I was really bored and felt like updating. Nice huh? Anyway, I will be getting hit with essay assignments later this month and early next month directly followed by finals until the mid December. Since the next few chapters are already written and all ready, I may update again during that time.

Review Replies:

Shadow: Yup, you got it right! I expected nothing less from you ;)

sakura: Glad you like it!

Alana: Yup, the adventure is just getting started!

lilly: Thanks!

Sheridan: Excellent question. When I first created the Next Gen Brawlers, I made their ages around the 12-13 range (ex. Soren would be 13 and DJ would be 12). Shortly after, I started writing this fanfiction. Some time later, I decided to change the ages to more teenage (15-17 age range - DJ being bumped up to 15 and Soren to 16) rather than pre-teen since the official Next Gen plot and series I'm working on would be contain far more serious events and require them to be a little more grown up - the ages of those 10 and younger remained unchanged (ex. Shizuka and Shiori are still 9). Since I had already started this fic with everyone around the 12-13, I didn't feel like going back and changing it up, plus I felt that with Soren staying 13 in this fic, he would still have a child-like quality about him. This fic is really about him growing up a bit (which wouldn't have as great of an effect if he was 16) and getting Ren and Sora back together. I hope I explained it well enough.

I do not own Bakugan, only Sora, Soren, Lex, Zeke, Juliet, Izumi, Bruce, Floria and other OCs...I just kinda spoiled it didn't I? lol, ah well. I'm sure some of you already knew anyway. This fanfiction is pure fan made and not associated with the Bakugan Battler Brawlers series.


Soren's POV

I had changed into my Gundalian appearance right away and pulled my hood off. I honestly hated staying in my human form. I hated having to hide who I really was, but I understood what would happen if people found out I was half alien. So whenever I was alone with family and friends, I would change back to my real appearance right away. My friends didn't seem to mind. In fact, they thought I looked cool and encouraged me to stay in my true form around them.

"The city really is bustling," I said. It was true. People and vehicles were zooming in and out of the streets.

"Yes, it must be really busy," added Lex.

We strolled through the city, scanning every single Gundalian that walked past us. We even looked into every store window for any signs of a white haired Gundalian. Hours had passed and we came up with nothing! I was starting to lose confidence and getting frustrated. We came to a park and I plopped onto a bench with a frustrated sigh.

"Who was I kidding? How are we possibly going to find my dad? There must be millions of other Gundalians and I don't even know where to begin looking!" I shouted, throwing my arms into the air. This was like finding a needle in a haystack!

"Don't worry, Soren. I'll help you find him, no matter how long it takes! We may only have a photo of his human form, but I've seen his Gundalian form! I know what he looks like!" Lex tried to reassure me, but it wasn't working.

"Lex, that was 14 years ago! It's not like he's going to look exactly the same as he did back then."

"Maybe, but you look just him. We'll find him no time, trust me."

"But this is getting us nowhere! He might not even be in this city!" I shouted.

"Soren, we'll find him. You just have to stay optimistic!"

"I know, I know." Lex was just trying to help and I was taking out my frustrations on him. I buried my face into my hands and sighed. What was I thinking? Did I honestly delude myself into believing that it would be this easy to find him? And right away? Maybe I should just head home now before mom realizes I even left.

"Excuse me." I looked up and saw a little girl with long, dark blue hair and big light blue eyes in a brown and orange dress. She had a Subterra Bakugan on her shoulder that looked like a bull.

"Um…hi," I replied, nervously cocking my eyebrow. I wasn't much of a talker to begin with, but this little girl just sorta appeared out of nowhere. It really caught me off guard.

"Are you ok?" she asked, cocky her head to the side innocently.

"W-why do you ask?" I was rather thrown off by her curiosity. People normally didn't just ask strangers about their troubles. But that was based on being raised on Earth…perhaps that was different on Gundalia? Either way, she was a very forward little girl.

"Floria, you're not supposed to talk to strangers!" scolded her Bakugan.

"Oh hush, Sabator! I haven't seen you around here before, and I'm at the park everyday!" she said with pride. "Are you new in town?" she asked, sitting next to me on the bench, playfully swinging her legs back and forth, while pounding me with several other questions.

"Yes," I answered, surprised. I tried to answer her first question right away when she took a break to inhale before she continued on with more questions that I'd probably forget. "How did you know?"

"I can tell. You look lost, do you need help getting somewhere?" she asked in a sweet voice.

"Floria!" wailed another voice. A little boy, just slightly taller than Floria came running up to us. He had short greenish grey hair and wore an orange shirt and brown pants. He also had a Subterra Bakugan with him in the shape of a dragon. "Floria, Izzy said you're not supposed to wander off on your own or talk to strangers! Do you know how much trouble I'll get in with mom and dad?"

"Oh relax, Bruce! I was just talking to my new friend!" she said with a casual and relaxed smile.

"Uh, Soren. My name is Soren Minamoto and this is Lex, short for Leviathan," I said, introducing Lex and myself.

"It's nice to meet you Soren and Lex! I'm Floria Brown and I'm nine years old!" she said, holding up nine fingers. "This is my Bakugan Sabator and Mr. Party Pooper here is my big brother Bruce, he's 11, and his Bakugan, Avior."

"It's nice to meet you all, but I don't think you can help me," I replied sadly.

"Come on, Floria. We have to get back to Izzy. It's almost dinner time!" whined Bruce.

"Nonsense, Bruce. We have to help Soren! We can help you find who you're looking for, but first, you must come to our house for dinner!" Floria grabbed my hand and pulled me with so much force that I didn't expect of a little nine-year-old girl that it pulled me right off the bench. Bruce followed us as Floria pulled me over to three Gundalians who looked my age, two boys and one girl. One boy was in light blue with darker blue hair tied in a ponytail while the other had spiky, green hair with one part dyed a dark blue. Most of his clothes were ripped in some places and he wore almost all black over a yellow tank top and had a guitar strapped to his back. The girl was wearing a short green dress, black stockings and brown boots, had blonde and red hair and was carrying a book in her arms.

"Floria, I told you not to wander off on your own!" scolded the blue haired boy. "And who's this?" he asked, looking at me with wary eyes.

"These are my new friends Soren Minamoto and Lex! They need help finding someone!" she boasted.

Bruce finally caught up to us and was panting as he spoke. "I…told her…not to talk…to strangers…but she wouldn't…listen to me!"

"I'm very sorry about this, she sort of ambushed me," I replied nervously, rubbing the back of my head.

"Don't worry about it. Floria does that. She's a bit, I guess you could say 'overly friendly.' Name's Izumi Brown, but everyone calls me Izzy," Izzy held out his hand for me to shake, which I gladly accepted.

"Izzy's our big brother!" boasted Floria with pride.

"These are my friends Juliet Glenn…" Izzy introduced the girl.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance," she said, shaking my hand.

"…and Zeke Surrow," Izzy finished, introducing the other boy.

"Sup dude? How's it going?" The boy with the guitar shook my hand.

"Nice to meet all of you."

"So, Soren, Floria mentioned you were searching for someone?" asked Juliet.

"Yeah, I'm sort of on a mission to find my dad. My mom raised me by herself and I only found out about him a few days ago from my mom. I just got into the city this morning."

"That's heavy, dude. I don't exactly have that great of a relationship with my dad either," said Zeke. "He cheated on my mom a few years back, haven't talked to him since."

"Oh, I'm sorry…" I said, unsure of what else to say.

"Don't worry about it. It was years ago. Why don't you call it a night? I'm betting you've already searched long and hard enough. And you must be starving," suggested Zeke.

"Can Soren come over for dinner?" asked Floria, with hopeful eyes.

"Well, Zeke and Juliet are already coming over for dinner, but I suppose if it's ok with mom and dad and if Soren doesn't have any other plans…" said Izzy.

"Yay! Come on, Soren. Let's go to my house!" cried Floria, not even giving me a chance to answer and grabbing me by the arm and pulling me along. Izzy, Bruce, Juliet and Zeke followed closely behind as we wandered further into the city.

"So you guys all live in the city?" I asked. Floria had finally let go of my arm and we were casually walking through the city streets.

"Yeah, our parents were friends back during the Gundalian-Neathian war and when it ended. They all work for the Prime Minister so they have to be close by when he needs them," explained Izzy.

"That's the parliament building over there where all our parents work," pointed Zeke to a flashy and grand building. Green lights from street level were pointing up to it, making it easily identifiable from nearly anywhere in the city. "It used to be the royal palace but after the war ended, it was converted to better suit the new government."

"And we all live right across the street," said Juliet, pointing to the tall apartment building across from the old palace.

We entered the building and rode the elevator all the way up to the penthouse condos on the top level. "I really don't want to impose," I said.

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure mom won't mind one more dinner guest," said Izzy. He opened the door and everyone entered the condo. "Mom? Dad? Anyone home?" He called, turning on the lights.

"We made a new friend! Can he stay for dinner?" cried Floria.

"Doesn't look like they're home," said Zeke.

Izzy walked into the kitchen and pulled off a note off the refrigerator. "Ah, here we go. Mom and dad got called to an important meeting. I guess I'm making dinner tonight. Soren, you ok with stir fry?"

"Yes, that would be fantastic!" As Izzy was preparing dinner for all of us, Floria gave me a tour of their home before we finally sat down in the living room.

"I think somebody has a little crush on you, Soren. Shizuka will have some competition," whispered Lex, nudging me in the arm.

"Shut up!" I whispered, swatting at him.

"So, Soren, where are you from?" asked Bruce.

"Actually, I'm from Earth," I said hesitantly.

"A Gundalian from Earth? I've never heard of that before. Did your family move there or something?" asked Juliet.

"Um, no. I was born there. You see my mom is human."

"So that would make you half Human and half Gundalian!" cried Zeke.

"We've heard of cross species breeding but we never thought it would happen between a Gundalian and a Human!" cried Juliet.

"So half Gundalians aren't that common?"

"Well, no actually. Ever since the Gundalian-Neathian war ended, there have been a lot of multiracial families between our two planets. We have two friends from Neathia who're half Neathian and half Gundalian. Their mom is a friend of our parents," called Izzy from the kitchen. Izzy came out minutes later with plates of stir-fry. After the meal, Izzy put a tired Bruce and a reluctant Floria to bed, who nearly refused to go to bed without a story, which she also insisted that Soren read to her.

"So Soren, since you're not from here, you'll be needing a place to sleep for the night, right?" asked Juliet.

"I'd offer you a spot here, but we're already pretty full," said Izzy.

"You can crash at my place, dude. Mom and I've got room," said Zeke.

"Just be warned, Zeke likes to make noise in the morning when he wakes up," said Juliet.

"It's not noise! It's music!" he protested. "And it's better than that foreign language stuff you bury your nose into!"

"It's literature and it's beautiful!" she argued.

"All right, all right, save it for when you're married," joked Izzy, causing Zeke and Juliet to blush madly and swiftly turn away from each other. I followed Zeke out of the Brown's home and into his own just one floor below.

"Mom probably won't be home until morning. She, Juliet's and Izzy's parents have been really busy lately pulling all nighters," Zeke explained as he put his guitar on the stand. He pulled out a pillow and blanket from the closet and turned to me. "You ok with the couch? Because you can sleep in my bed and I can take the couch if you want," he offered.

"The couch is fine, thank you," I said, taking the pillow and blanket. He tossed me two small objects. "What are these?" I asked.

"Earplugs, you'll need them for when I wake up." I wasn't sure by what he meant when he handed them to me, but I took him for his word and put them in anyway before going to sleep. The earplugs weren't as strong as I thought they were because a blazing electric guitar solo rang through my ears and I fell right off the couch.

"Whoa, dude, you ok?" asked Zeke, helping me up. "Sorry about that, sometimes I really get into the zone."

"No, no it's fine. What time is it?" I asked, standing up.

"Just past 7."

"7? Man, I gotta go! I've got a whole city to search through and not a lot of time to do it!" I cried, scrambling for my things.

"Dude, chill, you've got lots of time. I'd really like to help you out, but Izzy, Juliet and I all have summer plans. Izzy's doing summer courses, Bruce and Floria are in a day camp and Juliet and I are camp counselors in performing arts camp," he said, strumming his guitar.

"You've all done more than enough for me already. Really, thank you," I said with a bow. "It was really nice meeting you all, tell the others I said thank you!" I turned, ready to leave and resume my search.

"Oh, dude, hold up a sec. If you need some help, here's Izzy's, Juliet's and my cell number. Call any of us if you're in a pickle," he said, handing me a piece of paper.

I took it and examined the tree numbers written next to their names. "Thanks! I will."

"Good luck, dude!"


When I first wrote this fic, I only had the Earth kids made up. It wasn't until after I made all the other Next Generation kids when I thought of putting the Gundalian kids in here, which I think was a great idea...especially since I really like the Gundalian kids ^^ Also, Izumi was referring to Roxanne and Cain Knight, the twin half Neathian and half Gundalian kids of Rafe and Paige. All these characters can be viewed on my deviantart.

Next Chapter - The Tournament: Soren learns of a Bakugan tournament where the winner gets to battle famous war hero, Ren Krawler! But he doesn't have a Bakugan...right?

Review! ~ZP