~CHAPTER 2~
A month had passed since Lapis had arrived in Neo Domino City. The twins kept to their promise as they had contacted their parents a few weeks ago with her explaining everything. It surprised her how understanding they were despite the mother's hesitance of Guts staying in the same house as her two kids but after seeing how friendly he was to the kids, she let it slide.
The father was more lenient as he let her stay as long she takes care of the twins, to which she complied since she wants to repay for their kindness.
So right now, Lapis is in the kitchen making a snack for the kids after they are done with their online lessons. They said they had invited a friend of theirs, Tenpei she recalled, over to hang out so she made more while making some for their Pokemon.
Hearing the intercom ringing, she figured it must be him so after untying the apron, she answered.
"Hello?" She called as the video took a while to load and she came face to face with a young bespectacled boy of Rua's age with brown hair and eyes. "Are you Tenpei?"
"Um, yes I am. Are Rua ad Ruka there?" The boy asked.
"Yes, they are. They're still having lessons so why not come in and wait for them?" Lapis then pressed the buzzer for the lift to transport the young boy up.
Once Tenpei reached the floor, he found Lapis setting down a tray of snacks and drinks. Tenpei had heard from the twins that they had hired a new babysitter who actually knows more about the strange creatures he had been hearing about. He did want to dismiss that as a joke from Rua as he's known to believe anything the television says but to think Ruka, the more mature of the two, would insists that was true. Then he wanted to meet this babysitter.
At first he didn't see anything out of the ordinary until he glanced down at her belt where there were these strange balls clipped onto it. Then this strange walking rock that has an upper humanoid body came hopping by and started talking to the lady. He swore he wasn't hallucinating and he even took off his glasses, wiped them clean and put them back on in case it was a trick on his glasses.
"Oh Tenpei!" Said boy turned to Rua and Ruka who had came out of their rooms once their lessons are done. Guts and Ange were standing by them. "You're early!"
"Rua! Ruka!" He called and started babbling non-stop while pointing to Diana and Lapis who had turned to them.
Rua had this smug look on his face as he puffed his chest out, "See, I told you she's real!"
"Who's real?" Lapis asked as she came over with Diana in her arms.
"We told Tenpei about you knowing about Pokemon and such but he didn't believed me." Rua confessed. "I know you said you didn't want anyone to know about you but Tenpei's our friend and I felt bad for leaving him out of it so..."
"It's fine, as long he doesn't tell anyone else." The 16 year old said.
She had convinced the twins' parents to keep her a secret since she doesn't know the authority here and she was afraid they might use her knowledge for nefarious reasons, to which they agreed. They have to register her as their children's babysitter but they won't blurt out anything else other than her name, gender and age.
"But wouldn't it benefit for you to tell others about Pokemon?" Tenpei asked after being explained everything about herself. "You could be our world's professor on Pokemon."
"And if they think that Pokemon are too dangerous for them?" Lapis asked back. "Or they thought they could control them like tools? Or maybe clone their species?"
"Is that bad?" Rua asked.
Lapis nodded, "No matter how superior they are, Pokemon are still living creatures. Not tools to shackle and chain. And besides, my world had already suffered the consequences of cloning Pokemon. Also what if they wanted to use my knowledge and capture every Pokemon there has appeared here and keep it for their own, instead of sharing to the world?" She then waved dismissively, "I'll pass on that."
"I see what you mean." Tenpei said.
"Besides, your world has only interacted with a small portion of my world. If I told them there were many more, how will they react?"
That made them speechless. Yes, in the news, people are reacting quite dramatically about strange creatures being spotted in various part of Neo Domino City, though they were small ones like Rattata, Purrloin, Meowth, Patrat, Pidgey, Pidove and there had been a questionable appearance of a Magikarp in the Square Fountain. The director of Sector Security, Rex Godwin, had a hard time explaining this strange phenomenon but had managed to calm the citizens. Though she figured it'll take an appearance of an Exeggutor to ensue another uproar.
"I'll wait until I don't see another news about someone almost dying from a heart attack from seeing a simple Rattata crossing their paths or something." She said.
The kids snickered. They did say the people were reacting rather dramatically.
After that, the kids and Lapis spent the day playing Duel Monsters. To be exact, Lapis stayed by the side to watch while the kids played as she has no idea about the rules of dueling. They had tried teaching her but she rather stick to being a spectator instead.
After a while of playing, they started eating the snacks Lapis prepared when Tenpei asked, "May I ask a question?"
"Sure."
"What are those balls for?" Tenpei pointed to her Pokeballs.
Lapis blinked before unclipping one of her Pokeballs, "This is a Pokeball. It's used to carry Pokemon for long periods of time without hurting the Pokemon. Or else, you'll be seeing trainers with their team out walking the streets. It'll be very chaotic, especially those who have much bigger Pokemon."
"But how do you store them inside that small thing?" Rua asked.
Lapis only smiled as she pushed the button and it enlarged, earning "Oohs" and "Aaws". "This is the original size of a Pokeball. It's only in its small form when we're not using it and it's easier for storage. And we store Pokemon as such..." She then turned to Diana who had hopped out of her arms. "Diana, return!"
A beam of red light shot out of the button, hit Diana who turned fully red and was zapped back into the Pokeball.
"Voila! That's what we trainers call 'recalling'. But don't ask me how it's done since I'm not the manufacturer of Pokeballs. And if you want to call out the Pokemon, we do this. Come on out, Diana." She tossed the Pokeball up to the and it opened up with a 'pop' and Diana appeared in a blob of light.
"Wow, so cool!" Rua said.
"But isn't it cramped in there? Won't the Pokemon feel uncomfortable?" Ruka asked.
"Unless they don't like tight spaces, they don't mind being inside them." Lapis explained. "Diana is one of them. I only call her back to her Pokeball if it's an emergency."
"So why are they clipped to your belt? Is it for easier access?" Tenpei asked.
"That's right. Especially for Pokemon Battles." Lapis then took note of their surprised face. "Just like your world has that Dueling craze, mine has the Battling craze."
"You mean you pit Pokemon to fight against each other?" Ruka asked in worry. Lapis smiled at the girl's compassion.
"I can understand your concern, and I won't lie; there are people who take it too far but Pokemon are incredibly intelligent. If you're not a competent enough trainer, they'll stop listening to you or worse, turn on you." Lapis said as she remembered a similar incident. "They don't mind battling anyway, even wild Pokémon do it. It's what they do to make themselves stronger but it's all about mutual trust if you're training one."
"I see. Do you engage in battles often, Lapis?"
Lapis nodded and took out a case from her bag. Opening the lid, it revealed eight badges inside. "There are multiple paths for a Pokemon trainer, one of which is to gather Gym badges in a region to participate in the Pokemon League. They are pretty much like arena tournaments where you battle other trainers who have earned eight badges of their own in elimination rounds. The last one standing is crowned Pokemon League Champion."
"Oh, just like the upcoming Duel of Fortune Cup!" Rua said. "Where you duel other duelists to stand a chance to duel against the King of Duels! And if you beat him, you'll be crowned King of Duels!"
Ruka and Tenpei sighed while Lapis and Diana giggled.
"So what other paths can a trainer do?" Tenpei asked.
"Hmm, it depends on what you want to do as there are a lot of options; breeder, researcher, professor, coordinator, performer, rancher, daycare helper, ranger. To name a few."
"Wow, that's a lot... Then what about you, Lapis? Why did you want to be a Pokemon trainer?" Ruka asked.
"Well, I wanted to see the world. You know, to get out and explore. My dad's a Pokemon Ranger and my mom's an ex-coordinator so they have their own journeys back in their prime. And they encouraged me to go on my own, to see what the world has in store for me." Lapis then nervously scratched her cheek. "Though I followed the path of battling gyms to earn badges and stuff since I want to know how far I had come."
"That's so cool~" Rua muttered as his eyes sparkled again.
"Seems to me, that's your catchphrase nowadays." Ruka said.
"So how many Pokemon can a trainer have?" Tenpei asked, after realizing the older girl has six Pokeballs.
"As many as they want but each trainer are entitled to carry a maximum of six in a party."
"Can we see them?" Rua jumped up, wanting to see her team as she never took them out, other than Diana.
"No can do. The reason? Three of my Pokemon are very big and sort of scary-looking so I don't want to have a panic up here." Lapis said. "Maybe some other time."
Rua pouted.
~X~
Three weeks later, while Lapis was making breakfast, she was surprised when the intercom rang to tell her they had a guest. Making sure Diana, Guts and Ange were hidden in the kitchen, she waited as the elevator doors opened to reveal a short man who looks like clown wearing a red coat with a black collar and gold trim, underneath a white shirt with gold lining, gloves, and black and gold boots.
"Hello, miss. I am Yeager, vice director of Sector Security." The clown- Yeager bowed before handing her a letter. "I have come to hand this invitation over to a Miss Ruka."
She took the letter and read that it's a participation letter for the Duel of Fortune Cup, "I see. I'll make sure to hand this over to Ruka, sir."
"I thank you." With that, he left.
Lapis sighed as she placed the invite on the table before letting the Pokemon know it's safe to come out. "Who was that, Lapis?" Diana asked.
"The vice-director. He came by to hand out invites to the tournament, and Ruka has been chosen to go." She replied as she continued toasting the bread before setting the table. "For a moment there, I thought I was found out."
"Au dino." "Hera. Hera cross!" Ange patted her leg in comfort while Guts held her hand.
"Thanks, Ange. Guts." They then heard shuffling to signal them that the twins are awake. "Well, looks like the sleepyheads are awake now."
After breakfast, Lapis then told Ruka about the invite, to which the young girl refused to go and Rua to complain.
"Come on, Ruka! This is your only chance to go to this kinds of tournaments!"
"I'm still not going." Ruka said. "If you want to go, why not impersonate as me instead?"
Lapis knew Ruka said that as sarcasm but Rua thought that was a great idea. "Well, now we know Rua doesn't know what sarcasm mean."
"I am so going to regret this." Ruka whined as she covered her face with her hands in shame while her twin ranted on about being able to go to the tournament.
~X~
It was four days before the Duel of Fortune Cup commenced when Lapis noticed something strange on Ruka's arm. It was like a crimson tattoo of a claw yet it was faintly glowing. It pulsed with such energy, it reminded her of the time when she was connected to the orb back in Hoenn. She touched where the orb now resides, in the middle of her chest.
The twins didn't see as they were busy checking their deck while Lapis was busy grooming the Pokemon.
"Au di?" Ange perked up, ears twitching.
"Ange, what's wrong?" Diana asked.
Lapis turned to Ruka when she heard her gasp, "Ruka?"
The girl nor did the 'rabbit' reply as they quickly headed towards the elevator. Lapis, Rua and their partners followed suit into the elevator. As the elevator went down, Rua kept asking his twin and Pokemon what's going on but both didn't reply. Once the doors opened, they rushed out and turned into an alleyway where they found Lapis those months back, only to find a red damaged D-Wheel with its D-Wheeler lying to the side.
The older girl quickly rushed towards the body and turned it over after removing the helmet. She checked for any signs of life and sighed in relief when she felt one. Though she narrowed her deep-blue eyes when she saw the wounds on him.
"Lapis, is he okay?" Ruka asked as she stood behind me.
"Minor wounds, and a possible concussion to the head. Other than that, he's fine. Just unconscious." She muttered as she placed the man's arm over her shoulder and held on to him with her other. "Though he needs help."
Lapis had Guts to lift the D-Wheel off the ground so it wouldn't make any noise as it had a few loose parts while slowly walking towards the elevator. Once back upstairs, Guts carefully dropped the D-Wheel onto the ground while Lapis carried the man over to the couch where she had Ange heal his wounds with Heal Pulse.
"He should be awake by the morning so let's rest up for the night." Lapis said as she ushered the kids to bed. She then went to the bedroom closet to find an extra blanket for the man so he wouldn't catch a cold. Before she draped it over him, she noticed the same crimson tattoo on his arm except it looks like a smiling/grinning face and it's glowing through his jacket sleeve.
"Either this is nothing, or something's going on." She muttered as she covered the man.
"Au di." "Hera."
She turned to find Ange and Guts looking nervous, "What's wrong?"
"I don't know but they said they sensed something bad is about to happen." Diana said.
Lapis didn't say anything as she pondered what this 'something bad' is.
~X~
"You hear that? Ruka's always like that!" Was what she had heard when Lapis returned from her grocery shopping the next day.
It had took a while since Sector Security had started badgering the Tops Security Guard about a possible criminal in the Tops. Remembering the Marker on the man's face, she figured he was who they were after but kept quiet as she greeted the guard who greeted back, totally ignoring the officer in front of him. As she stepped out of the lift, she found the man by his D-Wheel holding Ruka's invite with Rua talking to him about Ruka not wanting to participate.
"Rua, that's not very nice." Lapis said.
"Ah, Lapis." The twins called.
"You can't pressure her like that. You know how she feels about dueling." She said as she walked passed the man and dropped the groceries in the kitchen where their Pokemon are hiding.
"Yeah, I know. That's why I'm impersonating as her and enter the tournament."
"There's no way you can impersonate me." Ruka retorted.
"Why not?! We have the same face!"
"Same face? How?"
"We're twins!"
"That's not the same."
"Well, you're a girl and I'm a boy. But just leave it all to me!"
Lapis sighed with a smile as she watched the twins while standing beside the man, "They may be like this but they're really good kids."
The man nodded as he put the invite back into its envelop before handing back to her, "I appreciate you helping me but it's best not to get involve with me."
"Even still, if you want to escape, it's best you wait until tonight since Sector Security are still loitering about downstairs. And I'm sure they're going for a stake-out since they know you're here." Lapis said with a smile and a wink. "Besides, Rua can be quite stubborn when he wants to be. Take it from someone with experience."
"Yusei!" the two teens turned to the young boy who had a Duel Disk with him. "I challenge you to a duel. A duelist never backs down a challenge!"
"Aren't you the one causing trouble, Rua?" Ruka asked.
"But, I'm sure Yusei's a tough duelist! I wanna duel against tough opponents!" Rua then turned back to Yusei. "Will you duel me? I wanna challenge other duelists and hone my skills! Come on! Let's play! Let's play! Let's play!"
"Rua, when asking someone, what do you say?" Lapis scolded with her hands on her hips.
"Oh, that's right." Rua said. Then his Duel Disk became loose and he went to tighten it.
Lapis couldn't quite understand why Rua has a Duel Disk made for an adult. She had asked Ruka and said girl replied that Rua wants to feel older, not that makes any sense.
"Sorry about Rua..." Lapis muttered.
~X~
Lapis hummed a tune as she made lunch with the Pokemon, the twins and Yusei are outside with the boys dueling. When she heard the sliding doors opened, she knows that the duel is over, just in time for lunch.
"So how's the duel?" She asked as she set the table.
"I lost." Rua said forlornly. "I thought I had him with my Magne-U Lock combo."
"At least you're not crying after a loss, unlike last time." Ruka said.
"Yeah, that's because I remembered Lapis's words: Learn from your mistakes, and strive to get better!"
"You're a duelist?" Yusei asked.
"No, she's not but her battling is equally as awesome!" Rua said.
"Battle?"
"Rua, you talked too much!" Ruka chastised.
"It's alright, Ruka. I have a feeling we can trust Yusei." Lapis said before turning to the kitchen. "You can come out now."
For Yusei who had already been through a lot in a short span of time, he sure wasn't expecting to see a giant beetle, a pink-and-cream rabbit and an animated rock? With a humanoid upper body?
Seeing the utter confusion on his face, Lapis proceeded to explain everything from how she arrived here to the Pokemon and such.
"I see, is that why you're hiding here?" Yusei asked Lapis.
"You can say that but at the same time, the twins insisted I stay with them as I have nowhere else to go." She patted the twins' head. "I could have camp outdoors since I'm used to it but they'll only draw attention."
"Camp outdoors?"
"Get this, Yusei?" Rua called. "In her world, kids can travel the world once they reach the age of 10. That's the minimum official age limit for them to become Pokemon trainers."
"That is, until they raised that limit to fifteen, due to certain circumstances." Lapis added. "As I said, I'm used to camping outdoors but since I'm in a new area and has no idea where to go, I decided to stay with them for the time being."
"Just now, when Rua said that you battle..."
The rest of the day is spent with Lapis answering Yusei's and, most of the time, Rua's questions. Before long, night had set and Lapis had ushered the kids to bed while pointing out the spare bedroom for Yusei.
Though Lapis had spent the night tossing and turning from an awful nightmare. It had started out as a blank void with nothing in it then deformed voices started chanting and then a large creature, neither humane nor Pokemon, appeared in front of her and threatened to swallow her whole. That's when she woke up in a cold sweat.
Looking around to find she's in her bedroom with Diana sleeping soundly beside her, she sighed in relief.
"What a nightmare. The last time I had a bad one was when I got hit by Darkrai's Dark Void attack back in Sinnoh." She muttered. "Don't think I'll be getting back to sleep after that."
Quietly slipping out from under the covers so she won't wake the Jewel Pokemon, she sneaked out of the room and checked on the tins who were sleeping soundly, albeit Rua is snoring up a storm, and went into the living room where she saw light. There, she saw Yusei fixing up both Rua's and Ruka's Duel Disks.
"So you're leaving?" She asked as she stood behind the sofa.
Yusei turned and nodded, "It's best for to leave."
She nodded, "I know." She watched as Yusei wheeled his D-Wheel to the elevator doors. "Be careful out there. You won't know when those Sector Security might still be around."
"Will do." Was what he said as the doors closed.
She frowned as she laid a hand in the middle of her chest where she can feel the orb pulsing, "You will need all the luck you can get..."