Thank you all for your replies! (And thanks bnb and Bay for posting both here and on Serebii - I shall reply there as well!)
Hi there, Meowstic. Not surprised you chose that Pokemon. =p
It's an interesting view on Caitlin, the E4 member that was also in the BF (just not able to be battled iirc...). I do wonder why that power inside her is threatening to break when she lost... does it 'trigger' so to speak when she gets emotional? She also seemed somewhat insicure to myself, particularly from this bit:
This seems to imply that she's now been an E4 member for a while, and to be chosen she surely would have battled a lot, and hence likely have lost (besides, she never lost a battle _as an Elite_). So to suddenly have what seems like a panic attack and doubting she can control her powers when she loses finally
now struck me as... well, interesting.
The description was neat, such as when she imagined those giant ears in calming herself down. Were those inspired by Meowstic own ones?
The first line confused me a bit:
'It forced' - I assume you might mean the breathing, but then what is it forcing her thoughts and energy on, exactly? The power inside her?
Neat flash fiction. =)
Hehe, Meowstic is right up there as one of my all-time favourite Pokemon - does it show?
Thank you, I’m glad you found it interesting! I do imagine that Caitlin struggles the most to control her powers whenever she gets emotional, especially frustrated or angry. Caitlin coming off as insecure was definitely intentional - she still doesn’t completely trust her ability to control her powers, which really hurts her self-esteem in other parts of her life. I think controlling her powers and Pokemon battling are also very closely linked for her.
I tried to remain vague about how long she had been a member of the Elite Four (in part because I don’t have a realistic time frame in mind), but it hasn’t necessarily been a very long time, though I see why the word “career” would make it sound otherwise. I like to imagine that there’s something very different and very
sobering about losing your first battle as a member of the Elite Four, though. Being offered a position as an Elite would really build up your ego, and unlike Gym Leaders or Frontier Brains, you’re not supposed to lose. (Aaaaand now I want to write fic of this.) While I personally don’t suffer from anxiety or anything like that, it doesn’t seem to go away easily, and I see that contributing to the uphill battle for Caitlin.
Good catch! Yep, the giant ears are definitely inspired by Meowstic’s - in my headcanon, Caitlin gets an Espurr to help her control her powers, and the two wind up helping and teaching each other as they grow up. Someday I will write fic about this…
Ah, I meant focusing on her breathing forces her to concentrate all of her mental energy on that, keeping her mind blank so she can remain calm. It’s a common tactic in managing your emotions, but perhaps I should clarify that.
Thank you for your feedback! This was my first time writing flash fiction, and I’m glad it went well.
I've never really played gens 4 and 5 games though, although I did read about Caitlin's, well, uniqueness if she gets angry. Anyway, your fic is written very, very well. :3 Now I wonder if her Meowstic is just simply a companion, or part of her battling team, or both. In any case, it was interesting to read how you portray Caitlin calming herself down after losing a battle and before congratulating her challengers. :3
Heh, you missed the only gens Caitlin can be found in! Looking up her character bio must definitely have helped with understanding the story, haha.
Thank you very much, I’m glad you thought it was written well! Good catch - yep, Meowstic is also a companion to Caitlin (I haven’t entirely decided if Meowstic also battles on her team). Thank you - I’ve been really interested in how Caitlin learned to control her powers, and I thought this would be a great way to explore that. Thanks for reading!
The "they" felt a bit off as clearly male and female Meowstic have different colored furs (and other subtle features), so I think just the pronoun "she" would sound better.
Overall, I enjoyed this flash fiction very much! Stories over how experienced trainers deal with losing always interested me as various gym leaders/elites/champions react to losing in different ways.
I do like how you first have Caitlin recognized what her challenger had been through to get to this point and then have her reflect what her and Meowstic been through too.
I too thought the description of when Caitlin calms herself (the Meowstic ears) close to the end is a neat touch!
Hey Bay, thanks for stopping by! The topic seems like an interesting one, especially since being a professional battler would be so integral to their identities. I’m also really interested by stories about Gym Leaders/E4/Champions, and I’d kinda like to explore them losing a little more, haha.
I see what you mean - I wasn’t sure if the pronoun worked there; the “they” is supposed to refer to Meowstic’s eyes. Since her gender is only revealed a few paragraphs later, it does come across as somewhat vague. Maybe it could be “
It is okay, her eyes seemed to say”? Or would it sound too repetitive due to the “eyes” in the previous sentence?
Thank you, I’m glad Caitlin’s reflection on their parallel journeys worked well - I needed to find a turning point that brings Caitlin to her senses, and it’s a relief to know that this worked with the plot. And :D I’m really thrilled that people picked up on the Meowstic ears!
Thank you all for your feedback!
~Psychic