Disclaimer: I do not own Cardfight Vanguard or Pokemon. only my OCs.
It's a beautiful day in Japan. Many kids were out in the park or at a card shop, playing a game of Vanguard, a very popular game known around the world. Many tournaments were held every year for it. So to say, it's part of everyone's daily lives, including adults.
We view the airport, seeing many people get off a plane. Our main characters are two of those people. One of them is a teenage boy with black spiky hair, a gray jacket over a white shirt and black pants and shoes. He also wears a white scarf over his neck. The other one is a girl with pink hair that ends above her waist with a purple bow on the back and amber eyes. She wears a black and white dress, similar to a maids, white socks and black dress shoes.
"I'm kind of nervous, onii-chan," the girl told him. "We're far away from home."
"Except this is home now, Sakura. Don't worry. I'm here for you. I won't always be there, but if you come across any kind of trouble at all, I will be there," he comforted.
"Promise?"
"Have I ever break a promise with you?"
"Onii-chan... You're the best!" Sakura exclaimed, giving her brother a hug, which he returned.
"I know I am. Now come on; our aunt and uncle are waiting for us."
"Okay."
The two siblings walked out of the airport and saw a black limo at the front with a chauffeur.
"Excuse me. Are you two by any chance Master Sakuretsu and Mistress Sakura?" he asked.
"If you work for Aunt Mion and Uncle Hikaru, than yes, we are. Also, please just call me Retsu," Sakuretsu replied.
"Very well, Master Retsu. Please, enter. Master Hikaru and Mistress Mion are waiting for you," the chauffeur said, as he opened the door. The two siblings went inside, feeling uneasy with being in a car usually for the rich and wealthy. The chauffeur closed the door and placed their luggage in the trunk.
As the chauffeur, whose name was Yori, drove them to their new home, Sakuretsu and Sakura were playing Vanguard. The two of them have two legendary decks; Sakuretsu was using the 'Iron Will' clan and Sakura was using the 'Haunted Horror' clan. When they arrived home, they stopped playing and got out of the limo. When they did, they saw two people at the front of their house waiting for them, both wore a business suit.
"Sakura! Sakuretsu! I'm so glad the two of you are here!" one of them said, walking up to them.
"Aunt Mion!" Sakura ran up to the woman and give her a hug.
"None for me?" the man joked.
"Uncle Hikaru!" Sakura released her aunt and went to hug their uncle.
"Hi Aunt Mion, Uncle Hikaru," Sakuretsu greeted.
"Welcome to Japan, you two. And your new home. Yori, take their luggage to their new room after you park the limo," Hikaru ordered, as he let Sakura down.
"Right away, master," Yori simply agreed, driving away.
"Man, the house is big. Then again, that's what you should expect from the rich and wealthy, right?" Sakuretsu stated.
"You haven't seen anything yet, Sakuretsu. Please, come inside," Mion told her son.
"I thought mom or dad told you to just call me Retsu," he said, following her to their house.
"But that would make me feel distanced from you," she reasoned.
As they entered the house, they were all greeted by a group of maids and butlers. "Welcome back, master and mistress."
The siblings just stood there with their mouths hanging open.
"You'll have to get used to this kind of greeting whenever you return home," their aunt told them. "Would you like a tour? Or do you want to walk around the city for a bit."
"I choose the second option," the older sibling replied.
"Me too," the younger one followed.
"Just be back before dinner, then. Here's some money, so you can buy whatever interests you," Hikaru pulled out his wallet and handed them some money. "Do you want one of the maids or butlers to go with you?"
"I think we can manage things ourselves, thanks," Sakuretsu declined.
"Okay then. Remember, be back before dinner."
"Okay," the two siblings replied, walking out.
After a couple of hours of walking, the two of them liked their new home so far. A certain shop caught one of their attention.
"Onii-chan, look! Isn't that a card shop?" Sakura asked, pointing at the said shop.
"'Card Capital'?" he read. "Sure sounds like it. Good thing we still have our decks. I feel like fighting someone else here."
"Me too!" With that, they both entered the shop.
"Welcome to Card Capital," greeted a man with glasses and spiky hair. The two siblings looked around the card shop and saw many kids playing Vanguard.
"I've never seen you two before. Are you new here?" the man asked.
"Yeah. I'm Sakuretsu, but call me Retsu. This is my little sister, Sakura," Sakuretsu introduced.
"Hi!" the girl waved.
"Nice to meet you. I'm the manager of this shop, Shin. And this is the substitute manager." The two looked at the counter and saw a black and white cat sitting there, glaring at the manager. "I mean 'manager'."
"I'm not going to ask why you have a cat here. And as the substitute manager," the older sibling said.
"He's cute," Sakura stated, petting the feline.
"Are you two cardfighters, by any chance?" Shin asked.
Sakuretsu and Sakura took out their deck boxes. "Would these answer your question?" the former asked.
"I'll take that as a 'yes' than. Why don't you two cardfight someone? Everyone is friendly, so don't hesitate to ask."
"Shin, don't pester others to do what they don't want or feel like doing," said a girl from behind the counter. She had light lavender hair and held a book in her hand.
"I'm not pestering them. And call me manager, Misaki," Shin corrected.
"You did make it sound like you were, though, manager," Sakura said.
"Well, we came here to fight anyway. Let's find an opponent, Sakura," her big brother said.
"Okay!"
A few hours later, three boys entered the shop. One had black hair that sticks out like a 'V', another boy had brown curly hair, and the third boy had blue hair that ended above his shoulders. The first two had on gray school uniforms, while the bluenette wore a red shite with a white and black jacket over it and blue jeans. They noticed two fights going on, but that wasn't what caught their attention.
"Why did everyone gather up at those two tables?" the blue-haired boy, Aichi, asked Misaki.
"Two new customers came in and began cardfighting less than half the customers in this shop. They both have legendary decks and are on a winning streak," she replied.
"You serious?" the boys with curly brown hair, Yuta Izaki, gasped in shock. "They must be really strong."
"Legendary decks?! That just means they have Grade 3's meant for me!" Katsumi, the guy with the 'V' shaped hairstyle shouted, with his usual Grade-3-Obsession on his face. Those who heard it just sighed at that statement.
"It's not just that. You see that guy with black spiky hair?" Misaki pointed at Sakuretsu. "He's giving them advice on how to improve their decks after he beats them. After that, they tried out that advice with his little sister. Even though they lost, they all came close to beating her, closer than they did with him. And they said that they're on the same level in Vanguard, despite having different decks."
"Huh?!" the three boys gasped in shock.
"Now my Vanguard attacks your Blazing Flare Dragon!" Sakuretsu declared.
"I can't guard it. No guard," his opponent declared.
"Twin Drive! First check... Critical Trigger! All of its effects goes to my Vanguard! Second check... Another Critical Trigger!"
"Double Critical?!" "No way!" "He actually pulled it out!" Many bystanders were impressed with the teenager's draw.
"Damage Check... No trigger... I lost. And I thought I know the secret to your clan's power."
"But it's still a good game, isn't it? You had me on the ropes with Blazing Flare's skill," Sakuretsu said. "Had I not drawn that Heal Trigger as my sixth damage, I would've lost."
"Really?"
"Yeah. And a bit of advice: it's good to want to have Blazing Flare out as fast as possible, as well as having a Forerunner as your starting unit, but it would be better if you bring him out later. You know, when you have more than enough cards in your soul, that's when you will bring him out, whether it's from your hand or by using Blazing Core Dragon's skill. And I also suggest adding Kagero units with soulcharging ability and/or the ability to move to your soul, as well as some good defense."
"Okay! Thanks for the advice, sensei!"
"Sen-?! Sensei?!"
"Oh man! I lost!" shouted a voice from another table. "And I was so close to winning."
"But you still had fun, right?" Sakura asked her opponent.
"Yeah. Especially since your brother's advice helped me improve my deck better. But who would've thought that someone as cute as you would use a deck filled with ghosts?"
"Are you trying to hit on my sister over there?" Sakuretsu asked, listening in on the conversation.
"Of course not, sensei!"
"Again with calling me sensei. Why are you guys calling me that?"
"Why can't we?" "You're giving us advice on how to improve our decks." "Yeah! And they really helped us out!"
"But still... Calling me a sensei?"
"Wow. Not even a day here, and he's already so popular," Aichi stated.
"And it's because of the advice he's giving to them," Izaki added.
"Well I'm not letting him take that kind of fame away from me!" Morikawa declared.
'Since when are you popular here?' the ones who heard his declaration thought.
"You there!"
The kids and Sakuretsu turned to Morikawa. "Who me?" the black spiky-haired boy asked.
"Yeah you! Fight me! Morikawa-sama!"
"Hmmm... Sakura, what time is it?"
The young girl looked at her watch. " It's almost 5:30."
"I guess we still have time for one more fight. You're on!" Despite the fact that they know how fast this would take, all the kids cheered at the declaration.
Morikawa took Sakuretsu's previous opponent's spot. The two of them placed a Grade 0 unit face-down on their Vanguard Circle and shuffled their decks. They both drew their starting hand. Morikawa placed two cards back in his deck and draw two new ones. Sakuretsu kep his whole hand.
"Hope you're ready to lose," the 'V' hair shaped fighter spoke.
"With that attitude, this will be over real soon," his opponent said in a bored tone.
"Stand up, Vanguard!"
"Stand up, my Vanguard!"
"Lizard Soldier, Sishin!"
"Iron Armor, Aron!"
Two spiritual bodies in a mountainous area were engulfed in a red or silver light. Morikawa's body changed into a red lizard in silver armor, holding a scythe(POWER: 6000). Sakuretsu turned into a small, black quadruped monster with four stubby legs and a large round head, covered in gray armor with a small spike on its back and six holes on its head and one on either side of its back (POWER: 5000).
"What kind of unit is that? It looks really weak!" Morikawa insulted.
"Don't let its appearance fool you. Now, do you want me to go first? Or do you want to take the lead?" Sakuretsu offered.
"Hah! Like the Great Morikawa would let you have the first turn! I draw!" Morikawa drew his sixth card and seemed to have an irritate look on his face. "I will be nice enough to not ride a unit on my first turn."
Morikawa:
First Row- Empty / Lizard Soldier, Sishin/ Empty
Back Row- Empty / Empty / Empty
Damage- 0
Hand- 6
Sakuretsu:
First Row- Empty / Iron Armor, Aron / Empty
Back Row- Empty / Empty / Empty
Damage- 0
Hand- 5
Many customers mentally sighed at those words, knowing that it's his way of saying "AHHH! Darn it! I don't have a Grade 1 to ride on!"
"You don't have a Grade 1 to ride on, do you?" Sakuretsu guessed, surprising them all.
"What?! How did you know?!"
"It's written all over your face. And usually whenever someone takes the first turn and chose to not ride, it just means they don't have anything to ride with."
"It's common knowledge!" Sakura added to her brother's explanation.
"Anyway, I draw." Sakuretsu drew his next card. "I activate Aron's skill. I can check the top five cards of my deck for 'Iron Armor, Lairon' and superior ride it. After that, the rest goes to the bottom of my deck in any order." He did as the skill instructed and pulled out one of the five cards. "Superior ride! Iron Armor, Lairon!"
The young creature was surrounded by the grey light again and grew. The light died down and in its place is an older version of Aron. The back is covered in segments of armor, each with a high ridge and round holes on the side (POWER: 7000).
"Then I call another Iron Armor, Lairon to support him."
Another Lairon appeared behind the Vanguard Lairon.
"With the Rearguard Lairon's boost, the Vanguard Lairon attacks Sishin (POWER: 7000 + 7000 = 14000)," Sakuretsu the declared. "My Rearguard's skill. When boosting an 'Iron Will' unit with 'Iron' in its name, I soulcharge a card and the boosted unit gains 3000 more power (POWER: 14000 + 3000 = 17000)."
"No guard," Morikawa replied.
"Drive Check... Critical Trigger. Of course all the power and critical goes to my Vanguard (POWER: 17000 + 5000 = 22000/CRITICAL: 1 + 1 = 2)."
Lairon's attack hits and dealt two damages to his opponent.
"Damage Check... First... Second... No trigger." Morikawa placed his two cards in his Damage Zone.
"I'll end my turn here."
Morikawa:
First Row- Empty / Lizard Soldier, Sishin/ Empty
Back Row- Empty / Empty / Empty
Damage- 2
Hand- 6
Sakuretsu:
First Row- Empty / Iron Armor, Lairon/ Empty
Back Row- Empty / Iron Armor, Lairon / Empty
Damage- 0
Hand- 5
"My turn. Draw! Yes! I ride Red River Dragoon!"
The red lizard changed into a human in black clothes with red armor, holding a joust (POWER: 8000).
"I attack your Vanguard with Red River Dragoon!"
"I won't guard," Sakuretsu calmly said.
"Drive Check! No trigger..."
"Damage Check... No trigger here either."
"Since I can't do anything else, I'll end my turn here."
Morikawa:
First Row- Empty / Red River Dragoon / Empty
Back Row- Empty / Empty / Empty
Damage- 2
Hand- 6
Sakuretsu:
First Row- Empty / Iron Armor, Lairon/ Empty
Back Row- Empty / Iron Armor, Lairon / Empty
Damage- 1
Hand- 5
"Stand and draw. Lairon's skill: I check the top five cards of my deck for 'Iron Armor, Aggron' and superior ride it," Sakuretsu said, looking at the top five cards. "Superior ride!"
Lairon was engulfed by the gray light and grew again. He's now on two legs and has two horns on his head, as well as two blunt spikes on his shoulders and gray bands on its arms and legs. Aggron also has an intimidating face (POWER: 9000).
"I call Iron Armor, Aggron; Iron Armor, Lairon; and Gear Klinklang."
Another Aggron appeared on the Vanguard's left. Behind it is another Lairon with brown body and tan armor. On the right of the Vanguard Aggron is four interlocking gears, with six teeth on the smaller two gears and eight teeth on the larger gear. Around the bottom of the interlocking gears is a spiked gear (POWER: 9000).
"Klinklang attacks your dragoon," Sakuretsu said, as he rests the said unit.
"No guard," Morikawa declared, having the attack to hit. "Damage Check... No trigger."
"With Lairon's boost, my Vanguard attacks Dragoon. And with Lairon's skill, I soulcharge a card, and Aggron gains an extra 3000 power (POWER: 9000 + 7000 + 3000 = 19000)."
"No guard."
"Drive Check... Stand Trigger. Power and stand goes to Gear Klinklang (POWER: 9000 + 5000 = 14000)." Aggron's attack hits Bahr and Gear Klinklang stands back up.
"Damage Check... Draw Trigger! Power to Red River Dragoon and I draw!" Morikawa said.
"Aggron's skill. Because his attack hits my opponent's Vanguard, I soulcharge two cards." Sakuretsu once again added the top card of his deck to his soul. "Now Klinklang attacks again."
"N-... No guard." Klinklang's attack hits again and another damage was added.
"Like I said earlier; this will be over real soon. With Lairon's boost, my Rearguard Aggron attacks. Lairon's skill: Soulcharge a card and Aggron gains another 3000 power (POWER: 9000 + 7000 + 3000 = 19000)."
"N-... N-... No... guard..." Morikawa declared in a depressed tone. The attack hits, and the sixth and last damage went in his Damage Zone.
"I lost! How can that be?! I didn't ride on any of my precious Grade 3's yet!" he then shouted in despair.
"That's exactly why you lost," Sakuretsu said. "You have too many Grade 3's in your deck. The cards in your Damage Zone says so and the fact that you didn't ride on your first turn is more than enough to say that you have the worst deck anyone can get. And due to this boring battle I've ever thought, I don't want to waste my breath on giving an advice to you. Because surely everyone must've told you what is wrong with your deck. And even if they didn't, you should've figured it out yourself."
"Zip it! You just got lucky that's all!" Morikawa denied.
"He's in denial, onii-chan," Sakura told him.
"No kidding. What time is it?"
"It's 5:40."
"Still have time, huh? In that case, who haven't I fought yet?" The moment Sakuretsu asked that question, all the customers, including the ones he already fought, all wanted to fight him before he leaves.
The moment that happened, the doors slid open and three boys entered the shop. One of them had spiky hair that's standing up. Another boy is a bluenette with glasses and the third boy has his hair in a topknot. These three are none other than Kamui Katsuragi, Reiji Uno, and Eiji Saga.
"Yo, guys. Sorry I came late," Kamui apologized. "Had to get Nagisa off my back."
"It's no problem really," Aichi assured.
"Hey, what's going on over there?" Reiji asked, pointing at Sakuretsu being piled up by most of the shop's customers.
"WGOT, yo," Eiji repeated in abbreviations.
"He's Sakuretsu, or Retsu for short," Misaki introduced. "He just came in here with his little sister and challenged almost half the customers here. After beating them, he gave them advice and had them go up against his sister to see if the advice he gave helps them. And the advice were actually useful."
"Huh?! Seriously?!" Kamui gasped in shock.
"He must be really strong," Reiji stated.
"HMRS, yo," Eiji agreed.
"He and his sister might also be the ones we're looking for for our team," Misaki then said.
"What do you mean? We just need three people to enter the circuit, don't we?" Aichi asked.
"No. Apparently, Shin read the letter wrong. We need five people in our group. From what I've seen so far, he and his sister might be the two other people we need to complete the team and join the VF Circuit."
"Huh?! In that case, we need them to join us or we won't join the circuit!" Kamui exclaimed. "Now that I think about it, why didn't any of the Ultra Rare members mention it when we went to their card shop?!"
Aichi was in deep thought at this as he watched Sakuretsu trying to calm the kids down. The moment his mind was decided up, he went over to the 'Iron Will' user.
"Excuse me," he called. Somehow, his voice was enough to calm the customers down.
"Yeah? What?" Sakuretsu asked, relieved that his 'students' stopped trying to hog him.
"My name's Aichi Sendou. I have an offer to give you and your sister."
"What about?" Sakura asked, joining the conversation.
"You see, from what Misaki-san said about you two, I was wondering if you would like to join our team to the VF Circuit."
"The VF Circuit? You mean where the world's greatest cardfighters gather up to see who's the best of the best?" Sakuretsu asked.
"That's the one. So will you?"
"Hmm."
"Let's join them, onii-chan!" Sakura begged.
"Hey, Sakura. Can't you see that I'm thinking about it?" the older sibling scolded.
"But... I really want to go..." The younger sibling used the puppy-dog eyes on the older.
"I didn't say that we can't join, though. But, since Sakura wants to join, it can't be helped. I want to test my deck to see how far I can go against the whole world, anyway."
"Then-"
"However," Sakuretsu interrupted Aichi. "Just joining the team won't cut out for me. Since your team got the invite, I want to fight against the strongest fighter in your group. I want to prove myself worthy of joining."
Silence filled the room when he made that declaration.
"I got it. I accept your challenge."
"If big brother wants to cardfight someone from your team, I want to, too!" Sakura exclaimed.
"Huh? Okay then, I guess."
"In that case, I'll be her opponent," Kamui insisted. "I'm Kamui Katsuragi. Nice to meet you."
"I'm Sakura! Just don't hold back on me," Sakura said.
"Like I will!"
"I would appreciate it if you would go all out on me as well, Aichi-san," Sakuretsu said.
"Okay," the blue-haired boy nodded.