Chapter One
It was good to be back in Domino City, Yugi thought as she lay on her old bed, even though there was a lot to be done now that she was back. However, none of the stress from the work could ever compare to how she'd felt when she'd finally gotten to hug her grandpa again after for the first time since she'd embarked on her six-year training trip.
The first place they'd gone was Almia. Since Almia had practically no trainers, the Ranger Union had let a group of trainers in to catch some Pokemon, so they wouldn't grow to be overpopulated. It also helped that Agatha was a good friend to the chairperson. Erma, the girls, and Odion were allowed to catch Pokemon They mostly caught Pokemon in Almia Castle, (Yugi's idea) Vein Forest, (Rya's idea) Pueltown, a desert island, (Yugi was more interested in the Hippowdon Temple than the actual island) and an island with a Volcano (Yugi had refused to come out of the base at that island and stayed with Odion who agreed that the other three were nuts to go into an active volcano.) The kids had spent the school year learning at the Ranger school and battling each other.
The next year they had traveled around the Unova region. Malik and Jo really enjoyed Nimbasa City thanks to the musical sports dome respectively. The theme park wasn't bad either. The group spent time together in Mistraton City having picnics while watching airplanes come and go. Yugi, Odion, and Rya had absolutely loved going to the Nacrene City Museum. They had spent the school year going to the Stration City Trainer School.
The third region they had gone to was Hoenn, the fourth Sinnoh, fifth was Johto, sixth was Kanto, seventh Egypt, eigth New York, and finally to France.
The list of badges the five kids had earned was listed as such: Trio, Basic, Jet, Bolt, Stone, Heat, Rain, Zephyr, Fog, Boulder, Soul, Marsh, Miner, and Rainbow.
The group had learned a lot about each other over the course of six years. For one thing, Yugi, Rya, and Agatha all had low blood pressure and tended to be demonesses in the morning. Two, Joy was a great cook, but once she used a kitchen she tended to claim it as her own. Malik loves to dance, Odion is a history buff, Rya's a bookworm, and Yugi found out, thanks to Professor Isaac, that she was a natural computer hacker/programmer.
"Vee!"
Yugi blinked, then turned and saw her silver Eevee, Leafeon, Glaceon, Froslass, Absol, and Leavanny all looking at her, waiting for her to move.
"Really, you all had to come in here to get me?" Yugi huffed. Then she gave a lopsided smile as they all nodded in unison. She was glad that not all of her Pokemon were with her. She had some that weren't as… calm as this group. Yugi got up and returned them all to their Pokeballs before going down to the living room.
When she got there, she saw that it had become a hectic place in the time that she'd been upstairs. Rya was practicing the ability to throw serbon needles (they'd met Koga at a point during their tip; he'd thought Rya had what it took to be a ninja and decided to stick with the group for a while to train Rya in the ninja ways) by throwing blunt pencils at a pillow across the room. Her Spoink, Vaporeon, and Vulpix were bringing the fallen projectiles back to her while Togekiss, Kecleon, and Pachirisu watched. Jo was doing one-armed push-ups with her Sableye, Meditite, and Throh. Her Ambipom was sitting on her back while her Jolteon was on Throh's. Jo's Charizard had its big black head sticking in from the window, a bad habit picked up from Odion's Flygon. Said Flygon's head was in a different window, closer to Milak.
Milak was dancing to some music with her Flareon, Sneasel, and Banette. Her Skitty (named City) was sleeping curled up beside Phanpy. Her Mismagius was circling around the room, looking bored.
She heard someone coming down the stairs behind her, and she turned to see Odion adjusting the tie of his suit. He'd recently been hired as a tour guide at the nearby museum, though he was also going to act as a translator and organizer. His Maractus was following him, Cotagrigus was most likely in his Pokeball, and Espion was at his heels.
Yugi paused to take in the physical changes the five of them had gone through.
Odion hadn't changed much, only grown taller (half a head taller than Rishid.) He had also grown a bit more buff, losing his more childlike features.
Milak was also taller and had taken a liking to shirts that showed her midriff. She had a cute but sporty body, much to Joy's jealousy. She had grown her hair down to her shoulders.
Rya was a bit taller than Milak, though still shorter than Joy. She didn't get much in the T and I department, which she was thankful for, but she was still very cute. Her hair was naturally white, now streaked with red and blue highlights.
Joy had the height of a guy in their age group. She had a busty, model-type look, much to her own displeasure. It was funny actually, as Joy was jealous of the other girls' small figures while the other girls were all jealous of 'Joey's' ability to eat her weight and not gain a pound. She'd dyed her hair black with red highlights and had gotten red contacts. She liked to wear guy's clothes.
Yugi, much to her own delight, didn't look half her age anymore. She looked… well, 14, but two years wasn't such a big difference. She'd dyed her gold bangs black with purple tips to match the rest of her hair. She had also grown to like leather pants. She'd had to get reading glasses because she spent so much time working on the computer in the dark.
Odion gave and short sigh and quickly clapped his hands to get the girls' attention. "Come on, you four. Let's get you girls to your tour of Domino High."
The five returned their Pokemon and followed him out the door.
…Change View…
"Way to go, Tomb Keeper. Now I gotta show some of the new kiddies around the school, thanks to you," Akefia complained to his friend Mirak.
"Oh, be quiet, Akefia. You helped him with that prank, too," Atem said. "And in case you've forgotten, each of us is taking a new kid around. You two because of that prank, me because my dad runs the school, and Seto because my dad asked him to. It's not like you'll be alone."
"Hmm…" Seto 'hmm'ed in concentration, causing the other three boys to look at the tall brunet.
"What's wrong, Seto?" Atem asked.
"The new students, did your dad speak highly of them or anything?" Seto asked in a slightly irritated voice.
"Well, he said something along the lines of they traveled a lot and went to a couple of top-ranking schools. Two of the students are cousins and two are good friends… Not much else," Atem said, and Seto began to look even more frustrated.
"What's the matter with you, Priest?" Akefia asked. "You look like a colony of Durants made off with your lunch."
"I tried to open the electronic files for the new students on my laptop-"
"Wait! You're saying that you hacked into the school database?" Mirak exclaimed, surprised that Seto would do something that could get him in trouble.
"Not hacked… merely looked into without bothing to interact with the people in charge. Now, back to what I was saying. I found out the names of the students, but when I tried to open their files, I was blocked and forced out of the school's database. Meaning that those files are heavily protected… more protected than they should be."
"So something may be up with the new kids?" Atem asked.
Seto was still for a moment before speaking again. "I don't know. Just be wary and carry your Millennium items with you at all times when you're around them. They could be threats."
As soon as Seto finished, Atem's Persian, Seto's Liepard, and Mirak's Drapion came rushing into the room, signaling that Principle Sennen was coming into the room with the new students. The boys tensed a bit at the sound of the door opening. They hid their surprise at seeing four girls follow Atem's father.
"Ah, good, you boys are all ready to go. Now, Miss Muto, you will go with-"
"Which one?" the girl that looked kind of like Marik interrupted, a Skitty in her arms.
"Excuse me, Mr. Sennen, would it be all right if one of us picks who goes with who? Or at least let us introduce ourselves?" The white-haired girl asked politely.
"You may introduce yourselves, but I will pair you up, all right?" Aknamkanon said.
"Of course. I'll start. My name is Rya Bakura. I love peace and quiet and contests. My friends here I consider to be my sisters, plus Milak's older brother who is an older brother figure to all of us. Oh, and books. I dislike loud noises, violence, and dealing with the chaos Milak and Joey sometimes cause. I also like the beach, water, and night time," Rya added.
"Yo! Name's Malik Muto, and don't forget it! I love the people that I consider family, music, dancing, and battling. I hate cold and wet places, caves in general, and Winter. I like fire, the desert, and day time!" Malik finished, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet.
Joy brushed some invisible dust off of her 'Don't Get Mad, Get Revenge' t-shirt with a picture of a blue punk Jigglypuff with a marker and an evil grin in front of a pile of knocked out Pokemon with drawings on their faces before giving the boys a goofy grin. "Name's Joy Wheeler, but call me Joey. I love 'family', cooking, and playing sports. I hate waking Rya and Yuki, or Grams, up in the morning, cheaters, and when Grams's Gengar feels like getting a laugh out of our misery. I like hot but not dry places and day time. Your turn, Yug."
Yugi looked up from her computer programming book (she had settled for reading as she couldn't walk while working on her laptop) and adjusted her purple-framed glasses. "Loves: 'Sisters', 'brother', and grandparents, puzzles, computer programming," (she gave a small smile at the tallest boy's eyebrow twitch and suspicous look) "and games. Dislikes: Being mistaken for a little kid, Gengar's pranks, loud noises and bad surprises. Also like snow, winter, contests, and when things go as planned."
"Yug, ya forgot to say your name," Joey chuckled.
"Oh yeah. My name's Yugi Muto. Even though we've given our names, loves, hates, likes, and dislikes, we'll only need your names, boys. I'm sure we'll learn about you when you give us the tour," Yugi said with a smile.
"Atem Sennen. Nice to meet you," Atem said with a nod, petting his Persian's head.
"Akefia Kem."
"Seto Kaiba."
"Marik Ishtar."
"Good. Now, Miss Muto will go with-"
"Which one?" Malik and Yugi both asked the principal.
"Right. Miss Yugi will go with Atem, Miss Malik will go with Marik. Sorry about that; I forgot you two are cousins. Seto will show Miss Wheeler around, and Akefia will show Miss Bakura around."
"Yes sir," they all responded before they broke up, the four pairs all branching off in different directions.
…With Joey and Seto…
Seto's Liepard followed behind the two and watched the dark-haired girl.
"The culinary department is down that hallway," Seto said, pointing to a hall as they walked by. "And right now, we're heading to the gym."
"Hm, are students allowed to train or work out with their Pokemon there, or is there a different room?"
"There's a training facility three blocks from the school. Students are allowed to go there during their study halls, with the teacher's permission. All gym classes go there at least twice a week."
"Cool…" Joey said, staring at Seto a bit.
"What are you staring at, Mutt?"
His response made Joey bristle in anger. "Don't call me that, Moneybags! Jeez, you really are just as much of a jerk now as you were before. Maybe more!"
"Before? I think you're confusing me with someone else. I don't recall ever meeting someone like you, Mutt."
Joey's eyebrow twitched in anger. "Shows how good your memory is then, Moneybags. We knew each other better than we ever wanted to. Maybe you should look up your own history." Joey paused before smirking. "Mew knows you failed epically trying to look up ours."
"So it was one of you! Let me guess, the midget with the black and purple hair."
"Where's the music room?" Joey asked, throwing Seto off a bit.
"What?"
"Where. Is. The. Music. Room. You're supposed to be giving me a tour, remember? Or did you forget that, too?"
The two continued their tour, growing more irritated the longer it dragged on.
…With Malik and Marik…
"Are students really allowed up here?" Malik asked, standing on the roof with Marik.
"Yup! Kinda wish they didn't fence the area off, though. It means you can't push annoying people off the roof," Marik laughed.
Malik's eyebrow twitched. "Oi! Don't say things like that! I was pushed off the roof of one of my old schools, and if Yugi and Sky hadn't been flying by, I might have had to deal with much worse than a broken arm from hitting the flagpole on the way down!" Malik yelled in a voice that promised death.
Now, Marik was a bit of a psycho, but he wasn't suicidal. So he wisely (for once) shut up and continued with the tour, trying to ignore the 'One wrong word and you will be missing what makes you a man' glare Malik was giving him.
While one human was in hot water with the other, City the Skitty was enjoying the piggy-back ride Drapion was giving her.
…With Rya and Akefia…
"Well, here is the nap room, more commonly known as the library," Akefia huffed out, clearly not liking even having to set foot in such a place."
"Thank you for bringing me here, Akefia-san," Rya said before going over to look at the books on the shelves. Akefia, meanwhile, was glaring at the librarian's Scizor. He had caught Akefia after a prank more than once, but now the Pokemon seemed to be sleeping.
Perfect. Akefia went to a spot about seven rows ahead of Rya and smirked at the seemingly empty air in front of him.
"Zoroark," Akefia whispered as the Illusion Fox Pokemon appeared before him. "Transform into me and make me invisible; the new kid here's an easy target." Akefia smirked. His Zoroark smirked as well before transforming into Akefia, his look changing into a mask of boredom, and hiding his master and friend under an invisibility illusion. Akefia snuck up to Rya and slowly reached for her wallet as Zoroark came around the corner into sight.
"Akefia Kem, please remove your hand from the task of taking my wallet." Akefia froze and looked at Rya only to see her giving him a creepy smile.
"How?"
"Easy. Yuki turned into a bit of a klepto thanks to a kid at one of the first schools we transferred to overseas. The rest of us learned to look out for tricks. For example, your double over there has a different sounding set of footsteps than you do, so I can tell two things. One, it's not you. Two, it's not a Ditto."
Akefia's eyebrow twitched. "Okay, but how did you know where I was?"
"Simple. Though you hid your footsteps, you didn't bother to do the same with your breathing. Probably because I'm a 'new kid' and thus an 'easy target'. Let me tell you something, Kem. When you're the new kid as often as the people in our group are, you learn how to guard yourself against the other students. Now, if you don't wish to look at books, then please go sit down at a table and wait for me to finish."
Damn, Akefia thought. Wait, Yuki?
…With Yugi and Atem…
"These are the computer labs," Atem said, pointing at four doors and catching the girl's attention, seemingly for the first time. She had mostly paid attention to her book thus far into the tour, while petting his Persian who appeared almost unnaturally fond of her, despite just meeting the girl.
Yugi looked into the rooms and smiled. "Good choices in brand and model types. They may be a little bland compared to the newer and fancier computer designs, but they're more reliable and sturdy and have stronger protection against viruses that like to take over and screw up the data system."
"Yeah, makes me glad I have one at home. So I heard my dad talking about how you and your 'sisters' will be staying in the student dorms until Spring Break and then you gu- er, girls will be living at home again. Do you mind if I ask why?"
"Not really. You see, Grandma finally convinced Grandpa to move into a bigger place and turn the part of the Kame Game Shop that he and I used to live in into another section of the store. We're going to move into this new building. It used to be an apartment building before Grandma bought it. It's nothing fancy. Rather plain right now, to tell you the truth, but we have plans to change that, using some of the money Grandma and Grandpa hid away. That and the money Grandma got from suing the previous owner. Normally, I would feel bad for the guy, but he tried to swindle more money from my family so… yeah, not happy with the greedy man," Yugi continued to babble, relieving some of her boredom.
"So you guys have plans for the shop and apartments?"
"Yup. We're turning the downstairs living area of the game shop into more room for game stock. The upstairs will be for interactive Pokemon toys and some movies, a bathroom, and a storage area. The apartment building is actually what we need to change the most. There are six single-bedroom apartments with a two-bedroom apartment in between each one on both the ground floor and the second floor and a semi-closed off porch that connects all the rooms together. Grandma plans to completely close off the porch and make it into a hallway and add a stairway, then take out some of the apartments' kitchens to make more living space. Milak and Odion, our brother, (well, really Milak's brother, my cousin) will share the two bedroom apartment upstairs while Grandpa and I take the one downstairs. Grandma will take the apartment to the left of Odion's, and Rya will take the right. The empty one next to Rya's will be a spare for when her father visits and the one next to that will be made into a small library/reading room with a bathroom in it. The room next to Grandma's will be a spare room, as will the one next to it. The apartment to the right of Grandpa's will be made into an extra large bathroom because, with the number of girls in the house, we'll need it. The two next to that, we plan to knock down the dividing wall and make into the living room and the small kitchen into a big kitchen and dining room. We plan to turn one of the bathrooms into a room with two washers and dryers. One bedroom will be Joey's and the other will be for Sen or her mom or dad. The three apartments on the other side will be made into a game room, an indoor garden, and a Pokemon resting room with a bathroom and a big window. It will take a while, though. So while we're in the dorm, Grandma, Grandpa, and Odion are staying over at the Kame Game Shop. The construction for the shop will start once the construction for the apartment is done."
"Wow, sounds like it'll take a while. What do you plan to do for the break, then?"
"Do you know the Battle Island Tournament the president of Industrial Illusions is hosting?"
"Yes. My friend and I are entered. You're into battles?"
"Not really. I'm more of a contest person. But I will battle. We plan to win the tournament and get the prize money."
Atem's eyebrow twitched. "Why? Your family sounds pretty well off. Why do you need more money?"
"You wouldn't understand. Besides, you and your cousin are 'pretty well off' too and you guys are entering," Yugi said coldly. 'We promised ourselves that we would get the money for Sen's eye operation. We've already saved up nearly enough what with Joey's modeling jobs, my acting career, Malik's dancing, and Rya working in libraries and bookstores. With the prize money, we can get the operation done and give her a good start as a trainer.'
Atem didn't protest any further, but he didn't share the real reason they were entered.
'We're only doing it to see if the rumors about him having a Millennium Item are true!'
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