Ranma nodded at that before a shadow fell over him and he realized he was about to meet the revamped Miyo.
Or at least, he thought it was the psychic girl from his class. It sure looked quite like her, with those same startling almond-shaped, forest green eyes and that wavy brunette hair... only now she was definitely more of something canid in appearance. She had a slight muzzle, and two triangular ears on her head; a coat of fur the same color of her hair covering her entire body with white tattoos throughout it. This fur and tattoo coloration continued on through her five bushy tails which seemed to sashay behind her. The girl herself was at least covered with a level of decency as she had a violet-colored toga for garments; a golden clasp over her left shoulder and a thick leather belt around her waist with a special holster for tarot cards.
However, he sure didn’t think that she could do this before Daisuke and Hiroshi changed things about by messing with the Great Will. She was just floating in mid-air, hovering as she sat in the lotus position; leg crossed beneath her and her forearms held out to the sides as the rest against her. Carefully, it was a curious Saotome that finally asked her, “Miyo?”
Looking down at the human male, a small knowing smile split across the woman’s muzzle. Even as she moved her neck, she didn’t lose any altitude from where she was floating. “Yes?” She replied to him with an almost equally questioning tone.
Silent for a moment with such a reply, the heir of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts continued to stare at the now vulpine pokégirl before asking, “What’re you doing here? More importantly, how did you get here?” It was an honest inquiry to be certain, but the way her smile seemed to widen made him shiver a bit more.
Her tails moving behind her a bit anxiously, they belied the excitement that the psychic was hiding from her voice. “Myself? Why, my visions and the cards have brought me here today.” Miyo explained as her right hand moved to the holster and pulled out her deck of tarot cards. As she held it up for him to see, a pale violet aura radiated from the individually laminated fortune telling tools. “As for how I arrived, it wasn’t that difficult: I teleported here.”
Looking over towards the stack of tarot cards in the fox-like teenager’s hand, Ranma raised an eyebrow. While the idea of her teleporting anywhere she wanted was definitely new, there were still aspects of the world before the ret-con that held true to the raven-haired martial artist. Looking up at Miyo, he told the pokégirl, “You know, I’ve never been much of a believer in this stuff, right?”
Nodding her head firmly, the tattoo marks on the vulpine pokégirl’s body shimmered with the same violet aura as her cards did; pulsing in time with the tarot. “I understand that Ranma but please, here me out.” She broke her position, stretching out legs and daintily coming to stand on her own feet as she slowly floated down from where she was hovering before. “My precognition has allowed a level of foresight and...” she then began to blush a little, the action giving her brown facial fur a reddish tint from the glow beneath. “There is much that we need to discuss.”
Raising his other eyebrow, the pigtailed martial artist curiously asked, “Discuss?” Admittedly, such a concept was still pretty new to him. He was familiar with and admittedly, comfortable to an extent with girls just marching up and yelling at him to get things done. For him, it was the norm. Period.
This was going to take some getting used to.
Again, the vulpine pokégirl nodded her head towards the confused youth. Miyo then tried to explain things to ease the growing tension she could feel coming off from him. “Yes. Discuss. I’ve been checking over my cards for awhile. I can see that somehow, a will far greater than you or I is putting you on the road of destiny. A road you must follow.”
Ranma twitched. Well, that much was certainly true. However, it was then that his mental functions finally caught up with what she said after the part of ‘great will’. “Wait! What do you mean a road I must follow?”
“The cards had foretold that your path in becoming a Pokégirl Trainer and PokéBattle Warrior will change much...” she flipped a card in her deck, offering it to Ranma. “See for yourself.:
It was with hesitance that the raven-haired teenager reached out for the card. Taking it from Miyo’s hand, he looked over the tarot card. The image of that was a man hanging by one foot from a cross, his free leg was bent to form the number ‘4’. Although his hands are bound to his sides and coins are falling out of his pockets, the man is smiling. “What the heck is this?” He asked curiously.
The pokégirl answered without preamble. “The Hanged Man is a card about suspension. It represents a time of trial or meditation, selflessness, sacrifice, and prophecy.” She raised her head, looking into Ranma’s eyes with her own. “It’s advised that the person stops resisting; that he instead makes himself vulnerable, sacrifices his position or opposition, and in doing so, gain illumination.”
Although there was a chill going up his spine from how pointedly the fox-like woman was talking to him, Ranma was unable to break eye contact with her. “What do you mean make myself vulnerable? Why should I?” He asked; the thought of making himself ‘weak’, especially in a time when he really needed to try and catch up with what was going on, was really unappealing to him.
Expecting such an response, the brown-furred vulpine psychic continued, “Because by doing such, answers that have eluded you will become clear, and solutions to your problems will be found. You will see the world differently, with almost mystical insight.” She then took a quizzical expression as she admitted, “This card can also imply a time when everything just stands still, a time of rest and reflection before moving on. Things will continue on in a moment, but for now, they float, timeless... although I am unsure how that would apply to you at this time.
A small sweat-drop traveling down the side of his head, Ranma had to admit... if the idea of allowing himself to go with the flow was uncomfortable, the insight of how things were beyond his grasp, yet always changing in the moment, (especially thanks to the dim-witted duo of his perverted pals Hiroshi and Daisuke) was truly unnerving. “I... see...” he said slowly as he finally broke gazes with Miyo and looked down at his card. “Is... is there anything else?”
Nodding her head firmly, the former psychic Furinkan High School student turned vixen anthro handed Ranma a pair of cards from her tarot deck. “It’s rare that one get both of these cards at once but it tends to happen when I look at you, especially now.” Her eyes twinkled. “Your choices you are to make will reap benefits for you very soon.”
Sighing, Ranma accepted his lot and took the two cards from her. He blinked his eyes as the first card was the image of a full moon, (with a crescent within) floating above twin pillars, each with a howling wolf at their bases. Between the two pillars is a river that runs to the ocean, a crayfish emerging out of the water. The other was that of the sun shining brightly, while a pair of naked children, a boy and a girl ride on the back of a white pony with sunflowers, sprouting around. In the boy’s grasp is a pole with a banner that has the image of a sunflower.
Understandably, all the heir of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts could bring himself to say was, “What the hell?”
“Those cards,” Miyo explained, “Are the Moon and the Sun. The Moon is all about visions and illusions: the fine line between genius and madness. This is a card that has to do with sleep, and so has domain with both dreams and nightmares.” Her eyes narrowed as she warned, “It is a scary card in that it warns that there might be hidden enemies, tricks and falsehoods. But it should also be remembered that this is a card of great creativity, of powerful magic, primal feelings and intuition. The one who gets this card should be warned that they may be going through a time of emotional and mental trial. This time however, can also result in great creativity, psychic powers, visions and insight.” She looked into the male’s eyes once more. “Above all, you should trust your intuition.”
Slowly nodding his head, if Ranma were being honest, he would’ve told her right then and there that his intuition was telling him to run like a bat out of hell. Yet, curiosity was a powerful sensation... “Okay... then what does the sun mean?”
Now the vulpine psychic was smiling again. “This is the light that comes after the long dark night. A positive card, it promises the receiver their day in the sun. Glory, gain, triumph, pleasure, truth, success, or however you wish to understand it. As the Moon symbolized inspiration from the unconscious, from dreams, this Sun card symbolizes discoveries made fully consciousness and wide awake. This is science and math, beautifully constructed music, carefully reasoned philosophy. It is a card of intellect, clarity of mind, and feelings of youthful energy.” Left unsaid was that yes, the children on the card’s image could also be taken literally if other cards in the spread were to suggest it... however, she hadn’t seen such...
Yet.
“A~choo!”
Opening his mouth and releasing the straw from the grasp his lips had on it, the aging male of both Japanese and Irish descent smiled over at the young pokégirl... although some of his smile could be accredited to how Number Thirteen jumped, as if expecting the whole beach to have gone up in flames from a simple sneeze. “God bless you, Alice,” he told the child before bringing his attention back to his delicious tropical drink. If that waitress came back, he’d give her another one hundred dollar bill and an appreciative slap on the ass.
Nodding her head to her benefactor, Alice sniffled as she brought her hand to her face. Wiping her nose on the back of her wrist, the young child and current ultimate creation of Jim Sukotto went back to playing with the pure white sand of the Hawaiian beach. She had a castle to finish, after all.
Looking at both cards for a long pause, Ranma finally raised his head, gaze meeting Miyo’s. “So you’re saying that... things are odd now but will give way to something better?”
It is very likely she understands that once you adapt to the world that you will blend in much easier with your surroundings. Miyo’s has always had a heightened sensitivity to the ethereal, granting her a much greater awareness to the machinations that is the Great Will. Now as a pokégirl, there is much more to her than meets the eye.
Seeing that the man whom she was trying to endear herself to was twitching, the daughter from a long line of established psychics answered, “That is what the cards tell me, and I am rarely wrong.” She seemed to puff up with pride a bit as she added, “I would stake my honor as a Psyvix of the esteemed Penkiya family on it.”
Blinking his eyes once, twice, the heir of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts asked, “Psyvix?” He was still getting used to this world and to have her introduced to him as such was more than enough to make him curious as to just how Daisuke and Hiroshi’s choices had effected the girl.
Miyo seemed to perk up at that. “Yes. If you want, you may scan me with your PokéDex,” she practically insisted as she had noted the device in his hand earlier. It was one of the main reasons she teleported to him rather than trying to take a turn with the others. The inner voice had let her know that those whom Ranma were to study with his Dex were the ones that stood the greatest chance of being chosen for his team. She wasn’t out to become his Alpha, (not that she would turn him down if he did) but she knew this would get her to be at the right place at the right time. There was great urgency in being allowed to follow him.
She hadn’t told him about the other cards, after all.
It took only a moment for the pigtailed male to come to a decision regarding such an offer. “All right, I can do that,” Ranma told the vulpine pokégirl, making note of how her ears perked up at his response. While he was more than happy enough with learning more about the world around him if given the chance, he had to wonder why Miyo of all people seemed pleased with him agreeing to scan her.
Scanning pokégirl. Type found. Registry found.
Species: Psivyx, the Psychic Vixen
Genus: Kitsune
Primary Element: Psychic
Sub-Element: Psychic
Sub-Element: Magic
Physique Type: Near Human (Vulpine)
Level: 22
Registered To: Heishiro Penkiya (ResPa/Father)
Notable Abilities: Enhanced Speed (x4), Enhanced Agility (x4), Enhanced Strength (x3), Enhanced Senses (x3), Psychic abilities
A Psivyx is a fox pokégirl breed noted for their telepathic abilities, allowing them to have limited foresight into the future and light mind-reading and telekinetic abilities. Although they are not nearly as intelligent as the Poindexter of the Tomboy breed, their increased mental abilities do often come to light.
This breed is noted for favoring of a more disciplined lifestyle. In terms of combat, they like to use a staff in conjunction with fists and feet. They are fast-striking, but steady fighters, tending to wait out opponents and play defensively until they have an idea of an opponent's abilities. They then attack as quickly as possible, seeking to disable the opponent with a fast barrage of attacks before a counterstrike could be made. If a staff is unavailable, any weapon with a blunt striking surface (such as a mace in each hand or tonfa) will work well, and some Psivyx do prefer the other blunt weapons rather than the staff anyway, for the ease of use and quicker reaction times.
The Psyvix’s signature attack is the Fox-Fire technique. Using this requires one round to accumulate energy around the tips of all five of the pokégirl’s tails, and on the second turn, she unleashes her fiery attack. Although not exceptionally strong, the Fox-Fire is guaranteed to burn almost anything, pokégirl or object.
Blinking his eyes once, twice, Ranma looked up from his PokéDex and back at the Psyvix. “You can use fire techniques?”
Nodding her head, Miyo was quick to reply, “I can. While not normal for the breed as a whole, thanks to my Sub-Element of Magic, I tend to specialize in a few fire techniques: Fore-Fire, Fireball and Burning Hands. I also know Foresight, Agility, Psychic, Heal, Aura Barrier, Teleport, Backstab, and Mimic.”
Blinking his eyes once, twice, Ranma had to admit, “That’s useful. Now then how about...” he trailed off; holding up the red-colored piece of electronics in his hand. He then spoke up, activating the Dex’s verbal command of, “Skills.”
Skills are listed using the standardized Lowell-Flannery System developed for monitoring Skill Trainer testing.
Motoko Aoyama
General Schooling - High School Junior. Cleaning - Intermediate. Cooking - Basic Unarmed Fighting - Basic. Fan Fighting - Intermediate. Telekinesis - Intermediate. Telepathy - Intermediate. Tarot Reading - Adept. Séance - Novice
Whistling in appreciation, the pigtailed martial artist slowly brought his head up from the screen. “Fan fighting?”
Nodding her head, Miyo explained, “Chinese form of martial arts,” she explained, pleased that he was taking such interest in her. She felt she was a shoe-in for one of his team girls. She just hoped that for the eight positions available, she got one of the two slots reserved for non-combatant. “I can use a steel fan when I have to. My grandmother made me take it up when I was younger and I’ve been practicing on and off... ever... since...” she trailed off as she raised her head, ears twitching and all five of her tails shivering behind her.
Realizing that this was probably not normal for Miyo, Ranma could feel tension building in his own body as he realized he needed to be on guard. “Miyo? What’s wrong?”
Silent for a few moments more, it took a number of seconds before the human’s inquiry made it through the haze of her mind. “It’s nothing dangerous, Ranma. However, I suggest that you brace yourself for-”
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(Posted Fri, 23 Oct 2009 01:01)
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