Disclaimer:- It is not my intention at any point in time to lay claim to the rights or privileges of the owners of Ranma-chan, or his cohorts in crime. I am but a lowly fan fiction writer. Any attempt to sue me will be found to be futile, as I am very poor. If you would like to change that fact at any point in time, please, please, please, sell me rights to Ranma half for one cent US. Okay, back to reality, I suppose it's back to the mines for me. Pokemon are their own entity, I wanted to lay claim to them but was threatened with mass electrocution, incineration and drowning, I shudder to think what the Psychic Pokemon might do.
Authors note)- Wow, talk about response, I didn't see one bad review. As a reward I'll release this chapter now, like I said I already had most of this written when I released the first chapter so please don't expect the next chapter quite as quickly. The next chapter of Phoenix Ascension is coming along nicely and will be in post production polishing shortly(Once I can kick my muse and get it functioning again). The intermittent problem with Sky and Skye should now be resolved, I changed from Sky half way into this chapter and tried to go back and make changes to chapter 1, I obviously missed a few.
All Pokemon and attacks of said Pokemon are based on the 10th anniversary Pokedex released by Prima in conjunction with Nintendo. So as far as I can tell its accurate. Once they start training with Ranma, well lets just say things will change, just don't expect instant super-powered Pokemon.
Who's a Pokemon Master?
Chapter 2 'The taming of the Fearow'
Ranma was walking through the waist high grass when his danger sense went off the scale and he dove sideways in a tuck and roll. He came up facing the tree he'd been walking towards as a second bolt of lightning crashed into the turf just to his left ripping up dirt in the concussive blast. Pikachu who'd been sleeping in his arms woke up with a start and immediately jumped out of his reach standing before him as if ready to take on all comers.
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Skye was having the most wonderful dream, she dreamt that she'd met a human trainer and that she now belonged with him, The little electric mouse had dreamed of the adventures she'd face with her trainer for most of her life, hanging on the Matriarchs every word as she retold of her battles against all the strange and powerful Pokemon that lived in this world. She remembered the tales of friendships and bravery, the fight won, and even those that she lost as they taught her to be stronger. Oh yes, she'd been a little Pokemon that had big dreams, and now. Well right now she could hear the troops warning call, and her eyes blinked open just as the world inverted itself as Ranma did a sideways somersault and came upright resting on one knee. Quickly assessing the situation she realized just how close they'd come to the troops resting place for the day. Skye felt a crashing need to protect the man who held her so securely. Even against the members of her own troop, not that she'd hurt any of them if she could help it. But to be effective she'd need to be clear so she wouldn't hurt the human.
She leapt from his arms into the grass and bolted forwards even as another bolt of electricity shot past her towards the defenceless human. That was when she saw a massive ball of blue light pass over her head in the direction of the tree where it impacted with a large branch and disintegrated it. A large cloud of inch long splinters flew out the other side as a part of the branch dissolved, the rest of the branch dropped heavily into the grass at the base of the tree and she could hear a number of startled Pika's and Pichu's being cried out. Skye tried to look back over her shoulder at her trainer; surely he hadn't been responsible for that? There must be another Pokemon present, but she couldn't think of any that had an attack like that. All she saw behind her though was Ranma, that's when she learned a valuable lesson. It's always advisable to look where you're going, her paw caught a pebble and the leg folded under her planting her face first into the ground where the momentum caused her to dig a shallow trench. That is until she stopped and felt a paw touch her shoulder, looking up she found herself eye to eye with the Matriarch. Steel the Pikachu called a quick command over her shoulder and the attacks on the lone human suddenly stopped, then she looked back down at the young one who'd held a special place in her heart for a number of years.
"Skye, so it looks like you've finally found what you were looking for."
"Huh?" (She should get on really well with Ranma; she's quite eloquent when she's surprised isn't she?)
"I always new that one day you'd leave this place. The look in your eyes when you'd listen to me tell tales of the greater world. I'm glad for you. You've been working towards leaving for a while now, just like I did all those years ago."
"Matriarch, I….." Sky searched for something to say, but in the end all she could think of was, "….Thank you."
"For what child? For knowing that you were just like I was when I was a youngling? I have good memories of my time out there, now go and make your own, and one day it'll be you telling tales to the young Pichu."
"But…"
"Now you need to lead your trainer around our territory, I don't want to lose anymore of my daughters; they wouldn't like it out there. I think you'll do well with this trainer; she has some skills that I've never seen before. I do hope she can teach them to you."
"Will I? Will I like it out there Steel?"
"Oh yes, I knew a long time ago that the plains here were not big enough to contain you, and that the time would come when you'd leave, now go. She's waiting." Sky turned and looked where the Matriarch was indicating and sure enough Ranma was back on his feet watching the tree warily, but he'd also cast glances at her to make sure she was alright. A feeling seemed to grow inside her when she saw the concern the human had for her even though they'd only just met.
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Ranma was so busy watching his Pikachu running towards the tree that he nearly failed to see the incoming attack let alone avoid it. With his reflexes being on high alert he did the only thing that he could, he jumped straight up, even knowing that it'd put him at a disadvantage, at the top of his arc he flipped to re-orient himself towards his enemies. He'd have to do something to distract them, as he'd deduced that those attacking them were the rest of his Pikachu's troop, and he really didn't want to hurt them. So he threw out a low powered Mouko Takabisha at the tree which also had the added advantage of moving him out of the way of the Thunderbolts and other electric attacks that were heading in his direction. He winced as his attack caused his own Pikachu to stumble and take a nosedive, but he was really too busy to take much other notice until he heard a cry.
"PIKA-CHUUUU!!!!!" All of a sudden all the incoming attacks stopped well not stopped but there were no more on the way after these missed, so Ranma stopped charging for another MT (1) as he waited for the next development. Standing up carefully he watched as Pikachu got up and began talking with another Pikachu. He shook his head thinking about that, he was going to have to think of a name for her as it could be confusing to keep calling her Pikachu. Especially as they may meet others of her kind. Oh well he'd think about that later, right now he was wondering if he'd lost her back to her troop.
The red-headed martial artist heaved a sigh of relief a minute later as Pikachu turned away from the slightly larger Pikachu and bounded back towards him. He smiled as she skidded to a halt on her haunches and spoke to him excitedly.
"Pi, pika pi ka-chu!" He didn't understand a word she was saying but the way she waved her arm and pointed to his right cleared up any misunderstanding he might have.
He repeated her gesture before saying, "This way?"
"Pika!" She nodded at her trainer and dashed off in the indicated direction trailing a diminutive martial artist behind her.
"Well that went well." Dex spoke for the first time in a while.
"Where were you?"
"In your pocket, keeping quiet so I didn't distract you and get us both electrocuted."
"Oh, right. Sorry about that."
"That's alright, apology accepted. Now that we've avoided that, I suppose we'd better get your story straight. Now we can do this a number of ways, but I think I've already explained why I think you'd be best to go in your female form."
"Yeah so you said, what if I don't wanna?"
"Well I can hardly make you do the smart thing can I? I thought you'd agreed to listen to me if I told you something was a good idea?"
"I did, I didn't say I'd do it if I didn't agree, or if you couldn't convince me. Did I?"
"I suppose not. Alright tell me why it's not a good idea."
"Well I'm a guy."
"Yes, and?
"I'M A GUY!"
"You already said that, increasing your volume won't make my question any different. I'm waiting." Dex looked impassively at the young girl, it's not really hard for a black plastic box to do if you think about it.
"Well, uh, I dunno. It's just important for me to be a guy"
"Well, how can I argue with such a well thought out and worded reason as that?"
"Hey! It's easy for you, you ain't gotta be confused about nuthin'. You're just a box, no one cares what you are, just what you do!"
"Now we're getting somewhere. So what you're saying is that others have expectations of you?"
"Well yeah. Don't everyone?"
"I suppose so, so why don't you tell me about some of those expectations? I'm a very good listener you know."
"Um, I dunno, Pops said real men don't talk about their feelings. Anyway it's not like it'll change my mind!"
"I like your 'Pops' already, I'd 'like' to deep fry him in a plasma reactor. I suppose he told you that women were weak and stupid as well, and couldn't do all the things that men can do?"
"Huh! How'd you know that, because I know you haven't met him?"
"No, I've never met him, but I've known people like him. Bigoted people who's opinions aren't really respected by anyone with half a brain."
"You can't talk about my Pops like that!"
"Yes I can, it's my opinion of him and the only way you can change it is if you can prove to me that he's not an idiot. Let me ask you something, do you ever feel happy, like laughing out loud?"
"Yeah, sometimes."
"Well they're emotions, if they make you weak you really shouldn't feel them. I want you to try and imagine your life without them, go ahead." Ranma frowned at the little black box resting in his hand as he tried to do as asked. After a while the frown had turned into a dark scowl. "Hard isn't it? Life wouldn't really be worth living, would it?"
"I, I don't ever wanna think 'bout that again."
"It's lucky you don't have to then, but why don't you ever want to think about it?"
"I think I'd go crazy with my old life and I might hurt someone, might even kill'em." His expression turned grim as he contemplated the thought that he might break the one tenet of martial arts he never believed he could.
"I see, so was your life really that bad?" Ranma paused to think about it.
"Yeah I think it was, it wasn't any one thing, it was just when it gets taken all together that it gets real bad. The thing was that towards the end there it seemed to be the only way to view the situation. I couldn't separate one thing from the other or things threatened to get really bad, like life threatening bad."
"Tell me more Ranma, we've got maybe forty or fifty miles to walk and it'll fill in the time. Now I think I've figured out that you're either a gymnast or a martial artist. And taking into account those attack you used I'd have to say martial artist. For a martial artist you seem pretty strong."
"I'm the best!"
"Really? So there's no one stronger than you on your world? That must make you happy to know that?"
"Um, I guess there's a coupla people stronger than me an' it don't make me happy."
"Ah frustration. Let me explain something Ranma, in a way your father was right about emotions, but he didn't tell you both sides of the story. Emotions allow humans to cope with things that happen to them, like your frustration. If the person gives into the emotion and allows it to rule their life then you could say that the person wasn't strong enough to deal with their life." Ranma thought about that for a moment and found his mind turning to Soun Tendo, now there was a man who had given up and let life happen to him. "Now on the other hand let's take your frustration, if you let it rule you then you might turn bitter and resentful towards the world, but you can use that same frustration to drive you to greater heights making you stronger. I can tell that you aren't the type to give up so you must have gotten stronger."
"Yeah I suppose so, not like a certain un-cute tomboy." Ranma muttered the last to himself not quite quiet enough for Dex not to hear him but quiet enough that Dex knew he didn't really want to talk further about the 'Tomboy'.
"I can say that all emotions are like that Ranma, there are two ways to go with them either give in and curl up into a ball, or grow strong enough that you use them instead of the other way around. Emotions are also a means of communication. People who see your emotions know how to deal with you; they can give support or avoid you as necessary. I'm sure there are times when you'd rather be left alone, but as you don't show your emotions the people around you don't know that and treat you as they normally would."
Ranma remembered a number of occasions when he felt like that and those around him kept pushing until he exploded. Then they'd act like they were the injured party. It surprised him to know that if he'd just shown a little emotion things might have turned out differently.
"I'll leave you with your thoughts for a while Ranma, but we really need to have this resolved by the time we get to Pallet Town. I'll go ahead and create an identity for both of your sides and we'll discuss it later, okay?"
"Sure." But it didn't take long to lose himself in the myriad thoughts that were swirling around in his head It took a while but it seemed like the thoughts swirling in his head were slowly being reassembled with the knowledge that Dex had imparted to him. The knowledge that just a slight show of emotion on his part might have changed the outcome of some of those times, the strongest emotion he'd ever let them see was his frustration even when he was so angry that he wanted to break 'things'. Maybe if they'd known they'd been pushing him into corners they might not have pushed so hard. Then again there were an awful lot of might's and ifs in there, maybe showing the emotions wouldn't have changed a thing, but a guy could hope couldn't he?
Ranma was startled out of his reverie as a weight hit him in the small of the back and scrabbled its way up his pack to come to rest on his left shoulder. Looking up into the dark brown eyes of Pikachu he smiled for the first time in a couple of hours, not that he knew he'd been brooding that long, time had just flown by and the sun was nearing the horizon.
"Oh hi Pikachu, how's it going?"
"Pika!" Ranma guessed that she was doing fine if the grin on her face was any indication. It was strange to attribute human emotions to an animal, but he'd already seen that the Pikachu was capable of more thought than some of the humans he'd lived near. Then he thought of the problem he'd thought of earlier.
"Hey Pikachu. I think we'd better give you a name. I mean I can't keep calling you Pikachu, it'd be like saying 'Hey you!' all the time. Dex can you try to tell her what I just said? (2)"
"Not a problem Ranma, though I'm sure it'd be easier for you to learn English." He spoke for a while in the language that Ranma had been studying at Furinkan High for nearly a year and didn't recognize much of it as what is spoken in the real world has very little to do with what is taught in Japanese schools (3).
"Pika!" Pikachu nodded enthusiastically at the idea.
"Uh okay, but I've been learning English for a while now an' I still don't understand it at all." He replied to Dex's suggestion that he learn a new language. Pikachu cocked her head and then shook it as she thought that was a bit of a mouthful for a name. Until Dex repeated what had been said so she could understand and that's when she started nodding again.
"Hmmm, well maybe you need a better teacher."
"Yeah but I don't wanna go to school here, it'd be a waste of time."
"Well you don't have to go to school, I can teach you better than anyone. All we need to do is talk and intersperse the things I teach you into that conversation. If we do it in front of your Pokemon they'll pick up Japanese at the same time. For the mean time let's try and think of a name for Pikachu."
"Well I think Sakura (4) works, she's cute enough." After a moments translation Pikachu shook her head. "Don't like that one huh, well let me think." He then noticed that she was pointing at the sky.
"Do you already have a name?"
"Pi." Nod.
"Right so we've just got to figure out what it is?"
"Oh charades, I just love charades!" Ranma looked at the pokedex strangely, even he knew sarcasm when he heard it.
"So something to do with the sky huh?" Again she nodded as she heard Dex translate. (5)
"Blue?" Shake. "Cloud?" Shake. He looked up for inspiration as he ran out of easy ideas.
"Maybe we need to be more literal, maybe she wasn't nodding about it being something in the sky maybe she meant the word sky fit her."
"I dunno, why don't you check."
"Pi!" She jumped up and down in her excitement as she agreed. But then she totally confused Ranma as she shook her head as well.
"Huh? What's that mean?"
"I'd say we only got it partially right."
"Oh." He looked down to find that Pikachu had curled up and appeared to be asleep, then as he watched she opened her eyes and acted as if she were just waking up.
"Awake?" Shake. "Asleep?" Shake. "Alright let's try morning?"
"Pika pi!" But again with the shaking and nodding.
"Alright Pikachu give us the next clue." At this the tiny Pikachu pointed at herself, then at different objects around them even including Ranma and Dex. Ranma got frustrated as he named each thing she pointed to in order as best he could. That couldn't be right though as an equally frustrated Pikachu hit him with a light Thunderwave attack that nearly knocked him on his ass.
Sky was looking around for someway to let her owner know what the next clue when she saw something that gave her an idea. She raced over and plucked the Buttercup and then came back to show Ranma, pointing to the flower and then herself."
"Oh! Colour?"
"PI!!!" Much nodding.
"So it's the colour of morning sky?" Shake-nod. "How big is your name?" To which she replied by indicating something really small. "Okay that means it doesn't translate very well then."
"It may just be a specific colour Ranma."
"Pi!!!"
"Right, now all we've got to do is figure out which one, can you help us Pikachu?"
"Pika pika ka." She looked around for something that looked even remotely like what she was trying to describe when she saw the buckles on the bag her trainer had on. "Pika pi!" She jumped up and held onto the closest buckle until Ranma took the pack off and looked at what she had hold of.
"Ah, I get it, just before the sun rises in the morning the sky turns a silvery colour, I think that's what she's called in Pikachu. Try that one."
"PI!! PI!! PI!!!!" Sky returned to Ranma's shoulder to look into his sky-blue eyes.
"Well that's a little much for a name, so why don't we shorten it to Skye, I've heard that's an English name."
"It is indeed Ranma, well I think it works, I'll just ask her."
"Pi pika pikachu." The newly named Skye nodded before returning to his shoulder and patting his cheek.
"Now that that's solved I suppose we'd better get going. I'd like to make Pallet Town sometime tomorrow."
"Why not keep goin'? I can do that easily, in fact I could speed up an' be there in a coupla hours." Ranma looked at the clear bubble on top of the pokedex.
"Oh come on Ranma, that doesn't compute. A world class sprinter could maybe do that distance in the time you stated but only if he could maintain a world class one hundred metres sprint speed over that time. That's just not possible. A runner who tried to maintain that speed would collapse after maybe a kilometre and he'd still have to go another seventy four kilometres to make Pallet town, and that's not even taking into account the terrain."
"Alright, I bet ya I can do it!"
"Hmm, that leaves us in a quandary, you see you don't have anything I need or want. I don't have many needs. I'll tell you what if you lose, which you will, I'll place a future claim on you. That means that at some future time I could claim something within reason that's of equal value to what I wager with you. Does that sound fair?"
"Yeah, sounds fair, as long as you don't Welch on the bet."
"I assure you I've never broken my stated word, and my bet 'is' giving my word."
"Okay, so what do I get out of this, huh?"
"Let's see, you have a Pikachu, so I think, yes that works. Skye here is a Pikachu, now there are two other evolutionary stages of the electric mouse type. The first is the Pichu, the weakest form of the family. The second stage is the Pikachu."
"Pikachu!" Skye was trying to follow the conversation but the only part she recognized was the word Pikachu.
"Yes quite, now the Pichu evolves through feeling of friendship, and love for those who care for it. Now the Pikachu to attain the evolution into a Raichu also needs outside help, but this time friendship won't cut it. Skye here needs a Thunderstone to reach her full potential."
"An' you've got one?"
"No, unfortunately my owner was never able to afford a good enough stone to assure a good evolution."
"Go on, I'm sure you're goin' somewhere with this."
"I am indeed, you see there are deposits of very high quality stones that have yet to be discovered, but I need your word that you won't tell anyone where you got the stones from."
"Why'd I need more than one stone?"
"Most Pokemon evolve through hard work and experience, and some need friendship, but there is another group that need certain types of evolution stones. Well you'd need one for each type of Pokemon of that sort you wanted to evolve. After I tell you where the mine is I wouldn't expect you to only take the one, it would be unfair of me. All I ask is that we don't ruin this timeline by allowing it to be discovered before it should have been. I'm not sure what that would do to the future that I'm from you see?"
"Yes, I can understand that, alright I give my word as a martial artist. I swear it on my ancestors and all future generations of Clan Saotome. Is that good enough for ya?"
"That would be quite adequate, in fact you didn't have to go that far, but it's nice to know that you would pledge on such things."
"If it were my Pops makin' the pledge I'd say the Saotome honour would be shot, but my word you can take to the bank. So when do ya wanna start this?"
"How about tomorrow morning?" Ranma used a massive amount of will power to stop himself from face-vaulting into the hard packed turf.
"I thought you wanted to get there, I'd like to as well. I want to sleep in a bed."
"True it would be nice, but I think there are more important things to think on at the moment. First up I have to teach you some things about the equipment you'll be using, then there're some things that all young Pokemon trainers should know and if you don't you'll stand out like a sore thumb."
"Alright I suppose that makes sense. I don't wanna stand out anymore than I already do."
"You might as well set up camp here, that'll give us time to sort through the equipment you're carrying. It'll also allow you to deal with the Fearow that's currently diving at us."
"Eh?"
"I suggest taking evasive action."
Skye didn't believe in evasive action, she let loose a Thundershock at the rapidly descending bird Pokemon. Which the bird evaded with a flip of a wing that caused it to barrel roll around the lightning attack without losing momentum.
Ranma could suddenly hear the whistling sound of wind through feathers and looked up towards the large bird that was stooping towards him. Reacting as fast as he ever did, Ranma raised his hands and let off a Mouko Takabisha that met the Fearow with a muffled whummpppfff.
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"Fearow!!!" The Fearow that had been searching for the Pikachu that had attacked his flock without mercy earlier had finally struck pay dirt, and to think it was a filthy human owned Pokemon. This was going to be fun.
The bird folded its wings and began to dive towards the human, the first swoop should get the human running and then on the second the Fearow would attack for real. Avoiding a well placed lightning bolt the Fearow continued to dive. The Fearow would never have expected what would happen next. Instead of the puny human running like it should the human stood its ground and let loose with a sphere of light which met it at about fifty metres above the ground, when it made contact with Fearow's beak the thing exploded in a massive concussion blast that did exactly that to the Fearow. The large Pokemon, or at least the largest that Ranma had seen to date continued on towards the ground in uncontrolled flight, the wings completely useless as they'd been pushed back along it's body and the bird was too stunned to even think of pulling out of the dive.
Ranma steeped aside as the biggest and ugliest bird he'd ever seen crashed into the turf with a massive thud. He winced as he heard a loud cracking sound and even though the bird had attacked him he hoped that it wasn't a fatal breakage.
"Good work Ranma, now place it one of those pokeballs you have."
"What? You mean we're gonna catch it?"
"Exactly, it may be the only chance to save it. I clearly heard something break and I won't know what it is until I have it in a pokeball."
"Okay." He tossed one of the silvery-blue balls he'd obtained earlier onto the Fearow and watched as it was pulled inside with a flash of red-light.
"Now place it on top of me so that the button there sits in the pokeport on top of my screen."
Ranma flipped the Pokedex open and saw a small hole at the top of the screen. "Here?"
"That's right, now sit it in tight and put me down on the ground. I'd suggest you set up camp and separate any equipment you don't recognize out of the pack. Come back when you've done that or in half an hour which ever comes last." Ranma put the backpack he'd been carrying down beside the Pokedex and started to pull things out of the bag. A small flat case about ten inches by five and three deep was opened to expose row after row of marble sized balls, they looked like the ultra ball he'd been using so far today but they were only about the size of marbles, and the colours were different being red and white. He figured out they were Pokeballs but needed to ask about them to make sure. Then came a slab of what looked like marble, but it couldn't be as it had buttons on the side and a digital readout. That also went into the unknown pile. Next came various food supplies in containers the like of which he'd never seen before. Down near the bottom past a small pile of miscellaneous camping gear was another machine that he didn't have a clue about, it could literally be anything. That was definitely one for the unknown pile. He unclipped the bedroll from the bottom of the bag and went to find a clear spot where he could roll it out.
Ranma flicked a few small pebbles from his chosen spot and placed the bedroll down to unroll it and stopped in surprise. By this stage he didn't know why he'd be surprised that it didn't look like anything he'd ever seen before. In essence it was a sleeping bag crossed with a one man tent. Opening it up he found that that was exactly what it was, it was basically the same as any other sleeping bag he'd seen except that the outer layer was made of heavy waterproof canvas that encased the whole thing. Near where his head would go wasn't just the typical sleeping bag hood that snugged around the sleepers head but a full canopy that had a mosquito net and weather proof flaps for when it rained. All in all it was about three times as heavy as a normal sleeping bag but would be many times more comfortable. It even had a foam mat to provide support and stop stones from digging into the sleeper.
"Nice." Ranma smiled down at the super bag as he chose to call it and then went over to fix more important things like food. He grabbed one of the packages and tried to decipher what was inside it from the label, but to be honest his English wasn't up to it. So he put it back and decided that he'd wait for Dex to finish whatever it was that the AI was doing.
"Pi ka pikachu chu," Skye trotted over to investigate all the new things that had been unearthed and then turned her nose up when she didn't find anything to eat. Feeling a little puckish she decided to go hunting. Ranma just watched as she ran into the grass surrounding his campsite totally unconcerned because if Skye had of wanted to escape he would have let her, he didn't want a pet or a slave he wanted someone or something to call a friend and partner for maybe the first time in his life. He was however intrigued when he saw intermittent flashes of light coming from the general direction Skye had gone off in.
Skye was pretty much in heaven; food was plentiful here, as the Pikachu clan had never come this way before. None of the bugs ran away so she was pretty much full up within a few minutes. That wasn't what put her into such a happy state though, it was the fact that she'd found a rare Qualot berry bush. The sweet berries had a spicy aftertaste that Pikachu were particularly fond of and she had a whole bush to herself. Normally such a treasure would have been swarmed by the troop and stripped bare but there was only her and a bush laden with berries, sigh what's a girl to do, burp . She couldn't move by the time she'd finished and she was still hoping she could get some more before going back to Ranma. Fortunately for her Ranma was curious about what she was up to and came to investigate.
What Ranma found at the low lying berry bush surprised him, there lying flat on her back grinning for all she was worth was a berry smeared Pikachu. When they'd first met earlier he noticed that she had a slight paunch but now he reckoned the only way to get her back to camp would be to roll her, there was no way her short legs were going to touch the ground, even if she could get upright. The next thing he realized was that the colour blue really does go with yellow fur, just maybe not as a sticky substance, it'd probably take forever to get it out of her fur. Ranma couldn't help himself he started laughing, he laughed so hard that he had to hold his stomach. Then as it was the first time he'd really released any kind of emotion he sat down as tears rolled down the side of his face. It wasn't long before the emotions became overwhelming and his near hysterical laughter at the expense of Skye turned to sobs.
Skye was concerned for her trainer as she listened to her sobbing into her hands, she really couldn't understand what had made him cry but she needed to go over there and try to comfort him. With a great deal of difficulty she managed to gain her rear feet and waddle towards him, Ranma's earlier summation that all four of her legs wouldn't touch the ground at the same time right now was actually the truth. Skye reached her trainer and placed a sticky paw on his leg to gain her attention.
When Ranma looked up through stormy blue eyes she saw the concerned expression on the face of the little Pikachu. Rubbing the tears from the corner of her eyes she sniffed back the remaining tears and spoke to Skye.
"I'm alright Skye, just look at you. You're such a mess." The smile was weak but it reached his eyes in a way that hadn't happened in a long time. Such a long way to come to find a little happiness. "Come on let's get back to Dex and see what's going on." He picked up his rather rotund Pikachu and cradled her in his arms as he carried her gently back to camp.
"Hey Dex, what's happening?"
"Nothing much at the moment I'm afraid. The Fearow you captured is still out of it, but I know that its left wing is broken in four places."
"That can't be good. What should we do with it, I can't release it, an' I won't be able to train it if it can't fight."
"That's where you're wrong Ranma, with the medical technology I have in my control the Fearow should be healed enough to let out of the pokeball by tomorrow morning."
"Wow! That's damn fast, how do you manage that. I thought bones took ages to heal especially in birds?"
"I'll injected nanites into the bird and they'll repair the damage."
"Nanites, I don't think I ever heard of them before."
"Nanites are a technology from my time; they're minute robots that I can program to fix whatever problems a Pokemon has. I can also fix humans up but they need to be in a pokeball for me to do it."
"Now that's gonna come in handy. I could, nah, that wouldn't work. So what other wonders have you got?"
"Well that slab over there is a microwave cooking plate."
"Eh, in that, but it's so thin, and light."
"That's right, remember I'm from the future. Now all usual microwave rules apply such as no metal, live animals you know the kind of thing."
"Nah, Kasumi ain't got one of them things, she likes to do things traditional like."
"Hmm, I suppose where I'm from the microwave is traditional, now if you want novel you try cooking with a naked flame. Somewhere in the bag there should be some ceramic cookware to go with this?"
"Yeah, I found it but I knew what it was so put it back. So how does it work?"
"Well I'll explain that when you're actually going to cook something, it's much easier that way."
"Alright! I'm starving, so what do I cook?" He reached over and picked up the food package he'd put down earlier.
"I wouldn't try that one. That's Pokemon food, in fact Skye would like that one. It's got berries in it, well at least thirty percent of it."
"An' what's the other seventy percent?"
"Well there're some nutrient supplements and minerals, but mainly it mashed up insects." Ranma gave the can in his hand a look of repugnance.
"Erg! Hey Skye I think this ones yours." By this time his only answer was the sound of snores coming from his sleeping bag. "Oh well, I'll see if she wants some in the morning, though how she'll fit it in after the berries she ate I don't know."
"Berries? Describe them for me please."
"I dunno, I was too busy looking at Skye, though I can tell you she was covered in blue juices."
"Hmm, it might be wise to gather as many of those berries as you can Ranma. They might come in handy."
"Alright I gather while you hold Skye off, I reckon if she goes anywhere near that bush she's gonna make herself sick."
"If it's what I think it is then you're probably right, so why not do it while she's sleeping?"
"Good idea, then all we've gotta do is keep her out of wherever we store them."
"That's not a problem, I can store up to one metric ton of equipment and supplies and up to eighty occupied pokeballs."
"Right and when were you gonna tell me about that? After someone saw me with all this hi-tech stuff?"
"Erm? Well don't look at me, I can't think of everything."
"Well no, I suppose not, but I thought you were like super intelligent."
"I am Ranma. That's why I'll let you learn things for yourself, if I make all the decisions then you never will. Do you see what I mean?"
"Right. That makes more sense than the way Pops raised me. So you're gonna carry all the hi-tech stuff an' I'll carry everything else. Good that means I stand an even better chance of beating you tomorrow. So what's all the rest of this stuff? I thought these might be pokeballs, but they're a lot smaller than the ultra-ball you gave me earlier."
"Oh good, he did give you some pokeballs, I'll have to reconfigure them so they look like the pokeballs of this era but that shouldn't take too long. Put them down within a couple of metres of me Ranma." Ranma complied and watched as they disappeared into the machines own hyper storage area.
"I should be able to have some modified for you in the morning. Now I have to change them because these are much smaller than they should be, and they're more efficient as well. A standard pokeball from my time would be equivalent to a ultra-ball from this time. I can hide their efficiency as long as they look like a normal pokeball."
"Uh-huh, so what's this?" Ranma pointed at the machine that didn't give any kind of clue to what it could be.
"That? That's an automatic seamstress. Plug in a pattern, give it some material that you like and it'll make clothes for you. It can handle just about anything from silk to wool. Later on as we head into other areas you may find some of the Pokemon that produce natural fibres, then all you'll need is dye blocks to colour the raw material or thread and you're set. It's a great way to make money, and save money. Of course it's also one of the things that we'll need to hide."
"Thought so." Ranma had kind of figured that anything he didn't recognize was going to be too advanced for this world. "I'm still hungry though Dex, so what out of this can I eat?"
"Well anything in a green package really….." After fifteen minutes Ranma settled back with a plate of food that was better than anything he'd had on a training trip before, unless his father had stolen it or Kasumi had packed it.
"Heh, this ain't bad, I could get used to this."
"Don't, once we get into town we're going to get supplies and you'll have to cook like a normal person. Now that you've got some food are you prepared to listen to the history I've created for you?"
"Yeah, go ahead. I'm listening."
"Taking into account you're Japanese heritage I've placed your birth town as Crimson city over in Johto region, as it's a major metropolis where a significant number of residents are Asian in appearance. Your father got a job with a company that transferred him to the Hoenn Islands when you and your brother or sister whichever you decide, were still young. You grew up in the Hoenn Islands. Now I'm going to hack into the information network and show that you became a trainer in Hoenn but indicated that you wanted to come to Kanto region to meet your idol."
"An' who would that be?"
"That would be Professor Oak, he's a world renowned Pokemon researcher, he also acts as a mentor and sponsor for the children of Pallet Town. Given that he's your hero it's not unreasonable for someone to travel over here to meet him, which would mean that transporting your Pokemon to a facility in Hoenn would be inconvenient. Plus he runs a government funded care facility for young trainers Pokemon."
"So what's he get out of it?"
"Well it allows him to study any rare or unique Pokemon you capture. Also if you start to earn money as a part of your Pokemon career he may legitimately claim a small percentage for himself. Then of course there's the prestige, if you become famous then that reflects well on him. So he has plenty of reasons to make sure your Pokemon are well cared for."
"Okay. That's all good, then what?"
"When you meet him I suggest acting star struck, As if you were meeting your favourite celebrity, I'll give you some of his history tomorrow so that you'll be able to talk about him. While you've got him distracted I'll hack the computer network and plant records of both you and your brother, believe me he'll check your school records and any Pokemon training you've received before accepting you. Once he's got you calmed down, the next thing he'll do is check the newly created records to see if you're worthy. Depending on the date he may even offer you a start up Pokemon, if there's a Bulbasaur available I'd take it, they make a very powerful first Pokemon. Not that Skye isn't but she's only a single type Pokemon whereas the Bulbasaur is both a Grass type and a Poison type Pokemon. But that offer only stands once a year so don't get your hopes up. Bulbasaur in the wild are extremely rare so if we see one you will try to capture it."
"Alright, you're the boss." Ranma smirked at the pokedex.
"It's getting close to nine o'clock so I think you'd better get some sleep now."
"Now 'that' sounds like a good idea, it's been a real long day. Not to mention weird. See ya in the morning Dex."
"Yes you will Ranma, I intend to collect on that wager."
"Not a chance." Ranma slipped into the sleeping bag and zipped it up. As he lay there watching the full moon rise higher into the night sky he pondered the momentous changes in his life a few short hours had made. A whole new world he thought to himself, as sleep caught him in its soft embrace he closed his eyes with a smile.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The next morning found a bleary eyed Ranma blinking in the bright sunlight that invaded the hood of his bag. For the first time in a long time he'd managed to sleep himself out, at least until a klaxon nearby threatened to burst his eardrum.
"Can it Dex, I'm awake already." It wasn't quite the truth but it came pretty close.
"It's not me Ranma, there's a Dodrio nearby."
"Is that a Pokemon?"
"Yes, and if you're quick you might even be able to catch it." Ranma scanned the area for anything unusual but couldn't see anything
"Where is it then? I can't see anything."
"It's right there!" Ranma was startled as a puffball head with a long beak peered into the canopy before picking a stray ant off of the canvas bag. In the process he learnt that it was never a good idea to startle a Pikachu awake, especially if it was confined to a sleeping bag with you. Skye bolted out of the bag and took up a position standing on the foot of the super bag. She was torn between watching the rapidly disappearing dust cloud that represented the Dodrio and the dispersing cloud of smoke produced by her electrocuted trainer.
"Damn it Skye! Stop doin' that!!"
Skye looked contrite for all of ten seconds, until her trainer emerged from the bag looking like a ginger dandelion seed head, then she cracked up and fell off the sleeping bag as she convulsed with laughter (6)
"Oh now aren't you a picture? I think this deserves a snapshot."
"Hey, I thought you needed a table to take pictures?"
"Not really, I only need that for identification photos. Snapshots of your training journey can be taken when ever, I think I'll call this one, 'Why it's best to let sleeping Pikachu lie.' Speaking of training trips the day isn't getting any younger Ranma. I hope you rested well last night because I'd hate for you to use that as an excuse when you lose our bet."
"Yeah I slept pretty good, wakin' up was a bitch thou. Then again nothings changed there. As fer the bet, you'd better get ready to tell me where the stones are because Ranma Saotome don't lose."
"We'll see. We really should check on the Fearow you caught last night before we leave."
"Nah, we can leave it for a little while can't we, I just want to get somewhere where there are people."
"Okay Ranma, I removed the nanites during the night, all repairs were completed. Fearow is in top condition and he's handling being confined in the pokeball well. Just don't leave it too long huh?"
"Yeah. Right I suppose I'd better clear camp and get on our way." Ranma cleaned up the site and packed his gear. "Hey Skye! You might wanna get on the backpack now, once I start movin' you might have some trouble keepin' up." The little mouse glared back as if to say 'yeah right' before she walked away.
"Alright suit yourself, but I warned ya." With that Ranma took off and left Skye to follow as best she could, it didn't take long to figure out that Ranma hadn't been lying when he said he was quick. She had to use a quick attack to even get close. After five minutes they'd covered nearly three kilometers of grassland and Skye's normal breathing was a thing of the past. She'd never maintained this kind of speed for such a long time before, and she had no idea how long they were going to maintain it for either. Ranma was keeping a close eye on the little Pikachu to make sure he didn't leave her behind, after ten minutes he was genuinely impressed, she had it much harder than he did as she was closer to the ground and yet Skye still managed to keep pace with him. But he recognised the onset of exhaustion in her eyes and breathing so slowed down and scooped her up, it took a few seconds for her to understand that she no longer needed to run, and stop her legs from moving. He opened the pack and placed her inside and fastened it so that she wouldn't fall out, he hadn't slowed down at all while doing it either. Once Skye was secure he picked up the pace even more, which was something that Dex didn't think was possible.
Skye was a little dazed by events, she didn't understand the concept of a wager so she didn't see why her trainer was pushing himself so hard. She tried to keep up, using quick attack over and over again but was grateful when Ranma plucked her off the ground and stuck her in the bag, she'd been running on sheer will power for nearly a minute and her reserves were disappearing fast. Ranma on the other hand just seemed to get faster once she was safe.
Dex was stunned, he figured that in the first twenty minutes Ranma covered seventeen of the seventy six kilometres, as such he was maintaining a speed of just over fifty kilometres an hour, as such he was going to reach Pallet town well within the two hour time limit. Now he wasn't even sure if the natural terrain would slow the youth down, after all he'd just been served notice that normal need not apply to Ranma Saotome
Ranma was just beginning to worry, he must be more out of shape than he realized as he'd only been running for forty eight kilometers when he started to get short of breath, but he pushed on there was no way he was gonna lose the bet. It took another two or three kilometers for him to get his second wind and in that time the stitch in his side took its toll on him. But with the renewed vigor he sped up once more and was soon back on track. Until he noticed that the plain was coming to an abrupt end about several hundred metres in front of him.
He slowed to a stop and looked down, and then down some more. The ground seemed to be about a hundred or so metres below and the cliff face was vertical, he couldn't see any handholds either.
"Hey Dex, you didn't mention anything about any cliffs."
"I did tell you the terrain could slow you down didn't I?"
"I suppose so, but this is unfair."
"So are you ready to give up, do you want to quit and forfeit the bet?" Dex was sure of his victory now.
"No, Ranma Saotome doesn't even know the meaning of those words."
"If you like I have a handy dictionary function and could give you the definition of each word, I even have a thesaurus function if you want more words."
"I'm gonna ignore you now, just so you know. I ain't losin' this bet." Ranma looked over the side of the cliff at the forest below and the ground that was even further away. Then something caught his attention, something that made him smile. Lining himself up he paced back a couple of metres and then ran.
Skye couldn't believe it, she'd lived on the plain all her life and never knew that there was such a thing as a cliff, and looking over Ranma's shoulder she found more trees than she could count almost as far as the eye could see. It didn't take much for her to understand what had made her trainer stop his headlong flight across the plain. The thought of falling that far certainly lacked a certain appeal. Ranma and the black box had another conversation while she waited patiently for something to happen. It had taken awhile but she'd finally figured out that the second voice came from the small black object that looked like a pokedex except for the colour. When she felt Ranma back away from the cliffs edge. She looked around for some reason that he might have backed up ten metres from the edge but couldn't immediately see anything that would cause him to do so. Then as he started to run she blinked.
"Pik pi pikachu!!!" 'You're going the wrong way!!!"
"Hold on Skye we're goin' in. GERONIMO!!!!!!" Ranma hit the lip of the cliff at a dead run and sailed out into the clear morning air. It's crazy what you notice at times like this, he could feel the silken caress of the cool morning air, the way the sun warmed his skin. For some reason the whole world seemed larger, and brighter than it did just a little while ago, that might have been some part of his brain trying to take it all in for the last time before impacting the ground at high speed.
'If I miss this it's gonna hurt!' Ranma discovered that eighty metres in the air and falling was not the best time to start having doubts. His Pikachu on the other hand didn't have any doubts.
"PIKACHU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Which loosely translates as, 'YOU'RE CRAZYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!' Dex was once again speechless, in fact he'd gone into total CPU shutdown. In the meantime Ranma struck the top of a sixty metre pine tree and grabbed on for dear life, which was a good idea. The top ten or so metres of the tree was still thin and springy enough that it helped dampen his momentum, not enough though as he exceeded the trees tolerance and it snapped. 'Ok time for Plan B,' Ranma's thought processes ground to a halt, 'Um guys, we do have a Plan B don't we?'
The reply came back, 'Er, we thought that since you're the brain you might have been handling that. Oh KUSOOOOOO!!!!!" (7)
Ranma crashed into the top of another tree and found himself wrapped around a sturdier section of branch, he just managed to figure out what was going on, but really didn't need to as his body had already grabbed onto the branch and was clinging for dear life. Just goes to show that some part of him was actually thinking.
Skye who had closed her eyes and found religion at the same time as Ranma started having doubts popped them open in surprise as they stopped, without the mass of pain she'd been expecting.
"Pika!" She peered out through the flap of the backpack onto a drop of nearly thirty five metres and then looked at her trainer who'd gone white. He wasn't letting go of the branch anytime soon it seemed. She clambered carefully out of the bag and landed on the branch where she balanced precariously for a moment before making her way past Ranma and climbed down the trunk of the pine tree, for some reason she needed to take a call of nature, she couldn't possibly think why. When she returned she saw that Ranma still hadn't recovered, which was good, maybe he wouldn't do anything that stupid again.
"PIKachU!!! Pi Pikachu!" Which could be translated as 'Amazing, that were still alive!!! And you! You're still CRAZY!" Just to let him know how little she appreciated what he'd done she hit him with a Thundershock, which had the added bonus of getting him out of the tree.
Thudddd The pig-tailed martial artist groaned as he lay 'in' the pine scented forest floor. The small crater that he was at the centre of, being caused by a hundred and ten kilos hitting the soft loamy soil from thirty odd metres up. Looking back up through the branches he could see the cliff face looming above him.
"Damn that's a long way! It didn't look that bad from up there. Hey Dex, if I ever do anything that stupid again, talk me out of it huh?" The fall had add the added bonus of bringing Dex back on line, unfortunate for some.
"THAT WASN'T STUPID!!! NO, I TAKE IT BACK, THAT WAS INSANE!! I'm going to change your history, you're not an aspiring trainer, you're an escapee from an Asylum!!! I'll have you hunted down and put in a padded cell for my protection."
"Calm down Dex, we made it. We're all right. Ah come on Dex, I hate to see a pokedex cry."
"I am not crying, I'm not capable of that emotion. That has got to be the most stupid thing I've ever been a witness to."
"Coulda fooled me, you were whining like a little girl. If it helps any I happen to agree. Next time I'll think about it more carefully."
"NEXT TIME!!!"
"Uh a little louder next time Dex I think I can still hear out of my left ear."
"Shut up, shut up, shut up! I'm not talking to you!"
"Do ya promise? Now how long do I have to finish this bet?"
"You're still planning on winning the bet?!! Don't bother, I forfeit. If it stops you from doing stupid things like that. You could have killed us all with that."
"Nah, I don't think so. I woulda broken something though."
"You've got to be joking, no one could survive a fall from there."
"Look I won't tell you anything about Pokemon if you don't try to tell me what I can and can't do with martial arts. I've been training all my life, an' I mean all my life. From before I could walk, I lived and breathed the art. I told you I'm the best. There may be others stronger than me, they may have more skills but I beat them all. I learn what they know even as they use it on me. There aren't any limits I can't break, because they're all in my mind, an' I won't accept defeat. You understand me! I won't be beaten. I can't be beaten…." Ranma wound down from his personal tirade as the tears streamed from his eyes. He'd taken a lot from a lot of different people, all trying to tear him down. In the fires of such doubt had been forged a will stronger than steel, under the pressure to perform he'd become harder than diamond and with the challenges he faced he'd learned flexibility that few could comprehend. Ranma Saotome 'would' be the pre-eminent martial artist, there was no room for doubt. As the adrenaline from his near death experience started to leave his system his shoulders slumped, nothing could defeat him, yeah except maybe himself.
Dex remained silent as he wondered what kind of life could create a mind like this, a mere child he might be, but…..Words failed him, there was no way to understand what life had shaped Ranma. Even if Ranma told him he doubted he'd understand it.
"Ranma, I….I don't know what to say. Are you alright?"
"No, I'm not, I don't know how to make it alright. No, that's not right, there's only one way to make it alright, I have to be the best, whatever I do. If I'm not then all my life is a waste, all that pain, all the effort was for nothing. Can you understand that?"
"I think I can, and I thought I had problems. If that's the way it's got to be Ranma then let's make sure you are the best. Here that means being a Pokemon Master."
"What's a Pokemon Master?"
"Martial arts aren't the same here as where you're from, oh I don't doubt you could forge a life here based on your martial arts, but most people won't understand what could drive you to put yourself through that kind of pain. On the other hand Pokemon they do understand, the challenge of being the best trainer of them all. There you can do great things, and in learning to understand the Pokemon you may learn something about yourself as well. Pokemon Masters are the best of the best and every young trainer out there aspires to that lofty peak."
"Yeah, I got that, but why?"
"Why did you want to be the best martial artist, why strive to be the best at anything Ranma? You don't train just so that you can beat everyone else up now do you?" Ranma shook his head at the absurdity of the question, he trained so he could protect the weak. "It's a natural drive Ranma, no one sets out to be the worst, everyone hopes they will be respected if only they can be good enough."
"Respect? I, I think I can understand that, even if I was really strong, it didn't seem to matter. No one gave me any respect."
"Respect isn't a given Ranma, oh they may respect one aspect of you, your strength maybe, but they don't have to respect you. Respect is earned through words and actions Ranma, it's something you must earn anew everyday. The man you respect today may not be that same man tomorrow." Dex watched as Ranma straightened his shoulders as new determination coursed through his veins. He would be the best, whatever he did, he would excel.
"Right! Where do I start Dex?"
"Start at the beginning Ranma, you have two Pokemon already. Skye here may not like you very much at the moment but she'll come around. Now on the other hand that Fearow you caught last night isn't likely to be happy with you at all. As a species they have a foul disposition. You're not likely to make friends with him, so get what you can."
"Alright, lets start with respect, and work up to trust."
"As a first battle it'll be challenging Ranma."
"I think I've got an idea, give me the pokeball Dex."
"Here you go, if you're sure?"
"Like you said I gotta start somewhere, I might as well start with what I've got." He tossed the ball into the pine needles and the ball disgorged an extremely irate bird.
"FEAROW!!!!!" Which earned the bird a glare from Skye who didn't appreciate that kind of language.
Ranma walked forward until he was a couple of metres away, the bird might be only half as tall as his male body but that bird could do serious damage with its beak alone.
"Hi, I'm Ranma, and I'm your trainer." Dex translated for the others and Ranma guessed they'd been understood as the Fearow mantled its wings and hissed at him.
"Don't be like that. Do you want to tell me who you are? This is Skye my Pikachu." He gestured down as he was joined by Skye, she put herself between the two as if to stop the bird if it attacked him. Ranma had other ideas of course.
"FearOW! FEAROW!!!" He was willing to take a wild guess that the Fearow still wasn't being very nice.
"What'd he say Skye? Come on I won't be angry at you, just tell me." Skye shook her head at first but after being reassured he wouldn't be mad at her she relented and began the game of charades. Fortunately this one would be easy.
She started by making eating motions, then moved her hands towards her tail before clutching at her throat and falling over backwards.
"Right I think I got that Skye, strange name to be wanting to be called if you ask me. Hi Eat Shit and die, I'm Ranma." The Fearow blinked at the translation then squawked in outrage.
"FEAR!!! ROW FEAROW FeaROW!!!!" A quick glance at Skye had her translating for him. She motioned for him to approach then pointed at the ground, then at the Fearow, made the dieing motion again and then pointed at Ranma.
"Alright so that's the way you want it huh? Okay here I come, you wanna kill me? Do your worst!" He walked towards the Fearow who began to grin at the stupid human. When Ranma was in range the Fearow unleashed one of its most deadly attacks, Drill Peck. Its head shot forward faster than the eye could follow as it aimed for Ranma's chest, one attack and it would be free. Then it'd take care of that Pikachu.
Ranma watched the attack coming almost like it was stop gap photography and casually reached out and used a sword stopping technique to trap the beak mid attack. It took a moment for the Fearow to realize what had happened before its eyes crossed trying to look at the humans hand grasping his beak. Then it watched as the other hand came around almost in slow motion to stun it.
"You call that an attack? You're slow, and weak. You want to see power?" Ranma walked away from the stunned Fearow. Approaching one of the pine trees he barely paused to set himself before punching the tree. The force caused the tree trunk to split straight up the middle before the twisting motion added an explosive force to that already exerted on the wood and the tree exploded in screaming protest. Foot long splinters showered the forest beyond wreaking even more damage as they tore through smaller trees or slammed into the larger ones like throwing knives. The tree he'd struck toppled away from him as eight feet of it's trunk suddenly disappeared. Ranma turned away from the destruction before it had even stopped and caught the eye of the still stunned bird. Before blurring so fast that the bird didn't have time to blink in the time it took for Ranma to cover the eight metres between the two and it found its neck in an iron grip looking down the barrel of a loaded fist.
"You may not like me, Eat Shit and Die, but you will respect me. You understand?"
"Fearow fear, fearow." The bird didn't want any kind of misunderstanding at this point and was nodding furiously.
"Right. Now I can't be having a Pokemon with a name like that so I'm gonna call you Feather Duster, you alright with that. I'm gonna call you that because if you ever attack me again that's all you'll be good for." Dex translated for the martial artist who got a nod from the subdued Fearow.
"Good, now I'm gonna put you back into this pokeball for a while so you can rest, we'll be traveling together for a while so let's try to get along huh? Feather Duster return!" The red beam reached out and snagged the unresisting bird back into the safe confines of the pokeball.
"Ranma you wouldn't really have hurt the Fearow would you?"
"Nah, but he don't have to know that. Once we've been in town I'll work on the trust side of things." He reached down and scratched between Skye's ears as she looked up at her trainer. "What do ya say Skye, you ready to take on the world?"
"Pikachu!!!"
"Good, then Pallet town here we come." Ranma didn't hear Dex mutter a very quiet 'And may god have mercy on us all.' Only half in jest as he'd never seen anything like Ranma before.
To be continued?
Authors Notes)- Right here's the second chapter I promised you all, as I said I don't know if I'll continue it for a while yet but I think I've got a viable story. I suppose the thing that'll turn this from a low priority to a high one will be reader response.
I kind of wanted a different Ranma in this story, like Phoenix Ascension, you're probably going to complain that Ranma is OoC, my response is life changes and so do people. Ranma's in a whole new world with a lot less stress on his young shoulders, maybe this is the real Ranma and the one in canon is the one who's OoC. Wouldn't that be a hoot?
As always, reviews are appreciated, I'll even take flames, after this chapter I may not have any choice, as the purists rally to stake me over an anthill.
(1) MT, is short for Mouko Takabisha if you hadn't already guessed. I never quite understood the need to yell out the name of the attack before launching it; it'd be like giving the enemy a 'get out of Mouko Takabisha free' card. Plus it'd sound much cooler to walk over to your still smoking enemy and quietly inform them what they were just hit by, just in case they were wondering.
(2) Ranma is speaking Japanese and the Pokemon in this area understand basic English so he's going to have to either learn English or teach Sky Japanese. Dex is of the opinion that it'd be easier to teach Ranma English.
(3) It's true, for many years teachers in Japan have been teaching Engrish (that's not a typo) to their students. It's one of the reasons why a student who's been learning the language for six years won't understand you if you speak to them, and you probably won't understand them either. For examples of Engrish I suggest a quick visit to Engrish dot com. You won't believe some of it. It's only in the last decade or so that more progressive schools have started to teach the real language to Japanese kids.
(4) Sakura or Cherry blossom, very traditional girls name.
(5) From this point on you can take it as read that what Ranma says has been translated into English if a Pokemon responds to him. If not I'll state why. Trust me it'll be easier then typing Dex translated every time they speak.
(6) Pikachu do laugh, check out episode two of season 1 of the anime. Pikachu climbs a tree where he laughs his head off as Ash tries to catch his first Pokemon until Ash annoys a Spearow.
(7) Kuso is the Japanese word for 'Shit' a mild curse word. Chikuso is just a little stronger.