The next day

Ash was in his dorm room at Ra Yellow. He was currently looking at the cards in his deck.

"Ugh." He groaned in annoyance. This was too much of a hassle to deal with. "This is a lot harder than I expected."

He was just about to give up what he was doing when...

"Need some help with what you're doing." It was Alexis. She had offered her assistance to the black-haired Ra.

"What are you doing here?" Ash asked, surprised to see her here in the Yellow dorm. "I don't recall inviting you to the Yellow dorm."

"I was in the area and decided to ask Prof. Sartyr if I could enter the dorm." She informed him.

There was another chair at the desk so Alexis took a seat next to him.

"Want some advice for your deck?" She asked.

Ash was uncertain about it, but ultimately agreed to let Alexis help him.

He placed his deck down on the table for Alexis to look at and ultimately give some pointers on.

"I'll tell you what." Alexis suddenly stated, catching Ash off guard. "The card shop might have something to help improve your deck."

They headed to the main building and it wasn't long before they were in the card shop.

"Huh, I've never been here before." Ash said to himself. He was looking forward to checking it out.

The academy's card shop was really big and might have something that can help.

"What packs should I get?" He asked Alexis. Her opinion really mattered in this situation.

Ash looked for anything promising that could power his deck up. After opening a pack, one card caught his eye.

Alexis then came over and saw what he pulled from the pack.

"Those cards is blank." She stated.

The other packs contained a bunch of blank cards.

'That's weird. I can't tell what cards these are.' He thought, having no idea they wouldn't stay blank for long.

For the time being, he was disappointed that the other cards were duds.

Ash put it in his deck to use in a later duel. He then put a hand on Alexis's shoulder.

"Thanks for the help." He complimented her.

"You're welcome." She smiled back.

Ash then had a idea pop into his head.

"Hey, want me to walk you back to your dorm?" He offered. "You helped me after all, so..."

Alexis liked his idea and accepted it without hesitation.

The two made their way back to the Obelisk Blue girl's dorm. When they arrived, her roommates Jasmine and Mindy were waiting.

"What do you think you're doing?" Jasmine stormed over to them.

"Just leading Alexis back to her dorm." Ash retorted. "You act like that's a bad thing."

"Are you really just here to bring Alexis back?" Mindy asked, somewhat skeptical with his claim.

His expression didn't change during their questioning. Jasmine and Mindy were then convinced he wasn't trying to take advantage of Alexis and allowed him to do so.

Alexis was walked inside the Blue girl's dorm.

"See ya." Ash casually waved as he went down the stairs to the first floor of the girl's dorm.

Jasmine and Mindy didn't need a reason to think he was up to something bad.

He wasn't aware of a blush on Alexis's face.

'He's really sweet.' She thought.

After leaving the girl's dorm, he took it upon himself to find someone to help him learn more about his deck.

"Syrus would be a good idea to face in a duel." Ash whispered. "He needs to gain some confidence after all."

With a plan in mind, Ash walked to the Slifer Red dorm.

'Syrus usually hangs out with Jaden, so they're probably in their room.' He thought, traversing the stairs to the second floor of the red dorm.

He was soon standing in front of a door and knocked on it. Jaden was the one to open it.

"Why are you here?" Jaden asked, surprised he would come to their dorm.

"Where's Syrus?" He questioned back. "I want to challenge him to a practice duel."

"What?" Syrus exclaimed in a panic.

"Relax, Sy." Jaden tried to calm his roommate down. "It's just a practice duel."

"Exactly." Ash nodded in confirmation. "I just want to learn more about the game."

Syrus stopped panicking when he heard that his opponent just wanted to learn more about Duel Monsters and had no other motivation.

"You got yourself a duel." He confidently stated.

Both stood apart from each other outside the dorm.

"As this is just a practice duel, I'll allow you to start it off." Ash gestured to Syrus.

"Okay." Syrus nodded. "My move."

"I play Patroid."

Patroid

EARTH

Level 4

Machine/Effect

ATK: 1200

DEF: 1200

Once per turn, during your Main Phase, you can look at 1 face-down card your opponent controls, then return it to it's original position.

"Since I can't attack on the first turn, I'll end there." Syrus announced.

"Alright then." Ash drew Sangan from his deck. "I summon Sangan in defense mode."

Sangan

DARK

Level 3

Fiend/Effect

ATK: 1000

DEF: 600

When this card is sent from the field to the graveyard, add 1 monster with 1500 or less ATK from your deck to your hand.

"Back to you." Syrus drew and put it into his hand.

"I play Shield Crush." He announced.

A green beam of energy tore through Sangan.

"Because Sangan was sent to the graveyard, I'm allowed to add a monster with 1500 or less ATK from my deck to my hand and I choose Divine Dragon Ragnarok." Ash explained. Divine Dragon Ragnarok was placed into his hand.

Ash then shuffled his deck.

"That's all I can do for the moment." Syrus ended his turn.

"Well then, it's my move." Ash drew a card. "I summon Divine Dragon Ragnarok."

Divine Dragon Ragnarok

LIGHT

Level 4

Dragon

ATK: 1500

DEF: 1000

A legendary dragon sent by the gods as their instrument. Legends say that if provoked, the whole world will sink beneath the sea.

"Attack Patroid." A blast of energy was fired at Patroid, destroying it.

Syrus: 3700

"Here goes." Syrus drew Steamroid. "I summon Steamroid."

Steamroid

EARTH

Level 4

Machine/Effect

ATK: 1800

DEF: 1800

If this card attacks an opponent's monster, this card gains 500 ATK during the Damage Step only. If this card is attacked by an opponent's monster, it loses 500 ATK during the Damage Step only.

"Full speed ahead." Steamroid barreled towards Divine Dragon Ragnarok, running it over.

Ash: 3200

Syrus felt his confidence slowly increasing during the practice duel.

Before the duel continued, Ash spoke.

"Do you want to end this duel here?" He asked.

It was only practice, so they could stop at any time.

"No, let's finish it." Syrus insisted.

He didn't want to lose his confidence now.

"If you say so." Ash remarked.

The duel then continued.

"It's your turn." Syrus said.

"Alright." Ash drew Kaiser Glider from his deck, then proceeded to place something in his Spell/Trap zone. It was Pot of Greed. He had kept it in his hand, waiting for the right moment to use it.

"I use Pot of Greed." The two cards he drew were Lord of D. and The Flute of Summoning Dragon.

"I summon Lord of D. in attack mode."

Lord of D.

DARK

Level 4

Spellcaster/Effect

ATK: 1200

DEF: 1100

Neither player can target Dragon monsters on the field with card effects.

"You might be wondering why of Lord of D. is on the field. Well, it's so I can activate this, The Flute of Summoning Dragon." A bronze horn with the ending resembling a dragon's head, appeared in Lord of D.'s hands. "This brings two more dragons from my hand to the field."

"Say hello to Kaiser Glider and Luster Dragon 2." Answering the call of the flute, two dragons flew onto the field.

Luster Dragon 2

WIND

Level 6

Dragon

ATK: 2400

DEF: 1400

This dragon feeds on emeralds. Enchanted by this monster even when attacked, few people live to tell of it's beauty.

Both dragons snarl at Syrus.

"Attack Steamroid with Golden Burst." A golden light enveloped Steamroid, consuming it.

Syrus: 2600

"Luster Dragon 2, attack him directly with Emerald Flame Attack." The emerald dragon fired a green flame at Syrus.

Syrus: 200

"You don't have a whole lot of life points left. You need to draw a good card to get over my field." Ash pointed out.

'I need to make this last turn count.' Syrus thought to himself.

"My move!" He yelled, drawing a card from his deck.

'Power Bond. My brother told I wasn't ready to use this.' Syrus then looked up, shaking it out of his head. 'This is just practice, I'll save Power Bond for another time.'

Power Bond remained in his hand.

Ash noticed this.

'What did Syrus draw?' He thought. 'I'll ask him about it after the duel.'

"I summon Gyroid in defense mode."

Gyroid

WIND

Level 3

Machine/Effect

ATK: 1000

DEF: 1000

The first time this card would be destroyed by battle each turn, it is not destroyed.

"You have to attack twice to destroy Gyroid." Syrus explained to his opponent.

"Good to know." Ash noted.

With a solid defense, Syrus kept his confidence despite the odds being stacked against him.

"I'll end there." He said.

"My turn." Ash drew Spear Dragon.

"You put up a good fight, but this practice duel is over." He declared. "Courtesy of Spear Dragon."

Spear Dragon

WIND

Level 4

Dragon/Effect

ATK: 1900

DEF: 0

If this card attacks a Defense Position monster, inflict piercing battle damage. If this card attacks, it is changed to Defense Position at the end of the Damage Step.

"Attack Gyroid with Cyclone Burst!" Spear Dragon shot a sharp wind blast at Gyroid.

Even though it was in Defense Position, Spear Dragon's effect wiped out the last of Syrus's life points.

Syrus: 0

"Good job." Ash complimented his opponent after his Duel Disk closed.

"Thanks." Syrus replied.

This practice duel did wonders for his confidence. His Duel Disk then closed.

"That was a sweet duel." Jaden exclaimed.

He and Chumley had been watching from the sidelines.

"Syrus, you did great." Chumley happily said.

"Chumley stop, you're embarrassing me." Syrus begged.

The three then burst out laughing.

Ash then approached the three.

"What did you draw before the duel ended?" He asked.

Syrus showed him Power Bond.

"How come you didn't fusion summon?" Jaden asked.

"This reminds me of something." Ash said out of nowhere. "I'm going to help you out."

He experienced something similar during his journey. This was just like the move Double-Edge as it damages whoever uses it.

"Ever consider the trap card Pikeru's Circle of Enchantment." Ash suggested. "That prevents you from taking damage from Power Bond."

Syrus's eyes widened in surprise with his statement.

"I didn't know that." He heard this from a individual that was familiar with something that damaged the user.

"Tell me more." Syrus was eager to learn from someone that went through a similar experience.

"With pleasure." Ash was more than happy to do so.

"When I started out as a duelist, I wasn't very good." He admitted that he had a lack of experience when first starting out with dueling.