Disclaimer; This fanfiction uses existing ideas, characters and or worlds, but is an independent work of art. I own nothing, hence the reason for publishing my writings here instead of in real books where I could make some money.
-Chapter Six-
Battle
It was dark by the time the village came into view.
"We'll camp here," said Ranma, indicating a clear patch of rock just to the right of the path.
The others agreed. It was not needed to say that he wanted to save some money for when they reached their desired destination. Delia had expressed a desire to make a home in the Kanto region, and Ranma wanted to make sure that this wish came true. He had planned to cash in the rest of his gold nuggets as soon as he got into the village, or when they arrived in Kanto.
He had not shared this little bit of information yet, but all would be revealed soon enough.
After the night Ranma and Delia had gotten engaged, the Pokémon had begged them to be locked in their Pokéballs so they could be spared the loud sounds of love, and get some sleep … and tonight was no different. Only one thing was different from the week, and that was that they had only one round that night, and not a loud one, either, because they were close enough to the village to draw unwanted attention to themselves if they were too loud.
The rest of the night, Ranma and Delia slept in a cuddle.
"Didn't you win something from that tattoo parlour?" asked Delia as they entered the village the next day. At Ranma's nod, she continued. "Are you planning on taking advantage of it?"
"I don't know," said Ranma slowly. "The idea of painting something on my skin permanently, it doesn't appeal to me that much ..."
"I think you'd look good with a tattoo," Delia cooed. "And if you get one, I might get one as well ..."
"Tempting ..."
Delia then got a mischievous glint in her eyes, and whispered something to the young martial artist.
"Let's get tattoos!" Ranma declared enthusiastically and redirected the group to the respectable-looking shop.
An hour later, Ranma and Delia exited the tattoo parlour, Ranma with a large bandage around his right bicep, and Delia with a smaller one of clean felt taped on her right shoulder. Tiny spots of blood had seeped through both felt and bandage.
"That didn't hurt half as bad as I thought," Ranma commented.
Delia was wincing and trying to soothe the aching shoulder.
They had both gotten the same tattoo, but different. It was a European sword that pierced a heart. Ranma had his name on the heart, and Delia's on the sword. Delia had the same, but reversed.
"That balm hurt," she complained cutely.
"What did you expect? It was to keep the tattooed skin from getting infections," Ranma explained. "Be thankful it's not the old times, or they would have slapped rubbing alcohol on it and told you to take the searing sting like a man."
Delia stopped complaining, but still tried to soothe the sore shoulder, until Ranma took the hand she was attempting it with, and holding it, like couples tend to do. They got to the village square, on the way to the travel agency that sold tickets for the only cruise ship that travelled between the Bushi Islands and Kanto, and saw a crowd gathering there.
"I wonder what's going on ..." Ranma muttered and directed their group there.
As they arrived, they saw a cocky woman Amazon standing along the outside of an impromptu battle field.
"Any other victims?" she asked, tossing a Pokéball in the air before catching it and repeating the action. "I'll add my motorcycle to the pot to anyone who can defeat my Pokémon!"
Ranma scanned the crowd, many of whom seemed to be irate and embarrassed, probably losers.
"I'll take you on!" said Ranma with a cockiness that easily matched the Amazon's.
"Stand down, male, and let the women handle this!" the woman barked.
"Why don't you put your sword where your foot is? Your mouth," Ranma retorted. "Zumi, are you ready to fight?"
"Ready!" the sign stated.
"Fine, I will show you the superiority of women, and put you in your place, male!" the woman called across the field. "Onix, crush the mouse!"
From the Pokéball the Amazon held in her hand, a giant serpent made of connected boulders emerged with a roar.
The spectators were groaning and shaking their heads. They knew that electricity was virtually useless against rock. They, of course, did not know that this electric mouse was not reliant solely on his electric attacks. As a matter of fact, Ranma had taught him several special techniques during their time.
Using his agility to its utmost, Zumi dodged the boulder snake as it dug its way underground and tried to attack from underneath. He zipped between the rocky tail that was smashed into the ground wherever he stood still long enough, sometimes forcing the mouse to jump when its opponent tried to predict the pattern of his movements.
None of the physical attacks came through, but that didn't mean that the results of the attacks were useless. Already, Zumi had a few bruises from the rocks that were scattered each time the tail of the Onix smashed into the ground.
Although his opponent was slower, Zumi was unable to get too close, as the Onix guarded its body well, making Zumi stay at bay by continuously smashing its tail into the ground where it looked like the mouse would try and get closer. And Zumi was unable to start any long-distance attacks, because he was not allowed to stay in one place for more than a second.
It was starting to look bleak for Ranma's rodent friend.
"Hang in there Zumi!" Ranma called in encouragement, kicking himself for not teaching him the Breaking Point Technique yet. The Pikachu nodded tiredly, bruises covering most of him, hidden only by the fur.
"You don't stand a chance, male!" the woman laughed from the other side of the field.
"Pika!"
The attention was once more focused on the battle. Zumi was glowing, and this was enough to blind the Onix and halt him in his attacks. The glowing form of the Pikachu leapt at the Onix while it was immobile.
The glowing Pokémon reached the body of the Onix, and managed to get a strong blow to the rock Pokémon's chin, as well as other spots, making it look like the Onix was surrounded by a glowing net that zipped away from it as the giant beast fell to the ground.
The glow died down, and where it had been, a golden Pokémon with Zumi's vest was in his place. The tail had slimmed down and lengthened at the base, forming a shorter and sharper lightning bolt at the end, ears that were wider and with a curled few hairs here and there. A Raichu.
"That's cheating!" the Amazon loser screamed as she reached the unconscious Onix. "You can't evolve your Pokémon during battle!"
"Actually, there hasn't been a precedence for it, so there are no rules against it," corrected a bookish woman from the side-lines. "The Pik -... er … electric Pokémon won, so you have to give up the ... prizes.'
Growling in resigned annoyance, the Amazon threw a bag at Ranma's feet, followed by a glint of metal that he caught easily.
"Now get out of my sight!" the Amazon growled.
Ranma opened his hand, and saw the keys for a heavy motorcycle. In the bag there were a few wads of cash, more than one would get for a gold nugget, and a Pokéball. The name "Eve" was etched into the red half of it. He let it out, and saw that Eve, was an Eevee, a Pokémon that evidently could change to several forms, depending on various factors.
Letting the newly evolved Zumi take a place on one of his shoulders, Ranma embraced Delia and resumed their journey to the travelling agency.
"Yes, sir," answered a polite woman and quickly typed something onto her computer.
A printer started to noisily write a few paces from her desk in the cosy and modern office, where only three booths were available. "Here we go!" she stated and retrieved the written paper. "Two tickets for the luxury cruise to Kanto. Transport has been arranged from Fuchsia City to Pallet Town, where a vicar will be waiting, as agreed, and may I offer my sincerest congratulations."
"Thank you," Ranma accepted and took the offered tickets.
Delia was waiting outside next to the motorcycle that he had won.
"Just a reminder," the woman called out as Ranma headed for the front door. "Your Pokémon need to be inside their Pokéballs for the entire journey. It's company liability rules, sorry."
"No need to apologise, I'm sure that they would beg us to be locked in there, anyway ..." Ranma chuckled.
The woman giggled politely, but obviously did not understand the inside joke. Ranma bid her a good day, and exited the agency. Delia was thrilled to know that they had gotten rooms on the two day trip from the boating town; Hookline, on the outer island near the northern peninsula. A bridge was connected from the road between Sowup and Hookline, making it possible to travel all the way while remaining dry.
Ranma refrained from telling her that they had gotten the best room on the boat, and that he had a vicar at the ready when they arrived in the chosen town for their home.
Delia eagerly hopped onto the back of the motorcycle and recalled her Pokémon. Ranma climbed on the motorcycle as well, but kept the newly evolved Zumi in front of him. And with all of this done, the group rode off into their future.
Author's Notes: If I hadn't already stated how embarrassed I am about the countless mistakes caught only this far into the story, I would have needed to do so again, because those sloppy mistakes were the kinds of mistakes I'd hound other authors about … I wonder why so few did the same to this one … did the pass unnoticed, or did the readers simply not care? Anyway, should an idea for a sequel to this story after finishing it, please notify me, and credits will be given.
