Author's note: The suggestion for Yuugi to get Dratini was from Serafinamoon, and it was too perfect not to use...thanks, Serafina!

Chapter 25--Dragon Valley

Yuugi, Benjamin, and Mike were on their way to the next town. They had finally reached the Jagged Pass; it was a long, narrow corridor between four mountains. They were about halfway through the pass when Benjamin stopped, sniffing the air.

"What's wrong, Benjamin?"

Benjamin shook his head as if to clear it. "I'm not sure...I feel as if we're being watched."

At this moment, harsh laughter echoed around them. All three looked around, searching for the source of the noise, but this was nonevident until a Clanner dropped down behind Yuugi, clapped a hand over his mouth, and said, "You are correct, half-breed; you are being watched. And now, we take the Summoner." With that, the Clanner grabbed Yuugi's Deck, Luminaras' Pokeball, and the Millenium Puzzle, dropped them on the ground, whistled sharply, leapt onto the back of a dragon that responded to his call, and flew off westward.

At this moment, three other Clanners dropped down from their own dragons. They bore throwing lances, obviously intended for use on dragonback, and wore short swords at their sides. Mike and Benjamin immediately drew their swords as well. The Clanners, however, just sneered.

"We have already won, fools! Kill us if you will; it will not rescue the Summoner! We need only delay you, but I think that we should kill you, just to be safe. Goodbye, fools. You have failed your friend."

Mike and Benjamin stood back-to-back, but they knew they had little chance of victory; the Clanners had ranged weapons, and they were outnumbered. Then, just as things truly began to look black for our heroes, a new voice spoke.

"Dragonite, use your Hyperbeam! Great job, Dragonite! Now--Ice Beam!" A stout, muscular orange dragon with small but powerful blue wings, short, thick limbs, and a large tail flapped into view; someone was on its back.

The Clanners, however, had already fled, scowling. A girl stepped down from Dragonite's back. She had dark-brown hair, vividly ice-blue eyes, and a cheeky grin. She looked to be about nineteen.

"Hi there! My name's Valerie, but you can call me Val for short. You were certainly in trouble! Were those the child kidnappers everyone's been talking about?"

Mike walked over to shake her hand, tripped on a dented helmet, and leapt up in surprise. While Benjamin was introducing them to Val, Mike examined his odd find.

Benjamin nodded, looking worried. "They were--and they've captured one of our friends. We must find him..."

Val smiled comfortingly. "Well, I know the Jagged Pass like the back of my hand! Why don't I help you out? Come on--we'll find your friend in no time!"

Benjamin and Mike gratefully accepted this offer. Mike nudged Benjamin and said quietly, "Hey--you think this is another one of Yuugi's weird objects?"

Benjamin nodded. "We will keep it for him."

Before climbing onto Dragonite's back with Mike and Val, Benjamin carefully picked up Yuugi's Deck, Pokeball, and the Millenium Puzzle and put them in his backpack, silently vowing to return them to his friend at any cost. As they sped off, another person spoke, although no one could hear him.

Don't worry, Yuugi; we'll find you!

-o-o-o-o-o-

Yuugi, meanwhile, was rapidly flown to a valley in the west where several other Clanners were already waiting. The dragon Pokemon of the valley were hanging back, and several were injured. There seemed to be three kinds of dragon here; if Yuugi had known more about Pokemon, he would have recognized Dratini, Dragonair, and Dragonite, the three legendary dragon Pokemon, which were related evolutionary stages. The first stage, Dratini, was a small, snake-like creature, about a foot long with smooth, rubbery, pale-blue skin, a white belly and white fins on either side of its rounded head. Dragonair, the next evolutionary stage, was like a longer, darker-blue version of Dratini, with more wing-like head fins and a sphere at the base of its throat, as well as two on the tip of its tail. Finally, Dragonair was a powerful, muscular orange creature, standing upright on its thick legs. It flew with two blue wings, small in comparison to its body but still powerful.

Yuugi knew nothing about these dragon Pokemon; the only thing he was looking for was an opportunity. The Clanners, assuming that without Yami and his Deck he was pathetic, had failed to bind him. They had forgotten that he still had one ally--Spark!

The instant the dragon touched down, Yuugi kicked his captor as hard as he could in the back of the knee, just as Benjamin had once taught him to do. The Clanner let go of him in surprise, giving him time to scramble to his feet and move backwards. The Clanners glared at him. Yuugi knew that this was not a promising situation; he was trapped and outnumbered, and there was no help coming. But, like a true hero, he was going to fight anyway.

"Surrender now, Summoner. Without your monsters, you cannot hope to fight us. You only weapon is a knife, and you have not learned to throw it. You have no hope of escaping. You must admit defeat!" "Never!" Yuugi said bravely. "You may have taken my Deck, but you missed one monster--Spark!"

As he said this, Yuugi threw his one remaining Pokeball. Spark appeared, causing much amusement from the Clanners.

One tall, dark-haired Clanner with shadowed eyes stepped forward. "Hahaha!!! You have been in this World too long, Summoner--you have forgotten one key fact about these creatures. They are intended for Pokemon battles; Pokemon battles are not fought to the death. I Summon-- Darkslash! Darkslash, incinerate that puny creature!"

Yuugi, who had forgotten that this could well be a battle to the death, was shocked to see an enormous black dragon appear. It was a long, four-legged creature, with a reptilian head and fanged jaws. Its yellow eyes focused on Spark, and it growled menacingly. Obeying its master's command, Darkslash shot fire at Spark, who squealed and attempted to run. Alas, Spark was nowhere near fast enough to escape the blast; he was knocked backwards, smoldering.

"Spark!" Yuugi shouted in anguish, concerned for the fate of this creature that he had unwittingly put into such danger. Benjamin had told him that he had to take of this Pokemon, just like he would have taken care of one of his monsters...and now look what he had let happen to him.

Yuugi was about to return his poor Pokemon when the dragon's tail swung forward, knocking the Pokeball out of his hand and breaking it. It lay cracked on the ground while Yuugi knelt next to Spark, knowing that his only monster had been badly injured, and there was nothing he could do to help it.

"I'm sorry, Spark...I didn't mean for you to get hurt...I didn't realize that they would do that..."

The Clanners laughed some more. "You're pathetic. You have too much compassion for your monsters. They are slaves and you are their master; you must command them as such to be truly powerful."

Yuugi stood up. He had no idea what he was going to do; he knew he couldn't fight a dragon, but he had to do something.

"You're wrong. Only trust can bring true power--hate can only take you so far. I've always believed that, even before I learned how to Summon my monsters! Hatred and fear will never bring true victory!" Yuugi said defiantly, refusing to give no matter how hopeless things seemed.

"Sorry, Summoner--it just has. You have no more monsters to fight us with. What will you do--attack my dragon single-handed? Face it--it's over. You put up a fair fight, I suppose, but it's hopeless now. There's nothing more you can do."

Yuugi took a deep breath. He knew that he was out of options...what should he do? It would be easier to just give in...he was going to lose anyway... Yuugi thought of all the times that his friends had stood by him in danger...and all of the duels Yami had fought to end, no matter how hopeless it seemed. He looked up, determined. I won't give up...no matter what!

"We'll see about that," he said, not sounding frightened or worried at all. Yuugi knew it was hopeless...but he didn't care.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Mike, Benjamin, and Val were growing frustrated. The Jagged Pass was composed of four valleys surrounded by mountains. The east valley held a training hall and a trainer's rest house, the north valley contained cold- weather dragons and was filled with ice and snow, the south valley contained warm-weather dragons and was filled with boiling magma pools, and the west valley contained the temperate climate dragons, which consisted mostly of Dragonair and Dratini, with the occasional Dragonite. They had searched the east valley and found several trainers held by Clanners; they had searched the north valley, and found a large group of dragons facing them, along with the Clanners from the last valley; now they were trying to decide where to go next. Benjamin was rather thoughtful about this.

"When the Clanners escaped, they were flying west," he said. The Clanners had been trying to delay them...they might have been in too much of a hurry to do anything but run, which would point to the west valley as their location.

Mike shrugged. "So what? That was probably just a trick--I'll bet they're in the south valley."

"....if you think so," Benjamin said, deciding to trust Mike's judgement this time.

In the south valley, they found all of the Clanners they had faced so far, plus a few new ones. Benjamin groaned. "I knew we should have gone west!" he said, cursing himself for their bad decision.

The Clanners smiled grimly. "You should have gone home, half-breed. You will not leave this valley alive!"

Benjamin was growing tired of these Clanners. He was growing angry at their constant attacks. He was also very worried about Yuugi.

This was not a good combination for the Clanners.

Benjamin was a berserker. In battle, when he became extremely angry, he went crazy and started attacking wildly, injuring his enemies brutally. He became almost immune to pain and injury himself, and continued attacking until he ran out of energy or was forced to stop. Berserkers are fairly rare among the usually cautious Darklings, and they are extremely dangerous. Those who are berserkers usually learn to control their psychotic tendencies, but Benjamin had never had the chance.

Benjamin was angry.

The battle that followed defied description. Dragonite covered Val's eyes as Benjamin, accompanied by Mike, attacked the Clanners, knowing that they would not survive if they lost this battle. Finally, the Clanners drew back, baring with them six bodies.

The Clanners had paid in blood for their attack.

Benjamin panted, trying to catch his breath. "We will rescue Yuugi, Clanners--no matter what it takes." Val, Benjamin, and Mike left for the west valley, hoping they would not be too late.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Yuugi, meanwhile, was fighting in the west valley. As his friends were coming closer, he was being attacked. The dragon had cornered him; there was no way its attack would miss. The dragon opened its mouth wide; it was about to breath fire.

This is it, Yuugi thought. He was going to die here, alone and in another World. It was of some comfort to him that at least he would die fighting.

To his surprise, however, he did not die. Just before Darkslash's fire attack burned him to a crisp, a sparkling barrier sprang up in front of him, stopping the attack! For one wild moment, he thought that Mirror Force had been activated--but no; it was a Dratini, one of those in the valley! Yuugi didn't know it, but this brave creature had used Light Screen to protect him.

"....you want to fight with me?" he asked, looking curiously at the tiny dragon.

"Tini!" it cried bravely, nodding its head.

"All right! Let's go, Dratini!" Yuugi said enthusiastically, smiling. It was almost impossible to keep Yuugi's spirits down for long.

At this moment, Benjamin, Val, and Mike arrived. The Clanners immediately leapt on them to ensure that they did not attack. Mike was knocked to the ground. Benjamin, knowing that he didn't have a clear shot to throw Yuugi his missing possessions, called, "You can do this, Yuugi!" At the very least, Benjamin would let his friend know that he had confidence in him.

The Clanner scowled. "That pathetic worm will never defeat Darkslash! Darkslash, attack!"

Yuugi looked steadily back at him. "We can win--I know we can! Come on, Dratini--use that wall thing!"

Benjamin, having some knowledge of the Pokemon World, knew that a victory for Dratini would be a long shot. However, he also knew that Yuugi was not only one of the greatest strategists he had ever met, he also had strength of heart. "I know you can defeat them, Yuugi. It's not over yet!"

Val, also watching the battle, was amazed that a wild Dratini would fight so well with a trainer. Mike, who knew nothing about Pokemon, just hoped Yuugi wouldn't get himself killed.

You can do this, Yuugi--I believe in you! Yami thought to himself; he would have liked to tell Yuugi that, but their mental connection was severed without the Millennium Puzzle.

Dratini used Light Screen, but the power of Darkslash's attack knocked him backwards. "You can do this, Dratini! I believe in you!"

This made the Clanners nearly collapse with laughter, but it worked-- Dratini, refusing to give up, won, eventually defeating Darkslash with a well-placed Ice Beam.

The Clanners scowled. Sighing deeply, the leader glared at Yuugi. "You win, Summoner. I do not understand how you could defeat me without your Summon cards, but...very well. I grant you your freedom."

The Clanners mounted their various dragons and Gated out, carrying with them the bodies of their fallen comrades.

Yuugi's friends got up and dusted themselves off, while Yuugi himself picked up poor Spark. "It's okay, Spark...you can stay here...you belong here--you'll only get hurt by coming with me." He turned to Val. "Here-- you take Spark. He belongs in this place...it would be wrong to force him to come with me."

Val nodded. "Don't worry--your Pokemon will be safe with me." Grinning, she put Spark in a Pokeball of her own. "Great battle with Dratini--I wasn't sure you would win for a minute there, but you made it!"
Benjamin frowned. "Yuugi...without Spark, you only have one Pokemon. What will you do now?"

"I'm not sure--I suppose I'll just have to make do with one. ...huh?"

Dratini crawled over. "Tini dratini!" he said, looking up at Yuugi.

"But--you can't come with, Dratini. You don't understand...I live far away from here, and I'm fighting a war. You could be in danger."

Dratini remained sitting at his feet.

"If you really want to come...okay!" Yuugi said, smiling brightly. Pulling out what looked like a blank Duel Monsters card, he said, "Dratini-- Summons." Dratini was absorbed in magical light; a second later, its picture had appeared on the card.

Benjamin nodded. "Thank you for all your help, Val. Let's get going, everyone--we need to reach the next town."

Val stopped him. "The next town is so far--let me fly you there! I don't mind, and besides...on behalf of all the dragon trainers and Pokemon in the Jagged Pass, I owe you one!" She grinned cheerfully at him, patting Dragonite's side.

Before they left, Benjamin gave Yuugi all of his missing possessions back. "Here...these belong to you."

"That's better--now everything is back to normal...well, as normal as it'll ever be. Let's get going, guys!" Yuugi said cheerfully, happy to be reunited with his friends. Together, they set off for the next town, ready to face whatever lay ahead.