A/N: Whoo! Who's ready to continue this roller-coaster of a beginning? Okay, so, I am going to clarify a few things that if you had seen previous versions of this story will need some explaining. Originally, Ren did have a fully evolved team (or I guess teams as in the first draft he had a team for each region up til...I think when Ultra Sun and Moon were out but right before Sword and Shield? I can't remember), but throw that out the window right now. As shown in the previous chapter, Riki is a Charmeleon, not a Charizard. Same goes with Storm and Mazin, they aren't evolved either (thanks for giving me an opinion with that, Crimson Priestess of Miracles!). I actually have ideas of when they will evolve and will be a bit inspired by a certain animation of Pokémon Red on YT by Pedro Araujo over how evolution stones work (be warned that the animations are...not for kids; nothing explicit but uh it becomes quite obvious on some of the human character designs). Enough of that, let's go on with the show!
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon nor Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's. Both go to their respective owners. I only claim OCs. Also, violence and language (partly from Ren, he needs soap).
Chapter 2- The Siblings From A World of Monsters P2:
(No one's POV)
It had been a few days since Ren had woken up. AJ couldn't get out what he said nor the look on his face from then. It was like someone used an eraser to wipe his memory clean with how little he recalled. The doctor did say it wasn't out of the ordinary if his attack was bad, but something just felt off about it. Maybe memory of the attack, sure, but his whole life just gone? Just like that?
So to keep her from falling into the deep end again, AJ went about trying to figure more out about where she and her brother had ended up. She instructed Riki to go back to his ball that she hid under Ren's bed whenever he heard footsteps approaching the door, regardless if it was her or not. AJ was grateful that she found help, but after what happened with Ren she wasn't about to put her trust out until she knew more. They could just have pretended to help to have their guard let down.
When she got far enough away from the building, she took out two of the six Poké balls from her belt and brought out a small orange mouse-like Pokémon and a white and black striped ferret-like Pokémon with red eyes. This is very risky, but Star and Harley are the only two of my partners that would be small enough to hide easily, AJ thought. Darko, Titus, and Claws are too big or not fast enough to hide easily while Pulse...well, he's Pulse and probably wouldn't listen to me to hide and argue about staying in view. Star's small enough to not be seen by anyone and can give me intel. Harley's sharp senses will alert to any danger coming too close to us.
"Come on, guys. Let's see if we can't get a few clues," she stated.
"Paw paw."
"Lie."
Ren was sitting up in the bed with Riki half-laying on his lap and part of him dangling off the edge. He held the Poké ball that Riki popped in and out from, his thumb brushing against the engraving of the Pokémon's name at the bottom. I just don't understand. It's like everything before I woke up never existed. And yet...part of me recognizes what Riki is and this ball, he wondered. He squeezed his eyes shut. Argh...I hate this! Why can't I remember anything?! What happened to me?!
"Char! Charmander!"
"Is he really mine?"
"Yes, son. This is your first Pokémon."
"Cool! Can I call you Riki?"
"Char Char!"
"Charme?" The sight of that was in Ren's eyes faded back to the present as Riki lifted his head up and looked concerned at the teen. Ren's gaze went from the Charmeleon back to the ball.
Wh...What was..? All of a sudden, he let out a pained gasped, dropping the ball and clutching his chest where the largest wound was. Riki grew alert immediately. He shoved himself off the bed and made his way to the door.
When his claws were about to grab the doorknob, he hesitated. "Somehow, we ended up further than Unova is all I can tell. But the energy here feels...off. And from what I saw, there was no Pokémon here at all." He pulled his claws back, trying to figure something out when he heard Ren's voice again.
"R-Ri...ki?" The Flame Pokémon turned back to where the bed was. Ren was still clutching his chest but not as tightly and looking over at Riki with his uncovered eye. Riki went back up to Ren's bed where Ren pulled him closer to him. "What's happened to me, bud?"
"Char..." Riki responded. He wasn't sure either. Ren had put a lock on the Poké balls when he had been ambushed to protect them that AJ undid the other night. "Wherever we are, we're far away from the ones who hurt Ren. ...think you can keep him safe..?"
I won't let anyone hurt my partner ever again, Riki swore internally. His eyes widened when he heard the door start opening. Oh shi-!
"This place is called Satellite?"
"Paw Pawmi."
"And everyone here is restricted from having any sort of...Dueling? And there's all kinds of restrictions and a curfew?"
"Li Linoone."
"And anyone caught for the slightest of rule breaking gets sent to jail and possibly get what?"
"Paw Paw."
AJ groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose and squinting her eyes shut. "Oh dear Arceus, of all the places to end up," she muttered. She let out a sigh, dropping her hand. "No use moaning about it. There's nothing that we can do to make it any better here. We'll just need to stay low and out of sight as best we can. Once Ren has healed up, we're slipping out of here and find somewhere to hide out until I can figure a way to get us all back home."
"Paw Pawmi?"
"No, Star. I'm not risking it. For all we know, they could be in league with those bastards or even worse."
"Paw. Pawmi Mi."
"Yes, they help now and then what? If things are as bad as you two have found out, they'll no doubt back-stab us and I can't let that happen. There's always something people want and dangle their 'good deed' over your head to get it. I failed enough times as a sister. I'm not doing it..." She stopped when she heard a few voices. From the perch she and the two Pokémon had, she spotted the source. Oh, it's...him. Yusei. I don't recognize the guy he's with though, but he must know him. Her eyes wandered a bit further back to seeing a group heading right for the two. They don't look friendly, and they're heading for the both of them. AJ turned her gaze away, starting to walk away. I shouldn't get involved.
"I know you're hurting, Aly, but not everyone is out to cause harm. There are genuinely good people out there. You just need to be willing to look," AJ's mind played out from a voice from the past. Her footsteps stopped. She bit her lip, clenching her fists in frustration. "Damn it."
She grabbed two of the balls at her belt. "Star, Harley, return!"
"Paw?!" "Li?!" came the replies before red light enveloped them and sent them back to the capsules. She clipped them back on and rushed to find a way down. Ellis, you better have been right.
(Yusei's POV)
"Hey, punks!" came a voice from behind.
"Oh boy, here comes trouble," Crow muttered. I turned to the source, seeing about four guys waltz up to us.
"Yer on our turf," the biggest stated.
"Funny, I didn't see your name on it," I retorted.
"Oh, a wise guy? Perhaps you'll change your tune after we beat the stuffing out of you and take your stuff," another answered.
"How about you turn around and walk off if you know what's good for you," a new voice said before I could reply. AJ then came into view from behind one of the junk piles.
"AJ? What are you-" My question was cut off when the group started laughing when she stopped in front of Crow and me.
"Oh, got a little girl as your bodyguard? That's hilarious!" one of the goons cackled. "What she gonna do? Throw her nail polish at us?"
"Uhh, you know her?" Crow asked.
"A little. She and her brother are a bit new around here," I replied. Though I am surprised she's out and about. She didn't seem to want to leave Ren alone for long periods of time, at least if she could help it.
"You done laughing yet?" AJ questioned, pulling her hands out of her pockets. "Or am I going to have to get physical here?"
"Heh," the leader chuckled. "Sorry, I don't hit girls."
"Oh good. This shouldn't take too long, then." All of a sudden, her foot came up and hit him right in the side of the knee hard. The leader howled in pain and toppled down, clutching his leg. "Told ya."
"You bitch!" one of the others yelled, socking her in face. She stumbled back a bit before returning the hit. Crow and I jumped in to help with fighting the last three guys.
With AJ taking out their leader, the odds were evened out. I brought up my arm to block the punch aimed for my face and returned the attack after he tried to change tactics. Seems they're more used to being able to outnumber their victims rather than fighting one-on-one, I thought. I gave a grunt when a fist hit me in the stomach. I swept my leg out and knocked him off balance, making him land backwards into the ground.
I took a glance over at Crow and AJ. Crow had just beat his opponent, having his own fair share of future bruises on his face. AJ was still handling hers, her nose bleeding a bit along with the mark on her eye beginning to redden. She seemed to be doing okay, so there wasn't any need to jump in to help or take over for her. She ended her fight with slamming her elbow into the guy's face. Good, looks like everything's in the clear.
"Yusei! Watch out!" Crow yelled in a panic. I just barely caught the glint in the corner of my eye when a bright light filled my vision.
As the light faded, I caught the sound of metal clanking on the ground along with several gasps. The first thing I could see was dark orange and wings accompanied with a low growl. What is...a dragon? This doesn't look like any Duel Monster I've seen though. I looked over at AJ, seeing that she held one of the spheres from her belt in her hand, but it was opened this time. Did she...how?
"A-A-A dragon?!" one of the goons gasped, snapping me from my thoughts.
"That thing's huge!" another added.
"Who summoned that?!" the third said.
The leader, who had been the one that held the weapon, scoffed. "Oh please, it's obviously not real. There's no such thing as a real dragon!" He limped up and put his hand on the dragon's snout. The rumble grew louder and the dragon let out a puff of smoke from its nostrils at the touch. "Ah..."
He yanked his hand back as the dragon pulled its muzzle away and tried to bite his hand, missing by centimeters. "Ruun! It's real!" The group scrambled to get away as the dragon let out a roar at their fleeing backs.
(No One's POV)
Why did I do that? I shouldn't have done that. It was just instinct. I have too much adrenaline rushing through. It just felt similar to when I saw Ren, AJ's mind raced as she tried to calm herself down from the scene. She didn't notice that her Charizard had walked up to her.
"Rrr?" he rumbled. AJ snapped out of her inner turmoil to meet the Flame Pokémon's concerned look.
She let out a sigh, bringing her hand up and patting the side of his head. "I'm all right, Titus," she answered. Just hope I can even talk out of this... She brought the Poké ball back up to him and returned him to the ball.
(Yusei's POV)
Of all the things I was planning for today, meeting a dragon was certainly not on the list. Nor finding out that AJ (and by extension, her brother, I guess) would be capable of bringing one out from those spheres. Well, that explains why she carries them, but why did she not mention anything about them? And, where did they come from?
"I'll just be going now," AJ stated. The dragon was nowhere to be seen, probably back in that strange ball she used to bring it out. "Ren and I will go once he's well enough to move."
"What are you-"
"We'll keep out of your hair until we can get back home." She started walking off, but I managed to stop her just in time.
"Hold on a minute. Who said you needed to go?"
"I...what?"
"You don't have to leave. There's no reason for that." Her expression went from slight confusion to 'what the heck' in an instant. "What?"
"Why aren't you more freaked out? I pulled out a Char—fire-breathing lizard to scare away those thugs, and you're being calm about it!"
"Well, you didn't sic the dragon on us and only on the goons we were fighting, and if you were going to harm us, you wouldn't have sent it back to...wait, how does a whole dragon fit in that ball?" Crow answered, making a motion to the object still in AJ's hand.
"It's uh...I mean, Titus isn't..." AJ looked to be having a hard time trying to find any words to say in response.
"You and your brother aren't from this world, are you?" I put in. Her body flinched at that. "I tried looking up the place you said, and nothing came up about it. And you were dodgy about where you both were from, too. Like you weren't sure we would have heard of any of those places."
AJ let out a deep sigh, looking a bit resigned. "Yeah, you're right. We aren't from here. Anywhere from this world. But if I'm going to explain it, I'd rather do it in one sitting than multiple close together. It's a lot and I'd rather not have anyone else listening in.
I nodded. "Fair enough. We'll need to get patched up anyway."
Thankfully, we didn't run into any problems getting back to Martha's. AJ needed to be patched up more than Crow or me with her developing new shiner and bloodied nose. Once that had gotten settled, we sat down to hear AJ out only to get interrupted by a three-foot red lizard walking past carrying a plate.
"What the- Riki! I told you to stay hidden!" AJ scolded when she spotted the lizard.
"Charrr..." the lizard responded, looking sheepish.
"Is Riki..?" I started.
AJ sighed. "Yeah, he's also with us. Well, Ren, but I wasn't going to have Riki exactly be the one to introduce our world."
"Char...Charme Char."
"You couldn't have used your tail to get yourself back in your ball? Or play dead and hope you look like a toy instead?"
"Char..."
"Wait, can you understand what he's saying?" Crow asked.
"Yes. It's not exactly a rare ability, but it's not like everyone can hear what they're saying. I guess the only ones to let out outside mine would be Storm and Mazin, and I'd rather have had them slip up than a child sized fire-breathing lizard."
"Pikaa!"
"Vee Vee!"
The voices were followed by some of the kids laughing as they ran past along with what looked like a yellow squirrel with a lightning bolt tail and a small fox. The lizard, Riki, had a scared look on his face as he slowly side-stepped out of the room and into the kitchen as AJ fixed a glare on him.
"Yeah you better hide," she muttered. She let out a huge breath, moved her bangs out of her face, and turned back to us. "All right, here goes."
A/N: And that makes chapter two! Hey now, before you get the pitchfork and torches for cutting it off, I didn't want to go through a ramble on the Pokémon world for the most part. I tend to get out of hand when continuing writing and not finding a way to stop easily. And I'd rather leave it up to how AJ could explain the Pokémon world to interpretation rather than go through a lengthy process that would make the chapter probably twice as long as needed.
Also, I might try to write up a deleted scene of Riki getting caught and Ren managing to defuse things eventually. I just want to try to get through the first arc and all while I can keep this version going. I just hope I don't deviate later and have to rewrite it again. X'D
One last thing, I did change up the name of AJ's Charizard Tiki to Titus as originally her and Ren's Charizards were a reference to the Rikki-Tikki-Tavi story but then realized I misspelled the names. Just hope I spelled it right in this.
