DISCLAIMER: You've heard it all before...noneofthisisiours,okay?

Chapter Three

The Asking of the Questions That Never Got Answered!

"Ah, what a beautiful morning!" exclaimed Ash Ketchum as he and his friends Misty and Brock strolled down the forest path.

"Oh, I know! It's great!" Misty agreed, laughing as Togepi began to chirp. Suddenly, Brock, who was holding the map, frowned and stopped walking.

"Hey, what's wrong, Brock?" Ash asked, walking up beside his friend and peering at the map, too.

"Pika, pika pi pikachu!" said the little yellow marshmallow of a Pokemon.

"I dunno, Pikachu," replied Ash. "What's wrong, Brock?" he asked his friend again.

"Don't tell me we're lost again!" Misty groaned, swiping the map from Brock.

"Okay, I won't tell you," stated Brock as she let out a screech.

"WHY ARE WE ALWAYS GETTING LOST!?" she yelled, chucking the piece of paper at Brock's head. "WHENEVER YOU HAVE THE MAP, WE GET LOST!"

"Hey, calm down, Misty!" Ash said, accidentally preventing her from kicking Brock's face by inserting his head as a substitute. "Ahhh......owch....uhg."

Misty looked quite pleased with her work, even though it wasn't Ash's fault they were lost. "That made me feel lots better!" she exclaimed happily, giving Togepi a hug.

Ash got up off the ground, a red shoeprint stamped on his face. "Hey..." he began, then noticed something behind Misty. "Hey Misty, there's a Caterpie behind you!" he shouted.

Misty turned around, took one look at the bug Pokemon, and screeched. "EEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKK! GET IT AWAY FROM MEEEEEE!" Instantly she took off running into the forest to get away from that dangerous bug.

Brock stared after her. "Maybe we should follow her and explain that Caterpie are harmless," he suggested. Ash laughed at that.

"Even if it's the smallest thing in the world, Misty'll be afraid of it 'cause it's a bug!" he shouted gleefully, running after the redhead girl.

Ash and Brock found Misty sitting in a clearing, eyes huge and watering. She was surrounded on all sides by Caterpie and other bug Pokemon. "Eeeeeeee......" she whined, wanting to get away but too afraid to move.

Suddenly, a loud explosion echoed through the forest. Unfortunately, it did not scare away the bugs. "Hey, maybe we should go check it out," Ash suggested, taking a step in that direction.

"No, get them away! Geet theeem awawayyy!" Misty whined, screaming as a Caterpie crawled onto her leg. "EEEEEEEEEEE! GET IT OFF GET IT OFF GET IT OFF!"

"Fine, fine," said Ash resignedly as he and Brock knelt down to remove the bugs from Misty's presence. But, before they could even touch one Pokemon, a green blur flashed by, and when it was gone, so were the Caterpie.

"YEEEEAAAAAHHHH!" exclaimed Misty joyfully. "You did it! You got rid of the bugs!"

"My bugs my bugs bugs bugs bugs bugs bugs!" exclaimed a manic voice from behind a bush.

"What...was that?" asked Misty slowly, eyeing the bush as if it would attack her any second.

"You'll have to excuse Weevil; he's crazy about bugs!" said another voice. This time, Ash, Misty and Brock turned to see four teenage boys standing in the clearing with them.

"Hey, where'd you guys come from?" asked Ash. Misty poked him in the ribs.

"That's not a very nice way to introduce yourself!" she hissed. Ash sweat dropped and laughed uneasily.

"Hehe...my name's Ash Ketchum!" he said, holding out his hand. "And this is Misty, and he's Brock!"

A boy with spikey black hair, a headband and a blue vest stepped forward. "I'm Mako Tsunami," he said, shaking Ash's hand. "I'm a water duelist!"

"Uh...that's nice," Ash said uncertainly.

"And I'm Rex Raptor, the dinosaur duelist!" said a boy wearing a red hat.

"Uh, aren't dinosaurs....gone?" Brock asked.

"No they're not! They're in my deck! See? Here! Look look look!" Rex shouted, brandishing a deck of cards in front of Brock's face.

"That's enough, Rex," Mako said, pulling him away from a sweat dropping Brock.

"I'm Bonz," said a short boy with flame-shaped black hair. His skin was oddly pale, and he sported black circles under his eyes. "I have a ghost and zombie deck!"

"Wait, I have a question!" Ash shouted. Mako shushed him and pointed to the last person.

"Not yet!" he said as the green-haired boy stepped forward.

"I am Espa Roba, the psychic duelist!" he said mysteriously, waving his hands about intricately.

"Oh, like the gym leader, Sabrina!" Misty exclaimed, expecting him to agree.

"Who's that?" was his only reply.

Suddenly, the bush to the left exploded and a small boy with blue hair and large glasses burst out, carrying an armload of Caterpie. "Bugs bugs bugs bugs bugs! All mine, hehehehehehe! Buuuuugggss!" he said with a maniacal cackle.

Misty squeaked in terror and got as far away as she could from Weevil. "EEEEEE! I thought they were gooooonnnneee!" she moaned, glaring at the bug Pokemon.

"I've never seen this kind of Duel Monster before! I wonder who's it is," said Weevil, giving one a squeeze. "Wait..." he said, inspecting the Caterpie closly. "IT'S NOT A HOLOGRAM!" he shouted, flinging the armload of Caterpie into the air. Unfortunately for Misty, they all landed on her.

"EEEEEEAAAAAA! GET THEM OFF, GET THEM OFF ME NOW!" she howled, dancing around in circles and flinging Caterpie off of her.

Ash and Brock stared at the five strangers in confusion. "Uh, what's not a hologram?" Ash asked hesitantly.

"IT'S NOT A HOLOGRAM! IT'S REEEAAALLL!" they all shouted, ignoring his question.

"Okay, sorry I asked," grunted Ash as they continued to shout.

"Of course it's not a hologram, it's a Pokemon!" Brock shouted loudly enough to be heard over their noise.

"WHAT'S A POKEMON?" they shouted back.

"Stop screaming and we'll tell you!" Ash shouted back.

"OKAY!" they screamed even louder.

"I SAID STOP!" Ash howled, his voice now matching theirs in volume.

"LET'S SEE IF THIS WORKS!" Mako shouted, ignoring Ash completely. He took out his Duel Disk, stuck in his Flying Fish, and watched in amazement as it appeared before him in solid form.

"Ah, that's a cute water Pokemon! What is it?" asked Misty, who had just freed herself from the bugs.

"Yeah, let's ask Dexter!" Ash said, whipping out his Pokedex.

"Pokemon unknown. No information available," said Dexter in a robotic voice.

"Of course it isn't a Pokemon, it's a Duel Monster!" Mako said, removing the card from the Disk.

"What's a Duel Monster?" asked Ash in confusion.

Instead of answering the question, Rex shouted out, "Let's see if it works for me, too!" He plopped his Two-Headed King Rex on his own Duel Disk. In an instant the beast stood in front of him, roaring and blowing fire.

"What is that thing?" exclaimed Ash, Misty and Brock together.

"Wow, it's real!" said Rex with watery eyes, not paying any attention to the three trainers.

"Espa say: If Mako's works, yours will too!" said Espa wisely, seated on the ground in Lotus position.

"I don't care what Espa say!" Rex snapped, his happy bubble over his dinosaur popped.

"Espa say: It is good to listen to the words of the wise."

"Too bad there's no wise around," said Rex conversationally.

"Espa say: Wise monkeys keep their mouths shut."

"Are you calling me a monkey?" raged Rex, ready to pounce on the calm duelist seated on the floor.

"Espa say: if the shoe fits, wear it."

"DAAAHHHH! SHUT UP WITH THE ESPA SAY!" Rex roared, ready to sic his Monster on Espa. "Go, Two-Headed King Rex! Annihilate him NOW!"

"Espa say--"

"Mako say, KNOCK IT OFF, BOTH OF YOU!" Mako shouted, causing them both to stop in the middle of what they were doing and stare at him.

Ash, Misty and Brock were now thoroughly terrified of these crazy people at this moment. "Ah, it was nice meeting you, we'll be leaving now, bye!" said Misty quickly, turning to run away.

"Hey wait! Could you answer a couple of questions for us before you go?" Mako called after them, stopping their escape.

"It wouldn't be polite to just walk away now," muttered Ash. They reluctantly turned back to face the five others.

"What questions did you want to ask?" asked Brock in a forced- nice voice.

"Well, we'll start with the easiest one first. And, since you look stupid, we'll ask YOU!" said Mako, pointing at Ash.

Misty beamed. "Hey, I kinda like this guy! Don't you think he's great, Ash?"

"Sure, charming, Misty," Ash grumbled. "So...what was the question?"

"We haven't asked it yet," Bonz said. "And by the looks of things, we'd better keep it simple so you can understand!" Ash glared at this comment but was stopped from retorting by Espa.

"Espa say: Simple is best!"

Xellos from Slayers: (pops up from out of nowhere) Hey, that's my line!

JY: Get outta here, Xellos! This isn't your fic! (flick Xellos away)

Xel: Gaahhhhhhhhh......... (becomes little star in distance)

JY: (sweat drop) Okay, proceed, guys!

"Uh..." said Bonz, quitle alarmed by the sudden entrance and exit of an unknown character. "Oh! You look stupid, so we'll give you the first question!"

Ash blinked, then glared. "I am not stupid!" he shouted angrily. "Gimme that question, and I'll prove it!"

"Okay, here goes: Where are we?" asked Bonz, smugly sure Ash would not give a valid answer.

"Well, we're nowhere near Olivine City, which is on the ocean--"

"The ocean? I wanna go there! After all, I have a water deck!" interrupted Mako. Misty stared at him in a new light.

"I just love water Pokemon!" she said, gazing at him dreamily. "And the ocean, too!" Mako and Misty stared at each other with dreamy, glazed expressions.

"Uh, Misty..." Brock began, but was interrupted by Rex.

"Okay, next question!" he said to Brock.

"Hey, I didn't even get to answer mine!" Ash protested angrily.

"What's a Pokemon?" Rex inquired of Brock, totally ignoring Ash.

"Well, it's kind of--"

"I love you, Mako!" exclaimed Misty, jumping into his arms.

"I love you, Misty!" he shouted back, catching her in a hug. Everyone stared at their warm, fuzzy moment with a face fault and sweat drop.

Suddenly, thunder clashing overhead brought an end to their moment. "It sounds like it's gonna rain," said Ash, peering up into the sky of gray clouds.

"Espa say: I could have told you that!"

"You...just...did," said Ash, eyeing him with a strange look.

"We're gonna need a place to stay," Weevil commented, saying something for the first time that did not involve bugs. "Do you guys know of any place like that?"

"Well, there is a Pokemon Center..." Brock began.

"What's a Pokemon Center?" asked all five in unison.

"It's a--"

CRASH! RUMBLE! BOOM!

"Let's get outta here before we're struck by lightning!" Ash shouted, running into the forest.

"But Ash, we're lost! And you don't know where to go!" Misty called after him, shivering in the sudden rain.

"It does't matter! Just follow me!" he said, glancing over his shoulder as he continued running.

"Espa say: bad idea."

"For once, I agree," said Rex, staring after Ash's retreating figure. Brock turned on them angrily.

"You're the ones who asked for our help! If you don't want it, go away!" he shouted, surprising himself.

"Don't tell me to go away!" Rex growled, taking up a fighting stance.

"While you stupid heads are standing out here arguing, we could be finding shelter! Let's all follow Ash RIGHT NOW!" Misty commanded, starting after her friend.

"Espa say: No thank you. Me like being alive."

"KNOCK IT OFF! GET OFF YOUR BUTT AND MOVE IT!" Misty roared with a mouth full of fangs. Immediately the five duelists ran after Ash to avoid Misty's wrath.

They found him huddled in a small cave not far away. "Come on, guys!" Ash called out with a wave.

Rex eyed the cave in dislike. "In there? No way! It'll be so cramped, I'll be touching him!" he exclaimed, jerking an irritated thumb at Espa.

"GET IN THE FREAKIN' CAVE NOW!" Misty roared, instantly sending them scrambling into the small space.

"So....exactly how long do we have to stay here?" asked Weevil quietly. "I want my bugs!"

"You are NOT bringing bugs in here!" Misty protested vehemently.

"Espa say--"

"SHUT UP!"