Chapter 2

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Kaiba marched through the clearing where everyone stood when they were attacked. He could see the scuff marks when he was tripped and dragged a bit, and the footprints of the bladed pokemon that attacked them. Unfortunately the human footprints were scattered and varied, and he wasn't exactly skilled in that particular skill. He sighed frustratedly and glanced at Serenity. She was still scanning the footprints, unwilling to give up on finding the rest just yet. At least she was determined.

"There's three different directions they could have gone in." She said, pointing out the tracks. One led to the north and the other two to the northwest. Other than that, they couldn't determine who went where.

"We go north." Kaiba decided, heading down the beaten trail. Serenity followed and they wound around as the path did, trying to catch up with whoever made it. They looked like they were getting closer until Kaiba heard a gasp and the rattling of bushes. He turned to look at Serenity, but she was no longer there. He moved to where she was, but an ear piercing scream alerted him to her new location. The ground had crumbled away beneath her, forcing her down a steep hill and into a patch of thorny bushes.

He took a closer look and realized they weren't thorns at all, but large pincers of a large bug-like pokemon. They were all around her, as she fell right on top of them. She screamed again as one of them closed those large clamps onto her arm, cutting into her soft flesh. He steadied himself as he ran down the hill, kicking the one on her hard and forcing it to release her. She scrambled away and Kaiba remained between the group of them and her. He readied himself to fight, but the bushes behind him and her rattled loudly,forcing him to rethink hiss strategy. If they were surrounded it would be much harder to defend against. He glanced back and saw as two small lizards like the ones from before crept out. Actually... they were the same two.

The smaller one went straight to Serenity and poked at her injured arm. Serenity cringed, but forced a smile. The larger one placed itself next to Kaiba and looked up at him. He raised an eyebrow, wondering what this little salamander could possibly do to help against the vice grip of the bug pokemon that vastly outnumbered it. The little one stepped forward, next to the big one and they shared a glance before the larger one nodded. Kaiba stepped back as the small one sucked in a breath and spewed a torrential flame across the offending pokemon while the larger one sprinted, circling the group of them and scorching them from the side.

They were using tactics, and superior firepower, and successfully managed to force the large group to flee. Kaiba looked back at Serenity with wide eyes. Were all of the creatures here brutally powerful? Serenity seemed just as shocked. The little one returned to her side and she gave it a warm hug. The larger one moved back to Kaiba's side, looking happy and proud.

"What... are you?" Kaiba said to the thing, but it only watched him. He smirked and reached for a pokeball. Serenity and the little one watched as Kaiba knelt before the salamander and held out the ball. The lizard looked at him for a moment and tapped the ball, willingly entering it and becoming his. He looked down at Serenity and she gave him a smile. The little lizard, after witnessing this, turned to Serenity, scanning her until it found what it wanted. Her own belt full of pokeballs, it reached up and fiddled with one of them, tapping the button it needed to and disappearing inside.

"I... guess we have our first pokemon." She said happily, looking down at the ball that it inhabited. Kaiba nodded, but there was no time to wait around. They had to move on. It wasn't long before they heard another rustling in the bushes and Kaiba reached to his belt and pulled out the pokeball with his new pokemon in it. He paused for a moment, unsure of exactly how to call the pokemon, but he figured it had something to do with the only button on the damned thing and pressed it.

The ball shook, freeing itself from his grip and falling to the ground. The button glowed red for a moment and then the little lizard appeared. It looked to Kaiba then forward where the bush was rustling. The little thing puffed itself up and bravely strode forth, parting the bushes and revealing the same kind of bug pokemon it had just burnt. It sucked in a breath and the thing jumped back, scared.

"What is it?" They heard a voice call, and the bug retreated. Serenity and Kaiba followed it and the voice until they saw who it was. Tristan stood with the bug pokemon cowering behind him. "Serenity!" He exclaimed, moving to her and grabbing her hands. "Are you alright? What happened to your arm? Where are the others?" He didn't give her any time to respond, let alone breathe. Kaiba rolled his eyes.

"Are you here alone?" He demanded, cutting to the point. Tristan looked up at him, then back at Serenity.

"You poor thing... stuck with Kaiba." Kaiba could feel the headache starting already. "I ran off alone. I was trying to pull them off the rest of you guys." He said, more serious now. Kaiba sighed and started back the way he came. Serenity gave Tristan a sweet smile and followed Kaiba, escorted by Tristan.

They made it almost half way back when they stumbled upon a small bird scratching at something under the earth. Once it noticed them it squawked angrily and took to the air. It swooped dangerously at Kaiba's head, but he dodged it easily. It was a ballsy little thing, trying to take him on. He knew he could probably just swat it out of the air, but he had a feeling the pokemon he now owned had been itching to do some battle. He nodded to it and it fired of a blazing cylinder, following the bird's every movement. The thing shrieked loudly, and dove at the lizard, barely missing it.

Finally, fire hit bird and the thing fell to the ground. Kaiba grabbed another pokeball and this time, threw it at the creature. The bird disappeared into the ball, and the red light lit. The ball shook a few times before coming to a rest and the red faded to white. He had caught his second pokemon. This was easy. He wondered why the Professor made such a big stink out of it. Before he could properly express his victory, the trees above him shifted. He could hear distant squawking and glanced around. There were ten... maybe twenty of them. They were everywhere. The birds began to swoop and dive, making Serenity scream out as they ran.

"Did you really have to piss that one off?" Tristan yelled as he made his way through the forest. Kaiba ignored him, trying to focus on things not to trip over. Tristan's lack of focus led him down the path Kaiba was avoiding and he took a dive. Serenity stopped, turning back to help him, but something was wrong. Kaiba slowed as he looked back. Something was wrong with Tristan's leg and Serenity couldn't lift him. Did he have to do everything himself? He shot back, grabbing Tristan under the arm and hoisting him up, but they didn't make it far before a gigantic stone snake circled them.

Serenity moved to Kaiba and Tristan, to scared to try anything else. The snake batted the birds out of the air easily, creating a barrier around them.

"Hey, you ok?" someone called from beyond the snake. It did a good enough job swatting away the birds, that they left, leaving the forest in a state of false peace. A boy climbed over one of the massive rocks making up the snake's body and jumped down to where they all stood. "Hey, I'm Brock. You guys looked like you needed some help."

"Hey, Thanks a lot. Wow... Is that your pokemon?" Tristan said, now able to balance without putting much pressure on his leg. Kaiba was happy to be rid of him and brushed himself off.

"Yeah, this is Onix." Brock said, putting his hand on the pokemon and smiling up at it. He turned back to the group but paused. In a split second he was in front of Serenity. "Hi... What's your name?" He said, almost creepily.

"Se-Serenity..." She said, trying to be polite. Kaiba rolled his eyes and turned away, now able to see Tristan visibly twitch. "We're... new to this area." She tried to explain.

"Makes sense. Normally people don't go this deep into the forest. The Spearow are really territorial, as you've seen. That and it's crawling with bug pokemon that have something to prove." He said, glancing around. Serenity did the same, but was relieved to see nothing threatening. "Hey, why don't we go to Pewter city? I have a gym there." He said, moving to the north.

"We have friends still stuck in here." Kaiba informed him.

"Well, why don't we get you guys safe and I can have my trainers search for them? They're more experienced with this area and have pokemon that easily overcome the ones that live here." He offered, Serenity looked to Kaiba for confirmation. He seemed conflicted. He knew he had some pretty good pokemon... or at least he thought he did. He glanced up at the giant rock snake again and hung his head. They could do more for Mokuba than he could right now, so he just had to let them. He nodded and Brock led them to the North and out of the woods.

"This is my place." He said, moving to a large wooden building. They could see inside people were moving around and peering out the windows. "Hey, Come on out, I need some help!" Brock called and the people inside rushed to greet the visitors. Nine children ran out the door, greeting their guide with a massive group hug. "Okay, Okay, Settle down, we've got an injury here." He said, and the kids lined up, ready for instructions. "Timmy, I need a splint. Cindy, can you get me some gauze? Suzie there's some pain killers in the cabinet over the sink. And Forrest, I need you to help me set it." Brock helped Tristan over to the picnic table in the yard and sat hi down, sizing up his hurt leg.

"Wow, you all live here together?" Serenity asked in amazement. Brock smiled while being handed the splint and working to help Tristan.

"Yeah, They're my family."

"All of them? Well, I guess I can see the resemblance." Serenity noted, watching them all cheerfully help out.

"Yup. They're my nine little brothers and sisters. I take care of them." He said, gaining a hug from one of the girls.

"But... where are your parents?" Tristan asked. Brock paused for a second, but only a second.

"They... Left. They wanted to do their own thing. My mother used to be the gym leader here in Pewter city, But now with her gone, I've taken over. Both the gym and the house." All three of them looked at him in shock. All alone? And taking care of so many kids?

"Whats... a gym?" Brock paused again, but this time he looked incredulously up at Tristan.

"It's... a place where pokemon trainers test their merit." He explained, a little curious as to why they didn't know.

"Really?" Kaiba said, now interested. "What does one have to do to test their merit?"

"Well, really, they just have to show up and challenge me to a battle. But to be official, it has to be inside the gym and they have to go through my trainers first. To screen out those to weak to beat me." He informed them. "Why? Are you thinking of challenging me?" They could hear the competition in his voice and all nine of his younger siblings paused and looked between the two. Kaiba nodded assuredly.

"What pokemon do you have? I know it's generally frowned upon to ask, but you've already sen my best, and you said it yourself, you're not exactly from around here." Kaiba tossed the idea around in his head, but shrugged it off. He pulled out the two pokeballs and let out the pokemon inside them. The lizard looked around, then up at him, and the bird... was burnt and unconscious. "You really ought to take them to a pokecenter. And as far as a challenge goes, you're my favorite kind of easy target." Kaiba immediately tensed up. "Fire pokemon like Charmander here, and bird pokemon like this little Spearow are especially weak against my rock pokemon. As a matter of fact, half of the different moves and attacks work especially well against yours. I'm afraid, you wouldn't stand a chance."

That wasn't what Kaiba wanted to hear. Not at all. He hated being called an easy target, and even more, being weak. He glanced down at the pokemon he had, then thought back to the giant rock snake.

"What would you suggest I do then?"

"Train. The more battles you are in with your pokemon, the stronger you'll get. You'll learn to work as a team and eventually, you'll think so much alike, you wont even have to order it to do what you want it to. That Charmander of yours is pretty strong. You can tell by it's size, but if you've only just gotten it, you two still need to practice working as a team. Try the pokemon in the fields. They don't travel in packs like in the forest, so it'll be easier to handle yourself.

"Once you two can work together, then you should be able to handle the forest, no problem." Kaiba nodded, but didn't move. It was getting late and he had done so much running around that he needed rest. The others looked just as exhausted. "Hey, you all can stay here for the night if you want. I'll see what I can do about your Spearow too. Tommy, go set up the guest rooms." he said turning to one of the boys. "There's only two, so I'm guessing they boys get one, and this young lady gets the other? Oh! Your arm..." He moved quickly to Serenity and held up her injured arm.

"It's nothing, just a scratch." She said, trying to play it off, but visibly winced when she touched it.

"I cant sit by and let a beautiful lady be in pain!" Serenity looked away, her face bright red, as he bandaged her up. The home was big, crowded and warm. The kids all helped making dinner and afterward the girls stole Serenity to play with while the boys talked pokemon with Tristan. Brock ushered Kaiba into the kitchen where Spearow lay and grabbed something out of the cabinet.

"Here. You should give these to it. They'll make him feel better, and it'll help you two bond." Brock said, holding the small medicine balls up to Kaiba. He took them and raised the little birds head, but the thing turned away and closed it's eyes. It was indeed a stubborn little thing. "Hey. Those are extra tasty. Not even trying them's insulting the chef" Brock said, pointing to himself and smirking. The bird glared and him and looked back to Kaiba.

"If you like feeling weak and hurt, then I wont bother." Kaiba threatened, slowly pulling the ball away from the bird. The Spearow hesitated a moment, then lurched forward, beak open. Kaiba moved the medicine into the birds mouth and it bit of a small chunk and swallowed it. After only a moment, it jumped up, begging for more. Kaiba raised an eyebrow and looked to Brock.

"Who said healthy things had to taste gross?" he asked with a smile. "All of my treats and medicines are specially formulated to give the pokemon everything they need to grow and be strong while tasting amazing." He stood proudly over the happy bird and Kaiba could just watch as the little Spearow nudged towards him, looking for another. He didn't quite know what to make of this new world, but so far he had been lucky. He knew life didn't run on luck, and his would eventually run out, so there was only one option for him. Get stronger. Be the strongest. Then he could go anywhere. Then he could protect his little brother. Then he could get them home.

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Another chapter down. I'm kinda liking this. It's pretty heavily following Kaiba right now. I'm wondering if it will continue to do so, or if it'll even off between him and Serenity. I've never written this story that I've had in my head before, but I know everything that's going to happen. Just not sure on how it'll look when I finally write it. I hope it'll still be good.

Also, I'm not going to be updating as consistently as I have in my previous stories. I might be able to update twice per week now, sorry if I've slowed, but a lot is going on right now. i will continue though, trust me... Not that this story will be widely viewed lol.

Read, Review, Enjoy~Love Ya!