Note: Hey, you read on to the next chapter. Good for you, friend. You deserve a cookie.

I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Pokémon and I don't profit from writing this. It's just fun.

Chapter 2: Ash Ketchum

"We're lost, aren't we?"

Misty crossed her arms, fixing Ash with her best glare.

"I wouldn't say that," the boy replied, scratching the back of his head.

"Pika," scolded the little yellow mouse-rat at his side.

Brock simply sighed, taking in the look of his young companions' frustrated faces with a slight smirk, sensing another argument brewing.

They were in the middle of a forest. A vast forest, based on the amount of time they had spent trekking through the dark trees and stumbling over the brush that had grown thickly throughout the barely-worn path.

It was almost sunset and even Ash was ready to admit to himself that maybe they had taken a wrong turn at the last fork in the road.

"This always happens," huffed Misty, rolling her eyes and throwing up her arms in defeat.

"Not always," Ash said defensively, "You're the one who said we should…"

"Alright, alright," Brock cut him off, moving himself between the two before another shouting match could start. "Let's focus on the now instead of trying to put the blame on people. It's getting late so we should probably find a place to settle down. You two can continue your tirade in the morning."

"But I wasn't finished!" shouted Misty.

"Yeah! We've got a score to settle!"

"In. The. Morning," Brock groaned, already undoing the ties on his sleeping bag.

"Wait a minute! We're just going to plop down right here?" Misty's eyes darted nervously around the small path and the dense trees surrounding them. It was getting darker by the second. "Shouldn't we build a fire or something?"

"In a minute," mumbled Brock as he curled himself into a tight ball within his sleeping bag.

Ash sat heavily on the ground beside his older friend and Pikachu let out a tired yawn before hopping on his lap. "Truce?" He mouthed to Misty.

"Truce," she whispered back, just then realizing how fatigued she truly felt.

The three settled in after Brock finally roused himself to build a fire. The older boy dug around in his pack and declared that for dinner he would be cooking a can of beans that smelled suspiciously like peas and spoiled fruit. Ash and Misty chose not to complain as they were both hungrier than a Snorlax.

Ash smiled pleasantly as he shoveled in a mouth full of Brock's strange tasting beans, a little dribbling down the side of his cheek. Misty giggled at him from across the fire and had to put her hand over her mouth to keep from spitting out food. She pointed at his lap where Pikachu had reached its paws into the bowl hoping to snag a tasty treat.

Ash spilled his bowl all over his lap when Pikachu gagged, spitting the food right in his trainer's face.

Misty and Brock howled with laughter as leftover beans dripped from Ash's pants when he stood up.

Pikachu seemed equally amused, even as Ash chased him around the make-shift campsite, spoon in hand.

A new pair of pants and several towels later, Ash finally settled down enough to get ready for bed. As soon as his sleeping bag was on the ground he dove inside it, Pikachu close behind him. The little Pokémon curled up under his chin and soon they were both snoring loudly, much to Brock and Misty's chagrin.

"Will he ever grow up?" Misty said, eyes shining with an inner smile.

"Doubt it," answered Brock with a grunt. He stood, dusting himself off before gathering up the empty pan over the fire.

Misty gazed into the flames, lost in thought about the possibilities of the new city past the forest, just on the horizon.

"He'll have to though if he wants to become the great Pokémon master he wants to be," Brock continued as he scrubbed the dishes from their late supper with a worn rag.

Misty hummed in agreement. She picked up a small twig beside her and poked absently at the kindling crumbling under the dying flame of the fire.

"You should follow his example and get some rest," Brock nodded toward the sleeping Ash and Pikachu. "I'll finish up here and head to bed in a minute."

"Alright," yawned Misty. "Thanks, Brock."

The young girl stood and made her way over to spread out her sleeping bag on the other side of Ash. She smiled when she noticed Pikachu drooling slightly on Ash's arm.

Brock finished the dishes quickly and tended to the fire before taking his place on the other side of Ash and Misty.

Kids. He thought, shaking his head in amusement as he studied his two young friends. Even though he had left home, it still felt like he was taking care of little siblings. Brock shrugged, before crawling under the covers of his warm makeshift bed. Guess I never stopped being a big brother…

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Ash woke up with a start, sending Pickachu rolling out of the sleeping bag.

"Whosit? You'll never get away with this, Ream Trocket!" Ash slurred as he blinked his eyes, heavy from sleep.

"Go to bed, Ash," Misty groaned in her sleep, turning to face away from him.

"Pik…" Pikachu blinked as it lay on its stomach in the cold grass. It inched over to Ash, pushing at his leg with a paw to try to get him to settle back into their cozy sleeping bag.

A twig snapped somewhere in the surrounding forest and Ash nearly sent Pikachu flying again.

"What was that?" He whispered to the Pokémon who was now cuddled in his arms.

"Pika…"

"Ash would you quit being…" Misty started, sitting up in her sleeping bag. She stopped when Ash covered his lips with a finger. "What…?"

"You hear that?" Ash glanced behind them. The soft sound of something moving through the underbrush could be heard coming closer to their campsite. The fire had nearly burnt out and only a handful of bright coals still gleamed with warmth, barely enough to light the small campsite.

Misty shivered, instinctively scooting closer to Ash. "Brock," she whispered fiercely, using her bare foot to poke at the lump of sleeping bag that was their friend.

Brock groaned in his sleep and Ash hushed them both.

"Don't "shoosh" me, Ash Ketchum!" Misty said in the loudest whisper that she dared.

The clearing was suddenly flooded with a harsh light. Ash and Misty both jumped, yelling in surprise. Brock rolled out of his sleeping bag shouting words that he hadn't spoken in front of a person under thirteen since his little brother back home dyed his underwear pink.

The light gradually receded, outlining a figure cloaked in red approaching from the path ahead.

"Pika!..pikachu!" Ash's brave Pokémon shouted, its fur bristling with static as it prepared to attack.

"Who are…?"

Before the question was out of his mouth, Ash and his friends were swallowed once more by the light. The trio vanished, leaving behind only the remains of a dying fire.

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"Where's Pikachu?!"

This was the first thing that Ash said when the group of trainers found themselves in a strange high-domed area with transparent floors and seemingly endless walls.

Brock was still out of it and Misty was still in shock, sitting with her arms wrapped around her knees as she panicked. None of her precious water Pokémon had made it. Their backpacks, all of their supplies, were missing; and with those items, some of their most precious friends, trapped within pokéballs, were now probably in the possession of someone up to no good.

"Hey look!" Ash pointed to a familiar backpack laying not a few feet in front of them…or was it behind them? Misty didn't seem to mind as they both trotted toward it. Sure enough it was Brock's old travel bag. Ash tore into it, but only found a deck of what looked like weird playing cards.

"Over there!" Misty pointed to two other bags strewn a little farther away.

Inside, the two kids found another two sets of cards.

"What are these?" Ash picked a random card from the top of the deck found in his back. On the face of the card was a man dressed in dark purple robes who wore a funky wizard-type hat and held what looked to him like a magic staff. It says it's a… Dark Magician?

"I don't know who took our stuff but I'm not going to let them think these little playing cards are worth more than the bonds I have with my Pokémon," Misty said, clutching her fist. Ash nodded in agreement.

"Hey, what's going on?" Brock asked, ambling slowly over to his friends.

"Our Pokémon are gone, but we found some nifty looking trading cards," Ash summarized.

Misty rolled her eyes.

"Why didn't you guys wake me up?," Brock sniffed.

"We tried," Ash and Misty deadpanned.

Note: Thanks for reading. Chapter three will be more fun than the first two.