In Lumiose City, a new battle has begun at the conservatory inside Prof. Sycamore's lab. Inside, the building for Pokémon has turned into a lush, but desolate canyon. Between the Professors, Trainers, and the Pokémon, are all excited to see the game known as Vanguard. Ash and Kai's new battle gauntlets are glowing, representing their two spirits have made it onto the surface of the planet Cray. They now have a hand-made selection of cards put together in the form of a deck of fifty cards. Speaking of the deck, it's locked and loaded in their gauntlet. "Alright, Ash, to show our First Vanguard, you chose a Grade 0 Unit and place it on the glowing circle," Kai says, instructing Ash. Ash does so after Kai chooses his own, "I'm Ready Kai, shall we stand up?" Kai smiles as he tells everyone to say a phrase as soon as the two players flip their First Vanguards face-up.
"Stand Up, (The) Vanguard!"
As everyone says that phrase, the circles glow and Ash and Kai's outfits are transformed with elements of their First Vanguard. "I choose to Stand Up Barcgal!", Ash announces as he summons armor and his jacket gets a little furry. "As for me, Ash, I choose to Stand Up Lizard Soldier, Conroe!", Kai announces to Ash as he summons a cape and gets a scale-like pattern over his jacket. "I'll make the first move, Ash, just to show you an example," Kai announced to Ash. As Ash nods in agreement, Kai starts by drawing a card. Then, Kai can Ride his Vanguard with a unit with no more than one grade above. Meaning, that Kai can ride onto Conroe with another Grade 0 or a Grade 1. When a Cardfighter rides, they stack the unit on top of the Vanguard. "Ride, Iron Tail Dragon!", Kai announces as he sprouts small wing accessories and his gauntlet sprouting sharp claws. Kai then shows the ability to call others, or Rear-Guards by activating Conroe's Forerunner skill (Forerunner: When a unit of the same clan rides this unit, you can move it to a Rear-Guard Circle). Just then, a Pokémon from one of Kai's Pokeballs comes out and appears right behind him. What appears is one of Ash's longtime friends, Charizard. Ash smiles as he sees an old friend, but knows that he's on his rivals' side. "Now that I have you here, let's attack...," Kai says getting Ash worried, but then relives everyone when he reveals that Cardfighters going first can't attack.
"Ash, let's see what you can do," Kai says ending his turn. Ash now draws a card, then proceeds to look at his options. "I think I shall Ride... the Little Sage, Marron!", Ash says as he spawns a book and an academic hat. As Barcgal's Forerunner ability kicks in, Ash chooses to move him to the bottom right circle. Just then, everyone sees Ash's Squirtle appear in that position. The trainer then decides to call Rear-Guards from his hand, which is allowable. However, the units they want to call must be the grade of or are less than the current grade of the Vanguard. Ash calls Wingal behind him, as well as Young Pegasus Knight. Ash then sees his Fletchling appears next to him, and Pikachu is directly behind him. "What do you say that we attack, everyone?", Ash calls out to his Pokémon friends, with which they all agree. Kai then explains that Grade 0s and 1s each have a Boost ability, which when in the back row, they can support the other units by giving their attack power to the front row units. Ash then lays out his plan as he rests his units, by turning them 90 degrees, "Alright, with a Boost from Barcgal, I'll have Young Pegasus Knight attack the Vanguard!" Kai then smiles as he takes a card from his hand and shows it to Ash. The Pokémon gang is confused by the move, but then Kai reveals the mechanics of Guarding. "By using cards with a shield, you can use them to guard. I just used Gatling Claw Dragon to guard your attack. By doing that, the shields' power increases the total of my Vanguard." Ash then facepalms as the total Power of Kai's Vanguard is now 12,000, which is 2,000 points higher than Ash's attack strength of 10,000. "I guess if my power is less than yours, the attack won't get through?" Ash asks Kai to confirm the bad news, to which Kai nods. "After you guard, Ash," Kai continued his teaching, "All of the units you used are placed into the Drop Zone."
Ash knew that he had another attack ready and he was ready to use it. "With a boost from Wingal, Marron is coming in at your Iron Tail Dragon!" Kai hears Ash announce as he braces for the impact. "I don't guard, Ash," Kai confirmed his decision to Ash, "Now because you're attacking with your Vanguard, do a drive check." Serena looks at Misaki and she's confused about the Drive Check. Misaki proceeds to explain, "With a Drive Check, Ash draws and reveals the top card of his deck. No matter what, it's added to his hand. But if there is an icon at the top right, he'll get a bonus." Ash proceeds to draw and his jaw drops in astonishment when he reveals the card, "Kai, it's The Bringer of Good Luck, Epona!" Kamui is ecstatic himself, "Awesome Ash! That's A Critical Trigger!" Kai is shocked himself, "Triggers do give a unit of your choice a bonus of 5000 power...," Kai starts before worrying about the other effect. "but Critical Triggers add an extra point of damage for your attacker if the attack hits..." Ash assigns both effects to his Vanguard, giving the total attack 19,000 power, and 2 damage to Kai. "Now that Kai took damage...," Emi continues to the Trainers, "He has to do Damage Checks, which are similar to Drive Checks, but the cards are added to the damage zone instead of the hand." Kai's first damage check; Dragon Monk, Goku, no trigger. The second check, reveals The Embodiment of Armor, Bahr, another unit with no trigger. Kai shakes his head in shock but is impressed with Ash's first turn.
It's the third turn of the Cardfight and it's Kai's turn to strike. "Ash, that was good, but let's see what I can do," Kai called out to his opponent, "I draw and now ride, Dragon Knight, Nehalem!" As his circle glows, he spawns a spear along with a shield, and a purple cape. "I now activate the skill of Lizard Soldier, Conroe!," Kai calls out to Ash, declaring his next move, "By paying a Counter-Blast of 1, which means that by flipping over one card in my damage zone, I can move Conroe to the Drop Zone to search my deck for a Grade 1 or less Kagero unit and add it to my hand." As he searches his deck, he confirms his choice with another copy of Bahr, and Charizard returns to its Pokeball. Charizard returns as well as Infernape as Kai calls upon Bahr and a new unit, Wyvern Strike, Jarren. "Ash, here comes my Vanguard in an attack on yours!", Kai announces as Ash looks at his options before calling out, "Kai, this attack shall pass. I don't guard." Ash got lucky with Kai's Drive Check, as there is no trigger. But, Kai has revealed a Grade 3, which can prove catastrophic later on. Ash then performs his Damage Check, with no trigger. Kai hopes for another damage with an attack from Bahr supported by Jarren. Ash does allow this attack to go through, as he wants to keep guards for that Grade 3 Kai just grabbed. The next Damage Trigger brings no luck for Ash, but he's ready for the next turn that Kai can do.
"Cmon, Ash!," Bonnie shouted out for her friend, "You can do this!" Ash nods at her before looking at his units on the field and his hand. "Aichi Sendou may not be here with us, Kai," Ash called out to everyone, "But... this next move will bring back some good memories." Ash then brings out a card that suddenly glows blue, "Power of the light, shine forth and protect Aichi Sendou's family and friends!" The Cardfighters then realize who Ash is bringing out as Ash continues his declarations, "Now, Stand up, My Avatar! I ride... Blaster Blade!" As he slams the card onto the blue vanguard circle, his circle glows a bright blue as he gains the armor and sword of the unit. Kai smiles as he reminisces about the time that he and Aichi had their first Cardfight together. "Aichi called out the same thing, Ash," Kai said to his rival, "You are making me emotional." "Kai, let's see what you can do after my Vanguard's Ability kicks in!", Ash called to Kai, not realizing that his opponent paid a Counter Blast of 2, sending Bahr to the Drop Zone. Ash then continues his assault with his Vanguard being supported by Wingal and his skill, which if he supports Blaster Blade in an attack, he adds 4,000 power to the attack. With that skill, it makes the total power of this attack, 19,000 power. Kai chooses to Guard with Lizard Soldier, Ganlu. Clemont looks at the score and has a worried look on his face, "Unless Ash pulls a Drive Trigger, the attack will be harmless..." The trainers hold their breath as the Drive Check goes, but grunt when it reveals no trigger. With a score of 20,000 VS 19,000, Kai's defense held. However, the attack involving Young Pegasus Knight would be let through as Kai does a damage check. Despite no trigger, Kai still smiles as he stands up his units and draws. "Ash, you've done a good job, but..."Kai says before stopping himself and looking at one particular card. "Are you ready to see what the Kagero clan can bring to the table?!" Ash grits his teeth as he braces for a big turn from Toshiki Kai, the very first opponent for Aichi Sendou, and now for him as well.
The excitement inside the Lumiose City Lab has peaked as high as the Prism Tower. The professors, along with the trainers and their Pokémon, have been witnessing the game of Vanguard for the first time. "This is probably the most exciting thing I've ever seen since I discovered Mega Evolution," Sycamore remarked the pace and excitement of the game in front of him. Professor Oak is also very impressed, "I must admit, I've never had this much fun watching something since Ash competed in his first Pokémon League." Speaking of firsts, like with Aichi Sendou, Toshiki Kai is teaching the game. But this time, he's teaching the game to Ash Ketchum, a Pokémon trainer, an unknown identity to him or his rivals/allies. "Kai?," Ash called out to his opponent, "You said that this fight reminded you of your first fight with Aichi? What do you mean by that?"
Kai shakes his head as the focus now heads back to the Cardfighter's world, but back when they were younger. "Yes, in a couple of ways. You see Ash, I didn't have the best childhood. I lost my parents and had to move away twice.", Kai reminisces and tells about his past to everyone. Despite that, he's mainly directing this conversation towards Ash. "Yet through it all, I've played Vanguard and it was through that card game, that I've met Aichi Sendou." Kai then explains that when both were younger, Kai once gave a bruised and battered-up Aichi his now, iconic unit, Blaster Blade. As everyone could probably tell, Aichi was constantly bullied, yet through Vanguard, he was able to stay strong. One day, one of Aichi's classmates, Morikawa, stole Blaster Blade away and then bet it against Kai in a Cardfight. Morikawa lost the game, and Kai won Blaster Blade in the process of doing so. Aichi begged Kai to give him back the card, but Kai said no, under one condition. He then proceeds to tell the, at the time middle school-aged young boy, that if someone loses something throughout the Cardfight, then that was the only way to get it back. Aichi proceeded to muster up the courage and not only win the fight but also make a bond through the game. The two proceeded to become the best of friends and rivals. The focus now heads back to the present-day lab and as for Kai? Well, as he went on, he got more emotional about missing Aichi and wanting to find him all the more. "We all miss him, but by coming to your world, we may have a better chance," Kai finishes up his memories to everyone. "You know what Kai?," Ash called out to his newfound friend, "If Aichi was here, he would ask you to honor him by finishing this fight!" The mini crowd applauds and cheers in approval as the fight continues.
The field shows that Ash has a damage count of two, five cards in hand, and has an almost complete formation on the field. Kai, on the other hand, has only 2 units on the field, 4 cards in hand, and 3 damage. Kai now starts his turn by drawing a card and looking at his options. "Alright Ash, I'll start my turn by riding," Kai announces as he slams a card onto the Vanguard Circle, "I choose to ride a creature that has the same bond with the creature as you do... The Embodiment of Victory, Aleph!" Kai suddenly gains a demonic spear and his left-facing, brown hair suddenly turns into streaking out, red hair. Kai wasn't done yet as brings forth reinforcements, "I now call a second Jarran, and a lord of destruction in the form of Blazing Flare Dragon!" The field now sees Kai, along with Charizard to his right, Pignite behind him, and Infernape behind Charizard. Each Pokémon has representations of each called unit. Kai then immediately calls for an attack from Aleph, supported by Jarren. "I'll start my attacks with my Vanguard, and since he's a grade three, he has Twin Drive, which allows me to a drive check twice!" Ash is shocked by the move but calms down when he looks at a grade 1. "Kai, I don't think I can take this...", Ash starts as he places the grade 1 on the Guardian Circle and places Future Knight, Lew into the drop zone, "But, I bet that I can count on you, Flash Shield Iseult!" Kamui is shocked by the card, "Did... Ash have a Nullify in his hand all this time?!" Everyone in the "stands" is shocked by the sudden guard. Kai is shocked by the move but still does his Twin Drive. Both cards are revealed, only to have no triggers, and Ash puts the nullify in his drop zone. Kai follows up with a Jarren and Blazing Flare combo. Ash doesn't guard and proceeds to reveal no trigger in his damage check.
Ash then stands and draws. He proceeds to ride, as he calls upon another unit. "Friends never battle alone, and this unit is no exception. Now, it's time for me to ride... Alfred Early!" Ash now gains a unique sword and crown and proceeds to activate the ability of his Vanguard. "Kai, let's see you deal with Blaster Blade twice, as I call him to Rear Guard!" Ash proceeds to attack, starting with Young Pegasus Knight, being boosted by Barcgal. The power level is equal, but rules state that the attacker would still win. Regardless, Kai defends with Dragon Monk, Genjo, bringing the total power to 20,000. Ash then attacks with his Vanguard, supported by Wingal. Kai announces no defenders, as Ash checks his Twin Drive. The first check brings nothing, as well as the second check. Kai reveals no trigger on his damage check, as Ash ends his turn. "Ash, you've fought well, but now, this is it, the Final Turn!" Everyone is now fully concentrated, as everyone looks at Kai unleashing another powerful Grade 3 Unit. "Now, as I ride the Vanguard, it's time to burn everything in this world to ashes with apocalyptic fire! Rise on up, Dragonic Overlord!" As Kai slams the card onto the circle, multiple things happen at once. First, Kai's Vanguard circle glows a fiery red. As it glows, the Cardfighter gains wings and a dragon sword. Finally, the shape of his gauntlet turns into his units' clawed hand. As Kai calls upon Dragon Knight, Nehalem, and Demonic Dragon Mage, Kimnara, Kai has a full formation on the field and a confident and angry look on his face. "Now Ash, prepare to witness my Vanguard's Ultimate Skill!," Kai announces as his circle glows a fiery red, "By paying a Counter Blast of 3, I gain 5000 power, lose Twin Drive, but another ability." He doesn't reveal the full effect yet, but Ash prepares for the onslaught. He starts this by first guarding Blazing Flare's attack with Epona. The second attack is now taken by Ash, as he does a damage check, with no trigger revealed. "Now, supported by Jarren...," Kai starts as he looks at his options, "Overlord... Attack his Pegasus Knight!" The trainers are confused by the tactic as Kai reveals no trigger on the drive check. Just then, as Ash's Fletchling retreats, Kai's Vanguard stands back up! "By attacking a Rear Guard," Kai explains the skill of his Overlord, "my Vanguard's can stand back up for another attack, and he'll do just that against Blaster Blade!" Ash does let that go, as there's no drive trigger on the check. Kai's Vanguard Stands Up, one last time, as he attacks Alfred, hoping for the best. Kai draws and announces, "Got it... Critical Trigger!," shocking everyone including his Pokémon team, "This time, all effects will go to Overlord! Now burn, Ash, in our Eternal Flame!" As Kai's circle glows a volcanic red, Ash can feel burning sensations through his body, "This is gonna hurt... Ahhh!!!!" Ash, after the effects of the burn, is now struggling to get up, dealing with burning pains all over his body. Everyone watches in horror, as Emi thinks to herself, "Ash, you must pull Eliane, otherwise... it's game over..." As Ash looks at his first damage check, it brings nothing. Ash then closes his eyes as he draws, what could be, his 6th and final damage. A green glow suddenly comes from the card, as Ash opens his eyes. "This is...," Ash says as he's in awe of the card, "A Heal Trigger?" Kai is shocked by the appearance of this card, "It's just like our first fight again... Aichi pulled Yggdrasil Maiden, Eliane for his 6th damage too." Misaki then explains that with a Heal Trigger, if Ash has a damage count more than or equal to his opponent's, he takes a card from his damage zone and places it into the drop zone. Kai realizes that with the trigger, Nehalem's attack would not good be enough.
Ash looks at Kai, then stands up his units and draws. "Kai, you failed to do me and my friends in, so now... it's my Final Turn!" Everyone looks on in anticipation as Ash looks at his new unit. "Like us trainers, the paladins will evolve to newfound strengths!" Ash then slams the card onto the circle, as he becomes a Knight himself, "He was once prince, but now, as I ride the vanguard, he's now The King of Knights, Alfred!" The trainers are now bowing to Ash as if he was Alfred himself. "As I have ridden Alfred, I will now call Marron, as well as The Knight of Silence, Gallatin!" Ash then pays a Counter-Blast of 3, to use Alfred's skill to call forth a Grade 2 or lower Royal Paladin from the deck and call it to Rear Guard. "The unit I choose is The Knight of Truth, Gordon!" Ash then does an attack from Gordon and Barcgal. Kai doesn't guard and proceeds to reveal a Critical Trigger in his damage check. With that check, Kai's Vanguard is now at 15,000. Ash decides to attack with Alfred, who doesn't get boosted, but with his ability, gains 2,000 power for each rear-guard that Ash has on his field. Despite a total of 20,000, Kai drops a card to nullify the attack with Wyvern Guard, Barri. Ash still does his twin drive and draws nothing for his first check, then proceeds to do his second check. Ash then shows his second check, "Got it! Critical Trigger!", Ash announces to the group, "All of the effects will to Gallatin." Kai then realizes he's in trouble and doesn't guard against the next attack. It was easy to tell, as he had little defense to guard against the now oncoming attack of 23,000 power and 2 critical. As Pikachu makes an Iron Tail attack on Kai like the blind swordsman striking at Overlord. Kai grunts from the pain as he then proceeds to look at his two damage checks. Ultimately, this puts him at 7 Damage, so his only hope is for two heals to come in a row. The crowd holds their breath as Kai reveals on his first check... a heal trigger. "Just another heal, and he survives..." Pikachu says to himself, despite not making a scene. The Cardfighter's faces soon have shocked expressions as Kai's second check is a trigger... but not a heal trigger. "With that final damage Ash," Kai says looking at his opponent with a smile, "I return to my spirit form, and dissipate from the Planet Cray's surface. You win."
The crowd then erupts as they applaud the two players for an awesome match. As the crowd continues to applaud, the two gauntlets soon turn off, the majority of Ash and Kai's Pokémon return, and the lush landscape of Cray turns back into the conservatory part of the lab. Ash smiles and giggles as not only Pikachu and Charizard reunite, but as well as Kai gets a Flamethrower in the face. "Geez," Kai says as he brushes off the soot from his face, "Does that happen when you're with Ash, Charizard?" Charizard growls as he then looks at Ash and Pikachu, who does the same flame to the face. Everyone laughs as they soon join together for an outstanding moonlit dinner at the lab. Sycamore and Oak said to everyone that they recorded the footage of the Cardfight. It was so that no one could ever forget the memory of this encounter. The trainers and cardfighters even allowed it to be posted online so that everyone could get into the game as well. After that, Kai looks outside of the entrance to the lab, smiling with Ash's lent Charizard. "You know, Charizard?," Kai says, getting his attention, "I never had this kind of experience before, and they're going to be plenty more." "I've been with Ash for quite a long time," Charizard says to his new trainer, surprising him, "But, I've never done a fight like that before." Kai and Charizard look up at the moon, as Ash and Pikachu come up to join him. "Thinking about Aichi and that Cardfight, Kai?" Kai nods as Ash joins his "teacher". "Still have any doubts about Kai, Charizard?", Pikachu called out to one of his longest friends, who just shakes his head no. "Ash, don't worry," Kai turns to face him, "We'll be counting on you guys to teach us about Pokémon." Ash accepts the offer presented by Kai by putting out his offer, "Yeah, as long as you don't mind having us take part in more Cardfights." The two humans and Pokémon shake in approval as they headed back inside the lab.
Meanwhile, in an unknown location, voices are speaking about Aichi. "How could we have failed in making them forget about the sealed boy?", an older man speaks. "I don't know, it shouldn't have been possible," a young girl says to the two men, as another man's voice steps in. "I'm much more concerned about our seals? Why is it that they are not working?!", a blue-haired man said to three other people. They all just shake their heads as they have no clue as to why their so-called "seals" weren't working. "This is bad, the locks that are on the boy's throne are weakening," the young girl said to the small group. "If we don't do something soon..." Just then the oldest of the group finishes the worrisome sentence, "Then the problem that once threatened him and us will be unleashed again... Just what is exactly going on?! "The youngest boy of the group then has the final say before looking up at the blue moonlit sky."We must make sure that we succeed... Otherwise, our mission as the Quatre Knights is doomed."
Aichi's Friends have now taught Ash and his friends the game of Vanguard and it's antagonizing an unknown group of people.
Who are these Quatre Knights and who is the Locked Boy?
Next time: It's a Cardfight Craze!