Fist of the Pikachu! <>: Thoughts Chapter 3 Ranma the Pokemon Trainer Ranma and Raiden traveled on a small road that was winding toward a compound near a hill. The little Pikachu was perched on the top of Ranma's backpack and was enjoying the sights. Ranma didn't know what to expect when he got there, but this was as good a place as any to start looking for a job and make some money. As he approached the compound, a group of small kids came up to him. "Hey mister! Are you a Pokemon trainer?" A little boy asked. Ranma looked down at the urchin and replied, "Uhhhh, a Pokemon trainer?" "Yeah, you got a Pikachu with you, just like Ash Ketchum!" He pointed to Raiden. Ranma glanced back at Raiden then shrugged. "If you're asking if I'm teaching Raiden, then yes. I guess you could call me a… Pokemon trainer." "That's so neat!" A little girl said. "I wanna be a Pokemon master when I grow up!" "Hey, are you going to see Professor Oak?" Another little boy asked. Ranma nodded as he said, "Yes. I'm here to see him." "Cool! You get to see all those neat Pokemon!" "Well… I guess I do." "Hey can you show us some of your Pokemon's attacks?" The first boy asked. "Huh?" Ranma was starting to become very nervous at the children and their questions about a subject that he had absolutely no clue as to what they were saying. He then said, "Sorry kids, but I've got to go." Ranma turned around and ran the toward Professor Oak's compound. The children were disappointed, but eventually left the area. Ranma arrived at the front door to Professor Oak's lab and took a deep breath before ringing the doorbell. In a small wooded area near the Pokemon areas where the Oak let the creatures wander free for a while, a trio of bumblers were getting chewed out by their boss as they were receiving the orders for their next caper via portable transmitter. "You three have got to be the worst members of Team Rocket! I sent you out to steal the Mega-Transporter Pokeball and you bungled it! Then I set you out to get the plans and you end up torching the labs! I don't know why I put up with you three!" "Please sir!" Jessie pleaded. "We almost had those plans! If we hadn't run into that little twerp and his friends…" "I want none of your excuses!" Giovanni stroked his Persian's head as he glared at Jessie, James and Meowth. "This will be your last chance! Screw this up and I'll have you demoted to janitorial duties for a year and I'm going give you all another pay cut! This time, it will be at fifty percent!" "You mean… ?" "That's right! You're going to become Team Rocket's toilet jockeys if you don't get those plans!" "Don't worry sir, we promise that we'll get those plans this time!" James said quickly, his brow was covered in sweat. Meowth and Jessie were equally as agitated. Giovanni nodded as he gave out his instructions. "Now listen up. The only other copy to the MTP's blueprints are in the laboratory of Professor Oak in Pallet Town. Just go there, steal those plans and bring them back to headquarters. Understand?" "Yes sir!" All three members said in unison. Their boss gave the a final glare before the transmitter's screen went blank. Meanwhile, Ranma was led into a small office by Ash Ketchum's mentor and friend, Professor Oak. The kindly scientist gestured to a seat and then sat down at his own desk. "Well now young man, what can I do for you?" "I'm here to apply for that job that you had advertised. Oh by the way, my name's Ranma Saotome." Ranma responded. "Pikachu." Raiden nodded as it made itself comfortable on Ranma's lap. "Pleased to meet you Ranma. I'm Professor Oak. I'm the Pokemon expert of Pallet." Professor Oak nodded. "I am in need for an assistant around here. Not so much for my research, but I'm afraid that the trainers that transport their Pokemon here are sending more and more of them every day. My own grandson Gary has already transported more than a dozen since last week. It's getting to be quite overwhelming to care for all these Pokemon and I could use a few extra helping hands." "Oh… I see." Ranma nodded as he tried to make it look like he understood. The scientist continued. "Although I did say that no experience is necessary, it would help if the applicant knew something about caring and raising Pokemon." He then gestured to Raiden. "Is that Pikachu yours?" Ranma nodded. "Yes. This is Raiden. He and I have been together for about two months now." "I see. Are you are a Pokemon trainer?" Ranma became a bit edgy as his knowledge of Pokemon was all but nonexistent, save for his experiences with his Pikachu. "Well… I wouldn't exactly call myself a… Pokemon trainer. I have been training Raiden on how to fight though." "Ah… so what is your Pikachu capable of? What are his attacks?" Ranma became even more nervous as he replied, "Well…he can throw some lightning bolts and… he's pretty fast and agile to boot… and…" Ranma's voice trailed off as he really didn't know the names of his Pokemon's attacks. Professor Oak nodded as his suspicions were confirmed. He had been expecting answers such as 'Thundershock' or 'Thunderbolt.' If this person didn't know that then it was obvious that his knowledge of Pokemon in general was very shallow. He then began to suspect that this young man didn't even know what a Pokemon is, much less know that his Pikachu was a Pokemon. "Ranma, how old are you?" "I'm sixteen sir." "You're sixteen-years old and you don't know what a Pokemon is, now do you?" Ranma flinched at Professor Oak's words, then sighed. He had been found out. There was no way that he could fake his way through this, so he took up Raiden in his arms and stood up. "I'm sorry for bothering you Professor Oak. I guess you need someone who at least knows what a Pokemon is, if he's to help you to take care of them. Thanks for your time and…" BOOM!!! The explosion caught their attention as Professor Oak turned to see what was going on. "That came from the main lab!" He paused for moment, then realized something else. "Oh no! The safe! The MTP blueprints!" The scientist scrambled out of his seat and headed for the room where the safe was. Ranma set his Pikachu down and followed him. Raiden scampered after his trainer. When the three of them had gotten to the main lab, they stood in amazement at the sight of the smoke and devastation of the lab. "I told you not to use the acid!" Meowth screamed as he struggled to pull himself out of a pile of rubble. The lab was in a shambles and the safe was melted half away. Unfortunately, the contents of the safe had been reduced to unrecognizable scraps. "Chabok!" The gigantic serpent Pokemon winced a bit and was a bit ashamed. Jessie had ordered it to use its acid to melt away the steel door to the safe. However, the acid had splashed into a cabinet that contained some flammable chemicals. The resulting explosion had destroyed half the lab and to make matters worse, the acid had worked too well. More than half the safe had been dissolved and the last copy of the plans for the Mega-Transporter Pokeball had been destroyed. Jessie and James were still coughing from the smoke of the explosion when they heard Professor Oak call out. "Just what is going on here?! Who are you?" There was a brief pause and then the inevitable happened. "Prepare for trouble!" "Make it double!" "To protect the world from devastation!" "To unite all people within our nation!" "To denounce the evils of truth and love!" "To extend our reach to the stars above!" "Jessie!" "James!" "Team Rocket! Blast off at the speed of light!" "Surrender now or prepare to fight!" Meowth was still buried beneath the pile of bricks, mortar and machinery, but he managed to deliver his line. "Meowth! That's right!" Professor Oak slapped his forehead and groaned. "Oh no! Not you again! Why are you here now?" Jessie smirked as she said, "Well we were here to steal the plans to the Mega-Transporter Pokeball." The scientist glanced at the destroyed safe and his eyes widened at the sight of the melted paper residue. He turned back to the villains and said sadly, "I'm afraid that it's not possible now. The acid had destroyed the last copy of the blueprints. It will take years for us to recreate the MTP from scratch." "Yes we know." James admitted as he took out a Pokeball. "But we can't go back to the boss empty-handed, so…" "So?" The professor didn't like where this conversation was going. "So we're going to steal all the Pokemon you're taking care of for those trainers." Jessie sneered. She then pointed to Raiden. "And we're going to start with that little Pikachu." She then gestured to her Arbok. "Arbok! Go!" "Charbok!" The serpent Pokemon lunged forward to do its master's bidding. Suddenly, the Arbok was sent flying backward as Ranma leapt up and delivered a hard side kick. His foot slammed into its head and sent it crashing through the back wall. Jessie gaped in shock as Ranma landed and took a ready stance in front of his Pikachu and Professor Oak. "What the…? How dare you strike my Arbok!?" Jessie was still stunned that anyone had actually gone against such a fearsome Pokemon without using another Pokemon to battle it. Ranma snarled as he said. "I don't like fighting girls but if you think I'm going to stand here and let you take my Pikachu then you better think again! If you want Raiden then you'll have to get past me!" "Wheezing! Go!" James threw out his Pokeball and it opened up to reveal the pollution Pokemon. Ranma's eyes widened as he gazed on the strange creature. "Wheezing!" "Wheezing, use your sludge attack!" The mouth of the Wheezing opened up and a huge spout of toxic liquid spewed forth. Ranma evaded the sludge by jumping to the side, while at the same time, pushing Professor Oak to the other side. Raiden leapt up to avoid the attack, then cut loose with a Thunderbolt. "Pika… CHU!" The huge blast of electricity caught James, Jessie and Wheezing, causing their hair to stand up on end. Their bodies twitched and spasm as more than 20,000 volts was sent through them. Ranma rolled to his feet and then began concentrating his ki. Just as Raiden's attack ended, Ranma let loose with his own. "SHOCK ATTACK!" To amazed eyes of Professor Oak and the horrified eyes of Team Rocket, the pigtailed martial artist let go with another sizzling bolt of electricity. This attack wasn't as strong as Raiden's, but it was enough to give Team Rocket another jolting experience. The three were sent flying through the hole in the wall that Arbok had made and tumbled down the hill. They fell on their faces near a recovering Arbok. Ranma and Raiden followed their adversaries out the hole and down the hill. When they reached the bottom, Jessie and James had just gotten to their feet. Seeing Ranma and his Pokemon take up fighting stances, Jessie pushed away her confusion over the martial artist's unexpected power and directed her Arbok to attack. "Arbok! Poison Sting Needles!" The Arbok opened it mouth and began spitting out thin needles at Ranma and Raiden. Ranma swerved to the right while his Pikachu moved to the left. However, they had failed to notice that they had been standing in front of a water storage tank. The needles punctured the tank and sent water spraying everywhere. Unfortunately for Ranma, he was caught by one of the sprays and that water was cold! Ranma-chan winced as she felt herself transform. As her hair turned red and her body became more curved, she leapt up and delivered a reverse spin kick to down the Arbok. "Huh? You're a girl?" Jessie said in surprise. "I ain't a girl!" Ranma-chan spat out as she dealt the Arbok a blow to the head, laying it low. James had just turned around to direct his Wheezing when he saw a fiery-haired beauty take down Jessie's Pokemon. He was so entranced by how cute she looked that he didn't see Raiden powering up his ki abilities. When he finally noticed the blue energies that were being emitted by the Pikachu, it was too late. "Pika… pika… CHU!" A bolt of ki energy was launched from the Pikachu's outstretched paws and slammed into the Wheezing like a sledgehammer. The noxious Pokemon was sent flying and tumbled to the ground in a daze. "Wheezing! Oof!" James called after his Pokemon, but was stopped short as Ranma-chan slammed an elbow to his gut, then followed through with a punch to the face. Though her strength wasn't as great as it was when she was in her male form, she still packed quite a wallop. James went sprawling. It was like being hit by a Slowbro's Mega-Punch. Just as Ranma-chan moved forward to finish him off, something jumped hit her from behind and began scratching at her back. Ranma- chan yelped as she reached behind and grabbed at… fur? Ranma-chan's blood became cold and a shiver went down her spine. She swallowed hard as she pulled off whatever was on her back and held it up to look at it. Meowth scowled at her and said, "Listen up toots. Nobody beats up on Jessie and James but me, ya got that?" He then leapt onto his head and began biting it. "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" Raiden, Jessie, James, Arbok, Wheezing and Professor Oak turned their heads to the sound of Ranma-chan's scream. They were more than surprised to see the martial artist start running around like a chicken with its head cut off. On her head. Meowth was still clamped onto her head. "GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF! C-C-CAT!!!!" Jessie and James could only stare in amazement as Ranma-chan ran about in circles, frantically waving her arms and shouting. After watching this exhibition for a few moments, Jessie smiled evilly and said, "Well now. It looks like we don't have to worry about her. She's seems to have a fear of cats." "Afraid of cats?" James asked in confusion. Jessie nodded while giving him a smug look. "Yes. Now there's nothing to stop us from stealing all the Pokemon here." She then indicated to Raiden, who was still watching its trainer as she went through her hysterics. "Let's grab that Pikachu! It's already shown that it's more valuable than that little twerp's!" "Let's go!" James agreed. Meanwhile, Ranma-chan was still running about with Meowth still holding onto her face. Inside of her, the fragile tether to her sanity was being stretched to its breaking point. Finally, after a few more moments of sheer terror, the tether snapped. Meowth didn't know what was going on when Ranma-chan suddenly dropped to all fours, but he did get a sinking feeling when he heard her meow. At this time, Team Rocket had Raiden and Professor Oak backed against the side of a side wall. Raiden began powering up his ki. It wasn't going to be separated from its new trainer. It was then that he and all the others saw something being tossed to the ground. The bundle rolled to a stop and Jessie and James looked down at their feet. There was Meowth, dazed and beaten. His body was littered with hundreds of little scratches and it looked like he had been put through a cheese grater. His eyes were glazed and he let out a pathetic little moan. "Meowth, what happened to you?" Jessie asked. It was then that they heard a sound. It was low and sounded like the warning sounds of a wounded and cornered… cat? They slowly turned around and saw… her. There was Ranma-chan on all fours and snarling like an angry cat. Her eyes were bloodshot and reflected the rage within. Without any further warning, Ranma-chan leapt toward them and began dealing out massive amounts of pain. "OW! YOWTCH! OUCH!" SLASH! CUT GRIND! SLICE! "YOW! WHOA! HOLD ON!" FFFT! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! "OWIE! OWTCH! YOWZA!" The entire mauling was soon enveloped in a cloud of dust as Ranma-chan shredded Team Rocket. Professor Oak and Raiden winced as they heard the villains scream out in pain. Then, in one massive explosion of fury, the bad guys and their Pokemon were sent flying. "Looks like Team Rocket if blasting off again!" After seeing Team Rocket disappear in the sky, Professor Oak and Raiden stared down ad Ranma-chan. She was still on all fours and seemed to have calmed down. It was then that she caught sight of the Pikachu. Seeing such a huge mouse in her sights, the Neko Ken fighter could only think of one thing. Dinnertime! She leapt up and tried to pounce on Raiden. The little Pikachu couldn't understand why its trainer was suddenly attacking it, but it had to defend itself. In the instant before Ranma-chan could get her claws on him, the electric rodent let loose with a bolt of electricity! "Pika… Chu!" Ranma-chan screamed out in pain as the voltage hit her. Her body twitched and went through a series of convulsions before she fell to the ground in a daze. Then her body went still. "Pika, pika!" Raiden ran toward his master, hoping that his electric attack hadn't harmed her too much. He landed on her stomach and placed an ear to her breast. A moment later, he let off a sigh of relief as he was rewarded with the sound of a heartbeat. A minute later, he heard a moan. "Uuuuhhhh!" Ranma-chan slowly came back to consciousness as he felt something on her chest. Focusing her eyes on whatever was leaning over her chest, she was soon smiling as she saw the familiar face of her Pokemon. "Hey Raiden. What happened?" "I was hoping that you would tell me Ranma." Ranma-chan looked up and saw Professor Oak standing over her and Raiden. She didn't understand the look of confusion on his face until she noted that he was staring at her chest. Looking down at herself, she saw that she was in her cursed form. She then remembered the fight and said, "I guess I owe you an explanation." Professor Oak nodded as he said, "Now there's an understatement." Sometime later, Ranma and his Pikachu were in an undamaged lab of the compound as he had finished his entire life's story, the curse, how he arrived in this world and the events following his arrival. When Ranma had finished, Professor Oak was more than impressed. "Amazing. Absolutely amazing. I would have never believed that you were from an alternate Earth if I hadn't seen those other things. Although, you're being from another world would explain why you don't know anything about Pokemon." "I've been meaning to ask you Professor. Just what are… Pokemon?" The scientist smiled as they were on a subject that he excelled at. "Pokemon are the special creatures of this world. They possess many amazing abilities and they are very intelligent to boot. Your Pikachu is an example of a Pokemon." Oak pointed at Raiden. "Really?" Ranma gazed at Raiden. "Pikachu." Raiden smiled at his trainer's surprise. "Yes." Oak continued with his explanations. "The creatures that you saw with Team Rocket were also Pokemon. Even that talking Meowth." Ranma shivered at the thought of that talking cat. "So, these… Pokemon are what everyone are always talking about?" "Yes. You see, Pokemon are an integral part of our way of life. Some people use them to aid them in their jobs, while others may just keep them as pets. However, the people who are most interested in Pokemon are researchers such as myself, breeders and trainers. I thought that you were a trainer when I saw your Pikachu battle Team Rocket. I must admit, your Pokemon is very powerful." Ranma smiled as his pride came to the surface. "Well, thanks. I'd like to think that I was a good sensei to him. He did so much for me and he helped me a lot ever since I arrived in this world. With all the craziness and the curse to deal with, Raiden was the only one I could turn to for comfort." "Speaking of your curse, would you mind showing it to me again?" Oak asked. "Well…" Ranma had grown used to the curse but he still did not like it when he became a girl. "Why would you want to see it again?" "I would like to study it and try to figure out just how it can cause such a radical change in form. From what I've seen so far, it resembles the process in which a Pokemon undergoes when it evolves to a higher stage." "Hey, I don't want to end up as some guinea pig!" Ranma spat out. The scientist raised a hand and said in a clam voice. "You misunderstand me Ranma. I'm not going to dissect you or subject you to any kind of experiment that would harm you. I certainly won't tell anyone about it as I can see that it makes you very uncomfortable. If I were in your shoes, I'd feel the same way. What I'm proposing is that you allow me to study your curse and try to figure out its mechanisms. You see, there's a chance that I might be able to find a way for you to control it, perhaps even cure you completely." "Really?" Ranma's interest went up. "Yes, and I believe that whatever information I get would be of value toward my own studies on Pokemon evolution. I would also like to know how you were able to copy the attacks of a Pikachu and a Meowth. In return, I'll help you to control your curse and even try to help you get back to your world. So you see, we both benefit from this. So how about it?" "Well…" Ranma was still unsure about it all. Oak then decided to sweeten the deal. "Tell you what Ranma. Do you still want that job? I do have a spare room on the compound that you can use and while you're here, I can teach you all about Pokemon. You can help me with tending the Pokemon. I'll even throw in free meals and board. It's the least I can do for you after you and Raiden drove off Team Rocket and saved all the Pokemon. What do you say?" Ranma thought about it for some more. What did he have to lose? It wasn't as if he had any better offers. A few more minutes passed before Ranma nodded his assent. A month later… Ranma entered the rebuilt main lab where Professor Oak was waiting for him. Behind him, Raiden trotted alongside of him. The scientist was sitting at a table with several glasses of ice water and a teakettle. "You wanted to see me Professor Oak?" "Yes Ranma. I have some good news for you. After scanning your body through the spectrographic analyzer, I had discovered something about your water-activated curse." "What about it?" "Well, I compared your transformation to that of a Water Pokemon when it evolves. Amazingly enough, the energies are very similar. Apparently, your curse has all the same characteristics of a Water Pokemon's evolving energies when it moves up to the next stage. However, unlike a Water Pokemon, your curse is highly unstable, which explains why you are affected by hot and cold water. You need something to stabilize the curse's energy field so that you'll stay in one form. Here." Oak reached into a drawer and pulled out a small object and handed it to Ranma. Ranma looked down and recognized it. "A Water Stone? This is used to evolve water-type Pokemon. What's that got to do with my curse?" Oak smiled as he picked up a glass of ice water and splashed Ranma in the face. "Sputter! Hey what was that for?!" It was then that he looked down at himself and saw that he had not changed into his cursed form. He then noticed that the water stone in his hand was glowing slightly. He looked up in confusion at Professor Oak. Oak smiled as he said, "As I suspected. The Water Stone's inner energies are stabilizing your curse. So long as that stone is in close proximity with you, your curse will not be affected by water temperature. If you were a girl and holding that stone then hot water wouldn't change you into a boy." Ranma began to smile as the implications began to set in. No longer would Ranma had to worry about being caught in an embarrassing situation whenever the wrong type of water splashed him. It wasn't a total cure, but it was a lot better. "All right! This is great! Thanks Professor!" "You're welcome Ranma." "Man, I can't wait to see Pop's face when I show him this!" Ranma picked up his Pikachu and happily swung him around. Raiden squeaked with joy at his master's happiness. It was then that Professor Oak frowned. He had hoped that the discovery of a partial cure for his curse would make him forget about that other problem of his. Unfortunately, the latest data had come in and there was no way around it. Oak sighed as he said, "Ranma, there is something else I should be telling you. I wish that it would be under better circumstances, but…" Ranma's happy mood was cut short as He set Raiden down. "What is it, Professor Oak?" Oak sighed again as he said, "Sit down Ranma." When Ranma did so, Oak gave him the bad news. "I'm afraid that the latest reports have come in. After you told me about how you got here, I came to suspect it was due to the Mega-Transporter Pokeball implosion a few months back." "Yeah, so? You told me about that already. So what's wrong?" "Well, I'm afraid that it's going to be a lot harder than I thought to duplicate the accident that transported you to our world. There were several unknown factors that were involved and I'm afraid that without the blueprints to the device, it will take our scientists years to reconstruct a new prototype. And even then, we can't be sure if it'll work." "YEARS?! I'M GOING TO BE STUCK HERE?!? MAYBE FOREVER?!" Ranma's eyes widened as the truth sank in. He began to look deeply into the scientist's face, hoping that he was joking. Oak's serious expression told him he was not. Ranma couldn't believe it. After finally finding a way to control his curse, he was now faced with the possibility of never returning home. "I'm sorry Ranma." Ranma neither heard nor cared about Oak's apology as he turned and bolted from the laboratory in frustration. Raiden followed after his master. Later that night, Professor Oak knocked on the door to Ranma's room. "Go away." Ranma's voice sounded subdued. Professor Oak shook his head as he turned the knob and entered the room. Ranma was sitting on his bed with his knees folded up against his chest. One arm was on his knees while he was using the other arm to absently stroke Raiden's head. His expression was one of sorrow and depression as he barely glanced at Oak and said, "I said go away." Oak shook his head as he said, "Ranma, I know you feel bad about not being able to go home anytime soon, but moping about it won't help. I'm working on the problem but you can't expect me to have the answer in an instant. As I told you, it's going to take a few years and I'd hate to see you wasting your time like this when you could be doing something more productive. I've seen some great potential within you and I won't have you waste it. It's time you started to take control of your life and perhaps make a future for yourself." Ranma raised his head and said, "What future do I have?" Oak took out a sheet of paper from his lab coat and placed it on the bed in front of Ranma. Ranma glanced at the paper and asked, "What's that?" "It's an application form for getting a Pokemon trainer's license." "I'm a martial artist, not a Pokemon trainer! Why would I want to be a Pokemon trainer? I can fight my own battles!" Oak shook his head and replied, "Now, I don't believe that. You may be an excellent martial artist, but you've also got an extraordinary talent for teaching and handling Pokemon. Your Pikachu has gotten so powerful that I'd expect it to win against an Onix with both eyes closed and using no electric attacks. I've also seen you handle the other Pokemon in the compound. You've got a natural gift for raising Pokemon. Why not put that gift to good use?" Ranma was about to protest when the scientist stopped him with a raised hand. "Now I know that you think that it's slavery by keeping Pokemon in Pokeballs and making them battle, but think of it this way. You said it yourself that you liked to think of yourself as Raiden's sensei. By training other Pokemon to fight, you fulfill that role as a teacher. You also learn about others as well as yourself. It would be a good way for you to train. Wouldn't you like to be able to do other attacks as well? Besides, you might just start to like to raising Pokemon." Ranma had to smile at that. Training with Raiden had been good. "Besides, going out to catch and train Pokemon will give you something to do. I said that there might be a chance to send you home. All is not lost. Besides, it's not like you have anything else better to do." Ranma said nothing but nodded. "Well Ranma, I can't tell you how to run your life, but please think about it." The kindly scientist then quietly left the room. Ranma stared for a long time at the sheet of paper, then directed his gaze to his Pokemon. The little electric mouse gazed back at him with questioning eyes. "A trainer huh? What do you think Raiden? Should I do it?" Raiden thought about it for a moment, then said while nodding, "Pika. Pikachu pi." He wanted to go out in the world. Professor Oak's compound was a nice place, but the electric Pokemon had felt confined. He missed the days when he and Ranma were traveling free on the road. He also wanted to test his new skills against other Pokemon, and perhaps even compete in the famous Pokemon League. He was not allowed to battle the other Pokemon in the compound. Raiden had also noticed that his trainer had become listless and was suffering from homesickness. A Pokemon journey might be just the thing to cure him of his depression. Ranma nodded at his Pikachu's opinion and then picked up the application form. Reaching over to a table near his bed, he picked up a pencil and began filling out the form. A week later… Ranma hefted his backpack as he and Raiden prepared to leave Professor Oak's compound. "Are you sure you'll be okay by yourself Professor Oak?" "Oh it's no problem Ranma. I've already gotten someone else to take your place in helping handle the Pokemon. I'm just glad that you took my advice to become a trainer." He then held out a few items. "Here are your Pokeballs and your Pokedex. It's already been upgraded with the latest information on the newest Pokemon discoveries. Now do you have my number?" Ranma nodded as he opened the device and pointed it at Raiden. The sensor on the top of the Pokedex scanned him and began its programmed response. *PIKACHU. A MOUSE POKEMON OF THE ELECTRIC TYPE. WHEN SEVERAL PIKACHU GATHER TOGETHER, THEY HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO CAUSE STORMS AND ELECTRICAL BLACKOUTS. IT'S STRONGEST ELECTRIC ATTACKS INCLUDE THUNDERBOLT AND THUNDERSHOCK. IT IS ABLE TO SHOCK WITH A MAXIMUM OF 10,000 VOLTS.* Ranma smirked as he said, "I think you'd better update this Pokedex a bit more. Last I checked, Raiden has been able to get up to 95,000 volts. He could almost match a Raichu. He's also got other electric attacks that you don't know about." Oak smiled back as he said, "With you training Raiden, I wouldn't doubt it. In any case, keep in touch and good luck Ranma." Thanks Professor." He looked down at the pendant around his neck. The scientist had later discovered that a small fragment of a Water Stone was sufficient enough to keep Ranma's curse in check, and had made a necklace for him. The martial artist then looked down at Raiden. Raiden smiled up at his trainer as he used a paw to pat the new headband he was wearing. Ranma had made it a few days earlier, just after he had received his trainer's license. The band was made of a strip of soft white cloth and had a yin/yang symbol emblazoned on the front. It also had yellow lightning bolts circling the symbol. "Pikachu!" Ranma nodded as he waved goodbye to Professor Oak and started running. Raiden leapt high and landed on the top of Ranma's backpack as they began making their way toward their first destination, Viridian City. To be continued? Author's Notes Well, that's all I'm going to do for the expansion to Fist of the Pikachu. Give me some comments on whether this should be the winner of Son of the Bet. As for when this story took place, Ranma had arrived at the Pokemon world about a few weeks before the Pokemon League championships. By the time he got to Professor Oak, the competition was already over and Ash had been sent to get the GS Pokeball.