Disclaimer: I do not own Love Hina or Pokémon. If I did, I'd have royalties up the wazoo. But I'm still just a poor college student so obviously I…I… (breaks out crying)

From Ronin to Master
Chapter 4: Birth of "The One"
By Irritus185

The sun was shining, the Pidgey were singing, there was a gentle breeze flowing through the air, and all was right with the world. It was the perfect day for a beginning pokémon trainer to start his or her journey and begin the long, worthwhile task of catching and training pokémon to become their strongest.

Or at least it would have been if there wasn't for the large, very passionate hordes of pokémon running around the fields surrounding Route 1 looking for that one little human.

Keitaro shivered in fright, cowering inside a small cavern on the side of the road that had been carved out by water erosion from both rain and the small trickling stream that passed by. He had Vanilla settled in his lap, covering her mouth with both hands so as she couldn't make any noise and alert the pokémon to their position. Why, oh, why did she have to be such a troublemaker? If she just hadn't…

Keitaro jumped when he felt Vanilla try to push his hands aside, attempting to say something. He turned her around and shushed her loudly. Keitaro could feel his will weakening as he looked at those baby-blue eyes of hers, but he knew that he couldn't give in as the result would probably be a very painful demise. "No, Vanilla," he whispered. "Not a word. Don't say a single thing."

"Myu?" she mumbled through his fingertips. Vanilla's eyes seemed to water even more, her ears pressing down onto her skull.

He groaned softly at the plaintive tone in her voice. Why did she have to be so adorable at a time like this? He was hard-pressed to just put her back in her pokéball but then he remembered just exactly much he hated the idea of imprisoning the pink pokémon like that. It would be tantamount to smacking a puppy with the newspaper because it piddled on the living room carpet. Except in this case he was the one close to piddling from abject fear and terror.

He sighed, sucking back up his breath when he heard movement above them. Oh crap, they were so close he could actually smell the ripe, gleeful anticipation of them as the pokémon hunted him down. Keitaro didn't know why, but it was as though he could actually sense what they were thinking. It was a strange and somewhat uncomfortable feeling that niggled at the back of his mind, only growing stronger whenever he was stupid enough to thing about it. It was like though they were sending out signals, and his brain had become some sort of freakish trans-receiver radio, gathering everything and pushing them into his brain until it threatened to leak out his ears.

The strongest at the moment definitely had to be coming from his own pokémon. Vanilla was nibbling at his fingers, tickling the tips with her small tongue. Ah great…Why'd she go and have to do that? Now I feel like I'm the bad guy.

Keitaro sighed, realizing that he couldn't keep this up anymore. He looked at the Mew carefully, his eyes searching her own. "Vanilla, if you promise to be quiet, I'll let go, okay?"

"Myu?"

"You can't be loud. It'll attract the other pokémon."

"Nyu myuu." She nodded her head as best she could from her dead-locked position. If it meant she could be free, she'd agree to it and gladly. Besides, Keitaro was such a sweetie. She knew that he wouldn't be able to last much longer with her pitiable state. He was just too kind a person to voluntarily cause discomfort to others.

Sighing, he let go of the small pokémon's head. Almost immediately, Vanilla latched onto him, cooing and cuddling into his neck. There wasn't even a big change in her volume, as she was now being muffled by his jacket, the material muting her purrs.

Keitaro allowed a smile to creep across his face. Vanilla was really just too cute for words at times even if she was a little hell-raiser for most of it. He absently scratched her behind the ears, eliciting even stronger purrs. He chuckled. "So do you promise you'll be good for now?"

"Myu!"

He winced at the loud cry and looked around to see if anything or anyone had noticed. When nothing appeared, he let out a sigh of relief. That was close. He thought the sound may have attracted one of the pokémon searching about, and that would have cause a whole buttload of-

"Raticate!"

Keitaro's eyes widening, he turned his head, the locked joints creating a creaking effect as he did. Looking out, he saw a pokémon hanging its head upside-down from the ledge above. Holy crap! It's that rabid, monster gerbil! When he instinctively smashed against the back of the small hole, Keitaro's pokédex fell out, capturing the pokémon it is lens.

Raticate, the big mouse pokémon. A normal-type. Raticate's sturdy fangs grow steadily. To keep them ground down, it gnaws on rocks and logs. It may even chew on the walls of houses. If attacked, it stands up on its hind legs, bares its fangs and shrieks in an intimidating manner at its enemy.

"Raticate!" The pokémon jumped down to Keitaro's level, blocking off his only exit. He could hear a number of racing footsteps approaching his position. It looked like his life was becoming forfeit at these strange creatures' hands.

How did it come to this? His journey had started out so peacefully. He remembered like it was only a couple days ago.

Keitaro began to cry. For the love of all that was holy, it was just a couple days ago!

FRTMFRTMFRTMFRTMFRTM

The sound of sand being crunched under heavy-duty boots rose through the air as Keitaro walked down the road. He glanced at the sky, noticing that the sun had yet to fall past the horizon. He frowned, wondering just far he had traveled. He knew that even with the going-away party he left sometime in the afternoon, but with the distance he had walked he could have sworn it had at least been several hours.

Flipping open his pokédex, Keitaro's frown grew a bit deeper when it said it wasn't even six yet. Then it lessened. Did that mean that he was making better time than he thought? He knew that it would take a few days to get to Viridian City, where he would attempt his very first gym battle, and he wanted to get there as soon as possible. As much as he was beginning to enjoy his time spent in this world, he still yearned for his home, even with all the pain and trauma that came with it.

He stopped for a second, readjusting his boots. Keitaro was still not used to such footwear, but at the advice of Ash saying that he would go through a lot of rough environments, thus wearing heavily on his feet (Ash himself had gone through one too many pairs during his journey), Keitaro decided to accept the hiking boots the pokémon master had suggested. They were a bit tough on his toes, but he knew that they would alter to his feet after a bit of walking.

His frown shifted into a smile as he watched Vanilla float around in lazy circles. The pokémon had shed her disguise since there were no other humans along the route (not that Keitaro realized this) and was simply enjoying floating on the breeze. Her trainer had said it was good to stretch her…tail(?) and made her move around on her own, forcing the Mew off her favorite perching spot.

Over the past month the legendary pokémon had become increasingly more intrigued with the young man she had chosen as her trainer. Not only was he combined with Anima, which she was intimately familiar with from oh so long ago (the memories made her sigh with affection), but he wasn't even from their world. Even Palkia didn't have the power to cross the multidimensional shift into alternate universes. He could only travel into pocket dimensions, small bubbles that were part of the pokémon universe and yet not at the same time. Only Arceus would have an idea of that feat, but the big jerk would never tell Mew. Just because he created the world and was her parent didn't mean it had to be such a stingy meanie!

Still, Keitaro was indeed much different from any of the other people that lived in her world. Of course there was the measure of confusion that came from dimensional lag, but it seemed to be countered by the fact that his universe really didn't seem that different (in an astral sense, of course) from her own. Though most of it seemed to originate from the boy's own hectic demeanor and haphazardly naïve personality.

To be honest, she enjoyed that side of him. Keitaro was one of the few people, in any dimension, who was so utterly gullible and easy to trick. Vanilla mentally giggled at all the pranks she had pulled on the young man, relishing the mixture of expressions on his face from each individual one. But it was strange as just as there were many times the boy was easy to manipulate, there were others when she just couldn't push his buttons. It happened in such a random fashion that even she had trouble predicting what would result from her actions. However, that was half the fun when it came to teasing him.

Creating a psychic bubble, Vanilla plopped on it belly-first, bouncing up and down slowly as she waited for Keitaro to catch up. Being a psychic made it easy for her to gauge how people, both human and pokémon, would act and behave. Around Keitaro, though, it became difficult to see what he was thinking. The only time she had mentally connected with him was the first time they met, and she hadn't attempted a second one at all afterward. For some odd reason, she felt a large desire not to intrude on his mental realm.

The Mew supposed it was because of the single time she had. She had felt such an array of emotions. Some good, some bad, and some nothing at all, like most humans she had come across when she was in an alter form or invisible. But there was something deeper than all of that, such eldritch force that reminded her too much of her fellow ageless brethren; and yet it in no way resembled Anima. It was something that was part of Keitaro only, and just that alone made Vanilla instantly attracted to the young man. But there were other things that drew her close to Keitaro. Oh yes, there were many things indeed…

Vanilla laughed out loud. The young trainer was just so adorable the way he blushed and flustered about like an idiot whenever something bad happened to him. She wondered idly if the boy had extremely short nerves or simply a bad heart. Though she supposed then Keitaro wouldn't have survived through as many trials as he did with her as his pokémon. Vanilla knew she wasn't being the most subservient of pokémon, but then again she wasn't any normal pokémon and she could tell Keitaro knew that as well. She would start to listen to him more often as time passed by, but for now she wanted to have as much fun as she could, even if it was at his expense.

Sighing, she knew that running along this train of thought would only bring more trouble in the end, especially when Keitaro realized exactly who she was. The boy treated her exactly like he treated every other pokémon, which was odd in itself but she would think on that later, and she wanted to keep that treatment as long as she could. Vanilla had even gone as far as to erase her data (and some other things she thought would be better off not know, at least for now) from Keitaro's pokédex. She knew things would eventually come to the point where her true identity would be revealed to the clueless lad, but still, where would the fun be if he knew right away?

Blinking as he watched the pink pokémon giggle deviously while belly-flopping on her similarly-colored bubble, Keitaro could feel a distinct sense of dread circulating through his body. What was the little devil plotting now? He sighed and scratched his head. Well, it wasn't like he could expect anything less from the capricious pokémon. Vanilla seemed determined to fool around with him as much as possible. It almost seemed like he was back home with Kitsune, Su, and Sarah always on his heels, trying to make him look like an idiot.

Well, perhaps she wasn't that bad.

Slipping his hands into one of the many pockets in his cargos, Keitaro fingered the small capsules that laid there. There were five of them, signifying the five other pokémon he needed to be an official trainer. Keitaro sighed. He knew that all trainers needed a requisite six pokémon to be considered legitimate, but that was only to participate in tournaments or gain a job with the pokémon league. He didn't want to start collecting pokémon for that, especially if he was only going to leave this world in the end. Keitaro never was one for riches and fame, and although he often dreamed of being number one in Tokyo U's mock exams, even he knew it was just that – a dream.

Even so, to battle across all of Kanto with just one pokémon? Even though Ash had never captured more than a quarter of the world's pokémon index, he had still caught many pokémon from each region. He had said that while collecting a lot of pokémon was not necessary, it was still helpful and that even he had captured the necessary six and a few more to help him through his journey.

Still, the idea of capturing pokémon just did not appeal to Keitaro. He was extremely surprised when Vanilla not only did not run away from him upon discovering what he was, but also willingly (and forcefully) became his very first pokémon. Then again, there was definitely something different about the pink pokémon but she still should have had the same beliefs that all the others did. To voluntarily become a servant? What kind of person chose to do that – human, pokémon, or otherwise?

The animals in his world were vastly different from the pokémon in this one. Aware, yes; intelligent, sometimes; but the same kind of wisdom that's par and sometimes exceeds that of humans?

Never!

But the pokémon, these beings were just as intelligent, wise, and sentient as humans were. To force them to be pets, to bend under their capturer's will? It was no better than slavery. And the pokéballs themselves – they were almost like a brainwashing contraption. To go from battling fiercely to fiercely loyal with just a simple ball? What other term could be used for such a drastic change in personality except mind control?

Pokémon were people, too, and to derive them of their free will and beliefs was tantamount to torture. Keitaro knew he was probably going overboard with this thought process, that these people had gone through millennia of evolution and interactions to reach where they were today, but he still just couldn't wrap his mind around the idea. It just didn't make any sense to him! None at all!

Looking back, he had to wonder what made him decide to be a trainer. There was the obvious chance of him getting back home, but there had to be something else that overcame his initial reluctance to capture pokémon.

What was it? What overrode that hesitation when he thought about squeezing those beings into those tiny capsules?

Now he remembered…

The smile of a trainer and his pokémon.

The bond he had seen amongst the Ketchum family and Tracey. It was something that touched him deep in his heart. The way they treated their pokémon, not as servants, but as friends and family was something that really spoke to him. Ash and Pikachu, Delilah and Mimey, they were pairs that had braved so many fronts of trouble that it had left them companions so much deeper than Keitaro could even imagine. Or, maybe he would be able to understand the feeling, once he started to make friends out pokémon, not as followers.

Keitaro rubbed furiously at his head, biting down the grimace that tried to escape. Gaahhh, this was so confusing! If only it could be just a little more simple! If only he could just stop thinking so much!

Oh wait…

"Vanilla, come here, sweetie." Keitaro gestured for the cat-like pokémon.

She looked at him, flipping onto her butt. "Myu?"

"You can get your place back, if you want. I think you've…err, walked enough on your own." Well, except for the fact that she was flying and had spent a great deal of the time using those bubbles as support, but Keitaro guessed it was pretty much the same.

"Myu!" She immediately popped the bubble, hovering back to his shoulders. Grabbing his hat, she nudged it off. Keitaro flipped it around so the bill wasn't poking into Vanilla's face. Vanilla latched onto the back of his head as soon as he did, gnawing happily at his ponytail. "Mfyuu nyfu myu…" Vanilla's voice was muffled by the strands lodged in her mouth.

Keitaro could instantly feel his thoughts draining out of his brain as the sticky sensation of his hair pasted against his skin came to the front. Oh yeah, there was nothing that could banish activity quicker from his head than the silly ministrations Vanilla gave him. The pure absurdity of it all asked for nothing less.

It was strange but Vanilla reminded him so much of Tama-chan. The flying hot-springs turtle also had the same effect on him, able to calm his worries but just as easily escalate them with a single flip of her flipper. Keitaro's eyebrows knotted together, his lips quirking up. "Vanilla?"

"Myufu?" She blinked.

"You think this whole journey is a good idea?"

"Nyu?"

"I mean, all the gym battles I guess I'm okay with, but the whole deal with capturing pokémon…Is it really okay? I mean, is it all right that I do that to wild pokémon?"

"Myuuu…" Vanilla tapped her cheek. She shrugged. "Myu myu nyu. Myuu nyuu myu myu myu myuuu. Nyu myu nyu myu…" She waved her paws around, tapping Keitaro's skull at different points during her explanation.

Keitaro listened as the little creature continued on with her lecture, nodding at several inflections in her tone. When she finally finished, he could feel the expectant gaze she was giving him, as though she was waiting for an answer or recognition of her analysis. However, all that she got was Keitaro nodding and then stopping. He blanched.

"I didn't understand a single word you said."

"Myuuu…" she sighed, lightly headbutting the back of his head with the front of hers, her tail slapping his cheeks in mild irritation.

Keitaro couldn't help but chuckle over the whole ordeal. What did he expect? He couldn't understand the various pokémon languages, even though they seemed to understand human speech well enough as well as each others'. In fact, he found that kind of puzzling; that they would have some innate affinity for linguistics that even the greatest scholar would be insanely jealous of.

However, it did remind him again of Tama-chan and also Mutsumi. The young lady obviously understood what the tiny turtle was saying, as she often revealed things that only Tama would know of (due to both her high frequency of being places she oughtn't and ability to meld in with her surroundings.) There was also the fact that Keitaro himself had begun to be able to translate what Tama was saying. He wondered exactly what that meant. Was he like Mutsumi then, able to understand languages not meant for the human tongue? Or was it just that he had spent so much time around Tama-chan that he slowly began to realize just what she was trying to get across? And if that was the case, would the same happen for him, Vanilla, and any of the other pokémon he came into frequent contact with?

He guessed that could be true, what with the relationship between Ash and Pikachu, after all.

Even so, he was slowly (slowly!) starting to recognize certain signals that Vanilla was giving him; little pieces of body language that appeared to be especially tailored for him. Heck, that tail of hers could be used for sign language it was so versatile and prehensile, even more so then the monkeys and cats from his world.

Keitaro reached back, scratching Vanilla at the base of her ears. Just like a cat, she butted her head against it, begging for more. He laughed softly. "Well, guess I can understand that much, huh?"

"Myu!" She grabbed his fingers, biting them gently.

He hid the wince as her small but sharp teeth sank into his flesh. That hurts!

Vanilla let go of his hands like she had been burned. Keitaro felt confused at that. He hadn't said anything so why…He mentally shrugged. Well, what could he expect from a psychic-type pokémon?

He had unanimously decided she had to at least be that type with all the psychic-like stuff she did. Giant orbs made out of pink bubblegum? Hovering without wings (or aerodynamically-designed flippers)? The multi-colored sparkles she threw in the air like fireworks? The mind-reading?! Oh wait, she hadn't done that yet. (Actually she had but what Keitaro didn't know wouldn't kill him. Possibly maim and traumatize but not kill him.)

Keitaro reached back and pulled at Vanilla's paws. "Hey, it's okay."

"…myu?"

"Yeah, it's fine."

"Myu!"

He laughed. "So, let's try again with the conversation but this time let's make it a bit simpler." Keitaro took a deep breath after receiving confirmation via Vanilla tapping his head. "So, me being a pokémon trainer – good or bad?"

"Myu."

"And what about the whole capturing pokémon thing. Do I really have to do it if I want to become a good trainer?"

"Myu myu."

"And the pokémon? Do they actually like it? On a general basis, I mean."

"Nyuuuuu…" From the tone of her voice, he could tell it was a definite in the negative sense.

"Then how am I supposed to do things?"

"Myu nyu myu nyu nyu…"

Their conversation went on as they traveled down the path. The sun continued to travel along its celestial path, falling deeper and deeper towards the horizon as the temperature began to follow in tune. By the time that they had finished, the sun had already set about halfway, allowing a golden-red glow to stretch across the road and surrounding plains and trees. Luckily they had also come across a small clearing on the side of the road meant for travelers to be put up for the night.

Keitaro sighed as he plopped onto the ground, shucking his backpack off. Vanilla did the same, tumbling into his lap where she let off a contended sigh as she nuzzled the boy's stomach. Keitaro smiled then grumbled as he fiddled with the pack's lashes, looking for the containers of food. Finding them, he took one out and then began to search for Vanilla's. Ash had told him how pokémon had completely different dietary needs from humans, so much that they needed a vastly different formula when it came to pre-made food.

Actually, that thought always kind of intrigued yet disturbed Keitaro. In a world where all the animals were sentient, what did humans do for protein if the one viable source of meat could scream in horror? Luckily, synthesized food was something that was very common, but Keitaro always found the idea of most food items being akin to wet dog or cat food was more than creepy to him. However, that was just the base materials, and most cuisine was mixed and altered in such a way that it more than resembled items from his world like sushi or hamburgers.

Retrieving a can opener, he opened the rations, allowing Vanilla and himself to partake in the evening meal. Glancing about, he realized that it'd be better if he set up his tent as soon as possible. But he was both too tired yet excited to do so. He wanted to sleep out in the outdoors, under the stars with nothing blocking his view.

Keitaro swallowed a bit more of the chunky food-stuff, wiping his mouth with a sleeve. He might as well gather some firewood. He would have to get at least that if he wanted a comfortable night as it tended to slip down quite a few degrees in the darkness.

Vanilla watched him as he gathered some kindling, twigs, and sticks, building them up in a small pile before surrounding them with a ring of rocks. After being flung into the woods from Naru-punches so many times, Keitaro had learned how to rough a small fire when it was too late and dark to attempt the return back to Hinata-sou. He fumbled around, looking for a lighter but stopped when he saw Vanilla standing over the pile of wood, a determined look on her face.

"Hmm, Vanilla, is something up?"

Vanilla looked up, flashing a thumbs-up in a "no worries" pose. Taking a deep breath, she exhaled. "Myu!" With her cry, a small stream of fire poured from her mouth, lighting the kindling ablaze and then the rest of the wood.

Keitaro sat in dumbfounded silence as the pokémon cheered and danced in victory before running back to her seat in his lap. Looking down, he saw that she had returned to gobbling down her meal. She knew fire-type attacks, too? Keitaro knew she could use a lot of normal attacks like the ones she had used in the practice duels, but not once had she used a specific attack that implied a different pokémon-type like fire or electric. Chalk up another mystery to the little pink pokémon. He shook his head. Better to think of these things later. First comes food.

Keitaro continued eating with Vanilla, finishing up most of what was in the can until he was disturbed by a rustling behind him. Turning around, he was startled to see a wild Rattata rifling through his bag. He blinked. So this was the pokémon that Vanilla took the form of when they were back at the Ketchums'? It certainly looked unassuming.

He then shook his head. Wait, this creature was trying to steal from him! He should be more interested in what the little thief was doing rather than what it was!

Quicker than a blink of an eye, Keitaro's hand darted forth, plucking the Rattata by the scruff of its neck. It gave a shrill cry of surprise when it found itself being lifted up and suddenly face-to-face with the irate trainer. Keitaro frowned. "And what do you think you're doing?"

The pokémon struggled, trying to get free from his grasp so it could run away. "Tata! Rat!"

"Hey, hey, calm down, I'm not gonna hurt you!"

"Rattata! Ratta!"

"Myu!"

Keitaro recognized the tone of her voice and his frown deepened. He spared a quick glance at Vanilla, his eyes narrowed. "Whatever it is you're thinking about or suggesting, Vanilla, I'm not gonna do it or let it happen. You have to be a good girl." He turned back to the mouse pokémon, its beady eyes calming down when it realized it wasn't about to be beaten or captured. Keitaro found himself falling into the twin specks of ebony and nearly jumped when his dual growls rose from both their stomachs.

"Huh? So you're hungry then?" He placed the Rattata down, who, for some reason foreign to it, could not force itself to run away, and picked up some of the uneaten remains of his food (Vanilla had eaten all of hers already). While the pokémon would not get all the needed nutrients and supplements, at least it wouldn't go hungry. He offered a piece to it, his voice beckoning. "You can have some if you want. I won't bite."

The Rattata looked at him then the proffered food then him again. It blinked and then snatched the morsel from his fingers, scarfing it down faster than it took for him to register that it had taken it. The pokémon licked its claws, wiping the crumbs from its whiskers. It let out a satisfied cry.

"Rattata!"

Keitaro sighed when he saw that the pokémon was no longer trying to avoid him. Instead it sat on its hind legs, its upper torso straight up. It tilted its head to look at him. Keitaro pursed his lips. "So I guess this means you're not afraid of me anymore?"

It grinned and nodded. "Ratta!"

He let out a long breath of air. Well, at least he hadn't totally bungled that up. He was afraid that his first meeting with a pokémon as a trainer would go extremely badly but this was actually kind of pleasant. He had no desire to capture another pokémon soon, but if he could still interact with pokémon like this then he supposed that would be just fine.

"Rattata?" The pokémon had finally noticed Vanilla who was still sitting in her trainer's lap. Upon realizing who it was, it fell into disbelief. "Rattata tat?! Ratta?!"

Vanilla simply smiled. Ah, the burdens of being eve mother. She giggled. "Myu nyu!"

"Rattata!"

Keitaro watched as the two bantered back and forth. Well, it looked like the two had hit it off. He was surprised at how the Rattata was acting when it talked with Vanilla. So formal and yet familiar at the same time. It almost reminded him of the etiquette one showed to an elder back home. His eyes grew amused. Maybe he could find out what was going on. Twisting around without trying to disturb Vanilla, Keitaro picked up his pokédex from its resting spot. He felt Vanilla's weight leave just as he got it.

"Myu!

"Rattata!"

He swiftly turned around, his expression melting into a frightened one. Vanilla had latched onto the Rattata, kicking it into the air and juggling it with her feet like it was some kind of ball in a circus trick. The pokémon was obviously disoriented, its eyes swirling and it frantically calling out for help. Vanilla just laughed as she continued to swirl the pokémon head over heels again and again.

Keitaro leaped forward, trying to break them apart. "Vanilla, stop that!" he demanded. "You're going to…going to…" He trailed off as his face shifted from frightened to downright terrified.

In front of him, emerging from the low grass, were at least a dozen Rattata. Their bare fangs were vibrating as their lips snarled up, angered at the human who would dare try to harm their family. They growled out threats as they steadily moved towards him and Vanilla.

"Rattata…"

"Now wait just a moment!" Keitaro shot his hands up in a placating manner. "Everything's fine. It's just a misunderstanding. You're friend is all right, and there's nothing to worry about…" His and the Rattata's eyes focused on the original one. It had passed out from the dizzying trip, laid strewn out on its back with its tummy facing the sky. Keitaro looked back at the Rattata, his hope slipping as their growls intensified. "Well, shit."

Unfortunately for him, it didn't just end there.

Keitaro eyes widened as he saw a nearly meter-tall gerbil walk into the light illuminated by the fire. Its wide mouth was accentuated by the humongous teeth crossing vertically. Keitaro whimpered as it whipped its long tail onto the ground, creating an almost deafening crack. This was not going well for him…

That's when the fire went out, courtesy of Vanilla sweeping dirt on it as she twirled around the clearing like a mad top. The darkness engulfed them as the moon was covered with clouds, and Keitaro could only make out the kind twinkling of stars and the not-so-kind twinkling of light reflecting off the mouse pokémon's eyes.

So, realizing that he was surrounded by a bunch of hostile creature who thought that he had brought harm to their brethren and not having any kind of tactical advantage to perhaps fight them off, Keitaro took the only option he had left and one that he used quite often in such situations.

Scooping up Vanilla, his pack, and his pokédex, Keitaro ran for all his worth, a small horde of angry pokémon quick on his heels.

All in all, this kind of beginning for his journey was simply par for the course.

Though he knew that would only change as time passed.

Most likely for the worse.

A Rattata nipped at his boots when he stumbled for a moment before he could start putting distance between them again. They chased with renewed vigor.

Okay, definitely for the worse.

FRTMFRTMFRTMFRTMFRTM

The sun peeked its way over the horizon, its rays inching over the plains as it searched for beings to give its life-giving warmth to. Keitaro blinked blearily as it smacked him right in the eyes, throwing an arm up to fend it off. Ah damn, it's morning already?

He stretched, working the kinks out while Vanilla shuddered against his chest, trying to curl back into his warmth. His sleeping bag kept her close, allowing the two to share body warmth against the colder autumn nights. Cracking his neck, Keitaro winced as he felt the bones and joints shift into a rather painful position. Um, ow…

Looking up, he tried to knock the kink out of his neck. But he only succeeded in receiving another shooting pain through his muscles, smacking his head into a branch when he convulsed. Keitaro spit out a few leaves from his mouth and groaned. Ok, this was the last time he would ever spend the night up in a tree.

He had managed to outrun the Rattata and Raticate from the night before. Deciding it would be best to hide somewhere, he chose a small grove of trees tightly knitted together. Luckily the branches were strong enough to hold his weight, so he and Vanilla made impromptu camp in their boughs. Keitaro later figured that this was not the best course as the odd distribution and arrangement of branches only led to him getting poked uncomfortably in various areas and bending his body worse than when Su put him in her excruciating holds. It had taken all night before he could even fall asleep.

Keitaro decided to survey his environment. Looking around, he saw that none of those blasted pokémon from before were wandering around. Great, so he didn't have to worry about running for his life first thing in the morning. Continuing his check he saw that there were several fist-sized fruits a little bit away. Huh, so they were apples here, too?

Reaching out, he plucked one. Bringing it to his lips, he took a bite.

"Hey, that's pretty good!"

It tasted just like his world's apples, moist and sweet. Keitaro happily munched on it, deciding to grab a few more for the road. Vanilla would surely like them as well considering her sweet tooth. As he went to grab another one, his hand brushed against something rough. Puzzled, Keitaro touched it some more. It was scratchy and dry, but not like the tree's bark. What exactly…

It was then a small bird jumped in front of him, crowing at him. It angrily flapped its wings, a small breeze forming. So surprised, Keitaro reared back.

"Hey, wait a minu-whoa!" With a crash, he tumbled through the tree, his shifted weight breaking through some of the less durable branches. Still in his sleeping bag, Keitaro impacted with the ground, throwing up some dust and pieces of grass and weeds. Vanilla woke with a start.

"Nyu?!"

"Ah-ta-ta-ta…" Keitaro rubbed at the lump that had formed and was quickly healing on the back of his head. He had hit the ground pretty hard. With the angle he had hit it, he wouldn't be surprised if he had been knocked unconscious or broken something if he wasn't so damn hardy. Looking up, he glared at where he had fallen from. "What the hell was that?"

The small bird pokémon squawked angrily, rustling its wings in aggravation. "Pidgey! Pidge pi!"

Keitaro glared angrily back at it, matched by Vanilla's as well. She was having such a nice nap with such a warm body pillow. Why'd they have to go and wake her up?! Keitaro tried to calm her down as she let out infuriated cries and mewls as he climbed out of the bag. Even so, he was pissed off as well. What was that pokémon doing? Here he was, minding his own busy when it came barging into his nest and…

Wait, nest? Why was he thinking of his sleeping spot as a nest? Looking up, he was surprised to see that behind the pokémon, there was a small bundle of grass, bark, and stiff weeds. In it he could barely make out several round objects. So that was a nest? What he had tried to search was that pokémon's nest?

Flipping out his pokédex, he checked the pokémon out.

Pidgey, the tiny bird pokémon. A normal-and-flying dual-type. A common sight in forests and woods. It flaps its wings at ground level to kick up blinding sand. It is docile and prefers to avoid conflict. If disturbed, however, it can ferociously strike back.

As if to verify the information, the Pidgey swooped down, kicking up a thick cloud of dirt and sending it towards the two. Keitaro and Vanilla burst into a coughing fit as they inhaled the grainy substance. Keitaro immediately felt a paradoxical sense of satisfaction. Why was he feeling that? He was the one getting pounded on!

So caught on in its assault, the Pidgey failed to notice the slight movement in its nest. Keitaro's earlier movements had dislodged one of its eggs, and from its retaliation, the egg had fallen out of the nest and tree, luckily being cushioned by a thick clump of vegetation. Unluckily an Ekans had been nearby, and seeing that the parent was currently distracted, decided to enjoy a nice complimentary egg breakfast.

"Pidgey!" the pokémon cried in victory. The intruders were punished and it no longer had to worry. Turning back around, its eyes widened in shock. "Pidge pidge!"

"Ekans…" The snake pokémon slithered forward, intent on swallowing the egg whole, already dislocating its jaw to accomplish the feat. However, its free meal was interrupted when the Pidgey beset on it with beak and claws. Whipping around, it hissed at the pokémon. "Ekanssss…!"

"Pi!" The Pidgey pecked at it fiercely, trying to scare it away. It knew the Ekans was bigger than it and stronger, but it couldn't just fly away while its unborn child was in danger of being eaten.

"Ekans ek!" The Ekans hissed again, lashing out with its tail. It coiled around the Pidgey, pinning its wings to its side. The bird pokémon cheeped pitifully as air was squeezed out its lungs, but the snake pokémon had no intention of killing it. It would just keep the Pidgey still while it enjoyed its meal. Finding that it had accomplished that goal, it went back to finishing off the egg.

Keitaro coughed again. Gah, what the heck was that all about? The sand cloud had finally died down and now he was free to see what was going on again. Fear quickly lanced through him. Looking aside, he saw the current battle between the Pidgey and Ekans, the Pidgey obviously losing.

Vanilla watched as her trainer's face went through a myriad of emotions. She realized what was happening. Still, it wouldn't be strange for a human to simply ignore what was going on between the snake and bird. This kind of things happened all the time in the pokémon world. It was the law of survival. Besides, that Pidgey had attacked them unprovoked, even though it believed it was in the right. Why would Keitaro help it now after all it had done?

But then again, Keitaro was not an ordinary person – human or pokémon. She smiled as she watched him dash off. Ah, whatever would she do with the naïve young man? She lazily floated after him.

The Ekans was just about to shove the egg into its mouth when something grabbed it at the base of its head. It was jerked up, the Pidgey released from its coil when it involuntarily loosened its muscles from the shock. Looking up, it found itself staring into Keitaro's face. Recognizing he was a human, it instantly went into defensive mode. Twisting around, it sank its teeth into his hand, injecting Keitaro with its weak, barely formed venom.

Keitaro winced, his head producing a lightheaded feeling. Whoa, that was a trip. He almost stumbled at the sudden change in his body. Standing up straight, Keitaro increased his hold on the Ekans so that it couldn't bite him again. Then he squatted down, placing it on the ground. The snake pokémon tried to escape, a feeling of danger and pain dashing through it, but the Ekans was stopped by Vanilla, a frightening smirk on her face.

Seeing that she was about to put the hurt onto the Ekans, Keitaro waved her off. "No, don't worry about it, Vanilla. I'm all right, see?" He stood up, but between the poison and sudden head-rush he fell flat on his butt again, holding his temples. "Woo…trippy." Shaking his head, he smiled weakly. "Er, really I am."

Vanilla frowned suspiciously at him but then lost the scary look on her face. Well, if he said it was okay then she wouldn't bother.

Keitaro smiled at her submission and fished something out of his pack. "Let's see…" he mumbled. "You look like a snake so you probably don't eat fruit so…ah! Here we go!" He pulled out a small packet of dry pokéfood. Ripping it open, he poured some of it out in front of the Ekans. "I can't let you eat the Pidgey's egg, but I can't just let you go hungry either. Go on, eat up!" He gestured at the cubed pellets.

The Ekans looked warily at him. It had bitten the human, and now he was feeding it? Flicking its tongue out, it felt like nothing was wrong. Looking at the man, it could only feel goodwill towards it. Quickly it darted forth, swallowing the pokéfood in one fell swoop and then dashed back out, quickly melting back into the tall grass.

Keitaro laughed softly at Vanilla's disgusted look and upturned nose at the Ekans behavior. He then turned back to the Pidgey. It looked at him with a confused, but not mistrustful, look on its face. Already it could tell he wouldn't hurt it or its eggs, but what…It was startled when Keitaro plucked the egg from the ground. The Pidgey almost attacked out of instinct, but was stopped by Vanilla's tail capturing it. It froze when it felt the Mew affectionately rub her cheek against its, only able to watch as Keitaro grabbed one of the tree's branches.

Little by little, Keitaro climbed back up the tree. When he came back to the nest, he carefully placed the egg back. It was then that his legs became wobbly and gave out from underneath him. He fell and was caught by one of Vanilla's psychic bubbles before he hit the ground. Giggling inanely, the mix of the lack of sleep, the day's chaotic beginnings, and the Ekans' weak poison caused Keitaro to pass out.

Vanilla released the Pidgey and floated over to Keitaro, curling up on her trainer's chest. She didn't need the sleep, but he was just so comfy!

The Pidgey watched as the two fell asleep. It felt very bewildered by the whole situation. Not only was the human a trainer (as most humans with pokémon were) and hadn't tried to capture either it or the Ekans, but he had fed the snake pokémon and returned its egg back to its nest. And then there was just that feeling of contentment that seemed to radiate from the young man. It was almost impossible to try and describe.

Cocking its head, it flapped over to the sleeping couple. Noiselessly, it plucked a couple hairs from the young man's head, only getting a disgruntled snore. It then flew back up to its nest, weaving the hairs in. Something told it the hair might bring good fortune. If not, ah well, at least it had a memento.

And so Keitaro slept, slept of fervent dreams as the poison wrecked minor havoc on his brain.

At least it wasn't as bad as the time he ate that spoiled natto. That was a bad time…

FRTMFRTMFRTMFRTMFRTM

The pokémon edged closer to their target. They had been hunting him for the last day or so, determined to catch him. After hearing about his exploits with their fellow kind and the fact that he was traveling around with the eve mother, they knew that he was someone special. The ones that had come into contact with him, though, were especially driven, claiming that they had been touched spiritually by the mere aura of the boy.

He could feel their thoughts, and they his. Pokémon from every type on the plains came on the search, even those that were sworn enemies. Ekans and Pidgey, Oddish and Fearow, Rattata and Meowth; they all came in search of him, in search of the trainer that would soon become their messiah, their leader!

And so they were in great jubilee when they found that their leader was waiting for them, hidden from prying eyes near the bank of the road. The Raticate had found him, holding the eve mother with kind hands and warm eyes. It called for them, waiting for the pokémon to bring their praises and gift.

Hearing their voices, he jumped forth, stretching his arms to welcome all of his separate brethren into them. And he called to them, saying that they were pokémon and he was human but that they were one and the same under the blue sky.

He pushed through them, shouting that he had to find his path, but that he also promised to keep them in his heart and to remember him always. He would bring glory to their race and make it so that all humans and pokémon could live in peace. But they followed, for they wanted to be in his presence, to hear his voice, and share his warmth. He was the human who would take them to the promised land, where there would be no grief or famine or war or hate.

For he was the human, the person…The One!

FRTMFRTMFRTMFRTMFRTM

Keitaro ran with all his might as the pokémon cheered after him. Oh gods, why wouldn't they leave him alone?! He just wanted to get to Viridian City and get his badge! And now he had a whole army of various pokémon after his hide?! Why him?

Why him?!

And thus the adventurers of The One began. May all his infinite glory shine over you.

A/N: Fourth chapter is done. Sorry this one took so long. There were multiple reasons why. One, after pumping out about 65 pages in 6 days, I wanted to take a little break. Second, this chapter was a lot slower than the others. Nothing really important happened, and it was merely a set-up for further events and omakes to come. But ya had to admit Keitaro being some heavenly figure is a funny (yet stupid) touch and should make for some good stuff later on. Third, school has finally picked up with lots of reading and writing, and my club has finally started as well, so I've had to pay a lot of attention to that as well. Eh, at least it was only about a week this time, right?

Anyway, start of Keitaro's journey. No new pokémon yet, but that may change in chapters to come. Same thing with girls. Remember, with the LH girls gone, someone has to replace them. After all, Keitaro needs physical and mental trauma in the form of many beautiful women either throwing themselves at him or him away from them. Yay…

Hopefully the next chapter will be sooner, as a lot more happens. Plot picks up again so look forward to it. Keitaro's getting closer to his first gym battle! Hurray! Coming right up is the story's first omake, so enjoy that as well. Please Review, and remember, no flames!

Next Chapter: First Battle

Omake!

"Run that by me one…more…time."

Su gulped and laughed nervously. Naru was scary when she was angry. Normally that anger was focused solely on Keitaro whenever he did something stupid or had one of his "accidents" or maybe towards Kitsune to a lesser degree whenever one of her schemes went awry. But now that oh-so-righteous fury was leveled straight at the young mad scientist.

Su looked around to see if anyone would help her, but the rest of the inn's tenants were looking at her with just as furious or frustrated expressions as well. Even Shinobu, Shinobu of all people, was glaring at her with a strength that was just as common to the prepubescent princess' face as sobriety was to Kitsune. Su sighed in resignation, accepting her fate.

"I kinda…maybe…sorta…"

"Out with it!" Naru shouted at her, her left eye twitching, a sign that showed she was at the end of her rope.

"I sent Keitaro to another dimension with my Dimensional Transport Ray Mark II."

Silence reigned supreme. It was king the first time Su had said what happened, and it held its control this time, too. It was shorter this time as well as Su hadn't bothered to go into the semantics of her newly tested inventions inner workings.

Kistune was the first to break the silence. If this was some sort of elaborate prank by Su, she would be the first to break it. After all, she was the mistress of jokes and trouble. It was her namesake. "What do you mean by that? You mean you blasted him?"

Su nodded. "Gone, kaput, nada. He's wandering in some alternate dimension now."

"But…but you can bring him back, right?" Shinobu stuttered, her tone betraying the harsh expression etched into her features. If senpai was gone then she'd…she'd…She pushed away the thought and steeled herself. "If you sent him away, you can bring him back, right? Right?!"

Su abashedly scratched the back of her head. "Umm…maybe? I didn't exactly calculate the coordinates of his destination, and with the infinite possible amount of universes the chances of me locating the correct one are zil to just above zilch."

Shinobu's reaction was to tear up, open her mouth to wail (the others covered their ears in anticipation), and let out a strangled squeak before passing out. Luckily Motoko dove in to catch her body, laying Shinobu gently out on the couch. Su, watching the debacle, pulled a banana out of her pocket. She needed the sweet, sweet lusciousness of the fruit if she wanted to think straight. Su let out an indignant cry when it was snatched out of her hands.

Haruka stared at her sternly, the banana clutched tightly in her hands. Using her nephew as a lab monkey was one thing, blowing up her grandmother's pride and joy was another thing, breaking countless weapon treaties with her collection of doomsday devices was something else, but what the tanned foreigner had done this time was beyond the mark. So the previous housemother had to punish her accordingly.

"You did it this time, Su. No more bananas for you – ever." Her face demanded no resistance.

Su froze. Okay, she could get through this. No more bananas for the rest of her life was a fitting punishment for sending the unlucky ronin to another plain of existence. Heh, was it getting hot in here or was it just her? How come she was so itchy? So many itches, so many! No matter how much she scratched, they wouldn't go away! Why was she so itchy?!

As Su went through the initial phase of withdrawal, Haruka turned to the rest of the girls. She almost lit up another cigarette but decided against it. "So, what are we going to do about this?" Thins were certainly going to break down not that the glue that was Keitaro wasn't around. He even acted just like it, stretching until he ripped into tiny, flaky pieces.

"What can we do?" Kitsune responded. No Keitaro around? Who would she drink with? Who would she sponge off of? Dear god, who would she use to lighten up her sex drive?! Her biological clock was shrieking! It needed release, even if only indirectly! "If Su can't do it then we certainly can't."

"Eh, the dork probably deserved it." Sarah said as she watched Su curl up in the fetal position and convulse wildly. Without Keitaro, Papa would be back to get her. But then she wouldn't be able to hang around Su anymore. And who would she use for target practice? Other people would report her to social services quicker than it took Naru and Motoko's tempers to reach the boiling point! "He's probably a screw-up there as well."

"As much as I agree with that point, I must digress that even Urashima does not deserve such a fate." Motoko was very split in her emotions. Urashima was a man. Men were weak and perverts. Men made otherwise strong women weak. Men also did very pleasurable things to strong women that should never be shown around young children. Like lick his way down her undulating spine to her pulsating womanho- Motoko forced back her blush. Really…She needed to write this stuff down in her diary again. "Who knows what horrors lay in that world?"

"Oh my, but doesn't that sound fun?" Mutsumi gazed around vacantly, even if her internal processors were working at full tilt. She liked Urashima! He was so cute and clumsy and so fun to be around. It was even more fun to collapse on him and bury his cherry-stained cheeks in her bosom. Oh…younger boys were so fun…She giggled absently as she sunk further into her delusions. "Oh so so fun…

Tama looked at her previous owner. Oh dear, why were humans so strange? But now that Keitaro was gone, what would she do? Who would feed her and let her ride on their head? Who would stop her from getting eaten? Without bananas, Su would surely double her efforts on eating the turtle. She shivered. "Myuh."

"I'm sure he's doing fine." Naru forced back the worry that bubbled in her brain. Of course she cared about Keitaro, not that she'd ever let anyone or that idiot know about it. Or herself if her extreme denial had anything to say about it. But still, what was she going to do now that her study partner and maybe-sorta-kinda-perhaps good, close best friend(?) was lost? She snorted. "He's probably being the same old perverted Keitaro there, too."

FRTMFRTMFRTMFRTMFRTM

"AHHH-CHOOO!"

Keitaro wiped his nose. Ugh, someone must be talking about me. He looked around to make sure he hadn't gotten anything on the clothes he was folding. He nearly jumped when a small pink cloth was jabbed in front of him. Looking up, he saw Vanilla offer him a handkerchief. He smiled. "Thanks, Vanilla."

"Myu!" she cried in welcome.

Keitaro blew his nose on the cloth. He blinked. Wait a moment, handkerchiefs weren't supposed to be lacey…or made of silk. Holding it out, his eyes widened when the cloth unfolded to become a rather sexy pair of silk panties. He had just been wiping…So these were supposed to be…

"Oh my, Keitaro, I didn't know you were interested in me that way." Keitaro looked to his side to see Deiliah with an amused and surprised expression on her face. He froze at the blush tinting her cheeks. She smiled in understanding. "But I suppose a boy your age is interested in older women at one point or another. But you didn't have to steal them. I would have gladly lent you a pair if you'd just asked."

Keitaro said and did nothing. Then his nose exploded, a gusher of blood erupting from his nostrils. He passed out from blood loss, the panties still grasped in his now sweaty and bloody palms.

Delilah put a hand to her cheek. "Oh dear, did I say something wrong?"

Vanilla just continued to roll around in the fresh pile of laundry.