Beginning note: Well, here's the latest chapter. God knows why I decided to update this thing, but I hope those who enjoy it, well, enjoy it. Also, there's not much Ranma content this chapter. Sorry.

Chapter 8, Kasumi Explodes! Volcanic domestic fury!

"I can't believe this." Yui looked around the stone covered streets of Pewter city, sighing. "It looks like we're finally here."

"See, I told you I'd get us here!" The sword wielding man next to her said, happily, scratching the back of his head.

"Right…" The Purrsian grumbled, sighing. At the moment, she was beginning to seriously regret deciding on this man as her traveling partner. Last night, when she'd tried to get him to tame her, she'd found out that he passed out with a nosebleed at the mere sight of female flesh, and she was currently not only annoyed and ready to kill something, but also extremely frustrated in a different way. "Let's just get to the gym, all right?" She snapped, striding towards the place.

"Yeah, sure. I can confront Ash now!" The boy said, cracking his knuckles. As he started walking, Yui reached out and grabbed him by the back of the neck, hauling him with her.

HR.

Brock, leader of the Pewter city gym, hummed to himself as he carefully treated his Onyx's injuries from the battle the day before. He usually sent his Pokegirls directly to the center to be healed, but the ones with heavy rock shells needed special treatment, as if they were healed normally the shells would end up becoming brittle. As he did so, and she slept soundly, he thought of the trainer who had come to challenge the day before. The boy was obviously inexperienced, but that alpha of his had been impressive, and he'd done reasonably well himself.

Brock did, however, admit that it had perhaps been overkill of him to switch out the Pokegirl challengers normally fought, a level 7 Onyx that he'd borrowed from one of his students for the purpose, for his level 28, if only because he was now having to do all this rather than getting a good day's sleep.

As he thought this, a computer console nearby began to beep, and he climbed to his feet from the Pokegirl's bed, going to check the signal.

He looked at the screen, curious, and noted yet another trainer with his Pokegirl standing at the front entrance. Sighing, he looked back to Onyx. She would sleep for a few more hours, and he could come back and patch her wounds later. Patting one pocket in his green vest, the gym leader verified that his two testing Pokeballs were still there, and headed out to greet the newcomers.

HR.

Five minutes later, Brock's eye was twitching violently. "You do know that this ISN'T the sex league, right?" He asked, directing his comment to the tamer of the Pokegirl who was sitting in the middle of his floor. His eye twitched again when he saw the boy had passed out on the floor, nose bleeding copiously.

When the two had first arrived, the boy had said that they were looking for Ash Ketchit, the trainer who had passed through the day before. Brock had rather irritatedly informed him that the boy had already been through, and asked if there was anything else.

The boy had been about to say no, when his pokegirl had told him to challenge for the badge. Now, this was the result. Scowling and marching into the middle of the arena, the seasoned Pokegirl breeder separated the boy's Purrsian from his knocked out Onyx. "Well, you DID manage to knock out both of my Pokegirls, so I suppose your trainer has earned my badge." He growled, glaring at the catgirl. "Now, would you please get out of my gym?"

She just smiled innocently, getting up and walking off as if she hadn't just been doing some very energetic things only moments before, and grabbed her trainer by the back of the backpack, dragging him out of the room. The door slammed behind them, and Brock rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I hope that was the last of the challengers for the next little while." He muttered, throwing out his pokeball to recover the exhausted Onyx. "I want to get some sleep eventually.

HR.

"Would you wake up already, idiot?" He was awakened by the sound of an irate shout and the splash of a bucket of cold water over his head. Spitting once, he blinked his eyes clear and looked at the irate cat Pokegirl who was hovering above him.

"What'd you do that for?" He demanded, forcing himself to his feet from the rather uncomfortable location he'd found himself in on the ground.

"We've got to get going!" Yui said, excitedly. "According to the nurse at the Pokegirl center, your friend and that red haired hussy left early this morning."

The sword wielding man grinned broadly. "So, we can catch them!" He said, happily.

"Right, now let's go!" Yui said, starting to walk, and forgetting the boy's incredible ability to get lost for a moment. Remembering herself quickly, she grabbed him by the collar and started leading him, much to his annoyance, out of the city.

HR.

Ranma lay in the darkness of the Pokeball, actually relaxed for once in the recent past. Granted, she was also bored stiff, but considering she had a badly broken arm and several other severe injuries, she supposed that she could deal with being bored.

She'd gotten tired of staring at the blackness of the Pokeball after the first half an hour inside, though fortunately for her, Ash had decided to be lazy and send his pack into the ball with her so that he didn't have to carry it, and he'd brought a few books along.

Some of them she'd rather not look at more than once, for example, that Pokegirl primer that still made her kind of sick to her stomach, but the travel guide the boy's father had given him was an interesting find.

She hadn't really had the chance to think of much other than where she was going or what was going on right at the moment recently, but now she had time, boredom and a decent sized pile of literature, and she was doing something that would have made most of Nerima very surprised if they had known.

She was thinking.

She'd figured out pretty quickly that she wasn't just far away from Japan, especially since the map of the local area in the travel guide looked strikingly like one of the home islands. Still, knowing that, she'd started searching for familiar landmarks, and had only found two.

One was called the Jusenkyo spell dump, and its entry in the guide mostly consisted of warnings about permanently being turned into a pokegirl if you went anywhere near the place. She'd considered trying to make it to Jusenkyo, but given the warnings, she'd eventually decided against it.

The only other place she'd found of any interest was a small town near the spell dump named the "Joketsu Zoku Amazon preserve."

She frowned, since the amazons weren't exactly her favorite people, but if anyone knew what the hell was going on, it would probably be them. She wanted to go home, to see her family again… and maybe pummel Happosai into next year for whatever the hell he'd done to her.

Leaning back, she smirked. "Hell, maybe they'll even know how ta get rid o' this whole mind link crap with that Ash kid." She said, knowing that no one could hear her.

She didn't really mind Ash all that much. He was a pretty decent guy, though kind of like Hiroshi and Daisuke cranked up to eleven, but she really didn't want to have to spend the rest of her life hanging around with him. As she thought this, she was jolted out of her calm consideration, as the Pokeball suddenly lit with a red light, and she found herself dumped onto the ground.

Grumbling, she rubbed at her backside where she'd hit the ground. "I wish those damned things'd give a warning before ya did that." She muttered, and then looked around. She found herself in a small clearing, a cheerful fire built in the middle of it. Ash was standing next to her, having just released her from her Pokeball, and Kasumi immediately rushed over to her. "Ranma-chan, how are you feeling?" The small girl asked, looking her over in concern.

"I'm okay, don't worry 'bout it Kasumi." Ranma said, holding up her one hand and warding the other girl off. "You guys traveled all day before letting me out?"

Ash shrugged. "Pokegirls in a ball don't need food or rest." He explained, then smirked. "Given the way you eat, I thought it'd be a good idea."

"Hey!" Ranma grumbled, trying to get up to glare at him from a better vantage point, but wincing as her entire body protested. "Ugh." She muttered. She hated it when she was injured enough to be immobilized for more than a few hours.

"You aren't all right at all, are you Ranma-chan?" Kasumi asked, and then started fussing over the wrappings on Ranma's cuts and bruises, spraying some sort of disinfectant or something on them.

Ranma wanted to shrug the other girl off, but seeing the honest worry in her eyes, she just sighed and let her work. "So, how far'd ya get?" She asked, looking over to Ash.

"We're at the base of Mount Moon." He explained, pointing. As Ranma followed his finger, she saw that there was a large mountain visible over the trees on one side of the clearing.

She frowned. "You sure you guys can get up that?" She asked, worriedly.

"It's pretty well traveled by trainers." Ash explained. "The path should be safe."

Ranma nodded, before briefly pushing Kasumi away so that she could get to the fire. She saw that the tents had already been set up, and smiled. She felt rather useless at the moment, but she was also glad that Ash was learning something about wilderness survival, even if she suspected that Kasumi had helped him with the tents.

Automatically, the redhead reached for her thermos from the top of her pack as she sat down, but found that the thing was full of lukewarm water. Grumbling at the fact that she hadn't remembered the thing needed solar power to run, she started heating up a pan full of water, while Kasumi fussed over some sort of vegetable soup that was boiling over the fire.

HR.

Half an hour later, the group was sitting around the fire, and Kasumi had just served the soup. Normally, Ranma would have gone out to trap a rabbit or something for herself and Ash to eat, as Kasumi was a vegetarian, but she simply hadn't been up to it tonight.

Ranma was, however, currently in male form. That particular oddity of her new Alpha truly confused Kasumi. Ranma seemed to honestly be under the delusion that she was a male human, in spite of her incredible fighting skills and obvious femaleness most of the time.

Still, she was a very nice alpha, despite her eccentricities, and let Kasumi have all of the time with her tamer that she wanted. One day, the mouse girl vowed, she would have to repay the other girl, even if Ranma kept denying that she wanted it. It simply wasn't right to have someone be so nice to her, and her unable to repay them.

She was broken out of her thoughts, as Ranma finished his last spoonful of vegetable soup, setting the bowl on the ground. "Hey ash, there's some place I've gotta go." He said, simply.

Ash looked at the pigtailed person who was sitting on the other side of the camp fire from him, and blinked in confusion. "You want to leave?" He asked. "But… I thought you couldn't get more than a certain distance away from me." The boy wasn't gloating or rubbing things in, just stating a fact, for which Ranma was pretty grateful.

"Yeah, I know." The pigtailed martial artist said, quietly. "That's why I gotta ask ya to go with me."

Ash frowned. "Well, where do you have to go?"

"It's a place called the Joketsu Zoku reserve." Ranma explained, and then blinked as he saw that Ash's face looked like he'd just seen a ghost. "There somethin wrong?" He asked, confused.

"You come from there?" Ash asked, nervously.

Ranma shook his head. "No, I just know about the place. Only place 'round here I recognize at all." He knew that this sounded weak, so he explained. "They've got some magic artifacts, and the elders're pretty wise, even if they're all ol' ghouls. I figure they can tell me how I got here."

Ash looked at his currently male Alpha, that aspect of things creeping him out badly enough, and now he found out that Ranma knew the Amazons. He didn't really mind the Amazons, or at least what he'd learned of them. The problem was that there were a lot of hostile forces around the Jusenkyo spell dump, and there was, of course, the dump itself. "Look, it's really dangerous around there." He explained, uncertainly.

Ranma nodded. "Yeah, I read the guidebook." He explained. "Sounds like it's a lot worse than I remember, but…" He trailed off, looking away for a moment. "I've gotta figure out what's goin on, 'n how I got here." He explained. "I know it ain't exactly something you wanna do, and I can't force you since I can't touch ya unless it's to help you out, but I really need ta do this."

"That sounds like Ranma-chan's pretty serious." Kasumi said, surprised. She didn't know much about what the Joketsu Zoku reserve was, but it couldn't be that bad, could it?

Ash sighed. "So, both of you want to go to the place, huh?"

"I didn't…" Kasumi objected, but she was interrupted as her tamer continued.

"I think there's a ferry there from Viridian city, and that's where we're going for the next badge." He then smirked. "Besides, there could be some rare Pokegirls to find there!" He yelled, seemingly gaining enthusiasm.

Ranma sweat dropped, but nodded. At the moment, having Ash agree was all that was important, regardless of what spin he put on it. Within moments, Ash had finished his dinner, and was talking excitedly about going to the Joketsu Zoku village as if he'd thought of it.

Though Ranma privately thought he was so enthusiastic in order to hide fear, he had to admit that his respect for the kid had increased slightly.

HR.

The next day, Ash groaned to himself as he staggered up the mountain side, his small tamer's pack feeling like a boulder on his back. "Should be easy." He muttered, laughing darkly. "Kasumi?"

The fur covered mouse girl was having more trouble than Ash, though she wasn't wearing a pack, due to the fact that her fur caused her to retain a lot of heat, but had declined the offer to enter her Pokeball when he'd asked about half an hour earlier. "Yes, Ash?" She panted, raggedly.

"Next time I say something's going to be easy, I want you to smack me upside the head." The boy drawled, rounding another corner in the trail, only to stop stock still.

Kasumi was about to object to that instruction, when she noticed that her tamer was wearing a rather baffled expression on his face. Looking around the corner herself, she saw why.

In the middle of the road was a large table, covered in glasses, pitchers and bottles of water, along with several large nutrition bars. "This is a dream." Ash said, quietly.

Kasumi shook her head. "Unless we're having the same dream, I don't think so." She said, her mouth opening at the sight of all the water.

Ash didn't need any more prompting, dashing forward towards the table. Kasumi ran after him, though not to join in. Grabbing him by the arm, she was dragged for several feet before managing to drag the boy to a stop. "Kasumi, what're you doing?!" He demanded.

"I'm sorry Ash, but this is probably a trap." The mouse said, sniffing the air. "There're people hiding around here, and this looks like a common tactic team rocket use to distract tamers and steal their Pokegirls."

"Aw man…" Ash moaned, slapping one hand to his head. "But I'm so thirsty."

"Oh you dirty rat!" Came an indignant female voice, before a figure jumped out from behind a rock.

"Yui?" Kasumi gasped, stepping back slightly as the Purrsian stepped towards her and her tamer.

"That's right." Yui responded, "And I brought a partner." She paused for a moment, waiting for the boy who had been traveling with her to come out, but nothing happened. Her eyebrow twitching, the annoyed brown haired Pokegirl looked behind, before growling, walking back behind her rock, and pulling the boy out with her.

"Hey, I know him!" Ash said, surprised.

"Ash! I've finally found you!" The boy growled, unsheathing his Katana from his back and taking up an offensive stance.

"Aw man, you're still not on about that, are you?" Ash asked.

"THAT was the most incredible insult you could ever do me!" The boy bellowed, spittle flying from his mouth and landing on the ground.

Kasumi looked between the two boys, her attention taken from Yui for a moment, and blinked. "Is there something wrong with him?" She asked, concerned.

Ash sighed. "He's from my village. The most unlucky guy around. I mean, he's got four or five blood curses at once." He shrugged. "Never figured out why he was so mad at me, though. He just started threatening me one day, and wouldn't tell me why. Says it's too embarrassing. His name's…"

"Silence, Ketchit. I will kill you now!" The other roared, cutting Ash off in mid-explanation. The tamer quickly backpedaled, though he tripped over a rock.

Concerned, Kasumi dashed over to help him, but she was stopped as something large slammed into her forcefully. "Agh!" She screamed, as a set of claws raked themselves along her side. Rolling away, the mouse climbed to her feet, though she did so unsteadily.

She'd taken a lot of abuse over her life, but Titmice had very low pain tolerances to begin with, and the claw marks on her side felt like someone had poured acid into them. Eyes watering, she looked up to see Yui sneering at her.

"You won't help the boy." The Purrsian said, smiling cruelly. "I may not be a combat type, but you'll be easy to beat!" Kneeling into her attack stance, she leapt at Kasumi with killer intent.

Meanwhile, Ash had just barely rolled out of the way of the other angry boy's sword strike, forcing himself to his feet and starting to run. At the moment, he was really regretting declining Ranma's invitations to teach him the art, but he'd thought that he wouldn't have to see this lunatic again.

Seeing a gap in the rocks that likely lead into a cave, the young man ducked into it, hoping that he could get the other boy lost. He knew that he had a horrible sense of direction, due to one of his many curses, and planned to use that for whatever it was worth.

HR.

"Stand still!" Yui growled, once more lashing her claws through empty air. Though Kasumi was much weaker than she was, she'd also been studying the other pokegirl's attack patterns for years while in team rocket. "I don't even really WANT you, you know. If you just let me through, I'll leave you to run off!"

"What?" Kasumi asked, more surprised by the declaration than tempted.

"Gendo wants that red-haired bitch for study, and her tamer killed. He didn't say anything about you." Yui sneered. "Guess that tells you how important he believes you are!"

"You want to… kill… Ash?" Kasumi asked, shocked.

"Right." Yui said, as if explaining to a small child. "And we won't even notice you. Even the annoyance you're causing me right now won't matter when I get to torture that little bitch!" Her last word followed quickly after she began a leap, almost catching a distracted and horrified Kasumi unaware.

The Titmouse did manage to get out of the way, and her mind was whirling. Gendo had sent Yui and that boy she was with to kill Ash and torture Ranma. They were the only two people who had ever been nice to her, after a whole life as a secretary and occasional plaything for Gendo and Yui. All she knew was that she couldn't let them die. "I'm going to stop you!" She declared, trying to look as tall and threatening as she could.

Yui merely laughed, until she saw that the other Pokegirl was starting to glow. "What?" She breathed, as Kasumi was enveloped in a white light. "She's evolving!?"

The cat type Pokegirl, being Gendo's Alpha, knew a lot about Pokegirls. She also knew that, without some form of outside assistance, a Titmouse could only evolve one way, and that didn't pose any threat to her.

As she predicted, the light enveloping Kasumi shifted slightly, growing about a foot taller, before receding into the girl's body to reveal a much more human looking being. She still had some rodent-like features, such as slightly protruding front teeth, some fur around the ears and hands, and grey hair, but otherwise, she looked like a strikingly pretty Japanese girl.

Yui snorted. "That won't do you any good." She laughed, before diving at Kasumi again. Sadly, she didn't know one thing. An old expression that had been passed around by tamers for centuries. "Never underestimate the power of a pissed off Mousewife."

Kasumi's right hand flexed, and a rolling pin seemed to materialize in it by magic. Instantly, she swung the heavy wooden item like a baseball bat, connecting with the side of Yui's head with a loud crack. The Purrsian backed away, clutching at the pain that throbbed through her head, and the newly evolved mouse Pokegirl delivered another devastating blow with her impromptu weapon along Yui's unprotected back.

Just as the cat-girl was expecting the final blow, Kasumi spoke. "Run."

Yui didn't respond, she merely acted. She hobbled away as quickly as she could, hurling curses at her opponent as she did so, until she was lost to Kasumi's sight. Kasumi turned back to find where Ash had gone, her rolling pin still not leaving her hand, and saw the boy, dusty and rather battered looking, staggering out of a cave.

Instantly, her weapon disappeared, and she ran over to her tamer. "Ash, are you all right?" She asked, concerned.

The boy shrugged. "I think he got lost." He explained. "Never got close enough to touch me." Then, he blinked and looked at Kasumi oddly. "Do… I know you?" He asked, confused.

"Kasumi blushed and looked down. "I'm Kasumi." She said, quietly. I, I … well, evolved."

"Really?" Ash asked, excitedly. "That's great!" Whipping out his Pokedex, he checked the girl over with it. "Yeah!" He yelled, happily, and hugged her tightly. Pulling away, his smile quickly became a sigh. "But we still have to keep going to get to the caves before the end of the day!" He yelled, annoyed. "Come on, let's go."

Kasumi nodded, having been fully refreshed by her recent evolution, and followed her master as he started walking again. She wondered whether Ranma-chan would say no now?

END.

Explanatory notes.

Why did Kasumi evolve so quickly?

She didn't, really. She's been a member of team rocket for years, being abused by Yui or sent on little tasks. Basically, she's been gaining 'experience points' constantly, but couldn't really use them to evolve until battle stress made it necessary. Don't worry, this kind of fast evolution of Ash's Pokegirls won't happen often. Hell, he won't even have that many girls, really.