Thanks for the reviews! This chapter is short. Sorry.

To Be a Master

Chapter 2: Duel Monsters

"So why can't we ride a bus or something?" Joey whined. They had been walking for an hour already.

"Because walking is good for you. And it's a rite of passage. And I'm too poor for that…" Rei mumbled the last bit.

"I hate walking." Joey grumbled.

"Well, too bad for you!" Rei yelled, her temper getting the better of her. She didn't like whiners.

"Jeez, sorry." Joey sulked. "But I guess if Kaiba can do it, I can."

"You two don't like each other very much, do you." Rei stated.

"No! I hate that stupid-"

"That was a statement, idiot. It's pretty obvious we don't like each other." Seto informed him before he could finish.

"What? Oh. Shut up!"

"I'll shut up when you stop being an idiot."

"Knock it off before I have to separate you two!" Rei yelled.

"Please do." Seto said. Rei glared daggers at him, and he decided to belay the malice for now. This girl was a little scary…

Everyone fell silent rather fast. Rei turned around and started walking again. Anzu leaned over to Yugi.

"She's scary." She whispered. Yugi nodded. Joey leaned over too.

"It's gonna be hard traveling with miss hothead." He said quietly.

"I heard that!" Rei was in his face in no time. He cringed back, and Rei gave in to her fiery temper. "I have a temper, so what? Don't talk about me behind my back. If you have something to say, say it to my face. That goes for you too." She added as she walked by Anzu and Yugi. 'Ohh, this trip will be worse than I thought...I'm already getting a migraine.' She thought.

"Maybe we should take a break...Lunch, anyone?" Rei asked, rummaging in her pack. She pulled out some food and let her pokemon out.

"Yeah! Lunch!" Joey exclaimed, apparently not fazed by Rei's explosion. Rei passed out everyone's lunch and they talked. They told Rei about their adventures, and Duel Monsters, and she told them about her adventures and Pokemon. The duelists got out their cards and showed them to her. They even gave her any extras they had with them. Rei looked them over, pleased that a lot of them were fire-type. She got an idea.

"Hey, guys…" Everyone gave her their attention. They all liked her, despite her temper. "I'll teach all of you to battle, if someone teaches me Duel Monsters. But I want to learn from the best."

"That's me!" Joey said.

"Actually, Joey, who came in first at Duelist Kingdom?" Anzu reminded. Yugi blushed.

"Oh, I'm not-"

"Oh, duh! Yugi's the best!" Joey exclaimed.

"I beg to differ."

"No need to beg, Kaiba." Yami said, and was ignored except for a snicker from Bakura.

"I'm the best. You all should know that by now." Seto said coolly. Mokuba, at his side, nodded.

'How arrogant,' Rei thought, frowning.

"Fine, if you want to teach her so bad, go ahead." Joey said. Rei frowned harder.

"Hey, doesn't Yugi get a say?" Anzu interrupted. "Yugi?" Everyone turned their attention to a smiling Yugi.

"Well, I don't think I'd be able to teach her as well as Kaiba could…"

"Okay, enough fighting about who's going to teach me! C'mon, Seto!" Rei said and headed toward the woods, pulling Seto behind her.

'Impatient and hot tempered…' Seto thought, not sure he wanted to teach her after all.

Once in a comfortable spot for Duel Monsters, Seto started to teach Rei how to play. He helped her build a pretty decent, fire-themed deck out of the cards the others had given her. She caught on quickly, and they played a game to make sure she understood everything. Seto won, of course, but Rei held her own surprisingly well for a beginner.

Seto had been worried that she'd be impatient and angry the whole time, but she was pretty relaxed and fun. Rei had been dreading his cold, arrogant attitude, but didn't see much of that either. All in all, they both exceeded the other's expectations, and actually managed to have some fun.

After about an hour, Rei became anxious to move on, as she wanted to reach the city before nightfall. She and Seto gathered the cards up and went back to the group.

"We're going to go to Pewter city and I am going to battle Brock for the Boulder badge. Then I'll teach you all how to battle, and I'll get you some Pokeballs so that you can start catching your own Pokemon. Makoto, my cousin, is meeting me at the gym tomorrow. You'll like her, she's great." Rei grinned. She returned her pokemon to their homes and set off for Pewter City with her odd group.

"Rei," Mokuba called several minutes later, running up beside her. Rei slowed her pace and smiled at the boy.

"Yes?"

"What's a boulder badge?" He asked. Rei stopped, surprised.

"Oh, yeah… I guess you guys wouldn't know. Well, when you want to be a pokemon master, there are several gyms you go to, to battle someone who is already a master. If you beat them, you get a badge. It's a way to prove that you beat them, and that you're a good trainer. Once you have them all, you're a master. I've trained a long time on my own so I would be ready, and now I think I finally am. Brock is first, and you get the boulder badge from him because he's a rock pokemon trainer. I want to take Blaine's place one day as the fire pokemon master," Rei said proudly.

"That sounds so exciting!" Anzu exclaimed, imagining a future as a pokemon trainer. Rei smiled.

"It is. You can see for yourself when we get to town in an hour."

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