Fist of the Pikachu

Disclaimer: Rumiko Takshashi. Owners of Pokemon. My fanfics. I 
think you can dope out the rest. 

< >: Thoughts
* *: Pokedex responses

                           Chapter 9
                        Ranma Vs Jeanette

     In the main headquarters of Team Rocket, the big boss of that 
organization was giving new instructions to two members.
     "All right you two, you've seen the footage that Butch and 
Cassidy sent from Viridian City. You know who your target is and 
what he looks like. According to our spies, this Ranma Saotome is 
heading toward Vermillion City. He's probably going there to win a 
Thunder Badge. I want the two of you to intercept him and bring him 
and his Pokemon back to headquarters. I want them alive, 
understand?"
     "Yes, boss!" The two members replied.
     "Remember." Giovanni continued. "His Pokemon possess some 
strange attacks and we're not too sure about that trainer either. I'd 
ask Butch and Cassidy, but they're in jail and it would be too 
suspicious to bail them out again."
     "Don't worry, boss." One member said.
     "We can handle it." The other agreed.
     Meanwhile, somewhere near the road to Vermillion City, Ranma-
chan was currently in her female form and was watching her Pikachu 
explain about the curse to the newest member of their group.
     "Pikachu. Pi."
     "Slash?"
     "Pika pi pi."
     "Slash? Slash slash slash?"
     "Pikachu. Pika." Raiden gestured to the fire where a pot of water 
was being heated. Ranma-chan went over to it, used a tin cup to get 
some water, and poured it over her head. When she became a he, he 
then put his Water Stone pendant back on and turned to face Razor.
     "Slash? Slash slash!"
     "Pika! Pikachu!" Raiden waved a paw to calm down the evolved 
form of Sandshrew and then said in a cheery tone. "Pika! Pi. Pika pika 
pikachu!"
     "Slash?" Razor looked up at Ranma, who smiled at the confused 
look that his clawed Pokemon had. 
     "It doesn't matter what I look like on the outside. I'm still Ranma. It 
just happens and it's nothing to really get excited about, right? We 
just thought that you should know about me, if you really want to go 
with us. You still want to come with us, right?"
     The Sandslash considered Ranma for a moment, then shrugged 
and said in a happy tone. "Slash!" He then trotted over to Ranma's 
leg and nuzzled it with his nose.
     Ranma smiled as he patted Razor's head. 
     It had been ten days since the Sandslash had joined them, and 
Ranma had wasted no time in putting him through the same training 
regimen as his other Pokemon. He also found it challenging to spar 
with Razor as his sharp claws and quills gave the matches a little 
added danger. Though he wasn't as agile as Raiden, Razor made up 
for it in strength and toughness. 
     Ranma had also begun to teach his newest Pokemon about ki. It 
would be a while before he would be able to project it, but Razor had 
no problems in using it to enhance his physical abilities. Already 
Razor's claw techniques were improved and dealt out more damage. 
Razor could dig through the ground at a much faster rate and could 
even cause small, seismic tremors. Tackle attacks became more 
potent, especially when he curled up in a ball and used those quills, 
looking like a spinning buzzsaw. It seemed that Razor would fit in 
quite nicely. Though he was still a bit picky as to what he ate. Ranma 
was working on that, by teaching Razor the Anything Goes method 
of inhaling food.
     For Ranma, he began developing slash attacks by mimicking his 
Sandslash's movements. He thought it would be much better than 
having to resort to the potent, yet unstable Cat Fist. By using the 
side of the hand and focusing his ki into it, Ranma could chop 
through things with surprising ease. Unlike the Stonebreaker Fist, the 
new Slash Cutter could slice with more accuracy. In short, it became a 
far more effective Karate Chop and Knife Hand Thrust. 

Another week later...
     Sam was flabbergasted as she saw the ruins of the Vermillion City 
Gym. The whole place had been demolished. In the center of the 
rubble, Lt. Surge, the gym leader was cradling his Raichu in his arms 
and wrapping some bandages. Surrounding him were several other 
trainers, who were all wearing shocked expressions.
     "Excuse me? Are you Lt. Surge, the gym leader?"
     The large man looked down at the girl and nodded. "Yeah, that's 
me. Are you here for a match?"
     "No, I'm a gym leader from Viridian City. I was wondering if you 
happened to have met a trainer by the name of Ranma Saotome? He's 
about this tall, has a pigtail and... okay, he's cute. He has a Pikachu 
with a white headband." Sam gestured with her hands.
     "Met him? He came here and challenged me for a Thunder Badge." 
Surge replied.
     "Then he's here?" Sam asked with a bit of excitement.
     "He was. He just left about a half-hour ago. I thought he was a 
beginner, but his Pokemon battled like I've never seen before. My 
Raichu didn't stand a chance." Surge gestured down at his Pokemon, 
which had several cuts and bruises and was moaning a bit.
     "Rai... chu." The evolved form of a Pikachu was pretty dazed from 
its battle.
     "If you'll excuse me, I have to get my Raichu to the Pokemon 
center." He nodded to Sam and then headed off.
     Sam decided to get the details from the other trainers who had 
witnessed the match. "So what happened?"
     A boy who was wearing punk clothes replied, "Well, it was just 
after Surge beat his third challenger when this Ranma guy showed 
up..."

Flashback...
     "Hey, are you the gym leader?" Ranma asked.
     "That's me. I'm Lt. Surge. You here for a Thunder Badge?"
     "You bet!" Ranma nodded as he looked at the Raichu at Surge's 
feet. He took out his Pokedex and aimed it at the electric mouse.
     *RAICHU, A MOUSE POKEMON OF THE ELECTRIC TYPE. RAICHU IS 
THE EVOLVED FORM OF THE PIKACHU. A THUNDERSTONE IS NEEDED TO 
EVOLVE IT. IT CAN SHOCK WITH MORE THAN ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND 
VOLTS, ENOUGH TO RENDER A DRAGONITE UNCONSCIOUS.*
     "Pika!" Raiden stepped forward. He was more than ready to show 
the evolved rodent just how strong he was.
     "Looks like your Pikachu wants to battle." Surge commented as he 
regarded Ranma's Pokemon. In the past, Surge would have dismissed 
the unevolved electric mouse as too weak. He had to reevaluate that 
opinion when he met up with Ash Ketchum a year ago. His Pikachu 
had demonstrated the serious flaw in evolving his Pokemon too fast. 
Raichu had never learned the speed attacks that the Pikachu stage 
offered and was too slow to keep up with a faster opponent. After 
that defeat, Surge had decided to retrain Raichu and helped increase 
its speed and stamina. Raichu still wasn't as agile as a Pikachu, but it 
could last longer and did not expend its electricity too quickly.
     Ranma smiled down at Raiden and bent down to pat him on the 
head. "Sorry Raiden. I know how much you'd like to show Raichu 
how strong you are, but you've really got to give the others a chance. 
I'd say that it's time to put Razor's training to the test."
     "Pika!" Raiden shook his head. He wanted to battle. However, he 
saw the look in Ranma's face. The decision was final. With a resigned 
sigh, Raiden nodded and stepped back.
     "You're not going to use your Pikachu?" Surge was a bit 
surprised. He wanted to see if Raichu's training was effective against 
a Pikachu. 
     "Nope. I'm going to use this Pokemon. Let's go Razor!"
     The Pokeball opened up and the evolved form a Sandshrew 
appeared.
     "Slash!"
     Lt. Surge looked down at the Sandslash and shrugged. Raichu 
could handle it, no problem. Sandslash were not as fast and lacked 
long-distance attacks. One Thunderbolt attack would be all that 
would be needed. "Okay pal, if that's what you want."
     A minute later, the two Pokemon were facing off against each 
other. An announcer began introducing the combatants.
     "In this corner, we have Lt. Surge and his Raichu. In the other 
corner is the challenger with a Sandslash."
     "You ready?" The gym leader called out.
     "Whenever you are." Ranma replied as he watched Razor begin 
powering up his aura.
     Surge wasted no time, though he was mystified at the faint blue 
light that surrounded Razor. "RAICHU, THUNDERBOLT!"
     "Raichu!" The electric rodent powered up its electric sacs and 
then let loose with a huge blast of lightning that streaked toward 
Razor. 
     The Sandslash however, needed no instruction from Ranma, as he 
suddenly dived underground and began digging toward his 
opponent. The electricity passed harmlessly above him. The floor of 
the gym rumbled a bit and Raichu was caught off balance from the 
sudden shaking. A line of cracks appeared and headed toward 
Raichu. Then suddenly, the ground where it was standing exploded 
and Raichu was sent flying upwards. Razor erupted from the ground 
and shot up into the air after his adversary.
     "RAZOR, ANYTHING GOES!"
     "Slash!" The Sandslash seemed to defy gravity as it began raining 
kicks and slashes at Raichu. The electric mouse had never 
experienced being physically beaten in the air and was caught totally 
off guard. Ranma smiled with pride as he saw his Pokemon 
demonstrate the Saotome specialty of midair combat. A final 
downward punch and Raichu was sent hurtling back down toward 
the floor. As Surge's Pokemon landed with athump, Razor landed a 
few meters away in a ready stance and waited for the next command.
     "Huh? Since when could Sandslash do air attacks?!" Surge 
exclaimed as he watched Raichu painfully pick itself off the ground.
     Ranma shrugged as he said, "Since when is there a rule that says 
that they can't?"
     Surge quickly got over his surprise and then gave another 
command to Raichu. "Okay Raichu, if he wants to play hardball then 
give him a taste of your Mega-Punch!"
     "Raichu!" The electric mouse rushed toward its opponent while 
cocking back a paw, which began to glow. 
     Razor however, was not impressed. Like Ranma, the Sandslash had 
been trained in the fundamentals of the Anything Goes Martial Arts. 
Speed was the key. Razor was already ducking down and slamming 
into Raichu's belly, just as it was bringing its paw forward. The 
energy of the Mega-Punch was wasted as Raichu was sent 
staggering back. 
     Surge had considered a body slam attack, but the quills on Razor's 
back made that idea unworkable. Before he could decide on a course 
of action, he was distracted from a sudden flare of light. His eyes 
widened as he saw the Sandslash glow with an intense light.
     "BUZZSAW BARRAGE!"
     "Slash!" Razor charged at his opponent and then curled up into a 
ball, extending his quills and spinning furiously. He began cutting up 
the floor like a circular saw and chips of wood and concrete went 
flying everywhere. Raichu just barely managed to evade the sharp 
quills of the Sandslash as it leapt out of Razor's path. 
     Surge saw an opening. "THUNDERSHOCK!"
     Raichu powered up and let loose with a sizzling bolt. The lightning 
hit Razor's spinning form dead on, and Surge thought he had won. 
However, to everyone's surprise, the lightning was harmlessly 
scattered and Razor made a U-turn and came charging back at Raichu. 
     "Rai!" The electric mouse yelped a bit as it was nicked in the side 
as Razor spun past it.
     Razor stopped rolling and then faced off against Raichu, who was 
now just barely standing. Behind him, Ranma nodded. When he had 
taught Razor to use its ki to power the Buzzsaw Barrage, he had also 
noticed that the Sandslash had built up a kind of field around it while 
spinning, thereby diluting the effect of energy attacks against it. 
Razor now stood poised to finish off its opponent.
     Surge became desperate and decided that Raichu needed to go all 
out. 
     "RAICHU! THUNDER WAVE, FULL POWER!"
     Raichu let loose with a huge blast of electricity, using up all of its 
reserves. Razor curled up into a ball and hunched down on the floor. 
It began focusing its battle aura to maximum to reflect off as much of 
the electrical attack as possible. After training with Raiden, the 
Sandslash had learned the value of ki and its ability to take the brunt 
of an attack.
     An entire wall was blown out as Raichu's electric assault blasted 
away at Razor. The Sandslash shuddered under the attack, but did 
not waver. Surge and all the other spectators had to take cover as 
debris went flying everywhere. Ranma however, didn't budge as he 
simply powered up his battle aura to absorb some of the blast and 
deflect the rest. After all this time with Raiden, he was quite used to 
high amounts of electrical power. Raiden did the same an absorbed 
just about all the voltage that hit him. A few moments later, the 
electrical storm was over and Surge smiled.
     "Well, that's the end of the match. Huh?" It was then that he 
noticed something. Razor was still standing. So were Ranma and 
Raiden. More than a hundred thousand volts had been used against 
the Sandslash and all it did was slightly singe a few of his quills. 
Razor began focusing his energy for his final attack.
     Ranma smiled as he gave the order. "RAZOR, POWER SLASH!"
     Razor nodded as he crossed his front paws together and then 
brought them down in diagonal arcs. Twin crescent-shaped ki blasts 
shot forward in an X and collided with Raichu, who was too tired 
from releasing so much electricity to dodge. Raichu let off a yelp of 
pain as the energy exploded against it and drove it backwards. The 
electric rodent landed on its back and was out cold.
     Surge's jaw dropped to the floor.
End of Flashback...

     "I just couldn't believe it." The boy finished. "I thought for sure 
that Raichu could beat Sandslash. Then again, I never knew that a 
Sandslash could do those attacks."
     <From what happened to me, I'm not surprised.> Sam thought. If 
there was one thing she knew about Ranma, it was that he was no 
ordinary trainer. <So now he's got a Sandslash. That's interesting. I 
still want to know just how he taught those Pokemon those new 
attacks.>
     Sam filed away this information as she pondered what to do next. 
She once again missed him and it was getting to be a real pain to 
track him down. If only he would just stay in one place for a while.
     Meanwhile, two other people had become frustrated at not being 
able to catch Ranma. They had just arrived in Vermillion City at the 
same time Sam did and were very annoyed at having missed their 
target. They did find out where he was headed, when they 
questioned a few of the locals who had seen him leave. Apparently, 
he was on his way to Saffron City for a Marsh Badge.
     Somewhere along the road to Saffron City, Ranma had decided to 
stop for the night and give his Pokemon a chance to rest. He also 
wanted to congratulate the newest member of their group as well as 
make up with his Pikachu.
     "Aw, c'mon Raiden. You're still not sore at me for letting 
Sandslash fight that Raichu instead of you, are you?"
     "Pika." Raiden shook his head, but still didn't look at his trainer. 
The electric mouse wasn't really holding a grudge, but he had so 
wanted to show up the evolved form of its kind.
     "Hey c'mon now, Raiden, you're my best friend. All of you are my 
best friends." He waved a hand toward his other Pokemon, who were 
currently eating dinner. "Besides, even though Razor did a great job, 
he has you to thank for that win."
     "Pikachu?" Raiden looked up at Ranma as Razor trotted over to 
where they were.
     "Slash!" Razor nodded in agreement.
     Ranma also nodded. "I don't remember teaching Razor that Super 
Reflect maneuver when Raichu used its Thunder Wave attack, so I'm 
guessing you must have taught him that one. I'd say that Razor 
learned a lot from sparring with you."
     "Slash! Slash!" Razor replied in a happy tone as he held out a paw 
toward the electric mouse. 
     Raiden's expression went from slightly irritated to a more relaxed 
manner as he gazed at the offered paw.
     Ranma smiled as he said, "Raiden, I promise that there will be a lot 
more battles for you, so don't worry about it. However, you do have 
to give the others a chance to test their skills too. Now you and Razor 
are going to be working together so it'll be good that you two get 
along, okay? We're all friends, right?"
     Raiden looked at the sincere expression of the Sandslash and then 
nodded, a smile coming to his face. He then shook paws with his 
fellow mouse as Ranma looked on. The martial artist smiled even 
wider. Things seemed to be going their way.

Two days later...
     Wildfire whinnied as he came to the outskirts of a city. Ranma 
looked a bit confused as he unfolded his map. Raiden looked over his 
shoulder.
     "Pikachu?"
     "Whoops! Looks like we took a wrong turn somewhere. This isn't 
Saffron City." It was then that he looked up at the sign and read the 
name of place. "Crimson City?" He then looked back down at the map 
and grimaced. "Aw, nuts! We took the wrong exit down the highway! 
We missed the exit to Saffron City." Ranma frowned as he saw that 
they were at least a hundred miles off course. While blazing down the 
highway at a speed of 180 mph, Ranma had a hard time reading the 
road signs as they zipped by. Wildfire's endurance had increased 
dramatically since Ranma had started training him and he could 
maintain high velocities for hours now.
     The Pokemon trainer considered his options and then decided to 
stay for a day a two. He needed to stock up on supplies anyway and 
this was as good a place as any. He decided to recall Wildfire into his 
Pokeball to rest and then, he and Raiden headed into the city.
     As he entered, he was very surprised to see the similarities 
between Crimson City and a city in Japan. He could almost swear that 
he was in Tokyo. The people who were on the streets looked of 
Asian descent and the buildings had signs posted in Japanese as 
well as English. He could see public bathhouses, Japanese-style 
apartment complexes and other structures that reminded him of his 
home world. He could see street vendors and restaurants selling 
various items like sushi, rice plates, ramen and such. Ranma began to 
feel more at home as he took in the sights, sounds and smells of this 
place. He became really excited when he caught a whiff of a familiar 
and delicious scent.
     "Aw man! If I didn't know better, I'd swear that was..." Ranma 
took in a deep breath, then looked in a certain direction. "All right! It 
is! It's okonomiyaki!" He began running toward a restaurant that 
advertised a special okonomiyaki platter.
     Raiden wondered why his trainer was so excited, then he sniffed 
the air and smelled the smell of Japanese-style pizza and his stomach 
growled. The electric rodent followed Ranma into the restaurant.
     Half an hour later, in the city's park, Ranma was rubbing his full 
belly and leaned back into the bench. Beside him were his Pokemon 
as they enjoyed the takeout okonomiyaki that Ranma had gotten for 
them. Since the area where he was sitting was relatively empty at the 
time, not too many people noticed the young trainer and his 
Pokemon.
     "Pika!" The Pikachu had never tasted anything quite like it, but the 
vegetarian okonomiyaki certainly agreed with Raiden. The others 
were also finding the Japanese cuisine to be very satisfying. The 
food even met with Razor's approval.
     "Mmmm, now that hit the spot!" Ranma smiled. "The restaurant 
makes a pretty good okonomiyaki." He then thought back to the 
good old days with his childhood friend Ukyo.< Of course, nobody 
could make okonomiyaki like Ucchan and his dad!> The pigtailed 
martial artist sighed as he remembered how sad he was when he had 
to have left him. <I never figured out why we had Ucchan's cart 
though...>
     Ranma shrugged as he watched the sun begin to set toward the 
horizon. After waiting for his Pokemon to finish dinner, he then got 
up and recalled his Pokemon back into their Pokeballs, before 
heading towards the city's Pokemon Center. As he walked through 
the park with Raiden on his shoulder, he then noticed a large crowd 
had gathered near the park fountain. Wondering what was going on, 
he decided to investigate.
     It turned out to be a Pokemon battle involving a young girl in a 
kimono, and her opponent, a teenage boy dressed in samurai garb 
with a Marowak. What was the most surprising thing about this girl 
was that she was using a Bellsprout to battle the bone Pokemon.
     *MAROWAK, THE BONE POKEMON. THE EVOLVED FORM OF CUBONE. 
MAROWAK'S BONE CLUB ATTACKS ARE VERY STRONG AND CAN 
THROW IT LIKE A BOOMERANG.*
     Ranma then turned his Pokedex toward the Bellsprout.
     *BELLSPROUT, A PLANT POKEMON OF THE POISON TYPE. IT OFTEN USES 
GROWTH TO POWER UP ITS SPECIAL ATTACKS. DESPITE ITS FRAIL 
APPEARANCE, BELLSPROUT CAN BE VERY STONG IN BATTLE.* 
     Jeanette Fisher smiled as she watched her Bellsprout evade that 
bone club attacks of its opponent, a Marowak. The trainer of the 
Marowak was getting frustrated as his Pokemon had yet to score a 
single hit on the seemingly absurd plant. He then cried out in shock 
as the Bellsprout suddenly used its leaf arms to grab hold of 
Marowak and toss him over in a shoulder throw. Marowak slammed 
headfirst into the ground and was then repeatedly slammed again and 
again. The plant Pokemon then put Marowak into an airplane spin 
and tossed it into the fountain with a huge splash.
     "Marowak!" The boy rushed over to where his Marowak was and 
fished him out. As he cradled his Pokemon, he looked back at the girl 
who was wearing a smug smile.
     "Don't underestimate your opponent just because he doesn't look 
strong Atoshi. Looks I win again." Jeanette said.
     Atoshi was very annoyed at her attitude, but he had to respect her 
for training a Bellsprout to fight like that. He gave her a nod and said, 
"For today, the battle is yours. But Marowak and I will be back to 
challenge you again. We will win next time!"
     "I look forward to it." Jeanette replied as she watched her 
opponent leave with his Pokemon. The crowd gave her and 
Bellsprout a round of applause as the fight was concluded. 
     Ranma nodded. He had recognized the maneuvers that Bellsprout 
had used. The plant Pokemon had used a modified Akido fighting 
style, which turned its opponent's size and strength against it. As 
Ranma thought about it, the more it made sense for Bellsprout to use. 
Since Bellsprout lacked size and overall hitting power, it was better 
off letting its opponents attack and then use the energy against them.
     <Not bad! Looks like I'm not the only one who teaches Pokemon 
how to use martial arts. I wonder if she's any good in the martial arts? 
She is cute.> Ranma couldn't help but notice how pretty the girl was 
with her long violet hair, which was done up in a geisha style with 
two long tresses moved forward. She had her hair tied up in a yellow 
bow and wore a light red kimono. She looked to be about a year 
younger than he was. It was then that he realized that he had been 
staring too long as Jeanette started walking toward him.
     "So did you enjoy the match?" Jeanette asked.
     Ranma was jolted back to reality as he stuttered a bit in answering 
her. "Uh, yes! That was impressive. That was Akido, right?"
     "That's right." Jeanette nodded as she assessed Ranma. "My 
name is Jeanette Fisher. So, are you interested in a match? After 
competing in the Indigo League, my Pokemon need to train so we can 
be ready for next year. I was about to set out on a Pokemon journey, 
but I thought to get in a few matches for practice."
     "Pikachu!" 
     Ranma smirked as he looked on his shoulder. "Well, it looks like 
Raiden here would like to try his luck against your Bellsprout."
     Jeanette gave Raiden a sweet smile as she replied, "All right. But I 
have to warn you, I doubt any of your Pikachu's attacks will be 
effective against my Bellsprout."
     Raiden became a bit put off by the comment, but Ranma gave an 
off-handed wave and replied with a smirk, "Thanks for the warning, 
but I think we can still give you a good match." He then glanced at 
the Pikachu on his shoulder and winked at him. "Right Raiden?"
     Raiden returned the wink and then leapt down to face off against 
Bellsprout. The crowd waited in anticipation for the two Pokemon to 
battle.
     "Ready, Raiden?"
     "Pikachu!" Raiden powered up his electric sacs.
     "That won't work." Jeanette stated. This was exactly what Ash 
Ketchum's Pikachu had tried in the Indigo League.
     "Pika... CHU!" The Pikachu let loose with a sizzling bolt of 
electricity at the plant, which struck Bellsprout dead on. However, 
when the blast ended, Bellsprout was still standing.
     Jeanette giggled as she said, "Bellsprout's roots act as grounding 
elements and disperse electricity into the ground. There's no way 
your electric rodent can shock it." She then turned to her Pokmon. 
"BELLSPROUT! RAZOR LEAF!"
     The plant Pokemon swung its leaf arms in an arc and the two 
leaves shot forward like deadly shuriken. Raiden nimbly ducked 
under the two leaves, which spun past him. The crowd parted behind 
him to avoid being sliced. The leaves cut into a steel lamppost, 
causing it to topple over. It was then that Raiden rushed forward and 
began delivering punches and kicks at the Bellsprout. As what had 
happened in the Indigo League, Bellsprout weaved and swayed to 
avoid each of Raiden's strikes. 
     Jeanette became smug as she watched the Pikachu fail to hit his 
opponent. She then decided to end the match by nodding to her 
Bellsprout to deliver the final blow. As if history was repeating itself, 
Bellsprout lifted one of its root legs and swung it toward Raiden's 
head. She was about to shout out in victory when the unthinkable 
happened, causing her to gasp in shock.
     "Bell... sprout?" 
     Ranma smirked.
     There was Bellsprout standing on one leg while its other leg was 
being held captive in Raiden's paws. The electric rodent grinned 
evilly and then used leverage to pull Bellsprout off the ground and 
slam it to the ground.
     "Pika! Pika! Pika!"
     WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!
     Jeanette watched in disbelief as he Bellsprout was flipped like a 
flapjack. She then looked up at Ranma with confusion as her 
Pokemon was continually slammed to the ground.
     Ranma shrugged as he said, "Oh, I forgot to mention. Raiden also 
knows how to do Akido. By the way, your Bellsprout's fighting style 
is impressive, but it does have one fatal flaw." He gestured to Raiden. 
"RAIDEN! ANYTHING GOES!"
     Raiden was still holding onto Bellsprout's root when he put the 
plant into an airplane spin and sent it flying high into the air. The 
plant Pokemon was still dazed from its beating when Raiden leapt up 
thirty feet and demonstrated the specialty of the Saotome School of 
the Anything Goes Martial Arts. Raiden seemed to defy gravity as he 
let loose with a torrent of punches and kicks at Bellsprout. The plant 
was pounded mercilessly as its Akido training was made useless. 
With no leverage to use its throwing techniques, not to mention 
being tossed about in midair like a leaf in a storm, Jeanette's Pokemon 
didn't stand a chance.
     Jeanette was still shocked as she saw her Bellsprout land 
unconscious onto the ground. Ranma's Pikachu landed on its feet 
and raised a paw in victory. The crowd were silent for a few moments, 
then gave off a loud cheer.
     "Pikachu!" The electric mouse then bowed respectfully to his 
downed opponent, before returning to his master's side.
     "H-H-How did you...?" Jeanette was flabbergasted.
     Ranma smirked as he said, "Akido works best when you happen to 
have both feet, or roots on the ground. But in the air, it's almost 
useless. Midair combat happens to be one of Raiden's specialties."
     "Pika!" Raiden affirmed.
     Ranma nodded as he walked away from Jeanette with a wave and a 
smile. "We had a good match. See ya around." Without another 
word, Ranma went off to find the Pokemon center to get some rest 
and have his Pokemon treated.
     Jeanette ran up to her fallen Bellsprout and was relieved to see 
that her Pokemon was all right and would eventually recover. As she 
cradled it in her arms, she looked at the retreating figure of Ranma 
and began to wonder about him. This bore looking into.

Meanwhile, somewhere near the outskirts of Saffron City...
     "He's not here, boss!" One of the members of the new Team 
Rocket remarked into his communicator.
     "Well if he's not there, then he's not heading your way." Giovanni 
replied as he spoke from the console in his private office. "There were 
sightings of a Rapidash and his rider heading down Highway 48, but 
our spies lost sight of him when he hit the turnpike. We don't know 
where he is now."
     "So now what boss?" The other member asked.
     "There isn't anything we can do but keep an eye out for him. For 
the moment, I'm putting you two on another assignment. You two are 
to head for Crimson City and steal all the fighting-type Pokemon at 
the gym. They happen to have very strong Machop that we can 
use."
     "Right boss!" Both signed off as they left.

     The very next day, Ranma had decided to tour Crimson City before 
setting out toward Saffron City. As he made his way toward the 
center of the metropolitan areas, he came across a building that was 
in fact... a dojo! He looked up and read the sign.
     "Crimson City Pokemon Gym and Dojo. See gym leader Zora for a 
Rising Sun Badge and martial arts lessons. This is great!"
     "Pika?" Raiden asked.
     "We can get a badge and I can get some good practice at the same 
time!" Ranma was ecstatic at finally getting a chance to go up against 
the martial artists of this world. Sparring with his Pokemon was good 
training, but he really wanted to test his skills against real martial 
artists. Beating up Team Rocket had been fun, but that didn't count 
as martial arts training. Without hesitation, Ranma entered the 
building with Raiden following close behind.
     He found himself in a large open area and saw that a practice 
match was going on. A crowd of students was sitting in a circle 
around a large mat. In the center of the circle, two students, both 
dressed in white practice gi, were going at each other as their head 
instructor watched on from the sidelines. The woman was tall and 
looked to be in her mid-thirties. Ranma could tell that she had 
considerable skill in the martial arts, judging by her stance. She had 
very pleasant features and had violet hair tied up in a bun. He could 
also see that several of the students had their Pokemon with them. 
Several Pokemon in particular caught his attention. They were 
standing right beside the instructor and watching the match.
     *MACHOP, A FIGHTING-TYPE POKEMON. ITS BODY IS MADE OF PURE 
MUSCLE AND ITS SPECIAL ATTACK IS THE SEISMIC TOSS. THEY ARE 
EXTREMELY AGILE AND CAN DODGE SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED ATTACKS. 
MACHOP ARE WELL-KNOWN FOR THEIR MASTERY IN THE MARTIAL 
ARTS AND ARE OFTEN USED FOR TO HELP INSTRUCTORS TRAIN THEIR 
STUDENTS.*
     The pigtailed martial artist smiled at the thought of having such a 
Pokemon to spar with. Ranma watched with interest as the two 
students sparred with one another. His eyes widened as he saw that 
one of the combatants was Jeanette! He became very fascinated as 
the girl danced around her opponent, then grabbed him by the front 
of his gi. With a fluid motion, she tossed him over her shoulder and 
the boy made an audible splat when he hit the mat on his back.
     "Ooooh! I'm done." The boy moaned.
     The other students, the Machop and their instructor began 
applauding as Jeanette bowed to her fallen opponent. As the boy 
was being carried off by two of his friends, she then looked up and 
saw Ranma standing near the entrance. She turned to the instructor 
and said in an excited voice.
     "Mother! It's him!"
     The woman looked down at her daughter with a stern look. 
"Jeanette! How many times have I have told you to call me sensei 
while training?"
     Jeanette nodded as she replied in more respectful tone. "Forgive 
me sensei, but that boy over there." The girl pointed to Ranma. "He's 
the one I told you about yesterday."
     Everyone looked in the direction that she was gesturing and 
Ranma timidly held up a hand. "Er... hi there. I'm looking for Zora."
     The woman nodded as she walked up to Ranma and smiled. "I am 
Zora Fisher, the martial arts instructor and Pokemon gym leader. Are 
you here to challenge for a Rising Sun Badge or do you wish to sign 
op for martial arts training?"
     "Well, actually I would like to do both. I'm Ranma Saotome" 
Ranma was a little distracted at the fact that the gym leader was a 
woman, but he fought down the urge to say that he didn't fight 
females. After all this time, Ranma had developed a little more tact. 
"I'd like to battle for a badge and maybe spar a bit with your 
students."
     "Hmmm..." Zora looked at the boy before her and assessed him. 
Judging by his well-toned musculature and his casual, yet ready 
stance, she could tell that he was no slouch in the fighting arts. 
According to what her daughter had told her about him, he would 
have to be knowledgeable in unarmed combat to have taught his 
Pikachu to counter her Bellsprout's attacks. The fact that he was very 
handsome didn't hurt either. <I just may have found someone for 
Jeanette! Interesting...> "My daughter has told me of how you had 
defeated her Bellsprout with a Pikachu. You must be very skilled to 
have taught it to defend against Bellsprout's Akido."
     Ranma blushed a bit at the praise, then felt his pride rising. "Well, I 
don't want to brag but I am pretty good." Ranma began to get 
uncomfortable under her appraising stare and quickly changed the 
subject. "So how about that match?"
     "Very well. I would very much like to see your skills as a Pokemon 
trainer and martial artist." She gestured to her students to the sides. 
The young boys and girls went off to take a seat along the walls of 
the dojo Her daughter went off to one end, and was joined by her 
mother shortly after. Ranma went to the opposite corner.
     "We shall have a two-on-two battle, young man. In the Crimson 
City Gym and Dojo, we pride ourselves on the strength of the trainers 
as well as their Pokemon. Not only do you need to defeat my 
strongest Pokemon, but also my strongest student. Are you ready?"
     Ranma nodded, as he stood ready with his Pikachu.
     "Jeanette!" Zora gestured to her daughter who stepped forward 
and took a stance.
     "I'm supposed to fight... her?" Once again, Ranma's uneasiness 
against fighting girls came back to him.
     "What's the matter? Afraid that you'll lose to a girl?" Jeanette 
sneered as she went into a series of graceful high kicks and spins.
     "Well..." Ranma was a bit of a loss at he tried to think up a way to 
say that he didn't fight girls. Unfortunately, his hesitation was seen 
as a sign of cowardice.
     "You are the one who issued the challenge, Ranma Saotome. Now, 
will you fight her, or will you admit defeat?"
     Ranma winced then nodded reluctantly. If he wanted a Rising Sun 
Badge, then he would have to comply. Besides, Ranma never backed 
down from anything, and he wasn't going to start now. He still had a 
sense of pride and his honor to uphold. With a tired sigh, he 
gestured to his Pikachu to stay back as he stepped forward and 
assumed a stance. 
     The two faced each other off and waited.
     "Begin!"
     Instantly, Jeanette went into a barrage of fast punches, followed 
by a low sweep kick. Ranma easily evaded the attacks as he began 
assessing his opponent's skill level. He saw that Jeanette was a very 
intense fighter and seemed to be proficient in several styles. She had 
nowhere near the speed, skill or agility that he had, but she did not 
telegraph her moves, and seemed to have better than average 
endurance. Ranma couldn't bring himself to counter her attacks and 
continued to just dodge.
     "What are you doing? Don't just keep dodging! Attack me!" 
Jeanette was getting annoyed at how Ranma was casually evading 
each of her moves. She tried a straight punch to the face, but Ranma 
made a light hop over it and seemed to hang in the air for a few 
seconds. He extended a finger and pointed at her forehead.
     "Are you sure you want me to attack?"
     Jeanette's eyes crossed for a moment at the finger, before he 
returned to the ground. Irritated that Ranma could get so easily 
within her defense, she then grabbed the front of his shirt and tried to 
throw him over her shoulder in a judo toss.
     Unfortunately for her, Ranma had let her grab his shirt as he 
reversed the throw and Jeanette found herself flying through the air. 
She landed on her rear with a thump. A moment later, she rubbed her 
sore posterior and got up to face against Ranma again. She charged 
at him and began throwing more punches and kicks, but he once 
again evaded them all. By now, Jeanette was getting steamed.
     On the sidelines, Zora shook her head as she saw that her 
daughter was losing her patience. On the other hand, Ranma was 
showing exceptional skill and control as he continued to evade 
Jeanette's blows. She then saw that Jeanette was going to try for a 
suicidal lunge.
     "AAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Bellsprout's trainer flew forward with a 
straight punch, but Ranma simply jumped over the fist and her, made 
a simple flip and was behind her. He then extended a finger and gave 
the back of her head a gentle nudge.
     "Stop!" 
     Jeanette whirled around to attack Ranma again, but halted when 
she heard her mother's voice. She looked over to Zora, who gave her 
a serious expression and a nod. She was a little confused but then 
realized that Ranma had won the match. She reluctantly took a neutral 
stance and bowed to her opponent. When she looked up at him 
again, he was giving her a friendly smile.
     "That was a good match. You're not half-bad." He then let off a 
small chuckle.
     Jeanette was still a bit irritated but had to admit that he was better 
than she was. He could have easily have knocked her out instead of 
just tapping her head with his index finger. She continued to look at 
him and soon his laughter became contagious. She was soon 
chuckling along with him.
     Ranma couldn't help but notice that she looked really cute when 
she was laughing.
     A few minutes later, Ranma was again facing off against Zora as 
she and Jeanette stood at the other end of the dojo. 
     "I must say, that was quite impressive, Ranma Saotome. You are 
indeed an exceptional martial artist. Now let us see if you are just as 
good in training Pokemon. Machop, I choose you!" She gestured to 
the Pokemon that was out in front group.
     The fighting Pokemon stepped up, took a battle stance and waited.
     Ranma looked down at Raiden and gave him the go ahead. 
     "Pika!" Raiden stepped forward and assumed a stance. 
     "MACHOP! MEGA-KICK!"
     "Machop!" The fighting Pokemon charged at the yellow rodent 
and went into a flying kick. 
     Raiden leapt up to evade the attack. Machop's foot plowed into 
the floor. As he was still airborne, the Pikachu let loose with an 
electric bolt. However, just as the bolt reached Machop, it easily 
sidestepped the lightning, which passed by harmlessly.
     Ranma's eyes narrowed as he saw Raiden's attack miss. 
Apparently Machop had exceptional reflexes. Raiden then tried 
several shock attacks in a row, and every one of them was skillfully 
evaded.
     Zora smiled as she said, "Your Pikachu can't shock my Machop. I 
have trained him to anticipate his enemy's attacks and he can dodge 
just about anything that is thrown at him. MACHOP, ATTACK!" 
     The Machop charged in and started giving high-impact punches 
and kicks. Ranma's Pikachu found himself hard-pressed to block and 
evade the blows and a few managed to lightly connect.
     <Whoa! That Machop is really good! He'd make a good sparring 
partner. I've never seen any other Pokemon be able to keep up with 
Raiden like this!> Ranma looked closely and saw Raiden trying to get 
in close and power up his cheek pouches again. He then noticed how 
Machop was looking at his opponent and saw that the fighting 
Pokemon was studying his Pikachu's electric sacs. <So that's it. 
Raiden's sparking electric attacks are a dead giveaway. Machop is 
watching those sparks to warn him. Okay, so he can anticipate 
Raiden's electric attacks by the way his cheeks are flashing. I guess 
that's how he can anticipate another Pokemon's moves.> Ranma 
smirked as he watched as Machop evaded a bolt of electricity at 
close range and delivered a hard elbow toward Raiden's head. The 
Pikachu was just barely able to roll with the blow. 
     "Okay, if electric attacks won't work, then how about this? 
RAIDEN, MOKO TAKABISHA!"
     Raiden leapt back out of Machop's reach then began focusing his 
energy. A moment later, he released a small blue ball of ki energy from 
his paws.
     "Chop?" Machop was caught off guard by the sudden appearance 
of a projectile that he had never seen before and didn't have time to 
react. The ki blast slammed into the Pokemon and sent it sprawling 
back. It managed to stay on its feet, but Raiden wasn't going to give 
it a chance to recover. Charging forward, the Pikachu leapt up and 
began raining fast punches to its upper body. Machop's body 
trembled and jerked as Raiden scored several high-powered hits in 
rapid succession. It hadn't expected a Pikachu was able to hit so 
hard.
     The spectators were totally in awe at what had just happened. 
Two people in particular were totally stunned.
     "Mother, what was that?"
     Zora was so shocked at how Raiden had fired off something that 
looked like a psychic attack that she did not reprimand her daughter 
for calling her mother. "I'm... not sure, but it looked like a psychic 
attack!"
     "A psychic attack? From a Pikachu?"
     "No, wait... that may be... a ki blast!"
     "Ki? You mean... like in those old stories that you told me about?"
     "Yes, child. Ki is the fundamental energy of all living things and it 
has been said that it can augment a person's physical abilities. But I 
never imagined that it could be used outside of the body!"
     Ranma smirked when he heard this. Apparently, this world's 
martial artists had yet to discover about focusing ki outside the body. 
They probably didn't have more than the basic idea about ki. Ranma 
winced while smiling as Raiden grabbed one of Machop's arms and 
used a judo technique to swing it above his head several times before 
sending it flying across the dojo. 
     WHUMP!
     Machop landed painfully on its belly on the floor. It moaned, as 
the injuries from Raiden's earlier attacks began to register. It slowly 
got to its feet, but it was pretty dizzy from the spinning and feeling 
lots of pain at the moment. By this time, Raiden was powering up his 
aura for the final attack.
     "RAIDEN, FINAL ATTACK! THUNDER..."
     KABOOM!
     Before Ranma could give the order for Raiden to finish off 
Machop, a sidewall was suddenly blown out and huge clouds of 
smoke came billowing in. In the confusion, Raiden stopped powering 
up. All of a sudden, projectiles began shooting into the dojo through 
the hole and exploding, and releasing weighted nets and ropes. The 
students, the Pokemon and the Fisher family found themselves 
becoming tangled and trapped. The entire group became a huge 
writhing mass. 
     Ranma barely managed to evade the netting and he swept up his 
Pikachu in his arms. As the smoke cleared, he began hearing some 
kind of background music and moaned at its familiarity.
     <Oh no! Not again!>
     Two figures stepped out of the clouds of smoke and struck a pose. 
One was a man who had short brown hair and a medium build. The 
other was a girl with red hair done up in a long braid. Both were 
wearing dark blue uniforms with large red R's on their chests.
     Zora and her daughter managed to get to a position to see who 
they were. Jeanette's mother was very angry at this unexpected 
attack on her dojo and said, "Who are you? What do you want?"
     "Here comes trouble!" The girl announced.
     "And you can bet that it will double!" He partner affirmed.
     "To subject the world through devastation!"
     "To conquer all people within the nation!"
     "To make it impossible for truth and love!"
     "To rule the Earth with an iron glove!"
     "Bonnie!"
     "Clyde!"
     "Team Rocket, here to destroy all hope and light!"
     "Surrender now or fall before our might!"
     "Golbat!" A bat Pokemon came hovering in and landed on Clyde's 
shoulder. Then duo laughed as they saw their catch.
     "Well, just look at all the Machop we caught. Not to mention the 
other Pokemon too."
     "The boss is going to give us a huge bonus for this!" Bonnie 
called back toward the huge hole in the wall. "All right guys, load up 
all the Pokemon!"
     Ten men came storming through the hole with electrified stun 
batons and Pokeballs. They began making their way through the 
nets, using their batons to keep the students away from their 
Pokemon. One by one, the Pokemon were forcefully gathered up into 
the Pokeballs. Any resistance from the students or the Pokemon was 
met with electric shocks.
     Jeanette and Zora watched in horror and disbelief as their Machop 
were being taken away from them. The Machop that had been 
battling Ranma's Pikachu was in especially bad shape. Jeanette 
managed to move over toward it, but she was roughly pushed away 
by a pair of Team Rocket men.
     "You won't get away with this!" Jeanette said defiantly.
     "Oh yeah?" Bonnie sneered. "And who's going to stop us?"
     As if on cue, two bright blue balls of energy shot out from the 
other side of the dojo, slamming into the two men that had shoved 
Jeanette. The two toughs were sent hurtling back and out the hole in 
the wall, just barely missing Bonnie and Clyde.
     "What the...?!"
     "Who did that?!"
     Everyone turned their heads to where the blasts came from and 
their eyes widened in amazement. The raining smoke from the initial 
explosion had finally cleared, leaving the impressive sight of Ranma 
and Raiden walking toward them with battle auras blazing. Both had 
stern expressions on their faces that gave the impression that there 
was going to be some serious pain to be dealt out.
     "Who... are... you?" Bonnie asked.
     "Ranma Saotome of the Saotome School of the Anything Goes 
Martial Arts." Ranma growled as he cracked his knuckles in 
anticipation.
     <Anything Goes? Never heard of that one before.> Jeanette and 
her mother were rooted to the spot as they watched Ranma and his 
Pikachu boldly walk toward their foe, regardless of the fact that they 
were outnumbered and unarmed.
     "Ranma Saotome?" Clyde repeated then became more excited. 
"Hey! We got two birds with one stone! The boss is looking for this 
guy!"
     "Well, now that does save us the trouble of hunting you down 
Ranma Saotome." Bonnie sneered as she held up a Pokeball. "If you 
know what's good for you, you'll surrender yourself and your 
Pokemon and come with us!"
     "I don't think so. If you want me, you'll have to beat me and my 
Pokemon."
     "Suit yourself. Cloyster, I...oof!"
     "Pikachu!"
     Before Bonnie was able to throw her Pokeball forward, Raiden 
sped forward and rammed her in the gut, forcing her to go flying out 
the hole in the wall.
     "Bonnie...!"
     WHAM!
     In less than a heartbeat, Ranma crossed the distance between then 
and delivered a haymaker that sent Clyde through the hole after his 
partner. Golbat was started off its perch and Ranma batted him 
outside as well. 
     "GET HIM!" 
     Ranma turned at the shout and saw the other Team Rocket 
flunkies rush toward him with their stun batons. Ranma smirked as he 
leapt into the fray and began giving them a demonstration of his 
martial arts skills.
     "OH!"
     "YOW!"
     "OW!"
     "OUCH!"
     "OWIE!"
     WHAM! POW! SMACK! CRASH!"
     On the floor, the Machop that had fought Pikachu stared in awe at 
the sheer power and skill of Raiden's trainer. He became especially 
interested when Ranma cupped his hands at his waist, pulled back 
and began focusing his ki. He then thrust his hands forward.
     "EAT MY WIND CANNON!"
     "Wind Cannon?!" Jeanette eeped.
     A huge blast of compressed air shot from Ranma's palms and 
impacted against the men, knocking them over like dominoes. They 
crashed through another wall and were all rendered unconscious in a 
pile of rubble outside of the building.
     Ranma then took out a Pokeball. "Cut them loose, Razor!"
     The Pokeball opened up and the Sandslash immediately set to 
work in freeing the students and the instructor. Ranma then ran out 
with Raiden to finish off the leaders of the group.
     What they didn't know was that one of the stun batons that had 
been dropped by Bonnie and Clyde's men had developed a short 
circuit and had rolled near some discarded towels. The weapon began 
to spark and soon, one spark caused a dry towel to catch fire. It 
wasn't long before the fire began to spread.
     Outside the building, Clyde and Bonnie had just recovered when 
Ranma and Raiden came running out of the gym. Wasting no time, 
they called forth their Pokemon.
     "GOLBAT, SCREECH ATTACK!"
     The bat Pokemon swooped down and let off a piercing scream that 
cause Ranma to become dizzy as the soundwaves began disrupting 
his equilibrium. He knelt down on the ground and looked up at the 
Golbat. Reaching to his belt, he plucked out a Pokeball and threw it 
forward.
     "WIND RIDER, COUNTER WITH SONIC WING!"
     The Pidgeotto burst forth from the Pokeball and began flapping 
his wings furiously while focusing his ki and hovering. Then 
suddenly, the bird brought his wings forward at such a fast rate that 
he broke the sound barrier, causing a focused sonic boom to be 
emitted against Golbat's Screech Attack. The soundwaves caused 
nearby windows to be shattered as the bat Pokemon's scream was 
drowned out. Accompanying the sonic boom was a massive blast of 
compressed air and Golbat was sent hurtling back.
     Bonnie gulped as she urged her Cloyster forward.
     "CLOYSTER, WATER GUN ATTACK!"
     Wind Rider was far from finished as he dived down and launched 
twin blasts of compressed air from his wings to blow the water stream 
away from Ranma and Raiden. It was then that Ranma noticed 
something about his Pidgeotto. His eyes were glowing.
     <What the...? Can it be? Did Pidgeotto figure out a way to fire off 
his own ki?>
     Ranma got his answer as Wind Rider squawked and let loose with 
two slender beams of energy at the Cloyster, just as it was about to 
close its shell in defense. It wasn't fast enough and the beams struck 
its tender and soft inner body. Cloyster let off a scream of pain as it 
was blasted back. Wind Rider followed through with another 
compressed blast of air, knocking the clam into a nearby grove of 
trees. The clam let off a whimper and then was unconscious.
     "Uh oh." Clyde said as he realized that they were now defenseless.
     Ranma grinned as he watched his bird land beside him. "Way to 
go, Wind Rider. I didn't know you could do that."
     "Pidgooo!" Wind Rider was quite pleased with himself at the 
moment. After watching Ranma and his two mice Pokemon develop 
their ki blasts, the Pidgeotto had decided to create his own technique. 
Like his trainer, Wind Rider had taken his own initiative and it had 
paid off.
     "Now then..." Ranma cracked his knuckles as he and his Pokemon 
advanced on their adversaries.
     Razor had just finished freeing Zora and Jeanette when his 
sensitive nose picked up something. He looked back and saw that a 
fire had begun near the far wall and was starting to eat away at a 
couple of support timbers.
     "Slash! Slash!" The Sandslash redoubled his efforts to get the 
others free before they found themselves trapped inside a burning 
building.
     Outside of the dojo, Bonnie and Clyde were not in good shape. 
They had seen their lives flash before their eyes for about two 
seconds before Ranma and Raiden were upon them. In less time it 
took to tell, Ranma had beaten Clyde to a bruised and bloody pulp, 
while Raiden had repeatedly shocked Bonnie senseless. As Ranma 
held up the battered Clyde by the collar, he started to smell smoke.
     "Everyone outside, now!" Zora screamed.
     Ranma and his Pikachu turned around to see Zora and her 
students race out of the building with their Pokemon. He was relieved 
to see that Razor had escaped along with them. Just in time too as the 
hole they came out of collapsed behind them. He also saw that the 
top portion of the dojo blazing away and he could hear fire sirens in 
the distance.
     "Is everyone all right?" The instructor asked as she made a fast 
head count. She smiled as she saw that all of her students and their 
Pokemon. But then her daughter screamed in alarm.
     "Mother! One of our Machop is missing!"
     Zora looked at the group of Machop and became alarmed as she 
realized that she was one short. It was the same one that had been 
injured in its battle with Raiden. In all of the confusion, her Machop 
had gotten lost in the scramble to escape. "Oh no! He must still be 
inside!"
     "I'll get him!" Ranma declared as he rushed toward the building. 
Seeing that the entrance was now blocked, he ran around the side 
and used the other hole to gain entry. Unfortunately, as he rushed 
through the opening, the hole also collapsed in on itself, sealing him 
inside the burning gym. His Pikachu and Pidgeotto were prevented 
from following their trainer.
     Ranma coughed as he made his way through the smoke and heat. 
He saw Machop lying prone on the floor and ran over toward him. 
Bending down, he assessed the Pokemon's condition and then slung 
it over his shoulder. He began to frantically look around for a way 
out, but there seemed to be no exit. He then decided to gamble.
     "WILDFIRE, I CHOOSE YOU!"
     The Rapidash let off a whinny and reared on its hind legs. Ranma 
leapt onto his back and directed him toward a relatively undamaged 
section of wall.
     "BLAZING HORN CHARGE! GET US OUT OF HERE!"
     Wildfire immediately charged at the wall, its aura blazing around it, 
creating protective barrier to absorb the flames that threatened its 
passengers. Lowering the horn and hardening it to diamond density, 
the fire horse streaked at the wall like a shooting star.
     Outside the gym, fire fighters and police were on the scene and 
Officer Jenny was busy talking to Zora to assess the situation. 
     "He ran back in there?!"
     "Yes, he went to save one of my Machop, but..."
     Suddenly there was a huge explosion, and firefighters pulled back, 
thinking that the fire had reached a gas main. However, a section of 
wall was blown outward and a fiery steed shot forward from the 
conflagration. It skidded to a halt and reared back on its legs before 
powering down its aura, revealing a dirty, and slightly singed, but 
otherwise unharmed Ranma and Machop. The martial arts let off a 
whoop of triumph and held his hand up with fingers in a victory V.
     Raiden let off a happy sound as he began bounding toward his 
master.
     "Ma... Chop."
     Ranma looked down at the Pokemon in his arms as it gave him a 
happy smile before the Machop slipped back into unconsciousness.
     After Bonnie, Clyde and the rest of their group were carted off to 
jail, the grateful Zora and Jeanette invited Ranma to be their guest at 
their home while they waited for their Machop to heal at the Pokemon 
Center. At first Ranma had tried to turn them down, but they insisted 
that it was a matter of honor that they repay their debt to him. After 
they had pleaded with him for a while, Ranma finally accepted their 
offer to stay for a few days.
     Ranma found that staying with the Fishers was quite enjoyable as 
he got to rest from his long journey and enjoy Zora's home-cooked 
meals, the first he ever had in a long time. Jeanette would always 
pester him about how he trained his Pokemon and his special martial 
arts techniques. Of course, Ranma would politely turn her down, but 
this only made her even more persistent. As a result, Ranma had 
started sparring with her as well as his Pokemon. He also found it 
very good practice when he trained with Zora as well as her group of 
Machop. When the injured Machop had healed, Ranma was more 
than eager to try his skills against Pikachu's opponent. He wasn't 
disappointed.

A week later...
     "Well, I guess this is goodbye." Ranma said as he hefted his 
backpack and prepared to mount Wildfire.
     "Pikachu." Raiden waved to Zora as he hopped onto his place on 
top of Ranma's pack. 
     "It was an honor having you as our guest, Ranma Saotome." Zora 
said as she shook Ranma's hand. "If there's anything that we can do 
to repay you..."
     "There is, Mother." Jeanette said as she walked up to them. She 
was wearing a red T-shirt, denim cutoff shorts, white socks and 
running shoes. She also had a backpack. Behind her was Machop, 
who had completely recovered from the fire. "Machop here... would 
like to go with Ranma."
     "Machop!" The fighting Pokemon nodded vigorously as he 
approached the fire horse.
     Ranma looked down at the martial arts Pokemon. It was tempting. 
It was so very tempting. Still, it wasn't his and it already had a home 
at the Crimson City Gym, which was being rebuilt at this very 
moment. Bonnie and Clyde had been arrested with their group and all 
the Pokemon had been returned to their owners. Once again, he had 
gotten offers from Officer Jenny to stick around, but it was time for 
him to move on. "Thank you, but..."
     "Machop! Machop!" The Pokemon shook his head and pointed to 
Ranma's Pokeballs.
     "It looks like Machop isn't going to take no for an answer." Zora 
laughed. "I don't blame him. After seeing you spar with him for the 
last three days, I can see why he wants to go with you to train. You 
are an exceptional martial artist and I think he would become even 
stronger if you were his trainer. Heaven knows, I couldn't train him to 
do all those attacks." 
     Ranma smiled. It had been fun staying with the Fisher family after 
they had offered to put him up for a few days. Sparring with the 
Machop was great and Ranma had found himself wishing he had 
such a Pokemon of his own. Now they were offering one. Ranma 
shook his head while smiling and said to the Pokemon, "Are you sure 
you want to be with me, Machop? I mean, it's pretty hard out there 
and I gotta warn ya, I'm a really tough trainer."
     "Machop!" 
     Pikachu!" Raiden nodded his assent as Ranma removed a Pokeball 
from his belt. He then activated it and opened it up. Machop let off a 
happy sound as he was sucked into the Pokeball.
     Ranma smiled as he replaced the device onto his belt. "Don't 
worry Machop, I'll take care of you."
     "I'm sure you will." Zora smiled as she also handed Ranma 
something else. "Oh yes, here is something else for you."
     Ranma looked down at the shiny object in his hand. It was square 
and metallic which depicted a red sun with rays coming out of it. The 
coveted Rising Sun Badge.
     "In recognition of a great martial artist as well as a Pokemon 
trainer."
     Ranma bowed his head and replied, "Thank you Zora-sensei." He 
pocketed the badge and mounted his horse. Giving the Fisher a final 
wave, I guess time that I should be going."
     "Yes, we should be going now." Jeanette said as she took out a 
Pokeball.
     "Excuse me? What do you mean by, we?" Ranma became a bit 
nervous at this.
     "I'm going with you." Jeanette said a matter-of-factly. "You still 
owe me a match and besides, I think we can teach other a few things, 
right?" Jeanette batted her eyebrows at him.
     Ranma gulped as he quickly turned his mount and said in a hurried 
voice, "UhwellsorrybutIprefertotravelalone.It'sniceofyoutooffer,and
I'mreallyflattered.HoweverIdon'twanttokeepyoufromyou'reown
journeysoI'llbeonmyway.See ya!"
     "Come back here, you baka!" Jeanette threw out her Pokeball, just 
as Ranma sped off into the distance in a big hurry. The Pokeball 
opened up to reveal... another Rapidash. Soon Jeanette was also 
racing off into the sunset.
     Zora chuckled as she watched her daughter give chase. <Ah 
young love! I'm glad that my little Jeanette is finally getting more out 
of life that just training.> She had noticed how her daughter had 
become attracted to Ranma during his stay with them. The way she 
looked at him whenever he sparred and how he seemed to make her 
laugh always brought a tear to her eye. Now, Jeanette was more alive 
than she had ever been since returning from the Indigo League. She 
had been so serious in training that she had pretty much isolated 
herself. Now she had a reason to live more fully. Zora had also grown 
quite fond of the boy herself.
     <Hmmm, Ranma Fisher. I think I like the sound of that.>

Author's Notes
     Well, as expected, Ranma now has a martial arts Pokemon. I hope 
the added scenes helped clear up some of the gaps in this chapter. In 
any case, Ranma may have just gotten himself a new traveling buddy, 
though that's only if she can catch him. As for those of you, who are 
wondering if Sam will ever catch up to Ranma, don't worry, she will. 
Though Jeanette may have some other ideas.


