Hello again!
I said that the previous chapter was an experiment, but THIS chapter will be a test for me. If I think I pulled it off then I shall continue.
Another thing, I forgot to give credit to Hiyuusha for helping me to come up with the title. Hiyuusha, if you're reading this, thank you.
Now on to the chapter!
Chapter 2
Ash woke up with a start and quickly sat up. He found himself on a hospital bed still wearing his clothes save for the hat which is on a table next to him. With a hospital bed here he know that he is in a room in the hospital.
"Whew. You startled me." A female voice said before Ash said something. He turned to see a teenage girl, seemingly a little younger than Ash, standing next to the bed smiling. She has dark pink hair which are tied up in pigtails, clipped down by blue, spherical hair clips, with blue eyes. Her outfit consists of a sleeveless light-blue and white shirt with a musical note on the right collar, along with a red tie, which she wears with a dark red skirt and dark stockings and pink shoes. She also has a bracelet that has a red jewel on her right wrist.
"Oh, sorry. I didn't see you there." Ash apologized. He then realized something making his eyes widen. "Wait. You can see me?"
The girl nodded. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I?"
"Oh. Nothing." Ash said proceeding to rub his fingers on his hands and have them wonder on the bed. He can actually feel them physically. If he was a spirit he wouldn't have been able to touch things. Heck the girl couldn't have seen him. He has a body now, a real body again which made Ash very happy.
"I'm alive again." Ash murmured making sure the girl doesn't hear him. Unfortunately she heard it and is now looking confused. Ash brought the pendant closer to his face. "Thank you."
"Are you talking to me?" The girl asked getting Ash's attention.
"Oh. No. I'm not really talking to anyone in particular. I was just talking to myself."
The girl giggled at his response. "You're weird."
"I get that a lot." Ash chuckled at the remark he gave to the cute girl in front of him. "I'm Ash."
"I'm Yuzu." The girl introduced herself as Yuzu.
Ash nodded. "So Yuzu. What happened?"
"We found you lying unconscious on the sidewalk and brought you here." Yuzu answered.
Ash looked confused. "We?" He questioned as the sound of the door closed was heard meaning someone came in to the room. "Who's the other we?"
"I am." A teenage boy around Yuzu's age answered walking next to Yuzu. He has dual-colored green and crimson hair of average length sticking out in downwards pointing spikes all around his head and a pair of golden goggles with orange lenses with a blue star obscuring the right one on his forehead and crimson eyes. He is wearing a simple red shirt with a thick, silver-buckled brown belt over it, green pants with pockets on each leg, and magenta shoes, as well as crimson wristbands. He also wears a gold and red lined white school jacket over his shoulders like a cape. He also has a pendant and a buckled choker around his neck.
"You're awake! That's great!" The boy exclaimed.
"Yeah. Thanks for watching over me Yuzu and . . . uh-" Ash said trying to get the boy's name.
"I'm Yuya! Yuya Sakaki!" The boy, Yuya, introduced with a big smile.
"Okay, Yuya Sakaki. I'm Ash. Ash Ketchum."
"Okay. Now that we got introductions out of the way you're free to get out of the hospital Ash." Yuzu said.
"That's great!" Ash exclaimed throwing the covers off and sat on the edge of the bed. "One more question though. How long have I been here?"
"About two days." Yuya answered.
"TWO DAYS?! But how?"
"You may have been hit in the head or something."
"It doesn't matter how. What's important is that you're not really injured." Yuzu assured.
Ash grabbed his hat from the table and put it back on his head. "Yeah. You're right." As he stood up he felt something in his pocket and reached into it. When he got it out it revealed that he is holding the same deck of cards he got from Arceus.
"That's a dueling deck! Are you a duelist?!" Yuya exclaimed.
"Looks like it."
"Then where's your Duel Disk?" Yuzu asked.
"My, what?" Ash questioned reaching into his other pocket. He pulled it out to reveal a white, tablet-like device with the Key Stone embedded on the right side. "What is this?"
"It's a Duel Disk. Duelists use them to duel each other."
"Haven't you dueled before?" Yuya asked.
"I'm familiar with the game, but I never actually dueled before." Ash answered.
"You haven't?"
Ash shook his head. "No. In fact I don't even know how to duel."
"So, you're a beginner." Yuya's face brightened with an idea. "You can come to our duel school with us! You can be a student there with us and our friends! And on the way there we can tell you about the basics of dueling!"
"That's a great idea Yuya!" Yuzu exclaimed. "You can hone your dueling skills and become the best you can be!"
"The best I can be." Ash murmured as he put the deck and tablet in his pockets. "Sure! I'll go with you to this duel school!" He said with a smile.
"That's great!" Yuya exclaimed excitedly. "Let's go!" With that Yuya raced out the room with Yuzu following behind with a sweat drop.
"Yuya is basically another version of me in this world." Ash murmured with a chuckle. "This is gonna be interesting." He then followed out with the other two.
The three went out the hospital after signing Ash out. To say Ash was amazed at how technical the city was is understandable. The city looks like it is just as technical as LaRousse City back in the Hoenn region.
"You must be new in town if you're this amazed." Yuya said turning to Ash with his arms open wide with a big smile. "Welcome to our home, Maiami City!"
"Maiami City." Ash muttered.
"Well, let's go! The You Show Duel School is this way!" Yuya began to sprint toward deep into the city.
"The You Show Duel School?" Ash questioned as Yuzu ran after the speeding Yuya. "Hey! Wait up!" He then sprinted after the two.
For the next few minutes Yuya and Yuzu explained to Ash about the basics of dueling including the cards and how the Duel Disk works. They explained that the Duel Disk can be used for more than just dueling, but as a way to communicate to other duelists and do anything that requires an Internet connection.
"You got all that?" Yuya asked looking at Ash who is behind him.
"I think so." Ash said.
"Good. You'll learn more when you attend the duel school."
"Yuya." Yuzu hissed.
"What? I'm just sayin'."
"One more question though." Ash said gaining the Duelists' attention. "How do you two know each other?"
"Me and Yuzu?" Yuya dumbly asked.
"Who do you think I mean?"
Yuya smiled. "We have been best friends since we were little."
"So you're childhood friends."
"Yes. And I'm the mature one." Yuzu added.
"Hey!" Yuya exclaimed turning to the girl. "That's not fair. I take my duels seriously now."
"Oh, do you now?" Ash began to chuckle at the bickering making Yuya and Yuzu turn to him.
"Hey. What're you laughing at?"
"You two." Ash replied confusing the two. "You sound like a couple of siblings that always argue."
"We do not/I know." Yuya and Yuzu said together making the two look at each other. Ash then fully laughed at the scene.
"It's not that funny! And I know funny!" Yuya said. "We're here anyway." The three stopped in front of a building that looks more like a funhouse with the words 'You Show Duel School' at the top.
"That's the duel school you guys attend?"
"Sure is!" Yuya exclaimed proudly. "And what's even greater is that Yuzu's father owns the school!"
Yuzu blushed in embarrassment and smacked Yuya on the head with a giant paper fan she somehow brought out from nowhere leaving a big bump on his head. "Don't brag about it!"
"It's not that big a deal!" The two heard Ash chuckle again and turned to him. "What're you laughing at this time?"
"Oh, nothing. I think it's great that your father owns a school." Ash replied referring to Yuzu.
"Thanks, but, it's just as Yuya said, it's not that big a deal." Yuzu said.
"But, why did he call it 'You Show Duel School'?"
"We'll explain that later." Yuzu said as she and Yuya went into the school.
"This will be a great new experience! Right Pikachu?!" Ash turned to his shoulder only to see his yellow mouse friend not there. He frowned remembering where the mouse is. "Oh yeah. I left Pikachu back home to sacrifice my own life. Now I will never see him again."
"Hey Ash!" Yuya shouted from the front door snapping the Trainer out of his sadnesses. "Why are you just standing around?!"
"Nothing. I'm coming." Ash then followed Yuya inside the You Show Duel School.
When they got inside the school Ash saw that it kinda looks pretty simple despite the fun design outside. The three are currently riding an elevator that leads to the top.
"Here at our duel school we hone our skills by dueling each other." Yuya said.
"No joke. Why else would they call it a duel school?" Ash remarked sarcastically.
"Oh." Yuya said looking real stupid with a frown.
Ash sudedenly leaped and put his arm around Yuya's shoulder surprising the young Duelist. "Aw, don't feel bad. I acted just like you a year before."
"A year before? How old are you now?"
"I'm 15." Yuya laughed as the three made it all the way up to a hallway and got out the elevator as the doors closed. "Now what are you laughing at?"
"You're still pretty young. You don't have to mature that much."
Ash sighed. "You're probably right. Which means I still got time to do this." He then trapped Yuya into a headlock and started to rub his head with his knuckles. "Noogie, noogie, noogie!"
"Hey! Hey! Quit it!" Yuya exclaimed before Ash let go of his head. Both males then shared a laugh with each other.
'Great. Just what we need. Another Yuya.' Yuzu thought sweat dropping at the laughing boys.
"What's with all the laughing?" A voice asked as Ash and Yuya stopped laughing. A man with dark blue eyes and brown/orange hair wearing a red/orange jumpsuit with a green trim and red fire design with a dark blue shirt with another fire design.
"Hey daddy." Yuzu said.
Ash smiled. "So you're Yuzu's dad. The owner of this school."
"That's me!" The man exclaimed with a smile pointing a good thumb to himself. "Shuzo Hiragi! Are you here to sign up for the school?!" After that Yuzu smacked Shuzo with the same paper fan.
"You just met the guy and you're already asking him to attend school here?!" Yuzu yelled.
Both Ash and Yuya sweat dropped. "Is she always like this?" Ash asked.
"You have no idea." Yuya replied.
"Where did she even get the fan?"
"Nobody knows."
Ash sighed. 'Seeing this reminds me of when Misty beat me with a mallet that she got from nowhere.' He thought. "Anyway, I'll be happy to sign up once I know more about this school."
Shuzo smiled excitedly. "You got it! I'll give you every information you need."
"Are you sure about this Ash? You just got out of the hospital." Yuzu said with a hint of concern in her voice.
"I told you, I'm fine." Ash reassured.
"Hospital? So you're the guy Yuya and Yuzu told me about." Shuzo said.
Ash nodded. "Yep. I'm Ash Ketchum. Oh yeah. I forgot to thank you two for looking after me while I was unconscious." He said addressing to Yuya and Yuzu.
Yuya smiled putting a hand on Ash's shoulder. "No worries. I mean, after all, we were the ones who found you and brought you to the hospital."
Shuzo sudedenly wrapped his arm around Ash's shoulder. "Why don't you ask what you need to know while we sign you up." He then began to lead Ash through the hallway with the latter, Yuya, and Yuzu sweat dropping.
"Man. Your father works fast."
"That's my dad being himself. Always getting somebody to sign up." Yuzu commented. Both Duelists followed behind through the hallway.
Ash and the other three made it to a some sort-of conference room where there are two sofas facing each other and a T.V. at the end. Ash sat on one sofa with Yuya and Yuzu which Shuzo sat on the other one.
"Okay, what do you want to know?" Shuzo questioned.
"Well, first and foremost, why is this school called 'You Show Duel School'?" Ash asked.
"Because in this school students learn how to be Entertainment Duelists!"
"Entertainment . . . Duelists?"
"They're a type of professional duelists." Yuya answered looking towards Ash.
"You didn't tell me that there are types of Duelists."
"It never crossed my mind."
"See, every Duel, every school, and every Duelist have their own different style. Entertainment Dueling will only be taught here in this school." Yuzu added.
"There are other Duel Schools?"
"Of course there are." Shuzo answered. "Maiami City is a huge town and the You Show Duel School is a small school."
"A small school? What's the largest in this town?"
"That would be the prestigious Leo Duel School, LDS for short."
"LDS. And what exactly do they teach there?"
"Children that attend there want to be good enough to be in the Pro League. That's why they go there. And it's the only school that offered classes on the different summoning methods."
"What summoning methods?"
"I can answer that!" Yuya replied suddenly making Ash look at him. "First, there are courses for Fusion summoning. Then you got your courses for Synchro. And finally you got your Xyz Summon classes."
"Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz." Ash said blankly. "How do you know that?"
"Because we went there once."
"Really?" Yuya nodded in response. "What for?"
"That's a story for another time."
"That's right." Shuzo said standing up. "Right about now the other students should be here. I will go get them and introduce you. I'll be back in a few." With that he walked out the door out the room.
"So, what exactly does an Entertainment Duelist do?" Ash asked looking at both Yuya and Yuzu back and forth.
Yuya smiled at the question. "An Entertainment Duelist is a Duelist who entertains the people through their actions in Action Duels."
Ash looked confused at the answer. "So they entertain crowds with their dueling. How?"
"Have you been to a circus before?" Yuzu questioned.
"Sure." Ash replied with a nod.
"It's kind of like that."
"Ah."
"You should watch me duel sometime to see how it's done." Yuya informed.
"You got it, teacher." Ash replied that last word with a smirk.
"Huh?!"
Ash chuckled at Yuya's expression. "Just kidding."
Yuzu smiled at that. "Looks like this school is perfect for you. You like to joke around, but can you get serious in a duel?"
"Let's find out." Ash said as he was about to stand up.
"Hold on. Why don't we wait until everybody else gets here first." Yuya suggested.
"Oh, right." Ash deadpanned as an idea popped into his head. "While we wait why don't you guys tell me what the summoning methods are and how hey are performed."
"I guess that's a way to kill time as any. First off, let's start with Fusion."
"I can explain that!" A voice suddenly called out behind surprising the three making them stand up and turn frantically. Behind them is a young boy who came out from behind the couch with a smile. He is short with light teal hair, that is tied up and spiked out and wearing a blue jacket with a yellow and orange trim over a black shirt. He also wears a pair of light grey cargo shorts over long white socks and brown shoes. He also seems to have a lollipop in his mouth.
"How many times have I told you not to do that Sora?!" Yuya exclaimed.
"I lost count." The young boy, Sora, replied pulling the lollipop out of his mouth.
"When did you get here anyway?" Ash asked.
"I was here the entire time. You just didn't notice. I'm Sora Shiun'in." Sora introduced holding his hand out.
Ash grabbed the hand with a smile accepting the handshake. "Nice to meet you. I'm Ash Ketchum." They parted the handshake as they looked at each other. "So how does Fusion Summoning work?"
"What? Nobody use Fusion where you came from?"
"You can say that. Or Synchro. Or Xyz."
"That would explain why you need an explanation of those summons." Yuya commented.
"Alright, you already know how fusing works, right." Sora tested.
"Sure. When two or more things are combined together they can create a new entity." Ash demised. "But how is it performed?"
"Well in order to Fusion Summon you need at least two of the correct monsters to use as Fusion Materials, whether from the field, your hand, or Graveyard, and use certain cards and their effects to summon a Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck." Sora brought out a Duel Disk similar to Ash's excepts the body is yellow and no Key Stone on it.
Sora somehow opened a side of the Duel Disk that revealed a deck of cards probably the same length as Ash's. He drew a card from the top of the deck. "This is usually the card Duelists use to fuse their monsters." He revealed it with an image of a vortex with two orange silhouttes swirling in there. "This is Polymerization. The most common card to Fusion Summon."
"Cool. So that's how you do Fusion." Sora put the Polymerization card back on his deck and closed the Deck Zone. "So what does a Fusion Monster card look like?" Ash asked.
"I thought you would ask that." Sora opened the other end of the Duel Disk which made a card pop out as he took it out. It revealed that the card is purple on the front with an image of a what seems to be a giant teddy bear with red creepy eyes under it's mouth and a pair of giant scissors in the belly. Under the image lies a box with some kind of details inside and two numbers with initials ATK:2200 and DEF:1800. "This is a Fusion Monster and one of my aces, Frightfur Bear."
"Awesome." Ash commented as Sora put the Frightfur Bear card back to the Extra Deck Zone. "Now onto Synchro."
"I got this one." Yuya said making Ash turn to him. "Synchro Summoning is where you combine at least two monsters to summon one powerful monster from the Extra Deck."
"Just like Fusion." Ash added.
"Except the level of the Synchro Monster has to be equal to the combined levels of the Synchro Materials. For example, you have a Level 3 Tuner Monster and a Level 5 Non-Tuner, add those two levels together 3+5=8 so you would bring out a Level 8 Synchro Monster."
"What's a Tuner Monster?"
"A Tuner Monster is a type of monster that is needed to Synchro Summon. If you try to do it with regular monsters it won't work. There has to be a Tuner Monster on the field to use Synchro. A Tuner and a regular monster, Non-Tuner."
"Wow Yuya. Ash was right. You do make a perfectly good teacher." Yuzu teased with a smirk.
"Shut up." Yuya said blushing in embarrassment.
Ash and Sora chuckled at the scene before them. "Do you have any Synchro cards to show me to let me know what they look like?"
Yuya, Yuzu, and Sora all shook their head. "Sorry Ash. None of us have Synchro Monsters with us. Not even our own classmates."
"Oh. Okay." Ash sighed.
"Sorry." Yuya apologized sadly.
"No. It's okay." Ash said shaking his head. "Now finally, Xyz Summon."
"Xyz Summon is a method that involves using two or more monsters of the same level." Sora answered. "When you got them on the field you do a process called overlaying which creates a portal known as the Overlay Network and summon the Xyz Monster from your Extra Deck."
"The monsters that were used in the summoning don't go to the Graveyard. Instead they will stay on the field, but will be attached to the Xyz Monster and are Xyz Materials. Xyz Materials can be detached to activate their effects, usually only one at a time." Yuya added.
Ash nodded. "Okay."
"Not done yet. There are some cards that can be attached to an Xyz Monster as a material."
"One more thing. Xyz Monsters don't use Levels, they have Ranks in place of Levels. Therefore effects that affect Levels won't work on Xyz Monsters." Sora concluded.
"That's a lot to take in." Ash breathed out. "I don't suppose any of you guys have an Xyz Monster." He got a response when the three shook their heads. "Yeah, I didn't think so."
"And there will be more things to learn." The voice of Shuzo came making the group of four twist to the doorway. They see the principal standing at the door with three little kids in front of him, a girl with dark red hair, a blue haired boy that looks like he is knowledgeable, and a chubby boy.
"Principal! How long have you been standing there?" Yuya asked.
"Long enough to know that I'm being out schooled right now." Shuzo answered. Yuya scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
"Is that everybody?" Ash asked referring to the three kids.
Shuzo nodded. "Yes Ash. They are all students here and that's everybody, including you."
"You told me this school was small, but I didn't think it'd be this small."
"Well kids these days don't want to be Entertainment Duelists." Shuzo replied with a disappointed sigh. "Ash, I'd like to introduce you to Ally."
The girl on the left, Ally, waved. "Hi."
"Tate."
"It's a pleasure." The blue haired boy, Tate, said.
"And Frederick."
"Meeting a new student always give me shivers." The chubby boy, Frederick, replied while shaking his body weirding Ash out.
"Nice to meet you all." Ash said regaining himself. "I'm Ash."
"Hey Ash." Ally greeted again. "That's a nice name."
"Thank you."
"So Ash, where are you from?" Tate asked.
That question got Ash in a stump. What is he supposed to tell them? That he is from another world that is different from theirs? No one would probably believe it and if they did they would be afraid of him. And he didn't want that.
"Are you the best Duelist there?" Frederick asked.
That question, thankfully, saved Ash from answering the first one because he couldn't come up with a lie. "Nobody really dueled where I come from." That made everybody except Ash, Yuya, and Yuzu shocked.
"So you don't have any experience?" Ally asked.
"None."
"He does have a deck though." Yuya added. "Yuzu and I had to explain the game on our way here."
"So you never dueled before, but you managed to build a deck?" Tate questioned.
"Ironic, isn't it?" Ash said.
"Well if you have not any experience then let's find you a first opponent!" Ally said enthusiastically.
"Yeah!" Frederick agreed.
"Hang on a sec you two." Yuzu said putting her hands up. "This is probably all too sudden for Ash."
"No. No. It's okay. I actually would like to see how well I can duel." Ash assured holding his fist out.
"That's the spirit!" Yuya supported excitedly.
"But who will you chose as an opponent?" Sora asked.
Ash grabbed his chin in deep thought. "Good question. Which one of you will be the perfect first opponent? I'd love to see what I got against a Fusion Monster, so that would be Sora. I also love to have fun with my opponents, so Yuya would be the perfect choice."
"How about me?" A voice creepily asked behind Ash scaring everyone. Ash turned to see a shady looking kid, probably around Yuya and Yuzu's age with blue hair and wears a red poncho. Seeing this boy reminds Ash of Tobias from Sinnoh.
"You're not a student! Who are you and how did you find your way here?!" Shuzo exclaimed.
"My name is Shadow." The boy, Shadow, introduced.
"Appropriate name for someone like you." Ash retorted. "Why are you here?"
"I have a hobby of sneaking behind people and challenge them to a Duel."
"Is that all?" Yuya asked.
"Yes." Everybody else fell back anime style at that answer. "So how about dueling me? I gotta warn you though, I never lost a single Duel."
Ash managed to regain himself before sweat dropping. "Your method to get a opponent is creepy and you're so full of yourself, but sure. You will be my opponent."
"Are you sure about this Ash?" Yuzu asked with concern in her voice.
"I've never been more sure in my life. Sure he is awkward and real creepy."
"You know I'm right here, right?" Shadow retorted.
"But he shouldn't go around creeping people behind them. I already had that feeling long ago." Ash shivered at the thought of Conway being all creepy with him and his friends. "So I will put him in his place."
"Alright then." Shadow said before turning toward Shuzo. "Where'd the Action Arena?"
Shuzo sighed before opening the door. "Follow me." He then exited out the room with Ash and Shadow behind him.
"All right! This will be good!" Ally cheered before running out after the Duelists.
"You don't know that!" Tate added following along.
"Whether it will be good or creepy, I will get shivers!" Frederick replied making himself shiver, which is weird, and followed the others.
"This might be interesting." Sora said putting the lollipop back in his mouth and went out the room as well.
"I don't know about this." Yuzu said unsurely.
"Let's just see how it goes." Yuya countered.
"I hope it goes well." Yuzu added as the two walked out the room.
"Beat this guy Ash!" Ally cheered behind a window. Inside the window lies an arena with Ash and Shadow on opposite ends.
"You know we barely know him, right." Tate reminded.
"I know, but still . . ."
"I'm sure he will be fine." Yuya reassured.
"He may be fine, but can he win?" Sora questioned.
"What do you mean?" Frederick asked.
"This Shadow guy said that he never lost a Duel. With no experience do you really think Ash stands a chance?"
"You make a solid point there." Yuzu commented.
"Hey!" The group turned to see a large, muscular boy, about as tall as an average adult. He has black hair styled as a large pompadour, restrained by a red bandanna, and his nose is somewhat redder than the rest of his face. His cheeks have a some sort of "blushing" appearance. He seems to be wearing the same jacket Yuya is wearing, but is more as a vest over his closed white coat with a golden trim and buttons, and white pants. He wears a white sash crossed over his back, tied at the left shoulder and heavy sandals instead of shoes.
"Gong!" Ally, Tate, and Frederick exclaimed happily.
"Hey buddy!" Yuya said with a smile and wave.
"What's going on here?" Gong asked.
"We just got a new student!" Ally replied excitedly.
Gong smiled at the reply. "That's exciting news! The You Show Duel School just got itself another future Entertainment Duelist! Another step forward to achieving Yusho's dreams!" He exclaimed while crying. He composed himself and wiped the tears off. "So where is the guy?"
Sora just pointed to the window. "He's going to duel."
"Really? Just enrolled here and went straight to a Duel. That's something Yuya would've done."
"Hey!" Yuya exclaimed. After seeing Gong's stare he shrugged. "Yeah, you're right."
Gong walked over to the window and looked out of it to see Ash and Shadow. "So which one is the new guy?"
"That's him over there." Tate answered pointing towards Ash. "Ash Ketchum. That's his name."
"Okay. So who's that over there? I never saw him here."
"That's because he's not a student." Yuzu answered. "He's a creep named Shadow. He just showed up out of nowhere and challenged Ash."
"Why would Ash accept?"
"Probably to teach him a lesson about sneaking up behind people for Duels." Sora guessed.
Gong turned his head back to Ash and noticed something off. "He seems nervous."
"I'm not surprised. This is his first Duel." Yuya replied.
Gong turned to Yuya pretty shocked. "It is?"
"And that Shadow guy said that he never lost a Duel once." Sora added.
"Why would an inexperienced Duelist duel an experienced one?" Gong questioned.
Yuya shrugged. "I don't know. Let's just hope that it goes well."
Ash felt a few sweat drops on his face as he stared at Shadow on the other end of the field. Of course he was nervous. He never played this game before. He was only used to Pokémon Battles, so this felt completely new to him. Yuya and Yuzu explained the rules to him, but explaining is nothing compared to the real thing.
"Nervous? You should be. After all you are up against a more experienced Duelist." Shadow taunted with a smirk.
"I will wipe that smirk off your face." Ash retorted quietly.
"Are you two ready?" Shuzo's voice was heard on the speakers. Ash turned and looked up to see Shuzo above the two in a some sort of control room. He gave him a thumbs up signaling that they were ready. "All right! Action Field!" Shuzo pressed a button on the monitor that revealed a green card with an image of a plain with a circular tournament ring-like platform in the middle. "On!"
The field where Ash and Shadow are has changed to a plain field with luscious green grass, trees, and bushes. The two Duelists are currently standing on the platform.
Ash looked around in awe of the scenic change before him. "Whoa. How is this happening?"
"There are machines under the field that releases Solid Vision to change the entire duel field into a different field by a Field Spell." Shadow answered.
Ash noticed a sphere above them that went apart into many cards that spreader across the field. "Are those-"
"Those are the Action Cards that Duelists can use to give them an edge. However you can only hold one Action Card in your hand."
"Wow. I always say this to Clemont, science is so amazing."
"They never had this around in my time." A familiar voice said on Ash's right.
Ash looked to see the first King of Games. "Yugi Muto."
"Nor in mine." Another familiar voice added on Ash's left.
Ash looked the other way to see the best Turbo Duelist ever. "Yusei Fudo. So that really wasn't a dream after all."
Yugi smiled. "If it were a dream then you wouldn't be here and we shouldn't have existed in your heart."
"True enough."
"We can sense your nervousness from within you." Yusei said also smiling. "I assure you that there is nothing to be nervous about. You can beat this guy."
"How?"
"Believe in the Heart of the Cards and do what your heart tells you to do." Yugi answered.
"Believe in my deck, huh." With newfound confidence Ash smiled determined to win. "Okay. I'll do it."
"Hey! Are you done talking to yourself?!" Shadow yelled getting Ash's attention. "I wanna get this duel over with!"
"Oh it'll end all right. With me as the victor!"
"Look at Ash now!" Ally exclaimed.
"He's so confident now." Tate added.
"I wonder how he suddenly got so determined. I mean he was so nervous before." Gong wondered.
"Who cares, as long as he got it!" Yuya exclaimed.
"I just hope that it will be enough." Yuzu added.
Back on the field Shadow slipped his Duel Disk, black body, on his left wrist and raised it up high. "Duel Disk! On!" The right side of the tablet, on top of his wrist, opened up to reveal his deck. Suddenly a black, thin platform with purple edges that resembled an arm blade appeared as Shadow sent his arm down.
"Wow. Two can play at this game!" Ash slipped his white Duel Disk on his wrist and activated it the same way. "Duel Disk! On!" The Deck Zone on top of his wrist opened to reveal his deck. A black blade with blue edges appeared as Ash set his arm down. Ash could read the words 'Duel On!' then 5 slots on top and 5 more on the bottom.
"The top zone is where you put the monsters either in face up Attack Mode or face down Defense Mode." Yugi instructed.
"The bottom one is where you put Spell Cards face up to activate it or face down along with Trap Cards." Yusei added. "My guess is that you put Spells and Traps in there." He pointed to the slot on the bottom of the screen.
Ash nodded in understandment. "Got it."
"Good luck Ash." Yugi said as he and Yusei were absorbed back into Ash's body.
"Now let's do the chant like everybody does!" Shadow yelled.
Ash nodded. "Yuya and Yuzu told me the chant before we got here. Let's see if I got this down."
"Duelists locked in battle!" Shadow began.
"Kicking the earth and dancing in the air alongside their monsters!" Ash added.
"They storm through this field!" Ally added.
"Behold! This is the newest and greatest evolution of Dueling!" Tate added.
"ACTION. . ." Ally, Tate, and Frederick chimed together.
"DUEL!" Ash and Shadow finished together as they drew 5 cards from their Decks.
ASH: 4000
SHADOW: 4000
"I'll go first!" Shadow declared. "The Duelist who goes first can draw this turn." He brought a card out of his hand. "So I'll summon Archfiend Heiress in Attack Mode!" He slammed the card on the blade and a monster that resembled a female demon with a skull on her head appeared on the field surprising Ash. (ATK/1000 DEF/0)
"That's cool!" Ash breathed.
"With that I end my turn." Shadow: Hand/4.
"Really? One monster and that's it?" Ally questioned.
"He must have a strategy for that." Tatsuya added.
"Now let's see what Ash can do." Yuya said as the group turned to the former Pokémon Trainer.
"Okay. He said the Duelist who went first can't draw on the first turn and that's him. So I can draw." Ash put two fingers on his Deck. "Yugi said to believe in my Deck. And I believe. My turn!" He drew the top card from the Deck. "Draw!" He added the card to his hand making the number of cards 6.
"Doing good so far." Yuzu commented.
"But what will he do?" Sora questioned.
"Now I just need to listen to my heart." Ash muttered looking at the cards. He then noticed a couple of cards and an idea popped into his head. "Got it!" He then extracted a card from the hand. "I summon Eevee: The Evolution Beast in Attack Mode!" He put the card on the blade summoning out a monster that's directly similar to Eevee.
(Eevee: The Evolution Beast: LV:3: Attribute: Earth/Type: Beast: ATK 1300 DEF 900)
"I've never heard of that card." Shadow commented.
"That's because it's one of a kind." Ash answered.
"It's so cute!" Ally squealed.
"Where did he get a card like that?" Tate questioned.
"No idea. We don't know where he came from." Sora replied.
"A monster we never heard of. It gives me the shivers!" Frederick said making himself shiver in excitement.
"Next I activate the Spell Card Beast Evolution!" Ash declared putting a card in the slot of the bottom of the screen. The card revealed an image of Eevee around its 8 different evolutions.
(Beast Evolution: Spell/Normal: Tribute 1 "Eevee" and Special Summon 1 "Flareon", "Vaporeon", "Jolteon", "Umbreon", "Espeon", "Leafeon", "Glaceon", or "Sylveon" from your hand or Deck)
Eevee was encased by a rainbow glow which crystallized and still giving off the rainbow glow. "So pretty." Ally murmured.
"What's happening?" Shadow questioned.
"Eevee is known to evolve into 8 different forms." Ash said.
"8 forms?!"
"That's a lot." Tate observed.
"And this card will let me choose one of them from my Deck or Hand as long as I Tribute Eevee." Ash added. "And I choose one from my Deck." A card popped out of the middle of Ash's Deck which the latter took out. "I Special Summon Glaceon: The Ice Beast!" He slammed the card on the blade. The crystal broke apart to reveal a monster that looks almost exactly like Glaceon with sparkles of light from the crystal.
(Glaceon: The Ice Beast: LV: 7: Attribute: Water/ Type: Beast/Effect: ATK 2800 DEF 2500: When this card is Special Summoned by the effect of Beast Evolution you can deal 500 points of damage to your opponent.)
"So beautiful!" Ally and Yuzu squealed together with red cheeks.
"With that Glaceon's effect activates! When it has been summoned by Beast Evolution you lose 500 Life Points!"
"What?!" Shadow exclaimed. Glaceon released a small Ice Beam like attack which hit Shadow. (4000-3500)
Shadow looked like he was in pain holding his abdomen making Ash worry. "Are you okay?!"
"Yeah." Shadow replied taking his hand off. "I forgot to mention that in an Action Duel any kind of damage will be real to the Duelists."
"You could've told me that sooner!"
"Too late to back down now. The Duelists won't be severely injured after the Duel."
"Well I did accept the challenge. If that's the way it is then I'll have Glaceon attack your Archfiend Heiress! Go! Blizzard Spear!" Glaceon blew out a powerful blizzard from its mouth having Shadow and his monster struggling to stay on the ground.
Then icicle spears have been formed in the blizzard which went and hit Archfiend Heiress destroying the monster and blowing Shadow away, literally. He was blown off the platform and hit the ground on his back. (3500-1700)
"When Archfiend Heiress is destroyed I can add an "Archfiend" monster from my Deck to my hand!" Shadow exclaimed standing up. He then took a card out from his Deck. "And I pick Archfiend Soldier!" Shadow: Hand/5
"I place one card face down and end my turn!" Ash declared slotting a card from his hand into the slot at the bottom of the screen. The card appeared on the field with the back facing up and the image facing the ground. Ash: Hand/3
ASH: 4000
SHADOW: 1700
"All right!" Yuya cheered pumping a fist. "He just dealt some major damage!"
"You'd think because he doesn't have any experience he would make a rookie mistake." Sora commented.
"Looked like he knew what he was doing to me." Ally said.
"It's my turn! Draw!" Shadow declared drawing a card from his Deck. "I activate the Spell Card Enemy Destructor!"
"What does that do?"
"I'll show you. By discarding any number of monsters from my Hand to the Graveyard Destructoid Tokens will be summoned. I discard 4 monsters to summon 4 Destructoid Tokens on your field." Shadow put 4 cards from his hand and slotted them in the slot on top of his screen which is where the Graveyard is.
Then 4 spear-like objects appeared on Ash's field taking up the rest of his Monster Zone. "Why would you summon monsters to my field?"
"So I can use the Spell Card Dark Hole." Another green card appeared on Shadow's side with an image of a black hole. "With this card all monsters are destroyed!" A black hole suddenly appeared in the sky and sucked Glaceon and the tokens in there. When they did the hole dispersed.
"Why bother doing that? Now your Hand is empty."
"I know. This is how I always win my Duels."
"What do you mean?"
"When Destructoid Tokens are destroyed you take 1000 points of damage for each one. Since there were 4 tokens and each one deals 1000 points, adding those points together you will lose 4000 points. That's every one of your Life Points."
Ash was real shocked by the explanation. "No way!"
"That was his secret to winning his Duels?!" Ally exclaimed.
"Those tokens deal massive damage when they are destroyed." Sora said. "I gotta say I'm impressed."
"Whose side are you on?!" Yuzu exclaimed.
Suddenly four lights in the shape of the Destructoid Tokens were formed in the sky. "It's over!" Shadow declared as the lights were dashed straight for Ash.
"If that effect works it'll be all over!" Yuya exclaimed.
Ash quickly touched the card on his screen. "Trap activate! Damage Diet! With this any kind of damage I take is halved!" The lights hit Ash, but not before they shrunk a little. Ash kneeled in pain from the effect. (4000-2000)
"Whew! That was close!" Yuzu commented.
"He managed to save himself for another turn." Gong added.
"Not only that. Since Shadow has no cards in his hand or field he has to end his turn, leaving him wide open!" Yuya said with a smile.
"If Ash can summon a monster strong enough he will win!" Tate exclaimed happily.
"You got lucky." Shadow retorted. "I end my turn right here." Shadow: Hand/0
ASH: 2000
SHADOW: 1700
"It's my turn then! Draw!" Ash drew another top card from his Deck. He looked at it to see that it's a Spell Card. The other three cards are monsters, but there is a problem.
'These are high level monsters. In order to summon these kinds I have to sacrifice monsters on my field and obviously I don't have any.' Ash thought. 'And they have more than enough ATK points to finish off Shadow. What do I do now?'
As if his thoughts were heard the pendant around Ash's neck glowed blue whereas he seems to be the only one seeing it. The three monsters suddenly changed with the bottom half as green as a Spell Card and some sort of blue gem on the left and red gem on the right with the same number under them. They also seem to have another effect each in the middle. Within his head Ash somehow knew what to do with them.
"I set the Pendulum Scale with the Scale 1 Espeon: The Sun Beast and Scale 8 Umbreon: The Moonlight Beast!" Ash declared setting the Espeon card with the 1 on the right near the edge and the Umbreon card with the 8 on the left near the edge. The word "PENDULUM" appeared in rainbow colored across the blade.
(Espeon: The Sun Beast: LV: 7: Attribute: Light: Type: Psychic/Pendulum/Effect: ATK 2800 DEF 2000: Pendulum Scale: 1: Pendulum Effect: Once per turn you can negate the activation of a Spell Card from your opponent's field and destroy it. Effect: When this card is Special Summoned by the effect of Beast Evolution you can add 1 Spell Card from your Graveyard to your Hand)
(Umbreon: The Moonlight Beast: LV: 7: Attribute: Dark: Type: Beast/Pendulum/Effect: ATK 1800 DEF 3000: Pendulum Scale: 8: Pendulum Effect: Once per turn you can negate the activation of a Trap Card on your opponent's field and destroy it: Effect: When this card is Special Summoned by the effect of Beast Evolution you can add 1 Trap Card from your Graveyard to your Hand)
Two pillars of transparent light appeared and both Espeon and Umbreon appeared going all the way to the sky with Espeon on Ash's right with the number 1 under it and Umbreon on his left with the number 8 under it. Suddenly a giant version of his pendant appeared between the two.
"With this I am able to summon monsters within Levels 2-7 simultaneously!" Ash declared as his pendant kept glowing.
"What is this?" Shadow question in shock.
The entire group behind the window were also shocked, but none more so than Yuya Sakaki. "This is-"
"Swing! Spirits of the Pendulum! Grant me the power to win this battle!" Ash chanted as the giant pendant swung like it was a pendulum. "Pendulum Summon! Come forth my monsters!" A portal opened and an orange light came down to the field and began to take form.
"Come forth my friend. Use your flames to burn your enemies. Charizard: The Fire Flying Ace!" The light took form of a monster that strongly resembles Charizard. Charizard roared as it landed on the ground with its feet.
"This is-" Gong began.
"Pendulum Summon." Yuya finished.
Finally finished!
Ash gave everyone a shock by revealing that he can Pendulum Summon too. The Duel concludes next time.
And I don't know if you all know, well maybe most of you, Jack Atlas and Crow Hogan are coming to Arc V! I don't know how it will affect my story, but we will see.
I was also surprised by how many Reviews I've gotten. Most of you are Guests who want to know more about the story. Sorry I'm not spoiling anything. I've already spoiled some much on Ash's profile in my profile. Speaking of which there is a new poll there so feel free to vote.
Read & Review!