This is the disclaimer that never ends; yes it goes on and on my friends. Yes, this is the disclaimer that never ends; yes it goes on and… (SMACK) Ouch. No, not the head! Don't pull that! Why I ought ta… Ite! Okay, I don't own anything but the plot. Happy now? Sheesh! Hey, put away the chainsaw! Mommy!
Votes:
Sabrina – 21
Erika – 2
Laura – 2
Ia – 3
Jeanette – 3
Multiple Girls - 6
Chapter Four
As Ranma walked away from Pallet Town, he took one last look at the place that had become his home. Sure he'd miss it, but he could no longer curb his wanderlust. All he took with him was his backpack filled with lots of supplies, his three Pokèmon, his clothes, a staff that he made from an Oak tree limb, and his brand new hat. It was a gift from Gary, of all people. The hat had a wide brim, was black in color, and was made from soft, supple leather (Think Indiana Jones).
Gary had given it to him as a thank-you for saving his butt when he picked on the wrong kid. That kid had an older brother who didn't like that Gary picked on his little brother. So he cornered Gary and was about to beat him into a pulp, when Ranma stepped in and saved him. He settled it with a little fight, and after he was done showing off, he knocked the kid out with a pressure point.
Ranma made good time to Viridian City since he wasn't bothered by any Pokèmon. He took his time getting there though. He spent a day trying to teach Magikarp how to stay upright. It was tough, and required a lot of patience, but he managed to succeed. She could now stay upright for periods of time. Next on his agenda was to teach her how to dodge attacks, then how to attack. It would take a long time though.
Ranma sighed and shook his head as the fish Pokèmon just flopped around. He then perked up as he got an idea.
"Wait, Magikarp, wait. This time, slam your head and tail against the ground as hard as you can," he told her.
"Karp, Karp Magikarp." /Ok, whatever you say. / said Magikarp as she did as she was told.
When she slammed her head and tail on the ground, she launched herself into the air.
Ranma smiled as he watched this happen. He then did phase two.
"Alright, Body Slam!" he yelled.
Magikarp started to glow slightly as she approached the ground. When she hit, there was a loud explosion as dust filled the air. The only sound was that of Magikarp cheering her own success. As the dust cleared, Ranma got his first look at the result of the first Body Slam from a Magikarp. There was a crater five feet wide and one foot deep, surrounded by cracks and debris. In the very center, was Magikarp, flopping around in happiness. Ranma ran over to her to check if she was alright. After making sure that she hadn't hurt herself from the attack, he looked over at his other two Pokèmon. Both of them had shocked looks on their faces and their jaws were on the ground. Ranma turned back to Magikarp, pride showing on his face.
"Now who would have thought that a Magikarp could learn how to do Body Slam?" he said with wonder.
The rest of the second day of training was spent perfecting that technique and working on defense. As Ranma walked in to the town, he silently thanked Mousse for showing him how to use Hidden Weapons. He didn't know that he had taught Ranma, but that wasn't the point. Ranma only carried his supplies in his backpack. His valuables he carried in subspace via Hidden Weapons. As he walked down the street, he mentally inventoried his supplies. He had enough medical supplies to treat anything but serious wounds. Mild to medium wounds were okay, but he'd need to restock afterwards. He had about a months worth of food, after that he'd need to restock or hunt for his food. He didn't need clothes either. His mom gave him enough to last him a long time before he needed new ones and that would be because he got too big for them. But he need more Pokèballs, he only had four left. As he looked around for a store, something sinister was happening not too far away.
"Have you located it yet?" asked a man, his face hidden by shadows.
"Yes, sir, we have. It is currently headed our way and will reach the city limits in twenty minutes. Three teams have already been sent out to capture it," said one of his technicians.
"Send out four more teams," he told them. "I want this Pokèmon captured. I will not tolerate failure!"
"Yes, sir."
"Butch, Cassidy, report," ordered a voice coming from a radio.
A young man reached down and picked up the radio. He had green hair that fell down almost to his eyes and had a mean look to his face. As he raised the radio to his mouth, he began to speak in a very gravelly voice.
"Nothing to report, central," he told them.
"Be advised, the Pokèmon is headed in your direction. Proceed with caution," came the voice again.
"Roger, central. Butch out," he said as he lowered the radio and clipped it to his belt. He then turned to his partner. Remind me why we are out here. We just joined six months ago."
His partner was a beautiful blonde girl who had her hair done into two long ponytails, and had bangs that reached to her eyes. She turned and looked him in the eyes.
"We are here to do as the Boss tells us to. We must have made an impression on the people upstairs for them to trust us enough to send us out to do such an important job," she told him, pride clear in her voice.
Just then, their radio crackled to life again.
"Be advised, we are sending four more teams to assist you," said the voice.
Butch spoke up, "Or it could be that they need every person they could get to capture this Pokèmon."
Cassidy just nodded her head and said nothing.
Ranma smiled as he headed out of the Pokèmon Center. That girl Joy was really cute. He could see that she was interested in him, but he didn't have time to stick around. He wanted to reach Pewter City by the end of the week and it was already Wednesday. So he just shouldered his pack and head north, towards the forest. However, he was about half-way through the city when a police motorcycle rolled up next to him. A young woman stepped off and removed her helmet before turning to face him.
"You know, you can't just go walking around with that Growlithe unleashed. It'll have to either be on a leash or in a pokeball," she told him firmly.
"Why? He isn't bothering anyone and he's very well trained," said Ranma.
"It's a little thing called the law," she replied superiorly. "You might have heard of it."
Ranma looked down at Guardian. He knew that he should do as she said, but he couldn't resist the chance to take her down a peg or twenty. He looked back at her, his patented smirk on his face. His smirk was calculated to piss off anyone it was directed at. Sure enough, Officer Jenny started to get upset.
"Tell you what, Officer, I'll battle you to see what happens. If I win, I don't have to put a leash on Guardian. If you win, I leash him," Ranma offered.
Officer Jenny gave him a smirk of her own. "You know, I shouldn't accept, but I can't resist the chance to put a punk kid like you in your place," she told him as she motioned for her Growlithe to get out of the sidecar attached to her motorcycle. She looked back at Ranma. "I assume that you'll be using your Growlithe as well. Am I correct?"
Ranma looked down at Guardian. He was more than willing to fight for Ranma, but Ranma had a better idea.
"Hey pal, how about letting our new friend fight?" he asked Guardian as he knelt next to him.
Guardian thought about it for a little bit before barking his agreement. He wanted to see this arrogant female put in her place as well.
"Well?" asked an impatient Jenny.
Ranma stood back up and turned to face her.
"I'm not going to use Guardian here. I'm afraid that he's just too strong for your little puppy," he told her as he took one of his pokèballs and enlarged it. "Instead, I'll use this one."
Ranma threw the pokèball and watched the light solidify into his Magikarp. He caught the ball as it returned to him.
When Jenny saw what she was going to be facing, she broke out into laughter, as did everyone else who was watching. It appeared that their little standoff had attracted a lot of attention. Ranma just smirked at them as he knew that appearances could be deceiving.
"You've got to be kidding," gasped out Jenny as she started to recover from her laughter.
"Don't judge a book by its cover, Officer," Ranma warned her.
"Enough. Growlithe, Tackle that Magikarp!" she commanded her Growlithe.
"Arf!" /Okay/ said the puppy as she rushed forward.
Ranma waited until she was three feet away.
"Magikarp, evade," Ranma simply said.
Magikarp did a funny little wiggle, but sure enough, she moved out of the path of danger. The Growlithe yelped in surprise as her target moved at the last moment and she slid to a stop.
Jenny blinked in surprise, but passed it off as luck.
"Growlithe, Tackle again!"
Again the Growlithe charged at the Magikarp only to find herself missing as it moved away. This time, Ranma called out to his Magikarp.
"Tail Slap!" Magikarp stopped flopping around and smacked Growlithe with her tail, causing the puppy to flinch and back away.
Jenny was getting frustrated.
"Growlithe, Take Down!" The Growlithe lowered her head and charged, a white glow surrounding her. Ranma just waited patiently until the time was right.
"Magikarp, Evade!" he called out suddenly.
Growlithe slid to a stop before turning around to receive a tail to the face. She growled before charging again.
This cycle continued for five minutes, until Ranma noticed that his opponent's Pokèmon was getting tired. He decided to end this. On the Growlithe's next charge, he called out a different command.
"Ok, Magikarp, jump!" he told her.
Jenny scoffed. "Magikarp can't jump," she told him.
Ranma raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?" he asked as Magikarp slammed her head and tail on the ground.
Officer Jenny's eyes widened in shock as the fish Pokèmon suddenly became airborne. Her mouth dropped at her opponent's next command.
"Magikarp, Body Slam!" he called out.
She watched in shock as the Magikarp started to glow slightly as it descended. She realized with a start, that her Growlithe was still charging.
"No, Growlithe, STOP!" she yelled in desperation.
But it was too late. The Magikarp collided with her Growlithe and the puppy went down for the count. The Magikarp flopped into an upright position and watched to make sure that her opponent wasn't getting back up. Once she was sure that the Growlithe was knocked out, she flopped back onto her side and started flopping around again, this time in celebration.
Jenny fell to her knees. Her precious Growlithe beaten by a Magikarp of all things. The audience was just as shocked as her. No one had ever seen something like that before. Ranma calmly called Magikarp back to her pokèball before heading over to his defeated opponent.
Jenny was still in a state of shock when he got to her. He sighed as he realized that he had more thanaccomplished his goal. He had brought her delusions of invincibility crashing down in flames. He knelt down next to her and waved a hand in front of her face. That brought her attention back to the present.
"I don't believe it," she whispered.
Ranma just shook his head and sighed. "Everyone loses sometimes, even the best of us," he told her softly. "There will always be someone out there stronger than you. I learned that the hard way."
She looked up at him curiously. "But you're just a kid," she told him.
"Looks can be deceiving. I've been through more than you could think," he said somberly.
This confused her to no end. Normally, a kid his age would be cheering and acting superior, but this boy was being very mature and understanding. She could feel herself becoming more and more interested in him, despite their age difference. She stood up and walked over to her Growlithe, but Ranma stopped her.
"Let me take care of her," he told her as he approached the fainted Pokèmon.
"I don't know," said Jenny. "I should take her to Nurse Joy."
"I'm a Pokèmon Handler, this is easy for me," he told her as he knelt down to check the Growlithe. As he felt for any broken bones, he couldn't help but be proud of how well Magikarp had done. Now all he had to do was find a proper name for her.
After doing a quick check, Ranma started rubbing a healing salve onto the spot where Magikarp had nailed the pup. After he had enough on, he wrapped the area with bandages, making sure that they weren't too tight. After he was satisfied, he took a vial out of his pack and waved it in front of Growlithe's nose. She awoke with a snort and a sneeze. Ranma softly scooped her up in his arms before handing her to Jenny.
"There you go. She'll be fine with a couple days rest," he told her. "The salve that I used will cut the healing time in half, but she still needs to rest. I'd advise that you put her in her pokèball."
Officer Jenny nodded as she took out her pokèball and pointed it at her Growlithe.
"Good job, girl. You deserve a break. Return," she told her as the pokèball did its job. She shrunk the ball before attaching it to her belt.
Ranma smiled softly at her, making her blush, before turning to his Growlithe.
"Alright buddy, time for you to take a rest," Ranma told him as he pulled out Guardian's pokèball. The beam of light hit him squarely and he returned to his pokèball. Ranma then made the motion of putting it back on his belt, but instead, he put it into subspace with Raigeki's pokèball and Magikarp's. He didn't feel that they were safe on his belt, so he only kept empty pokèballs on his belt. After doing that he turned back to Jenny.
"Hey, how about I treat you to lunch, okay?" he asked her as his stomach let out a little growl.
Jenny giggled, but she calmed down a little at his pout.
"Alright, I know this nice little diner down the street. Hop in," she told him as she put on her helmet.
Ranma just smiled as he said, "Race ya there."
Jenny just revved up her motorcycle. This was going to be easy.
"I still can't believe that you got here first," Jenny said to Ranma as they waited for their food.
"I'm just full of surprises," Ranma told her with a smirk.
Instead of getting angry, Jenny felt her heart flutter when she looked at him. She quickly looked away, a blush on her pretty face. This made Ranma's smirk grow into a full blown smile.
"Something wrong?" he asked innocently.
"No, I…have something in my eye," she quickly said as she made a show of rubbing her eye.
"If you say so," Ranma said, not at all fooled by her performance.
After they got their food, they talked about unimportant things, like family, friends, funny stories, things like that. After about twenty minutes, Jenny asked him about what he was doing away from Pallet Town. Ranma was about to reply when a huge explosion came from the forest.
"What was that?" asked Jenny.
"I believe they call that, an 'explosion'," Ranma told her as if talking to a child.
Jenny just glared at him. Ranma smirked before turning serious.
"Alright, here's the plan. You stay here and radio for back-up while I go check out the explosion. When you get enough people, maybe ten or so, go to where the explosion was," Ranma told Jenny firmly.
"Ranma, be careful, okay?" Jenny said worriedly.
Ranma gave her a smile that made her heart beat faster and made her face warm.
"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine," he assured her.
Ranma then put down some money and ran out of the diner. Jenny just sighed as she grabbed her radio.
"Attention, all units. I'm reporting an explosion in Viridian Forest and request back-up."
Ranma ran past the people of Viridian City, appearing as nothing more than a blur. On the outside, he was the pinnacle of calm, but on the inside, he was very worried. If that explosion was man-made, there would be trouble as it was probably done for a reason. But if it was Pokèmon caused, that he could handle. He'd simply treat the Pokèmon involved and take them back to the Pokèmon Center. He mentally shook his head as he put those thought to the side and prepared himself as he saw the edge of the forest come into view. He had to slow down as he ran into the forest as to not hurt himself. He looked around and saw that there was smoke coming from the west, so he jogged in that direction. He was about halfway there when he heard people approaching. He didn't know who they were, so he looked around and dived behind some bushes. He knelt down and waited for them to pass, noting that they were coming from the direction of the blast. He mentally cursed. The blast was probably man-made. He peeked through the bush and saw that the people who were running by had a big red R printed on their shirts. His eyes widened as he recognized that symbol. These people were Team Rocket members. He had to fight down the urge to go out and beat the crap out of them on principle, but the thought of any injured Pokèmon kept him hidden. Once they had passed, Ranma got up and ran towards the blast zone, praying that he wasn't too late. When he got there, his spirit lifted when he didn't see any hurt Pokèmon, but his mood crashed when his keen eyes saw a faint blood trail leading north, through an overgrown, thorny trail. That was probably why Team Rocket had to go around, taking the long way. Ranma wanted to get to the injured Pokèmon first so he could help it, so he merely pulled his hands back and cupped them, focusing his ki.
"Moko Takabisha!" he yelled as he threw his hands forward. A blue-white ball of ki-flames flew forwards and exploded, clearing away the overgrowth easily. Ranma smirked. He had just cleared the trail in one easy move. His smirk disappeared at the thought of the injured Pokèmon. He took off at a sprint, hoping to get there before Team Rocket did.
Ranma followed the trail until it led to the source. Unfortunately, Ranma had lost the trail a few times so he arrived just as Team Rocket did. Ranma had enough time to see that the blood led to a small huddling form, a few feet away from him. He looked over at Team Rocket, a fire burning in his eyes. He would make them pay.
"Go away, little boy," said one of the people in front of the group. "Go away and you won't be hurt."
"Like I'm afraid of a pathetic bully like you. You're nothing but scum," Ranma told them as he took two pokèballs from his 'belt'.
"Go, Guardian, Raigeki."
The two pokèballs opened and let out Ranma's Pokèmon, both of them ready to fight for their Master. Ranma threw his backpack over to the side after removing his staff. He didn't see the small Pokèmon he was defending wake up just in time to see him get ready for Team Rocket. It let out a whimper as Ranma charged at them as they took out their pokèballs and threw them. It then slipped back into unconsciousness.
Ranma reached his opponents just as their Pokèmon appeared. Ranma used his staff and smacked a Ratatta over the head, knocking it out. Guardian used his Flamethrower on an Ekans and a Grimer. He then got hit by a Wartortle's Water Gun attack, but the Wartortle's trainer was shocked when Guardian just shook off the water and smashed the Wartortle into a tree, knocking it out. Raigeki shocked several Beedrills and Mankeys, sending them into unconsciousness. Ranma ducked under a sloppy right hook and replied with a thrust with his staff, knocking the air out of the man's lungs. Ranma left him gasping for air, turning to catch a punch aimed for his head. He grinned as he squeezed the man's hand, causing it to pop as several fingers were dislocated. The man screamed in agony as he attempted to free his hand. Ranma smirked as he felt someone attempt to blind-side him. He ducked underneath the woman's swing and turned, still holding onto the man's hand, throwing him at the woman. They tumbled into a heap and Ranma looked around for his next opponent. He saw that they were keeping a safe distance from him. He grinned as he thought of a new technique. He took off his hat and charged it with his ki, like what Ryoga would do with his bandanas, except he wasn't making it super-sharp, he was making it super-hard. He then threw it at the first person and watched as it rebounded off their head and hit the next person, and the next, and the next, and so on. Ranma had to fight off the urge to do a battle yell for some strange reason. After catching his hat on the rebound, he then turned to watch his friends finish off Team Rocket's Pokèmon.
"Alright guys, let me take care of the rest," he said to his Pokèmon as he decided to test out a move he had been perfecting.
As Guardian and Raigeki backed off, Ranma started to swirl his aura around himself as he moved into the very center of the group. As his aura swirled faster, rocks began to move as the wind picked up. Suddenly, Ranma flared his aura and shouted out his move.
"Hiryu Shoten Ha!" he shouted as he threw an uppercut and a tornado appeared, sending Team Rocket blasting off into the distance.
After making sure that Team Rocket wasn't coming back, Ranma turned to the Pokèmon that he had saved. Upon closer inspection, the wounds on the Pokèmon weren't that bad. As Ranma approached, the Pokèmon woke up.
"Mew?" /Huh/ said the cat-like Pokèmon.
"Ahhh! Cat!" yelled Ranma as he turned to run away. He had only taken five steps when he ran face first into a low hanging tree limb, knocking himself out cold.
(From now until Ranma wakes up, the Pokèmon will be speaking normally.)
"What's his problem?" asked Mew.
"I don't know," said Raigeki, shrugging his shoulders.
"I do. Ranma is afraid of cats. He's never had to be around them because the Professor knew and took care of all the cat types at the lab," Guardian told them his Master's little secret.
"I feel so sad, that someone so brave has such a weakness," said Mew sadly.
"I never knew," Raigeki told them in shock. He was so surprised because Ranma seemed like he didn't have any weaknesses.
Mew then got a determined look to her face. She was going to help this human who had so selflessly helped her when she was helpless. She floated over to his prone form and sat down next to his head. She leaned forward and rested her head against his. She was a powerful psychic, but what she was going to do was going to take her to her limits and she was going to need physical contact to do this. She took a deep breath before beginning, Guardian and Raigeki taking up guarding positions.
Mew looked around as she entered Ranma's mind, not knowing what she was going to find. As she looked around, she saw six doors. The first door led to a room that was very bright and full of children's toys. In one corner a small boy, no more than five, was finger-painting. Mew floated over to him, the boy turning as if he sensed her approach.
"Kitty!" he called out as he stood up and walked over to her.
"Who are you, child?" asked Mew telepathically.
"I'm Ranma," the child replied as he sat down.
"What are you doing here?" she asked him.
"I'm waiting for Mama to come with Papa so we can go to the park," he told her, smiling at the mention of the park.
"What were you doing over there in the corner?" Mew asked him curiously.
"I was finger-painting. Papa gave me a sheet of paper to paint on. But he told me not to paint on the top, only on the very bottom," Ranma explained to her.
Mew floated over to the sheet of paper, and using her telepathy to translate it, read the contents of the paper. Once she got to one certain part, her eyes widened to their fullest. This was a contract that said that if he didn't meet his mother's standards, he would have to kill himself. Mew floated back to Ranma.
"Ranma, do you know what the words on that paper mean?" she asked him seriously.
"No, Papa just told me to paint on it. I like painting, it's fun!" exclaimed the little boy.
"Ranma, you just signed a contract that will have dire consequences later on!" she told him firmly.
Ranma got confused by her words. "Consequences? Is that something that I can eat?" he asked her.
Mew sighed as she thought about how to say it so that he would understand. "Ranma, you made a promise by painting on that paper, that if you don't keep that promise, you will be forced to kill yourself," she tried to explain to him.
Ranma's eye widened. "No, you're lying. Papa wouldn't make me do that!" he told her firmly.
"Actually, it's your Mother's decision," Mew told him softly.
Ranma froze in shock. His Mother was going to kill him if he didn't keep this promise? He didn't want to believe the strange floating cat, but her words had a ring of truth to them that he couldn't deny. He slowly started to fade away, the room fading away with him.
Mew was shocked at first, but then she realized that Ranma's mind was merely mending itself, undoing the damage that had been done to it. Her resolve was firmed and she swore to help heal this human of the damage to his mind.
Mew found herself back at the doors, except one door was missing. She floated to the one next to the one she had gone into the first time. Inside was a training hall, the type used by Martial Artists. Mew had seen some of these in her travels, so she knew the basic layout. She looked around and saw that an older boy was here. He looked to be about sixteen human years old. He had an aura of confidence and pride, she noted as she watched him perform his techniques. Suddenly, he turned around and got into a defensive stance. She was surprised as she hadn't even moved.
"Who are you?" he demanded.
"My name is Mew. I've come to help you," she told him as she floated closer.
Once Ranma got a good look at her, he started to get scared. Mew had a feeling of what was going to happen, so she decided to head him off.
"Don't worry. I'm not a cat," she assured him.
"O-Ok, then what are you?" he asked as he suppressed his fear, barely.
"I'm a Pokèmon," she told him proudly.
Ranma got a confused look to his face. "A what?" he asked.
Now it was Mew's turn to be surprised. "You don't know what a Pokèmon is? How could this be?" said Mew.
She then took a closer look at him. She noticed some big differences that she had overlooked at first. Like, he had his hair in a pigtail, instead of having it short like she had seen during the fight. Another thing was that he was older, and had more scars than before. She concluded that this wasn't the same Ranma that had protected her from Team Rocket.
"What is your name?" she asked suddenly.
"I'm Ranma Saotome, greatest Martial Artist in the world," he told her arrogantly. As far as he knew, he was the best.
Definitely not the same boy, she concluded.
"Don't be too cocky, boy," Mew warned him. "There is always someone out there stronger than you." Mew had learned that the hard way when she had been beaten by Team Rocket and had to run for her life.
"Like I'm going to listen to a stupid flying cat-like thing," Ranma said flippantly as he turned to go back to practicing.
Mew's eyes flashed dangerously. She shoved her hand forwards and sent him flying through the air. He recovered mid-fight and landed on his feet, facing her.
"What the heck was that?" he asked in shock.
"Who's stupid now, little boy?" taunted Mew.
"Why you little…" said Ranma as he ran towards her and jumped into the air, spinning as he went, before lashing out his foot at her. His foot stopped a good two feet away from her as she created a pink bubble to protect her. His foot just went into the bubble a little way before sending him flying backwards. He flipped in mid-air so he landed on his feet, before running towards her and throwing punches that were all stopped by the bubble. He tried everything that he could think of for ten minutes, but nothing worked, not even when he started using his ki to boost his abilities. He finally stopped, panting his exhaustion. Mew floated over to him before tapping him with her tail, knocking him over. She started giggling when he landed with a loud thud.
Ranma was shocked. He had lost to an alien! No, wait, it said that it was a Pokèmon. That name rang a bell, like he should have known it, but he just couldn't remember where he had heard it before. His whole world came crumbling down. He was no longer the best, beaten by this creature. As he came to grips with this, he started to fade away, like he was never there. The room started to fade as well. Mew just sighed as another fragmented piece of Ranma's mind healed itself.
Mew once again found herself facing the doors, now there were only four. She decided to try the third door, instead of the first one. Inside, she found a room that was divided in half, one side was devoted to fighting and everything Martial, the other was all pink and frilly, all things girly were there. Makeup, shoes, clothes, shoes, dresses, and posters of male models.
"I'm glad that you finally arrived," said a voice from behind the door.
Mew whirled around to face the person, shocked at not detecting her before she had spoken.
"Don't be scared, Mew," the voice said as it got closer.
"Who are you?" Mew asked as she prepared to let loose a psychic blast at the person.
The person stepped into the light, revealing a young girl with red hair and an ample figure. She wore her hair in a loose ponytail and had on a very pretty dress. However, Mew knew that she could still fight in that dress if the need for fighting came up.
"My name is Ranko. I once had another name, but that is my name now," she told the floating cat.
"How do you know who I am?" asked Mew as she readied herself to flee.
"I have been watching you go through Ranma's mind, healing the damage that his father has done," said the girl as she walked over to a chair and sat down, motioning for Mew to do the same. "Though, there is one section that has been created by Ranma on his own. It was created to protect him from the horrors of his past."
"What do you mean?" Mew asked as she floated over to the bed and sat down on it.
"What I mean is that there are things in his past that would have crippled any normal person. However, Ranma is anything but normal. After all, he has me with him," Ranko told her as she started sharpening one of her swords.
"What do you mean by that? You mean to say that you're not a part of him?" Mew asked in shock.
"Yes and no," Ranko said with a sigh. "I am the spirit of a girl who drowned in a magical spring, a long time ago. When Ranma fell in that spring, he took on my body. Normally, only my body goes with a person, but with Ranma, my spirit went with him as well. As time went by, I finally found out why."
"Do tell," urged Mew.
"Ranma had no feminine side. His father had beaten out any traces of femininity from Ranma at an early age. Poor Ranma was only half a person when he fell into my spring. Now I take the place of his feminine side, so that he will be in balance. The problem is that ever since he used that stupid mirror, the magic binding me here with him has faded. All that is keeping me here is my stubbornness and the bond that I have forged with Ranma," said Ranko sadly. She then turned to Mew. "But you could help us become one. I can't because I'm only a spirit without any power, but you are obviously a very powerful being to be able to penetrate Ranma's barriers. You could help us become whole."
Mew sat back to think about all that Ranko had told her. She couldn't just leave this poor soul here to just fade away, but there was a question that she had to ask.
"How will this effect Ranma?" Mew asked her seriously.
"Ranma will be more in touch with his feminine side and will be able to assume my form at any time he wants. He will also get my skills from my past life. I was a very capable warrior and a skilled swordswoman. He won't have any bad side-effects, I promise. He will finally be a whole person, especially after you finish with his mind," Ranko assured her firmly. She wanted this more than anything.
Mew sighed as she decided to help. This wasn't going to be easy. Mending minds was a relatively easy task, but merging two beings, that was unheard of before. She nodded to Ranko. "How do I do this?" she asked.
"Just help me meld my mind to Ranma's," Ranko told her as she took one last look at the place she had called home for so many years.
Mew floated over to Ranko and put her paws on Ranko's forehead. Before she started, Ranko said one more thing.
"Thank you."
After melding Ranko with Ranma, Mew found herself facing three doors. She felt sad, but happy that Ranko was at peace within Ranma's mind. She faced the first door and opened it, expecting to see another room. Instead, all she found was an empty clearing, like the one where she had fainted. As she looked around, she heard a growling from behind her. As she turned, she caught a glimpse of a ten year old Ranma running to hide behind another tree.
"Don't worry, Ranma, I'm not going to hurt you," she sent out telepathically.
Hesitantly, Ranma crept out from behind a bush and came towards her, walking like a cat.
"Ranma? Are you okay?" Mew asked him.
"Meow?" said Ranma as he came closer to her.
"Ranma?" Mew said as he came even closer. She sent out her mind to touch his, but wished she hadn't when she did. She got a jumbled collection of thoughts and instincts, ones belonging to a cat instead of a boy. There was one image she got before he growled and jumped at her. A dark pit filled with glowing red eyes.
"Ranma, stop this at once," Mew pleaded with Ranma as he chased her through the forest of his mind. He kept yowling at her and trying to slash her with his 'claws'. His claws happened to be two foot long glowing red ki claws, and when she tried her shield bubble, the claws popped it and went straight at her.
Finally, Mew had enough. She turned around and sent a Psychic attack right at him while he was in mid-jump. He went flying straight back and crashed through a tree. He slammed into the tree behind the first one and crumpled to the ground. Mew quickly flew over to him to see if he was alright. She got here just as he woke up. She slowed to a stop, expecting him to resume attacking her. Instead, he just shook his head as if waking up from a long sleep and tried to stand up, his legs shaky from not being used like that for so long. He looked up at her with scared eyes.
"Where am I?" he asked in a scared voice.
"You're safe, Ranma," Mew told him.
"Who are you? Where is Papa?" asked Ranma as he tried to walk.
"Ranma, what is the last thing that you remember?" Mew asked curiously.
"Papa said that he was going to make me the best Martial Artist in the world, all I had to do was learn this one technique. He then tied me up with fish stuff and threw me into a pit. The last thing I can remember is glowing red eyes," Ranma told her with a shudder.
Mew floated over to him and put her paw on his cheek.
"Don't worry Ranma. You can't be hurt by them anymore," she told him softly.
"You mean it, Kitty?" he asked as he wiped away the tears that had started to form.
"Yes Ranma, I mean it. You're safe now," Mew told him softly.
"Promise?" he asked her again.
"I promise, Ranma," she said.
Ranma sighed as he started to fade away, along with the forest.
Mew now had her goal in sight, only two more doors. She looked at the and noticed that they were different. The door on the left was a pitch black color and was made of metal, while the door on the right was a deep burgundy color and made of wood. Mew looked back and forth between the two before deciding to go through the metal door. On the other side of door number one was a rooftop. And sitting on the edge was a grown up Ranma. Mew floated over to him and waited for him to talk.
"I was wondering when you were going to get here," Ranma told her softly.
"What do you mean, Ranma?" Mew asked, though she had a feeling she already knew.
"I'm not like my other counterparts. You see, I'm more active than the others. Though my child side wasn't active at all," he told her. "All I do is sit here and keep an eye on the others. I knew that you would eventually get to me after I felt the others disappear."
"Why do you just sit here? Surely there are better thing you could do," Mew commented.
"The truth is, I'm so depressed that I no longer have the energy to do anything but sit here and think," Ranma replied.
"Why are you depressed? Surely it couldn't be that bad," Mew told him as she sat down next him.
"You haven't had to live my life," he said sadly. He then looked over at her. "Do you want to here about it?"
At her nod Ranma began to tell her everything, from his childhood, to the training, to the falling into the spring of drowned girl and what happened afterwards, he told her everything. When he got to what happened in Nerima, he got more and more depressed. Finally, he told her about the Blood Mirror.
"I thought that after using it, I wouldn't have to feel this way, but instead all that happened was that I got fractured again. Now I have another part of me, the one that is in control. Now I have nothing else to do but sit here and think," Ranma told Mew with a sigh.
"What if you joined with the others, be one again?" Mew suggested.
"If I could, I would," said Ranma as he looked up at the stars.
Mew tried to think about what she could do to get him out of this funk he was in. She thought about fighting him, like what she had done with his younger self, but discarded that idea after looking into his eyes. They were the eyes of a man who had nothing left. She then perked up, that had given her an idea.
"Have you tried accepting the past?" she asked.
Ranma looked at her, confusion written on his face. "What do you mean?" he asked her.
"I mean, you keep thinking about the past, right?" At his nod, she continued. "Instead of just thinking about it and doing nothing, why don't you accept that it happened and that you can't change it. If you can do that, then you can finally let go of what is keeping you from joining the others."
Ranma thought hard about this. Accept the past? Was that even possible? The past had caused him so much pain and suffering, he just wanted to forget it. But why did he keep thinking about it if he wanted to forget it? Ranma was getting confused by this.
"How?" he asked. "How do I accept it?"
"By realizing that the past is apart of you. It is what makes you yourself. By accepting yourself, you accept the past," Mew told him softly.
"How do I do that?" he asked in a whisper, but Mew's acute hearing caught what he said.
"I don't know, Ranma. You have to figure that out on your own," said Mew.
Ranma just sat there, thinking, until he finally figured out how to finally accept who he was. He had been sitting on his butt for so long, doubting his abilities, that he had forgotten what made him Ranma. It was his spirit, his will to never lose. By doing nothing, he was giving up on life, giving up in general. Ranma took a deep breath… and stood up. He stood up and yelled his defiance to the heavens above. His yell echoed as he started to fade away, but not before he turned to Mew with a happy face. He faded away, along with the room and Mew was once again looking at a door. This time, however, there was only one door. With a happy sigh, she opened the door. Inside was a lab, with the Ranma she had seen fighting to protect her grinding something with a mortar and pestle.
"Come on in," he told her without turning. "I've been expecting you for a while now." He then pointed to a tea setting and a couple of cushions on the floor. He then turned around while corking a bottle and set it on a counter.
"I want to thank you, Mew. I can't tell you how grateful I am that you have helped me become who I was supposed to be. I never realized that I was so messed up inside," he told her while pointing to his head. He then poured her some tea before pouring himself some tea. He drank some and sighed in pleasure.
Mew looked at the cup before lifting it and taking a sip. Her eyes widened at how good it tasted. She quickly drained the cup of tea before mewing in pleasure. Ranma let out a laugh at the contented look on her face, but then his face turned serious.
"I'm afraid that it is time for you to leave my mind, Mew. I appreciate what you have done, but I have to do the rest on my own," he said firmly. At her worried look, he let out a little laugh. "Don't worry. All I have to do is fully integrate the others with me. After that, I'll wake up."
Mew nodded before beginning the transition out of his mind. As she came back to awareness, she realized that her wounds had healed completely. She looked around for Ranma's two Pokèmon as they weren't where they were before. She developed a sweatdrop when she saw them playing cards next to Ranma's dropped backpack. With a smile and a shout, Raigeki laid down his cards.
"Full House!" he exclaimed.
Guardian grumbled about how he never won while handing over his pile of treats they were playing with. When he looked over to see how Mew was doing, his eyes widened when he saw that she was awake.
"Mew! You're awake. How's Ranma doing?" Guardian asked her while bounding over.
"He's fine. There's nothing more I can do for him. He'll wake up when he's ready," she told him and Raigeki who had scampered over after Guardian.
"In the mean time," said Raigeki, "how about we play some cards?" He held up the cards they had been using.
Half-an-hour later, Raigeki was muttering about he was never playing with a psychic Pokèmon ever again as he handed her the rest of his treats. Mew just smiled at him.
Ranma woke up to the sight of them sitting around playing cards. He looked around, the world a much brighter place to be after finally becoming a whole person. He was curious about one thing though. He could now tell where each of his Pokèmon was without even looking.
(I'll ask Mew about it later,) he thought as he sat up.
(Ask me about what?) Said a voice in his head.
Ranma fell back to the ground in shock.
(What the hell?) He shouted mentally. From his position on the ground, he saw Mew wince. (How can I hear you in my head?)
(I guess that when I went into your mind, I formed a mental bond with you and awoke a latent psychic power,) Mew told him as she floated over to him.
Ranma's face went pale. (Does this mean that you have to stay with me? I don't think that I could handle taking away your freedom,) he said as he sat up again.
(It wouldn't be like that, Ranma. After seeing into your mind and hearing about your past, I want to stay,) she told him, Guardian and Raigeki looking on curiously. To them, all Ranma and Mew were doing was looking at each other.
(Mew, you deserve a better life than being someone's Pokèmon. You deserve to be free, without a care in the world. I can't take that away from you,) Ranma said as shook his head.
(Ranma, perhaps you aren't listening. I…want…to…stay! I know more about you than you do. Anyway, you can't take away my freedom if I willingly go with you,) Mew told him, smirking as only cats can.
"Gods you're stubborn!" Ranma said out loud. "Fine, but you are free to leave whenever you want to go."
"Mew, Mew Mew Mew Mew Mew!" /Sure, but don't count on me leaving/ Mew told him as he pulled out an empty pokèball.
"You know, I've already got a name for you," he told her. "You're like my personal Cat Goddess. So I'll call you Bast, Goddess of Cats."
Mew thought about it for a few seconds before mewing her approval. All cats are a little vain and she liked being named after a Goddess.
Ranma smiled as he let the pokèball fly. After Bast had been captured, he caught the ball and put it in subspace. He then turned around as he heard footsteps, but relaxed when he saw that it was Officer Jenny with her backup. As she looked around, she turned her gaze to Ranma with a questioning look.
"What happened here?" she asked him.
"Had a little run in with Team Rocket, but I sent them flying with one of my techniques," he replied with a smirk. "On the upside, I made a new friend."
"Can I meet your new friend?" she asked him patiently.
Ranma shook his head. "I'd rather you didn't. She's a little shy," he told her firmly.
Jenny was about to argue, but she saw in his eyes that he wasn't budging on the issue. She let out a sigh as she let this one slide. She then turned to the others in her group.
"Alright, start searching for Team Rocket. I'll take him back to central to get his statement," she ordered.
"Yes, ma'am!" they said as one. They then began searching the forest.
After Jenny took Ranma's statement, Ranma started back off towards Pewter City. She had managed to get him to promise to visit her next time he was in Viridian City. After Ranma got to the forest, he let Bast out to float around, not wanting to keep her cooped up. As he watched her float around, he couldn't help but smile at her energy as she darted around trees and flew through the air. He knew that his journey was going to be a lot different from now on.
I'm still taking votes on who I should pair Ranma up with. I got an overwhelming amount for Sabrina, but this wouldn't be Ranma if he didn't have a few girls going after him. So I'm trying to decide who should take up the second and third spots.
Like it? Love it? Hate it? Please review. Flames will be used to light my incense (Sage scented).