Bwa ha ha ha ha ha! And now I follow in the footsteps of several authors as
insane as I am and attempt to cross two totally unrelated and zany anime
universes. On another note, please excuse any and all differences between
the canon universe of Ranma ½ and Pokemon. As I am the author, I reserve
all rights to screw up as much as I want. On a final note, neither of these
anime series belong to me so in effect, I am indeed breaking the law, but I
hope that you'll excuse me 'cause I'm going to plead insanity. *gives the
Japanese raspberry and red-eye* Nyah nyah. And on with the show.
A dark and shadowy cavern opens onto a horrific scene. A mummified Akane is shown being placed in waters that are supposed to bring her back to life. As her face and form fill back out, a sigh of relief is heard coming from the watching Neriman Wrecking Crew.
One voice, however, refrains from announcing his happiness. The black haired youth with a pig tail notices that although Akane looks like she is asleep, he has yet to see her chest rise in glorious breath.
Bending close to her mouth, his eyes wide and dry, he checks the impossible. No whisper of air crosses those lips and no flutter of eyelashes greets his searching gaze. Ranma rests his head against her chest despite a growl from Ryoga.
Straightening, Ranma backs away from the lifeless form that was his Akane. The one girl he truly had feelings of love for.
The rest of the crew note his silence and take a step closer to the prone Akane. Eyes begin to tear as they look up from her youthful visage.
Ranma is trembling. His fists are clenched, his eyes wide and staring, looking through those present. "I.couldn't save.her," were his only words. With that proclamation, a gleam entered his eyes and his aura burst into renewed being.
Ryoga was amazed. Everyone was tapped out from fighting and he thought that Ranma would be entirely exhausted from his titanic battle with Saffron. A second later, realization dawned.
"Ranma, no!" This exclamation brought the attention of the center of the blaze of ki.
"You were right, Ryoga. I was never worthy of her. All this time, I thought that when it came down to it, Ranma Saotome never loses. But no more. I face reality now. I was never good enough. I just wish I could have been. Perhaps it might have been enough to save her."
In an explosion of color, white, blue, black, red, all the colors of the universe, a pillar of light shot up from the pig tailed martial artist.
The ground shook, the top of the cavern disintegrated with the onslaught of that much power, but the still form of Akane, only a few feet away from such a torrent that burned brighter than the sun, was not touched or harmed.
Ryoga could only throw an arm across his eyes to keep from being blinded. He felt horror that his beloved Akane was dead, but he also could not stop the sadness he felt as he knew that his rival, his friend was expending the last of his life's energy in the act to hurry his own entrance into the Kami-plane.
The flames of life-ki towered in mute testament to the will of the one who produced them. Sounds were muffled, and the last words any heard of the great Ranma Saotome were simple. "I wish." In a blink, it was gone. The flames, the heat, the color, and the presence of the one who was a cornerstone to all the lives in Nerima. Everything was gone. Even a chunk of the stone floor of the cavern where he stood seemed to have disappeared from existence. With this last act of self-sacrifice, Ryoga knelt by Akane's body and wept.
Author's note: Sorry about that dark part, but it was necessary in order to release Ranma from any ties he had. I also hope that I didn't mislead you into thinking that this was either entirely a dark fic, nor a humorous one. It will have degrees of both.
In an unspoiled forest thousands of miles away from any civilization, a small spark flickered into being beside a monolithic tree.
Slowly, then with increased speed, said spark multiplied and grew into a ball, then a bonfire, and then extended up into the sky. With the diameter of about a small car, the pillar of light extended miles up as well as cutting into the ancient wood beside it.
The ground beneath the pillar was replaced by one that had the look of stone. Upon it, stood a figure that embodied pain, anger, sorrow and power.
The being's head was turned towards the sky, fists down at his side, but held away from his body, and nary a wisp of clothing adorned the sleek muscled form that was once Ranma Saotome.
After long seconds in that position, the light show winked out, and the only sounds found in the new clearing was the sound of harsh breathing. The naked form, Ranma, brought his head down, incidentally facing the inner woodwork of a halved tree before collapsing.
Little did he know that his entrance into this new and unexplored land was watched by all the inhabitants of that section of forest. Its not every day that one of the fabled humans dropped in unexpectedly.
While Ranma heaved his bare body into the shelter of the once immense tree, silence prevailed in most of the woodland.
Wounded in heart, and exhausted in mind and body, Ranma did not have the energy nor the will to scan the area for danger. He was instead, watched by an assortment of creatures that did not belong to his world, but was native to another similar one.
A creature, annoyed at the disturbing of its peace, sought out the source. Finding a nasty human creature leaning against a destroyed favored resting spot, the yellow and black striped creature growled as arcs of electrical energy pulsed between the prongs on its head.
What was also known as an Electabuz to the rest of this world, presented a danger to the downed martial artist.
Determined to give the human a shock and scare it away from the forest, the Electabuz approached menacingly and disregarded the shivers that the ki saturated area produced in him.
From the cover of a tree, a pair of slit-pupiled eyes watched the coming confrontation. Ranma, slowly gathering his breath, feebly clenched his fist and pounded it into the tree.
Even this he couldn't do right.
What was supposed to end his miserable existence turned into a disorienting jolt and the eventual awareness that he had not died. Still, he was entirely drained of any energy. That in and of itself was an accomplishment. If anything were to come along, it would have no trouble killing him.
Ranma was still resigned to death, and from the corner of his eyes, saw that his prayers were to be answered. What looked to be a yellow and black striped monster was looking at him like he was dinner and was sparking like a faulty outlet.
Shifting to face his destiny better, Ranma opened his non- existent defenses and waited for oblivion. It was not long in coming.
The Electabuz was a little confused. The human should be running in terror about now. Oh well.
Wait! It moved.it seemed to be inviting attack. Heh. Never let it be said that Electabuz denied an invitation.
Powering up one of his better shock attacks, the goofy looking muscular pokemon let loose with a sizzling blast of electricity that could fry anything mortal in its path. About 4000 volts of electricity arced the distance between human and pokemon and connected with a clash of sparks.
The Electabuz, thinking that it had achieved its goal, grinned and gruffed "Buzz! Buzz! Lecta Elect!" Once the light had died, however, it was stunned to see the human beginning to rise to its feet.
A little panic-y, Electabuz turned on its full juice and tried to fry him again and again. With each bolt, the human seemed to gain a little more animation.
And the eyes. The human's eyes lit from within as the blue orbs seemed to spark with their own electrical energy.
Ranma could not understand it. Here he was, ready and willing to go to his just rewards, and that stupid animal kept juicing him up again! Granted, they both did not know just how Ranma was able to absorb and convert the electrical energy for his own purposes, but the thing should see by now that by shocking him, it was only making Ranma more powerful.
With one last zap, Electabuz ran dry of energy. Great. Just peachy. Now that blasted human would be able to capture it and make it his slave just because he did not have enough power to drive the human away.
Electabuz slumped some, waiting for the red and white ball to go flying, for it knew that it did not have the energy to fight it off.
When a minute passed and no distortion of his world came, the Electabuz looked up at its supposed master. What it saw frightened him.
The human was arcing with electricity just like an electrical pokemon would, but the yellow lightning bolts were slowly turning a bluish white. When everything was of a uniform color, the lightning crept along the human's body, along his hands, and coalesced into the space made by his hands when they were cupped in front.
In the manner of a ki blast, the energy intensified and grew to the size of a softball before being pushed forward toward the Electabuz.
As the ball of crackling energy zipped toward his foe, Ranma whispered the words of his new attack. "Lightning Moko Takabisha."
The Electabuz's only thoughts as it saw unconsciousness looming was, "Buh uzz." Which translated into "Just peachy."
And then it went flying into LAEO or Lower Alternate Earth Orbit.
Ranma, who was prepared to again collapse into exhaustion, was surprised at a new surge of energy in his system. Apparently, the recharge from the Electabuz jumpstarted his ki and chi regenerative engines into overdrive. Either that, or the jolts of electricity just refined them into a hyperactive state.
Ranma felt as if he could shoot off a great number of ki blasts and still have energy for a full day's rigorous training.
He also became aware of a pair of eyes watching him from the shadows above. As he went to discover the owner of said eyes, a thought crossed his mind.
If he continued to train and gain in power, what happened to Akane would be a thing of the past. He could be able to prevent such tragedies from ever happening to him again.
As he was thinking this, and reaffirming his will to live and grow increasingly more powerful, Ranma came to the base of the tree that held that match's watcher.
Jumping to a height of fifteen feet, Ranma landed on the branch that the watcher perched upon. "Ya might as well come out. I know that you're there."
Well, thought the watcher. When it was put that way.
A tannish furred paw emerged from the thicket of foliage. A white furred limb followed and a distinctive face with black-rimmed ears, thick whiskers, large slit- pupiled eyes, no nose, and a golden charm in the middle of its forehead made itself known. Its mouth opened, showing sharp little fanglike teeth and like the voice of hell, it announced itself.
"Meow-"
A sharp scream, and the one who openly defeated an Electabuz disappeared from the view of the curious creature.
It ended its name. "-Th."
It then crept on silent feet out of its hiding place and pounced down from the tree to find the human. This human had indeed piqued the Meowth's curiosity in its display of power.
Author's Note: Two guesses as to what scared Ranma.
Meowth found the interesting human attempting to claw through a stand of trees that blocked his path. Jumping just behind him, Meowth attempted to gain his attention.
"Meowth me meow."
Basically, it meant, "Whatcha doing?"
Ranma spun, his back pressed against the interlaced plantlife that kept him captive. Cautiously, Meowth approached, and with each step, Ranma seemed to shrink into himself, eventually curling up repeating a haunting mantra of "Cat..c-ca-cat..c..c-cat..cat..c-c-c-cat!"
When the feline finally brushed against Ranma's knee, the mantra stopped and Meowth was rewarded with an almost feral sound of a yowl. "Mrrrowlllll." In the tension filled moment, Meowth jumped back as some cat-sixth sense kicked in. Neko-ranma had slashed with his own version of claws in the place that Meowth once inhabited.
With the turf sliced and the scent of ki washing over the place, (yes, ki can be smelled, or sensed, at least by certain pokemon) Meowth found itself on perilous but familiar ground. It was as if it fought another of its kind, and that was a simple matter.
This Meowth has lived a long time in a cat community, and fighting was a way of life, if one wanted to stay. It had left only because it had found no more challenge from that area.
Perhaps it could be found here.
Neko-Ranma was incensed. Not only did the thing that annoyed it not go away, but he could sense that it was in some way drawn to him. That was unacceptable.
With further lightning quick swipes and cuts, Neko-Ranma was intent on driving the little gnat away.
Meowth, on the other hand, was having the time of its life. Not only was this human turned feline fun to fight with, it was also not easy to beat.
With rapid swipes of its own, Meowth parried and blocked many of the Neko- Ranma's cuts. In this manner, it engaged in the attack of Fury Swipes only for them to be riposted.
This continued for about half the day.
With both combatants jumping and pouncing around the new clearing, Meowth felt himself tiring. Gazing upon its opponent, it was shocked to see him not even panting.
Meowth, struggling to come up with one last attempt, decided to throw everything to chance and came up with a last desperate attack.
Crossing its paws and throwing them up into the air, Meowth gave a Payday before relaxing. It was with relief that it noted that though Neko-Ranma did not attack, the human was rather uncomfortably close as it batted at the round coins that Meowth threw into the air.
Content to let things slide, and hoping to make a friend of the rather odd human, Meowth set about enjoying himself with his new playmate in batting around the coins.
Eventually, they both became tired from their exertions as the day waned, but it was Meowth that first lay down and dropped off into sleep.
Neko-Ranma yawned, showing teeth remarkably similar to a cat's fangs, before lying down by his new friend and taking a catnap.
Silence once again reigned in the forest, but around two sleeping forms, the area was slashed to ribbons. No tree, piece of ground, boulder or plant was spared, and everything showed the mark of a claw. Time went on, and none dared to disturb the peace between two of the more deadly inhabitants of the forest.
Author's note: huh! Huh! Whatcha think?!
Shafts of light speared through the breaks in the foliage to dapple the ground around a nude martial artist and his sleeping companion.
Ranma opened his sapphire blue eyes to the underside of the canopy and felt a distinct chill. The only warm spot was at his back, as he was laying on his side, and seemed to have fur.
Stiffening at the realization that he knew what was behind him, Ranma soon relaxed marginally as he pondered the implications of remembering what had occurred during the Neko-ken.
Turning slightly around to see the catlike creature, Ranma shivered with his basic fear, but it did not overwhelm like it normally would. Slowly reaching his trembling hand out, he placed it at the top of the cat's head and petted the short fur. The rumbling of a purr greeted his touch, startling the pig- tailed martial artist.
"This is definitely odd," he said to himself. Then he realized something that would change the course of his life in this new land.
"You survived the Neko-ken! That's my most powerful technique. Hmmm." He thought. "There might be something to learn from you."
Author's note: One must remember that Ranma had vowed to train and gain power to the best of his abilities. Of course he would want to stay around the kinds of beings that were better than him.
Meowth awoke to the sound of a pleasant voice. It remembered the long fight it had with the human and hoped that the truce they had established remained after all this time.
It could see that it was morning already, and it wanted to go hunt for food, but it did not want to incur another fight with its companion.
Since neither it, nor the human had won, Meowth considered the battle a draw, and that it was free to leave at any time, but it also wanted to learn how a human could gain claws of its own that were in fact, better than Meowth's.
So, it decided to remain with the human, even if it was to submit to the red and white pokeball. It was a small price to pay to be able to learn of such skills in battle.
The human, however, seemed to have different ideas. There were no pokeballs in sight, and for that matter, neither was any clothing. The Meowth had heard through word of mouth that the humans generally wanted to have fake fur covering them, and what it saw next confirmed that rumor.
Ranma got to his feet before glancing at the Meowth, and then turned to some nearby long grasses out of the perimeter of the destruction.
A casual swipe at the stems severed the grass into long lengths. The human then sat down, oblivious to his usage of the ki-claws and began weaving the plants into a cloth he could use for coverings.
What was once a few strands of plantlife, now was turned into something like a towel, or kilt. A long vine was taken from a tree and threaded along the cloth in the pattern of 'all natural' shorts.
Ki-claws swiped again, cutting the legs of the cloth so that more mobility was ensured. This time, something about his lack of scissors got through to him.
Ranma looked at his hands, then at the newly formed shorts he was wearing. Frowning, he looked up and around for a likely target. Approaching a tree that escaped last night's battle, Ranma casually swung a hand with fingers curled like claws at the base of the tree.
This action only accomplished his fingertips getting bruised by the bark of the tree. Yelping, Ranma took a step back, glaring at the non-offensive plant. From this new distance, he took another swipe and was rewarded with four gashes running diagonally along the trunk.
This was indeed an intriguing situation. It appeared that he was gaining conscious control over the Neko- ken!
To be continued. Perhaps. I don't know. *frowls* I was thinking of setting Ranma up in the forest as an unofficial gym leader, but not for trainers. Rather, the pokemon would come to him. Ranma, himself, gains pokemon if the ones who challenge him win. Those pokemon that lose against him get trained by Ranma or his pokemon, and then made to leave. The ones that win are usually intrigued by this human because after that first battle, they are not able to win again against him. The pokemon that he sends back into the wild are much much stronger and more skilled than normal, and will be prized far above average wild pokemon by other trainers. If anyone is interested in this, please email me with c&c's cause they will truly be appreciated. Thanks. I'm at [email protected] Oh, and I think that this will eventually be one of Ranma's later pokemon. He will get this one after quite some time to set up his practices, and word of mouth gets around via the pokemon that there is a human that can train any and all types, and will not make you a slave if he wins. Raikou: electric type, carries its own stormclouds, 6'3'', 392 lbs. Looks like a tiger with purple cape (stormclouds) and lightning bolt tail ending with a starlike projection.
After watching Ranma begin to experiment and gain rudimentary control over his new claws, Meowth stayed just out of the human's way and soaked in the knowledge of learning a new technique.
When Ranma caught sight of his wayward pupil, he suppressed his shivers of fright enough to invite the feline over to train with him.
Meowth was ecstatic. This was what most pokemon dreamed of. The chance to learn with an experienced trainer and not have to undergo the humiliations of obeying the master's every beck and call.
That's not to say that being a normal trainer's pokemon was bad, it was just that the humans sometimes got too commanding, and that there was nothing for the pokemon to do after it was subjected to the pokeball.
As this human came here with nothing but the clothes.oh, nevermind. He didn't even come into the forest with that.
Meowth took a stance beside his companion. Mimicking the slow and graceful moves shown to him from Ranma's kata, the cat pokemon began its first lessons in the martial arts.
A few days of intensive crash course martial arts later, Meowth was feeling as if it were on top of the world. Its Fury Swipes were approaching the speed of sound, the speed increase was phenomenal, and just like its trainer, Meowth was beginning to establish a visible aura.
Ranma, on the other hand, was learning how to augment his normal attack and defense styles with the addition of his ki-claws. Although he kept his skills with the Moko Takabisha, the Hiryu Shoten Ha, and the other techniques he learned in Nerima, Ranma felt that it was imperative to teach himself in entirely new ways in order to survive in this new world.
Since he had yet to see any sign of human habitation, he was forced to believe that there were none, and that his life was based solely on how well he could adapt.
It helped that adaptation was one of the forerunners of his ryu. It so happened, that after a day of intensive training, ki manifestation, and fast, brutal sparring between Meowth and trainer that something unexpected happened.
Meowth had just powered up his aura and sent a quick exploratory swipe in Ranma's direction when he backed up.
His foot disappeared within the grasp of a gnarl of roots and had him lurching into the solid embrace of a 84 year old oak tree.
Morpheus from on high accepted this sudden invite into dreamland, and Ranma lapsed into unconsciousness.
Meowth was startled. It did not happen very often, but once in a very long while, Ranma would go down. This was usually when Meowth come up with a surprising move that completely defied earlier teachings.
Approaching cautiously, the cat was determined not to be taken by surprise by its sensei like last time. Shortly though, it determined that Ranma was indeed not awake, and that there was a sizable lump forming on his hard head.
Dragging him over to the shelter that Ranma had constructed against the base of the halved tree, Meowth set itself to watch over its erstwhile trainer.
No way was it going to let such a valuable master and unconditional friend get hurt. For the rest of the morning, and well into the afternoon, Meowth stood guard at the entrance of Ranma's abode.
When groggy sounds emerged from the interior, Meowth turned tail and leapt to its friend's side. Ranma woke up with pounding pressure behind his eyes that bespoke a massive headache to come.
He spotted Meowth at the entrance of the doorway just as he tried to lever himself into a sitting position, eliciting a painful moan when his head banged against the tree trunk.
"Have you been watchin' over me all this time?"
"Me meowth," was the reply that came with a nod.
"Ya know, you've been my guardian for as long as I've been in this new world. If it weren't for ya showing me the edibles, and locations of water an' stuff, I'd be a goner."
Meowth preened at this thanks. Of course it would have done such things for its trainer without the thanks, but it couldn't hurt to know that Ranma appreciated him.
"Hmm. The past few weeks I've been really involved with your training haven't I?"
"Me meowth," and another nod.
"Well, aside from the physical aspects, I haven't really gotten to know you. I've just taken advantage of your willingness to train in order to better myself. Well, in my book, that makes us friends. Deal?" He held his hand out to the feline, knowing full well that the cat could understand him. One did not live for days on end without knowing whether or not his companion could understand training directions.
Meowth looked at the human's hand. It really wanted all that Ranma seemed to offer, but there was something more that was needed to seal the deal.
The cat bypassed the offered hand, and jumped into the warm lap provided by its trainer. Placing a paw on Ranma's chest, the cat opened its mouth, and stuttered at the unfamiliar sounds it forced from its throat.
"Rrrra.rrammm.mmma."
Looking shocked was an understatement as to Ranma's expression. "Meowth?! You can-"
But he was interrupted from finishing his query by Meowth's violent shaking of its head.
"What? Not Meowth?"
Vigorous affirmative nods.
"So does that mean that you want a name?"
Further nods greet this assumption. Aha! The human Ranma was beginning to understand. Oh happy days!
"Ooh-kay.." Hmm what name would be a good representation of what that cat does. Ranma's eyes trailed over to the entrance of the shelter. Well, it always had protected and guarded. Guarded. Guardian.
A dark and shadowy cavern opens onto a horrific scene. A mummified Akane is shown being placed in waters that are supposed to bring her back to life. As her face and form fill back out, a sigh of relief is heard coming from the watching Neriman Wrecking Crew.
One voice, however, refrains from announcing his happiness. The black haired youth with a pig tail notices that although Akane looks like she is asleep, he has yet to see her chest rise in glorious breath.
Bending close to her mouth, his eyes wide and dry, he checks the impossible. No whisper of air crosses those lips and no flutter of eyelashes greets his searching gaze. Ranma rests his head against her chest despite a growl from Ryoga.
Straightening, Ranma backs away from the lifeless form that was his Akane. The one girl he truly had feelings of love for.
The rest of the crew note his silence and take a step closer to the prone Akane. Eyes begin to tear as they look up from her youthful visage.
Ranma is trembling. His fists are clenched, his eyes wide and staring, looking through those present. "I.couldn't save.her," were his only words. With that proclamation, a gleam entered his eyes and his aura burst into renewed being.
Ryoga was amazed. Everyone was tapped out from fighting and he thought that Ranma would be entirely exhausted from his titanic battle with Saffron. A second later, realization dawned.
"Ranma, no!" This exclamation brought the attention of the center of the blaze of ki.
"You were right, Ryoga. I was never worthy of her. All this time, I thought that when it came down to it, Ranma Saotome never loses. But no more. I face reality now. I was never good enough. I just wish I could have been. Perhaps it might have been enough to save her."
In an explosion of color, white, blue, black, red, all the colors of the universe, a pillar of light shot up from the pig tailed martial artist.
The ground shook, the top of the cavern disintegrated with the onslaught of that much power, but the still form of Akane, only a few feet away from such a torrent that burned brighter than the sun, was not touched or harmed.
Ryoga could only throw an arm across his eyes to keep from being blinded. He felt horror that his beloved Akane was dead, but he also could not stop the sadness he felt as he knew that his rival, his friend was expending the last of his life's energy in the act to hurry his own entrance into the Kami-plane.
The flames of life-ki towered in mute testament to the will of the one who produced them. Sounds were muffled, and the last words any heard of the great Ranma Saotome were simple. "I wish." In a blink, it was gone. The flames, the heat, the color, and the presence of the one who was a cornerstone to all the lives in Nerima. Everything was gone. Even a chunk of the stone floor of the cavern where he stood seemed to have disappeared from existence. With this last act of self-sacrifice, Ryoga knelt by Akane's body and wept.
Author's note: Sorry about that dark part, but it was necessary in order to release Ranma from any ties he had. I also hope that I didn't mislead you into thinking that this was either entirely a dark fic, nor a humorous one. It will have degrees of both.
In an unspoiled forest thousands of miles away from any civilization, a small spark flickered into being beside a monolithic tree.
Slowly, then with increased speed, said spark multiplied and grew into a ball, then a bonfire, and then extended up into the sky. With the diameter of about a small car, the pillar of light extended miles up as well as cutting into the ancient wood beside it.
The ground beneath the pillar was replaced by one that had the look of stone. Upon it, stood a figure that embodied pain, anger, sorrow and power.
The being's head was turned towards the sky, fists down at his side, but held away from his body, and nary a wisp of clothing adorned the sleek muscled form that was once Ranma Saotome.
After long seconds in that position, the light show winked out, and the only sounds found in the new clearing was the sound of harsh breathing. The naked form, Ranma, brought his head down, incidentally facing the inner woodwork of a halved tree before collapsing.
Little did he know that his entrance into this new and unexplored land was watched by all the inhabitants of that section of forest. Its not every day that one of the fabled humans dropped in unexpectedly.
While Ranma heaved his bare body into the shelter of the once immense tree, silence prevailed in most of the woodland.
Wounded in heart, and exhausted in mind and body, Ranma did not have the energy nor the will to scan the area for danger. He was instead, watched by an assortment of creatures that did not belong to his world, but was native to another similar one.
A creature, annoyed at the disturbing of its peace, sought out the source. Finding a nasty human creature leaning against a destroyed favored resting spot, the yellow and black striped creature growled as arcs of electrical energy pulsed between the prongs on its head.
What was also known as an Electabuz to the rest of this world, presented a danger to the downed martial artist.
Determined to give the human a shock and scare it away from the forest, the Electabuz approached menacingly and disregarded the shivers that the ki saturated area produced in him.
From the cover of a tree, a pair of slit-pupiled eyes watched the coming confrontation. Ranma, slowly gathering his breath, feebly clenched his fist and pounded it into the tree.
Even this he couldn't do right.
What was supposed to end his miserable existence turned into a disorienting jolt and the eventual awareness that he had not died. Still, he was entirely drained of any energy. That in and of itself was an accomplishment. If anything were to come along, it would have no trouble killing him.
Ranma was still resigned to death, and from the corner of his eyes, saw that his prayers were to be answered. What looked to be a yellow and black striped monster was looking at him like he was dinner and was sparking like a faulty outlet.
Shifting to face his destiny better, Ranma opened his non- existent defenses and waited for oblivion. It was not long in coming.
The Electabuz was a little confused. The human should be running in terror about now. Oh well.
Wait! It moved.it seemed to be inviting attack. Heh. Never let it be said that Electabuz denied an invitation.
Powering up one of his better shock attacks, the goofy looking muscular pokemon let loose with a sizzling blast of electricity that could fry anything mortal in its path. About 4000 volts of electricity arced the distance between human and pokemon and connected with a clash of sparks.
The Electabuz, thinking that it had achieved its goal, grinned and gruffed "Buzz! Buzz! Lecta Elect!" Once the light had died, however, it was stunned to see the human beginning to rise to its feet.
A little panic-y, Electabuz turned on its full juice and tried to fry him again and again. With each bolt, the human seemed to gain a little more animation.
And the eyes. The human's eyes lit from within as the blue orbs seemed to spark with their own electrical energy.
Ranma could not understand it. Here he was, ready and willing to go to his just rewards, and that stupid animal kept juicing him up again! Granted, they both did not know just how Ranma was able to absorb and convert the electrical energy for his own purposes, but the thing should see by now that by shocking him, it was only making Ranma more powerful.
With one last zap, Electabuz ran dry of energy. Great. Just peachy. Now that blasted human would be able to capture it and make it his slave just because he did not have enough power to drive the human away.
Electabuz slumped some, waiting for the red and white ball to go flying, for it knew that it did not have the energy to fight it off.
When a minute passed and no distortion of his world came, the Electabuz looked up at its supposed master. What it saw frightened him.
The human was arcing with electricity just like an electrical pokemon would, but the yellow lightning bolts were slowly turning a bluish white. When everything was of a uniform color, the lightning crept along the human's body, along his hands, and coalesced into the space made by his hands when they were cupped in front.
In the manner of a ki blast, the energy intensified and grew to the size of a softball before being pushed forward toward the Electabuz.
As the ball of crackling energy zipped toward his foe, Ranma whispered the words of his new attack. "Lightning Moko Takabisha."
The Electabuz's only thoughts as it saw unconsciousness looming was, "Buh uzz." Which translated into "Just peachy."
And then it went flying into LAEO or Lower Alternate Earth Orbit.
Ranma, who was prepared to again collapse into exhaustion, was surprised at a new surge of energy in his system. Apparently, the recharge from the Electabuz jumpstarted his ki and chi regenerative engines into overdrive. Either that, or the jolts of electricity just refined them into a hyperactive state.
Ranma felt as if he could shoot off a great number of ki blasts and still have energy for a full day's rigorous training.
He also became aware of a pair of eyes watching him from the shadows above. As he went to discover the owner of said eyes, a thought crossed his mind.
If he continued to train and gain in power, what happened to Akane would be a thing of the past. He could be able to prevent such tragedies from ever happening to him again.
As he was thinking this, and reaffirming his will to live and grow increasingly more powerful, Ranma came to the base of the tree that held that match's watcher.
Jumping to a height of fifteen feet, Ranma landed on the branch that the watcher perched upon. "Ya might as well come out. I know that you're there."
Well, thought the watcher. When it was put that way.
A tannish furred paw emerged from the thicket of foliage. A white furred limb followed and a distinctive face with black-rimmed ears, thick whiskers, large slit- pupiled eyes, no nose, and a golden charm in the middle of its forehead made itself known. Its mouth opened, showing sharp little fanglike teeth and like the voice of hell, it announced itself.
"Meow-"
A sharp scream, and the one who openly defeated an Electabuz disappeared from the view of the curious creature.
It ended its name. "-Th."
It then crept on silent feet out of its hiding place and pounced down from the tree to find the human. This human had indeed piqued the Meowth's curiosity in its display of power.
Author's Note: Two guesses as to what scared Ranma.
Meowth found the interesting human attempting to claw through a stand of trees that blocked his path. Jumping just behind him, Meowth attempted to gain his attention.
"Meowth me meow."
Basically, it meant, "Whatcha doing?"
Ranma spun, his back pressed against the interlaced plantlife that kept him captive. Cautiously, Meowth approached, and with each step, Ranma seemed to shrink into himself, eventually curling up repeating a haunting mantra of "Cat..c-ca-cat..c..c-cat..cat..c-c-c-cat!"
When the feline finally brushed against Ranma's knee, the mantra stopped and Meowth was rewarded with an almost feral sound of a yowl. "Mrrrowlllll." In the tension filled moment, Meowth jumped back as some cat-sixth sense kicked in. Neko-ranma had slashed with his own version of claws in the place that Meowth once inhabited.
With the turf sliced and the scent of ki washing over the place, (yes, ki can be smelled, or sensed, at least by certain pokemon) Meowth found itself on perilous but familiar ground. It was as if it fought another of its kind, and that was a simple matter.
This Meowth has lived a long time in a cat community, and fighting was a way of life, if one wanted to stay. It had left only because it had found no more challenge from that area.
Perhaps it could be found here.
Neko-Ranma was incensed. Not only did the thing that annoyed it not go away, but he could sense that it was in some way drawn to him. That was unacceptable.
With further lightning quick swipes and cuts, Neko-Ranma was intent on driving the little gnat away.
Meowth, on the other hand, was having the time of its life. Not only was this human turned feline fun to fight with, it was also not easy to beat.
With rapid swipes of its own, Meowth parried and blocked many of the Neko- Ranma's cuts. In this manner, it engaged in the attack of Fury Swipes only for them to be riposted.
This continued for about half the day.
With both combatants jumping and pouncing around the new clearing, Meowth felt himself tiring. Gazing upon its opponent, it was shocked to see him not even panting.
Meowth, struggling to come up with one last attempt, decided to throw everything to chance and came up with a last desperate attack.
Crossing its paws and throwing them up into the air, Meowth gave a Payday before relaxing. It was with relief that it noted that though Neko-Ranma did not attack, the human was rather uncomfortably close as it batted at the round coins that Meowth threw into the air.
Content to let things slide, and hoping to make a friend of the rather odd human, Meowth set about enjoying himself with his new playmate in batting around the coins.
Eventually, they both became tired from their exertions as the day waned, but it was Meowth that first lay down and dropped off into sleep.
Neko-Ranma yawned, showing teeth remarkably similar to a cat's fangs, before lying down by his new friend and taking a catnap.
Silence once again reigned in the forest, but around two sleeping forms, the area was slashed to ribbons. No tree, piece of ground, boulder or plant was spared, and everything showed the mark of a claw. Time went on, and none dared to disturb the peace between two of the more deadly inhabitants of the forest.
Author's note: huh! Huh! Whatcha think?!
Shafts of light speared through the breaks in the foliage to dapple the ground around a nude martial artist and his sleeping companion.
Ranma opened his sapphire blue eyes to the underside of the canopy and felt a distinct chill. The only warm spot was at his back, as he was laying on his side, and seemed to have fur.
Stiffening at the realization that he knew what was behind him, Ranma soon relaxed marginally as he pondered the implications of remembering what had occurred during the Neko-ken.
Turning slightly around to see the catlike creature, Ranma shivered with his basic fear, but it did not overwhelm like it normally would. Slowly reaching his trembling hand out, he placed it at the top of the cat's head and petted the short fur. The rumbling of a purr greeted his touch, startling the pig- tailed martial artist.
"This is definitely odd," he said to himself. Then he realized something that would change the course of his life in this new land.
"You survived the Neko-ken! That's my most powerful technique. Hmmm." He thought. "There might be something to learn from you."
Author's note: One must remember that Ranma had vowed to train and gain power to the best of his abilities. Of course he would want to stay around the kinds of beings that were better than him.
Meowth awoke to the sound of a pleasant voice. It remembered the long fight it had with the human and hoped that the truce they had established remained after all this time.
It could see that it was morning already, and it wanted to go hunt for food, but it did not want to incur another fight with its companion.
Since neither it, nor the human had won, Meowth considered the battle a draw, and that it was free to leave at any time, but it also wanted to learn how a human could gain claws of its own that were in fact, better than Meowth's.
So, it decided to remain with the human, even if it was to submit to the red and white pokeball. It was a small price to pay to be able to learn of such skills in battle.
The human, however, seemed to have different ideas. There were no pokeballs in sight, and for that matter, neither was any clothing. The Meowth had heard through word of mouth that the humans generally wanted to have fake fur covering them, and what it saw next confirmed that rumor.
Ranma got to his feet before glancing at the Meowth, and then turned to some nearby long grasses out of the perimeter of the destruction.
A casual swipe at the stems severed the grass into long lengths. The human then sat down, oblivious to his usage of the ki-claws and began weaving the plants into a cloth he could use for coverings.
What was once a few strands of plantlife, now was turned into something like a towel, or kilt. A long vine was taken from a tree and threaded along the cloth in the pattern of 'all natural' shorts.
Ki-claws swiped again, cutting the legs of the cloth so that more mobility was ensured. This time, something about his lack of scissors got through to him.
Ranma looked at his hands, then at the newly formed shorts he was wearing. Frowning, he looked up and around for a likely target. Approaching a tree that escaped last night's battle, Ranma casually swung a hand with fingers curled like claws at the base of the tree.
This action only accomplished his fingertips getting bruised by the bark of the tree. Yelping, Ranma took a step back, glaring at the non-offensive plant. From this new distance, he took another swipe and was rewarded with four gashes running diagonally along the trunk.
This was indeed an intriguing situation. It appeared that he was gaining conscious control over the Neko- ken!
To be continued. Perhaps. I don't know. *frowls* I was thinking of setting Ranma up in the forest as an unofficial gym leader, but not for trainers. Rather, the pokemon would come to him. Ranma, himself, gains pokemon if the ones who challenge him win. Those pokemon that lose against him get trained by Ranma or his pokemon, and then made to leave. The ones that win are usually intrigued by this human because after that first battle, they are not able to win again against him. The pokemon that he sends back into the wild are much much stronger and more skilled than normal, and will be prized far above average wild pokemon by other trainers. If anyone is interested in this, please email me with c&c's cause they will truly be appreciated. Thanks. I'm at [email protected] Oh, and I think that this will eventually be one of Ranma's later pokemon. He will get this one after quite some time to set up his practices, and word of mouth gets around via the pokemon that there is a human that can train any and all types, and will not make you a slave if he wins. Raikou: electric type, carries its own stormclouds, 6'3'', 392 lbs. Looks like a tiger with purple cape (stormclouds) and lightning bolt tail ending with a starlike projection.
After watching Ranma begin to experiment and gain rudimentary control over his new claws, Meowth stayed just out of the human's way and soaked in the knowledge of learning a new technique.
When Ranma caught sight of his wayward pupil, he suppressed his shivers of fright enough to invite the feline over to train with him.
Meowth was ecstatic. This was what most pokemon dreamed of. The chance to learn with an experienced trainer and not have to undergo the humiliations of obeying the master's every beck and call.
That's not to say that being a normal trainer's pokemon was bad, it was just that the humans sometimes got too commanding, and that there was nothing for the pokemon to do after it was subjected to the pokeball.
As this human came here with nothing but the clothes.oh, nevermind. He didn't even come into the forest with that.
Meowth took a stance beside his companion. Mimicking the slow and graceful moves shown to him from Ranma's kata, the cat pokemon began its first lessons in the martial arts.
A few days of intensive crash course martial arts later, Meowth was feeling as if it were on top of the world. Its Fury Swipes were approaching the speed of sound, the speed increase was phenomenal, and just like its trainer, Meowth was beginning to establish a visible aura.
Ranma, on the other hand, was learning how to augment his normal attack and defense styles with the addition of his ki-claws. Although he kept his skills with the Moko Takabisha, the Hiryu Shoten Ha, and the other techniques he learned in Nerima, Ranma felt that it was imperative to teach himself in entirely new ways in order to survive in this new world.
Since he had yet to see any sign of human habitation, he was forced to believe that there were none, and that his life was based solely on how well he could adapt.
It helped that adaptation was one of the forerunners of his ryu. It so happened, that after a day of intensive training, ki manifestation, and fast, brutal sparring between Meowth and trainer that something unexpected happened.
Meowth had just powered up his aura and sent a quick exploratory swipe in Ranma's direction when he backed up.
His foot disappeared within the grasp of a gnarl of roots and had him lurching into the solid embrace of a 84 year old oak tree.
Morpheus from on high accepted this sudden invite into dreamland, and Ranma lapsed into unconsciousness.
Meowth was startled. It did not happen very often, but once in a very long while, Ranma would go down. This was usually when Meowth come up with a surprising move that completely defied earlier teachings.
Approaching cautiously, the cat was determined not to be taken by surprise by its sensei like last time. Shortly though, it determined that Ranma was indeed not awake, and that there was a sizable lump forming on his hard head.
Dragging him over to the shelter that Ranma had constructed against the base of the halved tree, Meowth set itself to watch over its erstwhile trainer.
No way was it going to let such a valuable master and unconditional friend get hurt. For the rest of the morning, and well into the afternoon, Meowth stood guard at the entrance of Ranma's abode.
When groggy sounds emerged from the interior, Meowth turned tail and leapt to its friend's side. Ranma woke up with pounding pressure behind his eyes that bespoke a massive headache to come.
He spotted Meowth at the entrance of the doorway just as he tried to lever himself into a sitting position, eliciting a painful moan when his head banged against the tree trunk.
"Have you been watchin' over me all this time?"
"Me meowth," was the reply that came with a nod.
"Ya know, you've been my guardian for as long as I've been in this new world. If it weren't for ya showing me the edibles, and locations of water an' stuff, I'd be a goner."
Meowth preened at this thanks. Of course it would have done such things for its trainer without the thanks, but it couldn't hurt to know that Ranma appreciated him.
"Hmm. The past few weeks I've been really involved with your training haven't I?"
"Me meowth," and another nod.
"Well, aside from the physical aspects, I haven't really gotten to know you. I've just taken advantage of your willingness to train in order to better myself. Well, in my book, that makes us friends. Deal?" He held his hand out to the feline, knowing full well that the cat could understand him. One did not live for days on end without knowing whether or not his companion could understand training directions.
Meowth looked at the human's hand. It really wanted all that Ranma seemed to offer, but there was something more that was needed to seal the deal.
The cat bypassed the offered hand, and jumped into the warm lap provided by its trainer. Placing a paw on Ranma's chest, the cat opened its mouth, and stuttered at the unfamiliar sounds it forced from its throat.
"Rrrra.rrammm.mmma."
Looking shocked was an understatement as to Ranma's expression. "Meowth?! You can-"
But he was interrupted from finishing his query by Meowth's violent shaking of its head.
"What? Not Meowth?"
Vigorous affirmative nods.
"So does that mean that you want a name?"
Further nods greet this assumption. Aha! The human Ranma was beginning to understand. Oh happy days!
"Ooh-kay.." Hmm what name would be a good representation of what that cat does. Ranma's eyes trailed over to the entrance of the shelter. Well, it always had protected and guarded. Guarded. Guardian.