Tag: Raditz

Pinkie Plays: Final Fantasy VI Return of the Dark Sorcerer (Episode 2) The Level 1200 Boss

Welcome to another gameplay post with my little lights! I have been steadily taking you on many of my gameplay journeys and the result so far is .. a bit so so! I am having fun and have a lot of games to explore in terms of people liking and interacting with the pots! But I am having fun!  Recently I started a little Romhack of Final Fantasy VI .. called Return of the Dark Sorceror which retells the story of my favourite game with other characters. Last time I discovered this game was kind of weird, meeting characters like Cloud and Mr Meeseeks.. what will I find this time?!  Well let’s find out

I am experimenting with a new type of featured image that will blend in more with my upcoming YouTube Idea

Serin and Ronan

The second session with this game fills me with a sense of ..  I do not know..  I really wanted to play again.. but now I booted the game up I can’t help but feel… meh?! As the novelty of a weird Rom Hack has already lost a bit of shine and in a way it does. at What used to be Figaro castle but now called by yet another name  feels… dry.. and not just because it is in the desert. Nothing new is really being done here. Serin is just a king.. though they say he is an alchemist. He also has a brother.. but the change made is that he is a half brother.  The dialogue with Kefka is virtually exactly the same as before.  The first minutes of my second sesion feel a bit like a deception..the weirdness is gone and instead these are just name swaps. It is a bitter pill to swallow after taking the extra effort to get my characters here. 

The tale of Serin and Ronan is told through a cutscene where the dad is dying of being poisoned and we see the classic events unfold.. but here I think it would have been rather easy to change it into something a bit newer and more impactful. The majestic theme of Figaro Castle has been replaced with something a bit more generic and peppy! It feels pretty Final Fantasy … but there is no weight! … In the first game I could feel Edgar’s pain and Sabin’s as well.. here though because these characters are not someone like Cloud.. and they lack that tongue in cheek humor.. I feel they are more weak imitations of the originals. I might have preferred it if they were the original characters… Let’s hope the events coming can change my mind.

Serin wakes up later that day and smells smoke! He immediately thinks.. the cook has set fire to the castle again. Which apparently is a thing because as soon as he talks to a guard about it the guard takes it rather seriously!  Not this time sir.. it is Kefka he  set the castle on fire with some spells! It is time to escape the submerging city!  Serin asks a guard to hide his magazines before some called Elenor finds them. It’s Funny enough but a lot of Dialogue is still repeated and the music that plays while the castle is burning is really a miss!  It’s tonally totally off! Of course I do like the fire animation and stare at it for a while.. but hey.. I need to press on! 

The Zombie Cave

The Escape scene once again has some pretty bad music.. that is NOT this  Rom Hacks strength, but we do get a nice extra battle against some Magitech armor .. it is pretty challenging and I get to see Serin in use for the first time.. it turns out he indeed does play like Edgar.. but with other abilities based on “pills” with him being an alchemist. He can for now use a bow Weapon much like Edgar could.. but he can also confuse enemies, which is a lot more helpful early on than Bio Blaster. Aurora learns the spell Virus to cause toxic damage so this is a nice way that the two don’t overlap! Kekfa  is left with his face in the dust as things seem to proceed fairly normally for now! Making my way to the caves goes pretty easily as I do know this game pretty well and we get a new sort of event.  Apparently this cave is filled with beings that can cast the Zombie status…that’s fast!  Also a random guard called Hector joins the team! He is Allergic to Chocobo’s so he is always late!  Hey I got a friend who is always late.. perhaps she is allergic to her car!   The game also commits a grave sin!  They REPLACE the Chocobo theme!  Boooooo!  Inside the cave Zelda music plays.

That is not all they have in common though! The creepy wall hands also show up as enemies and some creepy voodoo dolls! Now I am beginning to like this stuff again!  I do like the creepier music vibe here.. as we use the Zelda Dungeon music remixed in a much more ominous version! That is the better way of sound design..my head screams dungeon now and the tone screams dark which is reflected by the enemies.. of course they are also kinda hard to deal with! The Wall Crawlers can leap up and walk across the wall.. making them untargetable for a good while. The voodoo dolls want to cast horrible spells on me but seem to always be low on magic.. maybe I need to remember these things because at a later level they won’t be so weak?!  We encounter a lot of enemies and struggle on.. eventually making our way through the caves.. in the final room Hector decides to leave us saying it is lucky we did not encounter any zombies… Apparently Jinx is a Final Fantasy spell now.

We get in a fight with a ginger zombie.. and he immediately casts the status on Cloud. I know I have the items to heal it with me .. but since all these item names make no sense to me like Tulaberry Aqualine Echo Herbs and Karma Jolt.. I have no idea how to cure him.. I need to let him be a zombie and restore him once the fight is over. Annoying..there is no need to change the name of the potions! We make it through the cave and now it is time to look for the resistance! I know this game is fairly hard so I decide to head to “Not Sabin’s” Cabin to restore and I find Echo Herbs in the Field.. which cure Silence and Aqualin.. which cures poison.  After sleeping in the hut a old man shows up and tells Ronan.. the not Sabin.. went away after Raditz…. has slain his master. OMG! OMG! OMG! .. Raditz Actually got a kill!  I am so proud of him!

Spain!

Raditz is said to live up on mount Zephyr.. a mountain up north of where I am at now. I don’t see the town near or maybe I missed it as my mind is only focussed on one thing! Raditz!  I am gonna fight Raditz! For those who don’t know , I am a big BIG Dragon Ball Z fan and I do love the character Raditz a lot so I would love to see how they did him in this game!  I rush into the caves and discover some interesting new monsters.  Like Ferocious birds, big swine.. and Vega from Street Fighter.. a lot of them! Would that be two Vegas or two Vega? I don’t know.. I just beat their scrawny touchie and I know just how they would sound like when they slowly fade away. Kind of like a seal dying I mean not that I would not know how a seal dying would sound but I could imagine it would be a bit like Vega’s death cry.  As an immortal moth I don’t need a death cry.. but maybe I do need to work on a Kaiju cry?!  I like Wrrrrrryyyy but that is taken already!

It doesn’t take too long before Aurora gets petrified by fighting a Cockatrice. Of course that is the one status that I don’t have a cure for!  So while I am looking for a savepoint to use my Shelter that looks like Inky from Pacman .. I get attacked by a Predator! Of course he is here, he must have come with Raditz from outer space!  I do manage to beat it with just Serin and Cloud and we find a save spot!  Since Predator outlevels me I farm the caves dry for treasure to get a few levels as we go along! I have a shelter left before the Raditz boss fights anyway!  Serin finds a new weapon! I also find a Moogle Salesman that sells me the cure for petrify.. instead of soft… it’s Tissues! Uhm.. sure?! I also picked up a nice blade for Aurora! It powers up strikes if you use MP and she is the only character with MP sooooo yeah!  Then it is time.. I see a familiar long haired man with black and brown armor hopping about! Oh boy! It’s Raditz fighting time!

Raditz

However .. this game likes to throw me a curveball and Raditz summons two Saibaman saying that a real Saiyan can easily defeat these! Oi, YA know those things are the exact same power level as you right?!  Raditz power level and that of the Saibaman both clocks in at 1200!  Well I guess there is the boss then?! Nope! Raditz is but I bet you can guess what the function of these Saibaman is in a fight that takes place right before the Raditz fight! “Yay this Saibaman is super close to me and glowing like a lamp! I love it. I am gonna call it Ed and make it my best friend the whole wide…………BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! Ouchies!”  The Raditz fight starts and of course I can’t scan him.. because why would I! This means Raditz gets a free turn because I have to send Serin into Ether up Aurora who drained all her magic in the Saibaman Fight. Cloud bravely takes on Raditz.. but we weren’t strong enough! I wipe out and I see Serin crying at our graves!  Oi! Why does the generic sprite swap get to live?!  Luckily XP is retained so I go back.. buy the magic weapon again..but give it to Cloud this time.. he can’t utilize its effect but it has better stats then his current weapon.. he will be our main DPS.  While fighting our way back he also learns the new Limit Break: Blade Beam.

 Okay…so it’s rematch time!  This time I managed to kill at least one of the Saibaman without it exploding in my face and I invested a bit more money in potions at the shop.. rather then buying those tissues right now. This means Serin can offheal if he needs to!  I discover Raditz is super weak to the Virus spell.. I guess a weakness for viruses runs in the family! This time I luck out a lot. Aurora blocks a lot of Saturday Crashes so she can attack a bit more often.  Raditz also attacks a lot more into Cloud this time around whom I can keep healed with Aurora. At one point though Raditz begins screaming about Saiyan pride and Not-Sabin shows up!  Raditz uses a Double Sunday to blow away the party but . Ronan keeps standing. He fights Raditz as hard as he can..eventually realizing he has to use the Ki-Blast combo technique his master taught him. A big beam is fired and Raditz is critically injured..but he teleports out! The battle has been won.. and the journey to the resistance can resume! But that .. is a story for another time.

If you are reading this and are like “come on girl, play some actual games”  well I have a Kofi that helps me buy real games! I am not asking you to support it.. I am just Saiyan!
If you like me playing through some of these weirder Rom Hacks though .. let me know in the comments! Comments are like my lamps!  I love staring at them!

The Return of the Dark Sorcerer Series

The Saiyan Rebels: What if Raditz Turned Good 5

Hello Island Guest and welcome back to my fifth part of this alternate reality story set inside the Dragon Ball Z universe. In this timeline we take inspiration from a Bardock who did not see Frieza’s decimation of the planet Vegeta through a vision but from common sense. Like the Bardock we saw in the Broly movie! This resulted in Raditz hating the galactic tyrant more and always doubting the story of the Meteor. More focussed on taking down the Tyrant Raditz was much more aware of the legend of Super Saiyan’s and seeing Gohan’s Potential turned him into a believer! Now he just wants to stop Frieza and his men and free the galaxy and return saiyan pride.

In the last Episode we saw the battles against Nappa and Vegeta unfold. While the Z-Fighters were much more potent.. since Gohan trained with Raditz and Goku at King Kai’s and Snake way.. Piccolo never softens up! When he downed Nappa in his fight, he wanted to kill.. going against the wishes of Raditz and Goku. Tien and Yamcha fought him off..but an unexpected Powerball from Vegeta caused the downed Nappa to turn into a Great Ape that totally lost control!  Killing Piccolo and Tien. Chiaotzu blew himself up to sever Nappa’s tail. In the fight against Vegeta, Goku pretended to lose to trigger Gohan’s power boost and he discovered False Super Saiyan. Vegeta lost the battle.. but his pride prevented him from joining the team. Only leaving the group with a regretful Nappa and No More Dragon Balls.

You can check Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4 here.  This part will be a bit different. With a bit  more explanation on how the story would change rather than act it out.  Most what if’s I follow tend to go into the bigger lines and this way we can cover events more quickly.

Team Namek

In this version of events Goku is not as wounded as he was before. The most wounded person on the team was Gohan and Raditz thought he was the one to gain Super Saiyan. While Gohan did not learn Kaioken unlike his father and uncle Gohan did manage to dabble in the spirit bomb technique. Though in his case it would more be a shield as he lacks the strength to toss it around.  He can just put the energy of others in between him and his enemies. As a result though everyone is much more comfortable training Gohan a bit.
Him displaying signs of something near Super Saiyan god makes them believe the legends are true. As per usual the idea of going to Namek arises but since all the Saiyans want to travel with Gohan.. the Namekian ship is not used. Instead everyone will go on Goku’s ship but without the long recovery time.  So they are going to arrive on Namek early. 

The team that will be going is Raditz, Nappa, Goku and Gohan as for the Saiyans. Yamcha Krillin and Bulma will also come. Yamcha is still alive and saw his friends die trying to save him and Bulma is there in case something goes wrong with the Ship. Saiyans can be rough after all. This ship is much speedier than the Namekian one.. but everyone starts training immediately.  Except for Bulma who stays in an area with less gravity which she also designed. Yamcha and Krillin have issues with the gravity training as they are the only ones who haven’t trained at King Kai’s or are used to the heavier gravity. Surprisingly Nappa takes onto mentoring these two giving the others who are stronger than him a chance to move ahead. However since Nappa easily was the most wounded of them all, even on death’s door he actually caught up to Goku and Raditz. With a power level of 7000 before training starts. Gohan is also in that area now.. probably a little below.. but he already is close to unlocking Super Saiyan as he experienced False Super Saiyan. Which is a non canon form ..but here we use it as a non complete Super Saiyan. While Goku, Raditz and Gohan train and go all out.

Nappa whips the earthlings into shape. Sometimes even using some of his beloved Saibamen.Sometimes Raditz alternates with Nappa so Nappa can train with the main group as Raditz tries to teach the humans Kaioken. Probably a much better teacher than Goku would be if he actually manages to make Krillin and Yamcha learn Kaioken x2, it’s not much but it is a whole lot better than what they got before. Raditz, feeling he was not pure hearted enough skipped training with the Spirit Bomb at King Kai’s and focussed more on Kaioken so he is actually more proficient at it than Goku. He should be able to teach this at least a bit. Now the one who actually comes out ahead here is actually Gohan. Raditz is convinced that this Hybrid Saiyan is the actual person who shall become a Super Saiyan and  that means training is very focussed on making the young boy the most powerful. In the end this results in Gohan surpassing everyone, but also meaning that Goku arrives on Namek a fair bit weaker than in the original story. So here are our Power Levels

1. Gohan: 25.000 instead of 1500
2. Goku 22,000 instead of 90.000
3. Raditz 21.000 instead of 1200 at time of death
4. Nappa 15.000 instead of 4000 at time of death
5. Krillin at 10.000 instead of 1500
6. Yamcha at 8000 instead of 1480
Goku really missed out on his intense Zenkai and worked to pass on the torch to Gohan. Yet Combined  the group already is almost stronger than the group during the Ginyu bit of the arc.. and this time EVERYONE except for Gohan, even Nappa knows at least a bit of Kaioken. With that the group lands on Namek

Dodoria and Zarbon

The group ends up on Namek around the same time as they did in the original timeline. A little while earlier but not by much  It took Bulma a bit to finish the ship but it is much faster than the Namekian one so the group arrives only a smidge earlier. Which means Frieza’s forces have already begun to invade the planet. Yet there aren’t any Namekian Fatalities yet, the Frieza force is only just preparing.  The atmosphere is completely different though. Instead of fear for some intense power levels the only one that is TOO high for the group is actually Frieza. Nappa and Raditz tell them that Ki comes from Frieza but many of his troops are attacking villages. Everyone wants to help the villages so they all scatter about. But right before they do they detect Vegeta’s power as well. He is almost as strong as Gohan so he might be trouble. The group wants to lay low so their Ki can’t flare up to much! “Do NOT use Kaioken,” said  Raditz. His father’s tactical mindset always shines through in the man.  As the group goes to rescue the Namekians we get a few interesting matchups.

We get a fight between Raditz and Vegeta, because Raditz wants to convince the prince to join their side still, Nappa versus Dodoria and Gohan versus Zarbon. In the fight against Raditz versus Vegeta both fight on fairly equal ground. However it seems Vegeta’s heart isn’t fully in the fight.. when he was in that healing Pod.. he thought about that kid that overpowered him a lot. That change… could he truly be a Super Saiyan?!  Would his pride prevent him from defeating Frieza? Vegeta might be prideful but throughout the show he also has a few moments he realises he has been wrong.. and if the boy can achieve that form maybe he can learn it as well. He will eventually surpass them again.. after all he is the prince of all Saiyans. However Vegeta being Vegeta shows he is more powerful than Raditz. Not fully releasing Raditz has Kaioken he takes a cheap shot and blows a hole in Raditz… one he can recover from.. but  as punishment for talking down to him. 


Nappa has trouble taking down Dodoria without Kaioken. While he is at a respectable 15.000 Dodoria is at 22.000 and is still a bit much for him. As he is about to be beaten however behind him he hears the words “Wolf Fang Fist” and Dodoria who isn’t that aware of his Surroundings get Winded.  Together Nappa and Yamcha fight the pink brute and with Yamcha using his pesky Spirit Ball he is able to annoy Dodoria enough that Nappa can land a killing blow with his Bomber DX. The fight of Gohan against Zarbon however doesn’t go as planned. Obviously Gohan should be the one to go after their strongest fighter.. and Nappa and Raditz showed they had no idea about repressing Ki and so it is safe to assume all these fighters are at their maximum potential. Unfortunately for Gohan.. Zarbon had his second form and he was overwhelmed taking a serious beating. Zarbon’s Beautiful form is already at 24.000 so in his ugly form unfortunately he is strong enough to defeat Gohan. Sensing this Krillin and Goku rush over, having one their fights fairly easily.

Goku sees no other option as to go into Kaioken to save his son as fast as possible! Having bonded so much more with Gohan over this past year and a bit , unlike in the original timeline Goku’s love and understanding of his son has exponentially grown. This Gohan being allowed to be a fighter.. by Raditz bluntness silencing Chichi. This means the two actually are that much closer. Briefly while Goku flies over there his Red Kaioken aura flares up golden and his hair seems to shift colour.. not that golden brown Gohan got.. but a more golden tint.. however it briefly fades away. Using Kaioken x3 Goku is easily able to defeat Zarbon but Gohan is very injured. He might be fading. A Young Namekian steps up and says he might know someone who can help. He introduces himself as Dende and urges them to follow him to a man named Guru.

Potential Unlocked.. and an Early Wish?

Since the earth team now consists out of six fighters and everyone has won their fight.. they all have a Dragon Ball, Dende carrying the one Zarbon had.  Detecting the final Dragon Ball at Guru’s place the other earth fighters show up there as well. Including Vegeta. Vegeta says they should wish for immortality but is quickly shut down by Goku. The wish shall be used to bring back everyone on earth so the Dragon Balls return hopefully they can ask to not bring Piccolo back as he went evil. Vegeta scoffs but thinks two sets of Dragon Balls are better than one, the namekian of earth could always grant them a wish from a distance if need be.
At Guru’s place , Guru does offer them the final Dragon Ball..as a reward for saving all his people.. Guru is much healthier in this timeline. He also has a gift for those who came from Earth. Vegeta makes trouble for not being granted this reward but Guru tells him he is not worthy. While all the others fought to protect he fought to destroy. Guru promises Vegeta however that if he shows he can be pure of heart he will unlock his potential later. He does not seem like a lost cause. Vegeta reluctantly agrees.. but tells that if the old man dies he will blow the planet up. Guru simply says that this  shows why Vegeta is not ready yet.

Everyone else including Bulma and Dende have their potential unlocked. With Bulma becoming even more technical and smart than she already was and Dende unlocking his healing. Upon hearing this Vegeta gets an idea and checks out the powerful Namekian named  Nail asking him for all out spar. Lying that he fought Frieza before and that he might be able to tell if Nail can face the man. The Namekian humors him, aided by Vegeta explaining he might be able to get strength from this fight as well. Vegeta that is.

The boost the other fighters get is enormous. Their power completely skyrockets to incredible levels.  With both Gohan and Goku having tapped into new forms their potential is incredible and the boost received reflects that.  Gohan went from 1500 to 10.000 after his unlock before so that is an 8x modifier. This version of Gohan should even receive a bit more due his tapping into False Super Saiyan in my earlier part.  Thus him and Goku would now almost be around a power level of 200.000. Nappa gets the least potential boost of them all. Not having the purest heart and being a bit old he only gets a 4x multiplier. Making him the weakest on the team with a power level of 60.000  Krillin and Yamcha end up with a power level of around 70.000 ..frustrating Nappa immensely. Raditz would get the classic 8ish times multiplier and would end up at around 160.000 in terms of power level. Most of them are strong enough to even defeat Ginyu but still no match for Frieza.

But there is more , all the Dragon Balls are in place so the group now can make their wishes Guru says. “Wait Wishes?” Gohan would ask the man. He would indeed explain there are three of them. Two more than on earth! That is amazing!  Unfortunately it is soon revealed that they can only bring one person back at a time with this Dragon Ball. They ask if Kami can be restored without Piccolo. Porunga says he can not do that. The two are one, their lives are linked. This spells trouble for the group as there is no one left to defend earth. Then Nail gets an idea and he asks if the Dragon can fuse him with another Namekian if he mentions their name. This the Dragon CAN do. So he suggests to wish Kami and Piccolo back and for their second wish to fuse Piccolo into him. He will be able to help them fight Frieza better. The group thinks about this and it is a great way to seal Piccolo for good and it might even sever Kami from the life link.. or bound someone much stronger and pure hearted to him at the very least. So the group makes these two wishes. Piccolo is restored from HIFL but with a final scream his consciousness is absorbed into Nail. For the Final wish Vegeta coins immortality again, Raditz considers wishing for a way for Princess Snake to be able to walk on Earth.. the two hit it off earlier but then gets an idea. Maybe they can ask Porunga more about Super Saiyan.  On how to achieve it?!  But how do they phrase it.. maybe it’s not exactly like in the legend and using the wrong name will waste a wish. So he thinks for a moment then asks Porunga to tell them more about forms they can unlock to kill Frieza.


Porunga says that he sees three ways.  One is the single Namekian that is actually many, the other is the gold form of Saiyan Rage.. Super Saiyan..and if Five Pure Hearted Saiyans channel their power into a sixth they can defeat Frieza with the Power of Super Saiyan God!
After this the Dragon Balls Scatter across the planet and become inert. An enraged Frieza called the Ginyu Force and is heading towards the Namekian Village.  Everyone is dumbstruck. Super Saiyan God?!  But they are one Saiyan short.. it seems hopeless. However can they go into this rage and unlock Super Saiyan without losing anyone?! They do not want casualties. Darn it!

They feel Frieza’s power level drawing in closer and while Nail might be enough to face him now.. Dodoria told Nappa about his other forms during their fight. It all seems in vain. Everyone is frustrated! It’s not enough!  Frieza’s first form power level is 540.000, it will take their strongest three to even stand a chance against that form. Who knows how powerful his other forms are. Then Vegeta breaks the silence. “Kakarot.. can you communicate with the green dork on earth?’. Goku says he can not but he might be able to relay a message via King Kai.  “Tell him to gather Earth’s Dragon Balls, I got an idea”. Goku says they are NOT gonna wish for Immortality. Vegeta shakes his head. “No.. that ritual.. “ Gohan points out they are a saiyan short and they are the only Saiyans left alive and the Dragon Ball’s cant bring back Saiyans that have been long dead. Vegeta shakes his head again. “We might not be the last of the Saiyans… there just might be ONE more’

And that is where our story ends this time!  Since this group has been aiming for Super Saiyan since the beginning and gathered the Dragon Balls much easier due to how powerful they had become, they might have stumbled upon a form that was not made up yet during the time the saga originally ran. However with Raditz being cautious as his personality even was in the official series, it seems plausible the form would come up. Do you know what Saiyan Vegeta is talking about?!  What will happen next.. and how would Ginyu react to a body with its potential unlocked? Find out next time!

What if Raditz Turned Good Chapter 4

Last Time On Dragon Ball Pinkie! Raditz Goku and Gohan got ready to fight the evil Saiyans but  Piccolo faced Nappa instead!  Using Tien’s Multi Form Technique to defeat the brute-ish Saiyan.Hitting him with his Special Beam cannon! However Piccolo now out for blood wants to ends the Saiyans life..while Yamcha Tien and Chiaotzu stand in his way the namekian decided to finally take his revenge upon Goku by doing away his friends!  Meanwhile Goku and Vegeta are facing off against each other but by some strange reason Goku is unable activate his Kaioken! As Vegeta’s Galick Gun moves towards the man to finish him off cries of agony emerge from Gohan as suddenly his eyes go white and his hair takes on a brownish tint.. as his Ki swirls in rapidly in a slightly golden glow!

Welcome To What if Raditz Turned Good! The story where Raditz is based on his father as establish in the Broly Movie, not psychic but very aware of how Frieza is as person.. bestowing this feeling of mistrust on his eldest son, Gohan’s potential made him think.. this might be the legendary super Saiyan of old legends! Trying to convince the evil saiyans to join them in their fight against Frieza he hatched a plan to convince these Saiyans of their worth! But will it be enough now that Goku seems in Mortal Danger.. find out more in today’s episode!  The earlier episodes you can find at the end of the post!

‘LEAVE MY DADDY ALONE!’ shouts Gohan who in an instant is next to Vegeta.. pounding his head into his back in a very similar fashion that  he had tackled Raditz with. Vegeta not expecting this and trying to finish of Kakarot gets send to the ground his attack missing Goku, but blowing up the mountain the Saiyan was sent towards. Goku just smiles and slowly floats towards Krillin asking for a Senzu Bean.  Meanwhile Vegeta regains his senses as he straightened himself out just before he can hit the ground “what the” he asks before a kick to his jaw sends him flying up again.  Gohan moves up with him, staring at him with empty white eye .. slightly more standing up hair and a golden aura.. making his hair get a brown copperish blow as it reflect the golden light. With some trouble Vegeta activates his scouter.  The power level he sees reaches over 50.000 closer to 60.0000 nearly 3 times stronger than Vegeta is in his current form! A kick in the stomach then makes him cough violently as he crashes in the earth before he can even realise what happened. 

“This is it.. the kid is a Super Saiyan” says Raditz staring at Gohan who lands on the ground not saying anything. “What was that again” Goku asks. “You really are your mother’s son Kakarot’ Raditz scoffs. Gohan still stands there menacingly but seems to be more in control of himself now that he notices his father is safe. “D-..Dad”  he utters with some slurred speech. The sound of rocks disturbs the silence Vegeta gets up. “A Super Saiyan… the son of the son of a low class warrior.. and not even a full blooded saiyan.. stronger than me?! … The prince of all Saiyans? Don’t make me laugh Raditz’. ‘Vegeta you know what my father told me.. with this kid we stand a chance against Frieza’ . The prince looks at the boy and scoffs , then he looks at Raditz. “Your father was nothing but confused trash… would he really believe in the legend’ . Raditz  looks sternly at the prince and gestures to the boy to move closer to Vegeta. Gohan instantly is in vegeta’s face, his hands stretched in the position of a double sunday. Vegeta stands up and looks at the kid but ignores him.. seeing through the idle threat.

“This kid can barely take down the weakest member of the Ginyu force.. and he has much more technique than this kid” Vegeta does a feign attack allowing him to land a kick on Gohan. He then uses his power up state to move to Raditz.. who in this underpowered form got caught by surprise as Vegeta pulls his tail and fires a Ki Blast at it. ‘Still.. the Pauper.. I see’ says Vegeta while smirking and holding his hand in a certain position. Raditz recovering from the crippling pain freezes as he realises what is about to happen. He might have just doomed them all.How could he have been such a fool! Of course the prince would be this blinded by pride! He could not accept a kid as his superior! Raditz closes his eyes as he hears Vegeta usher the words “Burst open and Mix”

Meanwhile Piccolo cruely smiles as he dashes towards the trio of Yamcha , Chiaotzu and Tien.  He knows their weaknesses.  Now that they have chosen to deny his kill, and without Gohan turning him more on the path of good, he is without mercy. Without a second of doubt in his mind he fires an Evil Blast towards the little emperor , which  as he expected gets caught by Tien. Who immediately looks worse for wear. Yamcha is storming in.. but Piccolo knows the man is very focussed on Melee attacks, he simply stretches his legs and kicks Yamcha hard to the ground. Creating a crater upon impact. He dodges Chiaotzu Dodon Ray.  Tien looks at Chiaotzu and nods at him. “Buddy tag out of this fight.. me and Yamcha got this” . The little emperor objects but as she sees Piccolo grin menacingly he agrees.  “Please Don’t die Tien”  the little guy says before flying off.  Piccolo aims an attack at the little guy but gets  Solar Flared by Tien. The man’s famous and very copied blinding technique!

The Namekian takes a defensive position expecting a follow up attack from the triclops but instead behind him he hears the words Wolf Fang Fist. As he is violently launched towards Tien who then slams him down to the  ground by two interlocking fits and slamming on the Namekian as if it was a hammer. ‘We knew we could not trust you’  Tien says. ‘We were prepared that you would betray us.. I just did not think you would stoop as low as killing a harmless target or Goku’s friends’ The Namekian grins a bit ‘I might have trained you a bit to well, but if you think  I did not plan for a scenario like this you are sorely mistaken’.  The nameking vanishes appearing behind Tien twisting his arms all across him using him as a meat shield while holding his hand towards his head charging energy into his two fingers. Yamcha readies himself as suddenly Piccolo’s eyes go wide and look up and a giant shadow is cast over Yamcha.

“Burst open and Mix” with these words Vegeta’s attack creates a moon like ball in the heavens and he begins to transform into his great ape state.  He is not the only one though, False Super Saiyan God Kid Gohan transforms into a great Ape as well.. the Ki from that thing is immense.. though not nearly as immense as Raditz had expected. His power level would actually be lower barely higher than his False Super Saiyan God level.. now 150.000. Only an about 2x modifier compared to the boost to 180.000 that Vegeta got The incomplete super saiyan transformation being dispelled due to the great ape transformation instead.
“Hubris Raditz… you see.. Kakarot’s son.. is nothing compared to me now” says the great ape saiyan prince while Gohan just pounds his chest and fires a mouth blast.  ‘Brother.. use that technique King Kai thought you.., I shall keep the prince distracted, bald man give me one of those beans’  Raditz says while activating his Kaioken x4 and power up to full.  Krillin hands him a senzu bean somewhat reluctantly and sees the uncle dash towards his now rampaging nephew.. but he is not the only rampaging Saiyan.

Nappa while unconcious was still subject to the Great Ape transformation, however in his knocked out state, there is no way the bald saiyan would stay in control. Weakened by his wound the power level of this great ape is still around 20.000 more than enough to swat the measly 3000 of Tien and 4000 of Piccolo. Beginning to charge up a mouth blast Piccolo knows he  is in trouble. With his arms all tangled across Tien he has nowhere to go.  retracting his arm would take to long. Especially since his other arm is already has so much of his energy in the special beam cannon. He bitterly smirks as he wraps his legs more around Tien to prevent him from escaping. This would have to do, he aims his special beam cannon at Yamcha.. but Piccolo and Tien are evaporated before the attack is even fired.  Yamcha can only look in horror, barely even realising what just happened. When a shadow is cast over him and a giant foot is about to crush him.. he hears “look out Yamcha” as Chiaotzu comes flying in his face covered in tears.  ‘Chiaotzu… I am not sure if we are strong enough to survive this.. this may be it buddy’  Yamcha says to the little pale faced man.  Chiaotzu shakes his head! Keep the earth safe Yamcha! Chiaotzu says as the little guy flies directly towards the sluggish great up.. almost seeing to hug the tail.  The little man tells his final goodbyes and blows up.. managing to successfully sever the feral apes tail.  As Nappa reverts to his normal form and falls unconscious again  Yamcha looks at the smoking piles of earths..where his friends just stood a minute ago. 

Raditz at Kaioken x4 has a power level of around 24.000, nowhere near enough to seriously make a stand against Vegeta who was almost 9x as strong. but if he could draw the  great ape boy close enough to him.. they might have a chance. Using his speed to dodge the attacks of  feral ape Gohan he draws berserking animal closer  and closer to the sentient one.  Just before he is close to Vegeta though the man is snatched up by the great ape princes and smashed into the floor, as Raditz coughs up blood, a stomp is send his way. A stomp that gets blocked by a great ape Gohan tackling great Ape Vegeta. The Oozaru duke it out for a while but eventually Vegeta manages to grapple Gohan’s Tail and rip it off, hurling the kid into a mountain bringing him to the brink of death. Both Raditz and Gohan are down for the count when Vegeta suddenly notices a bright blue light behind him. Goku is there holding his spirit bomb tossing it at Vegeta.. having fully recovered due toone of Krillin’s Senzu beans this spirit bomb unlike the original does not miss. Knocking out the great Ape Prince.

“Hey Buddy would you mind helping out”  he says to Krillin who actually manages to finish the weakened Vegeta  by cutting his tail of with a destructo disk.  The wounded Vegeta tries to crawl back to his pod and Krillin tries to stop him. “Let him go little buddy’ Goku says to Krillin. ‘That one is not ready to join us yet.. but I have a feeling he will come around’. Krillin looks at Goku and says ‘But Goku surely he will inform his master this Frieza guy off us’. Goku shakes his head as Vegeta enters the pod ‘I don’t think he will.. he just has to led go of that pride before her can realise that himself’.  Goku nods. In Vegeta he sees much of himself.. if Master Roshi had not taught him humility all those years ago. Since he found out he was a Saiyan..he discovered more why he was the way he was himself. Based on this fight.. they had not defeated him yet.. he would never come around! He knew that! To win his loyalty they had to prove they were truly stronger. Maybe the other Saiyan Piccolo defeated earlier could…. Goku’s heart stopped a beat. He could not sense the power level of anyone but Yamcha! What happened there! He was sure he felt the saiyan’s power level go down before! It was then that Goku realised his brothers plan had a fatal mistake.

A few days later the survivors had gathered at Capsule Corp the mood was glum. Raditz blamed himself for not phatomming the level of Vegeta’s arrogance. While the prince was not stupid and does accept a higher power level if he is confronted with it.. although begrudgingly.. the fact that a six year old kid outpowered him was to much for the prince’s ego to handle.  His brain would find any way to deny this.. and rightfully so. Gohan’s battle techniques were sloppy and his mind weak. Vegeta.. being the great tactician he is exploited that weakness and as a result Tien Chiaotzu and the Dragon Balls were gone.  Nappa had been recovering in at Capsule Corp and now showed the first signs of awakening. He was no threat to them, a recovered Goku and Raditz now had a power level of around 8000 for Raditz and 10.000 for Goku respectively. Gohan having gained the biggest boost up until 3000.  With no Dragon Balls around, Raditz failsafe plan went up into smoke. When Picollo died Kami also faded away and so did the Dragon Balls.

The group would however find Nappa to be unexpectedly co-operative. Having seen the kid double in power level over just a fews day and having been abandoned by Vegeta the Saiyan does see reason in Raditz words. As a hencheman to the King and later the prince Nappa saw the tension between King Cold his son and their former King. Somewhere Nappa knows Vegeta always treated him like a minion and to an extend that was what he was. He never minded as long as he had to wreck stuff. In a way he had become a slave.. not once but twice over. To both Frieza and Vegeta.. that was not the Saiyan way.. however these guys.. this new Raditz.. want to treat him like an important ally. They healed him up, some of them gave their lives to keep him safe.. as they felt he was needed for the battles to come! He was important for once . Nappa was sick of being treated as the footwipe of so many people. Wanting to be stronger he says he will help them fight Frieza.. if they will help him get beat up that sad sack of a Vegeta who left him here all by himself. Raditz agrees and tells that they have to find another time to beat humility in Vegeta. He still recognised they needed all the help they could get against Frieza even that blasted prince. In an attempt on how to save their friends the group reaches the same conclusion as in the original. They can use the Namekian Dragon Balls to save everyone..except for Piccolo if possible. Once back on earth they could use the Earth Dragon Balls to find out more about the Super Saiyan.. as what Gohan displayed it earlier.. was not that thing described in legends.

Goku, Raditz Gohan, Nappa, Yamcha Krillin and Bulma all want to go on this trip. All for their own reasons! Nappa while not completely trusted either.. as he blew up the city earlier and he still doesn’t care about that is apologetic for killing “the Triclops and that funny little clown guy’ Had he killed them himself he would not have apologised but doing something like this in a feral great ape state felt.. dishonourable and unsaiyan like. That was not a proper win!  Surprisingly Yamcha is the one who turns out to be the most forgiving. He too started out on a bad path.. but Goku saw more in him and brought out the best in him. In Tien heck even Raditz who had now proven himself. Yamcha saw this the most of everyone. The Namekian spaceship of Kami was suggested as their means of transportation..but Goku asks Bulma to make an addition “I want to be able to train better it.. like on King Kai’s planet you know.. with the gravity’.

How shall the trip to Namek go?! How will the story change now that Piccolo will stay in HIFL. What will Vegeta do now that he found out about this super powerful Hybrid Saiyan and can Nappa really be trusted? Find out next time on Dragon Ball Pinkie!

Pinkie’s: What if Raditz Turned Good Chapter 2

Welcome Back everyone! A while ago I started a new fiction story! What if Raditz Turned good! Based on Masoko X ‘s amazing tale. For my take we took a look at a different take on Raditz. Newest Broly movie Bardock suspected Frieza from wanting to dispose of the saiyans and passed his tactics and mistrust onto Raditz. When seeing the amazing powerboost of the hybrid saiyan boy Gohan he believed he found the legendary power to stop Frieza. If they could train him up enough before his Saiyan superiors would arrive in one year, they might convince them to start a rebellion against Frieza. Of course you can read more about that here!

Raditz Goku and Gohan heard trough Kami about the Kaioken Technique. A mysterious technique that can boost the users powers several times over, much like the weird power Gohan had used in the fight against Raditz. If they could all use this techniques perhaps they could convince the two warriors of Frieza that were coming to rebel against him. Yet Vegeta would not easily be convinced. Raditz already permanently convinced Chichi to allow Gohan to train, by remembering how there would not be a world like this without Goku.. nor would they even have a kid if he had become a doctor. Mostly this romantic appeal had shifted her view. Gohan could follow the lifestyle of his father.

Now the three would have to find King Kai at the end of snake way. Kami brought them to King Yemma and asked for passage. The big red ogre looked upon the three and shook his head. “This I can not allow, one is just a child and the big one has done lots of evil acts” “I did those evil things in order to survive you big red Oaf” Raditz immediately shouts, clearly troubling Kami. KIng Yemma looks at Raditz and say “With my Yemma Lock I can defeat you in moments boy”. He does seem quite nervous though. In the anime it is assumed that Yemma’s level is about 1300, with Raditz level being around 1200  this would make sense.. even though most likely the long haired Saiyan would most likely appear as a cloud because he was so evil, now that he was alive.. and he got a Zenkai boost from his fight with Gohan and Goku he will most likely be around 1500 in terms of power. So the ogre king finds himself in quite a conundrum.

Kami tries to convince Yemma that if earth is destroyed by these other saiyans his lines will only grow larger. Then Yemma seems to think of something as he goes even more red than his usual self. “I guess.. .. I could.. give you.. a trial..to prove your worth”.  “Speak you red Oozaru thing”  Raditz says impatiently. King Yemma coughs “ On Snake Road there lives a woman who believes she is my wife.. this is simply not true and if you convince her of this I will allow you to travel on, but she might prove very dangerous’. “You want us to talk to a woman for you.. you truly are spineless.. but very well” Raditz asserts his dominance and proceeds to walk on tightening his gloves.  Goku carrying Gohan on his back follows.

In the original Cha La Head Cha La opening we see Goku with Gohan on his Nimbus and then Gohan running across a Dragon… in our reality he does not run on the dragon but on snake way. The nimbus scene is replaced with Goku running on snake way with Gohan on his back. Let’s go back  to the adventure the group begins to travel snake way.. and yes.. we will address the Princess Snake Filler, why?! Find out next!

Traveling Snake Way helps Gohan deal with his fears.. originally he doesn’t really dare to move on his own scared he will fall off. Traveling for days the group only feed on  Senzu beans which gives Raditz an idea. During dinner time he will do some melee training with Goku. Using the senzu beans to heal up. While this does not help Raditz all that much as he is way stronger as Goku at this time (Goku’s power level would be in the low 500’s at best) it does help Goku boost his power level quite a bit by the time they reach the palace of Princess Snake. Raditz mastered sensing power levels already is alarmed. Why would Yemma fear these weaklings? Goku understands this a bit more so he would not think much of it as he just enters.

Princess Snake shows up and greets the two Saiyan men.. offering them rest for the night. Now where she originally went for Goku.. the kid on his neck makes Raditz the more available man. He is quite charmed by the woman in fact. The dancing scene is repeated but with a willing Raditz. Goku and Gohan are mostly ignored for a while. After their flirt however Raditz says he has come in the name of King Yemma and that she should stop to pretend to be married to him.  She agrees to do so if Raditz stays but he refuses. Causing the illusion of the palace to falter and Princess Snake and their servants to go into evil form. 

A short fight ensues with Gohan and Goku fighting the henchwoman and Raditz taking on Princess Snake. While Goku had to outsmart her and trick her curl herself into a tie , since her power level was higher than Goku’s the older Saiyan outright outpowers here by about 50%. However something is different about Raditz in this fight, he is having fun. In the series was implied at least in the sub, that Raditz and princess snake had some sort of relation for a while when Raditz escapes Hell (HIFL for Dub purists). He would be about the same Raditz as the straight up evil one.. so the chemistry would still match up. As Raditz beats Princess Snake he doesn’t seem to go all out.. nor does she.

After a while he just dazes her .. holding his Saturday Crash attack in front of her.. forcing her to surrender. ‘I love strong women’. Princess Snake who sees a man stronger than King Yemma can not help to be smitten. The endless wave of henchwoman also stops attacking Goku and Gohan. Princess Snake begins to explain how she can not leave this  place so she has to force men to stay. Raditz tells her that she lets them go he will try to find a way to free her from her prison.  Snake divorces Yemma, and asks the group to at least rest for the night.

The next morning Raditz hugs his cousin and pads his brother on the back seeming more energetic and cheerful as ever. ‘I feel like I could run snake way in its entirety today’. ‘Did you eat too much Senzu Beans?’ Goku asks. Raditz just shakes his head and winks. Goku follows confused. Taking care of Gohan , Goku would not fall of Snake Way and fairly fast the group would reach the end with King Kai’s planet just out of reach. ‘Gohan I am going to throw you okay? Your uncle will go first and catch you!’. The young saiyan boy seems rather nervous about Goku chucking him at another planet but he eventually would agree as he can not jump that high. So the first thing King Kai sees of the saiyans is a long haired man  with a huge grin on his face catching a small boy. Due to his physical training with Raditz and the earlier battle, Goku now easily can make the jump as well. “What in the Bugger.. I was just about to take my car for a Ride”  King Kai says. Goku and Gohan are heavily affected by the gravity. Raditz observes the blue man.. ‘We have come to train?’  ‘Brother what is wrong?’. A brief exchange of info follows with Goku managing to stand up. Gohan is crying by the sheer force of the gravity pinning him against the floor. 

“Oh dear” King Kai says.. ‘I forgot to mention that to Kami.. but the Saiyans have this much gravity on their planet’ ‘You can do it Gohan’ get up son. Goku encourages but this gravity is to much for Gohan.. then in a sheer burst of panic pain and discomfort Gohan’s power level spikes again. ‘I do not like this place!’ Even King Kai seems surprised. Raditz immediately points at his nephew and says. ‘That we came to learn that.. the wrinkly Namekian called it Kaio-Ken’ The spectacled kai scratches his head. ‘That is not Kaio-Ken’  Raditz does the standard ‘WHAT?! We came here for nothing?’ King Kai shakes his head telling them he will teach them the technique but that this is not it.  The Kaio-Ken technique is much harsher on the body.. this seems more explosive and powerful.

‘I told you Kakarot, it is your son who will destroy Frieza and save the galaxy.. he is the one the legends talk about’. Goku sits down again ‘Oh man .. I wanted to learn that technique’ After a while Gohan would pass out from fatigue as he occasionally did. ‘I can not teach you the power of that boy.. but I can teach you Kaio-Ken, however I will not teach that boy the technique, with that power of his own Kaioken would be far to dangerous’ Raditz and Goku would agree and Goku’s training would begin. For Goku that would mean the same training he did originally under King Kai, meanwhile he and Raditz go over the fundamentals of Kaioken and compare it to Gohan’s mysterious power who goes through quite a bit of hell on this planet.. crashing to the ground ..crying in pain until he gets a rage boost then fainting again. This would last a couple of days until he can finally stand on his own.

 Raditz meanwhile notes that this power is almost an emotional counterpart  to a saiyans ability to grow stronger from near death experiences. More potent than these boosts but temporary with only minor permanent gains. The technique  for now is dubbed Gekitekina Zōka. As King Kai and Raditz note this down Gohan gets another boost and tips over the inkwell.. the word gets all covered in ink..except for the Z. During this time he also coins the term Zenkai boosts for his and Goku’s power to grow stronger after defeat. After a Saiyan makes “complete recovery” (which is a meaning of Zenkai) they are stronger than ever. Like in the official series the term would not be official.. but at least it would be mentioned this time around. After that training would resume, Raditz mostly helping Gohan until Goku is ready to begin Kaioken training with him. 

Zoka Boost Gohan! Cause we need more Z Powers!

As the days past Raditz is surprised at the increase his brother makes in days. The power level is just skyrocketing up far faster than Raditz ever could. Gohan as well. If he is not careful these two will surpass him soon. Instead of learning the Masenko from Piccolo this time Gohan’s first major Ki attack is his Uncles technique the Double Sunday. Goku gets a bit jealous and butts in a bit trying to teach Gohan the Kamehameha as well..but King Kai forces him to focus on his training again. Raditz is waiting for him to catch up because King Kai does not want to risk this technique to often he will only teach it once. Their training goes well. Yet it doesn’t take long for Goku to start to move ahead of his brother. He has much more potential towards training as shown by Raditz being so far behind to Nappa and Vegeta. While he does gain more boosts in this healthier training environment than he had ever with those two, this doesn’t come AS natural.. not being boosted by the gravity difference either.

At the end of the training in the original Goku’s power level would be about 8000, but having a brother to train with, along with an earlier Zenkai in this timeline he would be closer to 10.000. Raditz would grow to about 6000. However Raditz would be better at Kaioken allowing him to add a step to what Goku can. The reason why he is better at this technique is two fold. Goku wants to grow stronger period, Raditz approaches it more tactically, so he would focus on the multiplier as he notices his natural gains are slower. So clearly he would spent more time with this technique as it will be his bread and butter for a long time. 

Secondly, Raditz is still to “evil” to learn the Genki Dama technique, the Spirit Bomb. He would be unable to control the technique properly so all the time Goku spends working on that technique he would spend on the red aura power boost. Gohan not being allowed to train in Kaioken WOULD train along his father in the spirit bomb after he could walk. Which he turns out surprisingly adapt at. His pure heart, which is a bit more compassionate and selfless than Goku’s makes him very fit for this technique. While his faster as a grown man can hold a lot more energy, Gohan instead gets a faster more defensive variant for now where he gathers energy of other life forms and can hold it in front of him like a small shield before releasing it upon an evil foe. The more energy he manages to gather the bigger the attack he can defend with. Gohan is still a scared kid after all. His power level at the end of this would be around 1500 about the level he had at the start of the Namek Saga

Meanwhile on Earth, training with Piccolo the Z-Fighters all get some boost from having stronger opponents. Piccolo not having to take care of Gohan would be the largest of them all. Coming in at 4100 instead before the Saiyan fight instead of 3000. The rest of the Z-Fighters would be around the 1500’s with Chiaotzu being the exception being in his mid 600’s.  However under Piccolo’s training none would be allowed to take it easy.  He would be harsh towards the little emperor forcing him to do much better. Much like he was to Gohan.. minus the parental kindness.  So by the end of their training everyone would be closer to their early 2000’s, witch Chiaotzu being about as strong as Gohan. At the 2000 point though Piccolo stops training them because he still plans to kill Goku, he can’t have one of these pose an actual threat to him. In secret he has been improving his new technique to strike when he has the chance. He doesn’t want to doom the world though.. just kill Goku and have his vengeance. 

Now with the Saiyan’s approach being very close tidings seem fortuitous for our friends but can they convince Nappa and Vegeta to join the fight  against Frieza, can they trust Piccolo now that he did not spend a year with Gohan to soften his heart? Will the higher power levels be enough or will it cause more accidents? Find out next time on Dragon Ball Pinkie.

Pinkie’s “What If Raditz Turned Good” Chapter 1

It is no secret anymore that I am a huge Dragon Ball fan. I consume just about everything that is covered with those fish egg coloured wishing orbs. This includes the amazing Dragon Ball Z Abridged and the stories of that goku’s voice actor Masoko X. He made a great point telling us Goku’s brother Raditz was completely wasted in the show and wrote a story to keep him in the fold. It is an amazing story that has given me so much joy that I decided to give this scenario a retelling of my own.

The Power of Memories

The story of Dragon Ball Z would begin much like it would in the original. We would see the iconic farmer with the shotgun scene and Goku and Raditz first meeting at Kame house would also go exactly the same. Well… not exactly the same. There is one difference. In the recent Broly movie we see Raditz speaking about his little brother. While dismissive there is some sort of empathy there.. it’s not much.. a kindle at best but seeing the crying Gohan would briefly spark a memory in Raditz.. a memory of his crying brother with a power level of 2.

This memory on it’s own would not do much and Raditz doesn’t show this emotion towards the group but when he takes Gohan away and flies off into the distance he can be seen frowning. Remembering how his little brother was send off moments before his planet was  destroyed. He always had doubts about the meteor story since Bardock.. in the new cannon is shown to have his own doubts about Frieza. It is more than likely he would have shared these with his son. He can not prove it.. but he always felt there was more to this story. Seeing his race now live on in the form of this hybrids those doubts begin to gnaw at him once more. However since Frieza is such an insurmountable force, he quickly dismisses the thoughts as a figment of his imagination. Yet he is slightly less rough in the way he locks Gohan into his pod.

The Double Battle Against Raditz

Back at Kame House Goku and Piccolo unite to fight this high powered menace that has suddenly shown up. They would move forward towards his pods location and the fight would proceed as usual with Raditz dominating the fight. However everything would change when Gohan suddenly gets his rage boost.”Leave My Daddy alone” he would yell as his power skyrockets, headbutting Raditz and breaking his armor. In the original this would lead to Goku being able to grab his tail and Raditz into deceiving him.. this time the young boy has changed his mind.

“What was that” he asked cringing with his tale still held into a grapple”. Tricking Goku in the original by feigning compliance this time, this time Raditz actually calms down and grows cooperative. The power surge that just happend, could that perhaps solve his people’s bigger problems? Could this boy be the key to their freedom? Raditz never fully believed this story, in this timeline and we see actual proof in the main story. While Vegeta is shocked to learn the truth..he really deals with it within seconds.. as if somewhere he already knew. That alongside his hertigage makes me think such an action from Raditz has some merrit to it.

Lore and Legends

The older Saiyan would surrender to Goku, crushing his scouter before he begins to explain. That he and the other two and last remaining Saiyans work for a galactic tyrant named Frieza. While Piccolo is mistrusting of the man and wants to kill him he is stopped by Goku who takes interest in this tale. The idea of fighting someone that mighty.. that is stronger than anyone in this world facinates the man who’s motivations has always to be strong fighters. Raditz tells Piccolo that he could easily stop them with their power level.. if he wished. Saying his mistrust is foolish Namekian. We get some lore on the Saiyans and of the Namekians as well..but his story would mostly be about how terrible Frieza is how regardless of the outcome of this fight this man will eventually enslave everyone. Yet then he brings up.. a certain legend.

Raditz does believe that the Saiyans one day will take down Frieza, he spent a lot of time with Vegeta after all.. putting him in place as low class warrior. While initially Vegeta claims the legend of the Super Saiyan to be nothing but a legend, he is very familiar with i and connects it from basically nothing. Gohan displayed a surge of uncontrollable rage power right there. Having much more connection to the myth. As the son of Bardock.. a proud Saiyan who was very skilled at employing what is available to you and versed in Saiyan Lore.. Raditz should be able to connect the dots. This time he does. Explaining how the power of that young boy might be connected to Legendary Super Saiyan.

A plan for all Saiyans

Goku initially gets super excited about the idea of there being such strong fighters in the galaxy and how his son could be key to a new sort of power accesible to his “race” that he just discovered about. Piccolo snaps some sense into him telling Goku this man is asking Goku to put his son at a terrible risk. Goku gets scared and cries out “Chichi is gonna kill us”

Raditz frowns and asks “What is A Chichi, my scouter said you are the two highest power levels” Goku begins to explain and we see come cutaways how they met and got married. A small clipshow to make viewers aware there was a show before this. Raditz tells Goku he would blow anyone away who stands in the way of stopping Frieza. Goku simply says.. “no no.. we don’t do that around here… we might just need the Dragon Balls to convince her…. oh whoops”

Raditz learns about the Dragon Balls immediately recognizing their potential and has another request a wish that might be able to stop the Saiyans , who of course are still coming. His first plan is to show them Gohan’s potential.. or discover what technique he used to raise his power THAT much. iF they are not able to get strong enough these wishing orbs could proof that Frieza is behind the destruction of Planet Vegeta.. which could most likely convince Vegeta to fight against the tyrant. Who is about 10 times stronger than him. The Tyrant Frieza surpasses that guy by at least 50 times.

Convincing Chichi

Goku and his brother now have to convince Chichi to let Gohan train with them which goes about as well as expected. “What about his studies? Our boy should be a doctor, under no circumstances Gohan can go.. you are not putting our boy in danger”  While Goku gets all nervous at Chichi’s behaviour Raditz is much less intimidated. He is used to verbal abuse and people talking trash. He’ll have non of it.

He begins with telling her how Saiyans raise their kids.. explaining she can’t suppress his nature. She defends with how training is not something for a young boy to do. Raditz counters “My Brother just told me he met you while training, if you or he had not been fighters Gohan would not even haf existed’. This reminds Chichi of her “warrior” days and weakens her resolve.

Raditz tells about all the terrible things he has done in Frieza’s name.. not sparing any details. She can not let that happen to her Gohan. Raditz embalishes a bit.. saying that someone with as much potential as Gohan will never be save from a man like that.. if he doesn’t train this planet will most likely be destroyed. In truth .. he only suspects this to be remotely true but anything to further his cause. He also reluctantly tells her that the prince of their entire race would owe Gohan, giving it just enough prestige to make it more appealing to Chichi.

“He can train but only if you let him do his homework, he needs a proper job when he grows up’. “I bet Prince Vegeta will reward you so handsomely for your help you, your son or his son’s son would not have to worry about money ever again. Raditz smirks as he just screwed Vegeta over with such a propmiss. Somewhat reluctantly..but this time permanently Chichi accepts her sons heritage and grand future. While I get the over protective mother sentiment, the whole world of Dragon Ball resolves around fighting and she was raised into it to an extent. So it should be way easier to convince Chichi than Goku made it.. especially this early on. Raditz numerical approach would help greatly.

Training and new Techniques

Meanwhile Piccolo takes it upon himself to train up the other Z-Fighters In true Toriyama style they get relegated to the background , quite a bit faster this time though training under Piccolo will give them quite a level boost when it comes before the epic showdown. Piccolo would also get a lot stronger from his training with stronger fighters than Gohan. Yet it would also mean that Piccolo hasn’t fully abandoned his plan to kill Goku with the Special Beam Cannon yet.. if this Frieza is emperor of the galaxy and they could get strong enough to defeat him.. by killing the people who killed him he might be able to rule the galaxy himself. ..A thought reminiscent of his father.. that he now can not shake as well as before. Turning him into a rather merciless trainer.. only improving the Z-Fighters gains further.

Training at Kami like normally first Gohan keeps being very afraid of Raditz hindering their training when Kami has an idea. Using the same sort technique he once used on the Z-Fighters in a filler episode to let them fight against Saiyans of the past he uses this same strategy on Gohan, Goku and Raditz. Hoping that seeing the seriousness  of all will make Gohan get over his fear. Much like in the original the group the scenario is basically an unwinnable one. Unlike in the original this illusion is made   more in the vain of the Kobayashi Maru scenario from Star Trek where a captain has to  learn how to cope with that fear of certain defeat.

However this goes not as Kami and the others would have expected. While Raditz gets taken out first he does manage to seriously damage the fake historic saiyans. Gohan paralyzed with fear sees his father taken down while trying to protect Gohan he manages to take down Scarface . Shorty then cruelly  guns down a weakened Goku with a beam technique. This causes Gohan to snap again.. his power rising to new levels taking out the second saiyan. Breaking out the illusion Kami walks in surprised that they actually won. Raditz inquires about Gohan’s power boost  againg. Praticing Kii sense himself. Kami is unsure what Gohan’s rage boost is as well.. but as Raditz describes it as Gohan’s power level multiplying many times over the old Namekian says  he might know of a power like that.

Raditz scolds at the man for being so mysterious and that he should speak up. Kami ensures him that learning it would be quite impossible as they would have to travel to King Yemma and beyond which is normally only accesible if you are dead. “Goku blurts out that if Babba can cross people over from the dead to the world of the living the other way might be possible as well, they could ask this King Yemma to be there longer train. Kami sighs and says ‘Very well.. I shall tell you.. it is a technique called the Kaio-Ken’

And this is where  our story ends for now. A young boy with mysterious powers, recruits an ally stronger than ever before..but also might spell doom for the entire planet. Will Goku and his family be allowed to train in the after life? Will Raditz be able to convince the evil saiyans? What will become of Piccolo? FInd out the next time on :

Dragon Ball Pinkie!

Saiyan Slice of Life: Dragon Ball R&R

Last night I watched something on YouTube I loved so much I just have to gush about it! It had to do with Dragon Ball! But not… the Dragon Ball you might know! I am talking about a series that has not been discovered by that many people yet! I am talking about Dragon Ball R&R. That’s a lot of balls mentioned in this opening. 

What is Dragon Ball R&R?!

Now I am a sensible little Pinkie and before I gush about the latest episode I shall give you a little explanation of what this series is about..because believe me.. this requires some explaining. When I tell you that R&R stands for both rest and relaxations as well as Ranch and Raditz, I am sure you scratch your head. Raditz isn’t that the guy that was as weak as a Saibaman that got owned within like five episodes?! You know Goku’s brother?! That is right! The point goes to you!

Raditz was killed my Picollo’s Makankōsappō  technique. Or how it’s know amongst the dubbers, the special beam cannon. I never liked that name. I mean it always felt so thin… hardly something you shoot from a cannon, also I am not sure what made this beam special?! Well it had multiple colours and swirlies so.. sure.. but the literal translation of Demon’s penetrating killing light gun , kinda sounds cooler…though a friend of mine who lives up north just giggled because I used the word penetrating.

I got a bit of track there! This story is not about THAT Raditz… well kinda… but instead of being killed by the Demon’s Penetrating  Killing Light Gun, the guy turned good! You see this series is created by the voice actor of Goku in a little series called Dragon Ball Abridged.  On his own YouTube channel he dabbles in a lot of “What If” Stories. Including my personal favorite and long since concluded series. What if Raditz turned good. It explores the scenario where Goku does that thing he does in befriending originally evil characters and turning them good.

He did this a few times when he befriended Yamcha, Tien, Piccolo , Vegeta and to a lesser extend Majin Buu, Android 18 and Android 17.  The series of Raditz got so popular it produced a spin off show, that appears on a “it’s done when it’s done schedule on Masoko X (Goku’s voice actor in DBZA) ‘s channel, set in a time of rest and relaxation. The time after the Buu Arc and before the Battle of the Gods movie (the super series definatly started at the Universe 6 arc.)

Who is Ranch

To appreciate this series you first kind of have to watch What if Raditz turned good! At least up until episode episode 7! The eight one is where the series goes into the territory of God Ki and R&R takes place before that.  While R&R focusses a lot on Raditz it’s main protagonist is Ranch! Raditz what if daughter. She would be the cousin of Gohan and Goten, being fairly close to the latter in terms of age!

She would also be the daughter of Launch, the most forgotten about dragonball character, who had the power to go blond waaaaaay before the majority of the cast did.  Launch is either a sweet innocent woman with blue her and a clumsy demeanour or a cold mercenary and thief, mostly known for her appearance through the original series. While this is a major plot point of the “what if series” on R&R the focus really is on their happy family life, and in doing so this series gets a wholesomeness. And even if Ranch started of as a side character to a alternate story of two originally throw away characters, she is an amazing addition to the dragon ball world.

Ranch is a female saiyan done right!  While Kale and Caulifla are solid enough characters, mostly Kale is lacking some credibility as she is mostly just nostalgia pandering and fan service towards fans of the original Broly, before he actually became a amazing character. Ranch has much more depth, personality and struggles. You can see some traits of both Raditz and Launch in her and maybe excluding future Trunks ( before Goku Black)  the best Hybrid saiyan I have seen. Already great in the original what if that gets deepend more in this show, in a fascinating audio manga that tells us self contained stories centered around her and her Pappa but also is not afraid to highlight and deepen some other characters we know and love.

Rest and Relaxation

Dragon Ball is a bit of an odd series and mainly in the story of Z there were plenty of “filler”. Fake Namek and the Garlic Junior Saga were horrible and did not happen.  Yet on occasion the show strikes gold. One of the examples in the show’s original runs is now titled “The Driving Episode” in which Goku and Piccolo try to get their driver’s license. It just was super cute and mundane but still Dragon Ball in a sense. Dragon Ball Super did this once again with the Baseball episode. Another great filler like episode that was just so heartwarming and wholesome that you can not help but to love it.

R&R is like a series of that. “What if Dragon Ball had a slice of life spin off”. Masoko seems to know his OC’s (at this point I am gonna call Raditz or at least this Raditz his OC as well.. because it is not the throwaway token character Toriyama made Raditz but an actually fleshed out guy we can root for)  very well and also the other existing characters. He also knows what made the driving episode and the baseball episode work and has captured that magic in this series very well.

While Masoko reprises his role as Goku (as he did with team 4 star) we do not really get the Abridged Goku, we get a take on Goku that is somewhere in between Sean Schemmel’s version and the abridged version. Something that in my opinion is very close to the sub’s original. Serious when he needs to be, but also relaxed and fun loving. As he should be.  His voice work in the series .. like always is great but Courtney Meeker, the voice of Ranch and Afghani as the brother of Kakarot both are great talents as well that give this show some great backbone. Amanda Hufford playing Launch completes the happy little family and while her blue Launch can be a bit laid on a bit to thick, I could not help but go Awwww, each time she voices a line.

Lawrence Simpson as Masako’s real name is managed to cast some great and upcoming voice talents and auditions regularly each time a new character appears in the script.  Always asking for people to go with their own interpretation so it never feels like someone is trying to much to sound like an original voice actor or a DBZA character. Mostly selecting these characters on the sound of their regular voice instead of their screams pays off as this feels like it’s own thing throughout  and really makes the story a joy to follow. After I am done with an episode I do feel relaxed and I still feel I watched Dragon Ball.

 Stand Alone Stories

Like mentioned earlier, each episode is very much made to watch as a self contained story, that loosely flows into the next.  A great format because these episodes are few and far apart. This once again shows that Lawrence Simpson really knows what makes this type of content work.  How to structure these episodes. Because of how low key it is a small teaser of what to come is all we need to wet our appetites for the next episode yet are not turned off by the long wait.  Now let’s take a peak at these stories.

Episode 1 : A Fusion of Fancy?! Trunks and Ranch join Forces!

This “Pilot” episode is my second favorite of the series so far..but all episodes make it to my top 5! In this episode we see the kids taking a closer look at fusion. Since there are three now it makes sense that they would. In this episode they hold a fusion contest among themselves to see which makes the best fusion, Gotenks, the classic we all know and love (except when it comes to gacha games)  Ranten, the male dominant fusion between Ranch and Goten or Raunks the female dominate fusion of Ranch and Trunks.

Goku and Raditz function as the judge..but in typical Goku fashion he wants to join this measurement of strength and even ends up fusing with Raditz into Goditz. This is the only episode that contains actual Dragon Ball fighting and it is great.. yet lighthearted. A perfect episode toe edge us over into the more wholesome territory. There are some clever fighting moves and intresting combinations of techniques like the Final Friday and the Double Kamehameha that really please each Dragon Ball fan.

Episode 2: The Final Cut Goten’s big decision.

Ranking number 4 out of 5 for me this episode deals with a heartfelt issue that I feel the show itself should have addressed. Goten notices he is the weakest of the Saiyans and feels like he will be left behind. Existing only as a way to boost either Trunks or Ranch, he feels like he lacks a own identity which Raditz confirms telling him he is basically just a little Goku. So he starts to wonder if he should change his hair and his looks a bit. In this episode we see a great performance from Jenna Kathleen as Goten and Amanda Hufford as blonde Launch. It really helps giving some depth to Goten and make him feel like a unique character that has his troubles.

It is a great episode that only is held back a bit because of the feeling that it is kicking in an open door. The advice Goten gets is to “just be himself” and while I get that he is a kid and it seems new for him, it all feels so obvious that it loses just a bit of it’s shine. Still it is sincere and it is nice to see the smaller aspects of the dragonworld addressed. This still is a 7.5 out of 10 for me it just shows how good some of the other episodes are. 

Episode 3: A Misunderstanding? Gohan’s Peace Offering

This episode has the unfortunate honour of being my least favorite episode. Number 5 out of my top 5, and I am fairly sure that when episode 6 comes out, this one will not be among my favorites anymore. A 6 out of 10 for me, so it’s still a solid one that I can’t help to find less consistent than other episodes.  Ranch gets very upset that Gohan looked away. Feeling said she is not recognised by her cousin makes her run away from home and be upset.
While she is away Raditz flashes back in his past, and Piccolo offers Ranch some guidance. This is one of those Slice of Life tropes I dislike. “The Silly Misunderstanding”  and I felt the characters were less consistent than they normally are. Raditz is pretty logic driven and Ranch got a lot of those traits so it seemed weird she would get upset over something as silly as this. 

While this episode should highlight Ranch it is actually Goku who takes the spotlight. He fixes this little family problem using his Instant Transmission in the most inappropriate way possible. He just barges into peoples live and snatches them along to further his agenda.. which seems hilarious and quite like Goku. Forgetting that phones exist. Unfortunately by that time we have already lost half the episode in another form of inner crisis. I probably would have liked this episode more had it not directly followed Goten’s inner troubles or had they been inversed in order. Stacey Cotham who protrays Chi-Chi , who is very prominent in this episode just plays her a bit to flat lacking her spunk.. and I think the that is the perfect analogy for this episode.

Episode 4: STRIKE! Yacha’s Curveball! With an 8/10 this was a great episode to me!

Such a great episode! Perfectly balancing the kids and Yamcha in a exciting but still slice of life like episode. Yamcha is about to retire from playing for the Tai Tan’s in baseball when his manager is trying to fix this final match in an attempt to disgrace him and forcing him to stay. While the parents are learning abotu baseball.. and visiting Yamcha’s matches for both the very first and last time, the kids move into the stadium’s catacombs to deal with the manager played by Geekdom101.

Hook the manager is kinda weakly voice acted by this Dragon  Ball Youtuber , he just doesn’t seem that believable preventing this from being a 10/10 episode. Otherwise this one is amazing. Stanley Kuschick voices an amazing Yamcha and the story is just really touching. It was so nice to see Puar again and see Yamcha get some closure. He fades into obscurity after he got knocked out by Android 20..mostly being just a cameo in the rest of the show. The story written by Lawrence Simpson and his team here.. send Yamcha off in the sweetest way. Including introducing a potential romantic lead for the guy near the end. You can really feel the love for the character here.

Episode 5: Respect Your Roots, Kiddo! A Glorious Story of the Saiyan Race!!

The currently last and absolute best episode in this series for me! I was really blown back by it. In this episode Raditz tell his three children (yes I forgot to mention he had two sons as well.. but they aren’t really in other episodes because they are toddlers, Daikon and Mooli. Goten and Trunks show up to listen in is as well. As Raditz tells the tale we quickly find out he is not really telling the whole truth but his version of it.. to make himself look better.. as the children comment on the weird twists in the story. This episode feels so in character for every single character.. like how Raditz makes Vegeta look bad in the story every chance he gets and how Trunks calls him out for it it is fantastic. There is so much love for the characters here and also for the franchise.

The way the kids poke fun at the plot holes in Toriyama’s lore feels lighthearted but sharp and like something kids would point out. I laughed at the silliness. Yet this episode moved me to tears.  We see Raditz think back on Bardock and Gine, his and Goku’s parents and while Goku completely forgot about them Raditz did not. He misses them, remembering his father and mother say they were proud of him. It ends with the most beautiful family moment and Piccolo and Raditz reflecting on their parents and parenthood! This episode feels like a love letter from a man to his OC and the franchise that inspired it and that is what Dragonball R&R is to me!

With all the what if’s lasting about fifteen minutes and R&R episodes being around the length of a regular anime episode, within a timespan of about four hours you can enjoy one of the greatest Dragon Ball fan fiction series out there! That in some ways feel even more real to me than the orginal! Check out Masoko X’s youtube channel for a very strong series! I shall leave you all with the intro to each episodes! Which will link you to the right channel! Remember I love you all! Keep smiling and let’s make the internet a happier place!

XO
Pinkie