!
2419948
Like I said, not a single OC was made that day. :D
2421795
Fact: "faggot" means cigarette butt. I'm not a smoker. :)
2419310 Thought so. I look forward to it.
2421828
Fact: It means the bits of wood in a campfire that are all charred. A cigarette is just a "fag", not a "faggot".
But that wasn't the context it was used in, either way. If I say someone is a liar, I can't go around and say "no, I said lyre, like, you're musical". Admit you used a gay slur like a 12 year old on Call of Duty, and move on with your life.
I like your story though! Good story!
2422944
i.imgur.com/EqDXwhr.png
I understand that, there being mostly americans on this site, lots of people are bound to have weird misconceptions about foul language. But please, do not let your jimmies be rustled so easily. This is the internet.
2424723
Why so? Is it just because I haven't got back to your precious Dashie yet, or is there more stuff you find wanting in the later chapters as well?
I'm curious, here. Criticism is always good, you know. :)
2425325
Well, it's not as much about "saving" a chapter, seeing as I didn't really have much planned out in the beginning. I do now, but RD's chapter was pretty much the idea that started it.
And gratuitous swearing is really only Clair so far, due to her being mad as fuck at a guy and having a temper about as stable as your average erupting volcano. I don't do it much either, in most cases, but mostly because it doesn't add anything - I know most americans, at least, are a lot more squeamish on the whole swearing thing in general than us vikings, but it has a lot of impact on the language being used, as well. English just isn't as suited to gratuitous swearing as swedish is, and this limits my options a bit :)
2425733
Favorites...no, not really.
I mean, to start with, that's why I'm handing out new powers left and right here - I feel like some of the characters (say, AJ) aren't up to par with the power levels they need to do what I want them to accomplish, or something in that vein. And on the other hand, characters with less defined or simply less ability open up more possibilities of expansion, because there's not an immediate issue of making them overpowered or obsolete, which could otherwise be the case. I mean, suppose that I gave Rainbow Suicune's powers. Excellent! Now she can walk on water, run fast, and to some extent manipulate water. All good, right? Except that she already has those powers in a different way (flight, weather manipulation, REALLY fast flying), so her new ones would either just overlap and end up useless (she would never even have ended up in the dilemma I put AJ in, she'd just have flown off) OR stack and become overpowered as fuck (which just isn't realistic). Same with Twilight, she could (theoretically) just magic all of that stuff. Pinkie...just no. Don't even think about it.
With AJ I wanted her to start off at Cianwood, which immediately presented us with a problem of logistics. How do we get her away from there? Adding Suicune's powers into the mix solved that, and excellently lead us into future developments as well.
Vanilla AJ is a pretty well-rounded character, in terms of power. Compare her to Rainbow Dash, and AJ might have the edge in some points, but in a situation like this (an Adventure fic, and particularly with the Pokéverse involved) those are vastly outshined by the fact that RD can fly, and Very Very Fast to boot. In order for RD not to just up and solve the whole crisis by herself (once she gets half an idea of what's going on) or ruin absolutely everything (if she gets the wrong idea) I needed to tie her up in something that prevented her from moving around the map too much. Yes, sure, I personally like RD more than I do AJ, as a character. But as an author, the plot must come first, and to prevent RD from making absolute rubbish of it I needed to restrain her, or she'd simply spend way much time goofing off, screwing up the plotline, or being VASTLY out of character. Having her run free would be like starting a Starcraft (or whatever strategy game you wish) mission with 50 strategic bombers and 2 full-stocked nuke silos (or whatever other endgame tech that game has, IDK really) and then being told to build up your base BEFORE launching any attacks. No chance in hell that'll happen, so we'll have to disable the nukes for a bit and make the bombers have sudden fuel problems, or we'll have a bit of a game balance problem on our hands.
TL;DR - Rainbow Dash is overpowered compared to the meta she's up against.
Comparing the characters' respective fates, AJ went up against a random wandering fanatic (yes, Eusine, that's what you are), while RD went up against a gym leader (who in this meta are all reasonably equal with each other, and well above most other trainers, in terms of power). AJ was almost caught off guard by a psychic attack, before she sweeped using sheer strength. Rainbow was playing around the whole time, until she underestimated her opponent and got put to sleep. Fluttershy ran into the least hotblooded character in all of Pokémon, along with Ethan (who's effectively a blank slate and thus I'm free to do whatever I wish with, hue hue).
Yes, I could've changed the situations they got into, but THAT would be playing favorites between the characters. The only favorite I'm playing now is The Plot, which every author should aspire to do.
2426142
Why indeed? You're just looking for reasons here, but I'll play along for a little longer.
How would Rainbow get seriously injured? The common element of the dimension jump was a fall from great height. Rainbow Dash doesn't plain up and fall out of the sky for no reason, so that won't work, and she's hardly going to be stunt flying the first thing she does either, which rules out the most common reason for an injured RD. That leaves - pretty much - pokémon battle, and to make that work I'd either have to make her severely underpowered in comparison to the others (which brings us back to the problem we discussed earlier), or bring up something stupidly overpowered that even she can't take on, and have it be either unreasonably pissed off at her from square 1, or have her stupid enough to piss it off by herself. I don't judge RD as that bad a judge of character, and bringing in something stupidly OP that early in the game (Lance and his Dragonite, random legendary, what have you) and have it destroy RD would really have set the wrong tone for the rest of the fic.
How is Rarity supposed to "roam", anyway? That, if anything, would be MASSIVELY out of character. She's a city pony, she doesn't really fancy hoofing it, and she doesn't have any other easy options of travel available. No can do, there.
Besides, as I've mentioned, RD x Falkner was pretty much one of the first ideas I had for this fic, so redoing that would be like tearing down my own foundations under me.
RE: Irony and chapter names in general...
1: I'm a swede. We do irony a lot. A LOT.
2: I'm also a troll. See above.
3: Have you maybe noticed a pattern by now, in which I set up an expectation for the reader only to give them something COMPLETELY different? Chapter named "Dragon" not being about Spike? A WILD SUICUINE APPEARS? Misty, Water-type gym leader, BY THE WAY ALSO HAS A VTOL JET? Fluttershy breaks the communication barrier?
4: In case you didn't get it already, I reserve the right to troll my readers, and I do it a lot. It's how I roll.
Now man up, and stop looking for easy ways out. The bigger the crisis, the more epic the conclusion - instead of whining about how bad things are for Rainbow, think how cool it will be when you get the solution to her problems. Expectations, man! Have them!
2426431
It's quite apparent you hate the plot, not the fic, or you wouldn't still be hanging around. Try to be a little less rustled, jimmy boy.
2430066
Stop using the comments section as a chatroom. Any further random blogging will be Exterminated by my Dalek sidekick.