After poking the release on the second Pokeball, the young man quickly backed away from the red-and-white ball. And after a brief flash of light, the Rattata reappeared. Appearing surprised at first, the Pokemon quickly recovered its poise.
"[So what's your name, human?]" it asked.
"Ranma," the trainer replied. "Ranma Saotome. Yours?"
"[Ahem,]" interrupted the Ponyta, as she stepped up next to the young man. She had changed her mind about needing space. She didn't like the way that little rat was eyeing her Trainer. "[We don't need to know that, sugar. All we want from you are some directions.]"
"[Nibbles,]" the Rattata calmly spoke. It paid no heed to the Ponyta. The other Pokemon fumed. "[Everybody around here calls me Nibbles.]"
"[But,]" it continued, "[you can call me anything you like, Saotome.]" The Rattata smiled coquettishly at the human as it added, "[Since your my new Trainer and all.]"
"[The hell you say!]" bursted the Ponyta. "[He hasn't said a thing about him agreeing to be your Trainer.]"
"[He doesn't have to, you poor ignorant dear,]" the Rattata replied with a smirk. A very toothy smirk. It was enjoying its advantage over the other Pokemon immensely. "[He used a Pokeball on me; ergo, he offered to be my Trainer.]"
The Rattata then nonchalantly made its way towards the Trainer in contention between the two Pokemon. It came to a stop at the young man's feet.
"[And I accepted his generous offer,]" continued the Rattata with a grin. Peering upwards at the seething Ponyta, it waggled its eyebrows, infuriating the other Pokemon even further.
Ranma was feeling quite nervous being stuck in between two obviously feuding females. He glanced warily at one, then at the other. Maybe he should say something.
"So," the young man suddenly spoke, "the name's Nibbles, right?"
"[Yes, Saotome,]" the Rattata replied. Its smile grew even wider. The Ponyta's eyes narrowed. "[Yes, it is.]"
Then it added, as it looked up at the other Pokemon in the eye, "[But if you want to give me another name, that's fine by me. In fact, I insist.]" Its gaze never left the Ponyta's.
"Ah, okay," said Ranma. He could practically feel the hostilities flying between the two. He was not feeling safe where he was standing. "How about I call ya Nabiki? You-"
"[No!]" interrupted Ukyou. "[I won't stand for this!]"
"[Well, too bad, 'sugar',]" said Nabiki mockingly. "[A deal's a deal.]"
"[Argh!]" The Ponyta finally snapped. "[Die, you rat!]"
"[Bring it on, nag!]"
The two Pokemon clashed once again in a Poke-Battle. Raised hooves stomped down on the ground, causing little flickers of flame to light up where they landed. Sharp incisors darted here and there, making quick attacks whenever opportunity presented itself. And in the middle of all this, the would-be Trainer furiously dodged hoof and flame, teeth and claws.
"Ack! Stop! Watch where you're- Whoa!"
"[Stay still, you runt!]"
"[What's the matter, 'darling'? This ankle-biter too much for you?]"
"[Just die!]"
"Argh! Keep me out of this!"
Ducking below the fiery afterimages of the Ponyta's tail, the young man finally rolled out of the way. Crouching as he caught his breath, he eyed the battling pair. He was unamused. Very much so.
Ranma then noticed that the Pokeball which had caused the Rattata to disappear earlier was at the edge of the fighting. It was in danger of being damaged. Guessing it would probably be a bad idea if he let it got stomped on, he crawled towards it. Keeping an eye on the two, he waited for his chance to grab it. There!
Quickly, he reached for it with one hand and leapt backwards, moving clear of the fight. Unexpectedly, his fingers hit one of the buttons on the thing. The metal sphere opened partways, and something flashed briefly. It looked to Ranma like some beam of light shot out from the Pokeball.
His gaze following the path it took, the Trainer noticed that the escaping light struck the Rattata. And the Pokemon vanished. As he landed back on the ground, the Pokeball was closed once again.
"..."
Cocking an eyebrow, he stared at the red-and-white ball in disbelief. Then, suddenly forming a grin, Ranma looked at the remaining Pokemon. He took out the Pokeball he had placed in one of the pockets of his beltpack earlier. He pressed the button that had recalled the Ponyta. The metal sphere opened partways, and he quickly pointed it towards the Pokemon.
After the short-tempered Ponyta disappeared, Ranma gazed at the Pokeballs held in each hand. Damned convenient these things. Wish he had something like them before. Would have meant less smacking from...
Shaking his head, the young man then looked at his beltpack. He grinned as he put the red-and-white balls into two of the six pockets that seemed the right size for Pokeballs.
"Those two can cool off in there for a while," he mumbled. Wiping his hands clean of the matter, Ranma then looked around. He was still in the middle of nowhere. He wasn't that deep into the forest, but he had no idea in what direction lay Pallet Town. He only had a vague recollection of the path he took when he went off the road.
"Stupid girls," grumbled Ranma. "Always getting into a fight. Feh."
Based on where he thought the road was and in the path it took, he made a guess at the direction Pallet Town would be. Shouldering his backpack, Ranma started walking.
Read the comments on this episode
See other episodes by The Masked Lurker
(Posted Tue, 03 Feb 2004 01:53)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.