Fist of the Pikachu

Disclaimer: I'll let the reader fill in the blanks this time around.

< >: Thoughts

                                  Chapter 7
                                 Break Out!

     Sam Ryker sat in her room as she thought about the Pokemon 
trainer who had defeated her. It had been a long time since she had 
lost a match and to have been beaten by someone who had just 
recently started training was nothing short of unbelievable. 
     <He was good! Better than I ever though he could be. How can a 
guy with only three Pokemon and just one battle get to be that good? 
There has to be more to it than that!>
     "Still thinking about him, eh?"
     Sam turned at the sound of her father's voice as he entered her 
room. "Well..."
     "It's all right Sam. I kind of thought you would be. He is a very 
nice-looking boy and a great trainer to boot."
     "Really? I never noticed." Sam denied, but her father could see 
right through it.
     "Now I don't believe that." Joe replied as he sat down beside his 
daughter, still smiling. "But that's not the reason why I'm here. I 
came here to tell you that I'm thinking about coming out of retirement 
and becoming a gym leader again."
     "Why?"
     "Because I know that you won't be able to manage the gym while 
out on your Pokemon journey."
     "What Pokemon journey?"
     "Oh come on now. I saw it in your eyes. When Ranma left us, I 
knew that you wanted to know how he trained his Pokemon. Besides, 
I think that going out for a while would be good for you. For the last 
month, you've done nothing but battle one trainer after another. You 
need to loosen up and get out more often. Now don't tell me that you 
weren't considering following Ranma."
     Sam was about to protest, then nodded. "The thought had 
crossed my mind."
     Joe's smile became wider. "I thought so. Actually, I was getting 
worried with you being so caught up in being a gym leader, that you 
didn't have much of a social life or a boyfriend."
     "Hey! I just want to know how he trained his Pokemon! I'm not 
interested in that arrogant jerk!"
     Joe gave his daughter a fatherly pat on her shoulder.

Meanwhile, back in Team Rocket's secret hideout...
     "Test? You stole my pack and sent those Pokemon after us, just to 
see what we could do?" Ranma said incredulously as he and Raiden 
went into defensive stances.
     "That's right, pal." Butch acknowledged as he and his partner 
Cassidy stood behind their Drowzee. "Though we gotta admit, we 
were expecting you to send out your Pokemon to battle, not take on 
ours on your own. That was real amazing though."
     "Yes." Cassidy agreed as she looked over Ranma's features with 
avid interest. "You've just proven yourself worthy of joining the 
illustrious Team Rocket."
     Ranma frowned, as his memories of the last time he met up with 
Team Rocket were not pleasant ones. "And why would we want to 
do that?"
     "Pika!" Raiden retorted.
     "You just showed us that as a trainer, your Pokemon are a lot 
stronger than normal. You've also got some skills that can be very 
useful to our organization. The boss liked what he saw and he wants 
you and your Pokemon to come work for him."
     Ranma shook his head and replied, "Sorry, I'm not interested."
     "Pikachu!"
     "And Raiden speaks for himself and my other Pokemon as well. 
We're outta here." Ranma began moving toward his pack, which had 
miraculously survived the previous battle and had not been touched. 
Raiden stood ready, his cheek pouches sparking and ready to let fly 
with electricity at a moment's notice.
     Butch snorted as he said, "You don't got any choice pal. The boss 
wants you and your Pokemon, and what the boss wants, he gets!"
     "And how are you going to make us?" Ranma replied as he picked 
up his pack.
     "Like this!" Cassidy gestured to Drowzee. "DROWZEE! HYPNOSIS ATTACK! 
Put them both out!"
     The Drowzee stepped forward and began emitting intense, sleep 
waves toward Ranma and Raiden. 
     "Drowzee... drowzee... drowzee..."
     At first, Ranma didn't feel anything, but when he looked down, he 
saw that Raiden was becoming unsteady. His eyes were starting to 
close.
     "Raiden! Fight it off!" Ranma took a battle stance and began 
focusing his ki. The sudden appearance of Ranma's battle aura made 
the two villains a bit nervous and they stepped back a bit. The 
Drowzee began increasing the level of his sleep waves at Ranma and 
Raiden. The little Pikachu struggled to keep awake, its own battle 
aura beginning to flare. However, it was apparent that he was fighting 
a losing battle and his aura faltered and flickered. With absolutely no 
experience in dealing with psychic Pokemon, Raiden fell flat on his 
face and was out like a light.
     "Why you...!" Ranma was about to charge at the pair and their 
Pokemon, when he began to feel unsteady himself. He was starting to 
feel sleepy and he strained to remain on his feet.
     Cassidy smiled as she noticed what was happening to Ranma. 
"Give it up friend. There's no way you can resist our Drowzee's Sleep 
Waves. Drowzee here has been specially trained to not only to affect 
Pokemon, but people as well. Its sleep waves can affect the brain 
patterns of humans and thanks to a few operations, Drowzee can put 
an entire block to sleep."
     "Drowzee... drowzee... drowzee..."
     Ranma continued to strain as he began to slowly advance on his 
tormentors. His battle aura flared up even more as he slowly moved 
forward, each step seeming more agonizing than the last. The 
hypnotic sound of Drowzee's voice was starting to lull to sleep and 
Ranma wasn't sure if he could make it, but he had to try.
     "Whoa. This guy's got a lot of willpower. He's still standing!" 
Butch was a bit edgy at how Ranma was resisting Drowzee's attack. 
The pigtailed trainer and martial artist had slowed down to inching 
his way toward them, but he was still moving. At the same time, he 
was slowly reaching down toward the Pokeball that contained Wind 
Rider. When he got to within a dozen feet of them, Cassidy decided 
to use her ace in the hole.
     "My, you've got a strong will. I like that in a man. But this game 
ends now." She took out a Pokeball and tossed it out in front of her. 
"VILEPLUME! STUN SPORES!"
     The Pokeball opened up and released the flower-shaped Pokemon. 
     "Vileplume!"
     The top of its flower exploded and released a cloud of dust at 
Ranma. He started hacking and coughing as the powder filled up his 
lungs. As the spores weakened him, Drowzee's Sleep Waves finally 
overcame him. Ranma blacked out and fell forward. His mind finally 
welcomed the darkness of unconsciousness.

Some time later...
     Ranma regained consciousness several hours later as he heard the 
voices of Cassidy and Butch. Opening his eyes, he saw that he was 
in a room that looked to be a control center. He found himself in a 
sitting in a chair, but his arms and legs were held fast in the chair's 
built-in shackles. The cuffs were tightly bound around his wrists and 
ankles. Looking over to side, he noticed that the two members of 
Team Rocket had their backs to him and were talking to a large 
viewscreen. Butch and Cassidy were blocking his view so Ranma 
couldn't see whom they were talking to. Deciding to feign being 
blacked out; Ranma lowered his head, closed his eyes and listened to 
their conversation.
     "So he's doesn't want to join Team Rocket? Well, no matter. Bring 
him and his Pokemon back to headquarters. I still want to know the 
secret of how he trained his Pokemon. In any case, I'm sure that we 
can 'persuade' him to come to our way of thinking."
     "He's not going to be hurt, is he?" Cassidy asked.
     "Why are you asking Cassidy? Is there something... wrong?"
     "Oh no!" Cassidy said quickly. "I'm sure that he'll join us 
eventually. Nothing's wrong."
     Giovanni considered Cassidy for a moment, then nodded. "In any 
case, have you got his Pokemon?"
     "Yeah Boss!" Butch replied. "We put that Pikachu back in its 
Pokeball and took the other two that he had. They're in storage with 
the other Pokemon that we swiped in Viridian City. We'll be 
transporting them to you tomorrow morning. We'll bring that trainer 
to you afterwards."
     "Excellent! You've done well, Butch! You too, Cassidy. You're two 
are far more reliable than those fools Jessie and James. I see the both 
of you tomorrow."
     After signing off, the duo turned to their captive and assumed that 
he was still unconscious. With nothing left for them to do, they left 
the room, closing the door.
     Ranma immediately brought up his head and looked around his 
surroundings. He began testing his bonds and frowned when he saw 
that they provided him with no leverage and that they were bound so 
tight, they chafed against his skin. They were also connected to 
cables than ran across the floor and connected up to a panel on a 
wall. The chair was bolted to the floor. Ranma didn't know what was 
in store for him and his Pokemon, but he was none too eager to find 
out. He had to get out and get his Pokemon back. Besides Professor 
Oak, they were the only friends that he had in this world. After a long 
and lonely training journey with his idiotic father, he wasn't about to 
give up his new companions. Desperately, he looked around for a 
way out of his bonds.
     On a nearby table, he spotted a glass of ice water and something 
else. When he looked closer, his eyes widened as he recognized his 
Water Stone pendant beside the glass. Looking down at his chest, he 
realized that Cassidy and Butch must searched him and removed the 
necklace.
     <Hmmm... without my Water Stone, my curse is active. If I got 
splashed, then I'd change into a girl.> Ranma thought about it a bit 
more then looked down at the cuffs holding his arms to the arms of 
the chair. They were steel bands and adjusted to tightly fit his arms, 
just behind the wrists, giving him no space to move them. Looking 
over to the side, a mere two feet away was the release mechanism to 
the shackles. <Damn! If I could just free one arm, I can get to that 
control panel! But these shackles are perfectly fitted to my wrists!>
     Ranma's eyes then lit up with a realization. <Hey! These bands may 
be fitted to my wrists as a boy, but what about as a girl?> Ranma 
remembered that his wrists were more slender as a female. <If I could 
only transform, I might be able to slip my arms free! But where can I 
get cold water?>
     Looking back to the table, he saw that the glass of ice water was 
more than five feet away and was situated on top of a couple of thin 
books, making it a little higher than his chest level. Reaching for it 
was out of the question. He then saw that the stack of books was 
carelessly sitting atop a ruler and that one end was sticking out over 
the edge of the table. He saw above him on an adjacent wall just a 
foot away, a thin shelf. Straining his neck, he saw a couple of empty 
Pokeballs sitting on it. The martial artist smiled as a plan formulated in 
his mind. He was only going to get on shot at this.
     He began focusing his ki and let it gather in his right hand. In his 
current position, he could only concentrate it on his index finger, but 
that was all he needed. He then judged the angle of the shelf and 
prepared to fire off a tiny blast of electrical power, The shot would be 
no more than a tiny static bolt, but he hoped it would be enough to 
get things rolling.
     A small sphere of blue ki gathered at the tip of his index finger. It 
then began to change color and crackled as it was converted into 
electricity. Ranma then made a silent prayer and strained to point his 
digit in the right direction. He took a deep breath and fired off the 
electric spark.
     The tiny bolt of electricity impacted one of the Pokeballs and sent 
started it rolling. The device rolled off the shelf and fell to toward 
Ranma. The trainer strained, twisted his hand to face palm up, and 
spread his fingers wide. He was rewarded when the Pokeball just 
landed on his fingertips and rolled into his palm. He let out a sigh of 
relief as he pressed the activator button and enlarged the device. He 
then paused as he looked at the glass of water before him. With a 
flick of his fingers, he sent the Pokeball toward the end of the ruler. 
Ranma's aim was true and it landed on the wooden stick, causing the 
other end to flip the books and the glass toward him. In an instant, 
the trainer and martial artist was splashed, turning from a him to a her.
     Ranma-chan smiled as she looked down and saw that the bands 
around her wrists weren't as tight as they had been a minute ago. 
<All right! I'm in business!>
     The transformed martial artist grunted and strained, but after a few 
minutes, she managed to wrench one arm free. She waved it around a 
bit to get circulation going again, and was about to reach over to 
press the control panel, when she suddenly thought of something. 
     She no idea where her Pokemon were and even if she did know, 
she still had Team Rocket to deal with. Butch and Cassidy were of no 
consequence, but they still had that damned Drowzee. She had 
almost succumbed to its hypnotic effects and she wasn't sure if she 
could withstand it again. 
     <Damn! There has to be a way to beat that thing!> She thought 
back to when she had encountered it and remembered how irresistible 
its voice was, which seemed to amplify its Sleep Waves. When she 
looked on the table and saw something else on it, she smiled as she 
thought up of a way of countering the psychic Pokemon.
     Meanwhile, inside a large storage area, Butch and Cassidy were in 
the process of cataloging all of their ill-gotten Pokemon, when an 
alarm was heard. They quickly dropped what they were doing and ran 
out of the storage facility, heading toward the control room. When 
they got to the control center, they were dismayed to find that their 
captive had escaped. The control panel he had used to free himself 
had set off an alarm, but he was nowhere insight.
     "He's gone!" Cassidy exclaimed.
     "No duh! Check the surveillance cameras!" Butch said.
     "We can't! That guy shorted them out, remember?"
     "Oh yeah! Well, he's not going to go anywhere! He can't get out 
of this underground complex without the access codes or call the 
cops! If he's not here, then I would guess that he's somewhere in the 
place."
     "The storage area!" Cassidy exclaimed as she realized the most 
logical place where Ranma would have gone.
     Butch nodded. "Right!"
     The two rushed out of the room and headed back down the hall to 
where they kept the Pokemon. However, had they looked up, they 
wouldn't have needed to go anywhere.
     Using the patented Saotome Cling-to-the-Ceiling-and-Hope-the-
Enemy-Doesn't-Look-Up technique, Ranma smiled as the villains 
departed. He dropped down and lightly landed on his feet. He had 
transformed back by using some hot water from a nearby sink. 
Snatching up his Water Stone, he then began shadowing the two 
Team Rocket members as they led her through the corridors.
     <Yeah, that's it, you dummies. You just show me the way to my 
Pokemon!>
     The two burst into the huge storage facility, which was about the 
size of a warehouse and had hundreds of Pokeballs on shelves and a 
few Pokemon in cages. They then began to quietly search the aisles 
for any sign of the pigtailed martial artist, unaware that Ranma had 
followed them and was now sneaking about several meters above 
them. Using the ceiling rafters, Ranma silently made his way and kept 
them in sight as they went around aisles until they finally stopped 
somewhere near the middle and took out a tray which contained three 
Pokeballs.
     Butch held them up to his partner and said, "Here's that guy's 
Pokemon. If he's coming here, we can use these as bait and hold them 
hostage."
     "Good plan Butch! He wouldn't dare attack while we're holding his 
precious Pokemon." She then held up another Pokeball. "I got 
Drowzee here for back up. Between it and these Pokeballs, he won't 
be able to do anything!"
     It was then that something dropped down from the ceiling and 
landed behind Butch. The male half of the duo turned around in 
surprise and was sent flying backward as Ranma launched a 
haymaker at his chin. Butch slammed into Cassidy and the two went 
sprawling.
     Ranma smiled as he sensed the ki energies being emitted from the 
Pokeballs that Butch dropped. Those were his Pokemon all right! 
Placing two of them back on his belt, he held up the third one and 
said with a smile, "Raiden! I choose you!"
     The Pokeball opened up and released the electric mouse. Raiden 
had more or less recovered from Drowzee's Hypnosis attack and 
while shaking its head; it let off a delighted squeak at seeing his 
trainer. 
     "Pikachu!"
     "Good to see you too, buddy!" Ranma squeezed his Pikachu tight 
as he jumped into his arms. 
     The electric rodent happily nuzzled against Ranma then felt 
something being placed in his ears. Looking up at his trainer, he gave 
a confused sound.
     "Pika?"
     Ranma smiled and gave him a wink before setting him back down. 
Motioning his electric rodent to follow him, he began to slowly walk 
toward Butch and Cassidy, who were still struggling to get up as 
they had crashed into a pile of empty boxes some fifty yards away.
     When they finally got to their feet, they saw Ranma and Raiden 
walking up to them, battle auras glowing and the Pikachu's cheek 
pouches sparking.
     "Look out! He's got his Pokemon back!" Butch cried out.
     "No problem!" Cassidy stated as she tossed out her Pokeball. 
Drowzee appeared before them.
     "Drowzee."
     Cassidy smirked as she instructed the hypnotic Pokemon, 
"Drowzee, put them out again with your Hypnosis attack!"
     Once again, the Drowzee began emitting its Sleep Waves and 
chanting its name. "Drowzee... drowzee... drowzee..."
     Once again Ranma and Raiden's battle auras glowed even brighter 
as they advanced toward them.
     This time however, they didn't slow down. The smiles of Butch 
and Cassidy began to fade as they saw their opponents continue to 
advance without a single pause in their steps.
     "Uh... Cassidy... it's not working."
     "Drowzee! Full power!"
     Drowzee complied and poured out more intense sleep waves. It 
began chanting its name more forcefully. "DROWZEE... DROWZEE... 
DROWZEE... DROWZEE..."
     However, Ranma and Raiden did not stop. Their battle auras were 
now a blue-white, making them appear as walking coronas. They 
showed no signs of being affected by Drowzee's attacks, and this 
made Team Rocket extremely worried.
     "I don't get it! It's not working!" Cassidy said with fear in her 
voice.
     When the two came within ten yards of them, Ranma nodded to 
his Pikachu and pointed to Butch and Cassidy. The little mouse 
understood his master's silent command and let loose with twin bolts 
of electricity at the duo.
     "Pika... CHU!"
     The two screamed out as they were hit by more than 40,000 volts. 
They slammed into the back wall and slid down to the floor.
     The Drowzee stopped in its hypnosis attack when its trainers were 
attacked. It simply stood motionless. Apparently, it had been trained 
too well and was momentarily at a loss without instructions. Ranma 
took this opportunity to rush as the Drowzee.
     "RAPIDASH RUN!"
     Cassidy was the first to recover as she saw Ranma charge at her 
Pokemon. Seeing that the Hypnosis Attack was now ineffective, she 
gave the order for it to launch a physical attack.
     "MEGA-PUNCH DROWZEE!"
     "Drow... erk!"
     Drowzee had just focused its energy and was about to launch its 
devastating attack, when Ranma, executing a flying kick, slammed it 
in the head. The Mega-Punch was a strong attack, but it suffered 
from two major drawbacks. First was the fact that it focused much 
energy into the punch, leaving very little for defense. Second, it took 
about two seconds to set it up. For a martial artist with Ranma's 
talents, that was 1.99 seconds too long. 
     Drowzee was sent flying and slammed into an empty cage. It slid 
down and was rendered unconscious. Not wanting to have to deal 
with it later, Ranma tossed one of his empty Pokeballs at it. 
"POKEBALL... GO!"
     The hypnotic Pokemon was captured inside the device, which 
returned to Ranma's hand.
     "Hey! That's our Drowzee!" Butch yelled.
     Ranma shrugged as he placed the Pokeball on his belt and smiled, 
saying nothing while crossing his arms.
     "VILEPLUME! STUN SPORE!" Cassidy yelled as she threw out another 
Pokeball. However, Raiden had caught the movement and gave the 
Pokemon a Thunderbolt just as it appeared.
     "Pika... CHU!"
     ZZZAPPPP!
     The Vileplume fell to the ground in a smoking heap. It was then 
that Team Rocket realized something as Ranma and his Pokemon 
began advancing them. They didn't have any more Pokemon to fight 
with. All the others in the storage facility were stolen and would not 
obey them.
     Ranma smiled as he saw the fear in their faces. These two were so 
used to letting their Pokemon fight for them, that they didn't have any 
combat skills of their own. Though he was taught never to pick on 
the weak, he was going to enjoy pounding these two for all the 
trouble they caused. As he and Raiden approached the two, he 
reached out and pulled out two small objects, dropping to the floor. 
Raiden did the same.
     Cassidy looked down and saw the objects. "Ear plugs?"
     Ranma smirked as he said, "You got it. Drowzee's Hypnosis Attack 
uses Sleep Waves, but it also uses its voice as a medium to carry 
those waves. I remembered that Drowzee kept on chanting its name 
when it used its attack. I also noticed that my battle aura helped me 
withstand Drowzee's attack. So I figured out that radiating ki 
interfered with the Sleep Waves and as long as we didn't hear 
Drowzee's voice, it didn't have any way to affect me or Raiden." He 
then looked down at his Pokemon. "Cassidy is yours but Butch is all 
mine!" 
     When the two villains realized that they were now at Ranma's 
mercy, Butch gulped and said, "Cassidy... I think we're in trouble."
     Ranma smiled as he cracked his knuckles. "You better believe 
you're in trouble!"
     "Pikachu!"
     "And Raiden says to make it double!"
     "Uh oh!" Butch and Cassidy gasped.
     Ranma smiled evilly. "To inflict Team rocket with massive 
devastation!"
     "Pika!"
     "To deal out pain without hesitation!"
     "Chu!"
     "To make the world safe for truth and love!"
     "Pika, pi!"
     "By knocking Team Rocket to the stars above!"
     "Pika pika!"
     "Ranma..."
     "Pikachu!'
     "... and Raiden. Just itching for a fight!"
     "Pikachu!'
     "Look out Team Rocket, 'CAUSE WE'RE GONNA PUNCH OUT YOUR LIGHTS!"
     "YIPE!!!"

One brief, but very, very, very, VERY violent scene later...
     Officer Jenny was closing the door to the paddy wagon, which 
had a bruised, battered, and barely conscious Butch and Cassidy 
inside. As it drove off to jail, the two moaned out together, "Looks 
like we're being carted off again."
     Cassidy's body was littered with bumps and bruises, courtesy of 
Raiden. Who would have thought that a Pikachu could hit so hard? 
Raiden had also added insult to injury, by using a Thunderbolt on 
her after pounding her into the floor of the storage area. Butch had 
received even rougher treatment from Ranma who had flattened him 
and bent his joints in new directions. 
     Ranma and Raiden smiled as they watched the duo being hauled 
off to jail. As the paddy wagon disappeared into the distance, Officer 
Jenny approached the two and held out her hand.
     "I'd like to thank you for helping us catch those Pokemon robbers 
and finding all the stolen Pokemon."
     Ranma warmly took her hand and shook it. "No problem. It was 
just lucky that those two were the same people you were looking 
for." 
     "By the way, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to ask you for Team 
Rocket's Drowzee. It is evidence you know."
     He then released her hand and reached down for the Pokeball that 
contained Drowzee. Gazing at it for a moment, he nodded while 
handing her the Pokeball. It wasn't his after all.
     Officer Jenny took it, then became thoughtful as she considered 
the handsome teenager before her. "Say... Ranma is it? Why don't 
you stay awhile? The police department could use someone like 
you."
     The pig-tailed martial artist and Pokemon trainer shook his head as 
he brought out Wildfire's Pokeball. "Nah. My Pokemon and me need 
to head to the Pewter City Gym for our next badge. Thanks for the 
offer though. Goodbye. Let's go, Wildfire!"
     The Pokeball opened up and released the fire-horse. As Wildfire 
reared back and neighed, Ranma leapt onto his back and grabbed 
onto the reins. Raiden hopped up onto Ranma's pack and the fiery 
steed began galloping away at a fast clip. Ranma waved back to 
Officer Jenny before he was out of sight of her and then urged his 
mount onward.
     About twenty or so miles beyond Viridian City, Ranma had 
decided to stop for the night and set up camp. As he had a fire going, 
he had decided to let Wind Rider out of his Pokeball. The Pigeotto 
was perched on a large rock beside Raiden, while Wildfire stood 
nearby. Ranma was tending to the fire and cooking their dinner in a 
pot. A few minutes later, the four of them were eating their dinner. For 
the time being, everything seemed right with the world.
     Back in Viridian City, in the home of Samantha Ryker, the gym 
leader in question was busy making preparations for a long journey 
as well. Her father entered her room, just as Sam closed up her pack.
     "Looks like you're all set Sam."
     The girl nodded as she turned to face Joe. "I'll be heading out first 
thing in the morning, Dad. Are you sure you can handle it while I'm 
gone?"
     "No problem. I've wanted to get out of retirement and I think this 
Pokemon journey is just what you need. You've been battling other 
trainers nonstop ever since we got the gym."
     "It's not just that, Dad." Sam blushed a bit, which her father 
caught.
     "Oh I see. I had a suspicion that you had another reason for 
wanting to go on a Pokemon journey."
     "It's not THAT, Dad! I just want to know how Ranma trained his 
Pokemon, that's all."
     "If you say so, Sam." Joe didn't buy it for a minute. He had 
noticed how his daughter looked at Ranma and he couldn't be 
happier. She had even admitted to him that he was cute, after a lot of 
nudging. Sam had become so serious while being the gym leader and 
Ranma may just what she needed to lighten up. "I'll take care of the 
gym while you're gone. Be sure to write whenever you can."
     "I will, Dad."

To be continued...

Author's notes
     Well, that takes care of chapter seven. For those of you who think 
that Ranma should have kept the Drowzee, well I do have some plans 
for Ranma to get a psychic-type Pokemon in the near future, so don't 
worry. I just couldn't resist Ranma's own version of the Team Rocket 
motto as I felt that Butch and Cassidy was long overdue for some 
punishment.


