For Corina 0: Thank you very much
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Meanwhile, back on the bus, Ash was inclined in his seat, asleep when he was awaken by a bump that shook the whole large vehicle. "Are we there yet?" He muttered out.
"Pikachu!" The yellow mouse Pokémon also woke up from its nap.
Ash looked outside his window, viewing the beautiful green scenery. "Sure is a long drive." Brock said. Ash rested his head on his hand with his elbow on the pane.
May's stomach grumbled as a sign of emptiness. "Ooh!" She held her stomach. "I could use some more snacks." She stood up from her seat and looked into her bag.
Max, sitting next to his sister, was looking at Poké Nav as entertainment for the long ride. He was reading the news about the discovery of the Ball of the Underworld. He was fascinated by the image of the ancient artifact being displayed inside a glass case. He smiled as he is excited about seeing this exhibition once they get to Dynamo City. He also saw pictures of the hierographs of Pokémon, claiming that rare ones once lived in Ancient Egypt, including Mew who was once acquainted with the late pharaoh. Suddenly, the bus ran over a bump that made everyone jump in their seats. A pack of cards hit Max on the head from behind. "Ouch!" He muttered, his finger slipped and pressed a button that made him click to another link of a new topic.
The person from the back seat approached the kids' seats and picked up his card deck that slipped out of his hands off the floor next to them. "Sorry, my bad." He apologized and returned to his seat.
Max rubbed his head and was about to press the back icon button when something halted him. "Hmm?" He caught a glimpse of another story with different news. The head title read: "FREAK ACCIDENT AT THE EGYPTIAN EXCAVATION." There was some smoke pouring from the ancient ruins of the excavation.
"Accident?" Max looked deeper into the research and clicked on some links, finding more not-so-pretty stories and pictures. Roofs and columns of the ruins collapsed without warning. Few archeologists and researchers were rushed to ambulances, partially injured and stunned. There were no faculties though. The most weirdness he found was that Pokémon, assisting with the research, had falling into mysterious ailments. Words reflected on the boy's glasses as he absorbed and learned the eerie discoveries of the Ball of the Underworld.
"Pokémon fallen into mysterious coma."
"Psychic Pokémon faint while trying to undo the dark barrier protecting the Ball of the Underworld concealed inside a dark chamber."
"Dark barrier?" Max whispered.
It was written that the door of the chamber was sealed shut by impenetrable dark barrier casted by a sorcerer to keep out diggers so they don't find the ball. But even when they did manage to break the dark barrier and retrieve the treasure, more incidents happen. Digging jeeps and trucks exploded without any cause or explanation. Nobody was hurt, thank goodness. But they had to call a helicopter and service to pick up the remaining archeologists and the Ball of the Underworld. But the bad luck continued. The copter almost crashed when it arrived in Dynamo City. It had to arrive at the museum by parachute before anything else bad could happen.
Max could not believe what he was reading. "Whoa, man. What the heck had been going on over there?" He then gasped in wonder when he read the final item. He found out something even chilling.
"BALL OF THE UNDERWORLD CURSED OR CERBERUS LIVES?" Max felt a chilling ominous feeling within him, like something terrible is going to happen.
"Hey, Max." His sister broke into his thoughts and brought him back to reality.
"Huh?" Max blinked and heeded attention.
"What Pokémon do you think I should use?" May asked.
"Uh...I don't know," Max answered absently and turned back to his Poké Nav.
May turned around in her seat and faced a teenaged girl who was muttering and shuffling her card deck in her seat.
"So, excited about the big competition?" May attempted to make conversation. "Which Poke'mon are you going to use?"
"Huh?" The girl paused and looked up.
"I'm thinking about using Skitty or Beautifly, but I can't decide. Which do you think it?"
"Pokémon? I don't know what you're talking about!" The DM girl has not heard of Pokémon. "If you are asking for my rarest card, sorry but I need it for the tournament!" She retaliated in a atwitter tone. "Now please don't bother me, I'm trying to think of a good dueling strategy!" She must be preparing about the upcoming duel tournament in Domino City which the trainers are unaware that they are traveling there.
"Um, okay," May backed away and sat back on her seat. "What does she mean 'dueling strategy'? And why would she think that she wants her rarest card?
Ash and Pikachu examined their surroundings and observed at the passengers. There was something unusual about them. They don't see anyone with a belt of Poké Balls or a single Pokémon at all. "Uh, is it me, or do I not see any Pokémon at all?" He asked.
"Pika." Pikachu answered. He spotted another person shuffling his card deck. "Pika?" He pointed it to his owner.
"Card decks?" Ash saw it as well. "Since when do they use card decks in Pokémon battles?" He scratched his head in puzzlement as the person inserted his cards in the slot of his closed duel disk.
"Pikachu." His yellow comrade commented.
Brock was eying on some girls wearing cool futuristic outfits, chatting about their favorite monster cards. "So like, what card are you going to use?" The girl with long brown hair asked.
"Eh, probably my usual, Injection Fairy Lily," the other girl with short pink hair said.
"I think I'll use Princess of Tsurugi," the brown-haired girl said, holding her card of a woman with crystals.
"That looks like a good one, Shia," the pink haired girl said. "Don't lose it."
Brock looked at them lovingly. "I'd give a thousand of those cards just to be with you!" He thought dreamily.
Another duelist sitting behind the siblings was polishing his duel disk, readying it for activation.
Max stood up from his seat and eyed on the card gadget with admiration. "Pretty neat gadget, sir!" He said to the man. "What's it called?"
The person looked up and answered. "A duel disk."
"A what disk?"
"Hmm?" The duelist looked up and eyed on the youngest trainer weirdly. "Kid, this is the latest technology!" He said. "It's a common tool invented by KaibaCorp. You should get one too. Even you're old enough to use this puppy." He went back to polishing his duel disk.
Max frowned. "Okay..." He sat back down and pondered about what the person said. How can he be old enough to use a duel disk? He's never even used one, let alone heard one.
"Hey, we're here now." Brock said. And he was right. The bus pulled over to new terminal station and screeched to a halt. The engines hissed and the doors opened up. "Last stop, everybody out!" The bus driver said.
Everyone else got out their duel disks, placed them on the forearms, and activated them all at once. They are ready for dueling, all except the Pokémon trainers who gaped at them in awe. "Whoa!" Ash exclaimed.
"You better get your duel disks ready," a guy said. "The dueling tournament is about to begin."
"Dueling tournament?" Ash repeated. "What dueling tournament?"
"What's he talking about?" May asked.
"Are we missing something?" Brock asked.
"Who cares? Let's get off this bus now already!" Max said. "My legs are stiff from that long ride." The trainers stepped off the bus and headed straight.
At the baggage hold, the latched opened up. Everyone grabbed hold of their belongings, emptying the storage space and letting Team Rocket finally out of the stuffy cramped bin. "Ahh! Fresh air!" They said it together.
POP! "Wobbuffet!"
Shortly after the passengers got off, Ryou Bakura arrived at the terminal station and entered inside another bus which closed up already and departed. It was heading back to the Pokémon world. Seating on the front row, Bakura let his prized treasure, the Millennium Ring hang out from underneath his shirt, containing dark powers that can harm anyone who comes near it. His silvery white bangs completely covered his eyes, for he is heading straight for Dynamo City on a dark mission, for a certain dark reason.
The kids wandered through the populated urban streets, searching for anything to do with Pokémon. "Sure are a lot of people," Ash said.
"I wonder where is the Pokémon Contest supposed to take place?" May asked.
"Let's go to a Pokémon Center first," Brock suggested. "That is, if we can find one."
A tall man with sunglasses walked past them when Brock stopped him. "Excuse me, do you know where the nearest Pokémon center is?" He asked him.
The man frowned. "Kid, you must be wrong place," he said bluntly. "This is a city of Duel Monsters. The Pokémon World is on the other side." He walked away.
"Huh?" The gang felt completely confused.
"What's he talking about?" Ash asked. "What's on the other side?"
May turned to a light-skinned woman with white hair. "Excuse me, do you know what time the Pokémon contest starts?" She asked.
The albino woman stared at her in confusion. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. But I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about." She said softly. "I've never even heard of Pokémon, dear. Sorry, wish I could help." She walked away.
The kids could not believe what they just heard. "What'd she say?" Max emitted.
"How can anyone not heard of Pokémon?" May gasped in shock.
"This is getting stranger," Ash said.
"Pikachu."
Max bumped into a short kid with turquoise bowl haircut and glasses. "Umph! Excuse me!" He uttered.
"Why don't you watch where you're going, pipsqueak?" Weevil Underwood snapped.
"Sorry." Max apologized. "Hey, do you any Pokémon around here?"
"Pokémon? Do I look a Pokémon trainer to you, punk?" Weevil retorted. "I played with Duel Monsters only! So get lost, kid!"
Max started to protest. "But I just-"
"You know what? I've got a lot of important things to do than mess around with you losers!" Weevil stomped away.
"Geez, who spit gum in his hair?" Max said. "Talk about rude!"
They spotted a duel match going on. There is a Kuriboh and a Alligator's Sword Dragon facing each other. "Hey, what kind of Pokémon are those?" Ash asked, getting out his Pokédex and aimed it at Kuriboh.
"ERROR! POKÉMON UNKNOWN!" Dexette said. "NO DATA AVAILABLE."
"No data? What's up?" Ash pondered.
"I can't get anything on mine either." May said.
"Maybe there's interference," Max said.
Ash tested Dexette on Pikachu. "PIKACHU, THE MOUSE POKÉMON. FEEDS MAINLY ON FRUIT. MOST OF THE TIME, IT'S GENTLE AND SWEET. BUT WHEN THREATENED, IT USES ITS RED CHEEKS TO DISCHARGE 1000 VOLTS OF ELECTRICITY TO STUN ITS ENEMIES."
"Pikachu."
"It works okay," Ash said.
"Could they be new Pokémon?" Max asked.
"Those aren't Pokémon, Max," Brock said. "They're Duel Monsters."
"Duel Monsters?" The gang repeated.
"They're holographic monsters that form out from trading cards by playing disk gadgets." Brock explained.
"Really? That sounds cool. Never heard of them." Ash said.
"Pika."
"But it's totally weird. Usually, you only see them only in the..." Brock cut his sentence short when something hit him like a piece of brick.
"What?" The friends asked together.
"Wait a minute..." Brock mumbled as his eyebrow raised up when he realized something.
"What's the matter, Brock?" Ash asked.
"Uh, guys?" He spoke up.
"Yeah?" The friends answered.
"I...I don't think we're in Dynamo City at all. We are in Domino City!" Brock declared the truth.
"Domino City?!" The friends shouted together in shock. They imagined a large row of standing spotted tiles tipping and toppling over one after another in the background, a domino effect.
"Pikachu!"
"It can't be!" Ash said.
"There has to be a mistake!" May said.
"No mistake here." Max looked up in his Poké Nav. "According to the Poké Nav, we are presently in Domino City. 100% accurate!"
"We must have got into the wrong bus!" Brock declared. "I guess that's explains why nobody's heard of Pokémon or the Pokémon contest!"
The friends glared furiously at their leader. "You said it would take us to Dynamo City!" May ejaculated.
"How could you make a mistake like that, Ash?" Max added.
"I-I-I I don't understand!" Ash stammered. "I was pretty sure the sign said 'Dynamo City'!"
"Pikachu!" His yellow comrade shrugged its arms in query.
"Well, you must have misread it because look where we are!" Max said.
"We're in Domino instead of Dynamo!" May added.
"Nice use of direction, Mr. GPS!" Brock said, folding his arms.
Ash was caught in the circle of blame, formed by his discontent friends. "Well, don't get mad at me!" He spoke up to defend himself. "It...it...it wouldn't have happen if a certain little kid with glasses hadn't gone to the little boy's room!"
"What? Are you implying it's my fault?" Max responded.
"Well, yeah! It is partially your fault!" Ash said. "You've should have hold it until we got to Dynamo City!"
"Hey, excuse me for being a little kid!" Max retorted. "But if a certain girl with pigtails had gone with me instead of going to the gift shop, we wouldn't be in this mess!"
"I hope you're not talking about me!" May rebutted. "If Brock hadn't gone to the snack shop, we wouldn't have missed our bus!"
"What? When's it my job to watch the bus?" Brock rebutted. The friends started bickering about whose fault it was.
Nearby, Mokuba Kaiba was strolling in the blocks, waiting for his brother when caught sound from the argument annd noticed the disputing gang of Pokémon trainers.
"Okay guys! Let's cool it!" Brock ceased the quarrel. "Arguing won't solve anything. Let's just find out the next bus schedule and see if we can get a another ride back."
Ash checked the bus schedule on the bus stop sign. "The next one's in four hours." He said. "How much money do we have left?"
May's face turned green when she dug inside her handbag. "None. We spent all of it on snacks and souvenirs!"
The gang was struck with a blue streak of despair. "Pikachu!"
"Does this mean we're stuck here?" Max choked out.
"I'll miss my contest!" May wept. "There goes my next ribbon!"
"We are stuck here in a city of Duel Monsters and no Pokémon center and it's all your fault, Ash Ketchum!" Brock added.
They have really hit rock bottom. They are stranded in a city that never even heard of Pokémon or a center that can heal their Pokémon. No money, no transportation, no hope of getting back in time for the Pokémon Contest at Dynamo City. Mokuba sensed the trainers may be in a snag and decided to see if they need help, not to mention get to know the new people with a new different creature.
Ash, May, Brock, Pikachu, and Max wandered into the Domino Plaza, feeling hopeless and discouraged. They sighed and sat on the ringed peddled seat of the clock pole water fountain, pondering what will they do next until someone else approached them. Mokuba who is a few feet taller than Max had arrived at the clock fountain, greeting the quartet. "Hi there." He said in a young kind voice.
"Huh?" The gang looked up to see who is the visitor.
"You guys look bummed. Is everything okay?" Mokuba asked.
"Not really. We had a little mix-up at the bus terminal. We wanted to go to Dynamo City, but instead we ended in Domino City." Max explained. "Now we're stuck here with no money to get ride back, thanks to a certain dimwit with the cap!" Ash glared at him.
"Pika!"
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Mokuba said pityingly.
"It's okay, it's not your fault," May said. "I guess it was bad luck that struck us today."
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Mokuba offered.
"Thanks, but we wouldn't want to trouble you with our problems," Ash said.
"No, I guess not." Mokuba said. He noticed Pikachu sitting on the trainer's shoulder. "You guys are Pokémon trainers, aren't you?"
"You heard about Pokémon?" Ash's face lit up.
"Of course, doesn't anyone?" Mokuba answered. "You're from the other side of the world, right?"
"That's right!" The gang in unison. Finally, things are starting to look up for them.
"That's nice." Mokuba took a look at Pikachu. "That's a Pikachu, right?"
"Hmm-mmm." Ash nodded.
"Pikachu!"
"May I?" Mokuba requested.
"Sure, I don't see why not," Ash granted. He urged Pikachu to get acquainted with the long haired boy.
"Pikachu!"
"My brother doesn't believe in these fascinating creatures," Mokuba said, petting Pikachu. "I've always wanted to see a Pokémon up close!"
"That's too bad," Brock said. "That your brother doesn't believe in Pokémon, that is."
"If you want, I can help you get tickets to back where you belong," Mokuba offered. "His company also distributes the bus company."
"Really? That would be awesome!" Ash beamed ecstatically.
"Thanks a bunch!" Brock said.
"No problem." The long-haired boy smiled warmly. "By the way, I'm Mokuba."
"Nice to meet you, Mokuba," Ash said. "I'm Ash."
"And I'm Brock." The spiky-haired guy added.
"My name is May," the twin-tailed brunette said.
Max snickered. "What kind of weird name is Mokuba?" He muttered.
May tapped her brother on the shoulder. "Max, be polite!" She scolded. "Don't listen to him, Mokuba!" She assured the shaggy dark-haired boy. "It's a nice name really."
"Uh, thanks, I guess." Mokuba said. "Anyway, let me go ask my brother about those tickets and I'll get back to you."
"Thanks again, Mokuba," Ash said. "We really appreciate it." Just then, Mokuba's older brother Kaiba walked outside the KaibaCorp building with a suitcase.
"Here's my brother!" Mokuba rushed to him. "Hey, Seto!" He walked by him. "We need to talk."
"Whatever it is can wait, Mokuba." Kaiba said sternly.
"But there's some people that need some bus tokens," Mokuba said.
Kaiba spotted the Poké quadrant. "Who are those strangers?" He asked. He then spotted Pikachu on Ash's shoulder. "What is that thing on this boy's shoulder?" He asked.
"Pika?" Ash blinked at the tall brown-haired teen in front of him.
"It's a Pikachu, Seto," Mokuba said. "You know, a Pokémon."
"Pokémon?" Kaiba scoffed. "Please, those things are a waste of time! They're just animals which experiments gone horribly wrong."
The group were stunned at what he said.
"Of course, if I had one of those strongest Pokémon, I'd still beat Muto in a flash! Nothing can stomp on me!" Kaiba stated vaingloriously.
"Huh?" The Pokémon trainers looked at him like he's a conceited egomaniac. (Of course, he's always acted like a conceited egomaniac because he is one.)
"You know what? I don't have time for this!" Kaiba rudely pushed aside them. "I've got more important things to do right now."
The gang appeared astounded by his behavior. Mokuba just sighed and shook his head in disappointment. "Gee, he seems like a nice guy." Max said sarcastically.
"Charming personality." Brock said sarcastically.
"Real helpful," May added.
"His brash attitude sure reminds of a certain someone," Ash said. He thought about his former rival Gary Oak who decided to become a Pokémon professor instead of a Pokémon master. Although they are allies, there is still a spark between them about who knows more about Pokémon than who.
"I'm really sorry, guys," Mokuba apologized. "I guess he's a little occupied at the moment. He must be excited about the Create-A-Game Contest. I'm sorry I couldn't get you tickets back home right away."
"Don't worry about that, Mokuba," Ash said. "We appreciated you trying to help."
"Well, as soon as the contest ends and my brother's free, I'll try again." Mokuba was about to take off. "Later!" He ran to catch up with his brother.
Max waved him bye. "So now what?" May asked.
Ash folded his arms. "Well, since we're stuck here, we might as well go look around." He suggested. And so, the quadrant took a mini tour around game themed city.
Back behind, Team Rocket dawdled at the streets of Domino City, sighting the metropolitan view. "Wow, sure is big." Jessie said.
"Look at all food stores!" Meowth pointed out. "Think we could stop and get a bite?"
"No time for that, Meowth." Jessie replied. "First we must find those twerps and get that Pikachu. If we can find them." They walked around the busy city, looking for any kind of Pokémon. But all they saw were Duel Monsters battling each other on the streets.
"Speaking of which, I don't see any," James said. "Do you recognize any of these Pokémon?"
"They oddly don't look like Pokémon to me," Jessie said, eying on a Magician of Faith.
"I don't even understand their language," Meowth added.
"Something tells me we're in the wrong place," James said.
"Hey, YOU!" Someone from direction addressed the them.
"Huh?" Team Rocket turned around. A bunch of duelists faced with determined faces and duel disks activated.
"We challenge you to all duel!" The first person declared.
"Duel?" Team Rocket repeated.
"Is he challenging us?" James asked.
"Should I get my claws out?" Meowth asked.
"Wobbuffet!" The patient Pokémon popped out of its Poké ball.
"Get 'em!" The mob of duelists inserted their cards in their duel disks and the holographic monsters emerged and all pounced on startled and screaming Team Rocket.
Meanwhile, the Poké gang came across a battle gym full of monsters. "Dueling Arena'," Ash read. "Looks interesting. Let's go check inside." The quadrant entered the Dueling Arena. They arrived just in time see the demonstration of the contestants' creative monsters. It was crowded with people so the trainers had to tiptoed to see what was happening on the floor of the arena. "I wonder what's in here?" Ash wondered.
The quadrant politely push aside the people and got a good view of the battle floor. There, they spotted a couple of duelists alined with their originally created monsters, ready for showing off.
"Whoa, would you look at all those monsters?" Ash commented.
"They don't look scary at all to me," May said. "In fact, they look kinda of cute!"
"Hey, lemme see!" Max shouted. He jumped up and down, trying to see the battle. Brock picked him up and placed him on top of his shoulders for the smallest member to see. "Much better, thanks, Brock!"
Brock nodded in return.
"Take a look at my Candy Monster!" A girl with pink twin tails took out her sugarcoated fairy and it flew around the gym atmosphere, spraying rainbow sprinkles over the awed people.
"Pretty!" May exclaimed, eyes gleaming.
"Nice. I wonder what's it all about?" Ash asked.
"Didn't Mokuba mention there was a contest?" Brock asked.
"It was a Create-A-Game Contest or something like that," May said. "This must be one of them."
Max, riding on Brock's shoulders watched the performance of the contestants' monsters when he spotted Yugi Muto standing in the crowd. "Hey, look at that black and purple spiky hair on that short guy's head!" Max pointed his finger to the King of Games. "It looks like it's on fire!"
"Max, hush!" May tiptoed at Brock's height and put her brother's arm down. "Remember what Mom said, it's not polite to stare or point." Max chuckled apologetically and went back to the contest.
"I present to you my own Rock Monsters where everything always rock and roll!" Called a muscular man in a gray undershirt who summoned his army of boulder minions to life which all flexed their rock-limbed muscles and tossed their rock balls in the air and punched them up into tiny pieces. The crowd oohed.
"Well I just created a special weather monster, Terror Tornado!" An anchorman reported and sent his tornado-shaped creature and swirled its opponent's rock army into its funnel, creating a blue hail storm.
Everyone aahed in wonder, including the trainers. Ash and Pikachu were fascinated by the show of various magical and powerful creatures summoned from DMPs. He must admit that these holographic monsters in this world are super awesome, as awesome as catching Pokémon. It almost beats attending another Pokémon contest. It was worth missing a bus, they had learned something new. "Think you can do that, Pikachu?" Ash said to his Pokémon.
"Pikachu!"
On the other side of the battle floor, Yugi, smiling, was watching the demonstration when his violet eyes wandered into the audience. His sight stopped at the boy with the Pikachu and the Poké gang in the thick crowd, rousing curiosity within him. Ash who was watching the monsters also turned his head away for a minute and caught glimpse of the King of Games across him. The two of them stared at each other for a while, feeling a faint connection between them. Neither of them know it, but they are destined to become friends in the future, even though they're from different worlds. That will not come about right away or later, but the two heroes of different boundary sides will reunite the world and become friends. They just don't know it yet.
Then a tall guy stepped in front of Ash, cutting off eye contact between the Pokémon Master and King of Games. Yugi lost sight of Ash and wondered who was that. "What's the matter, Yugi?" Téa asked.
"Oh, nothing, Tèa." Yugi answered and turned back to the competition. Inside his Millennium Puzzle, the spirit, the Pharaoh also saw Ash and his Pikachu through his partner.
"That boy with a Pikachu...Have I seen them somewhere?" He thought. "Probably not..."
"Yo! Check mine out!" Joey stepped in with his created monster. "Meet my Dino-Warriors!" His army of dinosaurs in armor marched from his DMP and danced on the floor.
"That is original," Max said.
"Ha! Your lizard boys compare nothing to my Robot Men!" Tristan announced. He brought out his futuristic men in titanium suits with laser eyes. Everyone was impressed.
"Oh yeah? We'll just see! ATTACK!" Joey commanded his Dino-Warriors to charge at his Robot Men.
"Go get 'em, Robot Men!" Tristan shouted. His metallic men rushed at their opponents. In a flash of light, both of the boys' armies were vaporized into dust. The crowd was amused that they were so powerful that they destroyed each other. Joey and Tristan chuckled.
"That was amusing," Tèa said.
"It was a good try," Yugi said.
"Anybody else?" Pegasus called out. "Anyone? Come on, people! Surely someone left has to have one good idea left. Will anyone step up please and get this contest rolling?"
No one else took a shot, but that was about to change. Ash could not resist a challenge. He grinned and felt like he was going to explode with excitement. "Let me take a go!" He rose his hand up in determination.
"Pikachu!" His furry little comrade jumped up in spirit.
"Huh?" Everyone, including Yugi and friends looked that way and saw the determined Pokémon trainer stepping in the open floor. Pegasus placed full attention on Ash and Pikachu as well.
"Ash, wait a second!" Brock spoke up.
"Allow me to show you what my 'Pocket Monster'!" Ash stated with confidence. "Go, Pikachu!"
"Pikachu!" The yellow mouse Pokémon stepped onto the floor, ready for action.
The people gawked at the electric rodent, wondering what it is and where'd it come from. "What the heck is that thing?" Joey asked.
"It's so cute!" Tèa said.
Yugi kind of recognized the mouse Pokémon. "It's a..." He spoke out.
"Pikachu, use Quick Attack!" Ash commanded.
Pikachu sprinted faster than a speeding bullet, zooming past the monsters' feet which they looked down insensibly. The people could barely keep eyes on it. They awed and muttered how does a little mouse like that run so fast.
"Now use Iron Tail!" Ash said it with a cool grin.
Pikachu jumped and hopped on top of each and every one of the monsters' heads. Its tail glowed white and it somersaulted, firing out the Iron Tail. The people exclaimed as they quickly ducked out of the way just in time before the white Iron Tail attacks hit the wall. Pegasus was astonished. And so was Yugi. "He's good." May said.
Ash was about to wrap this up. "Alright, give them the big finale!"
"PIKACHU!" Pikachu leaped high in the air and unleashed a storm of thunderbolts in the air, yellow bolts vaporized the rest of all the contest monsters on the floor. The people exclaimed as the lightning sparks almost hit them. After the finish, Pikachu landed on its feet, next to its proud trainer who smirked and stood in triumph.
Silence fell upon the arena. The duelists never saw anything like this before, especially not something in dueling world, but from the Pokémon world. They stared at the Pokémon trainers who felt uneasy. "Uh...this is awkward," Brock said.
Pegasus, who saw everything from the balcony was also speechless. "Well...I...I must say, I honestly never seen anything like this before, ever." He managed to bring out an amused smile and cleared his throat. "Ahem. Ladies and gentlemen, I believe we have a winner!" He declared. "Give it up for the young man and his Pocket Monster!" He pointed to Ash and Pikachu who were surprised by what they just heard. "What?"
"Pika?"
"What?" Brock asked.
"What?" May and Max uttered.
"What?" Yugi spoke up in surprise.
"What?" Tristan and Tèa uttered in next turn.
"Say what?" Joey ejaculated.
"WHAT?" All the duelists ejaculated in unison.
"You heard me right, folks." Pegasus said, getting off the balcony. "I don't know where this young man come from or where did he get such an impressive animal, but hey, a winner's a winner, right!"
Everybody applauded for the confused Pokémon trainers. "Um, this is getting weirder by the minute," Max said.
"What the hey!" Brick said. "This is better than sitting at the fountain doing nothing."
Pegasus approached the trainers. "Congratulations, children," he greeted. "You have passed! You shall be privileged for you get to test out the new game and be the first guests of my new amusement park in progress!"
"Sorry, but that was a mistake," May said. "We didn't enter this contest and we're not in this world."
"We're Pokémon trainers, not duelists." Ash added. "You see, this one is my Pokémon. It's not even included in one of your card thingies. His name's actually Pikachu, and he's real."
"Pikachu!"
Everyone gasped. A Pokémon in their world? The dueling world? Pokémon trainers in the Duel Monsters world! "Really? This changes everything!" Pegasus didn't seemed too worried.
"Now hold on!" A man protested.
"They're not even duelists!" Another guy protested. "They're not even in our world! They should be disqualified!"
"Nonsense! Duelist or not, everyone deserves a chance! Even these four." Pegasus said. "I think these fine children will make fine game testers. It may be a new age for all of us!" He turned to the children. "Come, my creative darlings. We have so much to do and so little time." He escorted the curious Pokémon trainers out of the arena floor.
Yugi, Joey, Tèa, and Tristan stood there stunned by the events of today. "Uh, what just happened here?" Joey spoke up.
"We just been gypped by a kid with a lightning mouse!" Tristan said.
"Guys, that was a Pikachu," Yugi said.
"How do you know, Yugi?" Tèa asked.
"I saw it on TV," Yugi answered. "They're called Pokémon. But I thought they only exist in video games. Never thought I'd see one up close, especially in this world."
"So what, they like crossed over?" Joey asked.
"Could be," Yugi answered. "Let's follow them." The dueling quadrant made to the exit.
Outside in the big streets, Team Rocket was getting creamed by a pack of enthusiastic duelists, round after round. They crashed onto the streets, all soiled and fried, and groaned in anguish. "Those are really powerful Pokémon," James moaned.
"Never felt anything like this!" Meowth groaned.
"How much more can we take?" Jessie lamented.
"How's this for ya?" A kid chaffed. "Ready for another beating?" He was about to place another card in the slot of the duel disk.
"Forget them, dude!" A teen guy said. "They're too lame to continue. I don't think they're even duelists. Let's get out of here!"
The disappointed duelists left the loser trio alone, laying on the street. Jessie lifted her head up and spat out dirt from her mouth. "Well, that was very displeasurable!" She growled. "How dare they make a monkey out of us with their so-called fancy cards! Just you wait! As soon as we find those pretty wrist gadget thingies and those new Pokémon cards, we'll turn the tables and they'll regret they ever encountered Team Rocket!"
"Look, it's the twerps!" Meowth pointed. There they spotted Ash, Pikachu, May, Brock, and Max leaving the Dueling Arena and entering Pegasus' white limousine.
"Aha!" Jessie exclaimed. "At last, we got them in our sights! Let's go!" The Team Rocket trio instantly recovered and scurried over to the long vehicle and hitched a ride underneath. As soon as everybody got on, the limousine drove off. Yugi, Tèa, Joey, and Tristan stepped out the Dueling Arena just in time to see the new people go with Duel Monsters creator.
"There they go," Joey said.
"Off to KaibaCorp," Tristan added.
"I hope those kids know what they're getting into," Tèa added.
"Let's follow them, you guys," Yugi suggested.
His friends looked at him in question. "Why's that, Yug?" Joey asked.
"Pegasus might have change, but he could still try to do something crazy to those new kids," Yugi answered. "They don't know him like we do and they could end up in a pickle. After all, they from the opposite side of the world."
"That's true. We better keep eyes on them," Tèa agreed. She and her friends skedaddled and tailed on Pegasus' trail.
The white limousine stopped at last in front of building of KaibaCorp. The chauffeur got out and let the passengers out and they all walked inside the building. A couple of security guards awaited the guests at the lobby and escorted them to their destination.
Team Rocket dropped off from underneath the limo and crawled from underneath. "What a fancy building!" Meowth said.
"I bet it's real loaded!" Jessie said.
"From what I heard, KaibaCorp is one of the biggest and richest companies on the whole planet," James said.
"Just think how many presents we could give to the Boss," Meowth said.
"Then what are we standing around here for?" Jessie said. "Let's go!" She and her crew went to the back of the building to sneak in. Yugi and his gang also arrived at the KaibaCorp and entered inside.
Pegasus and the trainers walked down hall where the walls are covered with pictures and posters of Duel Monsters. The kids looked at them with fascination. "Look at the pictures of those monsters and creatures." Max said. "They look like the ones in fairy tale books."
"What are they called again?" May asked.
"Duel Monsters, my dear," Pegasus answered. "If you want to know, I was the one who created them. I created them out of inspiration from the Egyptian hierographs during my trip to Cairo. Not only that but I also breathed life into these puppies, with a little bit of 'magic'. Hee hee! Of course, Kaiba Boy was the one who thought of holograms to make them look real. Pretty fascinating story, don't you think?"
"That's nice," Ash said. "But can you do Pokémon trading cards too? That would be a hit too!"
"Yeah, a world phenomenon," Brock agreed.
"Some of these monsters look so cute!" May said.
"And weirdly, human," Max said.
Brock stopped and stared at a poster of Dark Magician Girl, smiling and blushing. A guard pushed him along.
The group were nearly at the game developing land.
"What do you think of KaibaCorp, not too shabby, eh?" Pegasus said. "Of course, my place has more class than this humble factory. You should come check it out and visit me sometime. Hee hee!" They at last came across a sealed door that leads to the laboratory. Pegasus pressed a button on the intercom and spoke through the speaker. "You hoo? Anybody there? We're here!" He announced in sing-song.
At once, the door opened and the group entered the lab. Yugi, Joey, Tèa, and Tristan kept track on the DM creator and Pokémon Trainers from the hallway from behind, closing in on the lab.
A young boy with long black hair approached the guests with a clipboard. "May I ask for your names, please?" He requested. He looked up and recognized the visitors from before. "Hey, you guys again!"
"Hi, Mokuba." The gang said.
"You guys are the winners of the Invent-A-Game Contest?" Mokuba asked in wonder.
"Yeah," May answered. "It's kind of weird."
"It was kind of my idea," Ash admitted. "Let's just say I dragged us into this contest." He itched his face with his finger.
"He put up a great show at the Dueling Arena," Max pointed it. "I guess he couldn't resist showing off." Ash chuckled slyly as he scratched his nose.
"That's fine enough," Mokuba accepted. "Seto, the winners are here." His brother entered the lab to greet the winners.
"Oh, it's you guys again," he said, remembering their first encounter.
"You're the owner of KaibaCorp?" Ash asked.
"Duh! His last name is Kaiba," Max said. "So of course he owns KaibaCorp!"
"Let's make this fast, people," Kaiba said austerely. "I'm very busy person and I have a very tight schedule to keep."
"Shouldn't we do a interview with them first, Seto?" Mokuba said.
"That takes too much time and studies," Kaiba said coolly. "That's why we have technology to speed things up." He addressed to the trainers. "I assume you got all your resources together?"
"Uh, resources?" Ash repeated.
"In order to create a copy of your demos, I have to have your set of resources so I can make sure that I get everything all accurate and no mistakes, otherwise."
The gang gulped. "Mistakes?" Max repeated.
"Now, do you or do you not have the resources for the test drive? Hurry up, you're already wasting 2 minutes of my precious time!" Kaiba said impatiently. His attitude sure scares them.
Ash dug into his back pocket and took out his Poké Dex. "Here, this might help."
"And mine too." May took out hers as well."
Kaiba gently snatched the Poké Dexes off their hands and placed them in the slots of a data scanning programs on his computer. "Hmmm..." He examined the computer screen. "Very interesting." He viewed all of the data collected in the Pokédexes on the computer screen, downloading the graphics and bits from the images of the Pokémon profiles.
Outside the lab entrance, Yugi and his pals leaned onto the sealed door, trying to listen in for sounds and conversation. "What do you think they're doing in there?" Tèa asked.
"I can't hear anything," Yugi said.
"Too much noise in there," Joey said.
"That's my stomach," Tristan said. "Haven't eaten lunch."
Back inside the lab, Kaiba's computer stopped humming and downloaded enough data and bitmaps transported them in the large dome shaped machine, possibly the experiment. "There, I download the data and images from your Pokédexes and designed monsters based on the Pokémon you encountered and programmed them into the virtual world you will be playing in," the brunet president of the company said. "It will also be an adventure game based on your journey back in your side world. It will be neither hard nor easy, just depending on your levels of experience. Watch out though, there might be unexpected challenge that even you noobs can yet take on."
The trainers felt very excited and anxious about getting this virtual testing on. "Mokuba, if you would be so kind," Kaiba ordered his brother.
"Here we go!" Mokuba switched on the power, warming up the very large machine, activating the new "world" inside.
"Do you hear some humming inside or is it just me?" Joey asked.
"It's not just you, Joey," Tèa said.
"Guys, I've got a funny feeling about this," Yugi said.
"Me too." Tristan said. "That, and I got gas."
The gang eyed at the miracle virtual dome in wonder. Max whistled. "Nice."
"Now that's technology." Brock said.
"Alright, weirdos. If you'll step through the electrical portal, your bodies will be scanned and your molecules will fuse with the binary codes in the hard drive. All your feelings and expressions, including your hunger points will be included into the virtual world. It will be almost just like the real world."
"However, even if what you felt in there felt real, it's not really real at all." Kaiba continue them. "Remember, it's only a game and it's all in your head." His eyebrow lowered down more. "But do me a favor though, since this virtual dome is a prototype and you're its first testers, use caution and play wisely. We wouldn't want any unfortunate mishaps on your first try and KaibaCorp will not be hold responsible if anything happens to you." His blue eyes stared at them seriously which gave them butterflies in their stomachs.
"Don't worry, guys. You'll be fine!" Mokuba consoled the nervous trainers. "We checked out all the bugs before you arrived, so nothing can go wrong." That was real encouraging.
One bye one, the Pokémon trainers anxiously stepped through the archway scanner, onward to the entrance of the game dome.
"Good luck, fellows!" Pegasus called and gave them a thumbs up.
And so, Ash and his friends walked toward a very bright light, stepping into the virtual world of new monsters, hoping the experiment will come to good results.