Disclaimer: Monster Rancher, Monster Rancher Advance and related copyrights are properties of Tecmo and I do not work for them. In other words I do not own Monster Rancher or any related concept, this work of fiction is done purely for fun and not money. Don't sue me I'm poor!
Episode 2: The New Breeder
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Screamed Metin, scurrying away until he hit a stone wall.
"A LIP...LIP...LIP PINK?!?" He asked completly surprised, overwhelmed by thousands of diferent emotions.
She looked a lot like the Pixie he had seen on the show, only she looked smaller and younger and whitout claws at the tip of her feet. Her skin was totally mocchi pink and her fur and hair green.
She smiled "Hi! My name's Mei!" The pixie breed Monster said, giggling as she hovered a few inches above the ground by softly flaping her wings.
"Calm down... we're not gonna harm you." Pleaded the other female voice Metin had heard when he was laying on the ground.
He looked beyong the flying monster and saw two human in strange costume standing by a large stone pedestal. He gasped when he recognized the source of the voice... he had seen her in games and in the TV show... it was Holly! And next to her was standing a middle-age man with brown hair, he knew him from the first GBA game and recognized his face, it was Mr. Bolzoi of AGIMA. All around him was random stuff from his room: pens, school books, comic books, his trashcan with useless papers scattered all around. The room he was in had a very high roof and was really dark. He was on a round platform with three slab of stone acting as short walls behind him, and at the opposite side of the room he could see two large brown door with a smaller one next to them, opened, through wich light was shining.
"This can't be... I'm...I'm on Age Island?!? Somebody pinch me!" Realised the boy, breathing rapidly.
Mei, the Lip Pink flied over him and pinched his cheek...hard.
Metin leaped to his feet "OW!!! What's the big idea?" He asked angrily.
"Well you asked to be pinched." Answered the female monster, hovering like that she could look at the boy right in the eyes.
"I didn't meant that hard...wait...if I felt that then...it's...it's not a dream... I'm really on Age Island..." Metin stopped for a moment to think, he remembered the Animated show and realized that he was just like Genki...
"Yes you're Age Island... my name's Holly, this Mr. Bolzoi and you know Mei...what's your name?" Asked Holly, stepping toward the younger boy.
"My name's Metin... Metin Uchara! Holly, tell me, what's going on?" Asked Metin, calming down after his initial shock.
"We found a small tablets with the letters 'DKYW' on it and we tried to regenerated a monster but then you came out of the light... we're in AGIMA's shrine." Explained Mr. Bolzoi. "Where do you come from? I've never seen clothes like yours."
"That's exactly the code I imput in my game! This is almost exactly what happened to Genki! Say do ytou have baddies to fight? Are you in trouble? This is great I'm in a Monster Rancher game!" Cheered Metin as he started to jump up and down.
"Genki? Baddies? Monster Rancher game? What are you talking about? I don't know a Genki and we have no 'baddies' trouble...maybe a few strays." Inquired Holly, a bit worried for the strange boy's sanity.
Metin rubbed his chin, he still wasn't sure how to proceed. "Hmm...guess it's not the same place... Nevermind about Genki and baddies... I know you Holly, your a famous breeder and you came here to become an Assistant to try something new... where's the breeder your supposed to help?"
Holly took a step back "How do you know that? They haven't found a breeder for me to help yet... but I already started some breeding myself in the meantime at the Ranch they lend me, Mei is an Age monster that I got when I came here." She explained.
"That's me!" Said the Lip Pink, flying beside Holly, handing Metin his hat.
"Thanks... wow
"Looks like your a breeder too...or are you an assistant?" Commented Mr. Bolzoi.
"What? Me? I'm neither, why would you think that?" Asked Metin confused.
"Well you have a Mon Unit and you can speak with Monsters, I assumed you were one." Answered the man.
Metin blinked "Mon Unit?"
Mei giggled "You don't know what's a Mon Unit and you have one?" she bent down and picked up Metin's closed GBA SP and handled him the device.
"This isn't a Mon Unit, it's called a Game Boy Advance SP and it's a gaming console..." Said Metin, opening it up, but then he realised something was wrong.
It didn't felt like platic anymore, the surface felt like real metal. The Nintendo and Game boy Advance names had dissapeared, same for the start, select, R and L buttons, while the 'A' and 'B' button and crosspad looked like they were made out of stone, but the most surprising changes were the dissapearance of the cartridge slot and the appearance of two leather strap at the bottom. It seamed like you could strap it to your left arm like a watch... a big watch.
"What...what happened? It doesn't look like my Game Boy Advance anymore...where's my cartridge?" The boy started to look around and quickly found the little black plastic piece.
"A cartridge?" Holly was getting as confused at the boy seamed and she wasn't sure how to react. "Well as for a Mon Unit, it's a device that can only be given to a person who can speak with monsters, only those who can do that can become breeders. A Mon Unit is like a Breeding liscence and it allows a breeder to comunicate directly with his or her monster as well as access precise information about that monster." She explained.
"Wow... that's cool, you mean I'm special because I speak with monsters? Hmm...at least my cartridge is still the same."Commented Metin, picking up his game cartridge.
"Let me take a look at that..." Asked Mr. Bolzoi moving in closer to the weird kid, examining his Mon Unit and cartridge. "Oh my...your...your... your Mon Unit is a Rare Platinium! You've got a great destiny ahead of you kid! And that Tablet is just like the one we found but yours got more markings on it that I ever saw on a tablet, the maximum is usually 8! You could become a serious breeder."
"What's so special about a platinium Mon Unit?" Inquired the boy.
"A Mon Unit appear as a slab of stone until it is given to a breeder...don't you know that? It is when it takes on it's final form and color that match the Breeder. A metallic color like Silver, Gold or Platinium means your special, your link to your monsters will be greater and a Special Mon Unit allow you to acess information about your opponent, something incredibly useful in battle! Look, mine is only white." Explained Holly, pulling back her shirt sleeve and showing her own Mon Unit, and it was indeed looking like a white GBA SP.
Metin was starting to see the good side of this odd situation"You think I can become a breeder here on Age Island?"
Mr. Bolzoi nodded."Well that is if you don't want to return to your home land... I'm not sure how you got here in the first place... maybe you know how to get back. Otherwise Holly already got a ranch ready to welcome a breeder."
"Hmm...well... I don't know how I got here either and I don't know how to get back... hm... wait... this mean I can...become a real life monster breeder! THAT'S SO COOL!" Metin jumped up and down, surprising the two human and making the Lip Pink giggle.
"Your funny." Commented the little monster.
"So? how do I become a Monster Breeder huh? How do I get my first monster, will I have to take care of Holly's Lip Pink? Tell me please!!!" Asked the enthusiastic boy.
Holly smiled at the boy's joy."Why don't we get you registered at the AGIMA headquarter while Mr. Bolzoi prepare the shrine to regenerate your tablet... maybe on the way there you can tell me where you come from."
"Hehe, if I told you you wouldn't believe me, it'll be my little secret for now." Metin replied, winking before heading to the door . "Com'on, I want to see that AGIMA HQ! I can't wait to start up! WOOHOO! I'M GONNA BE A BREEDER!"
With that Metin stepped out through the small door and into the sunny street. The sun his his skin and warm him up. The soft breeze that was blowing was carrying a faint salty smell, among with various food odors, telling the ocean and the marketlace were probably not that far. Around him the boy saw ocre colored stone buildinds with wooden roof, everything looked to be in a early renaissance style, near the end of the middle age but not too gothic either. The street itself was covered by large flat pale stone, and it was quite clean. There was many people in the street, mostly women with basket filled with food, but there was also three kids playing with a leather ball and two breeder talking. Metin noticed they had blue and green Mon Unit on their arm, one had an impresive Voltie (Tiger+Antlan) by his side while the other had a Suezo. They all had the same kind of rustic and rural looking clothing as Holly and Mr. Bolzoi and the boy felt out of place when two woman looked at him oddly because of his otherwordly clothing.
"I'm gonna need some serious gold fast if I want to blend in with the population." He commented more to himself than for Holly and Mei who just came out of the building as well.
"Yeah, your clothes are weird...but then again I think clothes are weird period." Commented the Lip Pink, giggling as usual.
The boy smile, amused at how many time the little monster had giggled since he arrived "You're a happy monster, Holly must really take good care of you."
"Thank you... com'on, the AGIMA HQ is just on the other side of the street." Said the girl, pointing to the building in front of them with a big 'AGIMA' sign on it.
"Last there is a Rotten Weed!" Called Mei, darting ahead.
"You're not outpacing me fairy girl!" Replied Metin, running ahead as well.
The street wasn't very large and the two quickly had to stop before ramming into the wooden door of the building. It was easier for Mei who was hovering above the ground, but Metin almost lost balance. Holly shook her head as she walked up to the two and opened the door.
"Good thing Mei is MY monster, together you would terrorize the city." She told Metin.
"You'll see when I get MY monster! I'll be the champ! We,ll make it all the way to Master class!" Boasted the boy.
"Someone wants to be a breeder apparantly." said a smooth adult female voice.
It was a woman standing behind a stone counter in the entrace hall of the AGIMA Building. The room was large and simple, an effective design. It had diferent doors on the side walls and behind the woman was a large stone slab with a fossil on it... to Metin it looked like a giant bird. Maybe it was a Phoenix.
(AN: I don't know who's in charge of the AGIMA HQ, I don't have my GBA with me at the moment so I'll say it's Francesca, who also comments the tournaments.)
"Hello Francesca! I got a friend here who already got a Mon Unit and want to become a Breeder here in Age." Explained Holly as the three went up to the counter, Mei landing on her feet, showing she was much shorter than Metin.
Francesca had long brown hair and was wearing a simple brown and black attire with white and red highlights, metin couldn't see it since she was behind a counter but she was wearing large pants. Most woman in Monster related buisness prefered to wear pants instead of dress.
"Hi! My name's Metin Uchara! I guess you're gonna want to see this!" Declared the boy, showing his platinium Mon Unit to the lady.
"Wow! A Platinium Mon Unit! It's a very special and rare color, it's the first one I see! If you would please hand it to me." Politely asked Francesca.
Metin did so and she put it on a hole in a big slab of stone, like it was a zipdisk in a Zip Drive.Next to it was something surprising to Metin: a screen and keyboard! It looked ancient and made out of material such as stone and metal. The boy guessed those were all remnants of the ancient civilisation that created the monsters, he had even seen theories about the show on the web that tought Genki had actually travel into the future of his own world, but all these theorizing gave him a headache. For now he just watch the lady type a few command, acessing the data on his Mon Unit.
"So your a first level Breeder... it doesn't say what is your origin...strange. Out of that everything is fine, your now officially registered as a breeder for the entire territory of the Island of Age! Congratulation and welcome." Explained Francesca, handing back the precious Mon Unit to Metin. "Your free to get your first monster!".
"ALLRIGHT!" Cheered the boy, jumping in the air before turning to Mei. "I'll race ya there!" He said before dashing back to the door.
"He's full of energy isn't he?" Commented Francesca as Holly shook her head.
"I'm gonna have to show him being a Breeder isn't just fun and game." The girl complained before following her two 'friends' that had quickly passed the door.
In a moment Holly was back to the other side of the street and into the Shrine. Mr. Bolzoi was powering up the ancient contraption, the light glowing on the strange lampost like formation on each side of the platform. Metin was quickly collected all his belonging and had put them in a big bag Mr. Bolzoi had generously given him. Everything was ready.
"Now everyboy stand back from the platform." Ordered Mr. Bolzoi, standing behind the stone pedestal that served as control console with Metin by his side ."Regenerate!" Metin called, pressing a large button on the console that lite up immediatedly.
The light on the lampost got brighter as the small cartridge rose from the center of the platform, shining brighter and brighter with each second, soon the light was a large ball roughly big enough for Metin to fit in. Wind was slightly blowing, showing the cartidge was actually spinning in the center of the mass of light. Soon the light started to shrink, taking a form. It was getting more and more distinct and quickly Metin got to see his very own and first Monster...
"A KOKKUNG?!?" Gasped the boy, staring at the Ducken breed monster in front of him. "What kind of joke is that?!" He asked angrily.
Before him was standing a Ducken, but it looked shiney, as if it was made of metal, it was mostly grey but his upper ring was red and the lower one dark grey.
"Who you calling a joke? Punk?" Growled the little but agressive Ducken/Durahan monster with a squeaky voice that had a slight New-York accent to it...as strange as it sound.
"You! You little rubber ducky!" Replied Metin, glaring at the monster.
The Kokkung walked closer to his breeder and glare "I'm not rubber I'm made of metal!"
"Can't I try another tablet?" Inquired Metin, making his monster furious.
"What is wrong with me? You think I can't fight? Is that it? I'll show you, you little brat!" Declared the Kokkung, dashing for Metin and unleashing a series of wing slap.
Metin tried to pull away from the ragin monster."Ow! hey! Ow! Stop it! Ah! It barely... OW! Barely hurts AH!"
"I'm sorry Metin but this monster is your responsability now." Explained Mr. Bolzoi.
Finally the Kokkung ran out of guts and stopped his attack, panting hard.
"Aww man... I was expecting an Antlan or maybe even a Zan! And you tell me that in my cartrdige that cost me over 40 bucks there was only a Kokkung... guess I'll have to take care of ya." Complained Metin, defeated.
"Who says I want YOU to take care of me huh? I could simply find a better breeder! You're just a lowly rookie!" Replied the Kokkung.
"Oh yeah?!? I'll show you who's the rookie here!" Growled Metin, pulling back his sleeves and getting into a boxing stance.
The two glared at each other before lounging forward, getting into a furious and ridiculous looking grapling contest, dissapearing in a cloud of dust like in old cartoon shows. Holly, Mr. Bolzoi sweatdropped while Mei giggled and cheered for both fighters.
"This is not good." Groaned Holly, holding her forehead with her hand.
To Be Continued...