A/N: And uh...time for this chapter now. AJ isn't gone forever, don't worry. She'll make an appearance again. Just...maybe not for a while. And also not sure how much (if any) of the Fortune Cup I'll actually write as I didn't put too much thought of it in my outline since I wanted to kind of differ from Dragons' Souls.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon nor Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's. Both go to their respective owners. I only claim my OCs. Also, prepare the soap for Ren's potty mouth. Added note, there's going to be a bit of a panic attack and the 'doubting thoughts' will be added in bold, like a second voice in the person's head. Just to clear it up.
Chapter 6- Separations and Reunions:
(No One's POV)
AJ walked down the streets, keeping her eyes mostly on the ground. She had set the box down outside the market and out in the open enough for someone to find it easily. After that encounter, she knew she wouldn't be able to focus or really want to talk to other people for the moment. She had also recalled Claws to make sure no one freaked out at a human sized red bug walking around. What do I do..? What can I even do? There are no good options. I go, Ren gets hurt. I stay, he gets hurt or worse this time. And from the sounds of it, he might have others lurking around that could swoop in and attack Ren if I try to fight back.
She paused, looking up toward the sky. Arceus...I thought things were starting to look up, and now it feels like karma wants to creep in and slap me around. All I wanted to do was make up for being a bad sister, to keep that promise I made to Ellis before he died. Is this just the universe's way of punishing me for not telling Ren about what happened between us? That I should have been truthful instead of hiding? I just...I just wanted to... She squeezed her eyes shut to try to keep the tears from flowing again.
The sound of an engine caught her attention. At first, AJ thought it was this Sector Security, but the engine sound wasn't heading for her and she didn't hear any sirens going off either. She followed to where it was coming from, making sure not to rattle anything on the ground or knock over something. Just as she got close, the sound of a dragon roar echoed over the engine noise. She stepped out just in time to watch Yusei speed past on his Runner with a silver and blue dragon flying overhead. Is...Is that..?
"Oh gosh, you should have seen this one card that Yusei has, AJ."
"Oh? What is it called?"
"It's..."
"Stardust Dragon..." AJ whispered, overriding the memory. She heard some cheers and glanced over to see Ren alongside his Pokémon partners among the rest of Yusei's friends, all excited about the dragon's appearance. She saw how happy he was among them, her thoughts trailing to the threats Sayer gave. Oh Ren...I know I promised to make up for the past even if you don't remember it yet, but if me being away means that you'll be safe... Besides, you and your Pokémon have these guys to help you. The least I could do is make sure that isn't threatened by anyone or anything.
"We're not sure what's going on. I know she went after him when he was heading for Unova to find something, and now neither are picking up their phones."
"You contacted the police there, right?"
"Yes, but since AJ is considered a high-leveled Trainer and also 18, they said it wasn't much to look into unless there were rumors of some strange happenings. Their schools has them on indefinite leave until they return to undo it."
"Tch, and I thought the ones here were incompetent."
"Maybe they are just making up for the fight?"
"That's the only thing we can hope for at this moment. Ren had gotten distant even before the accident, but after that he had practically ignored all our attempts to reach out for him. Maybe this is wrong of me to say...but I always had some reservations over that friend of Ellis's after they graduated..."
"Why? You think he's dangerous?"
"Of course not. We trusted Ellis knew best when making friends, but it seemed like only he kept the friendship open while..."
"Might want to have someone look into if he got into anything suspicious. At this point, any lead would be better than nothing."
"We'll look into it. I doubt he had anything to do with it, but perhaps he could help us be on the lookout for our missing kids."
"I realize this is a bit moot, but we can also try to keep our eyes and ears open here, in case what happened in the past could happen again."
"Thank you, Mokuba. We'll update when we get anything new."
(Yusei's POV)
Things were coming together great. The last test run showed that the Runner should be able to handle getting to the city and even handle a Duel. All that was left was to wait for the right moment to leave. It won't be long. Once I get things settled, I'll find a way to get all my friends out of here, too, I thought as I went over the data on my laptop.
Everybody started to head out to their places before it got too dark, with Ren and AJ being the last two to go. Even after catching up at the end of the test, AJ seemed a bit out of it like she was focusing on something else. Usually, it was Ren that has his mind wander while in the middle of something and his sister having to snap him out of it, so AJ being the one to be absent-minded was a bit suspicious. As they were getting ready to go, she stopped at the bottom of the stairs while Ren was corralling his partners.
"Ren, you go on ahead. I'll catch up in a minute," she called up.
"What, you sure? Not worried I'll sneak back to the scrap piles?" he retorted.
"...Riki, if he heads over there, drag him by the back of his shirt for me."
"Char," came the answer.
"Fine, we'll go on ahead, but you better catch up or I'll send Dash to find you." The sound of footsteps meant he was heading back to their place.
"Is everything okay, AJ?" I asked, turning away from my laptop.
"Yeah, I just wanted...to talk for a minute without anyone else hearing," she replied as she turned to face me. "I...know I was really harsh and cold when we first met and all, and I wanted to apologize for that."
"I told you already, it's okay. Considering what you said happened to your brother, I'd expect you to be overly cautious for his safety."
"Still, it wasn't fair of me to pass judgment on you so quickly when you helped save my brother's life, and at least for that I want to say sorry for that."
"Apology accepted, but it wasn't really needed. I'm just glad I was there and not someone less friendly."
"Same here." She turned like she was going to leave but paused. "One last thing. If...anything were to happen to me, can you watch out for Ren? I know he doesn't remember everything and all, but he's been hurt a lot and hasn't had a lot of good influences to help him...including me."
"What do you..?"
"I just want to be sure that he can at least have someone that will help him become the best version of himself, whether I'm around to see it or not. He tends to be very stubborn and hot-headed, and it makes it hard to really talk to him. Especially if he thinks he's being talked down to. But you've been able to easily, more so than anyone else I've known. I just...want to make sure he has someone he can rely on if things go wrong."
"Well...I'm not sure how well I can do all that, but I can promise to make sure he stays out of trouble the best I can."
"Thanks, Yusei."
"Though, are you sure everything's okay? You're acting like this is your last day with all you said."
She shook her head. "No no, nothing like that. I...wanted to make sure there's backup for if anything happens to me. You can never be too careful, you know?"
"Okay..." I wasn't fully convinced, but I felt if I kept pushing she'd kept dodging and we'd get nowhere. "You might want to catch up with Ren, make sure he hasn't gotten lost."
"Yeah, see you later." With that, she hurried up the stairs.
I better make sure to check in early tomorrow. There's something she isn't mentioning. And with how much she was spacing out...it's clear she's hiding what really is going on. I don't want to make the same mistakes again, I thought as I closed the lid.
(No One's POV)
Night fell over the streets of Satellite. In Ren and AJ's hideout, Ren was fast asleep on his sleeping bag, his partners also crowded on or next to him. A few feet away, the other sleeping bag moved as AJ started getting out of it. Now's the best time. I have to be thankful Ren's just as deep a sleeper as back home, or I couldn't slip out, she thought as she quietly rolled it up and put it in the corner.
She grabbed the small chain necklace around her neck which held a Poké ball (which was all white with red trimmings), shrunk for easy carry. She unclipped it from the holder, pressing the button to make it bigger. "I realize I haven't let you out for a time, but I have a big favor. If there's any situation that Ren and Yusei can't handle, I want you to protect Ren. No matter what," she whispered quietly to the ball.
Small sparks came out from the edges of the ball, the button seeming to pulse as the Pokémon it held heard and understood. She shrunk the ball again, putting it back on the chain. Quiet as a mouse, she crept over to where Ren lay, silently placing the necklace over his neck, laying the end of it on his pillow. Even with the placement of his new accessory, Ren only let out a small snort in his sleep.
AJ headed down the stairs, slightly wincing at the squeaky stairs but relieved as it didn't seem to bother any of the sleeping residents. She grabbed her bag that was laying next to the tables, taking out her PokéDex and setting it next to one of the pots. I don't know if he'll need it, but I doubt that I'll be using it. And leaving any sort of information on my world from that man sounds better than him having it in his hands. She threw the bag over her shoulder. I just...I hope that someday I can have Ren understand why I left. This time, I'm not doing it for selfish reasons. I don't care what happens to me. If someone really wants to poke the Ursaring, they better be prepared for the Ursaluna that comes out...
AJ took in a deep breath and let it out. She opened the door, take one last glance behind her. This won't be goodbye forever...but for now...take care, little brother... She closed the door behind her, not noticing a pair of blue eyes opening in the darkness.
"Pika! Pikachu Pika!" Mew-Para cried out as she ran up to the resting Ellis and the other two Pokémon.
"Wha—what's the matter..?" he said sleepily.
"Pikaaa!" She pointed to the monitor she had hopped away from. Ellis got up from his seat, walking over. His eyes widened at the screen. He hit rewind a bit, watching the scene play out again. He gritted his teeth.
"Lesli!"
There was a small crash before she ran into the room, adjusting the helmet on better. "What? What's happened?" she asked.
"It's AJ. She's gone." He kept his voice as level as he could. His bangs covered his eyes.
"Gone? What do you mean gone?"
"See for yourself." She moved past him, checking the monitors. If not for her helmet, her eyes would have widened as well.
"No...no no no. She has to be somewhere! I'll hack into more of those cameras and-"
"No, I'm tired of this. I'm going. I refuse to stand in the background and have my siblings get picked off."
"But if it's-"
"Whether it's your 'friends' or someone else, I don't care. When I find out who took Aly, they'll wish they hadn't." He grabbed the roughed up jean jacket that was resting over the chair, pulling it over his shoulders. "Para, Specter, Sleuth! We're heading out."
"Pi."
"Co."
"Snea."
(Ren's POV)
I lifted my head up a bit, Storm flopping right off from where he had been laying on my chest to on my legs. I was still a bit groggy from sleep, but I woke up because I could hear banging coming from downstairs. I let out a groan and rubbed my eyes. "AJ, sis, I think someone's at the door," I murmured aloud.
"Ugh...and I was having such a nice dream, too," Storm grumbled.
"Uh, Ren, AJ's not in here," Riki responded, lifting his head up.
"Huh..?" I looked over to where AJ usually sleeps, finding her sleeping bag rolled up into the corner. "What the hell? Did she go out without us again?"
"Maybe she wanted to focus on getting the other half of her team evolved. Star, Darko, and Harley might have wanted to have more training just with AJ," Mazin pointed out.
"Yeah, but not even telling us?" I walked over to the sleeping bag and rolled it out. "No note, either."
"Hey, Ren, when did you start wearing jewelry?" Storm asked, now a bit more awake.
"Huh?" I reached around me neck as I felt the chain. It was the same one AJ had been wearing since we got here, a Premier Ball that she hadn't opened at all except for some secret times to let the inhabitant have some air. "Why is this...?"
"L-Let's not panic. She might not have left a note up here but one downstairs?"
"Let me check!" Mazin padded off down the stairs.
"And what if there's no note, Riki? She wouldn't have just ditched us out of the blue! Not a-"
"Well, I...I don't know, but there's got to be a reasonable explanation for all this!"
"Like what?"
"M...Maybe she had to meet up with someone, or got called over to Martha's or Crow's and couldn't tell us in..." Riki's voice faded out as it felt like white noise was going through my mind.
Where is she? What happened? She said she would always make sure I kept my head on straight. Did she lie to me? No no, that isn't it. She wouldn't do that! You don't know that. I mean, she made sure to help explain things when a memory came back to me. But she looked so nervous and sad at the same time. Could there have been something that pulled her away? Maybe she's just out training and got too distracted to tell me. With no note, like Storm pointed out? That isn't like her. She could have easily forgotten! She could have gotten distracted like I do and just not left anything and... You know that's not her style. She's always left a note before, or even woken up Riki or Storm or Mazin to tell them if you couldn't. She could have easily found a way out... No no no, she wouldn't leave us, leave me! And how would you know? You can't remember anything. For all you know...she might have lied from the start. No, she is my sister! Then where. Is. She?!
"..n. Ren! Hey, snap out of it!" a voice shouted through the haze and a shake to my shoulder broke the spell on me.
I let out a gasp as my mind cleared and came back to reality. A glance over caused me to lock eyes with dark blue ones. Yusei's. "Y-Yusei?" I squeaked out. "Wh-What are you..?"
"Easy, just breath for a moment." I did as he had said, just now realizing that my face also felt a bit wet too. I didn't even realize I had been crying during the whole fit. "Are you all right now?"
"Y-Yeah...except for one thing. AJ's missing a-and I have no idea where she is. She left her necklace, and no note, and...and..."
"Okay, easy. We'll find where she went. Think you can walk all right?"
"Okay...okay, yeah. I just need to get my shoes on..."
(Yusei's POV)
My heart sank when he said that. I shouldn't have waited until the next day and come check in on things last night. Or followed after. This was just like with Kalin. I should have known better, but right now I need to focus on finding her. She couldn't have just disappeared completely, I thought as Ren and I headed out. When we got down the stairs, the other Pokémon were already wide awake and looking around. The red dragon that Ren dubbed Dash was sniffing at something on the ground.
"Ja! Jan Jang Ja Jangmo!" Nana cried as she ran up to Ren.
"Slow down, I can't follow when you're talking so fast!" he yelped when she leaped onto his leg. The little yellow and pink lizard repeated what she had shouted, though a bit slower than when she was running up. Color drained from his face even more if that was possible.
"What's she saying?" I asked.
"She said Joan was gone when she and Dash woke up. S-She said that Fluke and Sparkler went to go look for her a bit ago but haven't returned just yet."
First AJ, now even one of the Pokémon...could Joan had followed after AJ? Or, if nothing has happened, did AJ take Joan somewhere? But then why not leave a note? Something had to have happened to make her leave so suddenly. I felt a nudge on my shoulder, looking to see Dash holding something in his mouth. I held out my hand and he dropped a rock in it. "What's this?"
"Prrai," Dash rumbled, motioning for Ren.
"Ren, Dash is wanting you to look at something."
"Huh..?" I handed him the rock. "This...it looks like a Rockruff rock."
"You can tell?"
"Yeah, a bit. It kind of feels like hardened fur when left alone for a while. She kind of leaves these lying around after scratching, like her shed fur. Dash, is there a reason you wanted to show that?"
"Rrra." He walked to the door, opening it and sniffing the ground again. He turned back around as he expected us to follow when he started to walk out.
"Looks like we might have a lead, then. Come on."
(No One's POV)
A small brown bird flapped above, scanning the area below. After not seeing what it was looking for, it flew away. It landed on an old lamp post. Ellis who was waiting under it with his partners looked up at it. "Did you see anything?" he asked the bird.
The bird started to glow white and for a brief moment it had the shape of Mew before reverting back to a Pikachu form. "Pi Pika," Para shook her head.
"Dammit. Where is she? She has to be around here somewhere..."
"Coco," Specter whined a little, patting Ellis's pants' leg.
"I know, Specs, but just seeing only Ren in there...what else was I supposed to think since they haven't been separated after finding their own place around here? From that video feed...it was like she didn't want to leave with the times she hesitated. Someone forced her to go, and once I find out who..." His fists clenched at his sides.
"Snea! Sneasel!" cried a voice just as he trailed off. Sleuth came running up, gold eyes looking worried.
"Sleuth! There you are! Did you check around the docks?"
"Snea Snea Sneasel!"
"What?! Lead the way!" Sleuth nodded and darted ahead, Para jumping down to join the group rushing for their new destination.
(Ren's POV)
The trail kept going until we reached the docks. Then there wasn't any more stones that Joan left behind to follow after. We had to have Dash and Riki stay hidden so that no one working there saw as we headed further in. That was when a new clue was found: a small blood pool followed by pawprints. There was also a dent in one of the sides of the buildings.
"Is that..." Yusei trailed off. My heart started racing again at the sight. Somehow, I managed to force myself in a run to follow the new lead. "Ren, hold on! Don't-!" I didn't hear what else he said as everything started fading out with my thoughts racing.
No no no no no no! Where is she?! Where is she?! Where is my sister?! my mind cried as I ran through the allies between buildings. She had to be somewhere, anywhere! I couldn't lose a piece of my family like this!
With me not paying attention to where I was going, I collided with someone else who was hurrying in the opposite direction and ended with both of us falling down. That snapped me out of my thoughts to try and apologize only to see them holding an unconscious Joan who was battered and a bit bloodied. "Joan?!" I cried in shock.
She lifted her head up, opening her eyes slowly in the guy's arms. "R-Ren..?" she croaked.
"What happened? Why are you hurt? Where did..?!" I took her from the person holding her who didn't protest at me taking her.
"I'm...I'm sorry...I-I tried to help her, but...that man was..." She fell back to unconsciousness, her body trying to recover from whatever attack happened.
(Yusei's POV)
I managed to catch up to Ren. It appeared he had run into someone who was sitting across from him. "Ren! There you are! Did you...find..." I started and then stopped as I saw him shaking. I knelt down next to him. "Ren?"
"S-She...AJ's...S...She's..." he started stuttering. I saw he was clutching Joan to his chest who looked worse for wear.
He didn't need to finish his sentence for me to figure it out. AJ wasn't here, or anywhere else in Satellite. I failed again... "Here, come on. Let's go get Joan patched up." I helped him up onto his feet and begin leading him away.
"Let me help," the new person said, getting up too. "I was the one who found his injured Rockruff."
"That's not really..." Then I realized what he had called Joan. He used the same term that Ren and AJ used. "Wait, what did you just call Joan?"
He didn't answer me, turning and letting out a whistle. "Para! Specter! Come on!" That's when two new creatures came running from around the corner. One looked like Ren's partner Storm except the ears of it was a bit more frayed and also had a heart shaped end to its tail. The other creature looked like a little red dinosaur or crocodile with some white and yellow along with a tooth poking out in the front. I also then noticed that he had the same capsules on his belt too, three of them.
Is he...from their world too? How else does he have the same creatures and even the devices as Ren and AJ? "Who are you?" I asked.
"Ah...right, guess I never really introduced myself." The creature that looked similar to Storm jumped from the ground onto his right shoulder. "I'm Ellis, Ellis Mori. Pleased to meet you."
A/N: Well, guess not fully 100% a reunion just yet. Going to save the time jump for another chapter or two as I want to work a bit on Ellis coming in and joining. I feel like adding some extra scenes would help to get to the point I want to in the story. We'll get to the main parts of the Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's storyline in a bit.
Also, I need to do a bit of brainstorming as I have an idea of how to tie in the Pokémon world with the Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's and not quite sure how to fully do it just yet. Mainly involving the gimmicks introduced in Scarlet/Violet alongside the first one (Mega Evolution).
At any rate, got any ideas of what's going on with Ellis just yet, or just waiting for some big twist to show up and reveal?
PS- The two not seen Pokémon that were named are a Fletchling (Fluke) and Wattrel (Sparkler) mentioned in the little rescue group chapter, just as an fyi (might have to add that in whenever a new name is dropped for the nicknamed 'mons).