The characters of Ranma1/2 and Pokemon are not mine. Nor do any of the other known characters that may appear in this story. Hiraishin belongs to himself but has given permission to appear in this story.
2 B A Master by Lioconvoy
Pre-chapter note: The Prologue and first chapter have been revised, please read/re-read them before reading this chapter.
Chapter 2: New Companions
Today just started on the wrong foot, Ukyo stood confused, what was going on? First Ranma woke her up after finding out they had been robbed, and then the thieves; Team Rocket, showed up to brag. Moments later Team Rocket got their stolen items stolen from them by a Meowth. Seeing the Meowth caused her nephew to yell and run right into a tree. What was going on?
"Who dares steal from TEAM ROCKET?" Hiraishin blamed Lio for this if he had been holding the bag, then the Meowth wouldn't have taken it. A Meowth…, he wanted the kitty, they would have to capture it. Taking out a pokeball he released his Fearrow. "Skywalker, get that kitty!"
Lio dodged several shuriken, and then he noticed what appeared to be the source of their problem. A young man with long black hair dressed in Houenn robes; from his sleeve he appeared to be grabbing more pointy items. There was only one thing to do, have one of his Pokemon fight his battle. Pulling out a pokeball, he tried to release his Blazeken, instead he found his pokeball empty. "Hiraishin, where is Wildride?"
"I sold him for five dollars and thirty-two cents." The masked Rocket watched as Skywalker chased the fleeing Meowth. The Kitty would be his, then he got hit in the back of his head. Turning he saw his partner with his fist raised. "Hey!"
"You sold my Blazeken for five dollars!" The redhead pulled out another of his pokeballs. He then released the Pokemon inside.
"And thirty-two cents..." Hiraishin pulled a smoke bomb out from underneath his cape...Lio had brought out his Gengar that meant only one thing.
"Jhiaxus, Torment!" Lio smiled, his partner was going to pay.
With those words Hiraishin threw down the smoke bomb. Fleeing was his best option and Skywalker would return on its own.
-v-v-v-v-
Fifteen minutes after the Rockets had run off Ukyo inventoried the bag that was handed to her by the older boy in strange robes, he sat examining Ranma. Finding one of Ranma's pokeballs, she released its content to be surprised by a Snorlax. The giant Pokemon took it's pokeball from her before she could even blink her eyes and then joined the strange boy at her nephew's side. Taking Ranma's other pokeball she released his Pikachu.
"Pika?"
"Ranma's hurt." She didn't have her sister's knack for understanding Pokemon, but the Pikachu was probably worried where its master was.
"He's not hurt that badly" The ravened hair boy watched as the Snorlax picked up the pigtailed boy. "What are you doing?"
To Ukyo's surprise and judging by the face their rescuer's, his too, the Snolax held up a wooden sign.
'I'm carrying him; we need to get to Viridian city before he runs out of food to feed me.' Then Snolax yawned as he held up another sign. 'Now hurry up and pack the masters belongings.'
"A Snorlax that can communicate in English, amazing. I guess we should follow its lead." The former Amazon adjusted his glasses. He had stumbled upon an interesting trainer. "Oh, I haven't introduced myself yet, my name is Mousse."
"I'm Ukyo, and the one the Snorlax is carrying is Ranma." Her sister mentioned that Genma had an odd Snorlax, this must be it. It wasn't like a Snorlax to actually be willing to work even if it was to get food.
-v-v-v-v-
Ranma opened his eyes; he was being carried over the shoulder by his father's Snorlax again. Whenever the giant Pokemon beat him, he would carry him like this back to his father. Now though his father was in Jail, so where was the Snorlax carrying him.
"Hey, he's awake now Genma, you can put him down." Mousse was truly amazed by the normally slothful Pokemon. It passed quickly through the forest despite its size and girth.
"Genma?" As the Snorlax put the pigtailed trainer down, it held up a wooden sign.
'Your aunt decided to name me after your father.'
"And you don't mind?" After taking his backpack from the newcomer to their party, Jean Luc jumped from Ukyo's shoulder to his own. "Um, who are you?"
"This is Mousse, he's the reason we got our Pokemon back." Ukyo smiled as she saw how happy Jean Luc was to be back with her nephew.
'Yes I mind, but they wouldn't pay attention to me.' Genma held up the sign, but he had a feeling like before it wouldn't be read, that's how he ended up named after his first trainer.
"Thank you for helping us. Um that demon wasn't yours was it?" Ranma frowned; the thought of a feline Pokemon around was scary.
"You mean Shampoo, she's in her pokeball and I'll keep her there if she scares you. I'm surprised someone from the outside world is stupid enough to try and teach the Nekoken." Mousse frowned from what Ukyo told him already, Ranma had been trained by his father. What kind of father would put his child though that torture.
"Outside world?" Ukyo titled her head, what did Mousse mean?
"You're from Jusendo Valley? Wait, your … is named after her?" The pigtailed trainer shivered, Shampoo was bad enough, but combined with a …
"So you've heard of Jusendo, yes that is where I and Mumu-chan are from. I left for various reasons, one of which was the treatment Mumu-chan received." In his arms Mousse held his first Pokemon, the shiny white Psyduck he named Mumu-chan. Many of the younger girls played cruel games with his partner simply because of his odd color. "Do you know Shampoo?"
"I met her while me and my pops were training." The youngest Saotome felt no reason to mention the purple haired girl was trying to kill him, he wasn't sure if his savior would try to finish the job or not.
"I see. How's she doing?" It had been a four years since the robed boy left his the hidden Amazon village. He truly loved Shampoo, but he couldn't stay in that village any longer. Not after what happen to his sister.
"Okay, you two seem to know what each other is talking about, so could one of you fill me in?" Ukyo really hated being in the dark.
"In Houenn, there is a little known valley called Jusendo. Jusendo Valley is home of Jusenkyo, and the hidden Amazon village. The Amazons are a people whose traditions date back even before the great disaster that changed the shape of the world and the animals that live on it." Mousse paused, Ranma seemed to have an idea of what he was talking about, but Ukyo didn't seem to have a clue. "The world didn't always have animals that evolve like Pokemon, once there were animals that only had one shape throughout their entire life. Jusenkyo, holds the remains of many such animals within it's many cursed springs."
"Cursed Springs?" As many strange things were in the world, the youngest of the four Cerulean sisters found it hard to believe in cursed springs.
"Jusenkyo is a collection of springs; each spring has a tragic story of some creature or person that drowned in it. If someone were to fall into a spring they'd take on the form of whatever drowned in it. Hot water will restore them, but cold water places them back into their cursed state." From what the former Amazon had heard it had been a long time since anyone fell victim to a spring, the guardians of Jusenkyo did a good job preventing the few visitors from getting cursed.
"Does that explain things enough for you Ucchan?" Inwardly Ranma sighed; he'd have to be careful around Mousse. The last thing he wanted was his curse being found out.
"So the Amazons consider everything outside of Jusendo Valley, the outside world?" That seemed like a strange distinction in her mind. Ukyo now found herself curious just why Mousse left his village.
"Yes, a habit I haven't quite broken myself of. Since you didn't answer earlier Ranma, how is Shampoo?" The former Amazon looked at the pigtailed trainer, hoping for good news.
"She's doing fine, she was the village champion, but I gotta say she isn't all that much of a martial artist." He had beaten her because she was sloppy; he knocked her out with her own mace. His father always said women were weak, and if not for the fact he was a part time female he'd be inclined to agree.
"The Amazons take pride in the fact that they are the strongest in the world, a fact that hasn't truly been proven for several generations. Although visitors to our hidden village are rare, they have been several cases of Amazon females taking the male visitors as their husbands." It was the opinion of the village that Pokemon made the people of the outside world weaker. His own training with Mumu-chan and his Spinda had toughened his mind, his Linoone toughened his body and his Feebas…well he learned nothing from it. Still, his Pokemon made him stronger not weaker, he had met several other martial artists and they too were stronger because of their Pokemon.
"Why did the women marry the male outsiders?" The more questions answered the more new questions Ukyo had. Mousse's village was strange.
"Amazon Law, if a woman loses to a male outsider she must take him as her husband, however if a woman loses to a female outsider she must give her the kiss of death and hunt her down to the end of the world. These laws have gone unchanged for centuries despite my villages continuing weakening. Several strong warriors have lost their lives hunting down those that beat them, and others were force to marry men they did not love. In my village that sort of thing is expected, but I couldn't stand it, not after my sister was forced to marry an outsider she lost to." Mousse adjusted his glasses with his free hand. "That's another reason I left, however because I left for that reason, I am not welcomed back ever again, a male having problems with the law is unacceptable."
"Yeah, the women rule the village, its cause my Pop insulted them I had to…" Ranma stopped himself. Either his aunt would assume he's Shampoo's husband or glasses-boy would figure out about his curse. Neither was something he wanted happening. Shampoo didn't really seem like wife material, cute or not.
"What happened?" Insulting the women of the village normally had a steep price; the former Amazon wondered what Ranma had to do. Since he was here though, it meant he didn't fight the village champion.
"I'd rather not talk about it." With that Ranma planned on keeping quiet for a bit.
-v-v-v-v-
Ukyo sighed; their trek up to this point had been pretty quiet since Ranma didn't want to talk about what happened in Mousse's village. As she sat their polishing her water stone, the boys were setting up a couple of tents the Amazon had with him. It was odd, his bag was about the same size as her nephew's but it seemed to hold a whole lot more.
"Pika"
"I don't care if Mumu-chan says there's nothing wrong with her; I don't want to see her." The pigtailed trainer was getting annoyed at his partner. Jean Luc kept trying to get him to accept Shampoo, the Moewth, and there was no way he would.
"You can understand him?" The robed boy found his new friend rather interesting. First the Snorlax that could both understand and write English, and now the boy himself could understand his Pikachu, although it seemed he didn't understand Mumu-chan, it was almost as if his Pikachu had to translate for him.
"Yeah, it seems the more I talk with him the more I understand him, my Pop could understand Genma's yawns and growls. He wasn't a fan of Pokemon, but I remember once when I was little he told me Saotome's formed an unbreakable bond with their first Pokemon. He wanted to find the most powerful Pokemon to be my partner, but over time I guess he gave up and he started telling me Pokemon were useless." He had completely forgotten about that fact until just now. He thought he gained his ability to understand Jean Luc from his mother, but the Snorlax's signs reminded him his father had the same talent and once explained it's origin. How did his mother understand her Mr. Mime then? She wasn't a Saotome.
"Pika Pika?" Jean Luc watched as his trainer finished the tent with Mumu-chan's trainer.
"He said Genma was the exception only because Genma was like his brother, and knew all his secrets." Ranma looked over at the Snorlax, after eating half of his traveling food the giant Pokemon went to sleep.
"As interesting as that is, it could get annoying, you answering him without explaining what he's saying." Mousse assumed he asked why Ranma's father kept the Snorlax, but again that was only an assumption. "Ukyo, we're done with the tents."
"What's that you have?" The youngest Saotome looked over to his aunt polishing a stone.
"This is a Water Stone; it's an evolution stone that helps evolving certain Pokemon. I got it for my Staryu, but I want to wait to use it. If I use it too soon my Staryu won't learn some of its more powerful moves.
"That's pretty smart of you, most people rush to evolve their Pokemon, but if you take your time it can become much stronger." Mousse joined Ukyo by the fire, and Ranma then sat next to him. "Ranma, a thunder stone can evolve your Pikachu into a Raichu, however every day we are learning more and more about Pokemon, so it's very possible there's another way to evolve your Pikachu as well."
"I see. Hey, Pikachu you interested in evolving anytime soon?"
"Pikachu!"
"Okay, I'll do my best to keep a Thunder Stone away from you then." Jean Luc answered his question with a violent no. It seemed like his partner wanted to stay the way he was, he could understand that with his own transformation. "Hey can I see that Water Stone? I've always been curious how a little rock could cause a Pokemon to evolve."
"Sure" Ukyo handed the water stone to her nephew; she noticed as it passed into his hands it started to glow faintly.
"That is odd… an evolution stone normally doesn't glow in the hands of a human." The former Amazon watched as the glow enveloped Ranma. What in the world was happening?
"Augh!"
"Ranchan!" Ukyo panicked, after the glow swallowed her nephew he screamed in pain. Underneath the glow she could see his body changing becoming smaller and… more feminine? What in the world was going on? When the transformation was complete, Ranma fell to the ground, now a red-haired girl.
Mousse quickly checked the transformed trainer. How had this happen? "He…she's okay, but I'm guessing she fainted from the pain. I have never witnessed anything like this before, but…"
Jean Luc watched as Ukyo and Mousse moved Ranma into the larger tent. How had the evolution stone transformed his trainer, was it wet?
-v-v-v-v-
Ranma woke up in a tent. His body still hurt, what had that Water Stone done to him? Ranma slowly got up and left the tent. Looking up he could see the stars were now out. From their position, he'd only been out for an hour. Then he saw Ukyo and Mousse. He had no idea what to tell them.
"Ranma you're awake. You had a Jusenkyo curse didn't you?" The former Amazon frowned. What they had discovered while the redhead was unconscious would not sit well with her.
"What do you mean had?"
"Ranchan, we poured hot water on you. Nothing happened." Ukyo frowned. As he or she was, her niece looked a lot like her older sister, although Ranma had her mother's red hair. Still the pigtailed girl had spent most of her life as a guy, so the youngest of the four Cerulean sisters understood she wouldn't be very happy being stuck the way she was.
"Nothing happened…? I can't turn back into a guy…?" His… no her, she wasn't a guy anymore. Her father had promised her mother that she'd be a man among men. Now she couldn't even be a pathetic excuse for a man like her father. She fell to her knees. "My mother is going to kill me."
"Ranchan my sister would never do that. She'll accept you however you are." Ukyo worried about the thoughts going through the redheads mind. Ranma wouldn't do anything drastic would she?"
"There is also the possibility another evolution stone can change you back, or at least restore your curse." Mousses expression matched Ukyo's. If he was home something like this would be considered an honor, but he was sure Ranma did not think that way. The curse was probably bad enough as it was, but now to be locked that way…Ranma would probably rather choose death.
It wasn't proper for a man to cry that's what her father always taught her, but thanks to her father she wasn't a man anymore. Ranma couldn't stop them from flowing. Her life was over.
-v-
Lio's Corner:
-Yeah, I know it's been quite a while since I updated this story. I kinda of lost my direction for it, and unlike "Out There" I didn't put much effort into finding it.
-Silverscale: If Akane show's up, cause right now I'm not sure how she'll fit into things, it's not likely she'll end up with Ranma. In fact...I think the one who has the best chances with Ranma in this story is Kodachi, however, she's pretty much going to be OOC, and won't show up for quite some time anyway.
-Sierra-Falls: Sorry for making you wait so long, and I hope that this chapter hasn't disappointed you.
-Shakeval: Ranma's pokemon will get training at the gyms, Ranma himself will get training from outside of the gyms.
-Hiraishin and I have gone our separate ways, but he still sends me stuff vocationally, since this Omake was time sensitive, I'm placing it here instead of at the end of the next chapter of "Laying it on the Line", cause who knows when I'll get inspiration for that story.
Update 22 Mar 09:
- Minor revisions, and a plot hole fixed, or I attempted to fix it.
Hiraishin's Surprise Omake:
Lio stared at Hiraishin as he looked to be building a crude approximation of a space ship.
"I'm almost afraid to ask...but what are you doing?"
"Hiraishin must build a space ship so Hiraishin can either a, find the right asteroid or b, find the Beyonder's world and get that 1st costume making machine!"
"Sigh...Okay I'll bite. Why?"
"Spider-man 3 will be here soon! and even better," Hiraishin looked almost reverent as he looked to the heaven's. "Venom." Lio face palmed.
"So you want a symbionat suit right? God this is worse than when Ghost Rider came out and you set your head on fire." Hiraishin struck a heroic pose.
"THE PATH TO FANDOM IS FRAUGHT WITH PERIL! I mean just look at the fangirls. It can get quite bloody." Lio contemplated for a moment.
"You do have a point there. Try not to kill yourself this time. I doubt Lucy will be pleased."
"Meh."
