Hello my readers, it's Unknown entity328 with a new chapter of Pendulum That Connects Worlds! My schedule was being very uncooperative this year with work, school, and a few other things. It was especially uncooperative nearing the end of the year with how busy it gets. I intended to update all of my fanfics at the same time as a Christmas present to all you readers, but obviously it wasn't meant to be. I sometimes wish I can pull a Naruto and make clones of myself to do everything else so I can focus on my writing. Top that off with lack of inspiration and writers block, and you have yourself a stew of disappointment and failure. Anyway, while it's extremely late and wasn't what I originally planned, I have three fanfic updates ready and waiting to be read! So with that in mind, read, enjoy, and merry late Christmas and happy new year!
Chapter Two: Welcome to Standard
Ash groaned, feeling the warm rays of sunlight hit his face, forcing him out of his slumber. He opened his eyes and was greeted by the clear blue sky, with a few clouds floating about. He could also see a few branches on the edge of his vision. Ash sat up and stretched his arms. He lets out a yawn before getting to his feet and dusting himself off.
"Man, that was some dream, almost felt like it was-" He cut himself off when he felt his belt and pulled out his deck box and duel disk. He sadly stared at the objects Arceus gave him, tears in the corner of his eyes and let out a sigh. "So, it wasn't a dream after all."
"Sadly, you're right." Letting out a startled yell, Ash whipped his head around and saw the transparent forms of Jaden, Yusei and Yuma. Yusei, being the one who spoke, continued. "But it's not all bad."
"He's right, you know." Jaden said, a grin on his face as he pointed to himself, Yusei, and Yuma. "Look on the bright side, you still have us, so you won't be alone."
"Not only that, but you can make a ton of new friends while you're here!" Yuma added with a bright smile. Their encouraging words seem to have done the trick, as Ash started to smile.
"Yeah, you're right, guys." Ash wiped away his tears, attaching his deck box and duel disk to his belt. He turned to the three duelists and held up a fist, his eyes burning with determination. "I shouldn't be down in the dumps, I should try to look at the positive side of things."
His words caused smiles to appear on his spirit partners faces. Yuma, Jaden and Yusei decided to remain in spirit form to keep the trainer company. Ash had soon discovered he was in a forested area of a big park. Once he exited, he was amazed when he saw the big city he landed in. Even Jaden, Yuma and Yusei were impressed by the looks of the city and how big it was.
While he was walking along a sidewalk, Ash came across an electronics store, the TVs on display showing the news. From there, the four of them were able to find out the city's name, Paradise City. Ash thought the name of the city sounded nice, almost making him forget about the looming threat. Along with that, they learned about a new form of dueling, Action Duels. From what they saw on the TV, it seemed to involve solid holograms of monsters that help duelists move around in an Action Field.
Ash was confused as to what an action field was, as were his spiritual companions. During their times, there weren't any action duels, so this intrigued them. Deciding to dwell on it later, Ash continued his trek around the city and taking in the sights.
Eventually, he took a break from walking to sit on a bench and pulled out his deck to look through it. He saw that a lot of the cards were based on the pokemon he caught and met throughout his journey. He noticed that the cards were colored orange, green, and purple respectively.
"Hey, guys." Ash looked up at the three duelists, showing them the cards with a look of confusion. "What do these colors mean?"
"They're meant to show you what kind of cards they are." Yusei explained, pointing to the orange card. "Orange means they're monster cards."
"Monster cards have attack and defense points." Jaden added, pointing to the numbers on the bottom of the card. "Those are used to calculate damage during battle, the highest being the winner." He grinned as he motioned his hand from vertical to horizontal and back. "And what's sweet about that is you won't take damage if your monster's in defense mode." He then rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "That is, if your opponent's monster doesn't have an ability around that, of course."
"Okay?" Ash tilted his head, having trouble following what Jaden said. He then pointed to the stars on the monster card. "What about these stars?"
"That's the monster's level." Yuma said, his eyes gleaming with excitement at teaching someone how to duel. "They're meant to show you which monster you can summon without a cost."
"However, the higher the level, the higher the cost." Yusei pointed out, leaning over Ash to look at his card. "Levels one through four are fine, but you'll need to tribute one monster for levels five and six, and two for levels seven and higher."
"Tribute?" Ash frowned, trying to understand what the term meant.
"It means sending a monster on your field to the graveyard to summon a stronger one." Yusei explained, getting a nod of understanding from the trainer. Suddenly remembering something, he smiled at the trainer. "I almost forgot, Arceus has a little surprise for you."
"Surprise?" Ash looked at Yusei in confusion, seeing the synchro duelist simply nodding to his deck. He was surprised when another transparent figure popped out of it, but smiled when he recognized who it was. "Pikachu!"
"Pikapi!" The electric mouse pokemon cried out happily, resting himself on his usual place on Ash's shoulder.
"Arceus thought you'd like a familiar face while you're here." Yusei explained, gaining Ash's attention. "So, using his power, he managed to turn Pikachu into a duel spirit."
"Boy, am I glad he did." Ash said, happy to have his best friend with him, even if it was in the form of a spirit. He smiled at Pikachu, who smiled back. "Glad you're here with me, buddy."
"Pikachu." Pikachu nodded in agreement before disappearing back into Ash's deck.
"Good for you, Ash!" Yuma said, happy that the trainer had someone other than him, Jaden and then looked at the green card and pointed at it. "Let's keep going, the green cards are called spell cards, and there are six different types."
"Oh, I know this one!" Jaden said excitedly, raising his hand as if he was in class. "We covered it back when I was in school!" He then looked at Ash, who was ready to listen. "Those types are normal spells, continuous spells, equip spells, ritual spells, quick-play spells, and field spells."
"Wow, that's a lot to remember." Ash muttered, already feeling his brain is on the verge of overheating.
"Don't worry, that's why we're here." Yuma said, patting Ash in the back, only for his hand to phase through him. He let out a small chuckle before pointing to the last card. "Last, but certainly not least, are trap cards."
"Traps, huh." Ash felt a migraine coming when he thought of traps and a certain trio of pokemon thieves.
"There are only three types of trap cards." Yuma continued, unaware of Ash's current state. "And those are normal traps, continuous traps, and counter traps."
"Trap cards have to be placed face-down and wait a turn before activating them." Yusei added, giving Ash a side glance, seeing he was close to information overload. Deciding to give the trainer time to process, he looked at Jaden and Yuma. "I think that'll do for now, we should continue looking around."
"Sounds good." Ash nodded, putting his deck away in his deck box and stretching his arms. Jaden, Yuma and Yusei dispersed into particles and went back into Ash's soul. Then, as he stood up, he was surprised when a hand landed on his shoulder.
"What are you doing, young man?" A stern male voice questioned, causing Ash to turn and was met with a man who was wearing a sort of police suit. He frowned as he looked at Ash from head to toe. "You must love being in trouble."
"Did I do something wrong, officer?" Ash asked nervously, worried that he unintentionally broke a city law.
"You're sitting here when you should be in school." The stern officer said, causing Ash to sigh of relief. His brain finally caught up to what the man said and his eyes widened in shock.
"School!? But wait, I don't-" Ash was cut off as the man grabbed his wrist and started dragging him down the street.
The man dragged Ash past the gates and into a school building with a large campus. Ash was able to see a sign of the school's name, 'Paradise Prep School,' when he passed it. The officer dragged Ash down the halls and into an empty classroom, handing him a set of clothes. He then told him to get changed before leaving the classroom and closed the door. Ash looked down at the clothes, assuming it was a uniform, before reluctantly changing.
Once he stepped out, the trainer was now wearing a light blue dress shirt with a red necktie, red pants, and a gold and red lined white jacket. The officer looked him over, removing his cap and placing it in Ash's hands. He then dragged Ash down the halls again before stopping at another door. He promptly opened it, revealing a classroom with students and a teacher this time. The officer nodded to the teacher who nodded back in confusion before pushing Ash inside. The trainer managed to catch his footing before he fell on the ground as the man closed the door behind him.
Ash looked up, and was greeted by the middle-aged teacher's raised eyebrow. "Well, what do you have to say for your tardiness, young man?"
The trainer didn't know what to say to explain why he was there. Ash didn't have a chance to explain to the officer that he wasn't a student. He only just arrived in this world not too long ago. He didn't have a chance to learn this world's laws and what's considered normal.
"Sorry about that." Ash chuckled nervously while rubbing the back of his head as he thought of a believable excuse. "I just arrived recently and I got lost."
Luckily, the teacher just sighed while a majority of the class snickered. Ash was slightly embarrassed at the snickers he heard. If Misty were here, he's sure she'd tease him about not making a good first impression.
The teacher, on the other hand, wasn't sure what to make of the teen before him. He wasn't informed of any new students enrolling or transferring today. Although, maybe it was a last minute enrollment and he wasn't told yet. That didn't explain the police officer that escorted him, though. Was he the boy's father, perhaps?
"I guess it's understandable, considering you look like a new student." The teacher looked at him with a stern face. "But don't let this happen again." Upon receiving a nod from Ash, he gestured to the class. "Now that you're here, why don't you introduce yourself to the class."
Ash nodded again, moving to stand beside the teacher before looking at the class. He looked the class over but only two of them caught his interest.
The first was a girl who has blue eyes and dark pink mid back-length hair, which she wears tied up in pigtails, clipped down by blue, spherical hair clips. Her hair also features two lighter pink bangs that fall to the side of her face. The girl's outfit consists of a sleeveless light-blue and white shirt with a green musical note on the right collar, along with a red tie, which she wears with a dark red skirt and dark stockings, both of which were long enough to not show any skin.
The second was a boy with crimson eyes, and dual-colored green and crimson hair of average length sticking out in downwards pointing spikes all around his head in a similar manner to Jaden, with the exception of one short upwards pointing spike of green hair. He wears his good-luck charm pendant on a simple string around his neck, and a buckled choker, and a pair of golden goggles with orange lenses on his forehead, with a blue star obscuring the right lens. He wears a simple orange t-shirt with a thick, silver-buckled brown belt over it, green pants with what appear to be "Deck pockets" on each leg, and magenta shoes, as well as crimson wristbands. He also wears his gold and red lined white school jacket over his shoulders like a cape.
What no one noticed was that when Ash looked at those two, his eyes changed color. His right eye turned gold while his left turned green. When they did that, Ash saw that the boy was surrounded by an aura of darkness. The girl, however, was surrounded by an aura of light. Ash lightly gasped, which went unnoticed as his eyes returned to normal. Shaking his head and filing what he saw for later contemplation, Ash faced the class.
"My name's Ash Ketchum, it's nice to meet you." Ash says, giving a cheerful smile and wave.
"Does anyone have any questions they'd like to ask Ash?" The teacher asked, looking around for a show of hands. When there was none, he turned his attention to Ash. "In that case, why don't you take a seat behind Yuya?"
The goggled boy raised his hand to show where he was sitting while Ash nodded. As the teacher turned to face the chalkboard, Ash quickly walked to the desk behind the goggled boy. As the class started, Ash realized he didn't have any textbooks. With nothing else to do, he discreetly pulled out his deck to go over them. Throughout the class, Ash went over everything Jaden, Yusei, and Yuma told him about the cards.
As he sifted through his deck, Ash read the effects of each card. He still didn't understand the different types of spells and trap cards, but he could guess. He wanted to ask his companions about the rules of a duel. However, he couldn't do that without looking like a weirdo. He made that mistake once when he left the park and talked to Jaden.
Ash quickly learns that no one but him can see Jaden, Yusei and Yuma. Although, that should have been obvious since their souls were fused to his. He can just hear Iris calling him a kid for forgetting such an obvious thing.
The more he thought of his friends, the more Ash missed his world. He hoped that his pokemon were doing alright. Sure, he had Pikachu with him now, but he cared about his other pokemon equally. He wonders how his mother is fairing with his disappearance. It must be breaking her heart that her only son vanished without a trace. Then there was Serena.
He didn't know why, but Ash felt sad just thinking about possibly not being able to see her again. His chest felt tight, almost suffocating the longer he thought about Serena's crying face. When he thought of her smiling face, the tightness eased up a bit and he felt warm inside. In his honest opinion, Ash always thought that Serena was cute.
'Wait, what?!' Ash's eyes widened slightly, a faint blush on his cheeks as he shook his head. 'What was I thinking just now?!'
It was a long few hours for Ash, considering he hasn't been to a school in a good few years. Suffice to say, he had trouble following what was being taught in class. Sure he visited schools and learning camps in his world, but those were all focusing on pokemon, not the stuff that this place taught. Overall, he had a good day, did lots of school work and played sports games.
He had all the same classes as Yuya and the pink haired girl, but he didn't talk to them. He tried to keep up with what the teachers were teaching. He also got lucky and found a book about the basics of dueling in the school library. While still not understanding a lot, he at least knew how some cards work now. Ash was currently walking out of the school, heaving an exhausted sigh.
"Soooo… how was school?" Yuma asked, coming out of his soul with Yusei and Jaden, his voice having a teasing voice with a matching grin.
"Don't patronize me, I'm too tired to deal with it." Ash grumbled, getting a snicker from Yuma and a smile from Yusei. The only one who wasn't doing either was Jaden, something Ash took notice of. "Something wrong, Jaden?"
"Nothing, just that…" Jaden paused for a moment before looking at Ash. "Earlier, when you were looking at those two, you used my power to see their spirits." What he said surprised the others. "How did you do that?"
"I-I don't know." Ash said honestly, fiddling with the strap of his backpack nervously. "I just looked at them and it just happened."
"Maybe it's because of our souls being fused." Yusei theorized, holding his chin in deep thought. "Some of our abilities might have been transferred over to Ash."
What Yusei suggested got the other three thinking, and it did make a lot of sense. Since their souls were fused with Ash, it's only logical that he obtained their abilities. If Ash did indeed obtain the power of the Supreme King, what else could he obtain?
"By the way, Ash." Yuma suddenly said, getting the trainer's attention as he looked at him curiously. "Where are you going to stay the night?"
Ash stopped walking and his eyes widened in fearful realization at Yuma's question. He threw his head back and let out a groan. His action caused him to receive looks from people walking by.
"That's right!" Jaden exclaimed, slapping a hand against his forehead and letting out a groan of his own. "Ash isn't from this world, so he doesn't have a place to live!"
"And he doesn't have any money either." Yusei added, causing the trainer to fall to his hands and knees at the sudden realization of his predicament. "Meaning he can't go to a hotel."
"If it comes down to it, I can just sleep in the park." Ash said, quickly getting back up to his feet. He does have his sleeping bag and he's used to sleeping outdoors with all the camping he's done. "I haven't traveled for so long that I can't rough it outside."
Before any of them could say anything else, they heard something akin to a yelling match. The four looked at each other, before Jaden, Yuma and Yusei disappeared back to Ash's soul. Ash ran to where the yelling match was happening. When he got there, he saw Yuya and Zuzu with three younger kids, a red headed girl, a blue haired boy and a chubby green haired boy. They were arguing against a boy about the same age as Zuzu and Yuya, he had red hair and yellow eyes. His clothes consisted of a long sleeve shirt that is red with yellow highlights, gray trousers and black and white sneakers. Curious, he got closer to listen to what's going on.
"I refuse to believe that the son of a coward like you could beat the Sledgehammer, or make a brand new summoning method!" The boy exclaimed.
"My dad is not a coward, and I beat that jerk of a champion fair and square, along with making that method!" Yuya argued back.
"That match was broadcasted on TV, everyone saw that Yuya was able to beat the champion and do a new summoning method." Zuzu backed Yuya up
"That's right!" The three kids exclaimed, with the red headed girl ran up to the guy and kicked his knee. "Don't pick on Yuya!"
"Ow!" The boy yelped, holding his knee the girl kicked then he growled. He reeled his arm back, forming a fist. "Why you!"
"ALLY!" The other 4 yelled in worry. Ash decided to act at that moment, and dashed forward.
As Ally saw the fist coming at her, she closed her eyes and crossed her arms to protect herself, waiting for the blow. It never came and she hesitantly cracked open an eye and looked up. What she saw caused her eyes to shoot wide open. Standing there, holding the boy's fist with a gloved hand, was Ash. The raven haired trainer glared at the shocked boy, still holding his fist.
"Leave. Her. Alone." Ash says slowly and dangerously, leaning closer with each word. He then shoved the boy away, moving to stand directly in front of Ally. Everyone else was shocked at his appearance, Yuya and Zuzu being the most shocked.
"Who the heck do you think you are?" The growled out, getting over his shock and replacing it with anger.
"Someone you'll be dealing with." Ash replied, not fazed by the growl in the slightest, having heard scarier growls before. "You've got some nerve thinking it's okay to strike a little girl and get away with it."
Meanwhile, with Yuya, Zuzu, and the two younger boys, they retrieved Ally and moved her a fair distance away from the two teen boys facing each other.
"Who's that?" The two boys, Tate and Fredrick asked in amazement that a total stranger protected one of their friends. Ally was looking at Ash with adoration.
"He's a new student at our school." Yuya replied, a little respect in his voice, considering Ash did save one of his younger friends from getting injured.
"That little nuisance deserved it after what she did!" The boy growled out, glaring at the girl who hid her face against Yuya's chest.
"Her actions were justified when you insulted her friend." Ash retorted, not backing down and took a step forward instead.
"What, for stating the truth?" The boy said, a smirk on his face as he pointed at Yuya. "That the son of a coward couldn't beat the Sledgehammer or make a new summoning method?" Ash took a sideways glance at Yuya, seeing the depressed look on his face caused Ash's blood to boil. "I bet I could beat him without even trying."
"Okay, that's it." Ash glared at the boy, pulling out his duel disk from his belt. "Let's duel and we'll see if you're as good as you say you are."
"Alright, I'll humor you with a duel." The boy grinned cockily, gesturing to Yuya and his friends. "In fact, how about we go to their crummy duel school and have an action duel."
Ash hesitated, he was nervous as this will be his first ever duel, especially in an action duel. But this kid needed to be taught a lesson about bullying, and Ash was gonna be the one to deliver. Furthermore, he saw how Yuya and his friends bristled at the jab at their school. Jaden, Yusei, and Yuma appeared beside him letting him know they'll help him when they can.
"Alright, that's fine with me." Ash nodded, pointing at the boy with a determined look in his eyes. "If I win, you have to apologize to them for everything you said."
"And if I win, I get your friend's Pendulum cards and you all admit that I, Andrew, am better than all of you combined." The boy smirked.
Ash nodded reluctantly, confused when he mentioned pendulum cards. Jaden, Yusei, and Yuma were also confused, but they didn't have time to dwell on it. With that everyone started walking towards the duel school. Andrew was walking a bit behind the group while Ash was walking with them. Ash then started feeling guilty about making that bet without consulting with the group first.
"Hey." Ash said, getting the group's attention as they walked down the street. He looked at them with an apologetic look on his face. "Sorry about making this bet without talking to you guys first."
"Don't worry about it." Ash felt a hand on his shoulder and saw it was Yuya, who had a smile on his face. "I'm actually glad you stepped in when you did, Ally would've been seriously hurt." His smile turned sheepish as he scratched his cheek. "To be honest, I would've done the same thing."
"Not surprising." Zuzu said, rolling her eyes and getting an annoyed glare from Yuya, snickers from the kids and a smile from Ash. She then turned to Ash with a smile. "My name's Zuzu Boyle, by the way, and you already met Yuya."
"I'm Tate" the boy with blue hair said, walking beside Ash.
"I'm Fredrick." The chubby green haired followed, his body shivering. "What you did there gave me goose pickles."
"Goose pickles?" Ash sweatdropped, not sure what a goose was and about the boy's reaction.
"And I'm Ally!" The girl said cheerfully.
"And the 'crummy' duel school that jerk was talking about is called the You Show Duel School, a school that teaches duelists to be Dueltainers, duelists who entertain the crowd with their dueling." Zuzu explained, shooting an irritated glare over her shoulder at Andrew behind them.
"I'm Ash, nice to meet you guys." Ash said, giving the group a big smile before looking at the group in confusion. "By the way, what did that guy mean by a new summoning method?"
"Yuya was able to make a new summoning that is absolutely wonderbar!" Frederick said, raising his hands in the air.
"It's so pretty." Ally compliments, her hands clasp together.
"It's called Pendulum summoning, with it Yuya can summon monsters between a certain number of levels at the same time." Tate explained, which piques Ash's and his companions' interest as he looks at Yuya, who nodded.
"That's right, but you can only do it when you have Pendulum cards in the Pendulum zone." Yuya explained while pulling out two cards, Stargazer and Timegazer Magician.
Ash took note of the bottom of the cards and that they were orange and green. He also saw the blue and red gems with the numbers below them. This made Ash, Jaden, Yusei, and Yuma even more intrigued. In the case of Jaden, Yusei, and Yuma, they've never seen cards like those before. It's made them curious as to how they work and the point of the numbers on the cards.
"When in the Pendulum zone, you can summon monsters with levels between the numbers on the Pendulum scale." Yuya finishes, pointing at the numbers before putting the cards away.
They were about to ask Ash questions about himself, but they already arrived at their destination, a sort of asymmetrical building. To Ash, it looked like some kind of fun house. In a way, it reminded him of the House of Imite in Kanto where he met Duplica. They all entered, taking the stairs to the second floor of the building, which consisted of a lounge area, a viewing area to the action duel arena, the arena itself and a control room for the Augmented Reality Combat, or ARC, system.
Ash and Andrew went into the arena after Ash left his backpack against the wall of the viewing area. Zuzu, the only one there who at least knew a little of how to work the ARC system, went into the control room. The kids and Yuya went to the viewing area.
"Hey, what's going on here?" A young voice caught their attention. They turned and saw two individuals, one is a short, young boy, who was also the one that spoke, with light cyan hair that's tied up and spiked out. He wears a blue jacket, with a yellow and orange trim over a black t-shirt. He also wears a pair of light gray cargo shorts over long white socks and brown shoes. He also had a lollipop in his mouth.
The other was a huge framed teenager, easily equivalent in height to some adults. While he has a fairly round face, he is stockily built and rather muscular. He has black hair styled into a large pompadour, restrained by a red band, and his nose is somewhat redder than the rest of his face. There is a constant blush on his cheeks. He appears to wear a Paradise Prep School jacket, albeit looks more like a vest, over a buttoned white coat that has golden trim, as well as white pants. He also wears a white sash crossed over his back, tied at the left shoulder. These two were Sora Perse and Gong Strong respectively.
"Sora, Gong, hey!" Yuya greeted them with a smile.
"Hey, what's going on in there?" Gong asked, looking out the viewing window to see Ash and Andrew in the arena.
"This mean kid came up to us and started insulting Yuya for no reason." Tate started, pointing to the boy in question.
"Then Ally kicked him in the knee and he was gonna punch her." Fredrick continues, causing Gong and Sora to look at said girl in surprise.
"But then Ash came up and protected me." Ally states happily. Gong and Sora then looked at Yuya, both confused as to who that was, along with Andrew.
"Ash is the one with the cap on his head in the arena." Yuya said, pointing to Ash who attached his duel disk to his left arm, with some guidance from Jaden, Yusei, and Yuma. "After Ash saved Ally, they got into an argument which led to a duel. If Ash wins, he apologizes. But if he wins, Ash admits he's better and he gets my Pendulum cards."
"He gets your cards?" Sora asked, alarmed. Yuya nodded. Gong and Sora then walked up to the observation window.
"Well, Gong hopes that he can win this." Gong stated with his arms crossed while the others nodded.
In the arena, Ash was honestly starting to get nervous, considering this is his first duel and already he has a lot on the line. Furthermore, he was still learning how to use his cards. He started sweating, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and saw Yusei, Yuma and Jaden behind him.
"Don't worry Ash, we're right here with you." Yusei said reassuringly. "If it helps, just think of this as one of your pokemon matches."
"Yeah!" Jaden nodded, giving Ash a wink and his signature pose. "Just believe in yourself and your deck, then you can beat this guy."
"That's right, so don't let this guy get to you, Ash." Yuma added with a grin and pumping up a fist. "Just go out there and high five the sky!"
Ash looks at his spirit partners, before smiling a lot more calmly. Knowing that he was being supported made him less nervous. He took a deep breath and adjusted his cap like he always does before a match. Taking Yusei's advice, Ash began to picture being in a pokemon league stadium. That did the trick, as he now felt less nervous and more excited.
"Thanks guys, I needed that." Ash said softly, getting a smile from the three duelists before going back into his soul.
"If you're done talking to yourself, can we get this one-sided beatdown on the road?" Andrew asked arrogantly, a smirk on his face while Ash looked at him with a serious face.
"We'll see who beats who when we're done." Ash states seriously, holding up his arm as segments popped out of his duel disk and a red blade formed.
"Ok, if you boys are done trash talking, I'm gonna activate the Action Field, Ancient Jungle!" Zuzu says, activating the ARC system.
The arena slowly began to change and Ash looked around in amazement. They were no longer in an arena, they were now in a deep jungle. The trees had vines wrapped around their branches, a flowing river, and what looked like remains of ancient ruins. Above them, he saw a glowing sphere that looked to have numerous cards floating inside. The sphere dispersed, and the cards scattered across the field.
"This battle of epic proportions is about to explode!" Gong states.
"The fate of my Pendulum summoning will be riding on this duel." Yuya says.
"Let's see if you can defeat my ultra powerful deck." Andrew smirked confidently.
"It's gonna take a lot more than power in order to win this duel." Ash states.
"Now that the stage is set, it's time for an Action…" Zuzu starts.
"DUEL!" Ash and Andrew shouted together.
Ash LP: 4000
Andrew LP: 4000
"Number one gets to go first." Andrew smirks as he takes a card from his hand. "For now, I'll bring out Nimble Momonga!" He slapped the card on his blade and in a flash of light, a flying squirrel appeared on his field. He took another card from his hand and entered it into the slot of his duel disk. "I'll place a card face-down and end my turn."
Nimble Momonga/EARTH/Beast/Level 2/ATK 1000/DEF 100
"Why would he summon a monster with a thousand attack points?" Yuya voiced everyone's thoughts.
"It looks like you can't draw if you go first in this world." Yusei observed as he came back out of Ash's soul along with Jaden and Yuma.
"I get the feeling he's luring you into a trap." Jaden states, frowning at the sight of the monster on the opponent's field.
"Be careful, Ash." Yuma warned.
"Don't worry, I will." He whispers as they return to his soul as he puts his index and middle finger on his deck, looking at his opponent. "It's my move then, I draw!" Ash drew his card and looked at it and the rest of his hand. Taking one of the cards, he inserted it into his duel disk. "To start things off, I'm gonna activate the Pokeball spell card!" The card appears on the field, showing a pokeball in the hands of a silhouette figure. "This card allows me to add a random PokeBeast monster from my deck to my hand, so long as its level is four or below."
"PokeBeast?" Ally repeated, tilting her head in confusion.
"Does anyone know what that is?" Frederick asked, looking up at Yuya and Gong, who just shook their heads.
"Don't look at me." Sora said, licking his lollipop as the children turned their eyes on him.
"Alright, let's see what I get." Ash declared as a card popped out from his deck and he grabbed it. He looked at it before playing it. "I summon level three Bulbasaur the Seed PokeBeast!"
The pokeball bursted open, creating a bright light. When it died down, it revealed it to be a small, quadrupedal amphibian creature that has blue-green skin with darker patches. It has red eyes with white pupils, pointed, ear-like structures on top of its head, and a short, blunt snout with a wide mouth. A pair of small, pointed teeth are visible in the upper jaw when its mouth is open. Each of its thick legs ends with three sharp claws. On Its back is a green plant bulb.
Bulbasaur the Seed PokeBeast/EARTH/Plant/Level 3/ATK 1300/DEF 800
"Bulbasaur, attack Nimble Momonga with Vine Whip!" Ash ordered as a pair of vines came out of Bulbasaur's bulb and shot towards the flying squirrel.
"Not so fast!" Andrew countered as his face-down revealed itself. The card was a trap card that had a robed fiend crushing another monster. "I activate Destruct Potion!"
"Destruct Potion, what does that do?" Frederick asked nervously, feeling uncomfortable with the artwork of the card.
"It destroys one of your own monsters." Sora explained, his eyes not leaving the duel as he popped a lollipop in his mouth. "The upside is you gain life points equal to the attack points of the monster you destroyed."
"Why would he destroy his own monster?" Ally asked, feeling sorry for the flying squirrel as a lightning bolt came out of the card and destroying it. (Andrew: 4000→5000)
"While that boost was nice, I'll give them up." Andrew declared, shocking everyone as he took a card from his hand. (Andrew: 5000→4000) "This allows me to summon Green Baboon, Defender of the Forest!"
In a flash of light, a giant green baboon wearing armor and wielding a giant club appeared. The impact of its landing caused the ground to shake, making Ash lose his balance for a moment. The baboon howled and swung its club, deflecting the vines.
Green Baboon, Defender of the Forest/EARTH/Beast/ Level 7/ATK 2600/DEF 1800
"Aw man, that thing's huge!" Yuya said, a look of shock at how easily Andrew brought out a powerful monster.
"What gives, Andrew?" Ash demanded, pointing at the giant baboon as Bulbasaur retracted its vines. "It's still my turn, and I thought you needed to tribute monsters to summon something like that!"
"Are you seriously asking me that?" Andrew snickered before throwing his head back in laughter. "Are you new to dueling or something?" Ash gritted his teeth in frustration as Andrew continued to laugh. He looked at Ash with a smug grin as he pointed at his monster. "My baboon has something called a special ability."
"He's right." Tate said, getting the attention of those around him. "Green Baboon can summon itself by paying a thousand life points after a beast-type monster is destroyed by an effect."
"Which is what I did with my Nimble Momonga." Andrew's grin grew as he jumped up to stand on the baboon's shoulder. "Hope you're ready, cause I'm gonna smash you flatter than a pancake!"
'Oh man, Bulbasaur's too weak to take that thing on.' Ash thought, gritting his teeth as he took a card from his hand and inserted it into his duel disk. "I place one card face-down and end my turn."
"And it's going to be your last!" Andrew drew his card and smirked upon seeing what it was. He slapped the card onto his duel disk as a possum appeared next to the baboon. "Because Playful Possum is going to up the pressure!"
Playful Possum/EARTH/Beast/Level 2/ATK 800/DEF 600
"This is bad." Yusei said, appearing beside Ash, getting a look of confusion from the trainer. "There could only be one reason he'd play that card."
"Now for its ability." Andrew declared, regaining Ash's attention and was shocked when the possum flopped on its back and was destroyed. "Playful Possum destroys itself when you have a monster with higher attack points."
"Why destroy your monster after summoning it?" Ash asked, not seeing a point in such a way of dueling. His eyes then went to Green Baboon and they widened as he gasped softly. "Don't tell me…"
"You guessed it." Andrew continued to smirk as he took another card from his hand and slapped it on his duel disk. (Andrew: 4000→3000) "I have another Green Baboon!"
Another baboon appeared next to the first, and the two began to chest thump and howl. Ash covered his ears at the sound of the thumping and howling. He was then surprised when Andrew jumped onto the club of the one he was riding. The baboon swung its club, sending Andrew high up into the branches. When he came back down, Andrew landed on the baboon's shoulder. In his hand was another card Ash was certain wasn't there before, and he noticed this card had an "A" on the back of it.
"I activate the action card, High Dive!" Andrew declared, playing the card showing a muscular silhouette jumping on a trampoline, an arrow pointing upwards and the number 1000 in the background. "This gives one of my baboons a whopping power boost of 1000 for the turn." (2600→3600)
"That's not good." Ash took a step back, a bead of nervous sweat trailing down the side of his face. "Those two can wipe me out in no time."
"At least we know how these action duels work now." Yusei said, his eyes scanning the field. "I'm guessing those cards from earlier are supposed to make the duels more exciting."
"Then I better find one of my own." Ash muttered, sprinting into the trees with Bulbasaur running beside him.
"You're not getting away!" Andrew called out as his two baboons began to chase after the trainer. He pointed towards Bulbasaur once they were in view. "Baboon number 1, uproot that plant!"
"Come on, where are they?" Ash frantically looked around as he ran with the Baboon Andrew's riding charged towards him. He found an action card laying on a rock and jumped for it, picking it up. "I got one!"
"Too slow!" Andrew said as Green Baboon swung its club, batting Bulbasaur into the air, destroying it. The force of the blow knocked Ash off his feet and landed face first into the ground. (Ash: 4000→1700)
"Ash!" Yuya and Zuzu called out in concern.
"One more hit and he'll lose!" Gong said, alarmed at the sight of the trainer's remaining life points.
"Now to finish you with Baboon number 2!" Andrew grinned in victory as his second baboon charged towards Ash. It raised its club and brought it down, creating a cloud of debris to obscure everyone's vision.
"Oh no!" Tate and Fredrick cried out while Ally covered her eyes, not wanting to see what happened.
Now for a new segment I will be calling OC Corner; the segment where I place the effects of originalluy created cards so you have a better understanding how the cards work.
Bulbasaur the Seed PokeBeast
Card Type: Monster
Attribute: EARTH
Types: Plant/Normal
Level: 3
ATK/DEF: 1300/800
Card Descriptions: It bears the seed of a plant on its back from birth. The seed slowly develops. Researchers are unsure whether to classify Bulbasaur as a plant or animal. Bulbasaur are extremely tough and very difficult to capture in the wild.
Pokeball
Card Type: Spell
Property: Normal
Card Descriptions: Add 1 random level 4 or lower "PokeBeast" monster from your Deck to your hand. If this card is in your Graveyard: You can banish 1 "PokeBeast" monster from your graveyard; add this card to your hand. You can only use each effect of "Pokeball" Once per turn.
Now it's time for Review Corner; the segment where I reply to your reviews and answer questions that you may have regarding this fanfic!
Karsap: Thank you, I'll try my best to make this crossover as entertaining as possible.
Guest: I'm so happy to hear that you loved the previous chapter. As you saw with this chapter, I gave a sneak peek of what to expect from Ash's deck, which is indeed pokemon themed.
G09F17R02: As you read in this chapter, Ash will indeed have Pikachu with him, just not in the way most people would have expected.
Guest: Glad to hear that this story has piqued your interest and that you thought the first chapter was great. I haven't considered any pairings when I wrote this story. However, I'm an openminded person and will take your suggestion under consideration as I continue to write this story.
Glaxy: I did consider giving Ash those decks, but the more I considered it, the more I felt like it didn't suit him. As I explained in my response to Guest's review, I haven't considered any pairings. But, I'll keep it under consideration in case I change my mind.
Ashpoke55: Happy to hear that you found the story interesting with just the first chapter.
rosetrang628: As you read in this chapter, I indeed make Ash's deck pokemon themed.
Guest: I apologize that it took so long to update, I've explained in the intro as to why I have been MIA for so long. I'm glad to hear that you think that this story is a great story despite only having one chapter, now two with this update.
Guest: Sorry for the long wait, I hope that this chapter was well worth the wait.
Cloud4012: I appreciate that you think this story is interesting. As you read in this chapter, I made a pokemon theme deck for Ash to use in reference to his love of pokemon and his dream of becoming a pokemon master.
And that is all for Review Corner, I hope everyone is having a wonderful start in the new year and hope to hear from all again real soon!