Pikachu, It's Time to Duel!

by DuffleGamer

When a new game called Duel Monsters hits store shelves, Ash and Dawn can't wait to play it. Even the Pokemon start getting involved! However, after extended exposure to this game, they realize that Duel Monsters is more than just a simple card game... PikaBun included, but not the main focus.

So… uh…. This story. Before I start talking about it, no, this is not replacing Tales of an Eevee Pack. This story will never be prioritized over Tales of an Eevee Pack. In fact, I might not even post chapters after this one. However… curiosity drove me to start thinking about it, and eventually, I got too many ideas to just leave it alone. I do plan on continuing this story, but until Eevee Pack is done and accounted for, I'm probably only going to upload between writing sessions for the Pack. Now that I've explained the how, let me explain the why. Like I mentioned earlier, mostly just curiosity, but also the fact that I don't like writing about the same topic continually. I like to write in my free time (if I have said time on my hands) so making a side story out of it would be pretty fun. I can almost guarantee that I'm going to give this story a rewrite as soon as the Pack is done, but I don't care, I'm going with it anyways. With that said, on to the story!

Chapter 1: It's Time to Duel!

It had been a slow day for Pikachu. A very, very slow day, almost painfully so. He couldn't help but be bored as he wandered around, trying to find something to do. Normally, this would be about the time that Ash brought him and the rest of the team over to start their daily training, but unfortunately there was this new craze going around called… Duel Monsters? He didn't really catch the details, and while it seemed interesting, it was cutting into his time to better himself, so he wasn't very happy with it. The humans had all left for the stores to try and get their hands on whatever it was, leaving all the Pokemon out at a Park to lounge around. The other Pokemon seemed to be having much less difficulty finding something to do, however. They started talking about Duel Monsters, and so Pikachu couldn't go over to them for any training. As he looked around at the other Pokemon, he saw bundles of them talking about what this new craze could be, and Pikachu just sighed. He didn't wanna go over there, because he was very irritable, and didn't want to snap and hurt someone's feelings.

Ah well, I might as well use this time to relax… I haven't gotten a lot of that lately, so I suppose it's nice.

However, right as Pikachu said that, Ash and the other humans ran ver to the Park, holding what seemed to be packs in their arms. As they approached, all the other Pokemon seemed to crowd around them.

"Ah man, we totally scored on that one! Look at all the Booster Packs we managed to grab! And each one was so cheap, too!" Ash seemed shockingly happy. Pikachu couldn't put his finger on it, but it seemed that Ash was incredibly excited about this new game. Shockingly enough, it seemed like he wasn't the only one. Dawn followed up with an almost equal number of booster packs in her arms, if not more.

"I know! Oh man, we got all these amazing booster packs, including some rare ones! Oh, we have to open these right now!"

The two humans dumped all the booster packs on to the table as Brock came back, carrying three large boxes in his hands. "Hey, settle down you two, you forgot these!" Brock put the 3 boxes onto the table as the other two looked in surprise.

"Woah, Brock, you managed to get 3 Duel Disks?! But I heard that they were running out!" Ash looked at the boxes closer and got even more excited. "And you even got the special edition, with actual holograms! Oh my god, that's awesome!"

As Ash and Dawn were freaking out about the Duel Disks, Pikachu walked up to Piplup and tapped him on the shoulder. Piplup turned around to answer him. "[Oh, Pikachu, it's you. Haven't seen you all day man, how've you been?]"

Pikachu shook his head. "[Well, I was pretty bored, but now there's all this commotion with Ash and Dawn. What's going on? They seem to be really excited…]"

Piplup sighed and put his flippers on his hips. "[Pikachu, have you been paying attention to anything recently? They've just gotten their hands on Duel Monsters, the hottest new game that just got released today! And I dunno about you, but it looks like they're really getting into it.]"

Pikachu turned his attention back towards the humans, who were rapidly tearing into the booster packs and claiming their cards. Dawn nearly jumped out of her seat when she saw a card she liked. "Ash Ash, look! Look at the card I just got!"

Ash looked at the card and chuckled a little bit. "Dawn, Happy Lover is a common card. And it only has 800 Attack, it's awful!"

Dawn seemed insulted when Ash said that. "Ugh, rude! You don't see the Happy Lover insulting you! Besides, it's not about the strength, it's about using what you like, right? Just like when you're training your Pokemon!"

Ash looked at the cards he had gathered. "Hm… I guess you're right. I mean, this Blue Eyes White Dragon card seems powerful, but if I don't put my heart into it, it won't be as good, right?"

Dawn completely shifted her tone and stared at Ash. "D-Did you just say… Blue Eyes White Dragon?"

Ash nodded and showed her the card, which was indeed shown to be Blue Eyes White Dragon. Ash then moved his fingers. "In fact, I actually have 3 copies of the card. That's the most of one card you can have in your deck, right?"

Dawn fell out of her chair in an anime-esque style before collecting herself and laughing awkwardly. "Haha, yup, that's right! If your heart isn't in the cards, you can't use em properly! Oh, but I love the Blue Eyes White Dragon… Can I have em Ash? Oh pretty please?" Dawn started using puppy dog eyes as she looked at Ash.

Ash frowned as he looked between Dawn and the 3 cards. "Hmph… Alright, fine, but I expect some trades out of you in exchange…"

Dawn clapped her hands together and seemed ecstatic to hear that news. "Of course, I'd trade you anything for those cards! Hm… Let's see what I have here… Oh, I know! I've got some good cards right here that you can use."

Dawn pulled 3 cards out of her pile and showed them to Ash. "Right here, I've got 3 super rare cards! The Dark Magician, the Dark Magician Girl, and the Red Eyes Black Dragon! What d'you say?"

Ash looked at the cards and started nodding. "Yeah… Yeah, I like these cards! I think I even have some others to support it… Alright, you've got a trade!" Ash handed over the 3 Blue Eyes and took the other 3 in exchange, putting them in his pile as he started to make his own deck. Pikachu hopped up onto the table and starting looking at the cards, becoming a lot more curious about the game they were playing. Ash noticed this and started showing Pikachu the Dark Magician. "Hey Pikachu, isn't this card cool? It's one of the rarest cards you can have, the Dark Magician!"

Pikachu took the card into his small hands and looked at it. The card art depicted a man in purple clothes, holding a large staff with a circle going around him. Pikachu had to admit, he looked pretty dang cool. And he had 2500 Attack, that was huge! Pikachu nodded in agreement.

"Hehe, I thought you'd like it! Now, to start making a deck…"

"And now, I'll use Ancient Rules in order to summon my Blue Eyes White Dragon!" Dawn dramatically put the card on to the board and waved her hand at Ash. "Now Blue Eyes, attack and take out Ash's life points!"

Ash puts his hands on his head. "Ugh, I lost again! Am I doing something wrong here?"

"Here, Ash, let me see your deck." Ash gave his deck over to Dawn as she started going through it, narrowing her eyes as she realized the problem. "Ash, you dumbo, there are almost no Spell and Trap cards in this deck! It's almost entirely monsters!"

"Well of course! They're all powerful beasts, I couldn't help but keep them all in!" Ash smiled.

Dawn shook her head. "Ash, you're never going to get anywhere if you don't ue Spell and Trap cards to support your deck, your monsters are going to be left wide open! Here, let me put some Spells and Traps in here… Maybe get some good ones to support your best monstes…"

Ash leaned back and scratched his head. "Wow, Dawn, you sure know a lot about this game! Where'd you manage to get so good?"

Dawn smiled and started giggling at Ash. "That's because I read the rulebook, silly. I know a thing or two about this game."

Ash just nodded his head as he reached over and grabbed the rulebook from the side of the table. Dawn just shook her head and kept going through Ash's deck. However, right as Dawn finished, Brock came over after finishing… whatever he did while they played. "Hey you two, it's starting to get late, we should probably pack it in for the night."

Ash and Dawn both responded to him at the same time. "Aw, but we still wanna play!"

Brock couldn't help but chuckle at that, but all the same, his message was identical to the last. "You guys, you'll have plenty of time to play in the morning, butnow is the time t osleep. We can even start using the Duel Disks tomorrow, if you guys are ready."

Ash and Dawn got really excited and nodded their heads quickly as they headed back towards their campsite. Pikachu watched this whole display and started to get an idea…

Later that night…

Nightfall had come over the camp, and everyone was sound asleep, Well, almost everyone, that is. Pikachu was still wide awake, ready to start seeing what this Duel Monsters game was all about. Once he knew that Ash was asleep, he got up and went towards Ash's cards, taking them for himself before snagging a few pokeballs as well. He put them down in the middle of camp and headed towards Dawn's tent, doing the same as Ash. Take the card and take some pokeballs, but this time, Pikachu had noticed those strange machines that they had brought back.

Well… If it enhances the experience, then why not?

Pikachu took the two boxes and, although struggling to do so, managed to get them to the middle of camp. Once he was there, he pressed the buttons on the Pokeballs and the Pokemon popped out, more specifically Piplup, Buneary, Pachirisu, Buizel, Chimchar, and Turtwig.

Yawn "[Wha… Pikachu? What're you doing up so late? And why're we out here?]" Turtwig looked around, confused as to why he was in the middle of the campsite all of a sudden.

Pikachu scratched the back of his head. "[Haha, yeah, about that… You guys remember the game that Ash and Dawn were playing earlier today, right? Duel Monsters?]"

Piplup smirked and nodded his head. "[Of course I do, because I was the one who told you about it.]"

Pikachu decided to ignore the snark. "[Right, well, anyways… I brought you out here to start playing the game with me! It's not fair that they get to play it themselves, so why don't we start taking it for a spin?]"

Chimchar frowned and looked around nervously. "[I dunno… What if we get caught? I don't think they'll be very happy to know that we took their stuff and started using it without their permission…]"

Pachirisu slapped Chimchar on the back. "[Aw, c'mon Chimchar, where's your spirit? They won't mind at all, this is gonna be awesome! Yay!]" Pachirisu started jumping up and down in excitement.

Buneary walked up to Pikachu and started putting her fur up to her face. "[H-Hey Pikachu, do you mind if… I battle you first?]"

Pikachu looked over at her and smiled. "[Of course! Let's just get everything ready first before we begin, because I got something pretty special to make this something more memorable for everyone.]" Pikachu motioned towards the Duel Disks as he slid them out of their box, getting a collective Ooo from everyone around him.

"[Now then, the rulebook is over there for anyone who doesn't know how to play the game. Buneary and I are going to do a quick round before anyone, so you can watch us if you're still confused on anything.]" Pikachu turned on the Duel Disk and put Ash's deck into the slot. Buneary did the same with Dawn's deck. They drew five cards and looked each other, smiles plastered on their faces. "[Let's duel!]"

Pikachu motioned over to Buneary. "[Well now, ladies first.]"

Buneary smirked and looked at her hand. "[Hehe, you're gonna regret letting me go first! I summon the Happy Lover, in Defense Mode!]"

Happy Lover: 800 ATK, 500 DEF

As Buneary put the card on the Duel Disk, the holograms activated and projected an orange ball with wings. Everyone stared in amazement as the creature seemed almost like-lie.

Pachirisu started jumping up and down. "[Wow, now that is cool! Don't you think so, Buizel?]"

Buizel turned away, obviously not impressed. "[Meh, not really. We're already much cooler than these things, why do we need to battle like this?]"

Pikachu looked at the Happy Lover, obviously noticing that something was wrong. Pikachu looked at the Duel Disk and noticed that Buneary had put it up and down instead of sideways.

"[Um… Buneary, you're supposed to put the card sideways if you want to play it in defense mode… You just played it in attack mode.]"

Buneary looked at her card and jumped a little. "[Oh no, I did? But this monster's so weak! Oh gosh, what have I done?]"

Pikachu smirked and drew a card, placing it on the ground because they were too large for him to hold. "[You've given me a free path to victory, that's what! I summon the powerful Battle Ox, in attack mode!]" The Duel Disk activated as the card was placed, revealing a humanoid Ox with an axe in his hand.

Battle Ox: 1700 ATK, 1000 DEF

"[Now, Battle Ox! Attack Buneary's Happy Lover!]" Battle Ox rushed into battle and swiped his axe down onto Buneary's monster, destroying it and causing Buneary to flinch a bit as the number on her duel disk lowered.

Pikachu: 4000 LP

Buneary: 3100 LP

Chimchar turned to Piplup and poked his shoulder. "[Hey, Piplup, what do those number on the Duel Disks mean?]"

Piplup smiled. "[Well, I'm glad you asked! You see, those numbers represent your 'Life Points' as they're called. Since this is supposed to be a quick duel, they've chosen the fast mode, which puts them both at 4000 Life Points to start. When a monster attacks another monster in attack mode, the difference in their attack is subtracted by the defending monster's life points. However, if you're in defense mode, your life points are safe.]"

Chimchar nodded and returned her attention to the battle, as Buneary growled and drew a card. "[Ooo, I'm gonna get you back for that, Pikachu! I play the spell card: Pot of Greed!]" Buneary put the spell card into the Duel Disk, showing an image of the card face up on the field. "[This card allows me to draw 2 new cards!]" Buneary drew her next two cards and smirked. "[Next, I'm going to set a monster face-down!]" Buneary placed a facedown card sideways on the Duel Disk.

A face down monster? Probably just another attempt at defense, but my Battle Ox can run right through it!

"[Alright then, my move!]" Pikachu drew his card. "[Now then, Battle Ox, attack Buneary's face down monster!]" Battle Ox charged forward and slashed through the cad… but the card quickly repaired itself.

"[Nice try, Pikachu, but you triggered my monster's special ability!]" A monster popped out of the card, which looked like a Marshmallow with a face. "[When Marshmallon is flipped face up, my opponent takes 1000 Life Points of damage!]"

Pikachu was taken aback. "[Wait, what?]"

Pikachu: 3000 LP

Buneary giggled. "[And that's not all! My Marshmallon also can't be destroyed by battle! And since it was in defense position, that means I take no damage!]"

Pachirisu started jumping up and down, clapping rapidly. "[Yeah! Way to go, Buneary! You're the best!]"

Pikachu grit his teeth and looked through his cards.

Man, nothing I have here is able to take out that Marshmallon! Guess I should play it safe and just defend for the rest of my turn…

"[I'll set a monster and place one card face down. It's your turn.]"

"[Hehe, I thought you'd say that! Now then, I draw!]" Buneary grabbed another card and smiled at the result. "[Alright Pikachu, prepare to be rocked! I summon Gazelle, the King of Mythical Beasts!]" A fearsome creature with a horn on its head burst out, letting out a mighty roar as it hit the field.

Gazelle, King of Mythical Beasts: 1500 ATK, 1200 DEF

"[But don't worry, he won't be staying on the field for long, because I'm activating the Spell Card, Polymerization!]"

Pikachu's eyes widened. Polymerization? What does that do ?!

"[And I'll use Polymerization to fuse my Gazelle with the Berfomet I have in my hand, in order to summon Chimera, the Flying Mythical Beast!]" Gazelle's hologram fizzled away, and was soon replaced by a giant, two headed monster. It was armed with large horns and graceful wings that were offset by its fearsome appearance.

Chimera, the Flying Mythical Beast: 2100 ATK, 1800 DEF

"[Now, Chimera! Destroy his Battle Ox!]" Chimera lept forward and slashed Battle Ox, making it explode into pieces as it left the field.

"[Hold on there, Buneary! I can activate my Kuriboh's effect! By discarding it, I can make it so that I don't take any damage from that attack!]" Pikachu pushed Kuriboh into the Graveyard as Buneary shrugged.

"[Oh well, that doesn't matter. You've lost your monster, and now I have two! The perfect Offense and the perfect Defense, both on the field at once!]"

Pikachu growled. She was right, he was being put in a really bad spot right here. But he knew there was something in his deck that would let him win this, he knew! "[Alright, but it's my turn now! I draw!]" Pikachu looked at the card he drew and smiled.

Yes, my Dark Magician! This card can let me take out Chimera! But I only have my face down monster, so I can't tribute in order to summon it… However, I think I have a card that can bring it out without a sacrifice…

"[Alright, I'll set a card face down. That ends my turn.]" Pikachu frowned. I hope my plan works…

Buneary started laughing. "[Oh, come on Pikachu, don't tell me you 've given up! Or even worse… You're going easy on me! Well, if that's how you wanna play, then I guess I'll just have to beat you!]" Buneary drew her card and shrugged, putting it with the rest. "[Now then, Chimera! Attack and destroy his face down card!]" Chimera ran towards the card and slashed it, only for Big Shield Gardna to be revealed. The Big Shield didn't get destroyed, but Chimera went back to its position. "[Huh? What happened?]"

Pikachu smiled. "[My Big Shield Gardna has 2600 Defense Points, which is 500 more than your Chimera's attack points! So not only is my Gardna safe, but you now take the difference from your life points!]"

Buneary: 2600 LP

"[However, whenever my Big Shield Gardna is attacked, it switches back to Attack Mode. But, since you don't have any other attacking monsters, it seems that you won't be able to capitalize on that.]"

Big Shield Gardna: 100 ATK, 2600 DEF

"[Hmph… Whatever! I'll play my own card face down and end my turn.]" Buneary's card appeared as Pikachu smirked.

"[Alright then, my move!]" Pikachu shrugged at the card he got, focusing instead on the face down. "[Now then, I'll finally activate my face down card. Magician Navigation! This card allows me to Summon one Dark Magician from my hand, and one other Dark Spellcaster from my Deck! So come on out, Dark Magician!]"

The trap card revealed itself, releasing a monster in Purple robes that vaguely looked like Ash. It twirled its rod around and grabbed it, being an intimidating presence on the field.

"[Oh no! That thing has 2500 Attack points!]" Buneary stepped back a little.

"[And that's not all! Magician Navigation also lets me summon a second monster from my Deck, so I choose my Dark Magician Girl!]" Pikachu placed that card on the Duel Disk and the Dark Magician Girl popped out, giving a wink before standing tall next to her teacher.

Dark Magician: 2500 ATK, 2100 DEF

Dark Magician Girl: 2000 ATK, 1700 DEF

"[Now then, my Dark Magician! Attack Chimera and wipe it out!]" The Dark Magician charged up its magic blast and shot it towards Chimera, blasting it into pieces as Buneary stepped back from the recoil.

Buneary: 2200 LP

"[You activated the effect of Chimera! Whenever it's destroyed, I'm allowed to summon one of the monsters that was used as Fusion Material, so say welcome back to Gazelle, the King of Mythical Beasts!]" Buneary resummoned Gazelle, making it roar once more as it stood tall.

"[That doesn't matter! Dark Magician Girl, attack Gazelle and wipe it out!]" The Dark Magician Girl prepared its attack, but it didn't go off.

"[I activate my own Trap Card, Scrap Iron Scarecrow! This allows me to cancel the attack of one monsters each turn, and I choose your Dark Magician Girl!]" The Scrap Iron Scarecrow appeared and blocked the Dark Magician Girl's attack before going face down once more. "[And the best part is that it doesn't go to the Graveyard once it's used!]"

Pikachu seemed slightly annoyed, but wasn't very mad overall. "[Fine. I'll end my turn there.]"

Piplup seemed absorbed by the action, watching as both of them made their moves. "[Wow, these two are so close! It's almost like they're experts!]"

Buizel looked between the two of them and shook his head. "[I wouldn't say that, Piplup. Look at the field and tell me the problem that you see.]"

"[Huh? What problem? You're crazy Bui-]" Piplup didn't continue as he noticed something on Pikachu's side of the field. "[Oh no, he left Big Shield Gardna in Attack mode!]"

Buizel nodded, turning over to Buneary as she drew her card. "[And judging my Buneary's face, it looks like he's about to pay dearly for that mistake.]"

This was true. Buneary had a very devious smile on her face as she looked over at Pikachu to make her move. "[Alright Pikachu, prepare to meet your maker! I sacrifice my Marshmallon and my Gazelle in order to summon the ultimate beast! I'm bringing out, the Blue Eyes White Dragon!]"

Everyone, Pikachu included, had a shocked expression as Buneary said that. "[Blue Eyes White Dragon?!] As they looked on, an enormous white dragon was brought on, letting out a loud roar as its commanding presence left everyone looking on in awe.

Blue Eyes White Dragon: 3000 ATK, 2500 DEF

"[Now, Blue Eyes! Destroy his Big Shield Gardna with White Lightning!]"

My Big Shield Gardna? Oh no, I forgot to switch it back to Defense mode! I'm screwed!

The Blue Eyes charged up its attack and blasted its full force towards the Gardna, evaporating it and having the rest of the attack go towards Pikachu. It was so real, that Pikachu could almost feel the power overtaking him as he fell to the ground.

Pikachu: 100 LP

Buneary grinned with a bursting amount of confidence as she stood by her Blue Eyes. "[It's over, Pikachu, there's nothing that you can do to stop my Blue Eyes from wiping you away!]"

Pikachu got back on to his feet and drew his card. "[You say that, but no card is unbeatable! I just gotta find the right one…]" Pikachu looked at the card he drew.

Spellbinding Circle? That's no good! I have no monsters in my hand right now… I guess I have to play defensive. At least this card will let me stop it from attacking.

"[I'll set a card face down and end my turn.]"

"[See, what'd I say? No hope, big boy.]" Buneary drew her own card before motioning towards Bleu Eyes. "[Now, Blue Eyes, attack once again! White Lightning on the Dark Magician Girl!]" The Dragon started to charge its attack, but Pikachu interrupted it.

"[Not so fast! I play my trap card, Spellbinding Circle! Now your dragon won't be able to attack!]" Buneary growled as her Dragon was surrounding by a magical circle, trapping it and making it unable to move.

Pikachu drew a card, and opened his mouth at what he got. Magic Formula! This'll make my Dark Magician stronger than her Blue Eyes!

"[I play the Equip Spell, Magic Formula! This lets my Dark Magician gain an extra 700 Attack points, which is more than enough to beat your Blue Eyes White Dragon!]"

Buneary started panicking. "[W-What? No way, this is the strongest monster in the game! You can't possibly beat it!]"

Pikachu smirked and started chuckling. "[I believe I just did. Now, Dark Magician, destroy the Blue Eyes White Dragon! Dark Magic Attack!]" The Dark Magician charged its attack and fired, hitting the Blue Eyes and shattering it into pieces. "[Now, my Dark Magician Girl, use your Dark Burning Attack to win this duel!]" The Dark Magician Girl fired and hit Buneary directly, causing her to fall back on the ground.

Buneary: 0 LP. Pikachu is the winner of the duel!

Pikachu let out a sigh of relief as he ran over to Buneary. "[Hey, are you okay?]"

Buneary slowly got up, wincing about her fall, but still smiling nonetheless. "[Hehe, I'm fine, but thanks for being worried~]"

Pikachu scratched the back of his head, blushing. "[Hehe, well…. Y'know, you're a good friend and all, and I didn't mean to hurt you….]"

Buneary got up with Pikachu's help and brushed herself off "[Well, Pikachu, that sure was a lot of fun, what do you say about going a second round?]"

Pikachu pumped his fist. "[You got it, Buneary! Let's go ahead and-]" Pikachu turned back to see the others already getting involved in their own duel. "[...duel.]"

Buneary giggled, finding the sight of them dueling hilarious "[Well, we should let them have their fun, this is a game that everyone should enjoy, after all…]"

Pikachu nodded. "[Yeah, you're right! And we should go have fun with them!]" Pikachu extended his hand to Buneary, who accepted it as he dragged her towards the duel to watch.

End of Chapter 1

Okay, wow, this ended up being a lot longer than I thought it would be, but I really needed to get all my ideas on the table. Anyways, thanks for sticking around with this crazy idea, and if you have any ideas for the story, changes you'd like to see made, or even just questions for what could happen in the future, leave a review and I'll make sure to answer all of them to the best of my ability! Before I sign out, I'd like to advertise ravengal as my author of the chapter! Ravengal is an author who mostly writes about Pokemon and Hetalia, but also has many other types of stories about Fire Emblem, Card Captor Sakura, and more! She's honestly a fantastic writer, and I can't recommend her enough to all of you. (And she's a PikaBun supporter, so that's an automatic +1 in my book) Anyways, that's enough out of me. I hope to see you all soon. Deuces!