by Martial Arts Master
The original concept of Pokemon and all related characters copyrighted by Nintendo, Game Freak, Creatures Inc., 4Kids, TV Tokyo, Satoshi Tajiri, and Wizards of the Coast. All characters I use as Pokewomen are copyrighted by their original creators and owners. I made up Rick, though. See the first chapter for the rules by which the Pokewomen world operates by. Now, on with the story.
***
For once, Rick wasn't walking along the path to the next city. He'd checked his watch, and he had plenty of time before lunchtime. He could afford to take a rest, and he was taking a rest right now.
He'd let out all his Pokewomen to let them breathe fresh air.
Saria, Pixie, and Inque had crowded around Cassie, taking a good look at the newcomer to their team.
"You know, you're very lucky to have a trainer like Rick," Saria said. "He takes very good care of us."
"He may not be the best, but he's good enough for me," Pixie said.
Cassie looked happy to be a part of the team.
Then Inque piped up, "Though I don't see why he'd waste his time with a weakling like you."
"Inque!!!" Saria and Pixie both shouted.
"It's true! She can't even breathe fire very well!" Inque said.
"Yeah, that's true," Cassie said sadly. "I'm probably not a very good Pokewoman."
"You're still very young," Saria said reassuringly. "You'll get better."
"I hope so," Cassie said.
"Hey girls!" Rick called. "It's time to train! You wanna be in tip-top shape, right?"
"Training? Damian never bothered to train me," Cassie said, surprised. "He usually just used me in battle, and yelled at me when I lost."
"Well, apparently Rick isn't like that," Pixie said.
Rick lined his four Pokewomen up.
He started off with all sorts of exercises, including push-ups, sit-ups, etc.
He did the exercises along with them, of course. He had to, or they would have viewed him as someone who made others do what he wouldn't do himself.
Then, he started training them individually.
He had Saria work on her Sage of Forest powers, helping her to be able to use them without getting tired.
He had Pixie do flying drills, having her fly all over the place, working on her speed. In Rick's opinion, she had to get faster than when she had been facing Misty's Water Card, that had been too close a call.
He had Inque work on her shapeshifting skills, hoping to help her increase the speed at which she could control the ink she was made up of.
He had Cassie do flying drills just like Pixie. Cassie had to be fast to compensate for her weak fire-breathing ability. If Cassie was faster, she might be able to win close-distance battles by charging through the air and ramming into opponents.
Finally, when all but Inque were exhausted but in shape, Rick stopped the training.
"How do you feel?" he asked them.
"Like I'm going to drop, but from now on not from using my powers," Saria said.
"I'm tired out, but I feel more in shape then ever," Pixie said.
"I can't get tired, loser, I'm made of semi-solid ink," Inque said, "and ink doesn't even have nerves in it. So I might be knocked unconscious, but it wouldn't be painful."
That's when a little boy ran up to Rick.
"You better be careful out here," the little boy said. "There's a really dangerous Pokewoman wandering around. Everyone's tried to catch her, but no one's succeeded. You might say she's Wanted: Alive. I tried to catch her myself, but DeeDee, from that Earth TV show called Dexter's Laboratory, couldn't even land a hit on her."
"Sounds like someone I'll try to catch myself!" Rick said.
"Good luck, you'll need it," the little boy said, and then ran off.
Rick shrugged.
"Well, girls, you might be getting a new friend soon, if I can catch her," Rick said to his Pokewomen.
"Well, we're surrounded by trees, so I could probably beat this mysterious wild Pokewoman," Saria said.
"But you're too much of a 'nice girl' to be aggressive enough in battle," Pixie said. "Rick should use me to catch this Pokewoman."
"Even you have your soft side, you fairy," Inque said snidely. "I, on the other hand, am completely ruthless, not caring about anybody. I only obey Rick because he caught me fair and square."
Cassie, as usual, didn't have a lot of self-confidence.
"You girls have all those special powers, but I couldn't beat this Pokewoman," Cassie said.
"Of course you couldn't, you baby," Inque said.
Rick sensed an argument coming, so he quickly recalled them.
That's when an ice shard headed towards Rick. Rick quickly ducked, and turned around to see who had fired it.
He saw a white-haired girl wearing a light-blue jumpsuit.
Rick pointed his Pokedex at the Pokewoman.
The Pokedex said, "Birdie. This is a character from an Earth TV show called Sailor Moon. Her Japanese name is Beruche. She can shoot ice shards, can freeze the opponent, can freeze herself, and can trap the opponent in a floating black ball. She used to be a villain, but she has reformed."
"All right, this must be the dangerous wild Pokewoman that little kid was talking about!" Rick shouted with glee.
"Ho hum, another trainer, another Pokewoman to battle and gain experience," Birdie said, bored. "I just threw that ice shard to get your attention."
Rick thought a minute. Cassie had lost all her battles because Damian had never trained her properly, but Rick had trained her just a few minutes ago. And Cassie needed to feel confident in herself. She was loving and compassionate, but she was just too shy for her own good.
"Go, Cassie!" Rick said, sending out Cassie.
The cute little pink-with-yellow-back-scales dragon took a look at Birdie.
"She doesn't look very hard to beat," Cassie said, feeling better.
"Wanna bet?" Birdie asked, throwing dozens of ice shards at Cassie.
Cassie gasped and quickly flew up into the air, avoiding the shards. Apparently the training had done some good after all.
"All right, I'm gonna put you on ice!" Birdie said, firing more ice at Cassie. This ice wasn't in shards, so Rick guessed that this ice was supposed to freeze its target.
"Cassie, spin away!" Rick shouted.
Cassie did a little pirouette, narrowly avoiding the ice.
"You're better than you look," Birdie said.
"Now, ram into her! Full speed!" Rick said.
Cassie flew through the air at high speed, charging at Birdie with the new speed she had gained from Rick's training.
Birdie was so shocked at this speed coming from a helpless-looking opponent that she didn't dodge, and Cassie ended up ramming into her stomach, knocking the wind out of her.
She doubled over, gasping.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Cassie said, immediately the compassionate one. "Take deep breaths, you'll get better."
"Cassie, this is no time for helping others!" Rick said. "I'm trying to catch this Pokewoman!"
Eventually Birdie got over it and stood up.
"You're the only opponent I've met who's nice even to enemies, but that won't save you," Birdie said to Cassie, firing more ice shards at her.
"Cassie, try to breathe fire!" Rick said. "I know you're not very good at it, but you need to practice!"
"Okay," Cassie said nervously. She took a deep breath and tried to breathe fire. Only a few sparks came out, but they burned up the ice shards anyway.
"Now ram into Birdie again!" Rick said.
Cassie charged through the air at Birdie again, going even faster. Birdie tried to dodge this time, but once again, Rick's exhausting training paid off, and Cassie rammed full-force into Birdie's head, knocking her out."
"Poke Ball, go!" Rick said, throwing one of his two unused Poke Balls.
The Poke Ball struck Birdie's unconscious body and zapped her inside. It was no contest with Birdie unconscious, and Birdie was caught.
Cassie didn't comprehend it at first, but it dawned on her.
"I won a battle..." she said slowly. Then, louder, almost cheering, "I won a battle! I actually won a battle!"
Then she surprised Rick by giving him a hug.
"I never won a battle while Damian was my trainer! I'm lucky to have you for a trainer now!" Cassie said.
Rick was a little embarassed, but he patted Cassie on the head and recalled her.
He continued walking on the path to the next city, heading towards his next adventure...
To be continued...
***
You're probably thinking, "Oh no, not another new trainer fic that the author won't bother to finish!" Well, let me tell you, I hate those kinds of fics too, and let me tell you in advance that I DO plan on finishing this fic. I never start a fic that I don't intend to finish. In fact, if I'm lying about planning to finish the fic, may I get pounded by a madman. E-mail all questions and comments to bleifer@msn.com.