Disclaimer: Help! A short-tempered, flat-chested, uncute tomboy is chasing me with a mallet and is demanding that I write her with... WHAM!
: Thoughts
* *: Pokédex responses
Things Get Ducky
"RANMA!"
Ranma sweatdropped as he saw Jeanette Fisher and Sam Ryker run up to him. He wasn't expecting the two of them to show up just now and he was at a loss of what to do.
"Ranma! I finally found you!" Both girls said simultaneously as they stopped in front of him.
"Er... Jeanette, Sam... uh it's nice to see you again, er... so what are you...?"
WHAP!
"Ow! What was that for?!" Ranma rubbed his cheek after being slapped by Jeanette.
"YOU BAKA!" Jeanette fumed. "How dare you run off like that?! We were supposed to be traveling together!"
"Hey! What's the big idea?" Sam retorted as she faced off against the new girl. "Why'd you slap him?"
"What business is it of yours? Ranma is supposed to be traveling with me." Jeanette stated as-a-matter-of-factly.
"What?!" Sam then turned to Ranma with a deadly look. "Ranma... who is she?"
Ranma could only give a weak smile as he answered, "Er, Sam... this is Jeanette Fisher from the Crimson City Pokémon Gym and Dojo. Jeanette... this is Sam Ryker... the Gym Leader from Viridian City."
Raiden looked up at his master's uneasiness and then breathed out a mushroom puff. Things were going to get more complicated.
A short time later at Stone Town's Pokémon Center...
"Don't worry about your Machop." Nurse Joy replied as she spoke to Ranma and the girls. "He's just exhausted and needs some rest. All those bruises will be gone eventually. He'll be all right by tomorrow morning. The rest of your Pokémon are also recovering nicely."
"Thanks." Ranma said as the sister-in-law of the Viridian City Joy went off to make her rounds. The Anything Goes martial artist, Raiden and the girls were currently eating in the lounge. After introductions were made and stories were traded about how each girl had met Ranma, the tension between the two females had subsided a bit.
"So you're on your way to Saffron City?" Jeanette asked.
"Yeah." Ranma replied as he bit into a sandwich. "I'd like to try my luck against this Sabrina girl and her psychic Pokémon."
"Judging by the way you handled Prima's Jynx and Slowbro, I'd say that Marsh Badge is in the bag." Jeanette remarked as she ate her dinner.
Ranma shook his head. "Nope, I was lucky. I don't have much experience against psychic-type Pokémon. The reason why I beat Prima's was because I caught her off-guard. She didn't know what my Pokémon could do."
"Well, your Machop beat that Slowbro. What were those attacks it used?"
Ranma sighed as he said, "The Meditation technique is kind of like a barrier to offset the Disable attack. However, it's not perfect. Bruiser could barely move to do his ki attack."
"Ki attack?"
Jeanette nodded. "I've heard of ki."
"What is it?" Sam asked.
"I studied martial arts under my mother and she told me that ki is the inner energy that is given off by all living things. Some masters of the art can use it to enhance their physical moves, improve their endurance and in some cases, speed up their healing." She then regarded Ranma with a bit of awe. "From what I've seen of you and you're Pokémon, I'd say that you could beat all of those masters hands down. I didn't know ki could be fired off like that, let alone be able to do Pokémon attacks."
"You're pretty sharp." Ranma grudgingly admitted. "In any case, me and my Pokémon still need better ways to counter psychic attacks. With all this publicity, I have a feeling that I won't be able to catch Sabrina off-guard like I did with Prima. I need a psychic-type Pokémon."
Sure enough, in Saffron City's Pokémon Gym...
Hmmmm, this is new. Sabrina thought as she watched the news footage on television. The screen depicted Ranma and his incredible Pokémon, as he battled against the famous trainer from the Orange Islands as well as the trio from Team Rocket.
"Haunter!"
The psychic trainer smiled as the ghost Pokémon floated by and gave her one of his more funny faces. Its eyes bugged out and its tongue waved back and forth. Sabrina giggled a bit before returning her attention to the television.
Interesting... a trainer that can actually duplicate a Pokémon's attacks. His Pokémon are extraordinary by themselves. She then looked down at a magazine that depicted Ranma's picture as he stood with Wildfire and Laura Laramie. The headlines read: RAPIDASH SETS NEW POKÉMON LANDSPEED RECORD OF 300 MPH.
I wonder if I'll get the chance to face off against him?
Back in Stone Town...
"Look girls, it's really nice that you want to go with me and all, but..."
"But what? I don't see any problems." Sam shrugged as she moved a bit closer to Ranma. "After all, I'll bet that it gets really lonely on the road by yourself and I'm sure that you'd like the company."
"Hey! What about me?" Jeanette interjected. "I'm going with him!"
"Says who?"
"Says me!"
Ranma definitely didn't like where this was going and tried to calm things down. "Uh, it's not necessary, really! Besides, why would anyone would want to follow me around? I mean, I'm just a beginner at this Pokémon training stuff and you two probably have way more experience than I do. I mean, Sam is a Gym Leader and Jeanette has probably got the required eight badges."
Both girls smiled as they saw this as an opportunity.
"All the more reason for me to come along." Jeanette said with a grin. "I can show you all the Pokémon Gyms I went to and lend you some of my experience in handling Pokémon. In exchange, you can teach me that Anything Goes Martial Arts of yours. Besides, I have to make sure that Bruiser is being taken care of. My mother did give him to you, remember?"
"Hey! Aren't you forgetting something? I'm a Gym Leader! I've got way more experience at Pokémon battling and stuff and besides, I'd make much better company!" Sam turned back to Ranma. "I can cook as well. It must be pretty boring eating out of cans and stuff. I'd be great to have around."
Ranma was a bit perplexed at how this situation was getting out of control. Although, he had to admit that having some home cooking would be a welcomed change from eating on the road and out of vending machines, and fast food joints. However, he was still uneasy at the thought of having two high-spirited and very attractive girls traveling with him. Although, since he came to this world, he had begun to have a good appreciation of the opposite sex, without his father always interfering. For some reason, Genma had always prevented him from getting too close to girls when he was growing up. The fat panda had always maintained that such things should not distract a true martial artist, but Ranma had this nagging feeling that his father had some ulterior motive for keeping him away from other girls. Genma had especially become nervous when Ranma had formed a close friendship with that boy Ukyo, though he didn't understand why.
Of course, there was that other reason why he preferred to keep to himself. Although the Water Stone pendant he wore kept his curse in check, there was always the chance that the girls might find out about it. He was still a magnet for water and during his travels, he had been caught occasionally without his pendant. There was that one time when the necklace had broke and he had been splashed with cold water from a passing streetsweeper. There was another time that he had leaned over the banks of a stream to wash his face, when a Goldeen had grabbed his pendant, thinking it was bait. The necklace was pulled off and Ranma fell facefirst into the icy waters.
"Look girls, I really think it's nice that you want to come with me, but..."
It was then that the two girls gave him the one attack that he had no defense against. The Dreaded Sad Puppy Dog Eyes.
Ranma caved in one minute and twenty seconds later.
Sometime later...
"Ranma Saotome, we challenge you!"
Ranma looked out the window of the Pokémon Center and let out a resigned sigh. He resisted the urge to bang his head against the table as he got up and went out the door to meet his next opponent... or rather opponents. Sam and Jeanette followed him. Raiden couldn't go with them as Nurse Joy was treating him at the moment. Like the others, he was very exhausted from the people who had constantly challenged them and was going to spend the night in the Pokémon Center.
As Ranma emerged from the center, he easily recognized the four boys from the seminar. They were the Eevee Brothers, Rainer, Pyro, Sparky and Mikey. In front of them were the three evolved forms of the Eevee: Jolteon, Flareon and Vaporeon. Mikey was holding onto his unevolved Eevee as he watched his brothers address Ranma. A crowd of spectators began to form around them.
"At last!" Pyro exclaimed as he stepped forward with his Flareon. "Ranma Saotome, the Eevee Brothers challenge the one who defeated Prima to a Pokémon match!"
The pigtailed martial artist sighed as he said, "Look guys, my Pokémon have been battling nonstop ever since the seminar. They're too tired right now. Can't this wait until later?"
Pyro shrugged, as he said, "No problem. We were hoping to go up against YOU personally. To see how good you are against our Eevees!"
"Excuse me?"
"We'd like to know how you trained your Pokémon in those attacks and how you can use their abilities! We're challenging YOU against our Pokémon! If we win, can we learn your techniques?"
"Well, I'm flattered that you want to learn, but I'm still training myself and..."
"And besides, he's already got a couple of students." Jeanette interrupted as she stepped forward.
"That's right!" Sam added as she too stepped forward. She didn't want to be upstaged.
The Eevee Brothers took this news as a challenge.
"Oh yeah? Well if you think we're just going to sit by and let you learn those attacks, then think again!"
"What? You want to battle?" Sam asked as she took out a Pokéball.
"You're on!" Sparky declared as he motioned for his Jolteon to step forward.
Ranma sweatdropped as he saw the two sides prepare for battle. He was about to voice out his protests, then decided to let them work off the tension. Besides, he doubted that they would listen to a word he said anyway. He decided to keep out of it and head back into the center as the girls let loose with their Pokéballs.
"GO SCYTHER!"
"GO FEAROW!"
Ranma shook his head as the sounds of battle echoed into the night and the crowds watched the two sides try to beat each other. It was just as well, since he too was exhausted from the day's events.
The next morning...
Ranma awoke and prepared to head out of town as he gathered up his belongings. As he met up with Nurse Joy to pick up his Pokémon, he was informed that the Eevee Brothers had left after a long battle with Jeanette and Sam, the night before. Though they were formidable trainers in their own rights, they were a little less experienced than the Viridian Gym Leader and the girl from the Crimson City Gym and Dojo. To Ranma's dismay however, he saw the two girls smiling at him as they waited for him at the entrance with their packs.
As he was handed Raiden and his four other Pokéballs, he then noticed a strange-looking Pokémon sitting on an examination table. He took out his Pokédex.
*PSYDUCK, A WATERFOWL POKÉMON. PSYDUCK HAS CHARACTERISTICS OF BOTH WATER AND PSYCHIC-TYPE POKÉMON AND HAS AMAZING PSYCHIC ATTACKS. HOWEVER, IT ALSO SUFFERS FROM A CONSTANT HEADACHE.*
Pretty goofy-looking Pokémon. Ranma thought, as he walked up to take a closer look at it. The chubby waterfowl seemed to stare off into space with its blank expression as it continued to hold its head. Raiden gazed at it from Ranma's shoulder and then tried to speak with it.
"Pika."
The duck neither answered nor even notice that it was being spoken to.
"Chu!" Raiden prodded with the same lack of results.
Ranma wondered if this Pokémon was asleep with its eyes open or in some kind of trance. He waved his hand in front of it, but it didn't even seem to notice his presence.
"Hello! Anybody home?" He snapped his fingers and then whistled. There was still no response. Lights are on but nobody's home. Ranma stood for a long while then decided to leave things alone. He shrugged as he turned around and left to the front counter to check out his Pokémon.
"Thanks for taking care of Raiden and the others for me." Ranma said as he finished signing his name to the release forms.
"No problem." Nurse Joy replied as she entered the information into her computer. "I see that you tried to get acquainted with Psyduck."
Ranma nodded as he said; "Yeah, but he didn't seem to notice me or anything else."
"Well, that's to be expected. You see, a Psyduck has great mental powers, but because of its constant headache, it has very little focus over the vast psychic energies it can generate. I've heard that a Psyduck can only use its most powerful attacks when its headache is extremely severe. They also tend to be quite scatterbrained (no insult of course) and most trainers usually don't want to capture and train them."
"Well at least this Psyduck has a trainer, right?"
Nurse Joy shook her head sadly. "Not any more I'm afraid. Its trainer had brought it to this center after it was injured and never picked him up. Poor Psyduck was very sad when it found out that it had been abandoned. It hasn't spoken or eaten in days. I don't know what to do. I'm afraid that the shock of being tossed aside was too much for the poor thing and he may be traumatized. I've tried to get it to eat but it refuses to do anything but just sit there."
"That's really too bad." Ranma remarked. He knew what loneliness was like. He also knew that his Sandslash Razor had probably felt the same way when that creep, Billy Bartonne, had abandoned him. "I wish that there was something I could do."
Nurse Joy looked at Ranma, then smiled. "Maybe there is. I can tell from your Pokémon that you're a very good trainer and you care for them a lot. You can be Psyduck's new trainer!"
"Who, me?" Ranma pointed to himself. "That's... uh, well I don't know." Ranma looked back at the empty look that the duck Pokémon was giving the opposite wall. It looked as if it didn't have a single brain cell in that round head. Now Ranma had learned to not judge solely on appearance, but the Psyduck had all the appeal of an overcooked cabbage.
"Please, couldn't you take Psyduck with you? I'm sure that if it got the support it needed from the right trainer, it could become a great Pokémon. It needs someone like you to bring out its best qualities."
"Well, I'm not sure. I don't have any experience with handling psychic or water-types and..."
"Please?"
Ranma took one look at Nurse Joy's sad and soulful expression and melted. Whenever a girl got sad or was about to shed tears, he just couldn't say no. "Well... okay, I'll give it a try."
Ranma and Nurse Joy walked back to the examination table.
Knowing that Pokémon could understand human speech, he addressed the empty-headed Psyduck.
"Hey Psyduck. I hear that you don't have a trainer anymore and... well... Nurse Joy said that if you want, I'll be your trainer. How about it?"
Ranma and Raiden waited for a long time for the duck to answer, but Psyduck remained unresponsive. Ranma wondered if the duck was deaf and repeated his question a second time, this time in a louder voice. He still received no response.
Ranma sighed as he tried to think of a way for the Pokémon to reply. He was really perplexed at Psyduck's seemingly total obviousness. Was it even alive? He looked down and saw the steady breathing of its chest. No doubt that it wasn't dead in body, but seemed to be dead in the brain. It was then that Raiden decided to try something.
"Pika."
"What is it Raiden?"
The Pikachu leapt down from his shoulder and onto the examination table. Extending a small paw to Psyduck, he began focusing his ki. The rodent's body glowed with a soft blue aura as he touched the waterfowl's skin. Nurse Joy gasped as she saw it, but Ranma waved it off.
"Don't worry, this is normal for Raiden and me."
Ranma and Nurse Joy continued to watch as Psyduck was bathed in a soft blue field. For a long while, nobody spoke. Then, Raiden caused his aura to dissipate and addressed Psyduck once more.
"Pika... chu!"
Slowly, there was a bit of movement in the psychic Pokémon's eyes at if responding to Raiden's voice. Then, amazingly, its head turned to face the Pikachu. The large bill opened up and it spoke.
"Psy... duck?"
Raiden smiled and said happily, "Chu! Pika! Pika!"
Psyduck regarded the Pikachu in front of him and then asked. "Psy-yi?"
"Pikachu!" Raiden pointed up to Ranma, which caused the waterfowl to gaze up at him.
"Psy... duck?"
Ranma nodded slowly at the duck as it questioned him. Raiden had used his ki to get through whatever trauma Psyduck was under to get it to acknowledge him. "If Raiden just said what I think he did, then yes. I'm offering to be your new trainer."
"Duck?" Psyduck cocked its head to one side in confusion.
Ranma nodded again. "Although I have to warn you, training under me is really hard and I'm giving you the choice of whether you want to go with me or not. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
It looked as if Ranma's words were going in one ear and out the other, but his Pikachu intervened. "Pikachu, pika, pi! Pika pi! Pikachu?"
The Psyduck looked at Raiden for a long moment, as if considering his words. He then gazed up at Ranma for another moment of silence before giving Ranma the barest of nods.
"Psy... duck."
Ranma took a deep breath as he nodded in acknowledgment to Psyduck's consent. He then placed his last Pokéball in front of the duck and let it enter the device. After it had closed up, Ranma picked up the ball and regarded it.
Nurse Joy smiled as she said, "Congratulations! I don't know how you did it, but I'm sure that you'll take good care of Psyduck. It looks like you now have the six required Pokémon!"
Ranma continued to stare at the Pokéball in his hand. That may be so, but I wonder just what I'm getting into.
Some time later, Ranma and his new traveling companions Sam and Jeanette were walking through the forest outside of Stone Town as they headed toward the next city. Raiden was perched on his shoulder. Since Celadon City was closer and was on the way toward Saffron City, Ranma had decided to head there to win a Rainbow Badge.
"Ranma, why are we walking? I mean, wouldn't we get there faster if we used our Pokémon?" Sam asked. "I mean, you and Jeanette have Rapidashes and I can use my Fearow. We could probably get there by this afternoon."
Ranma shrugged as he said, "I've been pushing Wildfire pretty hard lately and it's only a day's walk from here to Celadon City. I'm not in any hurry to get all eight badges. The Pokémon League isn't due until next year anyway. Even if I have to camp out tonight, it would be good for my Pokémon and me, as part of our training. You did want to learn how we train, don't you? Or do you prefer to sleep in a hotel rather than roughing it?" Ranma gave Sam a smug look.
Sam was a bit irritated at his slight teasing, as she replied, "No! Not at all! I don't mind! I've camped out before! It wouldn't be too bad to sleep under the stars. No problem at all!"
Jeanette also nodded. "I understand. Don't forget I'm a martial artist too! I've also done a lot of camping during my first Pokémon journey. It's a good exercise in discipline and being able to do without some of the modern conveniences."
Ranma looked back over the girls and had to admit that they were troopers. Although Jeanette was nowhere near his power or skill level in the fighting arts, she was physically fit and seemed very disciplined. Sam also seemed to able to weather discomfort and had a fighter's spirit. He had to admit, as girls, they weren't half-bad.
Ranma smiled and shook his head. Genma had been extremely chauvinistic when he had ingrained into his lessons that women were weak and that he should not fight them. He had been constantly reminded day in and day out that women were weak. However, since the pigtailed martial artist had been away from his father for so long, he had begun to disregard some of those concepts as he associated more and more with the opposite sex. Sam was like a tomboy, but had a certain charm that Ranma found... interesting. Laura Laramie was a rough and tumble girl that never gave up and showed him how to have fun. Jeanette Fisher understood the martial arts and Ranma saw that she was just as dedicated to her Art as well as her responsibility to being a Pokémon trainer.
Though Ranma didn't realize it as time went on, his transfer to the Pokémon World was actually allowing him to grow up, something that Genma had denied to his son in his all-consuming obsession to make him the best martial artist (and incidentally keep him dependent on his father). As a Pokémon trainer, Ranma was learning responsibility, not only for teaching his Pokémon, but also looking out for their welfare. In a way, his Pokémon had become a surrogate family to him. They were the friends that he always wanted, but never had, with the exception of Ucchan.
Independence and being able to make choices for himself was also being developed. Ranma made the decisions on where he may go and what he would do. No one was telling him to do anything. He was being allowed to do what he wanted, the way he wanted it. If he chose to train his Pokémon in new attacks, not to mention train himself in a new way, then he could do so. No one, especially Genma would be there to interfere. He was allowed to experiment.
Learning about life outside the fight was also being realized as Ranma associated with others. He begun to gain a level of tact that he would have never gotten if he had stayed with Genma. He was especially grateful to Professor Oak when he took Ranma in all those months ago. Learning how to handle Pokémon provided a stepping stone towards dealing with people. The Ranma Saotome before becoming a Pokémon trainer would have been tasting his foot in his mouth a long time ago, but life's hardships and trying to fit into this new world had beaten some common sense into that thick head of his. And besides, he didn't dare say that girls were weak, especially if they happen to have very strong Pokémon with them. He had come to respect the awesome powers that these creatures possessed and the discipline that their trainers invoked in them.
The last thing that Ranma had begun to develop, though he was still denying it at the time, was that he had begun to REALLY notice... girls. Though he would have never admitted it openly, though he was still mostly naïve about the whole thing, he was starting to have a libido and the hormone changes that all teenagers developed were taking effect. Genma had always kept Ranma from actually feeling these emotions and pushed him into the training, but without his presence, the boy was free to... experience them. With the Water Stone keeping his curse in check, he didn't really feel that his manhood was threatened. And with two pretty girls tagging along...
Ranma shook his head to clear it as he took out the Pokéball that contained his newest Pokémon.
"Hey, is that the Psyduck you picked up at the Pokémon Center?" Sam said as she looked at the Pokéball.
Ranma nodded as they came to a large clearing in the forest. Seeing that it was becoming sunset and this was a good spot to stop for the night, he decided to start making camp.
Later that evening, Sam showed off her culinary skills as she whipped up a batch of curry and roasted some fish from a nearby stream. Though Jeanette was reluctant to admit it, she found Sam's cooking to be quite good as she and the others sat down to eat. However, wanting to show up her rival, she declared that she would cook their next meal.
Ranma had let out all of his Pokémon for dinner. The girls did likewise. Ranma noted that Jeanette had a Rapidash, her infamous Bellsprout, a Beedrill, a Scyther, a Hitmonchan and a female Nidoran. Sam had the three Pokémon that she had used to battle against him at the Viridian Gym, her Fearow, a Poliwrath and a Mankey.
Ranma gazed at his Pokémon as they ate their evening meals, and he eventually focused on the latest addition to his team. As Psyduck ate almost absent-mindedly, he wondered just how was going to train it. According to his Pokédex, Pysducks relied mostly on their psychic powers, and even then those abilities were somewhat unreliable. If they could only use them when their headaches were severe enough, then that limited their fighting potential. Psyducks were also quite scatterbrained and Ranma had noticed that his was easily distracted and didn't have much when it came to focus. Its physical attacks were also considered weak. Martial arts relied mostly on physical attacks and required a lot of concentration: physically, mentally and spiritually. Ranma sighed as he realized that he had his work cut out for him.
The next morning...
Sam and Jeanette awoke to find that Ranma and his Pokémon were not present. Thinking that he had abandoned them, they quickly began gathering up their Pokémon and things to go look for him. However, when they heard the sounds of fighting and then spotted Ranma leaping about in another clearing nearby, they both breathed out a sigh of relief. They then decided to go and watch Ranma as he went through the sparring with his Pokémon.
Their eyes widened as they saw Ranma leap to heights of thirty feet as he traded blows with Bruiser. They seemed to hang in the air for several seconds, defying gravity as they threw fast punches and kicks at each other. Jeanette was especially amazed at the grace the martial artist displayed as he continued to bend the laws of momentum and inertia. She was also surprised to see her mother's Machop duplicating Ranma's moves.
"Ma... chop!"
"MOKO TAKABISHA!"
Both girls stepped back when they saw the two combatants release their ki attacks at each other. The energies clashed and canceled each other out. It was then that they both landed on the ground and faced each other in ready stances. As if given an unseen signal, Bruiser relaxed into a neutral stance and called out to the side.
"Machop!"
"Pika!"
Ranma leapt high when a blast of electricity suddenly struck the place where he was standing. Raiden picked up the pace as he began attacking his master with electric shocks. Ranma smiled as he evaded each strike, then powered up his own counterattack.
"SHOCK ATTACK!"
"Pika... CHU!"
Both lightning bolts passed each other and struck their targets. Raiden was sent reeling back a bit while Ranma was knocked out the air. However, since both had experienced each other's electric attacks before, they were easily able to shrug off the effects.
"Slash!"
Ranma rolled out of the way to avoid Razor's Buzzsaw Barrage as the Sandslash cut up the ground. Ranma then got to his feet and his battle aura flared as he focused his energy. He slammed both palms into the ground as Razor was just uncurling himself.
"ERUPTION BLAST!"
The ground trembled a bit as Ranma sent a shockwave through it. Though it wasn't as strong as Razor's, it still caught the mouse Pokémon off guard. A small geyser erupted beneath Razor, sending him flying high into the air. However, this match was also an exercise in teamwork. Wind Rider swooped down to catch Razor in his claws then dived toward Ranma.
Both Pokémon released their ki attacks and Ranma had to do several backflips to avoid the beams and x-shaped blasts. It was then that Wildfire appeared from behind. Extending his head forward, he gave Ranma gentle tap on the shoulder with his horn.
Looking behind him and seeing his fiery steed, Ranma shook his head while smiling. His Raiden and the others had all been the distraction while Wildfire snuck up on him and tagged him. Knowing that Wildfire could have easily brought him down with a Blazing Horn Charge, Ranma conceded defeat. The point of the exercise was to teach cooperation between his Pokémon. Giving them a nod to show that they had won, Ranma relaxed and took a neutral stance.
"Good job guys. I didn't see that one coming. Guess I'll have to work on watching my back more often."
The other Pokémon let off a cheer of triumph as they rejoined their trainer. Sam and Jeanette were still staring in awe at the display they had just seen. Nearby, Ranma's new Psyduck was also watching and though it didn't look it was impressed, rest assured it was.
Some time later...
Ranma was sitting near the campsite and was trying to teach his Psyduck a few mediation techniques. He had figured that if the duck Pokémon could learn to overcome the headache it constantly suffered from, then perhaps it could be able to focus better, which was very important if was to learn martial arts and improve its physical attacks. However, with virtually no experience in training to improve its psychic abilities, Ranma knew next to nothing about how to enhance its mental capacities. He also knew that by alleviating it of its headache, he was essentially depriving it of the key to its psychic attacks. However, there was just no other way that Ranma could think of to train it.
He decided to postpone going to Celadon City for a few days as he worked with Psyduck. The girls did not mind as they finally managed to prod Ranma into training them. This included the Dreaded Sad Puppy Dog Look that Ranma just couldn't say no to.
Jeanette was already familiar with the martial arts, so she had no problems in grasping many of the concepts that Ranma taught them. Sam was of course a bit slower, but her rivalry with Jeanette kept her competitive and eager to learn. Ranma had them sparring against each other and his Pokémon as he continued to work with Psyduck.
After more than a week, Psyduck was finally able to do some basic moves of the Anything Goes, especially with dodging tactics. However, its stamina and endurance didn't compare with the others and strength was only greater than Jeanette's Bellsprout. Its movements reminded Ranma of a cartoon character's and it was pretty funny to watch it perform a kick or punch. After several exhaustive sessions of mediation exercises and ki manipulation, Psyduck was no longer carrying a constant migraine and was able to focus on any task it was asked to do, provided that it didn't take too long. Ranma's patience was stretched to the limit as he tried very hard not to be angry at Psyduck's slow progress. Remembering how traumatized the waterfowl was when he first saw it, Ranma kept his temper in check as he continued to train Psyduck. The duck Pokémon became very attached to its new master who showed him kindness that its previous owner did not. It vowed to make Ranma proud.
The week passed by, but not without headaches for both Ranma and Psyduck. Sam and Jeanette were still vying for Ranma's attention, as their sparring matches would often become brawls. Raiden's master had to frequently intervene before they got of hand. The girls were also unaware of Ranma's curse, and the pigtailed martial artist had to be very careful not to be accidentally caught with cold water without his pendant, him being a water magnet and all. Though he knew that they were going to find out, sooner or later and decided that he would have to tell them some day. Though their constant bickering was annoying, he did like their company, being isolated as he was.
When Ranma was satisfied that Psyduck had enough control over its mental pain and had a fair amount of skills at least to defend itself, he decided to head over to Celadon City to face off against its Gym Leader, Erika. He decided not to use Psyduck as it still needed more work with its physical skills and he had yet to help it develop its psychic powers.
As Ranma and his companions approached the Celadon Gym, Ranma asked about the Gym Leader there.
"Her name's Erika and she specializes in Plant-type Pokémon." Jeanette replied. "She also runs a perfume business to help finance the gym. I faced off against her on my first Pokémon journey and it took all three Pokémon matches for me to beat her."
Sam nodded as she added, "If you're able to beat her, then you'll get a Rainbow Badge. She's pretty tough though."
"I'll keep that in mind." Ranma said as he knocked on the door of the gym. He looked up at the structure and saw that is was like a greenhouse and had various pants and flowers inside it.
Two girls came to the door and the first one asked, "Hello, welcome to the Celadon City Pokémon Gym. Are you here to challenge Erika?"
Ranma nodded." Yeah, I'm here to get a Rainbow Badge."
Some time later, Ranma was facing off against Erika in the center of the gym with Sam and Jeanette looking on from the sidelines.
Ranma regarded his opponent with an appraising eye. Erika was tall and had short, dark hair and seemed very intense-looking. She seemed to radiate a form of empathy that was almost tangible. She was wearing a floral-print dress that flattered her figure quite nicely.
"So, are you ready to battle?" Erika asked.
"You bet!" Ranma said as he took out a Pokéball. He decided to let Razor have the first shot and keep Raiden in reserve after Erika stated that this would be a three-on-three battle.
"So let's get started Mr.... oh I'm sorry. I forgot to ask for your name."
"Ranma Saotome." Ranma said nonchalantly.
As soon as he said his name, Erika's eyes widened. "Ranma Saotome?! The same person that defeated Prima?! The one that owns the fastest Rapidash in the world?! You're THAT Ranma?!"
Ranma winced as he remembered the publicity he had gained from his past exploits. Though he did feel a bit of pride from it, the number of fans, reporters, challengers, and would-be students that had constantly pestered him in Stone Town also overwhelmed him. He would have preferred to remain anonymous. Reluctantly, he nodded.
Erika smiled as she said, "Well then, it is a real honor to go up against a trainer that actually beat the famous Prima! Let's see if you are deserving of such praise! Go Tangela!"
Ranma stared at the strange mass of vines with two feet, then took out his Pokédex.
*TANGELA, THE VINE POKÉMON. NO ONE KNOWS WHAT THESE GRASS-TYPE POKÉMON LOOKS LIKE UNDERNEATH THE VINES THAT COVERS ITS BODY. IT SPECIALIZES IN SPORE ATTACKS.*
Ranma shrugged as he prepared to toss out his Pokéball. Razor could handle something like this.
"GO RA..."
Before he could let it fly, there was a flash of light on his belt and Psyduck suddenly appeared before Tangela.
"Huh? Psyduck?! I didn't call for you! You're not ready to battle yet! Come on back..."
"Uh uh!" Erika interjected. "You can't call back your Pokémon after it's been released. Those are the rules of Pokémon engagement. Maybe you're not as good as a trainer as they say if you're Pokémon don't obey. TANGELA! STUN SPORE!"
The Pokémon shot out a huge cloud of orange dust at Psyduck.
Seeing that his Pokémon had absolutely no defense against such an attack, Ranma decided to forfeit the first match. "Psyduck, return!"
However, Psyduck had other ideas. With a funny little hop, it managed to avoid the return beam, then tripped over its webbed feet to land face first on the floor with a painful splat. Its head nudged over a small, potted palm tree, which caused it to fall on top of Psyduck's head. Ouch!
Erika was just as confused, as everyone else as the cloud of stun spores was about to envelop Psyduck. Then Psyduck began with a faint white light. When the stun spores touched it, they were immediately scattered away from and sent right back at Tangela.
The vine Pokémon shrieked as it was subjected to its own stun spores. It then keeled over paralyzed from the reflected attack.
"What the...?!" Erika gasped. Her Tangela was defeated?!
Ranma shrugged his shoulders with a weak smile and a dumb look on his face. He didn't know what happened either.
"Chu?" Raiden was also perplexed.
Sam and Jeanette looked on with confusion as Psyduck groggily pulled itself to its feet.
"Psy-yi-yi... duck."
"What just happened?!" Jeanette asked.
"I don't believe this, but... Psyduck won the first match." Sam replied with disbelief.
"How?!"
"My guess is, when that palm tree hit him, it must caused him to have a really bad headache. That must have been Psyduck's Confusion Attack."
After hearing this, Erika became a little upset that Ranma's Pokémon had won by a fluke. She recalled her Tangela and then brought out another Pokéball. "Talk about dumb luck! Well, let's see if your Psyduck can handle this! GO IVYSAUR!"
The Pokéball opened up to reveal the evolved form of a Bulbasaur.
*IVYSAUR, THE SEED POKÉMON. BULBASAUR'S EVOLVED FORM. IT SOAKS UP ENERGY FROM THE SUN FOR NOURISHMENT. THESE POKÉMON HAVE VARIOUS ATTACKS SUCH AS THE VINE WHIP AND RAZOR LEAF.*
Ranma was familiar with such attacks from Prima's seminar and knew that Psyduck didn't stand a chance against long-range attacks. He once again tried to recall Psyduck.
"Psyduck, return!"
At the same time, Erika ordered her Pokémon to attack.
"IVYSAUR! VINE WHIP!"
Once again, Psyduck did a funny hop that seemed accidental and avoided the beam. By sheer coincidence, it clumsily avoided Ivysaur's vine whip strikes as well.
"Psy-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi!"
Ranma was getting irritated that his Pokémon was refusing to obey as he repeatedly tried to recall it. Psyduck was running about like a crazed chicken as it amazingly dodged the vine whips and the recall beam in a very comical way.
"Ivysaur!"
"Psy-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi!"
"Psyduck, return!"
ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAP!
THWACK! THWACK! THWACK! THWACK! THWACK! THWACK! THWACK! THWACK! THWACK!
The greenhouse echoed with the sounds of vine whips and recall beams for a full minute. Finally, Psyduck tripped over its own webbed feet again. Ranma sighed as he prepared to recall his Pokémon, when he heard a cry of disbelief.
"I DON'T BELIEVE THIS!" Erika exclaimed.
Ranma looked up and saw that Ivysaur was in no condition to fight. The poor grass Pokémon was tangled up in its own vine whips. The vines were in knots that would have made the best Boy Scouts green with envy. Psyduck picked itself off the ground, tilted its head and gave Ranma a look that seemed to say 'did I do good?'
"Psy... duck?"
"Pika..." Raiden could only stare with his master.
Sam was currently picking her jaw off the floor. "All that running around caused Ivysaur to get tangled up in its own vines!"
Jeanette gave Psyduck a strange look and said, "You... don't suppose Psyduck and Ranma planned that... do you?"
They both looked at Ranma, who frantically shook his head while waving his arms. He wasn't sure how Psyduck was winning. All he had done was help him control its headache pains and taught him a few self-defense moves, mostly evasion tactics. Which in this case, defeated Ivysaur's vine whips.
Erika was getting really annoyed that she was losing to a Psyduck, then thought of something. This could all be an act. Ranma was said to be a trainer of extraordinary capabilities and this display of clumsiness could be a plan to catch her off guard and make her underestimate him. She smiled. She had to credit Ranma for such a brilliant tactic.
Erika recalled her Ivysaur and took out her final Pokéball. "I have to admit, you had me fooled for a while. I actually believed that you didn't know how to control that Psyduck, but I can see through your little trick!"
"Huh?"
"This time, I'm not taking any chances! GO VILEPLUME!"
The Pokéball opened up and the evolved form of Erika's Gloom appeared.
"Vileplume, use your strongest attack! SOLAR BEAM!"
Ranma blanched. He knew what the solar beam was and he definitely did not want to end up with roast Psyduck. As Vileplume began gathering sunlight, Ranma pleaded to his Pokémon.
"Psyduck, please return!"
"Pikachu!" Raiden called out.
"Psy?"
Psyduck turned around and took one step toward his master. Ranma smiled as he held out the Pokéball and activated the return beam.
However, that was when Vileplume bent its body forward and launched the strongest attack for all grass Pokémon. Psyduck again tripped over its own webbed feet.
The solar beam passed over Psyduck, barely missing it and singed a few of its feathers. Ranma's recall beam was canceled out and the martial artist had to duck for cover. The intense ray of sunlight blasted into a nearby storage shed that was marked FERTILIZER.
Uh oh!
There was a huge explosion as the chemicals in the shed went up, causing a huge fireball in the greenhouse. The roof of the gym came crashing down as the flames began to quickly spread. Sam and Jeanette ran toward the exit of the building, along with Erika and her staff. As they emerged coughing from the inferno, Sam was the first to notice that a few were missing.
"Ranma! And Psyduck! Where are they?" Sam exclaimed.
Erika also found out that someone else was absent. "My Vileplume isn't here either!"
Everyone looked around then all looked back to the burning building.
"They must still be in there!" Jeanette cried out as she began to make her way back to where they came out. Unfortunately, a huge mass of flaming debris fell down and blocked the entrance.
"Stand back! Blastoise, I choose you!"
The Pokéball that Sam threw opened up to reveal the giant turtle Pokémon. She then began directing the Blastoise with its water cannons to quench the flames. However, the fire continued to rage on as more of the fertilizer inside was ignited.
Erika looked on in shock, as her gym had once again become a flaming wreck. She had a sickening feeling of déjà vu. Last year, this had occurred before during a match with Ash Ketchum when Vileplume was a Gloom. Now history was repeating itself. She cursed herself for the mess. Her pride had made her careless. She should known better than to order her Vileplume to use a Solar Beam attack with so many flammable chemicals around. Now it seems that her favorite Pokémon was going to pay the price, along with several other innocents.
Inside the burning building, Ranma was also having a bad feeling of déjà vu. He recalled being trapped inside a burning building once before and didn't want to repeat that experience. However, he couldn't leave without his Psyduck and Erika's Vileplume, which he had lost sight of in the heavy smoke.
"Psyduck! Vileplume! Where are you?!"
"Pika!" Raiden called out as he crouched down as close as he can to the floor. The smoke was causing the rodent's eyes to become watery and he could his master starting to cough from the fumes.
It was then that Raiden heard an ominous groaning sound from above and looked up.
"Pikachu!"
"Huh?" Ranma looked up at what his Pikachu was indicating and had less than a second to react. Another part of the roof gave way and a huge steel beam came crashing down toward him. Ranma managed to push his friend to safety before several tons of flaming, red-hot steel came down on top of him.
"PIKA!" Raiden raced toward the pile of debris, and saw that his master had survived as a large beam had landed on top of some previous rubble, forming a kind of shelter above him. However, Ranma had been knocked out and a large bloody gash was on his left temple. His lower body was pinned beneath the beam, effectively cutting off any access to his belt of Pokéballs.
Raiden tried to get close but the intense heat and smoke made him sluggish. The beam also weighed several tons, which was far too massive for him to lift. The fire had begun to eat its way through the support beams. It wouldn't be long before the entire structure would collapse in on itself.
"Psyduck!"
"Vileplume!"
Raiden looked over his shoulder and saw Psyduck and Vileplume rush up to where Ranma was pinned. The Pikachu gestured to Psyduck to use its Psychic power to get their master out.
"Pika! Pi! Pikachu!"
"Psy... duck!"
Amazingly, Psyduck seemed to lose that empty look in his eyes as he nodded in full comprehension! It began focusing its mental powers on the massive beam and strained to lift it. Unfortunately, more debris had fallen on top of the beam, adding to the weight and making it more dangerous for Ranma.
"Pika!"
Pysduck stopped when it saw that their master would not survive the shifting rubble. It needed complete control over all of that twisted metal and broken glass as well as far more psychic power than it could ever muster with its most severe headache. There was just no way to do the job as he was.
Psyduck lamented over the fact that it was about to lose its new master. Ranma was the first person to ever show it kindness. No! It would not give up! Remembering back to all the meditation techniques Ranma had taught it to attain focus and relieve it of its mental pain, Psyduck reached deep into his inner strength and used its mental powers to take hold of every piece of rubble that had its trainer trapped. The waterfowl began to glow with a faint blue glow as Raiden looked on with awe as the debris began to levitate. Psyduck was actually using its psychic powers without resorting to giving itself a headache!
"PSY... DUCK!!!!"
Psyduck suddenly flashed with a white light and began to change shape.
Outside of the building, Sam was forced to pull her Blastoise back when another explosion was heard. She had thought that a gas main had exploded when she looked up and saw something erupt out into the air. Her eyes widened as she saw a huge, five-ton beam flying up like a rocket, along with several huge chunks of rubble. Then, a section of wall from the opposite side was suddenly blown out as a beam of orange energy caused the wall to explode.
*What the...?* Sam wondered as she and the others rounded the building.
"That was a Hyper Beam!" Jeanette exclaimed.
When the beam faded away, the girls caught sight of a white light that approached them from out of the depths of the inferno. They all gasped at the sight of a blue figure that was surrounded by a protective barrier. It was about three feet in height, had webbed feet, and instead of a rounded body, its form was far more streamlined. The red jewel on its forehead flashed as it had an unconscious Ranma Saotome slung over one shoulder. Beside it as it half-dragged and half-carried its master to safety, were Vileplume and Raiden. They too were protected by the Pokémon's psychic barrier.
The girls could do nothing but stare as the new Pokémon smiled and flashed them a thumb's up.
"GOLDUCK!"
Later…
*GOLDUCK, THE DUCK POKÉMON. THE EVOLVED FORM OF PSYDUCK. GOLDUCK IS VERY ADEPT AT USING ITS WEBBED HANDS AND FEET, MAKING IT THE FASTEST SWIMMER OF ALL WATER POKÉMON. ITS PSYCHIC POWERS ARE FAR STRONGER AND UNLIKE PSYDUCK, IT DOES NOT REQUIRE A HEADACHE TO USE THEM. IT IS ALSO EXTREMELY RARE; MAKING IT ONE OF THE MOST COVETED OF POKÉMON.*
Ranma put away his Pokédex as Nurse Joy tended to his burns. Fortunately, he had no broken bones and the gash on his head had looked worse than it was. He smiled at his new Pokémon as Sam, Jeanette and Erika sat with him in the ambulance. Raiden was sitting on his shoulder as usual. Behind them, the fire department was getting the blaze under control.
"Psyduck... I mean, Golduck... I didn't like it when you disobeyed me."
Golduck lowered its head in shame.
"But, you did good. No, you did great!" Ranma patted Golduck on the shoulder. "I'm very proud of you!"
Golduck brightened when it heard this and hugged Ranma, which he returned.
"Chu!" Raiden said happily.
Sam whistled as she admired Ranma's new Golduck. "You are so LUCKY! You realize how hard it is to get a Psyduck to evolve into a Golduck?"
"I'll say!" Jeanette agreed. "Most Psyducks don't ever evolve and you've only had Psyduck for just a week! That has to be a record!"
"I must say, I am impressed." Erika added. "You are a very special trainer if you could get a Psyduck to battle like that and then evolve just like that. I am proud to award you this Rainbow Badge."
Ranma looked down at the multi-colored badge in his hand, then said, "Thanks, but I can't take credit for this, nor accept this badge. That match we had was a fluke and Golduck here did all that on his own. It was an accident."
Erika shrugged as she said, "Hey, it was a GOOD accident. You see, I've always maintained that a good trainer should have empathy with his or her Pokémon in order for them to be the best they could be. Psyduck tried so hard to live up to your approval, then became a Golduck to save you. If that's not empathy, then I don't know what is. You inspired it when no one else wanted it. You and Golduck deserve that badge. After all, you saved my Vileplume. Those are all the marks of a good trainer and Pokémon"
Ranma thought for a long while then nodded while hugging Golduck closer.
A few days later, Ranma was riding Wildfire with Jeanette riding beside him and Sam flying high above on her Fearow. Their next stop was Saffron City.
"Well, you got what you wanted. You now have a psychic Pokémon and a very powerful one at that. It's also a water-type too." Jeanette said. "Though I still don't know how you managed to make it evolve like that."
Ranma shrugged. "I don't have any idea either. The only thing I did with it was teach it some meditation techniques to help relieve it of its headache."
Jeanette looked at Ranma with a questioning look. "Get relieved of its headache? Didn't you know that a Psyduck's greatest power comes from the severity of its headache?"
Ranma nodded. "Yeah, well I figured that if it had to get into that much pain to use its strongest attack, then it wasn't worth it. I was planning to teach it some physical attacks and stuff to compensate for it, but…" Ranma paused as he thought about something. "Hey, wait a minute. Could that be it? I mean, if Psyduck was able to control its pain with my meditation techniques, and get to use its psychic powers without resorting to a headache, then that may be what caused Psyduck to become a Golduck. After all, Golduck doesn't need a headache to use its psychic powers, right?"
Jeanette looked at Ranma thoughtfully, then slowly nodded. "I get it. Once Psyduck learned how to handle the pain, then it had the mental control it needed to use its psychic powers effectively. Well, what do you know? You actually trained Psyduck to the level it needed to evolve!"
Ranma nodded as he patted the Pokéball that contained Golduck. "Yep. I have a feeling that Golduck will really come in handy in Saffron City." He then looked back to his Pikachu who was perched on his pack. "Ready to beat the next gym, Raiden?"
"Pika!"
The three then made a beeline to their next destination.
To be continued...
Author's notes
Well, that was a doozy to write and I'm glad that's over! Ranma will now face off against Sabrina and her psychic Pokémon and Golduck will be a big help to attaining the Marsh Badge.
When I decided on giving Ranma a Golduck, I often wondered why it was so different in using its psychic powers, unlike its unevolved form, Psyduck. I decided to review that episode when Misty meets up with another Water Pokémon Trainer. I noticed that girl's Psyduck had better control over its psychic powers than Misty's. Then by looking closer, I noticed that the other girl's Psyduck had to focus pretty hard compared to the wild Golduck that Misty had directed. Then I realized that the other Psyduck must have been forcing itself to have that headache, in order to summon up its psychic powers. It was sort of like our own bodies using adrenaline in times of stress or high concentration. This could also explain why Misty's Psyduck is so scatterbrained and it lacks very little focus when it isn't battling. Once a Psyduck has learned to harness its powers without resorting to that extra boost, then it evolves into a Golduck.
Well, in any case, Ranma now has the minimum six Pokémon, but don't worry, he'll be getting more as time goes on.