BOOM. I am ALIVE. I'm sorry for lack of updates on many of my other stories. But once again, I had a stupid idea that I had to get out of my system.

So the stupidity is as follows- I play a few games of Pokémon TCG. I realize there isn't really a Yu-Gi-Oh style anime in that regard. I figure it probably wouldn't work anyway... but hell if I'm not going to try. The next day, I visit my best friend, who's recently acquired a Teen Titans full DVD set. The rest is history.

NOTE: The events of this fic take place in between the fourth and fifth seasons of Teen Titans. Following the animated continuity of course, and not the comics or... ugh... the reboot. It will be written in a Yu-Gi-Oh like style, and this time I'll be writing down the stats of each card as they appear.And that's another thing- the cards present are a bit unique. I'm going to use a buffed Pokémon Base Set for the starting decks- think XY Evolutions but on every card. Trainer Cards will be re-written as such, with Energy Retrieval no longer requiring a discard and Bill drawing 3 but acting as a Supporter. And Poison Pokémon are treated as Grass, not Psychic.

Later trainers will be using [slightly] buffed cards from each successive set, like Pokémon Jungle, Fossil Series and Team Rocket. This makes it feel at home to a modern Pokémon player, while providing a twinge of familiarity for the older players. And, of course, this means I only need to come up with 151 Pokémon evolution lines.

That was the technical stuff.Now that that's out of the way, I'd like to introduce you to my latest project:

TCG Titans

Chapter I: Champions Approaching

xXx

"Arise."

Robin stirred on the floor, getting up. This was... unusual. Why was he lying down in a cave? He hadn't fallen asleep inside of it. And what was that odd, feminine voice? He'd never heard it before.

"You have awakened." the voice said. "Excellent."

"Okay, lady, I want answers," he growled. "What did you bring me here for?"

"You will understand, in due time," the mystical being said. "You are a legendary hero, destined to rid our world of your evil."

"Your world? My evil?" Robin was confused. "What?"

"The six legendary elementals have all but lost their former Champions. In the past, they defended our world from a great evil. Now... the lizard of fire calls out to you!"

"Lizard of fire?" he questioned. "What, is it some kind of dragon or-"

"NO!" the voice shouted. "It is no dr- agh, forget it."

"So... back up," muttered Robin. "If I'm some sort of legendary champion, and I'm supposed to command this beast... Where is it?"

"On the ground in front of you."

He looked to see a small red slip on the floor. He bent down to examine it, seeing a painting of an ancient winged lizard on it.

"So... this is it? This is the dragon I'm supposed to champion...? It's a trading card."

"First of all... What did I say about calling it a dragon? And second, yes, it's a trading card. In this world, such cards hold the key to unleashing one's true power."

"A world where everything is a card game..." he said, sighing. "Almost sounds like Mad Mod's paradise. Fine, I'll play by your rules. But if for a SECOND me playing this game will hurt my friends-"

"It shall not," the voice replied. "Though your friends may end up in their own perils, your battles shall not affect their own well-being. However, they will be fighting their own battles while you champion the Flame."

He thought, long and hard. There were only two explanations for this, after all. The first was that the other Titans were not in this world. But if he was here, and one or more of his past foes would come here too, they could come as well. The other possible explanation rang in his mind-

"At least a couple of them... They're Champions as well, aren't they?"

"You are correct," the voice responded. "At this time, you are the second of the Champions to arise- the Champion of flames. The Champion of the Mind has already recieved her mystic beast, and will meet you outside the chamber. She was the, er... quiet one."

"Raven, huh?" muttered the newly crowned Champion of the Flame. "Not sure how she feels about this... Probably doesn't like it one bit."

"No, she does not."

Robin swept the card off of the floor. He held it tightly, and from the one card a full deck began to construct in his hand, made mostly of burning firebreathers and sketches of fire. However, the occasional caricature of a human or an object was added from time to time.

"Whoa."

"It's really not that shocking," said a quiet, snarky voice. "I could do so much better... if I cared."

Robin looked up, finding himself in a different room than when he had begun. He was now in a cavern hall, with nothing but a couple of paths and an emo girl in sight.

"I think whoever's behind this needed help," Robin deduced. "But why call us here? And why give us these weird cards? All she said was that I was one of six great heroes, you were another-"

"She gave me a deeper info dump," Raven interjected. "Apart from the Flame and the Mind, there were four other Champions- the Sea, the Thunder, the Strength, and the Nature... It seems these six elements govern everything in this world. I've even been locked out of my powers since arriving."

"Really?" questioned the chief Titan. For once, he was glad not to rely on super powers. "We need to find the others. Who knows, maybe more people than just us will be Champions... I can see Cyborg making a great Champion of Thunder."

"I wouldn't be too eager," Raven pointed out. "We'll probably go through a huge chunk of our 'rogue's gallery' on this quest. Slade's probably going to round it all off from beyond the grave, or my father will find some way to combat us, or-"

"What are you getting at?"

The spawn of Trigon shook her head. "If we're going to win, we need to find someone who can teach us how to use these things. I've never been one for card games in general, and you never had time."

Robin scratched his chin. "Well... I do have one idea, but it coincides with my plan to find the others in the first place. What if Beast Boy played a card game just like this in our world? It's not crazy to think about- in fact, it lines up perfectly."

"Yeah," Raven added. "I remember when he got those Pokémon cards. Don't these look similar?"

"Grass, fire, water, lightning, fighting, psychic... They're the six elements of the Champions!" gasped Robin.

"So we're inside a card game based on a video game," groaned the Champion of the Mind. "Oh, joy. I'm shuddering with excitement."

xXx

Meanwhile, somewhere in the dark wastes of whatever odd planet the Titans had been teleported to, a bronze-armored figure stood before a cloaked man. The knight bent down and knelt before his master.

"My lord, the champions are recieving the divine beasts, and... your apprentice is among them."

"I see," the cloaked man spoke, his voice coming out in a low baritone. "I must test how strong they are in this world, and see what aspects I must... capitalize upon." He turned to face his minion, his left eye peering out from under his hood while his right seemed to be absent."Sir Gaia, I leave this task to you. Do not disappoint me."

Sir Gaia nodded. "As you command... Lord Slade."

xXx

Well, after that, I figure I should list out what I'm doing. The main characters all possess their usual cards, but they'll each have an "ace" with an Ability. Later, additional Ability Pokémon will (usually) not get this treatment, though I feel if I end up with a character playing a Dragonite, it'll have to be Slade. [He's probably going to use the "Dark" Pokémon from the Team Rocket set, actually.

As a reminder, I'll post each character's deck down here as they're introduced.

ROBIN

Champion of the Flame deck [Fire]

Signature Pokémon: Charizard

RAVEN

Champion of the Mind deck [Psychic]

Signature Pokémon: Alakazam

As of yet, the Champions of the Nature [Grass, ace Venusaur, the Sea [Water, ace Blastoise, Thunder [Lightning, ace Electrode, and Strength [Fighting, ace Machamp] have yet to be revealed.