“Of all the rotting freaking…” muttered Professor Stroak, as he tried to use a coat hanger to retrieve his keys from inside the RV. Of all the things that could happen to delay his attempts to go to an apparently new Pokégirl and discover what made her tick, this had to happen.
The past days had been rough on him. First an Arachnae had somehow made her way inside his lab, past dozens of safeties and securities systems. The resulting fight had trashed half his systems—which his Tech Support had informed him over the phone before it too died that it would be several days before they could spare anyone to fix it.
Seriously, they were half a mile away in a town that had maybe a dozen computer systems, he knew for a fact they had no other customers, they were just apparently too busy playing some new video game that had come out. Lazy punks, no work ethic like people had when he was younger!
He would have sent a request along the PokéDex system when he had received the alert yesterday, but that fried shortly afterwards.
Damn leaky pipes. Apparently the plumber was busy as well … his vehicle was parked outside the Tech Support offices, playing the game with them.
But on the bright side, before his last communications system had blown, he had received a call from a very important client seeking to purchase the Arachnae … at a very nice price.
“Why the hell are we taking two crates of evolution stones with us?” yelled Rita, as the Vaporita sat the last of the yet-to-be-packed crates near the Class-B Challenger II RV with Portable Lab Trailer.
“You think I’d leave it here for people to steal?” he asked, cursing as the key chain fell off the coat hanger … again. “By the time those idiots get their act together, put down those game controllers, and get over here to fix my systems, I don’t doubt for a minute this place could explode, catch fire, hell, it’ll probably flood before we get out of town. Plus you know some of those people I hired to take care of the other girls while we’re away, I don’t trust them to not rob me blind while I’m gone.”
“Then why even hire them?” asked Rita.
“Family ties and a few lost bets at poker,” he grumbled, as he caught the keys once more. He really needed to either learn to play poker better or not gamble away internships. Damn punks didn’t want to do an honest days work, probably why their parents used those IOUs to get them work.
“Okay,” said Rita, rubbing her brow. “And where did we get two crates of evolution stones from? I’m pretty sure I never placed an order for them.”
“I got them for the Arachnae.”
“WHAT?” yelled Rita, making him drop the keys a foot from the window. “How could you do that? She’s a dangerous pokégirl that should have been put down!”
“I got a call from someone in Stone Town, a Kuno I think,” he murmured, trying to steady the coat hanger once again. Damn keys were a bit harder to reach now, and he would be damned before he called a locksmith to come and help him out; it would be too embarrassing and he was pretty sure that bastard was probably playing the game with those lazy Tech Support bastards. “They were interested, air-dropped those crates while discussing it.” Actually, he would have settled for one, the fact he had been too stunned to respond had caused the person to offer the second crate.
Rita blinked. “You sold a dangerous creature for evolution stones!?”
“Two crates,” said Stroak. “And besides, I ran her through three Level 5 cycles. She’ll be lucky if she remembers left from right and up from down when they take her out of the pokéball.”
“And just which one did you sell it to?” asked Rita, trying to calm herself down at the breech of protocols.
“Black Cherry, Pink Blossom, one of those names,” he murmured. “It was the girl one, not the bozo who keeps calling to see what ‘noble and gifted beauties’ I can send him.”
“Well, that’s good at least,” she murmured. If it was a Kuno, then they didn’t have to worry about the stones being stolen—at least if the girl was who Rita thought it was. With the equipment trashed, there’d be no way to prove the conversation on their end, and Stroak was too well respected—she wondered why half the time—to be taken down if the Kunos released where their newest Pokégirl had come from. Hell, they could claim three Level 5 Cycles was close to death … assuming the machine hadn’t been on the fritz.
“Success!” yelled Stroak, as he was millimeters away from pulling the keys out the window.
Clink!
At least he would have … had the windows been open enough for him to fit the keys through.
“SON OF A SNORLASS!”
Click.
“You do realize the side door was unlocked,” said Rita, holding the keys.
Stroak looked at the keys, first with shock, then anger, and finally embarrassment. “Yes, well … I wanted to see if I could do this if I needed to, and I learned something: leave the window open a bit wider from now on.”
“We could just install a fingerprint scanner and a keypad,” offered Rita. “Or at least give you something to keep the keys attached to your belt.”
“Well … let’s finish packing and get going.”
“Already packed,” she said. “I was loading everything while you were fishing for keys,” the Vaporita said.
Sighing once again, Stroak was now the person rubbing his brow. “Then let’s start the engine and head—”
“PROFESSOR!”
Letting out a huff of air at yet another distraction, Stroak turned to spot the person who yelled for him. He recognized the blue jacket, the collector’s hat … the extremely tired and worn gate of the teen’s jog. “Ah, Ash; what can I do for you?”
The boy ran before the professor, wheezing and exhausted. “I … came … for … my … starter … Pokégirl!” he said, falling to his knees.
Stroak shook his head. Poor boy probably had more ‘personal tutoring’ from his mother and her pokégirls this morning before he came here.
Wish I could get Nodoka Sexum to give me some ‘personal training’ with her and her pokégirls.
Well, maybe not that Dominatrix. Kinshou is a bit too rough for my tastes, despite her hot form. But the nice Lupina Azalea is someone I’d like to make howl into the night, her and her daughter Jetta.
The fact that his own Vaporita Rita had often complained about his lack of attention towards her own Taming needs never entered into the fantasy.
“Ah, I see,” said Stroak, holding out his hand as Ash offered his Tamer License. “Well, everything is in order. Let me just run inside and get you a Starter Pokégirl.”
“Can I choose?” asked Ash, his breathing now under control. He had spent most of his run—aside from worrying in fear he’d be unable to get it completed before his mother noticed he was missing—trying to decide between which of the standard Starter Three he would choose.
“Afraid not,” said the professor sadly. “I’m afraid I haven’t yet been restocked on Boobisaur, Charamanda, or Squirtitty Pokégirls yet, but let me see what I have.”
Rushing inside—he didn’t think that new pokégirl would stay where she was forever and he had yet to remember that his portable lab had its own communication system—he went to where he kept the Starter Pokégirls. Now normally he wasn’t too worried about their conditions, as he paid for special chambers to keep them in stasis until their eventual new Tamer arrived, lest he’d have to take them out and ensure they didn’t go feral and thus hurt the chance of bonding to the new Tamer. It was also one of the few systems with an independent power source, several safety systems to keep his unscrupulous staff from stealing, and had not been damaged by the spider-type in her rampage. Plus, he had a good idea what was already available. One was a wild Peekabu he had captured not even an hour before the Arachnae somehow arrived. The other was a Threshold girl named Misty, a Tomboy whose family ran Cerulesbian City Gym, having sent the girl to him in hopes of a genetic-swap procedure to turn her into a water-type, as was the girl’s dream.
He would have … had said Machine not been one of the first things destroyed, and the replacement parts for that would take weeks if not months to get to him, let alone time to assemble it and order another array of genetic samples.
Opening the cabinet, he decided he would give Ash the Peekabu. Surely someone trained by a woman like Nodoka should be able to handle a wild electric-type. Misty could afford to stay in stasis a while longer. Worst case he could always send her to Gary or Ash later on for some battle experience, strengthen her before the procedure if it was going to take months for the machine to be fixed.
“What the?” he asked, blinking at the fact that not only were the shelves and labels for the pokégirls now on the floor of the unit, but a third pokéball was present.
“Damn,” he muttered, as he picked up the three pokéballs. Had someone sent him a pokégirl while the machines were failing? There was a last-shot emergency dump in the system to send any pokéballs currently in transit to the storage locker. Usually it would end up in a separate shelf, but the apparent rampaging of the Arachnae had shaken the self-contained unit just enough to create chaos.
So, he was left with a few choices. One was to open the pokéballs up and see what was in each, hoping to bag them back before they could attack if they were violent. The problem was he knew they would be, most certainly the Peekabu he had barely managed to catch the first time, never mind an angry Tomboy or whatever was in the Mystery Ball.
Two was to take the time, enter his portable lab, boot up the systems, and scan each ball to discover what was inside. But doing that would require activating the lab, which meant it would need fifteen minutes to stabilize itself into its full form, system checks, etc. And he didn’t really have that sort of free time.
Option three…
Ash looked down at the trio of pokéballs in his hands. That was it? No ceremony? No introductions of the pokégirls inside to him? No pep talk before sending him out into the world?
Well, it wasn’t all bad. Sure, he didn’t even know what was inside the pokéballs, but he could use his new PokéDex and learn that. Plus he got three pokégirls for his starter pack. Most Tamers only got one—he was pretty certain only Gary had gotten two and that was because his grandfather gave him an extra as a gift, Ash didn’t know how many his brother had ever gotten.
But it meant he was finally ready, finally ready to head off into the world, and begin his Pokégirl Journey towards being a Harem Master.
“Ash? Where are you? Mommy needs you for a moment!”
And he was going to start it right now by running in the opposite direction of that voice. He certainly didn’t want to see how his mother would react to the news. He’d barely had the energy to run to Professor Stroak’s lab just to get his Starter.
It took Nodoka a few minutes to arrive at Stroak’s Lab, another few to discover not only had the professor gone, but her son had been there as well, she recognized the tracks left by the shoes she had given him for his last birthday.
“He passed,” she said sadly. He had taken the test, but he hadn’t received his grade yet.
At least she thought he hadn’t. He had, and had apparently used his last break from his personal tutoring sessions to come here and get his Starter Pokégirl before Stroak left.
It hurt, she’d admit that. He was her youngest child. There wasn’t a day that went by she didn’t curse Genma for leaving like he did, for declaring Ash too weak to be his son, for taking Ranma from her.
Ever since that day, she had done what she could for her remaining son, tried to keep tabs on her missing son—she couldn’t care less about Genma, not after the things he had said to her.
The second worst day of her life, behind having her first son taken from her, was when he had disappeared, lost within the Jusenkyo Spell Dump. It was the second time her husband had stolen her son from her.
But he was back. That was why she had been looking for Ash, to let him know that Ranma had returned. Granted, he had no memories, but he was healthy and back. She wanted him to come with her and the pokégirls to go to Ranma before he left Pewtit, before he disappeared again.
Judging by the tracks however, perhaps he was heading there himself. Yes, that would fit. Ash always did somewhat hero-worship his older brother, a boy he never met. But to be honest, she doubted Genma would have ever told Ranma he had a brother, not with the way he had acted when he left.
“Well, if I know my sweet little child, he’s got some family pictures to show his brother with him,” she said with a smile. Oh, her boy was always so prepared. It nearly broke his heart when he hadn’t been able to start his Taming journey last year because he had come down with the flu, missing his Tamer’s Exam.
But she had worked hard, taught him the ways of pleasure, strengthening his body past his original weakness at birth to a taming machine. Why, he had even lasted with Taming Kinshou and Azalea in the same night.
“Oh well, can’t do anything about it now,” said the woman, as she dusted her hands off. She could surely take the time off for the moment from her duties as a Watcher and go see her older son, maybe even catch her younger son along the way. It would be nice to have everyone together again, to be a family again.
“Better get the girls then,” said a smiling Nodoka. “ROAD TRIP!”
“You’re kidding,” said Akane, mouth agape. “Blue Balls?”
Nabiki nodded. “Let’s face it; Kuno-baby wasn’t that smart in our world, it appears intelligence of that level was never truly meant for him in any world.”
Akane nodded. It was still a shock to her, bad enough they were stuck in some pervert heaven’s world with possibly no way home, but there was a version of Tatewaki Kuno here as well, known as the Blue Balls of Stone Town! She didn’t want to even think what Mikado Sanzenin might be like in this world. Hell, the one in their world would probably fit in here perfectly. “Tell me at least there isn’t a Kodachi here!”
“Wish I could,” said Nabiki. “But I haven’t done that much research in our past. I only got lucky that Kuno’s name was in a book when I was researching the history of this world. I tried a quick search for Tendo before they closed. But all it came up with was a Tendo Ranch, Necrima in the Indigo League, a Tendo Temple at Mount Scaramanga in the Orange Islands, and Tendo, a city in the Edo League. I’d have to do a little more digging when I have the time, but I think our best bet would be Tendo Ranch.”
Akane could only blink. “I just can’t picture Daddy as an American cowboy.”
Nabiki just shook her head. Somehow, she doubted that the Tendo Ranch had anything to do with horses and cows. “As for the others, they’ll take a bit longer. Basically, Amazons on this world would be even more secretive than on our own, what with women’s liberties and all basically being near worthless. The Kuonji clan never had that much that I could find in our own.
“Sadly, the best chance for finding analogs would be to look for people who had either fame or a lot of value in our world.”
Akane blinked. “You mean Mikado was something other than a complete pervert?”
Nabiki snorted. “Akane, the Golden Pair were from wealthy families, not as much as Kuno-baby, but still pretty well off. If Daddy was able to afford property in Nerima, there’s a chance it will mean his analog does here.”
Akane’s eyes opened wide. “Nabiki … could our mother…”
Nabiki’s own eyes joined Akane’s. “I … I don’t know,” she whispered. “She might, I mean it’s possible, given how odd this world is.” Truthfully, it cranked up a little more fear in her heart. It was one thing to perhaps learn she had an analog here, what that Nabiki might be like. It was quite another to possibly learn that her mother might be alive…
“We’re back!” chimed Kasumi, as she entered the room. “We weren’t able to get many clothes, but we can get them after lunch.” With that, still smiling, she went over to see her sisters. “How are you feeling, Akane?”
“K-Kasumi?” squeaked Akane. “What are you wearing?”
Blinking, Kasumi looked down at her clothes. “What?”
“I think Akane meaning the spandex suit,” whispered Nabiki, taking her own appraising gaze at the odd suit standing out under Kasumi’s dress. It didn’t stand out as much in color as just … it was a spandex suit.
“Oh,” said Kasumi with a smile. “They had these at the market on sale, and the Manager gave Ranma a nice little discount on them,” she said, twirling around. “And since we all needed some changes of clothes, I got each of us a few since they were so cheap,” Kasumi exclaimed, holding up three bags. “I figured we could each use a few in case we ask Ranma-kun to start training us.”
“Training?” asked the other sisters; Akane with some disbelief and shock with Nabiki’s voice carrying suspicion.
Kasumi just nodded happily. “Well, they fit much better than the clothing father wanted us to wear when we were younger. And I’m told they’re very durable.” The fact that she looked damn good while wearing it didn’t hurt either. Why, even that nice manager at the market developed a slight nose bleed when he saw her in it, just like the KhangAssCunt egg seller.
“Um, is it okay if I come in?” asked Ranma, waving a hand through the door, his other one covering his eyes. Kasumi may have calmed him a bit about being near Akane—especially with what and more accurately who he’s done—but it still didn’t mean he trusted his luck any more than usual. And the last thing he wanted to do was walk in on the angry tomboy when she was taking a bath or something like that.
“Of course, Saotome,” said Nabiki.
That alone made him gulp. Nabiki only called him Saotome when she was upset at him. “Heh, Kasumi’s in here, isn’t she?” he asked.
“Oh yes,” said Kasumi. “I was just showing Akane and Nabiki the outfits I got them. After all, Akane’s only outfit had to be cut off and we do need clothes to practice in.”
“Practice?” he squeaked, not quite certain what Kasumi was hinting at. She wasn’t about to admit to that event in the bath, was she?
Kasumi nodded. “Well yes, we need to practice our self-defense and martial arts skills here,” she admonished. “After all, we need to be able to count on ourselves as much as our pokégirls. And we can’t always have them by our sides to help us out, especially with those mean bullies from Team Rocket,” she finished, her face forming a deep frown. Those not-so-nice people were so mean. She hoped she could help Ranma kicked their butts.
Ranma just gulped once more. Well, that secret was still safe, but now Kasumi wanted him to train all three of the sisters. Whenever the tom—Akane insisted on training, she’d always yell at him, demand he stand still, and then they would usually argue with it ending via mallet to his head. Somehow, the possibility of training three sisters like that wasn't sounding too good.
“And it’ll be proper training, right, Ranma-kun?” asked Kasumi, as she strode over to him, grabbing his hands, and holding them in her. “I know you and Akane have never really practiced seriously together,” she said.
“HEY!” cried Akane, before grabbing her side.
“But you won’t hold back on us, right?” she said, her face a deep smile, and if his eyes weren’t lying, a hint of mischief. “You know it’s not nice to tease a woman like that.”
“It’s not?” he squeaked.
“Nope,” she said with a saucy smile. “There is a proper time and place for teasing women, Ranma. In our training, I don’t want you taking it too easy. I want it done right, no matter how hard or sore it makes us feel. You will ensure that our bodies and minds are up to whatever rigorous events await us,” she said.
Nabiki could only stare in shock. Kasumi did not just imply what Nabiki thought she did, did she?
“Damn straight,” said Akane. “I’m tired of you being so damn gentle in my training. I’m a tough girl, I can take whatever you dish out. I’m not some dainty little flower that will break if you just poke me. How am I supposed to make my body stronger if you won’t help me push myself to my limits and—Nabiki, are you choking?”
“No,” coughed the middle Tendo sister. It was a plot, it had to be, by the Gods or dumb luck or even an amazingly perverted older sister; it had to be a plot against her! “Just clearing my throat, that’s all.”
Akane just looked on with confusion, before nodding slightly. “Anyway, you better train us right, Ranma. And don’t give me that ‘I don’t hit girls’ crap either. I’ve seen you fight the other girls, and you sure don’t mind fighting as a girl. So you better not pull any hits when we get to spar. I want to feel it all. Don’t you dare try and squeeze out of this, you better be ready to work hard and make sure I’m satisfied with—Nabiki, are you sure you’re okay.”
Nabiki just nodded, leaning against her chair. Someone was going to pay for this. “Shouldn’t *cough* … shouldn’t you be starting lunch, Kasumi?”
“Oh my yes,” Kasumi said, looking at the clock on the wall. “Asrial and the others should be back soon. I better get started.
“Akane, are you able to eat with us today for lunch?” asked Kasumi.
“Uh, yeah,” replied Akane, still making sure Nabiki wasn’t about to start coughing up a lung again. “A nurse came in here a bit before you guys showed up, said my tests were so far good, and I should be able to enjoy a meal, as long as I stayed in a wheelchair and didn’t try to exert myself too much.”
Had Ranma not had his talk with Kasumi, plus still been in shock from Kasumi grabbing his hands in front of Akane and their demands for serious training, he might have made a comment about it being a good thing then that she was too injured to cook, thus provoking Akane to attempt a response.
Instead, he just nodded his head, still a bit worried as well now about what Kasumi’s plan was to mellow Akane—something despite repeated begging was not told to him. And he still would have to go shopping with Nabiki! What more could happen to him out today!
Especially after what happened in … the store.
“I better get started then,” said Kasumi with a smile. “When they get back, have them wash up quickly. After you two finish washing up, could you help me a bit?” she asked. “There’s so much to prepare.”
“Can I help?” asked Akane.
“Now Akane,” admonished Kasumi, “you’re supposed to take it easy. You can help when you’re all better, okay?”
“Fine,” huffed the youngest Tendo.
“Good, then let’s get to it!” she exclaimed. “I’ll let the Nurse Joys know and ask them to escort Akane to the dining area.”
“I’ll do that,” proclaimed Nabiki. She definitely needed to make sure that those girls knew they were not to mention any bathroom incidents to a certain Tendo if they knew what was good for them.
“Saotome, a word with you?”
“Uh, sure,” he said nervously, as the trio made their way to the door, Kasumi leaving first.
“We’ll see you at lunch, Akane,” said a smiling Nabiki, as Ranma just nervously waved.
“Ranma?” whispered Nabiki, as they neared the door. “Just when did Kasumi go from a nice set of bra and panties to wearing a spandex outfit?” she hissed.
Ranma just blushed. He decided that perhaps telling her of the impromptu autograph session probably wasn’t the best option for him at the moment, not with Akane on the other side of the room, staring at them. “She changed in the store, and I mean right in the open, in Aisle Five.”
Nabiki just closed her eyes, feeling a splitting migraine coming over her. She was beginning to doubt if leaving Kasumi alone … unsupervised with even Akane was a good idea. “Let’s just eat,” she said heavily.
Hopefully the day wouldn’t get any worse.
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(Posted Sat, 25 Oct 2008 05:36)
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