Disclaimer: No ownership of Pokémon or Yu-Gi-Oh!

Domino's Trainer

Chapter 1: Kuriboh Boy!

A large city, many people and unique creatures journeyed through the streets as four young people made their appearances to the place. One was a raven-haired young man. He donned a red baseball cap with a green triangle printed on the front. Also on him was a blue short-sleeve jacket he donned open over a black t-shirt and jeans. The yellow mouse on his shoulder had red cheeks, brown streaks on its back and the tail took form of a lightning bolt. By him was a redhead young woman. She had her hair in a sideways ponytail while wearing a yellow sleeveless shirt a size small and denim shorts held up by suspenders. The egg in her arms had red and blue spots. It has stubby arms and its head took the shape of a crown. There was a tanned, dark brunette young man with a spiky hairstyle while he wore an orange t-shirt under a green vest and brown cargo pants. Last was a tall and young pink-haired woman wearing a white t-shirt and short-shorts. "We're back in Goldenrod City," the pink-haired huffed. "Finally, I can get back to what I was doing before Clefairy journeyed off."

"Hey, it was a good thing Clefairy did, Whitney," the raven-haired reflected. "Otherwise, who knows how long it would be until I had a Gym Battle."

"Maybe you'd take a trip to find another gym before you got back to me, Ash."

"And without information, that would take us forever," the redhead sighed. The egg-like creature shrilled a little to the comment.

("Let's get shopping!") it chirped.

"Misty, you don't need to be critical on Ash," the tanned man told the redhead. "I mean, we did try to hold him up from going to Whitney's Gym in the first place."

"Well… kinda," Misty shrugged. "By the way…" She now turned to Whitney. "Why did you want to join us when you could be on Milton's farm with the Miltank?"

"Hey, a girl's gotta shop and there's a new store opening up featuring jewelry that I know you'll like." That got Misty and Brock excited, but not Ash and his mouse.

"Why don't I lead the way?" volunteered Brock. "After all, it would be safer considering what we ran into finding your gym in the first place." Excited, Whitney clapped her hands.

"Would you!?" she eagerly wished. "That would be wonderful! Clefairy and Miltank will surely appreciate the effort!" The two dashed off before Misty followed.

"Wait for me and Togepi!" she hollered. Ash and the mouse stood in dismay.

("And there they go…") the mouse squeaked.

"And they tell me Pokémon gyms don't go anywhere," Ash murmured. Slowly, they began to chase after the other three. They began to enjoy the venues around Goldenrod City. Brock saw young women to ask out while Misty pulled him away each time. Between episodes of that, her and Whitney's trek involved shopping for new clothes and jewelry like necklaces. Misty gave Togepi a little cape to try on.

("Superhero!") it shrilled. The young women giggled. Ash stood back, not eager to shop with the rest. Whitney turned to Ash and Pikachu, curious as to their lack involvement.

"Ash, I found something I know you'll like!" she called out. Interested, Ash reached Whitney before she removed Ash's hat for a new baseball cap, yellow with a lightning bolt for the decal. Ash didn't approve of the new cap and pushed it off.

"No!" he protested. "Why would I wear a different hat!?" He reestablished his red cap. "Who do you think I am, Casey!? I'm not a baseball fan, let alone support the Electabuzz!" A yellow rotund human-like creature with rod-like ears growled to Ash. A bleached blond man came to the creature's side.

"He meant the baseball team, not you, Electabuzz," he clarified. Electabuzz calmed down before going with the man somewhere else.

"Calm down, Ash," Whitney said. "I'm just giving you other ideas to keep that cap fresh and clean, alright?" Ash mumbled incoherently to the advice.

"He's not much into fashion," Misty informed. "Let's go…" Whitney shrugged her shoulders before going with Misty, leaving Ash and Pikachu alone as they walked away.

("You didn't need to get upset about it,") Pikachu squeaked.

"Pikachu, you know how valuable this hat is," Ash explained as he huffed a groan.

("I do, the million postcards…") Ash wanted to focus.

"Maybe we should get something to eat. Usually calms me down."

("Good idea-") The sudden stop came as Pikachu spotted something hairy and floating. A decrepit green hand and foot were visible behind a wall of a building. ("Over there!") Ash heard Pikachu's call and turned to the figure who tried to fly away.

"What was that? A new Pokémon?" It caught Pikachu's interest to know.

("Let's find out!") Leading, Pikachu chased the new figure into the alleyway behind the building where they saw the creature. They found connecting alleyways throughout Goldenrod. They stopped to gather their thoughts.

"Great, we're lost…"

("Not good for us.") Ash stepped one way, then walked another way as Pikachu watched.

"It was something brown, right?"

("It was…") Just then, a wail echoed. Both turned to the sound before spotting a brown fuzzball with green hands and feet. Its yellow eyes interested the two.

"A new Pokémon?" Ash brought out a red device, opened the flaps and pointed it to the creature. He waited for a result. Nothing came up. This puzzled Ash. "That's weird… I'm pretty sure you charged it up a few days ago, Pikachu."

("Just a little Thunder Shock to keep it full. Is it a Pokémon?") The fuzzball came to Ash which prompted him to pet it… but to his surprise, his hand phased through the brown critter.

"What the-!" The fuzzball laughed before flying away, but not before going down another corridor of alleyways. "Shall we follow it?"

("Might as well.") Ash and Pikachu chased the fuzzball around the alleyways before they heard cheering. Now, there's a lead.

"This way!" The two found the end of the alleyway and to a crowd gathered on the road. The chants echoed as Ash and Pikachu closed it. "A battle?" They began to worm their way through the crowd before seeing a giant orange stegosaurus with spikes instead of plates on its back and a sword-like swinging tail. Behind it, a dark brunette young man in a red beanie cap with violet tips sticking out the front and yellow shirt over a green jacket. They faced a violet-haired woman in red with white wings on her gold tiara and her back. She also had white boots. There was also a redhead woman/bird hybrid with a whip made of an unknown energy source. She wore a steel brassier and skin-tight trousers over her talon legs. Behind the two women was a young blond woman in a white midriff over a purple vest and arm sleeves while also donning a purple miniskirt and boots. There were four red cards that appeared before the blond and the violet-haired, two on each side while they also wore what looked to be arm blades with cards inserted into them.

"Gotta admit, Rex," the blond taunted. "I'd thought the dinosaurs in your deck would effect your head, but summoning Sword Arm of Dragon has got to be the worst desperation move I've seen in a duel! It's not quite strong enough to take either of my two dames, only 50 Attack Points." Rex grunted as Ash and Pikachu studied the setting.

("Cards?") guessed Pikachu.

"It's a… card game?" wondered Ash. Rex started to grin as he and the blond held cards in their hands on the same arm as their arm blades.

"Desperation, huh?" he sneered. "Sometimes, Mai… it's not what cards I bring out, but what cards I've already laid to see how well you learned from that boy toy you call Joey Wheeler! Besides, you may have a slight Life Point advantage, but that can change with this!" He revealed a green card. On it was a pair of creatures swirling together. "Polymerization! I merge Kaitoptera and Gilasaurus in my hands to summon… Horned Saurus!" Out of nowhere, a horned pterodactyl and a green raptor emerged briefly before they merged into a black pterodactyl with raptor legs and claws on the apex of each wing. The card it came from had an Attack of 2,000 and Defense of 1,800. Ash and Pikachu gulped to the new winged dinosaur.

"That's… something you don't see everyday!" the raven-haired gulped.

("And I thought that Ghastly merging Blastoise and Venusaur together was wrong!") squeaked Pikachu.

"But I'm not done!" proclaimed Rex. "Allow me to equip Sword Arm with Raise Body Heat!" A card flipped up to show a horned creature with fire in the background. "This allows me to raise any of my Dinosaur monsters' Attack and Defense by 300 points! Now, Sword Arm's Attack is 2,050!" Mai gulped to the new creatures risen power as Rex's Sword Arm of Dragon was up to 2,050 Attack and 2,330 Defense. "Now, Sword Arm! Take out her Dunames Dark Witch!" The bladed dinosaur swung its Tail and struck the redhead, shattering her into a thousand pieces. A counter on the arm blade of Mai's fell from 2,600 to 2,350. "And I'm just getting started!" He hit a button that rose a card. The magenta card had a barbed chain yanking a bull from the ground by its throat. That chain emerged and entered a slot on Mai's blade. When it pulled back, Mai's witch came back out in a flash of light. "Dunames Dark Witch is back, thanks to Chain of the Underworld, but her Attack's not so strong now since it loses 700 of those." Mai's returned witch fell to a knee as her attack was now at 1,100.

"Of course, Chain of the Underworld allows me to draw one card," Mai reminded as she pulled a card from her deck.

"But that's not all! I still recall how you humiliated me on that boat ride to Duelist Kingdom! Should be time to return the favor and it helps that Horned Saurus' special ability occurs on the turn I summon him!" Mai wasn't sure what to do. "Now, Horned Saurus! Attack Mai directly!" The Horned Saurus flew to and slammed into Mai with full force. The score on her arm blade was now at only 350. "Next turn, the rest of your life points will become nothing! That Harpy's Pet Dragon will be mine!" Ash observed Rex's score on his blade, seeing 800 LP.

"It's close!" he noticed. "Only 450 LP between the two, and I think LP means Life Points. So, the target of this card game is to take out your opponent's life points?"

("I think so…") Pikachu assumed.

"You know, Rex Raptor," Mai grinned as she pulled a card from her deck in the arm blade. "I've been playing basics with you. I didn't have any special cards in use and yet, I'm about to call checkmate!"

"You bluff!" yelped Rex.

"Now why would I bluff when I have the cards necessary? First, I play Pot of Greed!" She showed a card with a green pot with a grinning face. "This allows me to draw two cards." She pulled two more cards from her deck. "And would you believe that one of my cards is Mystical Space Typhoon?" She revealed a green card with a lightning bolt entering a blue typhoon. "Might wanna say goodbye to Raise Body Heat." Rex's green card shattered.

"Big deal. Your Dunames Dark Witch is still weakened thanks to Chain of the Underworld."

"And I thank you for that." Rex gulped, his mistake about to be revealed. "But before that, since I still have Cyber Harpy Lady, I can play this: Elegant Egotist!" She inserted a card. It was green when it appeared. It appeared like looking inside a kaleidoscope and finding a lot of faces. "Thanks to this, I can summon my Harpy Lady Sisters!" A new orange card emerged where three winged women appeared with different hair-color and hairstyle: the blue-haired standing up, the orange-haired with most covering half her face and a carmine-haired that extended pass her waist. All had golden brassier armor on them. The three had an Attack of 1,950 and a Defense of 2,100.

"You could use that to take out my Sword Arm, but not enough on Horned Saurus!"

"Could you put a lid on for another minute? Besides, you wanted this card, right? Harpy's Pet Dragon? Well, there's one card that I'm glad wasn't eliminated…" With one press, a green card emerged with a cross on it. Rex freaked out.

"Monster Reborn!?"

"And I'm gonna be taking that Two-Headed King Rex for the perfect setup." A purple two-headed dinosaur emerged by Dark Witch where its Attack was at 1,600 and Defense at 1,200. There were three horns on each head. "But say goodbye since neither one of them is strong enough to take down your Horned Saurus. I sacrifice Dunames Dark Witch and Two-Headed King Rex… and bring forth… Harpy's Pet Dragon!" The witch and the two-headed vanished as a pale red dragon emerged with a roar. It had a black face like a mask. Its Attack was at 2,000 but Defense was higher at 2,500. "And that's not all… with each Harpy Lady on the field, Harpy's Pet Dragon gains an additional 300 Attack points!" The Attack of Harpy's Pet Dragon grew, now becoming 2,600.

"This looks to be it for Rex," Ash believed.

("Let's watch,") Pikachu urged.

"Harpy Lady Sisters!" called out Mai. "Tear apart his Sword Arm of Dragon!" The winged sisters clawed Sword Arm, tearing the dinosaur to pieces. Rex's Life Points fell a little to 600. "Now, Harpy's Pet Dragon! Roast Horned Saurus!" Harpy's Pet Dragon breathed a huge flame that scorched Horned Saurus. Rex gawked in disbelief as his Life Points dropped to zero. The crowd cheered as Mai waived her free hand. "Thank you!" Rex fell to his knee before getting back up.

"This isn't over, Mai Valentine! I'll get my hands on your Pet Dragon!" After that, he dashed away as Ash and Pikachu reached Mai.

"Talk about a sore loser," Ash believed.

("We've seen plenty of them,") Pikachu reminded. Mai now turned to the two… and cooed to Pikachu.

"Aren't you adorable!" she cheered as she picked the Pokémon from Ash's shoulder. "I highly doubt you're a new type of Duel Monster, but I'd pick you for some cuddling!" She held Pikachu to her body in a firm hug, easing the Mouse Pokémon.

"Once again, Pikachu's attracted more attention," Ash sneered. Mai now saw Ash and knelt to his level.

"Who might you be? And you know this cute monster?"

"Pikachu's my partner and-" Mai's smile quieted Ash as she observed his figure. She cupped his chin for a better look.

"Those eyes, are they milk chocolate? And those zigzags… " She placed a finger and traced the zigzag under Ash's eye, making the trainer feel uneasy. "I'm thinking we have a new duelist on hand here in Domino City." Her assessment left Ash dumbfounded.

"D-Duelist?" Mai huffed a little giggle before having an idea.

"I can explain to you what's going on, cutie. Let's head to Yugi's home. I'm Mai." Ash remembered the names of the two who played.

"Mai Valentine, I heard." Mai nodded before leading Ash somewhere. Ash and Pikachu may be in a new land, but what awaits here in Domino that may keep the two from returning to Goldenrod?

TO BE CONTINUED...