DISCLAIMER: Characters originated elsewhere. The spin they're in is because
the setting is completely unlike the "plush toy cockfighting" angle of a
typical pokemon world. NC-17 so if you're under 18 don't read further. Also,
there are aspects of this world which are dark and disturbing to the author,
but which fit all too well in this world teetering on revolution.

---------

0530 hours:

Dogpatch was the sort of town that caused Ranma to at least temporarily
shelve the concerns about how to defeat that jerk with the dragonscale vest
while he and Ukyo and Ash attempted to find the pokecenter. At least he
wasn't alone as Ukyo and Ash stared too.

Ash pointed out that this section of mountain looked a lot like one of those
photos of a water droplet splashing that had been frozen in the moment.
Ranma took his word for it. Ukyo agreed.

The "crater" was almost bathtub shaped and the droplets or spurs or whatever
you wanted to call them radiated out from the center. Center was a spire.
The town was actually built on and in between the spires in some crazy cat's
cradle arrangement.

Ranma looked around crazily. He'd seen a few cities and towns, but hadn't
really had time for sightseeing. That his companions were gawking meant that
he didn't stand out particularly.

There were banners everywhere and colorful decorations. There was also a
large crowd, some odd gleaming new machines that didn't nearly fit into the
ramshackle buildings of the town, food booths, carnival style gaming booths,
fortunetellers, jugglers, and lots of other things he wasn't even sure how
to classify.

"Dang, it's been awhile since I've been to a carnival," said Ukyo.

Ranma's eyes went back to the blue-clad disguised-as-a-boy Tamer and
wondered about the weird parallel here. Of course, the Ukyo Kuonji in *his*
world had been a boy for real not just using some shapeshifting trick to
look the part. Still, there were times this "almost but not quite" sort of
thing just freaked him out.

"There it is, Dogpatch Pokecenter and Apothecary," said Ukyo as she pointed.
"Dang, these people have taken rustic down near to an artform."

Ranma looked at the building and wondered why this building looked
relatively normal when the rest of the town looked like a good wind would
knock everything over.

"Thank goodness," groaned Ash. "I don't think I could go on much further."

-----------

The word spread. A little Titmouse told a Growlie who told a Nymph who told
a Hound and so on and so forth. Tamers talked about, and their pokegirls
*really* talked about it.

Ash "Runt" Saotome and his extradimensional brother Ranma "Wild Stallion"
were attending the Sadie Poken's Festivities.

More, Ranma had evolved a Bunny into a Megami. As difficult as it was to
believe that he could evolve one Kitten into a Griffon and another into a
Cheshire, the evolution of Usagi was evidence that Ranma had some major
talent or knowledge that the others lacked access to. Which got a large
number of people (both pokegirls and their Tamers) interested.

Crowds began accumulating, though the Tamers didn't want to get too close.
At least until *after* Sadie Poken's Day had been celebrated.

---------

0730 hours:

Ukyo ruffled her Ranchan's fur slightly, noting the contented purr as the
Tigress slipped closer to her in her sleep. Sure looked like her Ranchan was
her Ranchan, it was just not the way she'd wanted it all so long ago.

Her father had seen the two apparently getting along back when they were
kids. The deal made with Ranma's father had been for them to take Ukyo along
so that she could learn all the skills that made a good Alpha. When they
were old enough, Ukyo would have been Ranma's first and become the Alpha of
his pack. Absolutely no reason not to go along with such an arrangement - a
Domesticated Ditto was extremely useful and then her Tamer's fame would be
her own fame. They could eventually reach the pinnacle of mastery and settle
down.

Except that Genma Saotome had run off with the funds, the cart where Ukyo
was to continue practicing okonomiyaki making skills, as well as the special
diet that Dittos required by their difficulty eating some foods. Ukyo had
sworn that she would get her revenge and so had adopted the male identity of
a Tamer and went off on her own training journey.

Even to the point of getting that waste-head Tsubasa after her. A Tamer who
dressed in pokegirl costumes? A Tamer who wanted to specialize in Dittos and
somehow had seen through her disguise? He'd been chasing after her since
Middle School, and seemed to get crazier everytime their paths crossed.

She'd crossed the paths of Genma & Ranma several times. Genma had apparently
committed petty thefts and gone the "Team Rocket" route without the uniforms
or sentai speeches. Everywhere she had looked there had been evidence of the
two running off with stolen food or clothes or equipment. There were Gyms
that had been broken into, but that hadn't been the worst of it. Oh no.
Ranma had been trained extensively by them catching or stealing a pokegirl,
then eventually abandoning the pokegirl after Ranma had learned about her
strengths and weaknesses.

When she'd released Ranma from her pokeball that night, she'd seen the
results of the justice that had been done. A frightened young pokegirl on
the verge of losing her identity. The need for vengeance had been shelved,
and Ukyo had begun comforting the lost child. One thing had led to another,
of course. Once her Ranma had realized that this was her *old buddy* Ukyo,
and that Ukyo was really a girl - there had been a surrender to the
inevitable. Ukyo had been a little surprised at the relief briefly showing
on Ranma's transformed face.

Someone might call it a "Taming" but that had not been Ukyo's approach, but
if she made sure the new girl understood that she was being dominated -
there may have still been a little desire for vengeance there.

Part of Ranma's new attitude was simply biological. Some of it may have been
guilt. Some of it may have been the attitudes her own father had given her
about pokegirls, now applied to herself because there was no denying after
that night that she *was* now a pokegirl.

Ranma was now Ranko to avoid confusion. Besides, there was no "horse"
showing in the feline feminine creature she'd become. Ranko was now
determined to become the greatest fighting type pokegirl instead of fighting
type Tamer. Ranko was even acting a little exaggeratedly feminine, but how
was she to really know how to act now?

They'd gotten into some serious grappling as soon as the two had gotten a
room and Ukyo had released her Tigress from her pokeball. Wincing and
rubbing her lower back, Ukyo wondered how the real guys managed it. Lufa and
Nymph and Maggie would eventually meet the new pokegirl and she'd let them
have the pecking order fight out between them. Ranko would win, but with the
argument out of the way the 'girls would settle into their new roles faster
than if she'd simply handed a decision to them from "on high."

Ranko merely purred and held her Tamer close, and if she had an opinion on
the matter she wasn't speaking.

--------

Ash was badly injured and was resting. Which was one reason he didn't notice
one of his pokeballs opening by itself.

The huge shape of a Snorlass briefly materialized, looked over the pitiful
creature that could *not* be his own child. Too weak and runty to have been
sired by *his* loins. Genma knew there would be a way back. He was a *he* -
not a pokegirl, especially not a useless being like a Snorlass. No, even if
he had to spring Happosai from his cell, Genma would be rid of this form.

Computers ran things automatically, so it had been a simple matter for him
to wait for the inevitable cycling out of storage, then his knowledge of
secret techniques and pokeball construction allowed him to escape prison. At
least the prison of the pokeball. The ungainly form of a Snorlass was
proving more difficult a prison, for now at least.

A pathetically thin Selkie got in between Ash and Genma. Genma considered
crushing the slender form, then dominating her and forcing her into her
pokeball. No. Escape first - then return when his manhood was restored. At
which point he'd be able to find out what happened to his *real* son, Ranma,
and restore the boy.

Turning, Genma left in a hurry. He couldn't take this overlarge fat female
form for much longer.

------

Misty sighed in relief as the Snorlass ran off. She hadn't thought she'd be
able to actually win against something that big. Even if she was evolved to
Boobgong, that Snorlass had to weigh over the 1500 pound usual for the
breed. Just being grappled by something that fat would leave her wanting to
bathe for a week!

The various others in Ash's group were all in a Healing cycle, which left
*her* the whole responsibility of keeping Ash safe and making sure everyone
was cared for.

There hadn't been a Nurse Joy at the desk. Instead some ancient crone with
the unlikely name of "Granny Weatherwax." Despite the poverty of the rest of
the town, this particular building was only twenty years or so old and
showed signs of constant repair. No doubt League inspectors made sure that
this part of town was up to standard.

The sheets were crisp and clean and the room was only slightly dingy. No
windows, and the lighting was somewhat dim, but it still put this particular
section quite a bit ahead of the rest of the town. Not that she'd gotten a
chance to really see the place from the lobby of this pokecenter.

Misty held up her hand, inspecting it briefly. There were plenty of signs of
her transformation. As a Tomboy she'd had stronger looking hands. These were
more slender, graceful, also smaller when she got the chance to compare them
by hefting objects whose size had remained constant. The nails were thicker
and pearlescent, also longer. She could pry open an oyster shell with these,
but they weren't functional claws like those of a Kitten or Catgirl.

She was a Water type and being on land, away from visible water, made her
slightly antsy. She needed to bathe or at least wet her skin frequently.
There were other, less obvious, changes.

Deciding that she needed something to read, lest she fall asleep and leave
an opening for that Snorlass to return, Misty decided to try some of the
League literature.

Giving up in disgust after a few minutes (they were all nearly fifty years
out of date), Misty tried the front desk. Unfortunately the woman at the
front desk seemed to think the entire idea of someone at a Pokecenter
wanting to *read* was practically ludicrous.

Misty ended up grumbling a lot to the unconscious Ash about how he was going
to have to make it up to her later.

--------

Shampoo whimpered and squirmed. She knew her new Tamer had to practice
special techniques and try to increase his abilities. It was apparently part
and parcel of being Ranma Saotome to find a way to victory, failure was not
to be tolerated for long.

So he'd set to trying to get Shampoo to evolve from Amazonchan to the second
stage: Herochan.

She'd orgasmed repeatedly on his use of the devastating "Fluttering Tongue"
technique. She'd practically burst out of her bonds during Ranma's use of
the "Iron Hand In The Velvet Glove" technique. She'd been reduced briefly to
a sobbing begging wreck during his use of the "Point Of No Return" special
technique. She'd died the little death and fainted during his practice of
the "Grappling Fruit Fondle" but been revived all too soon by the
"Circulatory Surge Point Strike".

Shampoo was overwhelmed. She hadn't exactly been a prude but she'd cum so
many times in the past few hours she thought she'd need to be treated for
dehydration and exhaustion soon. (Not that this was at all unusual in a
Pokecenter.)

"Ranma-airen," said Shampoo as she felt herself withdrawing into an
exhausted state. An idle portion of her mind indicated that she likely
wouldn't need a Taming for a couple of weeks now. Also that she might be
having trouble walking for awhile. "Shampoo think she not going to evolve no
matter what you do."

"Oh," Ranma said, thinking that he had been about ready to call for a
Nurse - Shampoo really didn't look too well.

"Besides, you need get to Rei..." Shampoo slumped down into the mat almost
bonelessly.

Naturally, Ranma panicked.

Nabiki decided to drop her pretense of sleep and check into her pokesister's
condition. She was quick to assure Ranma that Shampoo just needed to sleep
it off. And that the water should be hot enough now for Rei to get Tamed.

"Maybe I should try that 'The Big O' technique?" Ranma wondered aloud.

"NO. Now you should know that Rei has some special needs," Nabiki began.

"Huh?" Ranma wondered what Nabiki meant. Like Shampoo needing to be tied
down or Nabiki wearing special gloves?

"Rei came to our little family at the Ranch due to a League shut down of
some illegal Breeding Lab," Nabiki explained. She didn't bother with the
rumor that it had been involved with some of that Team Rocket crap. From
what she'd read, Professor Stroak felt that it had been one of Giovanni's
little projects, but after the raid he'd cut any ties with it. "Rei is an
Icemaiden, but she's got some odd other things about her. She never had much
of a family growing up and is quite reluctant to form emotional bonds or
that sort of stuff."

Ranma considered his Alpha briefly. "What's a Breeding Lab, anyway?"

Nabiki groaned and covered her eyes briefly. "Ranma, do you know what
breeding is?"

"Oh, of course, yeah, sort of. Uhm, no not really."

Nabiki groaned again and considered beating her head against the wall.
"Ranma, do you know where babies come from?"

"Uhm, well, that's..." Ranma stopped, the confusion on his face being
obvious enough of an answer.

Nabiki sighed. She'd known he was a virgin when she and Kasumi had coaxed
him into Taming the two of them. She'd known also that his schooling in that
other world was haphazard. She *should* have known that simple reproduction
was also one of those areas that Ranma was unfamiliar with. "It's involved
with Taming, but..."

Rei let herself out of her pokeball and regarded her Tamer dispassionately.
"I will be in the bath."

Ranma stared as the Very Near Human stripped down and walked out of the
room. "I don't think I'll ever get used to that kind of thing."

"Ranma, pay attention," chided Nabiki. "We'll save the talk about
reproduction until some other time. Right now, I need to explain quickly
about Rei. She came to us almost in a Feral state. The Tendo Ranch was
always a big friendly place, but nobody could get close to Rei. Even other
Icemaidens were put off by her. It isn't so much being personally cold as it
has been that she just doesn't quite seem to understand how to react to
other people."

"I don't get it," said Ranma after a few seconds.

"I need an aspirin," said Nabiki, grateful that Kitten-types (like Cheshire)
were human enough that human medications would mostly work on them. "Go see
if you can Tame her, but what Rei really needs more than anything else is
someone to be her friend."

----------

0917 hours

Genma had trained under Master Happosai. From Happosai had come all his
skill and knowledge of how to become a true master of pokegirls.

One of those lessons had been regarding the acquisition of food. Tamers had
to wander around and therefore could not count on regular meals. Therefore
one had to get food however one could and eat lots when it was available.

There were lots of food booths around, and so Genma did what was natural.

"Aughhh! A wild Snorlass is stealing food!"

"SNORLASS!" Genma said, thinking that if everyone assumed he was just a
Feral Snorlass that they'd underestimate him!

"Hold it buddy, you're under arrest!" An Officer Jenny announced, leaping in
front of him.

"SNORLASS!" Genma disagreed, taking a fighting stance. With his new weight
and power he'd easily be able to overpower this puny little pokegirl.
Waitaminute. Didn't all Officer Jennies have a pokegirl partner?

*THOOM!*

Genma found his considerable bulk being lifted into the air, which was
enough to shock him to near immobility.

"Good going, Rhydame," said the Jenny approvingly. "Since she's Feral, why
don't you take her over into that field and Tame her. That way she'll be no
trouble."

Genma twisted free, and lashed out with enough force to stagger the
centauroid pokegirl. No *way* was he going to let himself get Tamed.

*PHUT! PHUT! PHUT!*

Genma yelped at the sharp series of stings on his backside then turned.
Officer Jenny was loading more drug darts into her launcher. "Uh oh."

"Rhydame think Snorlass play hard to get," the Rhydame said in a gravelly
voice. "That just mean Rhydame need to play it *rough*."

Genma continued to struggle weakly as he was carried off. He wouldn't let
the tranquilizers take him down. He was Genma Saotome, not a Snorlass! He
didn't lose! He wouldn't cum and therefore he'd be able to fight this! He
would not accept being a female!

--------
***(parts of this scene contrib by BlazingMew:)

1020 hours

Ranma wasn't entirely sure how to handle this. With Nabiki and Kasumi, all
he had to do was play around with them for awhile and then he woke up later
and they were purring like crazy.

Shampoo didn't quite evoke the same level of cattiness. With her it was a
martial arts match where the goal was making her completely lose her mind in
sheer pleasure. Though she had wanted to evolve to Herochan in that latest
match, it just hadn't happened.

Usagi was loud and Ranma was still kind of freaked by this whole Megami
thing. Next time he'd try a different approach and see if she'd at least
come quietly.

Getting to the bath, Ranma could see that Rei was practically wilting
already. She was panting, submerged up to her breasts in the bath and
looking thoroughly weakened.

Ranma hesitated at seeing how the girl looked barely able to remain sitting
upright.

"Are you ready to initiate a mating yet?" Rei looked up at him.

Ranma was a little put off by that. Rei might as well having been asking if
he wanted fries with that. "Do you *want* to be..." The displaced boy tried
to find another way to say it. This whole thing with calling it Taming
seemed wrong somehow. What else could he call it though? "Do you want to
breed?"

Rei momentarily dunked her head and came up sputtering. Not much could get a
reaction out of her, but *that* had. He wanted to *breed* with her? To grow
little ones inside of her? That was certainly not what she expected. She
certainly wasn't ready for such a role. Was she?

"Are you okay?" Ranma stripped down and got into the bath. He wasn't ready
for this, but when was he going to get a chance to do this again?

"I'm not sure," responded Rei Ayanami, more confused than she'd ever been in
her life.

Now both sitting in the warm tub, the two were quiet as each tried to figure
out what the next thing to do was. Rei felt her stomach, trying to imagine
little ones growing inside her. Most pokegirls of an anthropomorphic type
had litters of two to four. Icemaidens, she thought, would be more like
Amazonchan or Amazonlee and have single or double births. Of course, there
was a lot of respect given to a pregnant pokegirl - striking or battling one
was tantamount to murder since a human child could be the one in the womb.
Was that what Ranma wanted?

Rei spared a glance at her Tamer. He was already thinking of getting his
Tamer's license and breeding her? It set up so many conflicting feelings in
her that she trembled. To become a mother was something almost all pokegirls
dreamed of, but it was so difficult to get a Tamer to that stage.

The awkward silence was beginning to get to Ranma. This wasn't how it had
gone with any of the previous girls. Maybe he should ask her about herself?

Remembering a brief flash of her childhood at the lab, Rei didn't realize
that a tear was sliding down her cheek.

Seeing THAT, Ranma almost went into a panic. What had he done? Was she upset
because he hadn't started yet? Well, action before thought *was* part of the
Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts!

Ranma scooted a little closer and kissed the trail left behind by the tear,
and hugged the girl briefly. "We can try again later if you want. It's not
like we got to leave immediately or nothin'. I mean, I'd like ta get to know
you and..." Ranma thought as quickly as he could. What did women like to
hear? "...and you're really cute. I mean you'd be really cute if you smile,
I mean..."

"I see..." Rei was still confused about this but felt a bubble of amusement
well up from within. A faint smile began at the corners of her mouth.

"THAT'S better," said Ranma pointing at the smile, "I..." At this point he
tried to scoot back, as he could still feel the cold radiating from Rei
despite the heat of the bath water. At which point his foot slipped and he
ended up diving forward instead.

Rei had begun moving to follow Ranma, not wanting to give up the proximity
and trying to follow his lead, which ended up with Ranma's head submerged
and in her lap briefly. This surprised Rei considerably, as Ranma seemed to
be getting very forward. Besides, how would he breathe down there? Then she
realized, as he came up sputtering what had happened.

"Clumsy..." Rei faintly smiled. That her Tamer was trying to put her at ease
like this touched a part of her she hadn't realized existed.

"CLUMSY!!! I have you know I am ahhhh..." Ranma's brain temporarily froze
upon seeing Rei
smile. ~She really is cute when she smiles.~

Rei decided that it was her turn to take the initiative. Well, she felt
weakened by the heat of the tub, and so probably wouldn't injure her Tamer.

Hesitantly, Ranma and Rei leaned closer to a featherlight tentative kiss,
then another that lasted longer, and finally a third where the pressure
increased. Ranma held Rei close and felt her hands and arms moving along his
back.

Rei broke the liplock to moan as her neck arched. "Do you want to be one
with me? To be of one mind and one body?"

Ranma didn't answer, he was busy leaving a trail of kisses along Rei's neck
and shoulder. If he had been able to interpret that moan at all it would
simply be an indication that he was along the right track.

Rei felt sensations washing over her. Naturally she tried to catalogue them.
~My knees are weak, and there is an odd feeling in my stomach. Am I unwell?
I feel... hungry? A need to be fulfilled, for completion, to attain a higher
level?~

The warm water swirling around them, Ranma led his Icemaiden to the wider
section of shelf and brought his hand down to check her readiness. She was
still a little chilly, but definitely wasn't as dead as she'd been in his
previous attempt.

~Heartrate increasing. Hormonal rate seems to have increased to the point
where my thoughts are fogged. How odd.~ Her eyes saw the brief surfacing of
the mark of his maleness as he positioned her, then her gaze wandered up his
chest to eventually reach his eyes. ~Oh my, if I may borrow Kasumi's pet
phrase.~

Ranma could barely bring himself to look away from those crimson eyes. They
weren't as lifeless as usual, having a spark that had been missing before.
Then Rei closed her eyes with another moan and the spell was broken.

"Master, is there something wrong with me?" Rei's voice had gone to a
throaty whisper.

Before Rei could talk about her confused feelings in more detail, Ranma
kissed her deeply and
long, his hands stroking in what he judged to be the correct places
according to the scrolls. "Shhh... Rei we can talk about it later, just go
what you feel."

For Rei it was as if a dam had broken. Sensation swept through her and the
hunger took control. As he began nuzzling further down her body, Rei felt
the need double and triple within her, an irresistable flood that swept her
along - disoriented and helpless.

Ranma didn't understand some things about the whole Tamer deal, but he knew
that if he was going to do it, he was going to be the *best*! This was a
challenge and Ranma Saotome didn't lose!

This was tested to some extent as Rei suddenly manifested strength that her
slender form didn't seem capable of. She rolled the two of them out of the
tub onto the floor so that she was on top. Reaching down, she guided the tip
of Ranma's manhood to the place now ready to receive it. She settled onto
the shaft, taking it an inch at a time into her own sex. When it met
resistance, she had to force it the rest of the way, and there was a brief
flash of pain, but it was soon past her. Once it was fully within her, she
felt her eyes fluttering. It felt so good- not only a filling but a
fulfilling.

Ranma was surprised by how forward the girl had gotten, she'd struck him as
being somewhat shy prior to this. Her rocking back and forth and making
cooing noises was hardly what he had expected.

She began bouncing around atop him, each bounce producing a squeak or moan.

The cold from within her was beginning to affect Ranma, and he realized that
if she kept up this sort of freezing he'd require treatment for frostbite.
He seized Rei about the waist and rolled her back towards the water, guiding
the roll so that their lower ends were in the warm water while their heads
were above.

Rei felt as if a bubble had formed within the core of her being and was
swelling, shoving aside her identity as it raced up through her. Body and
mind and soul were united in a searing flash as she twisted and made a final
clench as if she were trying to take all of Ranma within her.

Ranma was just beginning to relax as a bright glow flared from within Rei,
beginning at her center and spreading through her entire form. "Oh no, not
again."

-------

1100 hours:

Wreckball was perhaps the single most popular sport across League
boundaries, not counting League duels. The ball itself was a blue sphere a
little less twice the size of a typical human head. Made of a hardened
ballistic material known as Neo-Kevlar stretched over a sphere of Spinnertit
silk and layers of puff-leaves, a hard iron core, being hit with a Wreckball
was usually quite painful.

The game itself was deceptively simple when you looked at the positions and
how to score. Throw or kick the ball into the opposing team's net in order
to score three points. There was a team of six: Right Forward, Center
Forward, Left Forward, Left Guard, Right Guard, Goalkeeper. In some Leagues
the names were different, Right Forward for example being Flame Attacker or
Right Guard becoming Right Shield, but the basics remained the same.

Then you could score a point by knocking the ball carrier out or off the
field. This was also very popular with the crowds.

Add into this strange game that the playfield was often odd or hazardous.
Some areas used globes of water, others used Sorceresses to provide fields
of null-grav, most used grassy fields as a "traditional" surface.

The final bit that made Wreckball popular was that pokegirls were the
players.

When the players would use telekinesis, fireballs, lightning, flight,
teleportation, superhuman strength and armored skin to their advantage, the
game took on wild and unpredictable elements.

Wreckball also had some benefits. Though it could be as vicious and painful
as Dark League grudge matches, winning teams had access to good healers and
pokegirls tended to heal from darn near any kind of injury anyway. Often the
higher ranked or more popular pokegirls had their owners or Tamers well
taken care of, and were therefore well taken care of themselves. There were
fanclubs for some pokegirls, and a degree of fame attributed to them as
well. It was perhaps the pinnacle of recognition for a pokegirl, who could
be a star in her own right as opposed to a slot in a Tamer's harem.

"Aw, c'mon, Ucchan, it'll be fun!"

Ukyo eyed her Tigress, knowing full well why Ranko wanted to go off and join
a Wreckball team. Though she wasn't opposed to the idea herself. The Tamer
of a Wreckball player wasn't typically given a lot of time in the spotlight,
and scrutiny was not something the Ditto wanted by a long shot. Ranko could
become a star, famous and admired, and use all the various skills for
fighting and knowing her opponents weaknesses as a Wreckball player.
Probably one of the Forwards as speed and agility were more important in
those positions. "I'll think about it."

Ukyo was actually considering it. The whole Tamer angle carried dangers with
it, and her need for revenge was solely directed against Ash's Snorlass at
the moment. Retiring from the Tamer circuit *was* tempting, and while Ranko
played Wreckball she could maintain a steady income. Eventually Ranko would
have to retire, but if Ukyo played her cards right she could open a
restaurant or other venue off the sort of salary Ranko could command.
However, she wasn't going to give in to the idea quite yet. Ranko's attempts
to win her cooperation on this matter were quite... entertaining.

Yes, that was a good word for it. Certainly better than "Taming."

---------

Rei panted, exhausted, her slender body sprawled untidily.

That she now had wings and was now a slightly healthier shade of pink was
also obvious.

Remembering about how rest phases were best handled in the pokeballs, Ranma
held the sphere up. "Rei. Return." After the winged girl had turned to red
light and been stored within, Ranma slumped to the floor exhausted. Man, if
he had only learned about this endurance training method years ago!

Ranma walked out into the hallway as soon as he'd cleaned up, and noticed
how a section of doorframe further down the hall seemed to shift position
slightly in relation to the rest of it. "Nabiki. Rei evolved."

"Icemaiden? So she evolved to Yukionna? Or were you able to get her to
Snowqueen?" Nabiki dropped the Fade technique. Obviously Ranma was able to
sense her through their bond. Darn he was good.

"Either of them got wings?" Ranma asked.

"...no," admitted Nabiki.

"Then I'd say not," continued Ranma. "I'm gonna get a nap."

-------

There were those who said he was the most evil and ammoral bastard in the
Indigo League. There were some who made that claim and extended it into
Johto and out to other areas.

To which Gendo Giovanni would quietly chuckle and wonder what they'd think
of Mephaesta, or of Keele, or of that Kefka fellow.

"Find Taro, let him know that I am... displeased," Gendo let his minions
scurry while he scratched the ear of his Purrsian. "I am most displeased.
Having to use resources to cover his tracks was expected, but I had not
expected this number of tracks. If it continues, I shall have to discipline
him."

The Purrsian flinched. She knew that Gendo was capable of kindness and being
calmly methodical, but he had to be in control every moment of the way.
Gendo Giovanni was a man of many masks, outwardly he would only show emotion
as a calculated part of some act. He regarded his frequent Tamings of her as
a cardiovascular workout with the secondary purpose of maintaining skills
for the times they would be necessary. The occasional act of kindness that
slipped out was an indication of the young boy she'd seen in the old
photographs - a boy who had a quick smile and an assortment of cuts and
bruises in every picture.

Gendo didn't keep Very Near Humans as part of his personal staff. Purrsian
was an anthropomorph Humanoid. Which meant that she had more feline traits
than human, though her overall bodyshape allowed her to walk upright and
manipulate objects. Unlike a Kitten, she was covered in fur. She had a
pronounced muzzle, thick fingers and toes with functional claws, and a
second knee joint that allowed her to go to all fours. Purssian knew this
and knew that eventually Gendo would find a new toy. The previous holder of
this position, a Merrowl, had been sent off to join a couple of losers in
Team Rocket. So most likely she would *not* end up stuffed and on display.

Gendo angry resulted in his cruelty bubbling to the surface, not a display
of rage or unreasoning anger. He could be exquisitely cruel if provoked, and
had some odd ideas about justice to inflict on those who managed to managed
to get a response from him.

"What of the Moo Project?" Gendo asked. A vidscreen shifted to the lead
scientist on the project, a Dr Hojo.

Hojo cleared his throat. "Vell, ve haff some minor successes. Even using der
fastgrow cloning, it seem likely dat der Moo II vill be another two months
to bring to der fruition."

"Acceptable. For now." Gendo's eyes flickered. "So Ranma Saotome is in
Dogpatch for the Sadie Poken's Day Festival?"

"Do you want to inform Taro of his whereabouts?" One of the screens now
showed a security agent who performed courier duties.

"No. Taro has bungled enough. Wait until Saotome has left town, then let
Taro know of the apparent direction. I will give him one more chance.
Otherwise, well, his genetic enhancements might turn out to be... unstable."
Gendo smirked at no one in particular.

Everyone present shuddered and were glad that they were not Taro.

------

1200 hours:

Misty had finally found something to read. The problem was that it was
fairly alarming.

Walking quickly up to the front desk, she asked the question she was
dreading. "Excuse me, Weatherwax-san. WHEN is 'Sadie Pokens Day' to take
place?"

"It's goin' on now, dearie," said the old woman, shifting her corncob pipe
around in her mouth. "All you gotta do to be free of your old Tamer is step
out that door. At the end of the day, whoever catches you will be your new
Master."

Misty quickly read through the rest of the brochure. The pokecenter was off
limits during that time because there were always injured pokegirls around.
One bright ray of hope in this situation. "Thankyougottagetbacktomyroombye!"
*Zoom!*

Misty knocked on Ukyo's door but the other was gone?! Oh dear oh dear oh
dear. Ranma's room?!

Nabiki looked up from where she was guarding a slumbering Ranma. "What's
up?"

"Ukyosgoneandthere'sthisSadiePokensDaythingandifyou'reoutthereyoucangetcaugh
tbyanyone!"

Nabiki blinked. "Try running that by me again at one quarter speed."

Ash and Ranma were quickly roused and brought in on the conversation.

Simply put, *anyone* outside the Pokecenter was considered fair game. Tamers
could be effectively targetted by pokegirls that wanted to be caught by that
individual, and stalked and their pokeballs stolen to be used by pokegirls
ON pokegirls. (Apparently this was also used by some pokegirls to rid
themselves of rivals or unwanted harem members.)

Many human girls from outlying areas were in town, the free
gifts/food/drinks applied to *any* female of young appearance, as long as
they didn't start smashing things up or made themselves a nuisance. The
problem (dismissed by those very girls) was that if their pokegirl genes
were strong enough, they'd end up pokeballed and those genes brought to
dominance.

To Ranma this was a GREAT idea. He immediately released his harem. Ash
released his own.

"This is NOT a good idea," said Nabiki and Misty in eerie unison.

"Well, Misty, you were always telling me that I wasn't a good Tamer," said
Ash. "Now this is your chance. Anybody who wants to find another Tamer all
you have to do is be somewhere else after the sun goes down!"

"I've never been that comfortable *owning* anyone, so anybody who wants to
try their luck is free ta go." Ranma shrugged. "I'm gonna go look for Ukyo."

"If any of you want to stay, that'd be GREAT," said Ash enthusiastically.
Since losing the Peekabu who had been his Alpha his self-confidence had
taken a nosedive. "If not, well, I wish you good luck finding someone who
might do better than me."

-------

Jim knew something was up when he was called into Cologne's presence
abruptly. "Hey, Old Pokeghoul. What's up?" On seeing not even the usual
flicker of annoyance, Jim upgraded this to problem status.

Cologne apparently reached a decision. "Follow me."

Keeping up with Cologne was difficult, she pogo-sticked on that staff of
hers at a good clip when she wanted to. "Uhm, something wrong?"

"You're not going back out into the field for awhile," this was a flat
statement.

"What? And why shouldn't I?" The thought of spending some time in the
Village wasn't exactly onerous, but Jim valued his independence. There was
certainly enough to do and they looked more primitive here than they were,
but he always felt that he was being studied by people with wildly different
eyes as to what to do with him. Some of which he would not have enjoyed.

The guard at the building they arrived at frowned at Jim, but backed away
from Cologne respectfully. The Elder took her staff and struck precisely at
three designs on the ornately curved door, ignoring the knob. The door slid
open in response and Cologne went in.

Jim followed and found the interior was concrete and steel and the hut was
empty save for one thing in the center. "What's that?"

"A machine," said Cologne unnecessarily. "How much of history do you know?"

"The basics," said Jim after awhile. "I take it that's from Sukebe's time?"

"There were several empires then, though they called themselves different
titles. The Japanese Empire, the Chinese Empire, the United States Empire,
and the others. When Sukebe's war broke out they were unprepared for
guerilla warfare by superpowered agents. His sterility plague wasn't even
meant to be as fatal as it was. The plague released by the Chinese to kill
pokegirls ended up wiping out more of humanity than anything Sukebe himself
directed. That plague was the Chinese solution. This was one of the last
projects that the American Empire created."

Jim considered it. It looked vaguely like some metal dinosaur except it had
too many limbs. "So, some of that lostech?"

"No, suppressed. Sealed away." Cologne thwacked the metal ribs of the beast
with her staff. "Thankfully it is not something Giovanni has either. I
received reports from Michiru and Haruka using some of the Psychic types we
have in the village to recover details they may not remember consciously. We
know why Gendo is different from his father, something he mentioned to
Michiru that didn't really register with her but which fits the rest of what
we know and makes for a cohesive picture."

"It has something to do with this?" Jim gestured at the ugly killing machine
taking up most of the hut.

"No. Not yet, anyway." Cologne sighed and suddenly looked very tired. "One
of my staunchest allies on the League Council is a rare good man named
Ieyasu."

"The Johto Councillor? Toki Ieyasu?" Jim thought about it. "I thought he was
kind of incompetent myself. His whole family has that reputation as
good-natured bumblers."

"Layers, Jim. Look beyond the surface and the sound bites. He is a Blood
Gifted, with Longevity." Cologne sighed. "We have been allies for quite some
time, he also works towards the goal of parity. It was his support that
allowed me to turn the Amazon Village into the Amazon Preserve."

"Wait a minute, Toki has only been in office for ten years. His grandfather
Tokiro was..." Jim blinked as he made the connection. "Longevity? He's
actually Tokiro?"

"He's actually Tokuyama. He's over one fifty years old, he just looks
middle-aged." Cologne shook her head. "And if it turns out that Gendo's
paranoia actually has a source I might have to kill my oldest ally and one
of my dearest friends."

Jim made the additional leap. "He's the one with the sealed tech needed to
make these things? But if he's working for parity with you, why would he
ever unleash something like this?"

Cologne nodded. "We've all heard the rumors talked about by some that there
is a hidden city of pokegirls, located either in Antarctica or deep in the
jungle vastness to the South or under the waves. The ones planning to
subjugate, enslave, and then exterminate the 'human blight'."

"Yeah, but that's just idiots talking," Jim dismissed the idea with a wave.
"There's no way there could be a worldwide conspiracy. And if there was they
wouldn't dare for that kind of conflict - even with the human race
outnumbered and outgunned they'd rally. Everyone remembers what happened
with Mao Shin Mao - a lot of her own supporters deserted after Pine Ridge."

"Gendo apparently has had more than rumors," Cologne said. "His experiments
with genetically enhancing humans, with stimulating Threshold, with breeding
superpowerful pokegirls. All his way of trying to ready a last ditch defense
of the human race. Under his own banner, of course. He remains a
megalomaniac, it's just that he has pretensions of being the savior of the
human race."

"No wonder he hates pokegirls so much," realized Jim. "If he actually takes
that talk seriously.  Why turn girls into pokegirls by stimulating
Threshold? Oh, wait a minute. He's trying to understand the mechanism,
right?"

"You are quite clever. Too bad I'm so much older than you," said Cologne
with a slight return of her usual humorous manner. "Yes. It does explain why
the Giovanni family - who have been petty crimelords prior to Gendo, are now
into research and development to this extent. Now, I ask you. What do *you*
see happening if it turned out that there actually was a hidden nation of
Psi-Dykes?"

Jim felt very cold as he considered the implications. "They wouldn't care
how many innocent pokegirls got killed, if they were pokegirls consorting
with males anyway. There would be... oh dear."

"Bloodshed on a level that Mao's Rebellion didn't even come close to,"
finished Cologne. "More important, there are fragile bonds of trust and
co-dependence being forged in all the various Leagues. With the number of
children undergoing Threshold constantly rising, the attitudes are changing.
Ranma and Ash, the two brothers who are becoming figureheads of this new
movement. People like that Tengoku fellow who use popular media to spread
their word of tolerance and acceptance. All of it could be a house of straw
ready for one single match to set all to ruin if it turns out that this
paranoia is real."

Jim felt sick at the implications, not needing psychic talent to see how bad
things could get very very quickly.

"I value Ieyasu's friendship and he's helped support my plays many times
before. Yet if he truly believed that there was a worldwide conspiracy with
THAT sort of end? Not the lesser one that we in the know turn a blind eye
to, but one that was looking to eliminate the male entirely?" Cologne tapped
the metal ribcage of the monster again. "I'd estimate if he pulled all his
people off anti-Threshold research and the fusion generator project? Three
months to duplicate this. In six months he'd be able to have an assembly
line churning out these monsters like cakes. These are completely automated
hunter-killer devices. If they came across a pokegirl they'd kill her.
Immune to psychic and magic attacks, superhumanly strong and fast, tough and
able to learn from their mistakes. Able to coordinate attacks through radio
pulses and armed literally to the teeth. If he had the time to get
everything done, there could be hundreds of thousands of these remorseless
machines."

"How come you haven't stolen the plans or something already?"

"Because it wouldn't be easy, even if I went myself." Cologne walked around
the metal beast. "Up until now, we've kept our little secrets. I've known
only a few decades that he knew where the plans for this thing were kept. It
was fine. Most of the Council members have their Trump Card - something
we've got back that we'd never want to use even if our own personal
extinction was on the line. The extinction of our species however. That's
another story."

Jim looked at the machine and tried to picture it. Twelve feet long, six
limbs, what looked like  extensible swords on four limbs. Some huge metal
velociraptor with its own rocket launchers, guns, and flamethrowers. Hey,
he'd seen the old records and he knew from written descriptions what
flechette bombs could do. No doubt this behemoth came with some decent
sensor systems too. Hunting in packs and leaving behind them nothing but
death. "So why do you want me to remain here?"

"They won't kill humans. A barrier of humans actively blocking their
progress would stop them. I'm asking all of the Amazonchan who have a
favorite human to be ready to bring them to the village as quickly as
possible, the moment something like a war breaks out. Of course, being
Psi-Dykes, if this enemy exists they may have a method of triggering a
worldwide blood frenzy. If that occurs, the point will be moot."

"There's a chance they can do that?"

"All it would take," said Cologne wearily, "is being able to stimulate
someone into going Feral through psychic stimulation. Amplifying a Confusion
attack. Anything similar. Yes. It is theoretically possible. And all of my
colleagues on the Council know it."

----------

1302 hours:

Ash and Ranma were off together, wanting to give their pokegirls a chance to
decide on their own.

"Stupid Ash," grumbled Misty, trailing her Master and not happy about this
situation at all.

"Ranma no baka," agreed Nabiki, doing much the same.

"You *could* have stayed behind at the pokecenter where you'd be safe,
Misty," pointed out Ash helpfully.

Ranma stopped, feeling a little odd from being surrounded by densely packed
crowds of largely naked women. Most of the guys just sat at cafes or benches
and watched the crowds. Finally he decided on a bench where a couple of guys
about his age were sitting. "Yo!"

"Hey," said one of the boys back. "You a Tamer?"

"Yeah, I guess," responded Ranma. "Ranma Saotome."

"THE Ranma Saotome?!" Both boys yelped and stared.

Ranma had never seen an EF Hutton commercial, but found the way the crowd
turned silent and stared at him to be a bit unnerving. "Uhm, yeah, I guess."

"Hiroshi Honda, this is my friend Daisuke." The more talkative of the two
wondered what this guy had that they didn't. "We're just pet owners. Hey
Sayuri! Yuka!"

A pair of Kittens detached from the crowd and came to their respective
masters.

"This is my pet, Sayuri," said Hiroshi, the pokegirl gathered into his lap
and regarded Ranma with luminous eyes. "How *did* you get yours to evolve?"

Ranma swallowed. If anything it felt like the attention on him had
increased. "Uhm..."

Rei walked up behind Ranma, then settled to the grass and folded her wings
around her.

Much staring.

"You weren't kidding," said Nabiki. "You evolved an Icemaiden into an Angel?
How was that possible?"

Usagi started whistling and trying to look innocent. She'd been practicing
some of her powers and she thought she might have given an eensie-weensie
nudge to the loud couple in the hot tub. She didn't know that Rei's genetic
material had been engineered as part of an experiment.

"Why didn't you guys remain at the pokecenter?" Ranma was a little put off
by his entire harem gathering around him instead of remaining where it was
safe (if they actually liked him) or going off on their own (if they
didn't).

"No chance," said Shampoo. "Ranma need be protected from pushy pokegirls who
no take no for answer!"

Yuka elbowed Daisuke gently. "Why can't *you* let me protect you?"

"Hey," complained Daisuke, evincing more than one chuckle of amusement.

Ranma was getting VERY nervous. Several of the pokegirls (and some that
weren't obviously pokegirls) in the crowd were looking at him as he would
look on an All You Can Eat buffet where he had just enough money.

"He evolved a BUNNY into a MEGAMI and now an ICEMAIDEN into an ANGEL?"
Hiroshi shook his head, hugging his Kitten briefly. Not that he was
restraining her or he was dissatisfied with her, but evolving her into
something really cool would be incredibly useful. Besides, she didn't have
big enough breasts and if she evolved - that might change.

"One Kitten he evolved into a Cheshire, and the other into a Griffon."
Daisuke let his own Kitten curl up in his lap. "Man, that's a Blood Gift I'd
give a leg to have!"

"Didn't need that image," complained Hiroshi.

Nabiki twitched, instincts developed over years at the Tendo Ranch coming
online. "Well, if you wanted Master to speak at a gathering about how he did
it, perrrhaps a speaker's fee might be a start."

----------

1429 hours:

Ukyo scratched *his* head (her Ditto shapeshifting to the bishonen form
being practically second nature by now) and looked around. "Ranchan?! Lufa?
Nymph? Maggie?"

A Tigress popped up in front of her, the area of her mouth stained. "Ucchan!
You ought to see this, pokegirls get all you can eat!"

Ukyo smiled and rubbed the slightly bulging tummy of her Tigress. "Looks
like you've been busy. Seen any of the others?"

"Nah," said Ranko. "Got kinda busy."

Ukyo wondered *why* she had been supposed to release all of her pokegirls,
but that sign had said so and when she'd questioned one of the locals and
found out that food and drink were *free* to pokegirls, restraining them had
been futile. "I... uhoh. There's Lufa and some Amazonchan at that ice cream
stand..."

"Why are they drinking milkshakes and glaring at each other?" Ranko wanted
to know.

"Because chocolate milkshakes are high sugar *and* milk products, and
Amazonlee are naturally competitive with Amazonchan." Ukyo shook her head,
having seen silliness like this before. "They're trying to drink each other
under the table."

Lufa belched loud enough for it to be heard 20 yards away. The Amazonchan
belched slightly louder. Lufa took a big drink of her shake and belched
*very* loudly.

"This looks to be getting disgusting very quickly," noted Ukyo. "Let's keep
an eye on her, Lufa can get pretty wild when she's been drinking milk."

--------

Keiichi scratched his head. "I think you need work on your Teleport, Skuld."

"..." Skuld pouted. It had happened a whole five minutes ago. Wasn't anyone
just going to forgive and forget?

"It'll be a few more minutes before our clothing dries," said Urd, not happy
at all that they'd ended up in a bathhouse. It would have been far more
enjoyable if they'd dressed for such an eventuality. "Unless you want me to
try and use my powers."

"NO!" Keiichi, Skuld, and even a few bystanders exclaimed, having seen what
had happened when Urd had tried to conjure up bathing suits.

"Oh dear," fretted Belldandy.

Peorth smiled. While she was invisible she'd just follow the group briefly
and see if she could ascertain what made Keiichi so interesting.

---------

Kazuya Saotome heard his namesake, this "Ranma" was going to give a speech
and made plans.

"Are you sure about this," May asked.

Kazuya smiled and nodded. "I won't evolve any of you if you don't want, but
I'd really like to hear him."

May, a Milk Maid, blinked and nodded. Some people didn't think of her kind
as being valuable. She wasn't really any good in a fight, after all. But
whatever came, she'd give it her best!

Kasumi yawned but wasn't about to let herself get seperated from Kazuya. She
had insisted (after the near disaster at that fireworks festival) on getting
some leads. She might be just a Tomboy, but she wasn't about to take the
chance of getting taken away by just anyone!

Kei was looking over the food and calculating out the nutritional value.

Meanwhile, though he didn't know it, Kazuya was being sized up himself.

------

"Kodachi? Wherefore art mine twisted sister?"

"Miaka! Put that down! It's breakable!" *Crash* "Oopsie!"

"Don't look at Azusa! oooh MICHELLE!"

"Ryoko's at the sake bar, I don't think she'll be back for awhile."

"Has anybody seen Miyuki?"

"Dang it, Dita! Would you *stop* calling me 'Mister Tamer'?!"

--------

1545 hours (3:45pm)

A pair of furry hands grabbed the backpack and lifted the flap. A quick look
around. Nope. Nobody in sight. Except that winged pokegirl and she was just
staring at the ground.

A hand lifted one pokeball up while the other held the flap open. Clumsily a
button was pressed, a capture beam went out. The ball fell within and
clattered against the others already there.

Rei blinked and put another scratch into the ground. She'd been asked to
keep an eye on the backpacks, and so far she had. She'd kept track of the
pokegirls capturing themselves and putting themselves in either Ash's or
Ranma's backpacks. How very odd.

Ranma and Ash were nearby, not paying any attention to the packs. Eating
contest. Apparently one of the places had decided that having "the" Ranma
Saotome eat there was a good publicity gimmick. From the expression on the
man's face, he was now regretting that idea.

(That some other Saotome was present at this little event and people were
confusing one for the other was predictable.)

"SA-O-TO-ME!" A ridiculous looking Tamer wearing purple and lace cuffs, came
running up.

"Yeah?" Ash and Ranma both responded as Ash was now getting used to the idea
of that last name.

"Sara! I screw you!" Kotoro Nombura threw a pokeball into the air. Which
rolled to a stop without apparent other effect. "Oh. I forgot, she found an
All You Can Eat ramen bar..."

Ash looked back then turned towards the food again. "Another challenger. You
wanna take this one?"

"No pokegirl battles during the Festival allowed except strict self
defense," warned Misty, who was looking a bit ill from seeing this display
of gluttony.

Ranma flipped one chopstick into the air, barely breaking rhythm from his
eating. More than one of the spectators watched as the chopstick arced up
nearly to cloud level.

Kotoro was still wondering where his rival/victim Kazuya Saotome was when
the chopstick slammed into the top of his head. Kotoro keeled over.

The martial artist glanced over at Misty. "So I won't pokebattle." Ranma
then returned his attention to the important things - food.

--------

1724 hours (5:24pm)

Ranma eeped. The shadows had been lengthening and now nearby mountains had
just a sliver of sun showing above them. That wasn't the reason for the eep
by itself.

The usual crowds had become a milling race scene with pokegirls of every hue
and shape running to get back to their Tamer or just find a suitable one.

Tamers and owners were sitting off to the side so they could be found. Human
girls, confident that they were purebred enough that they couldn't be
captured sat and made disparaging remarks about both the various Tamers and
the various pokegirls. A few girls were among the throng that were less
confident or had lost track of time. Of course, with the sake or other
alcohol flowing freely, some of the various girls and pokegirls were less
than steady on their feet or even still seated while they had "one more for
the road."

Nabiki looked over the troops. All present and accounted for. Shampoo was
passed out from too much milk product. "Okay, Ranma, everybody's here. We
need to be in pokeballs for the time being. You can let us out at the
pokecenter or when you give that speech at 7:00pm."

Ranma nodded. "Everyone, return!"

Ash looked over his own crowd, considerably smaller. "Minotaura, Pidgy, and
Barbisaur are missing."

Misty looked up at the mountains. "Too late. We need to be in pokeballs
NOW."

"Charamanda, Misty, return," said Ash. He felt sad that his pokegirls had
chosen other Tamers, but after the loss of Peekabu he could certainly
understand their reluctance to stick by him. He had failed his Alpha, a
burden he'd have to carry with him forever.

Ukyo had already returned to the pokecenter. With Tsubasa here looking for
her, there was absolutely no way she was going to take the risk of being
caught by him.

The last little sliver of sun vanished.

Immediately the red capture beams began flaring as the "race" truly got
underway. The pokegirls that had drunk a bit too much were easy targets and
vanished quickly. Some of the human girls who had been drinking vanished as
well, proof enough that they had misjudged the amount of pokegirl genes in
their ancestry.

"Eek," said a girl, running towards Ranma and Ash. "Hey, like, you're Ash
aren't you? What's all this..." *Shoom* *Shoom* *Shoom* *Shoom* *Shoom*

Ash blinked as he realized that he'd been caught up in the moment and had
just snagged five very startled looking girls after a sixth of their number
had been captured by someone he didn't know. "Oops. Oh well, I'll turn 'em
loose later. It's kinda dangerous now." He wondered how these girls had
known him.

"I'll say," agreed Ranma. He saw one of the girls who was sitting on the
sidelines, making a few snide comments about the wildly dodging pokegirls
vanish into a pokeball herself.

"Help!" Some pokegirl neither recognized leapt towards them, then appeared
to be trying to hide behind Ranma. "I got seperated from my Master. Ya gotta
help me!"

"Okay," said Ash, capturing the girl. "Man. This is nuts!" *WHAM!*

Watching Ash fall over from where a stray pokeball had smashed into his
forehead, Ranma couldn't help but agree.

-------

Ukyo had found out *why* she had to let all her pokegirls out. A few minutes
later, she'd caught a glimpse of Tsubasa.

Which was why she'd grabbed her Ranchan, spent all of thirty minutes looking
for Lufa and the others, then barricaded herself in her room at the
pokecenter.

As a Ditto who was *very* practiced at imitating a human male, she could
fool pokedexes and scanners most of the time. If she was specifically
targetted by a pokeball? Dicey. She'd resisted one once, from Tsubasa
Kurenai as a matter of fact, but the effort had left her gasping and feeling
as if her insides had come outside. If it hadn't been for a sometimes ally
named Kikki LeMew (a Kitten she had known years ago) Tsubasa might have used
a second ball and succeeded.

Kikki was gone, she had become a pet owned by some struggling artist type
three years ago. The last Ukyo had seen of the girl, the artist had become a
baker and she was his delivery girl.

So, knowing that there was someone out there she couldn't stand who was
going to try to capture her and force her loyalties to him, Ukyo did what a
sensible pokegirl would do. Hide.

"Ukyo!" The door rattled. "Ukyo? It's time. I've got a nice pokeball here
for you."

The Ditto double checked to make sure that the door was secured and even
moved a dresser in front of it. She thought this whole thing was major
weird. Sadie Pokens? And it shouldn't even be possible to capture a pokegirl
that was already keyed to another ball!  Yet, if the story she'd been told
was correct, that function was disabled for the space of one day in
Dogpatch. Which apparently was why they had that weird way of selecting the
day, they knew the planets or whatever would be in the right position and
disable that function. Then bam!

"Ukyo, let me in!" (rattle rattle) "We'll have so much fun, Ukyo! And we'll
dress up, and we'll play just all sorts of games!" (rattle! shake!) "Come
on, Ukyo! You know you'll like it."

Ukyo tried not to retch. One of the things she'd heard was that Tsubasa
wanted to try having her morph into a suit that Tsubasa could wear. The
thought of him touching her all at once... eeewww.

"Sunset's over, better luck next year," came an old woman's voice.

"NO! I'm going to get my Ukyo! Some old bag like you can't keep me from my
destiny!"

*WHAM!* *CRUNCH!* *SMASH!* *CRASH!*

"Hmmmph," said Granny Weatherwax. "You're a male Tamer? If'n I'd known that,
Ah wouldn't have been so gentle with ya. Outside with yez."

Ukyo sighed in relief. Maybe Ranchan had the right idea. Now if Lufa and the
others just had enough sense to get out of town or take some other refuge.

---------

1900 hours (7pm)

Ranma Saotome was nervous. Not that he was *scared* mind you. No. Not him!

"Wow, there must be thousands of people out there!" Ash was impressed and
not noticing how Ranma flinched at that.

"I haven't seen this kind of crowd since I snuck into a 'Mineko and the
Pussycats' concert," seconded Nabiki.

Ranma started looking for an exit. The Saotome special technique sounded
good.

Usagi had been considering most of the day, was currently feeling a full
belly from feasting, and thought she'd come up with an idea. Moving close,
she fastened her lips onto those of her Tamer and gave him a kiss to
distract him. "For luck!"

Nabiki thought that looked interesting. Ranma got smooched AND squeezed.
"More luck!"

"Oh my!" Kasumi added her own kiss, moaning into Ranma's mouth as her hands
roamed.

Pulling Kasumi off Ranma, Shampoo noted that Ranma practically had steam
coming out of his ears. She settled for giving him a shoulder rub, not
incidently hitting a few shiatsu points. "You do okay, Ranma."

Rei gave a chaste peck on Ranma's cheek, well everyone else was doing it so
she might as well.

Megami often have two attacks not listed on the pokedex. While Bestow Luck
is listed, Smile and Kiss are also common Megami talents for enhancing other
pokegirls or their Tamers. Angels have something similar.

Sensing something important going on, and seeing both Ash and Ranma (Ash
just giving encouragement to his brother) on the stage, four Megami in the
audience lent their assistance. Skuld, Urd, Bell, and Peorth (who was hoping
to see what Keiichi had that managed to keep the other three interested -
hopefully tonight) let their Megami markings glimmer as they carefully
assisted their "sister" Usagi.

Miles away, another Megami named Setsuna looked up from the campfire and let
her own Megami marks flare. Which disturbed the rest of the Pussycats but
that couldn't be helped.

With that, a cascade effect began as other Megami sensed one of their own in
need and lent power to the undertaking.

Ranma got out in front of a crowd of thousands and began speaking. He had no
idea what he was saying. The words just seemed to flow through him, as if he
were just the channel for some massive river which had just found an outlet.

It wasn't until much later that this was recognized one of the most
important events to hit the Indigo Plateau and people referred to it
thereafter as The Speech. Nobody could quite agree with what *exactly* was
said but they all agreed it was very well emoted and very touching.

That caring for your pokegirls was the single most important thing about
bringing their qualities to full bloom. That pokegirls were not human girls,
their mindsets were different in several important ways. That they were not
independent as humans tended to be, but drew strength from the caring that
their Tamers or owners or partners. That pokegirl and human together could
form a partnership that was stronger than both. That love, in the case of
pokegirls at least, really was a source of strength and measure of power.
And that love had to be given by the human as well for it to really work
miracles.

Ranma spoke for about an hour before stammering to a halt, wondering exactly
what he had said and why everyone was so quiet.

At which point the applause began, and the audience began hugging each
other, swept up in this odd feeling of camaraderie and joy that had begun
shortly after Ranma had begun his speech.

Ranma continued to blink in slack-jawed astonishment as apparently he had
somehow managed to say exactly the right thing.

Several Megami, exhausted, had to retire to their pokeballs. Most didn't
even know what they had done until much much later.

==========

ANGEL, the avenging pokegirl
TYPE: Near Human Metamorph/Very Near Human
ELEMENT: Flying/Magic
FREQUENCY: Very Rare
DIET: human style foods, vegetarian
ROLE: aerial scout and shocktroop
LIBIDO: Normal
STRONG VS: Bug, Fighting, Rock, Dark
WEAK VS: Electric, Poison, Water
ATTACKS: Gust, Psi-blade, Mana bolt, Shield, Dazzle
EVOLVES: None known
ENHANCEMENTS: Limited Metamorph - can manifest wings or dismiss them at
need. Affinity: Magic. Efficient digestive and immune system. Low feral
state resembles that of an Ingenue.
   Angels are extremely rare and little is known of them. Data suggests that
Angels are only found through evolution that has been "influenced" by a
Megami.

PURRSIAN, the catscratch pokegirl
TYPE: Humanoid Anthropomorph (feline)
ELEMENT: Normal
FREQUENCY: Uncommon
DIET: fish, milk, eggs, similar foods
ROLE: sometimes a pet, otherwise used as a scout or fighter
LIBIDO: Monthly
STRONG VS: Mouse and bird types
WEAK VS: Dog types
ATTACKS: Scratch, Bite, Glare, Takedown
EVOLVES: evolved Merrowl, no further evolution known
ENHANCEMENTS: feline anthropomorph
  Purrsians are the feline anthropomorph most treasured by those who cannot
handle being the master of a Very Near Human. As a humanoid, they don't
resemble a human terribly much and are far more flexible than a human.
Though uncommon, they can usually be found as pets of the wealthy.

RHYNODAME
TYPE: Centauroid, nonhumanoid
ELEMENT: Rock
FREQUENCY: Rare
DIET: vegetarian
ROLE: Construction, hauling
LIBIDO: Low
STRONG VS: Fire, Electric, Poison, Rock, Ice, Flying
WEAK VS: Water, Grass, Fighting
ATTACKS: Horny Attack, Stomp, Body Slam
EVOLVES: None, evolved form of Rhynowhore
ENHANCEMENTS: Extreme high density (x8), armored skin, altered digestive
system, high strength, reinforced musculoskeletal system, low feral
    Rhynodame is strong but slow. As a centauroid, it is difficult to Tame
her without special equipment.

UMBREA
Type: Anthropomorphic Near Human
ELEMENT: Dark
FREQUENCY: Rare
DIET: semi-vegetarian
ROLE: fighter/scout
LIBIDO: Monthly
STRONG VS: Psychic, Fire, Fighting
WEAK VS: Poison, Flying
ATTACKS: Tackle, Reflect, Dark Attack, Tool Use, Agility
EVOLVES: none, evolved form of Eva
ENHANCEMENTS: Elemental Affinity: Dark, superhuman strength (x2), superhuman
speed (x8), nightvision, psychic shields
   Umbrea is evolved when Eva has not been artificially evolved through a
stone and it reaches an evolution threshold at night. If this occurs during
the day, the Eva evolves to Espea. Umbrea is immune to psychic attacks and
is actually more human looking than the pre-evolved form.
 

Stroak's Notes:

SADIE POKEN'S DAY: In the quaint little village of Dogpatch there is an
irregular festival known as Sadie Poken's Day. This one day is of fierce
trading, not *of* pokegirls but *by* pokegirls. At the end of the day is a
flurry of catching and the next day is usually spent either getting
acquainted or Taming. The rules are quite simple: run free through the day
and let yourself go wild within reason. Any pokegirl or Threshold girl or
unlucky bystander with pokegirl genes can be caught at the end of the day.
Usually the pokegirls run around until they find a Tamer or owner or someone
they like and then manage to arrange their own capture.

WANDERER: aka Traveller, alias Seeker-of-Truth. The ancient figure with no
home. I think he's actually Yosho Masaki, the first Blood Gifted male, but
he just smiles mysteriously and refuses to comment on his actual identity.
He's an Ageless, that much is certain. I first met him before my son's
birth, and I saw him again during my research on Sukebe's coded messages,
and I've seen him again recently. He is still of indeterminate age but when
you see his eyes you see the age in them. It is possible, as Deviance
suggests, that he actually predates Sukebe and is the person who brought
such legends as the 'Wandering Jew' into being. He is also definitely *not*
Sukebe himself. I think he finds associating with one such as myself, who
has Longevity, to be somehow reassuring - that I am not someone who is born
and dies in an eyeblink. His moods are mercurial, sometimes railing against
the League and sometimes against the pokegirl rights supporters. Odd
comments have given him at being at Pine Ridge shortly after Mao's forces
pulled out, or present at Indigo when the Widow's eggs were being hunted
down and smashed, or having known Archeon Dahl. He even mentions knowing
Kakuto Kuno, and that the whole line has a Blood Curse of madness running
through it. Who the Wanderer is, what his motives and goals are, remain a
mystery.

========