Fist of the Pikachu

Disclaimer: I write and I disclaim. What more do you want from me?

<>: Thoughts
* *: Pokedex responses


                              Chapter 8
                         The Fourth Pokemon

      "I don't see him anywhere, Fearow!"
     Sam Ryker looked down from high above as she rode her Fearow. 
The evolved form of a Spearow squawked as it rode the air currents. 
Its rider was observing the ground below through a pair of 
binoculars. It had been two weeks since Sam had seen Ranma. She 
had thought she could spot him from the air, but she had not taken 
into account of the head start he had and just how fast his Rapidash 
was. She had thought to find him in Pewter City, but was 
disappointed to learn that he had moved on.

A week ago in Pewter City…
     "Yes, I've seen the trainer you described." The Officer Jenny of 
Pewter City replied.
     "He's here?" Sam asked excitedly.
     "He was. He challenged the gym leader to a match and after 
getting the Boulder Badge, he raced off on a Rapidash, heading 
toward Cerulean City. I've never seen a Rapidash move THAT fast 
before. According to what my radar gun clocked him at when he left, 
that horse of his was doing better than 220 mph! I couldn't catch him 
to give him a speeding ticket."
     Sam was a little more than surprised to hear about Wildfire, but 
then remembered that Ranma was no ordinary trainer. "So he's gone 
to Cerulean City now?"
     "That's what he said. And if I were you, I'd hurry over there as 
fast as you can. Judging by how easily his Pokemon beat the gym 
leader here; he won't be hanging around Cerulean for very long. He 
won the match in ninety seconds!"
     "What happened?"
     "Well, it's like this…"

Flashback…
     At the Pewter City Gym, Ranma is seen facing off against the gym 
leader, who incidentally happens to be Brock's father, Flint, taking 
over in his son's absence. Behind him are his children who are 
rooting for their father.
     Flint first uses a Graveler. Ranma simply gestures to Raiden and 
points to the rock Pokemon. One Stonebreaker Quick attack later and 
Graveler is reduced into a broken heap. Flint recalls his Graveler and 
then tries his own Onix. Raiden skillfully dodges its Rock Throw 
attacks and then runs up the length of its body. When the Pickachu 
perches on its nose, the rodent gave a bright electric flash to the 
eyes. Onix is temporarily blinded and Raiden leaps high into the air. 
Then all those who are watching (except Ranma), gasp as Raiden 
begins powering up his aura.
     "RAIDEN! MOKO TAKABISHA!"
     Raiden smiled as it released its attack. A bright, blue ball of ki 
energy blasted forward and slammed into Onix's head, right between 
the eyes. The effect was like being hit by a sledgehammer and this 
put Onix off-balance. The huge Pokemon crashed down and hit a 
wall. Raiden then landed and looked up. Instantly noticing the 
sprinkler system in the roof, he sent a large electrical blast toward the 
nozzles. This causes the sprinklers to be activated, instantly 
drenching Onix. Raiden then leapt high and with his cheek pouches 
sparking prepared to deliver the final blow.
     "THUNDERBLAST BOMB!" Ranma called out.
     Raiden raised a paw above his head. The cheeks of the Pikachu 
started forming a huge sphere of electricity over the paw, which grew 
to the size of a wrecking ball. The electric Pokemon threw it down at 
the fallen Onix, sending more than 110,000 volts into the wet Rock 
Pokemon. Fortunately, the floor of the gym was wood and no one 
was standing in water. 
     Lightning went flying off in all directions when the Thunderblast 
Bomb hit, causing windows to be shattered. The Onix roared in pain 
before collapsing onto the floor, unconscious.
     Flint could only stand there as his jaw hit the floor. Raiden landed 
next to his trainer.
     "Pikachu!" Raiden raised a paw in victory.
     Ranma smiled as he looked at the smoking Onix and surveyed the 
damage to the gym. He then said to his Pokemon, "You went a little 
overboard, Raiden."
End of flashback…

     "I still can't believe that an electric rodent actually beat an Onix 
and a Graveler. I always thought electric types were weak against 
rock types." Officer Jenny said with awe.
     <So did I.> Sam thought to herself. "So he beat the gym leader and 
he's on his way to Cerulean City now?"
     "That's where he seemed to be headed."

Present time…
     Ranma had indeed left for Cerulean City after earning a Boulder 
Badge and Sam had to fly there.
     However, when she got there, she once again discovered that she 
was late in catching him. Apparently, there were no Cascade Badges 
to be had, as the Cerulean Sisters had converted their gym to a water 
show arena. With nothing to battle for, the martial artist moved on. 

The day Sam arrived in Cerulean City…
     "Yeah, we met up with him." One of the sisters replied as she and 
her siblings were preparing for a show. 
     "He was really cute!" The second sister added.
     "He's definitely a hunk! Too bad he didn't stay long." The third 
sister added.
     Sam sighed as she thanked them for their help. 

Present time…
     Sam did not know where Ranma had gone since leaving Cerulean 
City and had been scouring the countryside. So far, she hadn't found 
him. Noticing that it was getting late, she decided to land and settle 
down for the night.
     Meanwhile, some ten miles away, Ranma and his Pokemon were 
eating their dinner. Ranma sat on a log near a campfire with Raiden, 
Wildfire and Wind Rider. As he ate from a plate, he looked down at a 
map to decide on where to go next.
     "Well guys, I'm sorry that trip to Cerulean City was a waste. How 
was I supposed to know that those girls weren't gym leaders any 
more?"
     "Pika." Raiden shrugged nonchalantly.
     Wind Rider and Wildfire showed their indifference by tossing their 
heads before returning to their meals. There were other gyms and 
badges to be won. It wasn't like they were in a rush or anything.
     "Well, I got to admit, those girls were kinda cute, so… I guess it 
wasn't a total loss. And I didn't know that Officer Jenny had a sister." 
Ranma's cheeks reddened a bit at the thought. Normally, Ranma 
would never admit something like that, but he had no trouble relating 
this to his Pokemon. They were his best friends and they'd never 
betray him. Besides, whom could they tell?
     After polishing off his dinner, he lay back on his sleeping bag and 
watched the night sky. It was at that time that he suddenly got the 
feeling that he was being watched. The feeling lasted only for a 
moment then disappeared. Looking about and seeing nothing, he 
decided that it must be only the fatigue of the journey. He had been 
pushing Wildfire pretty hard lately to increase his speed, not to 
mention training Wind Rider and Raiden. Shrugging his shoulders, he 
decided to recall Wind Rider and Wildfire before hitting the sack. 
Raiden joined him in the sleeping bag and the two were soon snoring.
     Now normally, Ranma's sense of awareness was extraordinary and 
would immediately alert him to any danger. However, when 
something was not a threat to him, he tended to sleep like a rock. So it 
was no surprise that something with beady little eyes shuffled its 
way to the clearing where Ranma was sleeping. Raiden's ears 
twitched a bit at the noise, but the Pikachu was too tired at the time to 
wake up. Like his master, the electric rodent had developed a kind of 
sixth sense toward anything that was dangerous, but tended to 
ignore things that did not threaten him.
     The creature was cloaked in the shadows as it silently made its 
way toward Ranma's backpack.
     The next morning, Ranma and Raiden awoke and the martial artist 
was shocked to see that his backpack had been opened and many 
food items were scattered about the clearing.
     "What the…? Something broke into my pack!"
     "Pika!" Raiden scampered around the pack, sniffing at it and the 
area around it.
     "What is it Raiden? Do you know what did this?"
     Raiden continued to sniff around for a moment more then pointed 
off toward a path where a trail of foodstuffs was. Ranma nodded as 
he and the Pikachu followed the crumbs, apple cores, peels and other 
leftovers. Apparently, something had raided the pack for food during 
the night and had made off with a good portion of their supplies.
     The two followed the trail and as they ran, Ranma noticed 
something else. He saw that along the trail, there were droplets of red 
on the ground. Whatever broke into his pack was also wounded. 
Ranma knew from experience that a wild animal that was hungry and 
hurt required caution and was to be avoided if possible. 
     They soon came to the foot of a hill and Ranma noticed that the 
trail led toward a large tree and he saw that something was lying near 
the trunk in a hollowed out section. His eyes saw a squat body that 
was covered in scales and resembled an armadillo. He quickly took 
out his Pokedex
     *SANDSHREW, A MOUSE POKEMON OF THE GROUND TYPE. SANDSHREW 
HAVE VERY TOUGH SCALES AND ARE EXCEPTIONALLY GOOD AT DIGGING. 
THEY MAKE EXCELLENT PETS, BUT HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO BE VERY PICKY 
EATERS.*
     Looking at the garbage strewn around the tree, Ranma smirked as 
he said, "I guess in your case, you're not too fussy about what you 
eat." It was then that he noticed that the Sandshrew's body was 
bleeding badly from a several deep wounds. As Ranma approached, 
it noticed him and instantly went into a defensive posture. It began 
making some warning noises as it tensed up.
     "Shrew!"
     The pigtailed martial artist stopped. Holding up his hands in a 
non-threatening manner, he said in a calm voice, "Hey there. It's 
okay. I'm not mad about the food. It looks like you needed it more 
than we did. But those are some pretty nasty cuts you got there. I'd 
like to help you if you'd let me."
     "Shrew! Shrew!" The armored mouse shook its head, backing up a 
bit more. It wanted nothing to do with him.
     Ranma sighed as he looked down ad Raiden and pointed to the 
Sandshrew. "Maybe you can talk to him. Tell him that we're not 
going to hurt him."
     Raiden nodded as it slowly approached the injured Sandshrew. 
"Pika? Pikachu?"
     "Shrew!" Sandshrew pointed at the Pokeballs on Ranma's belt.
     Raiden shook his head. "Pika! Pika! Pi!" The Pikachu gestured to 
Ranma. "Pika! Pikachu pi!"
     "Shrew?"
     Raiden nodded. "Pikachu! Pika?"
     "Shrew… shrew…shrew!"
     "Pika?! Pikachu!" After hearing Sandshrew, Raiden turned to 
Ranma and began gesturing to him with hand signals. After spending 
all this time with him, the martial artist had gotten to understand many 
of the electric rodent's gestures.
     A minute later, Ranma had gotten the full story. <So that's it. Its 
trainer had abandoned it! From the looks of those cuts, I'd say that 
this Sandshrew was abused a lot before its trainer threw it away. No 
wonder it won't let me get close to it. It saw my Pokeballs and 
thought I was going to capture it. Well, I can't just leave it here.>
     "Raiden, see if you can convince this Sandshrew to let me take it 
to the nearest Pokemon Center. Tell it that I promise that I won't try 
forcing it, but I need to put him in a Pokeball for just a little while. 
After he is healed, I'll set him free. No strings attached!"
     Raiden nodded and relayed the message to the Sandshrew. After 
much gentle prodding, the armored mouse nodded reluctantly. 
     Ranma took out an empty Pokeball and set it in front of the 
Sandshrew. The injured Pokemon nudged the device with its snout 
and was transported into the ball. Ranma picked it up and ran back to 
the campsite with Raiden at his heels. A few minutes later, he was 
riding Wildfire down the main highway at breakneck speed. The fire-
horse's flames blazed brightly and made it look like a shooting star. 
Ranma urged his mount faster toward a nearby rest stop that he had 
seen on his map the night before. The place was also a Pokemon 
center.

Some time later…
     "I have some good news for you. Your Sandshrew is expected to 
make a full recovery." Nurse Joy said as she handed Ranma a glass of 
ice water. Sitting beside him on the bench, Raiden looked up at the 
pink-haired Pokemon nurse.
     Ranma gratefully took the glass and replied, "Thanks, but it's not 
mine. I found it like that after its trainer had abandoned it." The 
pigtailed martial artist then looked at Joy with a confused expression. 
"Say, didn't we meet back in Viridian City?"
     Nurse Joy smiled as she said, "No, you must have met my identical 
sister Joy. We both come from a very large family of Pokemon nurses. 
We're all named Joy." She then gestured to a family portrait, which 
depicted huge crowd of identical Joys. 
     Ranma stared at the photo, then thought, <Whoa! This gives a 
whole new meaning to the phrase 'Joy to the World!'>
     "I must say, it was a good thing you brought that Sandshrew in 
when you did." Joy continued. "I can't imagine anyone would be so 
cruel to abuse it like that."
     Ranma nodded as he said, "Well, if I ever meet whoever did that to 
it, he's going to get it!" He held up a fist and clenched it, cracking the 
knuckles.
     "Pika!" Raiden agreed.
     Nurse Joy nodded. "People like that shouldn't be allowed to 
become Pokemon trainers. In any case, Sandshrew should be well 
enough in a few days."
     The Pokemon trainer and martial artist nodded as Nurse Joy left to 
make her rounds. As Ranma sat quietly in the lounge, sipping his 
water, he began overhearing a few people nearby engaging in 
conversation. He looked over and saw a teenage boy of about fifteen 
or so, talking to another. On the table between them were five 
Pokeballs. The boy had brownish hair that was cropped short and 
had a bit of a haughty atmosphere about him. Judging by his flashy-
looking clothes and snobbish attitude, Ranma assumed that he must 
be some kind of spoiled rich kid. It was then that he began getting the 
feeling that he had seen him somewhere before.
     "You really got yourself some really strong Pokemon Billy!" One 
of the rich kid's companions remarked.
     "You bet! Nothing but the best for Billy Bartonne!" The rich kid 
replied as he picked up a Pokeball and balanced it on his index finger. 
"I got a Charizard, an Arcanine, a Ninetails, a Raichu, and a 
Victreebell."
     "Hey, what about that Sandshrew you had?" The other boy asked.
     "That little wimp?" Billy snorted. "I got rid of him. That is, after I 
kicked him around a bit. That stupid Pokemon was just too weak to 
amount to anything. It was also hard to feed since it was so picky."
     As soon as Ranma heard this, his brow furrowed and his anger 
began to rise. >It's him! He's the guy that abandoned Sandshrew!>
     "I guess so." The second boy shrugged as he continued with the 
conversation. "It's a shame that you didn't get that Ponyta a while 
back."
     Billy's expression became irritated as he said, "Yeah, well if I ever 
meet up with that trainer and his Pikachu, I'm going to make him pay 
for stealing my Ponyta. I spent three weeks tracking that horse and it 
was mine by rights!'
     When Ranma heard this, he suddenly realized why that rich boy 
was so familiar. He was the same person that he had met when he had 
rescued Wildfire. His blood began to boil even further as he 
remembered the cruelty that his fire-horse had endured. Now Ranma 
had two reasons for not liking this person. Raiden's trainer was sorely 
tempted to walk over to where Billy was sitting and beat the living 
daylights out of him, but decided against it. Fighting was not allowed 
and Nurse Joy probably wouldn't appreciate it if her place were 
demolished. Besides, there was Sandshrew to think about. He 
decided to bide his time and wait, at least until Sandshrew was well 
enough to be released. With that in mind, Ranma turned his back to 
where Billy and his friend were sitting.
     Unfortunately for Ranma, a lone figure had spotted him from 
around the corner of the entrance to the rest stop. He was one of the 
other boys who had been with Billy when they had caught Wildfire. 
Recognizing the pigtailed trainer from before, he stepped back and 
made a note to later tell Billy that the trainer that had stolen their 
catch was here. They would make plans to jump him as soon as he 
left the Pokemon center.

Three days later…
     Ranma was walking down a dirt road in the nearby forest. In his 
hand was the Pokeball that contained Sandshrew. On his right 
shoulder was Raiden.
     For the last three days, Ranma and Raiden had stayed by 
Sandshrew's side as Nurse Joy tended to it. Raiden's trainer had 
sneaked in a few snacks for it, while the Pikachu conversed with it 
daily, providing good company for his fellow mouse. Eventually, 
Sandshrew grew to like their presence, though it couldn't believe 
some of the things that Raiden told it. It had never before experienced 
such kindness from a human. Its only experiences were from the cruel 
treatment it received with Billy.
     Though Ranma liked being with Sandshrew, he knew that he 
couldn't keep it. The mouse Pokemon had been through a rough 
experience and it would be better for it to stay clear of humans for a 
while. Furthermore, Ranma just couldn't force the Pokemon to stay 
with him. With this in mind, he decided to set it free as soon as it was 
proclaimed fit to be released.
     Ranma and Raiden eventually stopped somewhere deep in the 
forest and decided that this was as good a place as any to release the 
Sandshrew. He tossed the Pokeball to the ground and watched as it 
opened up and released the armored mouse.
     "There you go Sandshrew. You're free. Just like I promised."
     The Sandshrew looked up at Ranma with a sad and confused look. 
"Shrew?" It pointed up at Ranma.
     The Pokemon trainer shook his head and replied, "I told you 
before. I ain't keeping ya. You deserve to be free. You don't wanna 
hang out with me, do ya?"
     "Shrew!" Sandshrew scampered up to Ranma and nuzzled him on 
the leg.
     Ranma shook his head as he bent down and gently pried 
Sandshrew from his leg. He picked up the mouse Pokemon and held it 
up in front of him. "Sandshrew, my life is trouble enough without 
dragging you into it. And I know just how uneasy you are around 
humans. Having that creep for a trainer was probably no picnic for 
you. I think it would be better if you stayed here. Besides, I already 
have my hands full with just training three Pokemon. I'm not sure if 
I'm ready for a fourth." He placed it back on the ground and then 
called forth Wildfire. He then mounted the horse and waved goodbye 
to the Sandshrew before it could protest.
     "Goodbye Sandshrew. And good luck." Ranma galloped away.
     Sandshrew watched as the cloud of dust that marked their 
departure faded away into the distance. As it stood there, a tear 
formed in an eye and ran down its cheek. For a long time, it stood 
motionless. Then it suddenly brightened up and scampered off into 
the dense forest. However, it was not heading to make a new life in 
the wilderness. It was actually heading toward a ridge where it knew 
the path that Ranma was taking would intersect before exiting the 
forest. The path actually circled around a large area before heading 
toward the main road. Sandshrew knew few shortcuts and if it was 
fast enough, it might be able to catch up with him.
     A little further down the path, after making sure the Sandshrew 
wasn't following, Ranma slowed his horse to a trot. As they made 
their way, Raiden started conversing with his trainer.
     "Pika pi, pi."
     Ranma nodded. "Yeah, I could've kept him, but you know how I 
feel about putting Pokemon into Pokeballs. Besides, that little guy 
has been through enough. It deserves to have a free life after all it 
went through."
     "Pika! Pikachu!"
     "Look, I told you that I'm not going to argue. I promised to let him 
go and I keep my word. Let's no talk about any more, okay?"
     Raiden was about to protest further, but then went stiff. Ranma 
noticed this and then started getting the feeling that something was 
up ahead.
     Looking forward, he saw that the forest ended near the rocky side 
of a mountain. The way ran through a narrow pass in which a canyon 
opened up. Ranma became a bit edgy as he looked at rocky sides. 
There wasn't much room to maneuver and the place was perfect for 
an ambush. But this was the only way out of the area, so Ranma 
cautiously urged his Rapidash forward.
     High above them on one of the canyon walls, Billy Bartonne 
smiled as he looked through a pair of binoculars. "There he is! And it 
looks like that Ponyta he stole from me has evolved into a Rapidash! 
Oh well, all the better for me when I take it back!"
     His two companions were each standing near a pile of boulders, 
one at the entrance and one at the exit to the exit. He then raised his 
arm while looking through the binoculars, preparing to give the signal 
for them to seal off the canyon. When Ranma was about halfway 
across the narrow pass, he waved his arm to his cohorts.
     Both boys nodded as they each used a large branch to move the 
first rock that held their piles in place. In less than an instant, their 
homemade landslides began tumbling down the slopes. 
Unfortunately, the schemers had not realized just how eroded the 
walls of the canyon were. They had intended to block off Ranma's 
escape route by sealing off both sides, but their artificial avalanches 
had caused a chain reaction that caused large pieces of canyon wall 
to become dislodged.
     Down below, Ranma and Raiden looked up at the sound and 
gasped as they saw huge rocks coming .down toward them. Wasting 
no time, he dug his heels into Wildfire's sides and urged him to head 
for the exit. Unfortunately, large boulders blocked off the pass and 
Ranma was forced to turn his Rapidash around. His blood turned 
cold as the saw the other side blocked off as well. He knew that they 
would be crushed underneath the falling rocks and he desperately 
looked for a way out. Spotting a cave in the side of the canyon, he 
made his mount dash toward it. Ranma and his Pokemon made it into 
the cave with just seconds to spare as huge boulders sealed off the 
cave entrance. He then got off his horse and .they all braced 
themselves to wait for the avalanche to stop. The cave walls shook 
and dust clouds were kicked up as the rocks continued to fall, making 
the ground tremble. Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, the 
rumbling stopped.
     Ranma picked himself off the ground and dusted himself off. He 
went to check on Wildfire and Raiden, then after assessing that they 
were unharmed, he looked around to survey his situation. It did not 
look promising. The cave entrance was sealed and the entire place 
was pretty unstable. There was no other exit. He didn't want to risk 
using his ki techniques to blast his way out since there was no way 
of knowing just how much rock was between him and the outside. 
Furthermore, he might start a cave in if he tried.
     Ranma also knew that with the cave sealed, the air inside would 
not last very long. With that in mind, he recalled Wildfire and then 
took out Raiden's Pokeball.
     "Pikachu!" Raiden protested.
     Ranma shook his head and said, "I'm sorry Raiden, but I have to 
put you in your Pokeball. The air won't last in here and you'll be safer 
in your Pokeball. Now get in."
     "Pika!" Raiden shook his head and clung to his master's leg.
     Meanwhile, outside the cave, Billy was shouting at his two 
friends.
     "You idiots! I told you just to seal off the canyon, not cause the 
whole thing to collapse!"
     "Hey! How were we supposed to know that the whole thing would 
fall down?"
     "Never mind! That guy's a goner and I'm not going to stick around 
when the police arrive. Let's get out of here!"
     The three boys left Ranma to his fate. Fortunately for Ranma, he 
did have help on the way in the form of a Sandshrew.
     Sandshrew was hiding nearby when it saw its former trainer and 
his friends cause the avalanche. When the trio ran off, it quickly 
made its way down the unstable slopes and then by using its nose, 
found the cave where Ranma and his Pokemon had taken cover in. 
Seeing that the rocks blocking the entrance were too heavy to move, 
it decided to take a different route. In less than a minute, it was 
underground and was tunneling toward the cave.
     Inside the cave, Ranma was still trying to convince his Pikachu to 
get into his Pokeball. By now, the air .inside the cave was thinning 
and the martial artist was feeling dizzy. He suddenly dropped to the 
floor of the cave. The Pokeball clattered as it hit the ground.
     "Pika! Pika!" Raiden scampered to where his master lay.
     Ranma was sweating profusely and his breathing had become 
shallow. He weakly moved the Pokeball to where his Pikachu was 
standing. "Raiden… please… get into your Pokeball."
     "Pika!" Raiden shook his head, though by now the electric mouse 
was starting to feel the effects of the lack of air. It was then that his 
sharp ears perked up at the sound of something rumbling deep within 
the ground. He wondered what it was and then a crack began to form 
in the floor of the cave. Then suddenly, the surface erupted upward 
and Sandshrew's head popped up through the hole.
     "Shrew!"
     Raiden's eyes lit up when he saw the Sandshrew and then began 
to quickly explain the situation. By now, Ranma had lapsed into 
unconsciousness and it would only be a matter of minutes before he 
was beyond anyone's help.
     "Pika! Pikachu! Chu! Pi! Pi! Chu! Chu!" Raiden scampered over 
and opened a flap in Ranma's pack. Pulling out a length of rope, the 
electric mouse started wrapping it around Ranma's chest, then tied 
the other end to Sandshrew's neck.
     The burrowing Pokemon understood what the Pikachu wanted and 
started enlarging the tunnel he had come through to allow for 
Ranma's body to pass through. Raiden had a tough time, but he 
managed to roll his trainer onto his back. He then hopped onto his 
chest and listened. He became very alarmed when he heard Ranma's 
heartbeat became fainter with every passing second.
     "Pikachu! Pika!" Raiden urged Sandshrew to dig faster. It was then 
that they both heard another rumbling noise. Looking above them, 
Raiden saw that large cracks were starting to form in the ceiling. The 
electric rodent became frantic.
     Sandshrew was digging as fast as it could, dragging Ranma's body 
into the tunnel. However, it was not going to make it. The roof of the 
cave would fall in a minute and once it did, the tremors would cause 
the makeshift tunnel to collapse. It knew that there was no hope, but 
it wasn't going to give up its new trainer. With supreme effort, 
Sandshrew redoubled its efforts and then… it happened. The 
Pokemon began to glow white and Raiden watched with awe, as 
Sandshrew became more robust and larger. The scales on its back 
became quills and its paws sprouted out a wicked set of claws. 
Sandshrew had evolved into Sandslash!
     As Sandslash, he began digging at an astounding rate. In no time 
whatsoever, it had burrowed its way back out the tunnel and dragged 
Ranma into daylight. Just in the nick of time too, as the cave finally 
collapsed in on itself and the tunnel behind them as well.
     Raiden let off a gleeful sound as he saw Ranma's eyes flicker and 
he started coughing. He then felt something was on his chest. 
Focusing his eyes, he gazed on Raiden's happy expression, then 
noticed something else leaning over him. His face took on a surprised 
expression as he beheld his newest Pokemon.
     "Slash! Slash!"

Later…
     *SANDSLASH, A MOUSE POKEMON OF THE GROUND TYPE. SANDSLASH 
IS THE EVOLVED FORM OF SANDSHREW. IT ATTACKS ITS OPPONENTS 
WITH THE QUILLS ON ITS BACK. WITH ITS POWERFUL FRONT CLAWS, 
SANDSLASH CAN DIG THROUGH THE GROUND AT AMAZING SPEEDS.*
     "Cool." Ranma remarked as he put away his Pokedex and gazed at 
the Pokemon. "I don't know what to say. You saved us. Thank you. I 
wish there was some way to repay you."
     "Slash! Slash!' The Sandslash jumped up and down happily as it 
pointed to the Pokeballs on Ranma's belt. It knew what reward it 
wanted.
     Ranma shook his but smiled. "You really want to go with us, don't 
you?"
     "Slash!"
     Ranma looked down at Raiden, who smiled back up at him and 
nodded. The electric mouse liked the idea of another mouse coming 
along.
     "Pikachu!"
     "Slash!"
     Ranma chuckled as he took out a Pokeball. "Okay you two. I know 
when I'm outvoted." He then gazed down at the Sandslash. 
Marveling at its sharp claws and quills, he casually tossed the 
Pokeball.
     "Welcome to the team… Razor."
     Razor gave off a happy sound at the new name as the Pokeball 
opened up. 

To be continued…

Author's Notes
     Well, Ranma now has a new Pokemon. Why did I choose a 
Sandslash? Well, it would be good company for Raiden and I liked 
the way it looked. With Razor, Ranma is one step closer to having the 
required six Pokemon. As for Sam and Billy, we'll be seeing more of 
them as well.