DISCLAIMER: Lots of this from other originators. NC-17 so don't read if it's
offensive.

-----------

Jim flicked the pokedex open where the now stable Threshold girl could hear
it.

:Naiad - the river nymph. One of the evolved forms of Nymph. This Water type
is one of the most adaptable of the Water types.:

"Uhm," said the green haired pokegirl, looking uncomfortable from her
position on the blankets.

Perfume kindly handed the pokegirl a robe. The naiad's gratitude was obvious
as she belted it into place.

"You're a Threshold girl, aren't you?" Jim asked. When the girl nodded and
pointed to her throat, Jim was quick to reassure her. "Taming Shock. You
should get over it soon, it's just one of the little problems that occur
from that sort of thing from time to time. Perfume, could you make some
tea?"

"Perfume know," Perfume assured Jim then turned to the naiad and hugged her
lightly. "Perfume welcome you. Perfume know how to make special tea will
help you get over shock faster. You regain speech pretty quick."

Jim sighed as Perfume went about her business and he saw Sakura stick her
head out of the tent to warily regard the new arrival. Sakura being a Vixxen
was a Fire type, and therefore didn't completely trust the newcomer as she
was a Water type. Stealing provisions was beside the point.

The naiad was obviously wanting to say something, so Jim rooted in his pack
briefly and brought out a slate. He'd learned enough of history to know
these things were once called "magic slates" - a layer of cellophane over a
slightly sticky material. Using a stick or stylus (most pokegirls who were
literate but mute would use a fingernail simply because it was easier) one
pressed in on the cellophane layer to make a slight color change on the gray
"slate" in order to draw pictures or write words. When done you lifted the
cellophane and the "slate" was wiped. Some people used whiteboards but then
you had to carry an eraser and special pens too.

Jim had started using slates back when he was still with the Johto police
force, it was a handy way to communicate where there might be eavesdroppers.

The naiad wrote [Michiru].

"Your name?" Jim entered it into his pokedex as soon as the pokegirl nodded,
then showed the pokegirl the resulting entry.

:Michiru, Naiad (Threshold girl) - transmitting. REGISTRATION FILED.

Michiru seemed to stare at the data for awhile, then wrote out quickly.
[You?]

"I'm Jim Bader. Registered as a Tamer in the local Indigrope League,
hometown... well, it used to be over in Johto but I'm actually registered as
having my base in Joketsuzoku." Jim wondered why the girl looked so shocked.

[Do you know Cologne?]

"More than I like," drily responded Jim. Noting the speculative look the
Water type was giving him, he spread his hands. "Hey, we get along okay.
It's just we get along better when we're not that physically close. If you
know what I mean."

Another nod, and the girl's fingers quickly moved to get another question.
[Can I talk to her?]

"When you can talk and my current assignment's up, I suppose. You have
business with the Old Ghoul?" Jim had given up on the way coincidence seemed
to pop up around him. He wouldn't put it past Cologne to have done something
to the lines of fate or something.

[Yes] Michiru frowned as if she wanted to say more.

Jim didn't bother to ask why she didn't trust telling him. Just being a
Tamer with ties to the Joketsuzoku (aka Nichieju, alias Amazonchan Preserve)
was clearly not enough. That this pokegirl had been caught in his camp, that
she'd gone into a near-Feral state when she'd realized she was trapped, and
then stabilized by being tamed (by Perfume and himself having learned his
lesson about keeping his hands off with that Milktit turned Vixxen earlier)
and was *still* withholding information from him was actually kind of
impressive.

"So tell me, what were you before Threshold? High School Student?"

Her hesitation was so obvious it could be felt. [Yes. Violin player.]

"Well at least you lucked out in that regard," said Jim. When she looked
puzzled at that, he explained. "You're a Naiad, a very-near-human. You can
still play the violin."

Michiru nodded but didn't look reassured.

"Here we go," said Perfume, returning with a tea tray. She handed a cup off
to Michiru. "Perfume know some herbcraft. This help soothe throat and you
speak again soon."

A rustling noise brought everyone's attention up.

Some new girl wearing a t-shirt three sizes too big was standing at the edge
of the clearing and dropped a bundle as she stared at the naiad.
"...Michiru?"

Michiru nodded and began writing out something on the slate.

Jim found the shocked expression on the newcomer's face turning to pure
hatred as she looked at him.

"YOU BASTARD!" The girl with short blonde hair started charging forward.
What was alarming was the flicker of something that looked like a psi-sword
appearing in one of her hands.

Neither Sakura nor Perfume needed any encouragement. As the Naiad was still
an unknown variable, Perfume only slowed down to pokeball her.

Sakura sent a column of flame towards the newcomer, who leapt over it,
bounced off Sakura's head and continued heading for Jim.

Jim momentarily thanked the two Jennies he'd worked with so long ago. As
this strange pokegirl tried to slash at him, he grabbed her arm and pivoted,
increasing her momentum and shifting his weight to act as a fulcrum.

The energy blade vanished as the pokegirl went flying, though she was
already twisting to land and charge again.

Unfortunately, for her at any rate, Perfume had gotten ready and *no* Alpha
who considered herself worthy of the role took attacks to their Tamer
lightly. Perfume was a pink blur as she spun through a kick that took her
running velocity and all the strength of her legs and translated it into a
single point of impact.

Strange attacker out of nowhere or not, Jim winced as what he estimated as
nearly 4 tons of pressure slammed into the attacker's solar plexus. If she
hadn't already been moving in that direction, that might have been a killing
blow by itself.

Perfume would have taken it easier but a psi-sword manifesting meant
upgrading this stranger's threat potential to extreme. Taking it lightly on
her because she was most likely another Threshold girl was not conducive to
a long life for Perfume OR her Tamer.

Her face now grayish-green and struggling for breath, the stranger's threat
potential was much smaller. Before anyone could object, Perfume tossed a
pokeball and the stranger was converted to red light and sucked within.

"Perfume?" Jim wasn't used to seeing the Amazonchan fight full out. Usually
practice matches or duals between Tamers were until submission.

"Psi-sword meant fighting for keeps," Perfume said simply, waiting until the
capture light stopped blinking. "Now can use bondage equipment to immobilize
before you ask questions."

-------

The Megami were mysterious, rare and powerful. They might have been
classified as Legendary in power level if they weren't dependent on
recovering power from an outside source. That and that each one was
different in what she could actually do.

Belldandy looked at the sleeping Keiichi and released her other two sisters
from their pokeballs.

Urd nodded as she saw the sleep spell binding the human and made a gesture
at the television in the tiny little apartment.

The television turned on, but what was displayed was not found on any of the
local channels.

"Bell, Urd, Skuld? All three of you are with that engineering student?"
Peorth blinked and wondered if there was more to this Keiichi Morisato than
she'd initially thought.

Urd rolled her eyes. "Long story made short: Bell was won in a 'contest', I
wanted to check up on them, Skuld tagged along because she felt Bell could
do better..."

"...and he ended up catching you two. Predictable. Anyway, what's the
problem?" Peorth fiddled with a rose.

"The Prophesied One. This guy who's supposed to be the breakthrough, the
rallying point. We all thought it was going to turn out to be that kid Ash
but then this second Ranma came into the picture." Urd frowned at Peorth's
image. "What's going on?"

Peorth shook her head. "It's a prophesy. They're worded vaguely because it
would be too easy to block or redirect them if they're not. You want to
know. So would everyone else. You want something to *really* think about:
Ranma apparently just evolved a Bunny into a Megami."

Gasps from everyone else except Belldandy and the sleeping Keiichi.

"That was what I felt then," said Belldandy softly. "She's powerful."

"Yeah, it was done through a combination of evolutionary stones according to
Cassandra. That and some weird talent of Ranma's - probably a side effect of
his dimensional journey that's acting like some turbo-charged Blood Gift.
Setsuna says she's working out the variables when she can get time away from
practice without letting her 'Darling' know about it." Peorth shuddered. It
was always disturbed her slightly to see the calm professional Setsuna turn
into an emotional basket case whenever the subject of her owner came up.
Dignity and decorum went right out the window and Setsuna had gone on over
all the details of the new band costumes she was designing.

Urd smirked, interpreting Peorth's look too easily. "Hey maybe you should
come visit, Peorth. Be like old times and I'm *sure* you could use a
recharge."

"Yeah, yeah," Peorth said. "He's not even a Tamer. Having all three of you
is gonna be bad enough when licensing comes around, not to mention the bills
and... Bell? You've got a collar?!"

Bell smiled that little smile of hers and touched the loose metal band that
might have been a necklace if she had been born human. "There *are* some
advantages to having an engineer as an owner."

Urd held up an arm to reveal the bracelet that resembled an overlarge
wristwatch, then grabbed Skuld's arm to lift hers into view. She smirked
anew at Peorth's expression. "I'm not so sure we'll get ident-chips, and the
paperwork's still in progress, but I don't think nearly as badly of the
little guy as I used to. Just one guy threatening to steal Bell away and
he's building these things as fast as he could get his hands on the
schematics."

Peorth tried to suppress a show of envy.

-----------

In another timeline, Ranma would have fought Pantyhose Tarou after some
speed training (among other things) at the hands of some Chinese Amazons and
the match would have been a lot more even.

Ranma Saotome was now facing a version of Pantyhose Tarou that was darker
and nastier than that one, who had fought on the "Dark League" circuit -
those underground matches where killing one's opponent is a perfectly
acceptable method of winning a match. The bulk of pokegirls captured by Team
Rocket ended up in those criminal pit fights, and there was a human who had
learned to fight doing challenges from that ground.

Taro was not only a far nastier person than Pantyhose Tarou, he was stronger
and a better fighter. That was prior to his genetic enhancements to up his
strength and durability, much less his experimental "Monster" form. Taro was
simply going to be the best.

Ranko, the former Ranma native this world, had been skimmed across the
ground like a stone across a pond.

Ukyo had a big spatula and hadn't been afraid to use it. She'd gone down
with a punch that she'd blocked with the handle but it had still bent the
metal into a "U" shape and the shock had been enough to stun her.

"Shampoo not know what boy has been eating, but she wants some." Shampoo
threw her useless stick off to the side now that the bonbori mace was
missing its head. Still it was better than having *her* head being the
impact point.

"You should surrender now, Saotome, before you get hurt." Taro smiled. This
looked to be easier than the fight with Fang-boy.

Nabiki stayed clear. She was a lover not a fighter. Even if she teleported
in how was she going to even vaguely hurt this guy? Seeing where Ranma had
dropped his belt with the other pokeballs, Nabiki used Fade and began
sneaking towards them.

"I ain't even half done," said Ranma, trying to work the soreness out of his
shoulder.

Kasumi had been put off by the initial level of violence, being a kind and
gentle soul that wasn't inclined towards hurting others under anything
approaching a normal situation. However, she was a Griffon and it registered
that this stranger was actively threatening the pack and her Master. Once
that fully registered, it was only the long indoctrination that pokegirls
were not to attack humans that kept her from morphing.

"Rei! Usagi!" Two balls flipped up in midair. "You're needed!"

Rei dropped down into a crouch, estimating her rest time in the pokeball to
be less than an hour, and that guy over there was a human target? How odd.

Usagi landed on her butt. "One of these days I'll get the hang of that."

Ranko shook her head, saw her Tamer and old buddy Ukyo in the firing line
and decided now was no time to be on the injured list.

Ranma slung himself low and under Taro's arms, slamming his fists into the
opponent's stomach.

Taro grabbed Ranma in a bearhug and began crushing him. "Was that the best
you could do, little girl? Everyone else back off or I'll crush his
ribcage!"

Ranma's pokegirls stopped immediately.

Ranma slammed his head into Taro's. It didn't help.

Ash considered his options. Heavy hitters to the extent of being able to
face this guy were not on his team. Minotaura might be able to hold her own,
but wouldn't do anything about the current predicament. Barbisaur and Pidgy
wouldn't be able to take this guy on. Snorlass? No way. CharAmanda would be
a good choice if someone could get Ranma away. If only Peekabu were still
here...

Ranko leapt. "Hey, loser! I'm right here. You won't be lucky this time!"

One arm still holding Ranma in place, Taro backhanded Ranko away.
"Pathetic."

Invisible hands yanked Taro's pants down around his ankles.

Taro started flailing around to catch the invisible Cheshire, and had to let
Ranma go in that moment.

"Ice beam," said Rei, bringing her hands forward and focussing her elemental
attack on this odd boy.

Shampoo pulled Ranma away quickly as ice built up over the attacker. "Ranma
insist on getting into fights, Shampoo going to have to train him long and
hard."

Usagi hopped from one foot to the other, not entirely sure what her attacks
even were.

Nabiki, exhausted from keeping up her Fade technique for that long, promised
herself a long Taming session and rest in her pokeball.

Rei started gasping as fatigue caught up. Just because she had an elemental
affinity didn't mean she could keep up an ice beam for long.

*Crack!* A long line went through Taro's prison.

Rei blinked.

"You've *got* to be kidding me," said Nabiki wearily.

*Crack!* went another line in the ice.

"CharAmanda, I choose you!" Ash threw a pokeball out. "CharAmanda, wait for
my signal, then Flamethrower full power. Minotaura, stand ready."

The vaguely reptillian girl with the flaming tail and the minotaur girl
nodded and watched this intruder.

Ranma shook off Shampoo's hands. "That does it, I'm gonna get this guy."

"You and me both," Ranko snarled.

"Uhm, can anyone unbend my spatula? I don't have a spare for this one," said
Ukyo as she looked at the damage done.

*Crash!* Little shards of ice went flying as the boy in the dragonscale vest
broke free.

"CharAmanda, hit him with everything you got!" Ash pointed helpfully as if
his Fire type couldn't guess who the target was.

CharAmanda could have discharged the flame from her breasts, or just about
anywhere. She'd noticed that her Tamer didn't seem to like that and he *had*
gotten her this nice shirt, so she decided to breathe a cone of flame.

Taro snarled behind his crossed arms. An attempt to Monster Out revealed
that he could only do that once a day. Just the attempt had left him feeling
ill. What he needed to do was remove some of the combatants, let his
regeneration kick in, then come back while his opponents were still tired
and he could crush them. Teleportation took too long both to do and to
recover from so...

CharAmanda was a first stage pokegirl, with a thin girlish figure that would
later become the more curved form of a CharMelon. She couldn't keep up her
flame attack for very long. With a gasp she let the flame go and dropped to
her knees.

Taro was standing, a ball of light formed between his hands. He looked over
the scattered targets getting ready to rush him again, and chose the weakest
link.

The blast caught Ash up and threw him like a rag doll.

Taro grinned and vanished into the woods. He'd recover and return, and since
that puny looking Tamer would be heavily injured, they wouldn't be able to
move quickly.

Game, soon to be set and match.

--------

Cologne winced as her communicator beeped. Nobody ever called with happy
news, especially using Cypher-5. Hmmm with picture yet. "Cologne."

"Honey." It was actually kind of pointless to say that when it was clearly
the blonde and buxom Ditto that Cologne had asked to keep an eye on this guy
who managed such a controversial group.

"Oh, enjoying working with a band?" Cologne smirked. "Or is this new bride
jitters?"

"Well, actually that was three months ago but it *was* kind of nice," said
Honey with a blush before she caught herself. "Hey, that's not it!"

"Too much to hope for a social call," said Cologne wistfully. "Nobody ever
calls to do girl talk."

"Cologne?"

"What is it?" Cologne sipped on her tea.

"This guy has the Frail Constitution disadvantage. He hasn't Tamed me since
the ceremony, I suspected something so I've been putting him off."

"And you're not Feral, that's hardly a problem. It's been known for some
time that those with the Level 2 Bond can go especially long without any
danger of going Feral." Cologne chuckled. So the boy had trouble keeping up,
hardly a crisis.

"No! That's not it!" Honey shook her head rapidly.

"So why *have* you contacted me?"

"I hacked his files while he was visiting his family. He has an Esper rating
of 8 and the Boost Blood Gift."

"I know this, child."

"He's also capable of sustaining those he's psi-linked to indefinitely.
Deviance's notes refer to it as Nurturing, an entirely new and unique Blood
Gift!"

Cologne massaged her temples. "You *hacked* Deviance's files? Child, you
should know better than that. Do you know *why* he picked the name Deviance?
No. Just promise you won't do it again."

"YOU KNEW?!" Honey immediately put her hand over her mouth.

"Child, why do you think you're the bodyguard of that man? Because of the
songs?" Cologne sighed deeply. "Honey-chan. Don't mention this to anyone
else. What do you think the odds are of his survival, much less children, if
certain others were to learn of this? Good night, Honey, and try to enjoy
your marriage a little more." Cologne cut the connection.

"It's not unique though, is it?" Lotion said from her position near the
door.

"There are, out of all the various Leagues, out of all the various agencies,
out of all Tamers and pet owners and Masters that have been scanned - two
individuals with that Gift. We've been checking for odd Blood Gifts for how
long now?" Cologne smirked at the Amazonchan. "If both of them were to be
killed, how many more centuries before this part of Sukebe's Legacy would
pass before we saw them again? He'd never intended for the Feral problems,
you know, this was just his attempt to correct the problem and allow for the
two races to depend on each other."

"Psi-link or empathic bonding?" Lotion made a face. "All you need is love.
I'd say it would be a long wait."

"Or not long at all now, we'll see won't we?"

--------

Ranma massaged his shoulder. He healed really fast, one of the benefits of
his upbringing, but that guy had been a monster! Just hitting him had hurt,
and when that guy had connected with a punch it had felt like getting hit
with a truck or something!

The only consolation here was that everyone else was as bad off or worse
than he was.

Ash was unconscious. Misty was bawling her head off. Shampoo was limping but
moving around to try and keep the joint from stiffening up. Rei had gotten
enough of the fringe of that chi-blast that she was bandaged up. Usagi was
bawling *her* head off because she still had no idea what she could do.
Nabiki was asleep - apparently using her Fade or Teleport for long exhausted
her.

Kasumi had come through without injury and was attempting to pack supplies
so that they could leave the campsite with minimal warning.

"Shampoo, starting tomorrow morning we *will* be sparring."

Shampoo just scowled slightly, but nodded.

Ash's CharAmanda was pretty exhausted apparently, judging from the way the
slightly lizardlike girl was hanging her head. Or was she upset at Ash's
injuries? Weird.

Ranma kept going over the fight in his head and trying to figure out what he
could have done differently and not getting any answers.

Ukyo looked up from where she was trying to nurture an injured Tigress.
"Whatever that guy was: human wasn't on the list. Maybe some kind of
Super-Ditto."

Ranko tried to get up briefly, but Ukyo wasn't letting her and eventually
she stopped and let herself be fussed over. "I've seen all kinds of
pokegirls and fought all kinds of Tamers, but that one was tougher than
anything I've ever faced. He could probably take on a Widow or Mantis."

Ranma nodded but still felt as if he should have been able to do
*something.* He was Ranma Saotome, damnit!

"Ash?!" Misty was staring at her boyfriend. Ranma winced and corrected
himself. Tamer. Well maybe both, not that he was an expert on relationships
or something.

Shampoo limped up to him and looked him straight in the eyes. "Shampoo
ready."

Ranma blinked at the sudden confrontation. Well, that and puzzlement. "Huh?"

"Shampoo ready," said the Amazonchan with some reluctance. "Ready for you to
evolve Shampoo!"

"That'll have to wait till we get to a pokecenter," said Ukyo from where she
was still ministering to an embarassed Ranko. "We've got tired and injured
pokegirls here. If that guy comes back before we're ready, he's gonna just
walk right through us. LUFA!"

Ukyo's thrown pokeball discharged the usual pink light. The girl forming out
of it had short pink hair and was wearing some sort of fighting uniform.

"An Amazonlee?" Shampoo practically sneered.

Ranma was convinced that he actually saw sparks floating between Shampoo and
this new-comer. "You two know each other?"

"Amazonlee and Amazonchan don't particularly like each other, Ranma,"
explained Ukyo. "They're naturally competitive. That's why I haven't been
letting Lufa out. Recall Shampoo to her pokeball, Lufa isn't injured and is
strong so she can help get everything ready and moved."

"Oh right," Ranma said, seeing the point. He didn't *like* the whole
pokeball thing but seemed to have to do it a lot simply because it was
practical. "Shampoo, return."

"Sorry, Ranchan, you deserve a rest." Ukyo returned her Tigress to her
pokeball. "So, how do we get to Dogpatch and that pokecenter quickly?"

"Why ask me?" Ranma responded. He hadn't been trained in a lot of this
stuff.

"Uhm," Usagi interrupted. "I think I might be able to use Teleport."

Ranma and Ukyo exchanged a look. Did they want to try trusting a teleport
from someone who could actually trip over her own shadow?

Ranma looked towards his Griffon. "Kasumi, how much weight can you carry
while flying?"

Looking around the campsite, Kasumi shook her head. "My own weight, maybe
one rider briefly."

"Thinking that if worse comes to worst that I can switch to a Flying type
and you can ride Kasumi out of here?" Ukyo nodded. "We'd have to abandon
everything but what we could carry in our pockets but we could probably
manage that. My Magpie isn't strong enough to carry much more than her own
weight so she'd not be any help. Course, that means you'd have to leave Ash
behind."

Ranma hadn't actually gotten that far but he didn't want to admit that.
"Which ain't an option."

[Tamer: Ranma Saotome. Current harem: #1 Nabiki, Cheshire; #2 Kasumi,
Griffon; #3 Shampoo, Amazonchan; #4 Usagi, Megami; #5 Rei, Icemaiden]

[Tamer: Ash Saotome/Sexum. Current harem: #1 Misty, Selkie; #2 CharAmanda;
#3 Barbisaur; #4 Pidgy; #5 Minotaura; #6 Snorlass (storage)]

[Tamer: Ukyo Kuonji. Current Harem: #1 Ranko, Tigress; #2 Nymph; #3 Lufa,
Amazonchan; #4 Maggie, Magpie]

"We're screwed," summed up Misty.

-------

Professor Stroak sat back and saluted his colleague with a teacup. "So your
files were hacked? Tsk. Guests just don't have any respect for their hosts
anymore. What is it with this generation?"

Doctor Deviance nodded. "One of Cologne's agents too. I used a
trapdoor-ident that backtracked and identified her then brought up all
available information on her."

"Yes, well. Kids nowadays." The Professor made a little shoo-ing motion to
his Ingenue. "Just leave the pot. Guy talk."

"So, any work with the classification of breeds?" Professor Stroak waited
until Maryanne was safely away.

"Yes, I propose that the male breeds, from what we've seen so far, fall into
four specific types. Jocks: who have Gifts like Endurance or Recovery.
Seers: who have Gifts like High Empathy or Intuition. Studs: whose Gifts
somehow involve the Taming process or Breeding. Finally, the Nerds - whose
Gift allows them to learn more." Pausing briefly, Deviance made a
flourishing gesture. "Like your own Blood Gift of Longevity."

Stroak nodded. "Should we let that information leak to Cologne, that Blood
Gifts are beginning to breed true?"

"Nah, let her go about in ignorance," Deviance said, sitting back with a
scowl. "I really dislike guests doing that sort of thing. If I didn't have
all those precautions she might have gotten into some experiments of mine
that neither you nor the old pokeghoul would approve of."

"I thought you'd stopped those lines of inquiry," the Professor replied,
eyes narrowing.

"True. Still have the data though," Deviance shrugged. "What can I say - I
picked the name 'Deviance' to be honest. Fair warning, I think. And it is
nothing compared to what rumors I've heard regarding Gendo, and *he* is as
nothing to a few others out there."

"True," said the Professor, settling back in his chair. "Oh, and Wanderer's
sent me an e-mail, he's back in the area with some big news."

"Well now. Sounds like an excuse for a poker game."

--------

Jim was quite aware of the Naiad Michiru watching him, looking slightly
confused. Well, that was  to be expected.

Most Tamers didn't bother to read a lot or ask a lot of questions. Cologne
encouraged her agents to find out as much as they could, to challenge ideas
and preconceptions. Old ghoul was definitely on to something with that.

Michiru was apparently a Threshold girl, now that she was stabilized and
Tamed by him, there were changes occurring through her entire body. Which
did include brain chemistry. When it was done, Perfume would welcome her new
sister to the pack because unless Jim did something himself to break it the
Naiad would instinctively be attracted to and trust him.

Jim's pokedex looked like a standard, battered and old, pokedex. Not even a
new model, this was bulky in the manner of TK series brought out by
Professor Stroak some years ago. They definitely did not have hidden slide
panels to access extra controls like a thumb scanner.

Jim let the scanner take his thumbprint and do an IR scan to determine that
it was a living thumb without any false layers, then he was through all but
the password check. That done, he brought up the commlink. Scrambled and
encoded, it ended up being not a real-time conversation, as the layers of
encryption needed to match and be tested.

Jim: Do you know any Threshold girls named Michiru?

Cologne: Thanks to that comic book a few years back, there are a lot of
Michiru and Haruka and the like around nowadays. Can you be more specific?

Jim nodded to himself. The old pokeghoul knew him well enough that she
likewise knew he wouldn't be bothering her without a really good reason.

Jim: This one's a Naiad.

Cologne: You're in the Indigo area near Viridian?

Jim thought for a moment before clicking in an affirmative.

Cologne: Did she work for Gendo Giovanni?

"Did you used to work for Giovanni?" Jim was careful to keep the anger out
of his voice. Gendo Giovanni was the latest in a long series of the Giovanni
line. Ruthless power trippers, arrogant to a fault, with more than enough
criminal ties that if they didn't have so much League authority that you'd
need indisputable evidence by the truckload to convict - they'd have been in
Deep Dunjon in cells below Happosai a generation ago.

Michiru clearly hesitated, then nodded once.

Jim: Yes.

Cologne: Sending you a password to unlock a textfile. Use search routine
"Over The Threshold". I doubt she knows anything that will actually help us
but as soon as we can interview her it would be good of you to bring Perfume
home for a visit. After we can replace you on your current assignment.

Jim: What's so important about this kid Ranma Saotome? He's from outside our
world and he's got some kind of Blood Gift to evolve pokegirls like this.

Cologne: Go to Cypher level 6.

Jim raised an eyebrow at that. The encryption routines were supposed to go
from 1 to 5. There was a 6? It took some fiddling with the popup menus but
there was indeed a Level 6. As soon as he hit the [OK], a tiny line of text
appeared at the end of Cologne's message and clicked off the communication
line.

Jim stared at that, realizing now *why* an unheard of cypher had been in
place for just such a thing.

Cologne: Go to Cypher level 6. The Megami think Ranma and his brother are
important.

Jim reviewed what he knew of the Megami. Each was different from the others.
One could do healing spells, another could call lightning from the heavens,
another might command the element of earth, and so on. Each had a psionic or
magical or elemental affinity raised to a high level. The weakest Megami
were on a par with a typical pokegirl like a Tomboy or Peekabu. The
strongest could have at least temporarily held their own with a Legendary.
They were rare, could not be Tamed or Dominated by typical methods as they
could end their own lives with a thought or flee their body or teleport.
They were also most definitely one of Cologne's quieter but powerful allies.

Megami, Jim knew, also could not lie. They could bend the truth, mislead,
exaggerate, speak in code or cryptic phrases, quote, or refuse to answer.
He'd heard rumors of a Megami Prophesy in his brief stay with the Nichieju
at the Amazonchan Preserve. No details and it had mainly been chance that
had gotten his attention there, but he *had* been a detective among other
things. Which had been how he'd figured out about these quiet allies of
Cologne, and the idea of the human and pokegirl races reaching some sort of
parity in the future had been *their* idea. Cologne had come to their point
of view, not the other way around.

On reading the textfile that the password brought up, Jim frowned further.
Every time he found out more about Gendo Giovanni, the more he'd have liked
to dunk him in Jusenkyo and put that SOB through a Level 5 Programming.
Showing Michiru the file, he was mollified somewhat by the tears the Naiad
shed. Not one of Gendo's inner circle. Good, he could work with her still.

He'd be relieved of his 'Watch for Ranma' current assignment, which meant
that...

"Safire!"

"Yes, boss?" The Pidgy flapped closer. "I kinda like 'Tweety' though."

"Whatever," said Jim. "Check on Saotome's position again. I don't want him
getting too far off."

"Right," said Safire with a salute before leaping into the air and spreading
wings.

[Ranma Saotome?] Michiru held up her slate.

Jim nodded, then picked up the pokeball of this attacking pokegirl. "I think
I need to have a talk with your friend here."

---------

Ranma was surprised at Ukyo's solution to the problem. He wouldn't have
thought of it, having been brought up by Genma to believe that reliance on
such things being weak.

After everyone had pokeballed all their pokegirls, she'd cut across the
woods to a section of road and had held her thumb out. Or rather *his* thumb
out as Ukyo had shifted form slightly and now looked like he hadn't shaved
in a day or two.

Which had led to Ukyo, a still unconscious Ash, and Ranma riding in the back
of a chicken truck.

Actually this relieved Ranma on one level. These were normal and regular
chickens, as far as he could tell, and he'd begun wondering where the meat
he'd been eating had come from. Ukyo assured him after he mentioned this
concern that kattle were not intelligent beings or pokegirls. There were
Minotaura and Milktits but they weren't eaten.

The truck itself was odd. Parts of it looked brandnew, others were old and
battered, and the whole thing seemed to be cobbled together. The right side
was higher than the left and some of that parts looked welded together where
they hadn't quite fit.

Ukyo shrugged when Ranma pointed this out. "Hey, most people can't afford a
new vehicle, and what you can scrounge up has to made to fit your needs. Out
in the country nobody is that concerned about how it looks, it's how it
works that matters. New parts are hard to come by unless you're in a city
and have connections." Ukyo kept to herself that the same attitude often
went as far as pokegirls were concerned too.

Ranma nodded before returning to go over the battle again. That kid's style
had been familiar in that there were elements of Muay Thai and Bando
involved. Ironskin technique? There had to be a weak point to exploit, and
once he found it the next battle would go differently.

---------

DAO, the Sword Of The Earth
TYPE: Elemental, Very Near Human
ELEMENT: Rock/Earth
FREQUENCY: Very Rare
DIET: Human style foods. Note: low tolerance for alcohol
ROLE: Rare type. When found makes an excellent patroller/scout in
mountainous areas.
LIBIDO: Normal, Bi
STRONG VS: Rock, Dark, Fire, Steel
WEAK VS: Water, Flying
ATTACKS: Sword techniques, Meld With Stone, Immovability (when standing on
stone)
EVOLVES: None
ENHANCEMENTS: Elemental Affinity: Earth, Minor psychic talents (ability to
form a psi-blade with effort, telekinesis of metal or stone)
  The Dao are rare and often mistaken for another type. They look human for
the most part, and are Rock type despite a lack of superhuman strength or
armored exterior. They draw strength from the land as long as they are in
contact with it and can use their abilities to shape rock into desired
patterns. When a Dao dies, her flesh and bone turn to stone. It is said in
some parts of Indigo that when a Dao dies, the land around her will turn
barren in sadness.

TIGRESS, the fighting feline pokegirl
TYPE: Anthropomorph (tiger) Humanoid, some instances of Near or Very Near
Human
ELEMENT: Fighting
FREQUENCY: Uncommon
DIET: meat, milk, human style foods.
ROLE: Occupations where combat is necessary. Often found as the pokegirl
partner to some police.
LIBIDO: Normal, Hetero
STRONG VS: Normal, Rock, Plant
WEAK VS: Steel, Dark, Psychic
ATTACKS: Bite, Scratch, Slash, Pummel
EVOLVES: None
ENHANCEMENTS: Feline anthropomorph. Functional claws, nightvision, enhanced
senses of smell and hearing, enhanced agility. Enhanced strength (x5) and
recovery time.
   Tigress are often sought by Tamers for their passionate nature. The
phrase "Tigress in bed" is meant to indicate a nearly insatiable appetite
and wild manner. They are also very passionate about anything else in their
life, particularly battle.

ZEROMER, the armored pokegirl
TYPE: Humanoid
ELEMENT: Steel
FREQUENCY: Rare
DIET: human style foods and metal
ROLE: Rarely found. Usually sought by Tamers.
LIBIDO: Low
STRONG VS: Ice, Fire, Lightning, Fighting
WEAK VS: Water, Ghost, Flying
ATTACKS: Megaton Punch, Crush Kick, Body Slam, Harden
EVOLVES: None
ENHANCEMENTS: Extreme high density (x5), armored skin, enhanced digestive
system, light Feral
    Zeromer resemble living suits of armor or some femininely shaped robot.
They are actually bio-mechanical constructs. Self-replicating, some are
still reluctant to call them pokegirls as they almost seem a completely
different phylum.

Cologne's Files:__

LOSTECH: Technology that was known in the late 20th or early 21st Century
that is either unknown now, or requires resources not available.
Petrochemicals, for example, are in short supply and therefore the old fuel
gasoline is rare- plastics are usually recycled but are flimsier and less
resistant to chemicals than some of the old types. The making of many of
these old plastics is therefore lostech because no way has been found to
make up for the lost source material. There are people known as Reclaimers
whose job it is to uncover Lostech and find ways of reproducing it today.

FORBIDDEN TECH: Technology banned since Sukebe's War and the backlash
against the sciences of that time. Though many of the technologies have
since been allowed, there are still many areas that are considered Sealed.
Weapons technologies, non-ecofriendly sources of power like coal or nuclear
fission, and cybernetics are all considered Sealed technologies. If
petrochemicals had been more plentiful, it is likely that these would end up
being Sealed as well. There are periodic attempts by the medical community
to lift bans on human genetic research, which so far have been only
partially successful and then only in the Indigo area.

MEGAMI PROPHESIES: Only known in full by a mysterious set of Megami, the
Prophesies are not even a rumor as far as the bulk of humanity or pokegirls
are concerned. A Megami named Cassandra developed these in fractured prose.
Good prophet, lousy poet. Eventually it pointed to a long and difficult
struggle, though a war fought in the hearts and souls of men as opposed to
anything like a military struggle. Eventually there would be a bard who
would help to pave the way for the Prophesied One. The Prophesied One would
be a warrior from both within and without, someone of humble origins who had
known strife, but would carry the banner and rally emotions to the cause of
parity. Other clues originally had this pinned tentatively as the child of
Nodoka Sexum/Saotome: Ash. This has recently come into dispute.

BELLEROPHON JONES: 250-292 AS. Adventurer/scholar/explorer who was
popularized in a series of films starting in 293 AS. The actual Bellerophon
was a wise-cracking, disrespectful, bluntly honest, homespun humble fellow
who practiced a sort of pseudo-gallantry towards pokegirls rarely seen
particularly during his time. He always considered his fame as being a lucky
series of mistakes and that he was just someone making an honest living in
exciting times. His Titmouse Karen was a Threshold girl who acted more the
part of a Tomboy and was a skilled mechanic. I never did see what he saw in
Marlene, a Bunny who thought she was a Diva and far more trouble than she
was worth. Despite surviving sometimes ridiculously insane levels of danger
over the years, Marlene perished in 289 of food poisoning. Karen and
Bellerophon had one child, Achilles, in 287 who is currently being raised in
Nichieju. Doctor Jones and his pokegirl wife Karen died together in 292 AS
at the hands of a Psi-Dyke pirate named Mephaesta operating in the Orange
Islands. Mephaesta managed to escape though her operation was shut down
shortly thereafter.

SHUN UKIYA: A Tamer/adventurer active in the Edo League 272-279 AS. There
was a TV series of fair popularity in the 280s that dealt with his team of
pokegirls and his own use of his Blood Gift (Elemental Affinity: Wind) in
fighting the Dark League encroaching in that area at the time. The Dark
League turned out to be under the control of some madman with powerful Blood
Gifts (Elemental: Dark) but details are not available outside the Edo
League. In the series they got some whiny looking fellow named Keros. His
main crew was composed of: Ruriko Ikusawa, a Kitten who was good at archery;
Reiko Asagiri, an unusual Kitten with a magic/music affinity; Kaoru Konoe, a
Saijin; Fen Feiring, a Vixxen; and Megumi Kurogane, a Shieldmaiden. All were
Threshold girls.

MEPHAESTA: Originally born a Psi-Dyke named Trellia, she changed her name to
Mephaesta after a few years on the Underground Fights circuit where she was
known for her particularly savage manner in dispatching opponents. Psi-Dykes
are one of the few breeds who actually enjoy that sort of thing and for
Mephaesta it was her favored element. She was defeated in 290 by an Amachamp
named Mary Blackhand. She took the loss poorly, killed her Tamer Kiira and
left a bloody trail all the way to the edge of League territory. When she
next showed up it was as a pirate whose "signature" was the flaying alive of
ranking males and making eunuchs of the remainder when boarding vessels
(this last accomplished by a flaming knife). Her pirate base was revealed
and her operation sundered by Bellerophon Jones in 292 AS. Mephaesta escaped
and remains at large today. Not long ago I received a memory cube, a device
which uses a psionic pokegirl's talents to impress what she is seeing and
hearing into a form which can be experienced by others. Not only is
Mephaesta alive and heading a new group, she has access to Sealed
technology. The visions deal with a young man who defended a pokegirl during
a raid on an outlying community, his transformation into a pokegirl, and how
he was broken to serve her new master. It was extremely distasteful and was
accompanied by a threat to make attacks on Amazonchan supporters unless we
allied with them. As this is clearly not a choice, we have increased the
strength and frequency of patrols.