Pokemon ARC-V: Bonds of Unity

AN: Hello everybody, FFCM15 here to bring you another update of Bonds of Unity! In this chapter, we'll see Ash not only meet one of the future Lancers, but also Duel another one! Who shall they be, and who will win duel? The answers you seek are coming to you now in Pokemon ARC-V: Bonds of Unity chapter 8!

Disclaimer: I don't own either Pokemon or YGO ARC-V!

Chapter 8

Human speech- "Hey"

Human thought- 'Hey'

Spirit speech- "Hey"

Spirit thought- 'Hey'

Flashback

"Telepathy"

Monster/Player status

In the home of Yuya Sakaki, in one of the rooms, was the unconscious form of Ash Ketchum, his equally unconscious partner, Pikachu, curled up next to his head. After a moment, Ash stirs, opening his eyes, before blinking them repeatedly to get his vision cleared up. He looked surprised at seeing a ceiling. Hearing soft breathing next to his head, he turned to see Pikachu sleeping next to his head. Sitting up, Ash looks around, seeing that he was back in his room that Yuya and Yoko lent him. 'What… happened?' He thinks to himself. Hearing the door open, Ash looks at the door, seeing Yuya standing there looking shocked. "Morning Yuya." The trainer greets, snapping his friend out of his stupor.

"Ash, you're ok!" Yuya exclaims in relief, immediately standing in front of him.

"Of course I'm ok. Why wouldn't I be?" Ash asks, looking confused.

Yuya stares at him in shock. "You mean you don't remember!?" After receiving a blank stare, he continued. "When we didn't see you follow us after awhile, Zuzu and I went looking for you. When we met back up, this ball of light appeared and some sort of vehicle came out of it, almost running us over. We were about to check what it was, but we saw you in a pile of garbage, looking beat up and exhausted, Pikachu looking the same after we saw him in your backpack, so we brought you 2 back to my house."

Ash looked shocked at what he was told. 'So that duel wasn't a dream?' He thinks to himself. Seeing his deck on the desk in the room, he stood up from his bed, ignoring the stirring Pikachu and protesting Yuya. Grabbing his deck, he started going through the cards, before stopping at one, the one that confirmed what happened wasn't a dream. Clear Wing Fast Dragon. 'So I really went to the Synchro Dimension, and had a Turbo Duel against Yugo, a guy who looks like Yuya.'

Said Dueltainer started walking up to his friend. "What're you looking for Ash?" He asks, trying to peek over his shoulder.

Ash quickly put his deck face down on the desk. "It's nothing Yuya, I was just making sure that all my cards were there." Ash lies, not wanting to explain how he got his new monster. "Anyways, what time is it? I'm starving."

Yuya chuckles, seeing that his friend was ok and still himself. "You woke up just in time for breakfast! Come on, let's get ready before it gets cold!"

"Ok, I'll be out in a sec." Ash says, the response being a nod and Yuya leaving the room. The Pokemon trainer then turned to his long time friend and partner. "You ok Pikachu?"

"Pika ka, Pikapi." Pikachu assures with a waving paw and bright smile.

Ash's spirit partners appeared a moment later. "Good to see you're ok Ash." Jaden says.

"Yeah, you tumbled off your Duel Runner pretty badly Boss." Neos Knight adds.

"Sorry about worrying you guys, I only remembered Odd Eyes Phantom Dragon glowing before I woke up back here." Ash states, remembering the last thing he saw.

"Somehow, Odd Eyes managed to teleport you back to Standard, but the transition back to here was fast and barely enough power, that must've been what caused you to black out." Yusei theorizes.

"Let's just be thankful that he did that, otherwise we would be rotting in a jail cell now." Yuma says, relieved that they aren't stuck in a prison.

"Though I'm more curious about the new addition to your deck Milord." Stardust voices out, intrigued about where the new dragoness came from.

"Chu, Pikapi?" Pikachu asks, seemingly agreeing with the white dragon.

"You guys remember how I told you how I got Odd Eyes Phantom Dragon?" Ash questions, mainly to the spirit duelists. They nodded as he continues. "It was basically the same thing when Yugo Synchro Summoned Clear Wing Synchro Dragon." He holds his deck in his hand, pulling out his new card. When he looked at the card, his eyes widened in surprise. "No way." He breathes out in shock, getting everyone's attention.

"What is it Master Ash?" Utopia asks. Instead of answering, Ash shows them Clear Wing's card. What they saw surprised them.

"Pika!?"

"My word."

"Woah!"

"That's unexpected."

"Sick!"

"Clear Wing Fast Dragon is a…"

"Pendulum Synchro Monster!?" That was true. The border of the new dragon card was not only white, but also had the green half and red and blue gems of the brand new summoning method.

"Yeah. But what I would like to know is if Clear Wing and Phantom has a connection to each other. If so, then what is it?" Ash questions. All of them were silent for a moment, pondering the question. Ash then sighs, heading for the door. "Well, no use trying to figure it out now. I'm starving and it's breakfast time. We'll get back to it later." Pikachu jumped onto his shoulder as the spirits went back into his soul. After cleaning his face up a bit in the bathroom with Yuya joining him a minute later as he was doing it, the 2 humans and 1 Pokemon exited the bathroom.

A barking En came running up to them as they did so, sitting down in front of them. "Good morning En." Yuya says to the small Corgi as Core came up next, giving a meow. "Morning Core." Their gazes then went up, seeing a pair of dogs next. "Watt, Kilo." And finally they rested on a new pair of cats, surprising the three of them.

"Um, I know I'm not familiar with all the animals in the house, but I'm pretty sure these 2 were never here before." Ash states, Pikachu nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, you're right. Mom just can't say no to strays." Yuya says, rubbing the back of his head. With that they walked downstairs.

As they opened the door, a voice greeted them. "Yuya, Ash, Pikachu, good morning." They looked, and saw Sora sitting at the table, and Yoko was at the sink.

They walked up, Yuya looking a little dismayed. "Speaking of strays, you're certainly here bright and early." He says.

"Well, you know what they say, breakfast is the most important meal of the day." Sora says happily, then looks at Yuya. "And it's especially important for you today Yuya. You have your first big duel this morning, and I have my first duels today just like you. Your guy, Nico Smiley, came through and hooked me up big time."

"You mean you're dueling today to get into the Junior Arc League Championship too?" Yuya asks, not looking too thrilled.

Ash, on the other hand, smiled. "Awesome Sora, I hope you do great in your matches." He says encouragingly.

"Pikachu." Pikachu squeaks with a smile of his own.

"Yeah, and thanks Ash, Pikachu. Since I only have to win six matches in a row, it'll be a breeze!" Sora states, looking even more giddy at the thought.

"Yeah… a breeze." Yuya said, not looking as enthusiastic. He then looks over at Yoko. "Hey Mom? When's breakfast?" This question makes Sora, Ash, and Pikachu to look at the blond woman as well, all 3 of them being hungry as well.

"Not for awhile." Yoko says sadly, making them look shocked. "I'm making Sunrise Pork Loaf Surprise. And the recipe is a little complicated." She then looks over at Ash. "It's good to see you're alright Ash, after Yuya told me how he and Zuzu found you in an alley, I was worried. Anyway, I took out vegetables and fruits for your Pokemon and put them on the counter, and a bottle of ketchup for Pikachu of course." Looking over at the counter, Ash saw said food on the counter like Yoko said, with Pikachu quickly grabbing the ketchup while Ash let his Pokemon out, who went over to their food.

Yuya stands walks up to his mom's side. "Uh, to tell you the truth mom, I really rather you'd just make something like pancakes." He tells the older woman.

"Well, everybody is raving about Reed Pepper, and I want to try 1 of his recipes." Yoko says adamantly.

"Mom, it's a real important day, so please hurry up." Yuya complains.

"I'm cooking as fast as I can." Yoko tells her son.

"I can't be late for my first duel." A clatter was heard.

"Ugh, now look what you made me do."

Throughout the whole thing, the other occupants were listening. Sora, who was drinking a bottle of milk, Ash, who took the seat next to Sora, and the Pokemon were a little annoyed with the argument. Ash groans and lays his head on the table, feeling hungry considering he hasn't eaten since yesterday's lunch. Hearing soft thuds just above his head, the trainer looks up, seeing 2 apples and a banana on the table. Looking to his left, he saw Hawlucha and Greninja standing next to him, seeing that they had less food in their arms. Noticing their trainer's gaze on them, the Wrestling Bird and Frog Ninja nodded at him, indicating that it was alright for him to eat the food. Ash smiles appreciatively at his 2 Pokemon. "Thanks Greninja, Hawlucha." He thanks them quietly, taking one of the apples.

"Grenin." "Lu lucha." The 2 Pokemon says, waving off the thanks, going back to eating, with their trainer enjoying the offered food.

(2 hours later)

Later on, after breakfast, Ash returned his Pokemon to their pokeballs and put Pikachu in his backpack, then left the house to try to find his next opponent. So far he hasn't found one yet as he was now walking in a park. "Oh man, I've been looking for someone to duel for over an hour, but so far, I haven't seen a single duelist today." He sighs in exasperation.

Pikachu popped out from his backpack. "Pikachu, Pikapi." He assure his trainer that he will find an opponent soon.

His spirit partners/mentors appeared around him. "Don't worry about it Ash, you have plenty of time to find 2 people to duel against and win." Yuma says, not looking worried about the deadline.

"He's right, just give it time, I'm pretty sure you'll find an opponent soon." Jaden agrees.

"I think we should focus on that masked duelist we saw yesterday." Yusei declares.

"Maybe Yus, but where would we even start?" Ash points out.

"Boss is right. He completely disappeared without a trace yesterday, so we have next to nothing to go on to find him, all we do know is that he has purple and black hair styled like porcupine." Neos Knight explains.

"We also know that he gives off a power of darkness, similar to Yuya and Yugo." Utopia adds in. "He also had Xyz energy radiating off of him, so it's possible if we go to areas where large amounts of Xyz energy was produced, we can find him."

"Then I guess all we can really do for now is find opponents for Lord Ash while waiting for a spike of Xyz energy to appear." Stardust advises.

"Yeah, but we're not having much luck at the moment finding said opponents." Ash sighs, looking around, barely seeing anyone at the park. His eyes then landed on a small figure standing in front of a gazebo at the park's center all by itself. Feeling curious, he decided to investigate further. When he was close enough, Ash was surprised when he saw it was a short boy with pale skin, purplish light grey hair, and blue eyes, with a vacant expression on his face. He's dressed simply in a yellow and blue striped shirt, grey cargo pants that appeared to have been rolled up, blue shoes over pale pink socks, and a turquoise hooded sweatshirt, with a black club on his left upper side. For some reason, his hood was up, despite also wearing a cap. From what he could see, the boy also wears a wide metal collar around his neck. Ash also notices the bear the little boy was clutching with one of his hands. "What's a little kid doing here by himself?" He mutters, looking around to see if there was anyone else keeping an eye on the boy.

"I don't know Ash, but be careful, you don't know if it's a trap." Yusei warns with narrowed eyes.

"Yusei, come on. He's just a little boy, and from the looks of it, he's lost and alone." Ash argues.

"He's got a point Yus. What harm can a little kid do?" Jaden adds in.

Yusei sighs. "Sorry, it's just… something's off about him."

"You're probably just paranoid." Yuma waves off.

"Maybe." Yusei sighs once more, before the spirits went back into Ash's soul, and Pikachu back in his backpack as he got closer to the kid.

"Hey, are you alright?" Ash asks, getting the boy's attention. But instead of answering, the boy just stared at the Pokemon Trainer. "Are you here all alone?" The boy just kept staring at him, making him worried. "It's ok, I don't bite. My name's Ash Ketchum." He tries to assure the boy by introducing himself. Once again, only silence was what he got from the silent boy. Ash sighs, looking around to see if anything can help him to get the boy to say something. That's when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He looked at what it was, before smiling, having an idea on how to get the boy to open up. He quickly leads the little kid to a bench. "Stay here little guy, I'll be right back."

As he was leaving, the little boy was staring at Ash's retreating form, his eyes now having a glint of curiosity in them, clearly intrigued by the older boy's behavior.

Just as quick as he left, Ash soon came back, but was now carrying 2 ice cream cones, both containing vanilla ice cream. "Here ya go, hope you don't mind vanilla." He says, offering one of the cones to the kid, who accepted it reluctantly. Ash set himself on the space next to the kid, before taking a few small bites of his ice cream. He looked at the little boy by his side, noticing he hadn't even taken a lick of it. Nudging him gently to get his attention, Ash smiled comfortingly at the boy. "You never had ice cream before, have you?" A shake of the head was his response. "It's easy, watch." With that, Ash took a few more nibbles of his ice cream. After he did so, he looked back down at the boy with a grin. The boy looked at the teenager, then at his own ice cream cone, before taking a small bite of it. His eyes widened upon tasting the cold delicious taste of the frozen treat, before taking faster and slightly bigger bites out of it. "Woah, woah, slow down there little buddy." Ash advises, gently touching the boy's shoulder. "Don't want to get a brain freeze now." This causes the boy to look back at him.

"Brain… freeze?" The boy, for the first time, spoke, albeit softly.

This gets Ash's smile to grow a little more, seeing he was making progress. "Yeah. It's a bad headache you get when you eat something frozen too fast. Trust me, it's not a fun experience." Ash shudders, remembering some of the times he had gotten brain freezes (Some of them being quite literally). "Anyways, it's ok to eat something cold at a fast pace on a hot day, but you have to make sure you aren't going too fast to hurt yourself, ok?" The boy nodded, and started back up on his treat, but at a slower pace. "So… what's your name, if you don't mind me asking?"

The little boy paused for a moment, before replying. "Riley." He says.

Ash smiles at him. "Nice to meet you Riley." With that, they continued eating their treats. They finished after a few minutes. Ash then looked back down at Riley curiously. "Riley, do you have anyone that watches over you?"

"...Big… brother." Riley replies.

"You have a big brother?" Ash asks, getting a nod. "Is he here, in the park?" This time it was a negative shake. "Do you know where he could be? Or where your home is?" Both questions got another shake of the head. Ash looks at the small boy in sympathy, before he got a determine expression on his face. He stood up from his spot on the bench, getting Riley to look up at him. "Well, that settles it then, I'm gonna help you find your older brother." This declaration got Riley's eyes to widen slightly, as Ash turned to him, offering a hand. "What do ya say?" He asks with a warm smile.

Riley looks at him, then at the offered hand, before taking it hesitantly. "...Thank you." He thanks quietly, holding his teddy bear tightly to his chest.

Ash heard this, and his smile grew a little more. "No problem." With that, the 2 boys walked out of the park, now on a path to bring one home.

(LID HQ)

The employees on the computers were frantically going through camera footages of all of Paradise City, trying to find an individual that had ran away recently when an experiment was scheduled for them. But something had went wrong, causing the individual to escape. Now, they would've done it more calmly, but when you have the chairwoman of the entire company breathing down your neck, you tend to panic a little.

"How hard could it be to find a small child duelist holding a stuffed doll!?" Henrietta demands.

"The same duelist is also somewhere in a city that contains thousands of people, Miss. Chairwoman." Claude points out.

"Hm, I see your point."

"Found him!" A worker shouted, quickly bringing a footage up, showing Ash and Riley, the former talking to a group a people, all of whom shook their heads.

"There you are… contact the closest team in the area! We must get him back!" Henrietta orders.

"Miss. Chairwoman, couldn't we just approach Mr. Ketchum normally? He seems like very compliant individual." Claude suggests.

"After what we seen him do, and what we tried to do? Do you really think he'll just give us the boy back? Excluding the Xyz duelist causing havoc, this mystery boy has yet shown us if he is an ally or foe. Especially since he appeared out of nowhere."

Knowing she had a point, Claude contacted the closest team in the immediate area, telling them most of the situation.

(With Ash and Riley)

The 2 boys were now back in the park where they met each other, but now it looked more deserted. They spent 2 hours trying to find Riley's home or brother, but all attempts ended in failure. "Oh man." Ash slumps on a bench in defeat. "I'm sorry we couldn't find your brother, or your home Riley." The boy sitting next to him said nothing, just tightly hugged his teddy bear. Ash glances apologetically at the silent boy, before deciding to check up on Pikachu. Setting his backpack to the side, he unzips it, allowing Pikachu's head to pop out. "How ya holding up pal?" He whispers, not wanting to draw Riley's attention to Pikachu.

"Pika, chu pi, Pikapi." Pikachu squeaks out, assuring his trainer that he's fine.

"That's good-" "Small." Ash got cut off by Riley's soft speaking voice, getting the other worldly duo to flinch and look at the small boy with wide eyes, seeing he had leaned forward to look at Pikachu.

Ash quickly looks around, making sure no one was looking. Once he saw no one around, he places Pikachu on his lap, before looking at Riley. "Can ya keep a secret?" He asks the child, who gave a slow nod in response. Ash smiles and gestures to Pikachu. "Riley, meet my very first Pokemon partner, Pikachu."

"Pikachu." Pikachu greets with a smile and a wave.

Riley hesitantly waves back at the yellow mouse. "Where… did you get him?" He asks.

"It's a long story." Ash sighs, before diving into the long explanation that he gave to his friends at You Show.

After Ash finished explaining how he and his Pokemon got transported to this world, Riley looks at the duo in silence. "I hope… you two can go back home soon." He softly says.

Ash and Pikachu smiles at the small boy in appreciation. "Thanks Riley, that means a lot." Ash thanks.

Pikachu then jumps onto Riley's lap, surprising the boy. "Pikachu, pika pi." Pikachu follows, also thanking the boy.

"Looks like Pikachu feels the same way." Ash chuckles as Riley looks at him. The trainer then gave a soft smile to the boy. "If you want, you can pet him, just be sure to be gentle."

"Really?" Riley asks in surprise, getting a nod from both of them. Hesitantly, he puts his hand on Pikachu's head, and slowly rubs it, eliciting a pleased 'chaa' from the Electric Mouse Pokemon. This encouraged Riley to do a few faster rubs, and even scratch Pikachu's ears, getting more pleased 'chaas' from the Pokemon.

"There ya go, that's it." Ash says in approval. "He also likes getting his tail petted, like this." Demonstrating, he gently pets Pikachu's bolt shaped tail, earning an even longer 'chaa' in response.

Riley soon followed his example, gently petting Pikachu's tail, pleasing the small Pokemon even more. "Soft… and cute." He mutters, actually giving a small smile. Ash saw this and inwardly grinned, feeling proud that they finally got Riley to smile.

A little while later, after Riley played with Pikachu some more, Ash stood up from the bench, getting their attention. "As much fun as this is, I think we should continue looking for your brother Riley, he must be really worried by now." He says, shouldering his backpack.

Riley frowns. "Big brother." He softly mutters, hugging Pikachu a little tighter, getting the Electric Mouse to look at him in concern.

Ash offers his hand. "Are you ready to keep looking?" He asks. Riley looks at his hand, before nodding, and grabbing it. Pikachu, knowing they were going to look around the city more, quickly jumps onto Ash's shoulder, before going back into the backpack.

As the 2 humans walked to the parks exit, they were stopped by a voice behind them, one that Ash vaguely recognized. "Stop right there Ketchum!" The voice exclaims. Turning, Ash and Riley came face to face with Sylvio and the 3 boys Ash recognized as the ones who accused Yuya for harming Sylvio.

Ash frowns. "What do you want Sylvio? Yuya isn't here, so you can't challenge him." He states, though he had a feeling that wasn't the case.

"As much as I want to, I'm here on a completely different errand. To retrieve that little brat." Sylvio answers, pointing directly at Riley, who clutched Ash's arm in fear.

"What do you want with Riley?" Ash demands, shifting his position so he was standing in front of Riley.

"I wouldn't tell you, even if I wanted to. Our orders were to capture that little twerp at all costs."

"Sorry, but I promised Riley that I would help him find his brother. And the only way you're gonna get Riley, is by going through me." As he declared this, Ash raised his Duel Disk, getting ready to keep Riley safe.

The goons behind Sylvio were about to step up, but the arrogant boy held his hand up, signaling them to stop. "Very well, I'll do it. When I win, we'll be taking the brat with us." He says.

Ash narrows his eyes. "And if I win, you leave us alone." He states.

"There's no way that's gonna happen, because now you shall feel the full power of the dashing and mighty…" Sylvio trails off, striking a pose, while his posse gestures to him like he was royalty.

"Sylvio!" The posse chorused.

Ash sweat drops at what he just saw. "Ok?" He says awkwardly. 'Man, and I thought Team Rocket was smug.' He thinks to himself. He shakes his head, remembering the situation they were in. Turning and kneeling down to Riley's level, Ash takes off his backpack and hands it to him. "Stay back Riley, I don't want you to be in any danger." He whispers. After getting a nod from Riley, Ash glances at his backpack. "Pikachu, keep Riley safe if those guys try anything."

"Pikachu!" Came the muffled voice of his friend from the backpack. With that, Riley walked a safe distance away from the field, but still close enough to reach Ash easily.

Ash turn backs to Sylvio with a serious expression on his face. "You better bring your all in this duel, because I'm not holding back!" He exclaims, pointing at him.

Sylvio huffed. "Please, you aren't even worthy of being in my presence, I'll make this quick and humiliating for you." He states. They both raised their Duel Disks, both determined to reach their goals.

(LID HQ)

In the control room, the screens were showing the upcoming duel. "It seems that Mr. Ketchum has met Mr. Sawtari, although not on good terms." Claude notes.

"Indeed. Hopefully the Sawatari boy will be able to beat Ketchum and retrieve the boy." Henrietta says.

"I still think we should have approached Mr. Ketchum diplomatically."

"It's too late for that now. All that matters is that the Sawatari boy does as ordered before Declan finds out-" Henrietta starts.

"Finds out what, mother?" The voice of the LID president cuts in, causing the chairwoman and aid to turn around seeing him come up the lift.

"Declan./Mr. President." They acknowledge in shock, not expecting him to be there.

Declan takes a few steps forward, his cool gaze on his mother and assistant, before he looks at the screen of the upcoming duel, his eyes narrowing upon seeing who was there. He was silent before he went back to the lift.

"Sir, where are you going?" Claude asks.

"An errand." Declan simply says as the lift lowers down, leaving everyone there curious as to what he meant.

(Back at the park)

"LET'S DUEL!" Ash and Sylvio exclaims in unison.

(Ash LP: 4000 Hand x5)

(Sylvio LP: 4000 Hand x5)

"I'll go first!" Ash declares, looking at his hand. 3 Monsters and 2 Traps. He then presented 2 of his cards. "To start, I set the Pendulum Scale with scale 2 Pignite, the Flame Boar Pokemon, and scale 9 Bulbasaur, the Seed Bulb Pokemon!" He slaps the cards on the edges of his Disk's blade, the 2 monsters appearing in the light blue pillars, their respective numbers below them.

"So it is true, you can actually do Pendulum Summoning." Sylvio scowled, feeling jealous that Ash can perform the new summoning method.

"That's right, and I'm gonna use it to its fullest potential to protect Riley." Ash says in determination, getting said boy to look at him in curious awe. "With the current set scale, I'm allowed to summon monsters that are level 3 through 8, all at the same time! Swing far pendulum, carve the arc of victory! My monsters are ready to unite, and fight!" The portal opened up, and out came a single green light. "I Pendulum Summon! Sceptile, the Forest King Pokemon!" The light formed into the final form of Hoenn's Grass starter. (2800/1700 lvl: 7 scale: 3) "I set two cards face down, and end my turn." The 2 cards appeared, then disappeared. (Ash hand x0)

"And here I was hoping for more of a challenge, oh well." Sylvio sighed mockingly, but Ash was unfazed. "Let me show you how a real duelist duels. I draw!" He drew a card, before playing a different card. "I activate the Spell, Twin Twisters! By getting rid of a card in my hand, I can destroy 2 Spell or Trap cards." He discards a card.

"So you are going to destroy my face downs." Ash states.

"Wrong." Sylvio denies, surprising Ash. The LID student smirked. "When Pendulum monsters are in the Pendulum zone, they are treated as Spell cards. So my Twin Twisters can destroy your Pendulum monsters!" The spell shot 2 twisters at Pignite and Bulbasaur, destroying them. "Now, by targeting your monster, I summon Landrobe the Rock Vassal!" Appearing in a flash of light was a brown armored, white hooded figure with yellow eyes. (800/1000 lvl: 4)

Jaden and Neos Knight appeared next to Ash. "Ash, be careful, this guy is using a Monarch deck." His Fusion mentor warns.

"Yeah, we've faced them before, but it was a tough battle. Be on your guard boss." Neos Knight adds in.

Ash glances at them. "Thanks for the warning, I'll do my best." He says telepathically. The 2 spirits nodded and went back into his soul.

"Now since I summoned Landrobe this way, I can switch your monster to face down DEF mode!" Sylvio states, causing Sceptile flip face down. "Now, I release Landrobe in order to Tribute Summon, Granmarg the Rock Monarch!" A huge armored warrior with giant gauntlets appeared behind him. (2400/1000 lvl: 6)

Ash looks at the monster in shock. "That thing is huge." He mutters.

"And powerful." Sylvio says smugly. "Its special ability is a perfect example, as when it is summoned via Tribute Summon, it can destroy one set card on the field, including monsters." Ash's eyes widened upon hearing that, realizing what's gonna happen. "I use Granmarg's ability to destroy your set monster!" Granmarg reared one of it's gauntlets back, before slamming it onto the face down Sceptile, destroying it. "Now, I activate the Spell, Pot of Greed, in order to draw 2 more cards!" Sylvio draws again, smirking at what he got. "I activate another Spell card, Tribute Carnival! Since I managed to perform a Tribute Summon this turn, this card allows me to Tribute Summon again! So now, I tribute Granmarg the Rock Monarch, in order to Tribute Summon, Granmarg the Mega Monarch!" As the first Granmarg dispersed into sparkles, said sparkles formed an even bigger more armored version of Granmarg with giant fists. (2800/1000 lvl: 8)

"A level 8 monster!? But that would require 2 monsters to tribute in order to summon it!" Ash exclaims in shock.

"Normally, that would be the case. But thanks to my Mega Monarchs ability, I just needed to use a Tribute Summoned monster in order to summon it." Sylvio explains smugly. "Now, it's other special ability activates, allowing me to destroy your 2 face downs." The Mega Monarch punches the ground, creating a shockwave that destroyed the 2 face downs. "Oh, and I almost forgot, since I used an EARTH attributed monster to summon Granmarg, I get to draw one card from my deck." He draws once more. "Now I attack you directly with Granmarg the Mega Monarch!" At his declaration, Granmarg reeled its fist back, before it shot forward. It hit the ground just in front of Ash, the artificial shockwaves causing him to cover his face. (Ash LP: 4000-2800=1200) "I think that's enough punishment for now, with these 2 face downs, I end my turn." The cards appeared briefly. (Sylvio hand x0)

Ash uncovers his face and glares at him. "My turn! I draw!" He draws, getting a Spell card. "I activate my own Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw 2 more cards." He draws once again, getting 2 more Spell cards. "I activate the Spell card Great Ball! Once per turn, this card lets me summon a Pokemon monster from my hand or deck, so long as it is level 4 through 6." A card popped out from his deck and he grabbed it. "I'm summoning Donphan, The Wrecking Rolling Pokemon in DEF mode!" The giant Great Ball formed, before popping open, releasing a stream of light, before it formed into the rolling Ground Type Pokemon, a blue outline surrounding it. (1600/2000 lvl: 4) "I set one card face down, and end my turn." The card appeared briefly before disappearing. (Ash hand x0)

"Is that all? What a shame, And here I was hoping for more of a challenge from you." Sylvio chuckles, before drawing his card indicating him starting his turn. He smirked, seeing what he drew. "Now I equip my Mega Monarch with the Spell, Rockslide Rush! Thanks to this card, my Rock type monster gains 600 ATK points, while your monster loses the same amount of of DEF points!" The 2 monsters glowed a light brown and dark aura respectively. (2800+600=3400) (2000-600=1400)

"My monster is still in DEF mode though." Ash reminds the arrogant boy.

"Oh, I'm well aware of that Ketchum." Sylvio smirks in victory making Ash nervous. "My Spell also gives Granmarg the ability to inflict damage, even when your monster is in DEF mode!" Ash's eyes widen in shock. "With this, it's over. Granmarg the Mega Monarch, flatten that elephant and end this duel!" Granmarg reeled his fist back, before it shot straight at Donphan. The attack caused a large cloud of smoke to engulf Ash's side of the field.

"Ash." Riley mutters in worry, clutching Ash's backpack, and by extension, Pikachu, tightly.

Sylvio laughs in victory. "And that is why you should never get in the way of someone who is clearly stronger than you." He boasts.

"This duel isn't over yet!" Ash's voice declares, shocking everyone. The cloud of smoke dispersed, showing Ash still standing. (Ash LP: 200)

"What, but how do you still have LP left!?" Sylvio demands angrily.

Ash smiles as a Spell card that had a picture of a can and crackers appeared to his side. "Before Donphan got destroyed, I activated the Spell Emergency Provisions. By getting rid of a Spell or Trap on my field, I gain 1000 LP, giving me enough to stay in the game." The Pokemon Trainer explains.

Sylvio grits his teeth. "So you managed to hang on by a thread, big whoop. But when my next turn comes around, you're through." He says, indicating he ended his turn. (Sylvio hand x0)

"My turn, I draw!" Ash draws, once again getting a Spell card. "I activate the Spell, Card of Sanctity! This allows us both to draw until we have six cards in our hands."

"Big mistake giving me more cards." Sylvio states as he drew his new hand first. (Sylvio hand x6) He then frowns, seeing nothing that will help him.

Unknowingly, their duel had attracted the attention of several people in the park, giving them a miniature crowd.

"Wow these 2 are really good."

"Yeah, though it appears the blonde kid will win."

"I wouldn't count the cap boy out yet, he managed to hang on for this long."

These were the thoughts circulating throughout the crowd. Riley was looking at the crowd nervously, fearing they might do something to him. "Hey it's ok Riley." Ash's voice sounded out. The young boy looks up at his savior, seeing him smiling. "These people just want to see the duel, see how we counter each other, see how we push each other to the edge. They do it, because it's fun." Ash looks back at his opponent. "That's what dueling is all about, not only to bring joy and excitement to not only the duelists, but also to the crowd as well. This allows us to create new bonds of friendship with each other, and helps us make the world a better place."

"Make people… happy through dueling?" Riley softly asks.

Ash nods. "That's right, and I'm gonna show that you can be a part of that too, by helping you make your own smile." He says, placing his index and middle finger on the top of his deck, and his thumb resting on the 6th top card on his deck. Closing his eyes for a moment, before snapping them open with a determined glint in them. "I… DRAW!" He exclaims, drawing his 6 cards, his signature multi colored trail with sparkles following it. He slowly flips them over, seeing 4 Monsters and 2 Spells. His eyes widened, upon seeing 2 specific monsters.

Flashback

A day after Yuya and Ash had found Zuzu in that warehouse, Ash was having his Pokemon demonstrate their moves and maneuvers to the You Show gang and Gong in the dueling arena. While Goodra was doing his demonstrations, Yuya had pulled Ash to the side. "What's up Yuya?" The raven haired boy asks in confusion.

"I just want to say thanks for all your help." Yuya says. After seeing his friends confused expression, he elaborated. "I mean for everything, saving Ally from getting hurt by Suoh, sticking up for me, and helping me find Zuzu yesterday. You're a good friend Ash."

Ash gives a grin. "It's no problem man, I always make sure that I can do whatever I can to protect my friends." He says, waving off the thanks.

Yuya smiles back, before reaching into his pocket. "Still…" He trails off, before pulling out 2 cards and offers them to Ash. "I want you to have these."

Curious, Ash grabs the offered cards and inspects them, before his eyes widen in shock and he looks back at his tomato haired friend. "Are you sure you want to give these to me?" He asks.

The dueltainer nods. "Yeah, I'm sure. It's the least I can do for all your help. You can even think of me helping you with an awesome performance when you use these cards."

Glancing at the cards then his friend one more time, Ash smiles and nods, pocketing the cards. "Thanks Yuya."

Flashback end

Ash has his eyes closed, smiling as he remembered that day. 'Yuya… thank you.' He thinks to himself. He then takes his dueltainer stance. "Ladies and gentlemen, it's showtime!" He announces for all to hear, exciting everyone and making Sylvio anxious, remembering how he lost after hearing those words. "As you can see, I'm quite literally stuck between a rock and a hard place!" He jokes, electing laughs from the small crowd. "But watch as me and my monsters break through our obstacles." He presents 2 of his cards again. "Now, with scale 1 Odd Eyes Persona Dragon and scale 8 Odd Eyes Mirage Dragon, I set the Pendulum Scale, I'm making a comeback starting now!" He slaps the cards on the edges of his blade, 'PENDULUM' lighting up as 2 dragons, one red and one green, in white plated armor rose into the pillars.

Sylvio's eyes widen in shock. "Odd Eyes!?"

"That's right, my good friend Yuya trusted me with these cards, and I'm gonna put that trust into good use. With the current scale, I'm allowed to summon monsters level 2 through 7 all at the same time! Swing far pendulum, carve the arc of victory! My monsters are ready to unite, and fight!" With a raised arm, the portal opened up, allowing 2 lights, one blue and one red, to come through. "I Pendulum Summon! Level 7! The silent protector of peace, Greninja, the Frog Ninja Pokemon! And level 7! The dragon with eeire dichromatic eyes, Odd Eyes Phantom Dragon!" The frog (2500/2000 lvl: 7 scale: 5) and dragon (2500/2000 lvl: 7 scale: 4) monsters formed with their signature cries.

The crowd looks at the monster duo in awe, but Sylvio was anxious, but hid it behind a mask of confidence. "As impressive as your monsters are, they are still weaker than my Granmarg." He states.

Ash simply smiles. "By themselves yes, but they're gonna take down Granmarg together." He declares, activating one of the Spells. "I activate the Spell card, Bonds of Unity! Thanks to this, I can choose one of my Pendulum monsters, and it gains the ATK points of all other Pendulum or Extra Deck monsters out on the field! I choose Odd Eyes Phantom Dragon!" Odd Eyes Phantom Dragon gave a roar of power as he and Greninja both glowed blue. (2500+2500=5000) As Sylvio opened his mouth to declare something, Ash cut him off. "My Spell has 2 more effects. First, my monsters are now protected from your face up monster effects, Spells, and Traps. Second, my chosen monster can attack equal to the number of Pendulum and Extra Deck monsters out on the field, including itself." This causes Sylvio's eyes to widen in fear, knowing his face downs were now useless. "The only drawback is that Phantom can only inflict direct damage, but with being able to attack twice, and you only have one monster, this duel is over! Odd Eyes Phantom Dragon! Greninja! Attack with Spiral Shuriken Strike!" After charging his attack, Odd Eyes Phantom Dragon fired it's signature blue beam, with Greninja adding multiple Water Shurikens that spun around the beam. The combination attack tore through the center of Granmarg, causing it to explode shortly afterwards, also creating a impressive display of sparkles, amazing the crowd, Riley was also watching in awe.

"Ahhhh!" Sylvio exclaims in shock and outrage as the attack exploded on the ground in front of him, the artificial shockwaves causing him to fall down. (Sylvio LP: 4000-5000=0000 LOSE)

(Ash: WIN)

"The end!" Ash exclaims, taking a bow, his monsters following suit, before they disappeared, the sparkles following shortly afterward. The crowd gave applause and cheers, amazed at the display of teamwork between the 2 monsters. Though Ash ignored the crowd, and instead, checked up on the young boy he was protecting. "Hey Riley, so what did you think of my dueling?" He asks with a smile.

"It… was pretty." The hooded boy softly says, giving a small smile, making Ash's own smile grow.

As the crowd was now dispersing, Ash and Riley heard footsteps approaching them from behind Ash. Turning, the duo saw the unpleasant sight of Sylvio and his cronies. "What do you want now?" Ash asks with a frown, keeping Riley behind him.

"While you have won our duel, we'll still be taking the brat with us, and get the rare cards we were promised." Sylvio smirks. With a snap of his fingers, his cronies advanced forward, arms reached out toward them. As Ash was about to defend himself and Riley…

"That is enough!" A voice commands from the side. Everyone turned their heads, and became shocked seeing the president of LID in front of them.

"Declan?" Ash asks in confusion.

"Declan Akaba!?" Sylvio and his cronies exclaims in fear.

"Big brother!" Riley cries out.

"Declan is your brother!?" Ash questions the young boy in shock.

"Yes, I am." Declan states.

"Why are you here, sir!?" Sylvio asks nervously.

"I came to simply pick my brother up."

"B-But what about our reward!?"

Declan glares at Sylvio and his posse coldly, causing them to flinch. "Leave us, now." They quickly nodded and fled from the scene. The president then turned his attention to the Pokemon Trainer. "I apologize for what happened. I can assure you that I have no idea of this reward he spoke of." He apologizes.

"Don't worry about it. In the end, everything worked out for, almost, everybody." Ash dismisses the apology.

"Nonetheless, I am in your debt. Thank you for taking care of my little brother, and for your forgiveness of this whole situation."

"Like I said, everything worked out, and no one was seriously hurt. We can't change what happened, so we do the next best thing, we learn from it and make sure it doesn't happen again."

Declan gives a slight smirk. "Well, we best head off then. Come along Riley, it's time to get you home."

"Coming Big Brother." Riley says, first giving Ash his backpack back, along with giving a silent 'thank you', then walking to his brother's side.

As Declan was about to turn around, he glances at Ash once more. "Oh and before I forget, congratulations on your 5th victory, I am looking forward to seeing you at the ARC League Championship." With that, he walked away with Riley by his side.

"You'll be the first to know! And Riley, remember what dueling is all about!" Ash calls out to them as they got further away.

Once they were out of sight, Pikachu's head poked out from his backpack. "Pika pikachu, Pikapi?" He squeaks out.

"Don't worry, I'm sure Riley will be alright, Declan is his brother and he seems like a tough kid." Ash replies.

"Pikachu chu pi?"

"It's alright Pikachu, I'm sure he won't tell Declan our personal information without asking for permission." The trainer then started heading his own way out of the park. "Now, let's go see if Yuya finished his duel yet."

(With the Akabas)

As they were walking to LID HQ, Riley looked up at his brother.

"Big brother?" He asks hesitantly.

"Yes Riley?." Declan says in acknowledgement.

"If there's ever a chance, can I see Ash again? He seemed nice."

Declan looks at the little boy, surprise shown in his purple eyes. It went away quickly, his eyes going a bit soft. "Possibly during the Championships." He replies.

As Riley nod, Declan then becomes absorbed in his own thoughts. 'Ash Ketchum. You pique my curiosity more by the day.'

AN: Hey everyone, I am so sorry for this being so late! Between school and my other priorities in life, I've just been drained, plus writer's block didn't help much! As you can all see, Riley was the next Lancer that Ash has met! I will admit, that this chapter was inspired by Coral the Leviathan's story, Yu Gi Oh Arc V N' Nature, if it looks like that I ripped some of it off, then I do sincerely apologize for it!

On another note, not only is it the holidays, but it is also officially been one whole year since I started posting up content to this website! I just want to thank all of you for your support, you guys have been such a great crowd, and I hope I do better with posting more content this upcoming year! Anyways, in next chapter will finally be the debut of a very special monster a lot of you been waiting for, and I promise to get it done as soon as I can! That's all for now, as you know you can show support by faving, following, or reviewing this story, or all 3! Have a very Merry Christmas, or whatever holiday you celebrate! I'll see you all next time in chapter 9, till then, this is FFCM15 signing out!