First he had to go through that stupid Tag Race all because of some moronic thing Lum's great-grandfather did.
Then he was forced to watch everyone he knew killed before his very eyes.
He got split into a male and female half. The latter became his sister, Tariko. And she had no feelings for Lum or anyone else whatsoever. Save hate.
He wound up on a spaceship controlled by some jerk who might've been responsible for Lum's death.
Said jerk was killed long before he could learn WHY Lum was killed.
He, his sister and their new friends, the Saotome siblings Ranma and Kikuko, got flung into another dimension.
Then they were forced to abandon ship when their ship's warp core overloaded.
He wound up being transported into some strange field somewhere on a parallel Earth.
He couldn't communicate now with either Ranma, Kikuko or Tariko.
Clearly, Ataru muses to himself as he walks towards the distant farmhouse. The gods hate me.
Is it any wonder, dear readers, that Ataru often hated the world around him in turn? Didn't respect the people he interacted with?
Would his luck ever change for the better...?
Well...
"YOU CAN'T LEAVE US!!!!"
"WANNA BET?!?!" the slender blond man in the travelling clothes snaps back. "I DIDN'T ASK FOR ANY OF THIS SHIT...!!!"
"And who the hell are YOU to judge that, Inaba?!"
Inaba snarls, spinning around to glare into Shinobu's eyes, then he points a finger at the Hyperdoll's chest. "I'M the Tamer here, Shinobu, not you and not your pet stud here," he indicates the teary-eyed Titto standing at the doorway to the abandoned farm they had occupied some months before. "I'm the one who calls the shots! And if you've got a problem with that...!!"
Snarling, Shinobu reaches for his collar, the urge to smack this idiot into place taking considerable prominence because she really needed a Taming sometime within the next couple of days. Inaba smirks, then vanishes just a second before the pokegirl's fingers could have made contact. Shinobu's eyes go wide for a second, then she jolts as his voice echoes from behind her, "Shinobu, RETURN!!"
The Hyperdoll screams out as she is seized by the pokeball, then vanishes from view...
"Holy shit...!!"
Ataru's jaw is around his knees now as he takes in what he just witnessed.
Shinobu Miyaki and Ryuunosuke Fujinami. Or, at least, this planet's version of them.
With some guy that looked like that Inaba character, though he wasn't dressed in his bunnysuit.
They having an arguement. Shinobu moving to smack the idiot into line. That seemed normal.
Inaba teleporting away from Shinobu's grasp. That also seemed normal.
Inaba appearing BEHIND Shinobu, then yanking out some sort of ball. What was that?
He yelling something, then Shinobu disappears in a shower of light.
Shuddering as he watches Inaba wave the ball over his head as he yells at Ryuunosuke, Ataru feels a surge of anger roll through him.
Despite all that's been said and rumoured about Ataru Moroboshi, he DID have his own ethics, his own standards and morals.
They hadn't had much of a chance to be demonstrated before now.
But he STILL had them...
"...and if you think I'm going to continue putting up to this shit from her, you're way out of whatever serves as your head!!" Inaba snarls at the quivering Ryuunosuke, keeping Shinobu's pokeball close to him. "I thought it would be easy! Two pokegirls, one of them being a TITTO of all things, living out on their own since they both went through Threshold!! 'Hey, no problem! I can screw it!!' I thought to myself. Boy, was I ever WRONG!!" he glares at the pokeball in his hand. "I aughta take this someplace out in the woods and let her go Feral...!!"
"NO!!!" Ryuunosuke lunges for the ball.
Inaba's backhand fist smashes into the Titto's face, sending her sprawling. "Butt out of this!!" he snarls. "It's my choice...!"
WHOMP!
"...that didn't hurt..." Inaba grunts, half his head caved in thanks to a mallet marked Ultimate Idiot Basher in Japanese katakana.
Ryuunosuke turns, ignoring the blood leaking from her nose and a cracked lip as her Tamer falls face-first to the ground, sent there thanks to some giant wooden hammer welded by a brown-haired, brown-eyed man her age. Taking a quick look-over of this new fellow -- even if she had been Tamed by Inaba over the last six months or so, her own survival did come first! -- the Titto feels his cheeks heat. Yes, the newcomer didn't have any of the usual Taming gear: no pokedex, no pokeballs, nothing of ANY sort. But given the fact that he just stormed up and slugged Inaba out just as the latter was about to take poor Shinobu and abandon her in the wilderness somewhere...?
Hey, she could be screwed by it!
"That's no way to treat a lady," the newcomer announces before leaning down to pick up Shinobu's pokeball...
What the hell was THIS?!
Red-and-white metal ball, about the same size as the average softball. Eye-like glass up front with a button at the pole of the red side.
Wait a minute...
This reminded him of...
Oh, no! No way! This just COULD NOT be...!
But...
Ataru glances at Ryuunosuke, then Inaba, then the ball in his hand.
Something clearly was not right here.
He had a pretty good idea what Pokemon was all about; it had been the rave in Japan for some years now and some of the students at Tomobiki High were fans of the show. An anime about some kids who travelled an Earth-like world looking for cute monsters to catch and tame as pets. Ataru hadn't paid too much attention to it before. The only type of anime he ever really took interest in -- when he could keep it hidden from Lum, that is -- were stuff from places like Elf and Pink Pineapple, shows like Dookyuusei and the like.
But this...
Setting Shinobu's -- pokeball? -- gently on the ground, Ataru stows the Idiot Basher into hammerspace, then reaches down to Inaba. Rolling the dazed Tamer onto his side, he finds the Gameboy-like machine which served as a "pokedex," a handy computer quick-reference to various types of pokemon...! Are they called that here? he briefly glances at Ryuunosuke as he flicks the on switch, then aims the end with the transmitting bulb towards the raven-haired girl nearby. The machine flicks on, then flashes the following message:
"Holy..." Ataru's eyes are as wide as saucers as the message finally starts to sink in, then he gazes anew at Ryuunosuke.
Pokegirls?
A place where girls filled the roles taken by Pikachu and the others appearing in Pokemon?
Was this some insane fantasy?
His eyes turn down to Shinobu's pokeball. Kneeling, he picks it up, then giving it a detailed look-over, aims the "eye" at a clear spot to Ryuunosuke's left. His middle finger comes down on the button atop the ball. "Shinobu, I choose you!!" he calls out, remembering the handy catch-phrase Ash Ketchum and the rest of the lot used on that show.
A shower of energy produces the pokegirl in question. As Shinobu looks around before staring at Ryuunosuke, Ataru aims the pokedex at her:
"Hey!"
Ataru jolts, then looks up to see Shinobu staring at him over the pokedex, a curious look in her eyes and a friendly smile on her lips. Ryuunosuke stands behind the Hyperdoll, a warm, welcoming smile on the Titto's face. "Ryuunosuke tells me you're the one who stopped this asshole from tossing me into the woods and making me go Feral," Shinobu thumbs the still-unconscious Inaba.
"I..." Ataru blinks, then chuckles. "Um, y-yeah, I was! I...! Well..." he shrugs, giving her an impish smile.
Shinobu stares at him, then her eyebrow arches. "You're not from around here, are you?"
"Me?" he squeaks, then sighs, images of these girls' analogues being butchered before his eyes playing anew in his mind. "Not really," he admits. "Actually, if you can understand this, I come from another dimension where I was classmates with your...! Well, counterparts, I'd say! And..." he closes his eyes, they stinging from tears. "Well, before I came here, they...! Well..."
The smiles slip from the pokegirls' faces as they see the twin streaks flow down his cheeks. If there was one thing programmed into all pokegirl breeds, even Shinobu's, from Sukebe's time to this day, it was this: If person you trust/like/love is in pain for whatever reason, provide comfort! Instantly, both girls move in to embrace Ataru, holding him tight. The warmth of their hugs shatters what little control he has over his sorrow, then he buries his face into the crook between their shoulders as sobs steal his voice.
They remain still for an indefinite period of time until a pained moan escapes the prone form at their feet. The three break apart to gaze down on Inaba as he slowly staggers to his knees, feeling his forehead. Shinobu and Ryuunosuke automatically move closer to Ataru as Inaba gets back to his feet, then he glares at the man from another dimension. "What the hell was THAT for...?! Urk!"
He jerks as the Idiot Basher looms over his head. "Like I said, that was no way to treat a lady, pal," Ataru evenly replies before tossing the pokedex back to its owner. "Now, you've made your point about not wanting to be with them anymore. Take your gear and get lost!"
"And don't come back," Shinobu adds.
Inaba blinks, then snorts, pulling out another pokeball and tossing it at Ataru's feet. "Fine! Here's the Titto's ball! They're yours!"
"Great," Ataru smirks. "Oh, by the way..."
WHUMP!!
"...you got good hang time, baby!!" he smirks as Inaba disappears into the eastern horizon.
"Nice hit!" Ryuunosuke nods approvingly.
"Need to work on your follow-through, though," Shinobu advises, then moves to stand before Ataru. "Well, Master, since you've been so kind to volunteer yourself to see to our wants and needs, shall we go inside and get better acquainted?"
"I..." he stops as the word "master" rolls around in his brain for a moment, then he sighs. "Shinobu-chan?"
"Yes?"
He reaches up to gently cup her cheeks, then gives her a gently peck on the tip of her nose. "My name's Ataru Moroboshi. Don't bother calling me 'Master,' okay?" he gazes into her deep brown eyes.
"Whatever you say, Ataru," her eyes twinkle.
Maybe THIS time, it would turn out better...
Now what?
(Posted Fri, 28 Feb 2003 08:32)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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