Fist of the Pikachu

Ranma 1/2 and Pokemon belong to their respective owners. I just put 
them together for fun.

<>: Thoughts
* *: Pokedex responses

                                  Chapter 6
                              Prepare for Trouble!

     Ranma sighed as he continued to search for Samantha Ryker. 
Beside him, Raiden was riding on Wildfire while Wind Rider flew 
overhead. The gym leader had left in tears after Ranma's Pokemon 
had trounced hers. The pigtailed martial artist turned Pokemon trainer 
had started to feel bad as he continued to think about the match they 
had. Maybe it wasn't nice of him to have ridiculed her like that but 
she did insult his abilities. He had thought that beating her Pokemon 
would have made her shut up, not burst into tears.
     As he thought about it, the gym leader was a lot like he was. Both 
of them took pride in their skills and didn't like to lose. <I guess the 
new moves that I taught Raiden and the others must have been a real 
shock to her. Even though I am a beginner at being a Pokemon 
trainer, I suppose that it would have been humiliating for someone of 
Sam's experience to lose to a guy who hasn't been handling 
Pokemon all that long.>
     Ranma sighed again as he continued to look around for his 
defeated opponent. Throughout his journeys, he had discovered that 
he really couldn't stand to see a girl cry. Seeing a female shedding 
tears always made him uneasy and he had decided to make amends 
before moving on. 
     In a small ice cream shop a few blocks away, Sam Ryker had long 
since stopped her crying and was currently drowning her sorrows in 
her second chocolate sundae.
     "I thought I'd find you here. You always came here whenever 
something upset you."
     Sam looked up with reddened eyes to see her father approaching 
her. The former gym leader took a stool beside his daughter. 
     "Dad, I... want to be left alone right now."
     "I don't think so." Joe Ryker motioned to a server to bring him a 
cup of coffee. "I think that it would be better if you and I talk about 
what happened today."
     Sam fought back her tears as she said, "What's there to talk 
about? I lost a match!"
     Joe patted his daughter's shoulder and said in a soothing voice, 
"Everyone loses sometimes. It's all part of the learning experience."
     "But Dad, I lost to a beginner! After all those battles against 
trainers who have had at least six or seven badges, I couldn't beat a 
guy who has only fought once."
     Joe shook his head and said, "Sam, I love you dearly, but I think 
you're being too hard on yourself. After seeing that battle, I suspect 
that trainer lied to you about being a beginner to make you 
underestimate him. No one can be THAT good and still be a novice."
     "You think so?" Sam said, her face brightening up a bit.
     It was then that they heard a voice from behind them. "Actually, I 
was telling you the truth. Technically speaking, I am a beginner."
     Both father and daughter turned and saw Ranma standing near the 
doorway with his Pikachu riding on his shoulder. He had recalled his 
other Pokemon, as the store wouldn't let him go in with a Rapidash 
and a Pidgeotto. Besides, the door was too narrow to let a full-sized 
horse enter.
     Sam's expression became a bit hostile as she gazed at Ranma. "So, 
are you here to gloat?"
     Ranma shrugged as he said, "Nah. I'm just here to see if you're all 
right. I felt pretty bad about our match and I wanted to apologize. I 
also wanted to explain a few things about my Pokemon and me."
     Raiden nodded. "Pikachu."
     Joe looked at Ranma's expression and assessed it. Finding only 
sincerity and concern in him, he nodded and gestured to a stool 
beside him. As Ranma sat down, Sam's father began questioning him 
while his daughter watched Ranma with wariness and a bit of 
fascination. "So you really are a beginner? After seeing that battle 
and all those powerful attacks, I would have thought that you were 
some kind of expert and have at least eight badges by now."
     Ranma shook his head as he took out his Pokedex. He opened it 
up and showed him the registration date in which he received his 
trainer's license. "I just started about a month ago and I only got 
three Pokemon. As for matches, we've only gone up against one guy 
with a Golem. We beat him of course."
     "Which Pokemon did you use?" Sam asked.
     "My Pikachu."
     "You BEAT a Golem with a Pikachu?!" 
     Raiden smiled and held up a paw. "Pika!"
     "B-But... electric Pokemon are weak against rock-types!"
     Raiden's trainer shrugged as he replied, "Yeah, that's what that 
jerk said too." He smirked. "Just before Raiden here pounded the 
living daylights out of his Golem." Ranma chuckled at the memory. 
The look on that boy's face was priceless.
     "B-B-But... how?!"
     "I'm a martial artist."
     "Martial artist? What's that got to do with anything?"
     Ranma smiled with pride as he said, "I just remembered, I haven't 
introduced myself, have I? I'm Ranma Saotome of the Anything Goes 
School of Martial Arts. You've already met Raiden, Wildfire and 
Wind Rider."
     "Anything Goes?" Joe asked. "I've heard of Karate, Kung Fu and 
stuff like that, but that's a new one on me."
     Ranma nodded. "It's a fighting style which can combine all 
aspects of other disciplines into a free-style form of combat. Before I 
became a Pokemon trainer, I had already spent more than a decade 
training to be a martial artist. I can tell you that I'm pretty good." 
Ranma beamed for a moment before continuing on. "Before starting 
on my Pokemon journey, I spent a few weeks working with Professor 
Oak in Pallet Town. I learned a lot about the many attacks of different 
Pokemon. I happen to know some techniques that can allow a person, 
or Pokemon to tap into their own hidden potential. What you just 
saw today was a small sample of weeks of training my Pokemon in my 
fighting style. I figured, why stop at training them in the usual 
attacks? I mean, there's nothing in the rules saying that they couldn't 
do that, is there?"
     Joe and Sam thought about it for a few moments before nodding. It 
was true. They could see the advantages in teaching the Pokemon in 
new, unexpected attacks. That would give Ranma's Pokemon a 
critical edge in battle.
     Ranma continued. "I also picked up a few skills from my Pokemon 
as well and we've learned to work very well together."
     "Wow." Sam hated to admit it, but she was impressed. If what she 
saw today was only a small sample of what he and his Pokemon were 
capable of, then Ranma may well be a better trainer than most masters 
were, despite his newness to the world of Pokemon. "So how do you 
do it?"
     Ranma smirked as he said, "Now I can't be giving away all my 
secrets, now can I?"
     Sam pouted a bit, then sighed. "I guess not."
     The pigtailed martial artist nodded as he stood up and said, "Well, 
it was nice meeting you both and I hope everything will be all right 
with you."
     Joe smiled as he patted his daughter's shoulder and said, "Don't 
worry. My Sam is a survivor. This whole thing has taught her not to 
underestimate her opponents. She'll be more ready the next time, 
right Sam?'
     "You bet Dad! I'll be giving you a better battle the next time, 
Ranma!"
     Ranma smiled as he said, "I'll be looking forward to it. Oh, by the 
way, I believe you owe me something."
     Joe reached into a shirt pocket and withdrew a small item. He then 
handed Ranma the coveted Earth Badge of the Viridian Gym. "In 
recognition of your victory, we present you with this Earth Badge."
     Raiden leaned over a bit to look at the badge in his trainer's hand. 
The Earth Badge was made of a shiny, emerald-colored metal and was 
in the shape of a leaf.
     "Pika..."
     Nodding to Joe and Sam, Ranma pocketed the badge and he and 
his Pikachu left the shop. 

Later that day...
     Giovanni was more than interested as he listened to the report 
being given to him by Butch and Cassidy. As he spoke to the 
communications screen on his desk, his eyes had that devious glint 
to them.
     "What you're telling me is quite... unbelievable, to say the least. 
Are you sure that you're not just pulling my leg?"
     "No boss!" Butch said quickly. "That new trainer beat the pants 
off the Viridian gym leader! It was like her Pokemon were nothing!"
     "Do you have any proof of what you are telling me?"
     Cassidy nodded. "You do remember that before we sold the 
property to the Ryker family, we set up several hidden surveillance 
cameras to keep track of any powerful Pokemon that came to 
challenge Joe Ryker's daughter. I believe that they caught the battle 
on tape."
     Giovanni nodded as he pressed a switch on his control console 
and had the visuals of the battle sent to another viewing screen. He 
began watching Ranma's Pokemon as they battled with Sam's. Well, 
'battle' was not an appropriate word. It was a one-sided match and 
the supreme leader of Team Rocket was more than astonished as he 
saw Raiden, Wind Rider and Wildfire in action. He was especially 
impressed with how easily the Rapidash defeated a strong water-type 
Pokemon, despite the fact that it was supposed to be weak against 
opponents such as Blastoise. The built-in energy sensors of the 
cameras also measured the power levels of each. The readings were 
far higher than normal and the cameras had also picked up the same 
unusual energy readings that had been detected earlier. They were 
mostly coming from Ranma. When the visuals ended, Giovanni was 
well convinced to give Jesse and James' counterparts their new 
orders.
     "Listen up you two. Whoever this new trainer is, I want both him 
and his Pokemon. He would certainly be an asset to Team Rocket. Get 
him any way you can, but bring him to me, understood?"
     "Yes sir!"

Sometime that evening...
     In a small diner near the warehouse district, Ranma was eating his 
dinner with his Pikachu before deciding on where to go next. In front 
of them was a road map, which had all the locations of the nearest 
towns and cities.
     "So where do you think we should go next?" Ranma asked as he 
munched on his meal. Beside him on the table, his Pikachu was 
devouring his own dinner. 
     "Pikachu!" Raiden pointed to a spot on the map.
     The trainer looked down at the area. "Pewter City?" Ranma then 
read about the town. "Specializes in rock-type Pokemon. Hey, they 
even have a gym there."
     "Pika!"
     "Looks like it's about a couple of days walk from here." <Or half a 
day's ride if we took Wildfire.> After the battle at the Viridian gym, 
Ranma had become a little more confident about his skills as a trainer 
and Pewter City was as good as any place to go to. In any case, it 
wasn't as if he had any other destination in mind. "Okay Raiden. First 
thing in the morning."
     A while later, after dinner was consumed and Ranma had taken 
Wildfire and Wind Rider to the Pokemon center for treatments, the 
trainer and his Pikachu began heading back to the motel that Ranma 
had been staying at ever since he arrived in Viridian. As they came to 
their room, Ranma immediately noticed that his backpack was 
missing. He and Raiden began searching around for his possessions 
but could find nothing. Panicking that thieves might have broken in 
and stolen all of his worldly possessions, he went to the phone to 
call the police. It was then that he noticed a small note near the 
phone, which read: To the trainer who beat the Viridian gym leader. If 
you want your stuff back, meet us at the following address and come 
alone. Signed Team Rocket.
     Ranma winced at the memory of the last time he met up with that 
organization. Jesse and James were of no consequence and neither 
were their Pokemon. All except one that is. That c-c-cat of theirs. The 
martial artist shuddered at the thought of encountering that talking 
Meowth again. However, if Ranma wanted his property back, then he 
had no choice. Some of those items were irreplaceable and had great 
sentimental value. In any case, that pack also contained most of their 
supplies and money was a bit tight at the moment. With a resigned 
sigh, he gestured to his Pikachu to follow him as he exited the door 
and headed toward the area that was indicated on the note. Ranma 
knew that this was some kind of trap, but he didn't really have a 
choice.
     In an abandoned warehouse, Butch and Cassidy were going 
through Ranma's pack as they waited for his arrival. 
     "Hey look at this Cassidy." Butch hauled out Ranma's ceremonial 
tanto, which was wrapped in a embroidered cloth and tied with a 
silken rope. As he unwrapped the blade, he stared at the Saotome 
family crest and said, "Whoa! Strange thing to be carrying around."
     "If you think that's weird, look at this." Cassidy held out a small 
metal spatula, which had some kanji symbols on it. 
     The two thieves rummaged through the pack, finding provisions 
and whatnot inside. After a few minutes, they were satisfied that 
there was nothing of any value inside to sell off or keep. Nothing in 
the pack gave them any information on how Ranma had trained his 
Pokemon, and the training manuals they found were in illegible 
Japanese. Replacing all the things in the pack, they turned to a 
console that had many television screens on it. On one of the 
screens, they saw Ranma and his Pikachu approaching the 
warehouse. They nodded to each other as they began the 
preparations for their unsuspecting guests.

     Ranma and Raiden approached the warehouse with caution. They 
didn't know what to expect, but they were on their guard. Ranma 
fingered the two Pokeballs on his belt. Though he was confident that 
he and Raiden could handle anything that could be thrown at them, 
the fact that his other two Pokemon were ready at a moment's notice 
was reassuring. Taking a deep breath and then giving his Pikachu a 
nod, Ranma reached out to turn the doorknob. 
     In the control room, Cassidy smiled as she pushed a button on the 
console.
     Ranma and Raiden each yelped in surprise as the ground gave 
way beneath them. The trapdoor swung out from beneath them, 
causing them to be dropped down a chute. 
     "What the hell?"
     "Pika!"
     The two went down the nearly vertical shaft and found themselves 
headed down a hundred yards below ground. When the slide 
suddenly leveled off, Ranma and Raiden soared off into empty space. 
Curling his body into a somersault, Ranma made a graceful double 
flip before landing on a metal floor. His Pikachu followed through 
with a triple somersault and landed perfectly beside him.
     The two looked around and saw that they were in a huge room 
that was about the size of a high school gymnasium. The area was lit 
by large ceiling lamps and was totally empty. The walls were smooth 
and were made up of panels. There didn't seem to be any exits that 
either could see and Ranma's danger senses were on high alert.
     "Pika! Pika!"
     Ranma looked down at his Pikachu and saw that he was gesturing 
toward the center of the room. He turned his gaze to where Raiden 
was indicating and saw a familiar object on the floor.
     "My backpack!"
     Ranma and his Pokemon started to run toward it. When they were 
more than halfway toward it, they stopped when they heard a noise. 
Looking around, they saw that one of the wall panels was sliding 
open. A small object emerged from the hole and dropped to the floor. 
Afterwards the panel closed up. 
     Ranma's attention was fixed on the object and when it rolled close 
enough, he recognized it as a Pokeball. When it came to a stop, it 
opened up and released a huge shape.
     The Pokemon roared as it came in being. Ranma's expression 
turned pale as he brought out his Pokedex
     *RHYDON. A RHINOCEROS POKEMON OF THE ROCK TYPE. RHYDON 
IS THE EVOLVED FORM OF RHYHORN. ITS SKIN IS STRONG ENOUGH 
TO WITHSTAND EXTREME PRESSURES AND TEMPERATURES OF WELL 
OVER 2000 C. ITS TAKE DOWN ATTACK IS LIKE BEING HIT BY A TANK. 
ITS HORN IS AS HARD AS DIAMOND.*
     "That doesn't sound good." Ranma remarked, then saw that 
another wall panel was opening up. Another Pokeball was released 
and reveled the Pokemon inside. At first, Ranma thought he was 
seeing a dragon when it flapped its wings and let off gouts of flame 
from its mouth. Then he remembered to point his Pokedex at it.
     *CHARIZARD. THE FINAL EVOLUTION OF THE CHARMANDER. 
A FIRE TYPE POKEMON THAT HAS BEEN KNOWN TO UNINTENTIONALLY 
START FOREST FIRES. ITS FLAMES CAN BECOME HOT ENOUGH TO 
MELT STONE. ITS TEMPERMENT MATCHES ITS FIERY FLAMES AND IS 
EXTREMELY HARD TO CONTROL.*
     "Cool!" Ranma said in spite of the fact that he and his Pikachu 
were trapped in a room with these potentially lethal Pokemon. It was 
then that a third Pokeball rolled onto the scene and opened up. The 
Pokemon that appeared was just as intimidating. With its whiling, 
bladed arms, Ranma became concerned.
     "Scyther!"
     *SCYTHER, A BUG TYPE POKEMON THAT HAS SOME CHARACTERISTICS 
OF DINOSAURS. 
IT IS VERY AGILE AND THE RAZOR EDGES ON ITS FOREARMS MAKE ITS 
SLASH ATTACK EXTREMELY DANGEROUS.*
     Ranma didn't like the way things were turning out. He and Raiden 
were facing off against three very violent and dangerous Pokemon 
that looked ready to tear into them at any moment. They both went 
into their ready stances and waited.
     In the control room, Butch and Cassidy smiled as they watched 
Ranma and his Pikachu on a large viewing screen. It was then that 
Butch reached over to activate a loudspeaker and give their Pokemon 
the order to attack.
     "CHARIZARD! FLAMETHROWER!"
     The fiery lizard took a few steps forward and let loose with a 
scorching blast from its maw. Ranma and his Pikachu leapt to either 
side to avoid being toasted. Ranma rolled to the right then began 
powering up his ki energies. Raiden followed his trainer's lead and 
glowed a bright blue.
     "RAIDEN! DOUBLE MOKO TAKABISHA!" Ranma had later 
named his ki attack as the Fierce Tiger Ball after he had discovered 
that he could project his ki by way of his confidence.
     "Pika!" A small blue ball formed in front of the mouse's paws and 
then was sent hurtling toward the Charizard, just as Ranma released 
his own.
     At the control room, Butch and Cassidy could only stare in 
amazement.
     "What the heck is that?" Butch exclaimed.
     The Charizard looked in confusion as two balls of ki energy came 
at it from either side. It had never encountered anything like this and 
it was too slow in dodging the twin attacks. Ranma's blast hit it in the 
belly while Raiden's exploded against the side of its head. The final 
evolution of a Charmander let off a roar of pain and was staggered. It 
would be several seconds before it could shake off the effects.
     That was all the time Ranma needed as he dashed toward the 
injured Charizard to finish it off. His aura suddenly exploded into a 
red, blazing corona as he suddenly went from zero to 70 mph. He 
crossed the distance between himself and the Pokemon in under one 
and a half seconds and then leapt up in a sidekick. 
     "RAPIDASH RUN!"
     The Charizard had just shaken off the effects of being hit by ki 
blasts, when it saw Ranma approach it from out of the corner of its 
eye. It tried to turn its head toward the speeding martial artist to use 
another flame attack, but it was too late. Ranma's foot energized with 
ki that resembled Wildfire's flames, slammed into Charizard's temple 
and sent the lizard flying. The pyro-Pokemon slammed headfirst into 
a nearby wall with a loud clang, and then it slumped down into 
unconsciousness.
     Butch's jaw hung out and hit the floor of the control room. "Huh? 
No way! How did he do that?"
     Cassidy took up the microphone. "RHYDON! TAKE DOWN ATTACK! 
SCYTHER! SLASH ATTACK!"
     Ranma was just taking his eyes off the downed Charizard, when 
his finely tuned danger sense kicked in and he ducked, thereby 
avoiding a viscous slash to the head by the Scyther. As Ranma 
turned to battle it, he felt the floor begin to shake and tremble. 
Sparing a glance to his Pikachu, he saw that Raiden was directly in 
the path of a charging Rhydon. It was then that the Scyther began 
making a series of slashes and cuts at the martial artist.
     On the other side of the battle zone, Raiden leapt high in the air to 
avoid the Rhydon as it charged. As the electric rodent reached the 
apex of his leap, he began charging up his cheek pouches. He then 
discharged a massive amount of electricity in the form of his 
Thundershock attack, aiming directly for the Rhydon's eyes. 
     "PIKACHU!"
     The blast did nothing to the rock-type Pokemon's thick hide, but 
that was not Raiden's intent. Ranma's Pokemon knew that Rhyhorns 
and their evolved forms were like regular rhinos, and did suffer from 
poor eyesight and sensitivity to light. Having a burst of electricity 
occur in front of it was like staring at a flashbulb at point blank range. 
     Rhydon stopped in its charge and shook its head as it was 
temporarily blinded. Raiden landed behind it and then launched the 
Stonebreaker Quick Attack. The Pikachu became a yellow blur of fury 
as he darted back and forth, landing dozens of ki-enhanced blows on 
his rocky foe. In just a few seconds, Rhydon was subjected to an 
intense pounding. When Raiden completed his attack, he stood in 
front of his adversary in a ready stance and waited.
     Rhydon had a look of confusion as it tried to comprehend what 
had just happened to it. It then let off a groan as cracks in its 
protective skin appeared. Its massive horn also showed signs of 
fractures in it. The Rhydon looked down at its diminutive foe and let 
off an angered roar. It tried to charge at Raiden again, but the injuries 
it sustained was too much for it and it collapsed onto the floor face 
first making a loud boom as its massive body hit the metal.
     Raiden made a polite bow to his fallen opponent.

In the control room...
     "B-But... rock Pokemon are supposed to be strong against electric 
types!" Cassidy gasped as she saw Rhydon collapse to the floor of 
the arena.
     Meanwhile, Ranma was getting quite a workout as he successfully 
dodged each of Scyther's attacks. He was really enjoying himself, as 
this was his first human-sized opponent. Ranma had been itching for 
a challenge to test his new skills and he wanted to make the 
experience a memorable one.
     For the Scyther, it was a completely story. It couldn't understand 
how a mere human could be this fast. It had expected the trainer to 
send out a Pokemon to battle it, not fight it personally. Not only was 
he evading each of its attacks, but also he was actually smiling at it, 
as if he were enjoying it! This went on for another minute, in which 
the Scyther became more enraged at Ranma's audacity. Rearing back 
with one arm, it focused all of its energies in a downward slash to 
Ranma's head. The razor edge came down...
     ... And was stopped when Ranma clapped both palms on the 
sides of the arm and trapped the appendage in a barehanded sword 
catching technique.
     "Scyther?" No one had ever stopped its slash attack before. It 
tried to pull its arm back, but Ranma tightened his grip and kept the 
arm from pulling free. The martial artist then raised his arms and sent 
a hard kick to Scyther's midsection, stunning it and causing its 
breath to be driven out. Releasing his hold on its arm, Ranma moved 
forward and delivered several hard punches to the bug Pokemon's 
abdomen and head, causing it to stagger back. Its thick exoskeleton 
began to buckle under the continuous pummeling. With the last 
punch, Ranma sent it sprawling back a dozen feet. The Anything 
Goes fighter began powering up his aura as he gestured for his 
Pikachu to join him.
     Raising an arm with the palm facing up and the fingers spread out, 
focusing his ki into his hand. Ranma smiled as he began converting 
the ball of ki energy into electricity.
     In the control room, Butch and Cassidy were still in shock after 
seeing Raiden defeat the Rhydon when they saw sparks appear in 
Ranma's hand. 
     "How the heck is he doing that?!" Butch said, as he and his 
partner became awestruck at the appearance of a ball of lightning in 
Ranma's hand.
     "Why are you asking me?" Cassidy replied as her eyes roved over 
the image of the muscular and very handsome martial artist as he 
prepared to deal the final blow to the weakened, but still fighting 
Scyther.
     Ranma gritted his teeth as he saw the Scyther get to its feet and 
then made a suicidal charge toward them. At his feet, Raiden was 
powering up his cheek pouches.
     Ranma smiled as he shook his head and said to his friend, "Sorry 
Raiden, but this one's mine! Just jump with me!" In his raised hand, 
the ball of ki was converted completely to electricity and grew to five 
times the size of a basketball. He and his Pikachu then leapt high. At 
the apex of his jump, Ranma reared back and tossed the sphere at the 
attacking Scyther in an overhand throw. "THUNDERBLAST BOMB!"
     The bug Pokemon screamed in absolute terror as the ball lightning 
shot toward it and just as it tried to evade the attack, the sphere 
exploded against its side. Scyther roared in pain as it was subjected 
to more than 60,000 volts! Its body twitched and convulsed as the 
electricity swept through it. 
     Coincidentally, since the floors and walls were also metallic, the 
electricity was conducted through the surfaces. The surveillance 
cameras were overloaded and blew out their lenses as their circuits 
were fried. In the control room, Team Rocket had to duck for cover as 
their monitor exploded into a shower of glass, metal and sparks. 
     Fortunately for Ranma and his Pikachu, they were in the air at the 
time and weren't in contact with the electrified room. When the blast 
ended, they focused their ki to absorb and redirect any remaining 
electricity that was still present. After a few moments, they powered 
down and gazed at the battlefield. Charizard, Rhydon and Scyther 
were all down for the count.
     In the control room, Butch and Cassidy were just getting up when 
they saw that the main monitor was a smoking ruin. 
     Butch whistled. "Whoa! Now that's what I call power!"
     "I'll say!" Cassidy agreed as she dusted off some debris from her 
uniform. "So, do you think we should introduce ourselves now?"
     Butch nodded as he went to the console and checked the systems. 
Fortunately, only the surveillance cameras had been damaged. Just 
about every other system had been insulated and was still working, 
including the speakers.
     In the arena, Ranma and Raiden were still trying to figure out who 
had sent those Pokemon after them, when they heard Butch's voice 
over the speakers.
     "Charizard! Rhydon! Scyther! Return!"
     The Pokeballs that the Pokemon had come out of, each had a 
special remote control chip within them. Each device sent out their 
recall beams and took back the injured Pokemon.
     Ranma and Raiden went into ready stances as wall panels opened 
up and robotic arms appeared to retrieve the Pokeballs. When they 
disappeared into the walls, Ranma shouted out to his mysterious 
attackers.
     "Who are you? What do you want? Why did you have those 
Pokemon attack us?" 
     "Very impressive pal! You passed your test with flying colors!" 
Butch replied.
     "Test? What test?!" Ranma demanded.
     "Pika!" Raiden was also annoyed.
     Cassidy's voice took over the microphone. "The test to join our 
illustrious organization of course! We only invite the best Pokemon 
trainers and you most certainly qualify."
     "Who... are... you?" Ranma said slowly.
     "Let us introduce ourselves." Butch replied.
     Suddenly, a panel in the floor opened up and the two conspirators 
rose up from an underground platform.
     "Prepare for trouble!" Cassidy declared.
     "Make it double!" Butch added.
     "To infect the world with devastation!" 
     "To blight all people in all nations!" 
     "To renounce the goodness of truth and love!"
     "To extend our wrath to the stars above!"
     "Cassidy!"
     "Butch!"
     "Team Rocket! Circling the Earth all day and night!"
     "Surrender now for you will surely lose the fight!"
     Just after Butch finished his line a strange Pokemon appeared from 
the opening and stood before them.
     "Drowzee!"
     Ranma's expression was a mixture of surprise and relief. He had 
expected Jessie and James to appear when he heard the start of that 
motto, but he was thankful when that talking Meowth didn't appear 
with them. Then he considered whom he might be up against. THIS 
Team Rocket looked a lot more competent than the other two. He 
took out his Pokedex and aimed it at the Drowzee.
     *DROWZEE. A PSYCHIC POKEMON THAT IS SAID TO BE DESCENDED 
FROM THE TAPIR. ITS ATTACKS INCLUDE HYPNOSIS, PSI-WAVE AND 
THE METRONOME.*
     Ranma frowned. He had no experience in dealing with psychic 
Pokemon and neither did his Pokemon. He and Raiden were trapped 
in an underground arena with no way out. Things didn't look good.

To be continued...

Author's Notes
     Well, Ranma is now facing off against the more able Team Rocket 
and it looks like he's in really hot water. He's going to need a lot of 
luck to get out of this one. Stay tuned!


