Note: I changed Galarian Rapidash's nickname to Hiroko and (re)inserted a Milotic in Setsuka's team and nicknamed her Miu. That is all. Enjoy Reading...

Third Person POV Setsuka's POV

"I see," the bluenette responded after hearing Yugi's side of things, with Joey and Tristan occassionally chipping in with their own comments, and what they were doing.

"So your grandpa is being held hostage," she pointed at Yugi who nodded in confirmation, before turning to Joey, " and you need the cash to get your sister the surgery she needs for her eyesight."

Joey looked down at the mention of his sister Serenity. "Yeah...."

Setsuka found herself a bit envious of Joey's sister, if only for having such a devoted big brother. "Why couldn't mine be like that?" She thought with a bit of melancholy.

Shaking it off, she looked at the group, smiling at how they interact with one another.

"So, Setsuka," she nearly jumped out of her skin when Yugi sat next to her. "What do you plan to do when the ship docks at the Duelist Kingdom."

That made Setsuka pause; she hadn't thought that far ahead, and she had been plenty distracted by the new things she had been learning as of today.

"Not sure..." She opted to be truthful. "Though I can tell you one thing, I am not gonna hang around out on this liner. I have a sneaking feeling something bad will happen if I did... Especially after what you guys told me about this Pegasus guy..."

Tea nodded. "Good point." She seemed to get an idea. "How about you come and stick with us?"

This stunned the bluenette. "Wait, really?! I mean, are you sure?! I don't wanna drag you down or anything-"

"C'mon, we insist," Joey was next to her now. "And we can't chance you getting lost on that place!"

"Yeah!" Tristan added. "What if Pegasus or one of his goons find you? What then?"

"You're best bet is staying by us!" Yugi said, extra concerned for the girl, even if he can't totally discern the reason. "We don't leave a friend behind!"

Setsuka blinked before her eyes became moist. "You're all so kind...."

"C'mere! Group hug!" Tea exclaimed before everyone brought it in, trapping the blue-haired girl in their embrace.

"Thank you..." Setsuka muttered as she tried to keep the tears at bay.

"Your welcome...."

Setsuka nearly jumped out of their hold when she heard a deep voice echo through her mind. It almost sounded like it came from Yugi judging from what direction it came. But that's impossible isn't it? No way did the baby Pancham just changed his voice like he just now hit puberty...

Right?

Her mind was taken off of the matter when Tea asked her a question as they all released her from the hug.

"So... what's your story, Setsuka?"

Setsuka looked at her with confusion. "What do you mean? I told you guys how I ended up here..."

"No, no, no," Tea shook her head. "What I mean is, what do you do? Any hobbies, likes, dislikes, any boyfriend waiting for you at home?" The last one was a sort of a jab at the boys in the room, which two of three of them took umbrage while the remainer just blushed at Tea's implications.

"Heyyy," Joey glowered at Tea, who only smirked back. "You trying to start somethin', Gardner?"

"Nope," she smiled a little too innocently, "just getting to know our new friend here."

"Well for the boyfriend part, no, I am currently single. And also I'm bisexual, so I swing both ways." Setsuka's answer made Tea look at her with shock, but also admiration. It is not often when someone comes out, at least not where she is from, and Setsuka seemed to have no problem admitting it. It was kinda refreshing.

"You don't say?" Tea said, a bit interested, along with the others. "Any... experience?"

Setsuka shrugged. "Kinda sorta. I've been on a few dates, but nothing really stuck, you know? And we all parted on good terms so no bad blood or anything so far."

"Are you..." Tea paused to choose her words, "are you perhaps looking?"

Setsuka thought for a moment before answering, "While I'm not actively searching, I'm not exactly stop searching. I'm just gonna go with the flow for now. And besides," she gestured around her, "I'm not sure if anyone is gonna look for a date with me given the circumstances...."

"You apparently haven't noticed the looks you get from others...." Tea muttered under her breath as she sweatdropped at Setsuka.

She decided to change the subject. "So what do you like? Any hobbies?"

Setsuka took a moment before she answered. "Yeah. When I'm not doing battles or contests with my Pokemon, I like to play pool."

That got Tristan's and Joey's attention. "You play billiards?!"

Setsuka grinned. "Sure do. Pretty good at it too, I may add."

"We should play some time!" Joey exclaimed excitedly. Finally, a girl who isn't against doing "guy stuff."

Setsuka chuckled, "Okay, but I should warn you, I don't know how to hold back..."

"Fine with us!" Tristan and Joey replied enthusiastically, making Tea roll her eyes while Yugi sat there in slight confusion.

"So what are Pokemon battles?" Yugi decided to ask, as the mention brought a bit of interest to him. Is it perhaps similar to Duel Monsters?

"And what are contests?" Tea asked, sensing a bit of interest in the subject.

Setsuka sat cross-legged on the bed. "Well, I hope you guys have time, because you might be in for a long explanation...."

"Well, good thing we ain't going nowhere any time soon..." Joey said, with Tristan nodding in agreement.

"All right, listen up...." With that Setsuka began to expand on the basics of Pokemon battling (type matchups, Abilities, battle styles, etc.) and how contests work.

Timeskip

It was late in the night before Setsuka finished answering the gang's questions about battling with Pokemon after she finished her "lecture."

"As much as I would like to spend the whole night doing a Q n A," Setsuka let out a yawn, "I think it would be best to call it a night. And who knows what may happen come tomorrow..."

Tea nodded, agreeing. "Right. We won't get anywhere if we have no rest. And I would like to have my eight hours of beauty sleep..."

With that they all decided to turn in. Since the room was quite spacious and had a few extra blankets, the boys decided to roll them out and sleep on them while Tea and Setsuka took the bed.

While the others seemed to nod off easily, Setsuka did not have it that easy.

And it was more than just sleeping in an unfamiliar place...

"What do you think, Snowblaze?" Setsuka thought as she reached up to touch the Master Ball on her necklace, the familiar metal bringing a sense of comfort in this strange place.

"Be on your guard, my friend," a feminine voice responded. "I suspect something is afoot.... something ancient and perhaps beyond even my knowledge..."

Setsuka swallowed, already feeling nervous. She doesn't know a lot about this Pegasus that her new friends told her about, but the fact that she is here on this ship and where they are all heading, she had a stark feeling that this was no simple accident on her end.

With an internal sigh (so as not to wake the others) she decided to quash the whirling thoughts at least until morning...

As she drifted off into a fitless sleep, little did she and the others in the room know that there are forces at play, perhaps even bigger than Pegasus and the fabled Millenium Items....

Timeskip to morning...

Morning came a little too fast, especially for Setsuka. And it shown in her eyes where slight dark circles made themselves known, much to her dismay. Now, she was not a fashion diva by any means, but even she had her own vanity woes. And unfortunately for her, she did not bother carrying any concealer, or any makeup, on her person, as she wasn't fond of cosmetics being plastered on her face unless she honestly had to.

So when Yugi and the others got up about thirty minutes after she did, their concern was palpable when they saw Setsuka already up and dressed, and looking tense.

"It's like she's expecting to be attacked or something," Yugi thought, as she noticed her tense posture and the way her visible eye is always darting around, examining her surroundings. Several times he noticed her other eye, which was still closed, quiver, almost as if the eyelid was trying to lift itself up, but Setsuka kept preventing it, even going as far as to reach into her bag to get an odd yet intriguing eyepatch of some sort.

Unaware of Yugi's thoughts, Setsuka grumbled to herself internally. "Can't believe I have to resort to these now to keep my eye under control.... I really hate how they look like they were inspired by Ghetsis's weird monocle....."

Within time, the boat finally arrived to their destination. Setsuka let Mukuro and Maki, her Houndoom, out in case she had to take out any perceived threats quickly and the two Dark-types are well-versed in such. And it was obvious that the Mightyena and Houndoom were in the same boat as their Trainer as they too were tense. There were a few curious glances from some onlookers, but all it took was one glare from either canine and the gawkers were quick to look away.

Unbeknownst to Setsuka and her group, she garnered the attention of a few certain individuals....

Leaving the boat when it docked was a moment of truth for a few certain passengers. While the men in suits barely gave Setsuka and Tea a glance as they disembarked, the same cannot be said for Tristan as he was much too stiff-legged as he got off.

Everyone tensed when one of the suited men called him out, thinking that the jig was up.

"Relax, you're all guests here," the man said to him, making the others huff in relief.

"Err, right!" Tristan confirmed, a bit shakily, making Setsuka shake her head and grab his arm before he proceeds to embarrass himself further or worse, expose him and Tea as trespassers.

They were all directed to head to the castle, where Pegasus himself will be announcing the rules and welcoming the lot of them into his competition.

As Setsuka and Yugi traversed the stairs with their group, Setsuka felt a jolt of some sort, making her nealry falter midstep and look to her left as Tea looked to her right.

Setsuka's eye widened upon what she thought she seen hidden in the treeline.

"What the...? Cynthia!?" Setsuka nearly sputtered.

"Everything okay, Setsuka?" Yugi had noticed her sudden stop and, upon seeing her shocked expression, naturally he voiced his concern as Tristan spoke with Tea as she too saw someone as well, only on the opposite side of who Setsuka saw.

For a moment, Setsuka didn't answer, keeping eye contact with who she assumed was Cynthia in elegant Victorian clothing.

Something within her stopped when Snowblaze suddenly telepathed to her, "That is not Cynthia...."

"Then who...?" Before she could continue her thought, the woman, with a quick nod to her, suddenly turned and, Setsuka could almost swear upon her life, seemingly melted into the forest, disappearing from sight.

"Setsuka?!" Yugi had seemingly gone from concerned to alarmed, drawing Joey's attention and Tea and Tristan from their small bickering match.

"Hey what's wrong?" Tea asked, seeing Setsuka's rigid posture, forgetting about her seeing Bakura for the time being.

"Setsuka," Joey spoke up, going into his "big brother" mode as he hurried over. "You good over there?"

"Yeah, you don't look so good," Tristan commented, seeing the bluenette's pale face.

Tea elbowed Tristan. "You don't say that to a girl, you idiot!"

While they began arguing again, Yugi grabbed Setsuka's elbow, breaking her from her trance as she turned to look at the baby Pancham.

Yugi then noticed her arms were shaking, even as she was trying to regain control of her body. "Do you need to sit down? Want some water? Are you about to pass out?" Yugi was spouting off questions at a rapid-fire pace, almost panicking in place, drawing some attention from the other competitors.

"Did..." Everyone stopped as Setsuka finally spoke, "Did any of you see that woman?" She pointed down to where the Cynthia-lookalike was once standing.

"A woman?" Joey and Tristan questioned, while Tea looked at her with a bit of concern.

Setsuka nodded, albeit shakily. "Yeah, a woman, dressed up in black. Like she stepped out of a vampire novel or something along those lines. Had hair parted to the side, covering her eye... I thought.... I thought she was an old friend of mine...." She gulped, feeling as if her blood was turning slowly into ice.

"So that's good, right?" Joey asked, not seeing what was wrong, neither did the others it seemed. "Maybe she can help you with your... situation." He added, trying to be discreet about Setsuka's dilemma about being on the wrong boat, and if she is found out as a "trespasser" then she might get booted before she finds a way back home.

Setsuka shook her head. "That's the thing... turns out, she isn't who I thought it was upon first glance...." This made everyone alarmed.

"A stalker?!" Tea spoke with alarm.

"I sincerely hope not...." Setsuka replied, her voice as shaky as her hands.

Yugi then surprised everyone, even himself, when he suddenly grabbed one of her hands with both of his, his face stone serious.

"Then it might be better if you stick with at least one or two of us, so we can protect you better. Safety in numbers right?"

Setsuka blinked; when did the baby Pancham become a serious Pangoro?

And why does her face feel a little bit hot, like she was standing in front of a Magmortar at close range?

"Er, yeah!" Tea shook off her own shock to chip in. "Let's stick together, right?! And if you see the strange lady, you can point her out so we can deal with her, right guys?" She turned to Tristan and Joey.

"Erm, yeah!" Tristan and Joey shook themselves to chime in. "No creepy vampire ladies will be coming after our new friend!" Joey, in a moment of boldness, slung an arm around Setsuka, which earned a slight frown from Yugi, which Joey caught and sent a little smirk of his own back at him.

This went unnoticed by Setsuka, who unintentionally clung to Joey, if only to keep her balance and not, Arceus forbid, fall down these forsaken stairs.

This caused Joey to lose his smirk and blush a bit. Tea raised an eyebrow while Tristan lifted a hand to cover his mouth to hold down whatever laughs he wanted to throw at Joey.

With that out of the way, they resumed their trek to Pegasus's castle, Setsuka's thoughts full with erratic energy, like Vivillon hopped up on caffeine, while her other companions were left with their own thoughts.

Upon seeing Pegasus, however, made Setsuka momentarily forget her dilemma with the Cynthia-lookalike as she and the others stared up at the one who was said to have invented Duel Monsters.

She felt the hairs along her arm rise as she could have sworn she felt his gaze on her. As he made eye contact with her, Setsuka felt something akin to a miniature headache as he stared at her. That and her covered eye began to act up, almost as if it wanted to open itself.

The last time this happened, a strong Psychic type was trying to probe her mind, before her eye went into autopilot and opened itself, making the said Pokemon unable to access her mind. Hell, not even the best Psychics, such as Olympia and Sabrina, could access her mind, which baffled them.

"Could he be a Psychic, like Sabrina?" Setsuka wondered, noting the slight confusion and frustration crossing his face as the headache suddenly stopped, meaning her eye had protected her mind's privacy. She noted the sinister air about the silver-haired man, making her (and Snowblaze as she too sensed a bad aura from him through the empathy link) be on her guard, even as he smiled jovially and wished the participants luck in the tournament.

Unbeknownst to her, Pegasus held a smirk at bay as he eyed the bluenette. Despite his failed attempt to use his Millenium Eye on her, he still looked forward to what she could bring to the table, especially with Mokuba in his grasp, and the possibility of Seto showing up sooner than later.

"You may not be a Duel Monsters champion, but I do wonder what would happen when I bring all three of you together for a little family reunion?" Pegasus thought. "And I do hope you'll enjoy the lovely welcome committee I and my mysterious friend have put together just for you, Chiebukuro. And I do hope you don't disappoint me.... It would be a real shame for you of your caliber to be taken out early before the fun even begins!"

"Let the games begin!" With those spoken words, the fireworks went off, kicking off the tournament with a literal bang.

ANNDDD SCENE!

Sorry I took so long to update this story. I kinda ran out of inspiration but I didn't have the heart to unpublish it nor abandon it. Thankfully, with Pokemon Legends Arceus and Pokemon Scarlet/Violet, I got a new jolt of inspiration.

On that note, how do you guys feel about me adding in the Hisui nobles and the paradox Pokemon from Scarlet (I'll incorporate the ones from Violet in another Arc)?

And on a random note, should I make a yandere story for Pokemon? And a story for a sugar momma Cogita? Just asking.

Anyway, if anyone has ideas for the Nobles (as some of them will be Frenzied like in the game) and when and where to fight them, I'm all ears. Same with the Paradox Pokemon, and I plan to incorporate Koraidon into this arc.

Also, if anyone has ideas for when Bakura shows up, please pitch me a few ideas, I'll be sure to credit anyone who helps when the chapter comes out!

This is ArtVampire signing off!

Ja ne!