A/N: Finally, the next chapter! Sorry for the wait. I was trying to get the outline (mostly) done so I know what to write and don't have to work on improving each chapter. I'm also trying to think of where to go with this as since finishing the outline, I feel like there are a few ways this can go as far as a sequel. I'll make a poll for this once I get around...let's say, when the chapters are in the twenties. I don't think I'll get as crazy as Dragons' Souls is getting (with three spin-offs; what is wrong with me? X'D), but I can see at least one sequel with this. And I will say that while there will be some shipping scenes with Ren and Yusei, it's not going to be full-blown romance until the sequel as while writing the outline, I didn't exactly squeeze a lot of romance between them except for some chapters (mostly that would take place a few months into their journey in Unova). Anyway, enough rambling. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's nor Pokémon. Both go to their respective owners. I only claim my OCs. And prepare the soap for Ren's potty mouth.

Chapter 1:

(Yusei's POV)

Well, this trip has gotten interesting, I thought. The guy Argen and I had saved earlier introduced himself as Ren after revealing the two thugs chasing him were Team Plasma. He also asked for help getting to Virbank where he was supposed to meet up with someone. He didn't say any more than that and was occasionally rubbing the arm that he had bandaged up. I was still confused over one thing. He has two Poké balls on his waist, so why didn't he send out either of those instead of being chased?

"Luuuuux," Argen let out a loud yawn, stretching his front legs out a bit. I kept him out in the off-chance that it was a trick, but so far he hasn't shown any signs of being hostile.

Though, there was a part of me that doubted he has any intention of attacking us. Since getting on the boat, he had been keeping a bit to himself and keeping both his partners in their Poké balls. He said Team Plasma had been after him. From what the news and sites have shown, they were about separating Pokémon and people to save Pokémon from abusive Trainers. But they stopped over two years ago and were disbanded. Not much more to say from that, but one site said they had taken over the League at one point. Nothing else about that, and all other sites seem to make it sound like they faded away after the thefts came to light.

But why would they be after this guy? Maybe he was a part of the group and broke away? Has some dirt on them? Or is related to one of the people that took them down? I sighed. Maybe I'm over-thinking this. Maybe I just need to give him the benefit of the doubt. I reached down to my belt, giving a light tap on the other Poké ball there. You really like to add in, don't you? Well, if we're going to at least be traveling this far together, I should at least get to know him more. I stood up from my seat.

"Lux?" Argen looked up from his spot.

"I'll be right back," I told him. He gave a blink and laid his head back down on his paws.

I walked over to where Ren was. He had let out the two Pokémon out to reveal quite the surprise. They were both Kalos Pokémon, one being a Delphox and the other being a Furfrou. Both looked heavily battle-scarred, indicating they had their fair share of very tough fights. Huh, wasn't expecting him to have Pokémon not native to Unova, but if he had those two on his person, why did he not send them out against those goons? They look like they could have easily handled them.

He jumped a bit when I pulled the chair across from him. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you," I said.

"It's...okay," he replied, going back to looking out the window.

"Surprised to see you have a pair of Kalos Pokémon in your roster."

"There, uh, not mine."

"They aren't? Whose are they, then?"

"They were...my brother's Pokémon. I'm just borrowing them for the time being until I'm in the clear."

"Oh." I noticed he had said 'were.' So either his brother couldn't have them for one reason or another...or this brother of his isn't alive. Judging from that expression and pause, it's the latter.

It was a bit quiet between us for a moment before I spoke up again. "You said you had this mark of the Original Dragon, right? The one from Unovan legends?"

This time, he turned to face me. "Yeah, that's right."

"Sorry for sounding a bit skeptical, but how do I know this isn't a ruse? As far as I've heard, Legendary marks are a bit rare."

Ren bit his lip, looking down at his bandaged arm. He then let out a loud sigh and started undoing the knot at the elbow, unraveling the wrap. As soon as the wrap uncovered his forearm, my eyes widened. On his arm was a series of what appeared to be tattoos. One was in the shape of a lightning bolt, another an ice spear, the third looked like flames, and the final in the middle of the three was what looked like a dragon's eye. While it could be passed off as a very interesting tattoo, I had the inkling that this wasn't one. Guess I see why Ren got a private room rather than a public one. Anyone that passed through would have caught a glance of this.

"So that's..?"

"Yeah, the mark. It sort of...appeared on my arm a few years back when I first went through the region. It's why Team Plasma is going after me so much. With this, they could easily find the locations of the Legendary Dragons of this region."

Makes sense. Have someone that could find their location would make them a bigger threat. I looked back at his marks, noticing something. "The fire mark. It's colored in."

"Oh...yeah, it is."

"So that means you have that dragon, right?"

"I...sort of."

I quirked a brow. "'Sort of'? What do you mean by 'sort of'?"

He fidgeted a bit. "Well, I mean, I can summon Reshiram in theory, but I...really don't want to test that."

"Any reason?"

"Just...bad memories is all."

Bad memories, huh. That statement could mean a number of things. I've heard of stories where people went through traumatic situations, whether it being a precious Pokémon partner dies in front of them or protecting them, or even getting attacked by one. Considering he didn't sound like he wanted to go into details, whatever happened between him and Reshiram was bad enough for him not to bring that Legendary out. I wasn't too into the legends of each region, but I could recall enough to remember that Reshiram could cause devastating fires that left lasting scars even worse than a Houndoom's. Though in this case, it was mental and emotional scars, not physical ones.

I guess that answers one question, but there's still another big one. "Okay, I can understand a bit about not wanting to summon Reshiram, but why didn't you send out either of your brother's Pokémon when being chased back there? From their looks, they could handle whatever those thugs had."

"That's the other thing about having Reshiram's mark filled in. Any Fire-type Pokémon I send out to fight gets a huge boost in power and I have little to no control how much power they get. If I sent Cross out to fight...well, I'm not sure how that would go. And why I didn't send Ciel out...my emotions were getting too haywire back there, so it could have also activated with him."

"I see. Sounds like those abilities are more hindrance than helpful."

He gave a low groan. "You have no f***ing idea..."

The intercom crackled a bit. "We have arrived at Virbank City! Please be sure to gather all your belongings, and thank you for sailing with us!"

(Ren's POV)

After gathering our stuff and recalling the Pokémon, we got off the boat and into Virbank City. It wasn't very big compared to Castelia, so I could easily find my way around and get onto a bus straight for Aspertia. Bianca had sent a message a day or two ago, saying she was going to be there for a while on Professor Juniper's request to help with some beginner Trainers starting out. Once I meet up with her, I can get this little journey of mine started.

Oh right, before I forget... I turned to Yusei when enough people had gotten past. "Uh, thanks for putting up with my request. I can make it the rest of the way there. I should have enough for another boat trip for you to get back," I told him.

"I don't think that would be a good idea," he replied.

"Why? I only needed help getting here, and-"

"Well aside from that little rescue in Castelia, I know about your you-know-what. At this point, I'm as much of a target as you are. It's better to stick together to watch each other's backs than go our separate ways."

I blinked, realization hitting me. I covered my face with my hands. "Crap! I didn't think about that! Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why am I such a f***ing idiot?!"

Yusei gripped my arms, pulling my hands away from my face. "Hey, calm down. You already said it yourself, your emotions were all over the place when Argen and I stepped in. I doubt you'd tell any random stranger about it."

"I guess...but still..."

He sighed. "At any rate, there's not much we can do about it. Unless you have a way to erase memories, we'll just stick together until you get whatever you need done here."

I grimaced. "Yeah that might take a while, so..."

Yusei shrugged. "I wasn't in any hurry to leave either way, so it won't make much of a difference. Might give me an opportunity to add one or two new Pokémon to the team."

"Well, uh, hope you won't mind being stuck with me then."

"I have a feeling that I won't mind it. Now, we better get going unless you fancy trekking through the woods for the next few days to reach Aspertia."

"I'd rather not. I don't want to keep the Professor's assistant waiting any longer than I already did."

A/N: Okay, so, sorry if this chapter was a bit short (though a bit longer than the prologue...I think). I mainly was trying to space things out enough and not scrunch everything together. I promise future chapters will be much longer! Also, it is so weird to write Ren as he is in the first parts of this story as I'm used to writing him like in the Surprising Each Other shorts (a bit cocky at times, expressive, slight happy go lucky; and let's not forget that foul mouth that desperately needs to be washed out). I think this is how Ren would be though if he didn't mask his real emotions. He's confident in things he knows (dancing, singing, and sometimes acting), but throw him into a situation where he doesn't have his usual skill set and he is quite different. I hope to show that in his non-crossover story that I'll post someday. For now, see you next time!