One day in another universe
A raven-haired boy was accompanied by his friends, Misty and Brock. All three of them were currently 14 years old, meaning they were teenagers. A mouse like creature was perched on the raven-haired boy's shoulder.
Because she was a teenager, Misty was well endowed as her red hair reached down to her back. Her beauty would cause many boys to develop a crush on her.
Misty also had on a pair of star-shaped earrings.
Brock on the other hand, was a lot taller than he was as a young boy.
"It's a nice day, isn't it?" Ash told his two companions.
The trio was currently on route to Vermilion City to meet up with Lt. Surge.
A celebration was in order because Ash was now the world champion after defeating Leon in a grueling battle in Wyndon Stadium.
Brock was engrossed in a map and wasn't paying any attention to what was going on.
"Hey Brock." Misty called out to him.
He didn't hear a word that was said.
This compelled Misty to pull on his ear.
"Ow!" Brock cried out in pain when his ear was yanked.
While they were distracted, Ash noticed something before he suddenly vanished without a trace. Pikachu then fell down, alerting Misty and Brock.
"Pikachu, what happened?" The red-haired trainer asked.
Brock then looked around for any sign of Ash.
It was like he no longer existed.
"This is weird. It seems he disappeared from the face of the earth."
Misty bent down and picked the yellow mouse up, then held it in her arms.
"It's okay, Pikachu." She told the upset mouse.
"Where did he go?" Brock asked out loud, at a loss to explain what just happened.
There was one thing Misty and Brock could agree on. They needed to head to the Pokemon Center and call Mrs. Ketchum in Pallet Town.
"Let's go." Misty instructed the dark-skinned teenager.
Hall of Origin
A equine-like figure watched the three through a portal. It was the mythical Pokemon Arceus. Ash closed his eyes to avoid going blind after being teleported away. After the light faded, he opened them.
"You're probably wondering why you're here." The equine-like figure spoke to Ash telepathically.
Ash's eyes widened after hearing the voice in his head. "Arceus."
Arceus then looked straight up. "I'm sensing the presence of a problem in another universe."
Ash blinked in confusion. "What do you want me to do about it?"
He would soon have his question answered.
"I would like for you to head to the dimension that I detected the problem in and stop it."
"O...kay." He muttered. "I don't really understand."
Arceus simply stared at him. "It will make sense in time."
Before any other questions could be asked, Ash was no longer in the Hall of Origin.
He was on his way to Domino City to begin his mission.
Misty and Brock were then observed walking to a Pokemon Center through another portal.
With Misty and Brock
The doors slid open as they stepped inside the Pokemon Center and strolled over to the phone.
Misty took the phone off the hook and dialed the Ketchum's home number. The two waited for a while before a face was seen on the other end of the screen.
"Hello Misty, Brock. What can I do for you?"
"I'm calling because Ash suddenly vanished."
The person on the screen froze up after hearing this.
"Mrs. Ketchum?" Brock asked, concerned.
She eventually snapped out of it.
"Sorry." She apologized to the two.
"It's okay." Misty reassured her. "We're going to try our hardest to find him."
She and Brock intended to keep that promise.
Around this time
There was a tunnel of light surrounding Ash as he headed towards his destination. He sealed his eyes shut because the light was really bright.
Then there was nothing.
The next thing Ash knew, he was in a unfamiliar location.
He woke up after passing out.
"Where am I?" He took a look around to get his bearings.
A crowd had gathered after he appeared in the middle of the street.
"Who is he?" A bystander asked.
No one in the crowd had seen him before.
"Can someone tell me where I am?"
"Are you serious?" Someone exclaimed.
"Ignore him." Another bystander said. "You're in the middle of Domino City."
"Domino City?"
"It's the hometown of the King of Games, Yugi Muto." Ash was intrigued now after hearing that, but still didn't understand.
He then felt something in his pants pocket and took it out.
"What is this?" He blinked, confused.
A dog then ran past right in front of him. Here there was no such thing as Pokemon. It slowly started to sink in.
There was a deck of cards in his hand. The weird part was, Ash didn't remember slipping them into his pants pockets.
"Did Arceus put this in my pants pocket?" Ash asked out loud.
That was a question to ask another time. For now, Ash wandered up the street. Along the way, he finally realized there were no Pokemon here.
A teenage boy with brunette hair then ran into him.
"Ow!" He cried out in pain.
"Can you please be careful?" Ash asked, annoyed with whoever just ran into him.
He then realized he had never met this figure before.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Jaden Yuki. Nice to meet you." Jaden held his hand out.
"The same." Ash shook his hand.
"I'm on my way to the entrance exams at the Kaiba Dome. Would you like to join me?" He offered.
Ash thought about it for a few seconds. Since he didn't know much about this world, it would be a good idea to have someone familiar with it to guide him.
"Lead the way." He accepted Jaden's offer.
Ash and Jaden walked towards the Kaiba Dome together. The latter was still curious about what he found in his pocket.
"Can you tell me what these are?" The deck was held out.
"Those are what we call Duel Monsters cards." Jaden explained. "It's a game that involves lowering your opponent's life points to 0."
"Sounds confusing." Ash tilted his head.
"It is for beginners at first, but if you get used to it, it won't be as confusing." The conversation continued as they kept walking.
A few feet ahead was a man with multi-colored hair.
"Would you two happen to be duelists?"
"I am, but from what it sounds like, he isn't." Jaden pointed at himself and then at Ash.
"Good to know." A box was then opened as two cards were taken out.
They were held out to Ash and Jaden.
"These are for you two. Something tells me they'll come in handy."
Ash then got a look at the figure in front of the two.
Jaden did as well and seemed to recognize him.
"Aren't you-"
"Good luck." The person in front of them proceeded to walk off.
Ash politely bowed, as if to thank him for this.
They received a thumbs up in return.
"Isn't there somewhere you need to be?" Ash reminded Jaden.
The brunette thought about it briefly before his eyes widened.
"The exam!" He exclaimed in shock. Running into that man caused him to be late.
Jaden sprinted off towards the Kaiba Dome as fast as he could. Ash, on the other hand, wasn't in a rush to get there.
'I still need to get used to this world.' Ash thought to himself.
Understanding Duel Monsters was also a priority. After all, if he knew more, completing the mission Arceus assigned him would be a lot easier.
Before long both Ash and Jaden were at the Kaiba Dome. Now the next thing they needed to do was scale the wall.
"Let me give you a boost." Ash held his hands out.
Jaden was then thrown into the air as he grabbed a hold of the railing. The brunette then climbed over the railing.
Ash then scaled the wall with ease and climbed over the railing.
Three people at a desk were surprised to see them.
"Hello." Ash waved, greeting them.
"What can we do for you two?"
"I'm here for the entrance exams." Jaden answered.
Jaden and Ash then walked into the Kaiba Dome. There were a lot of applicants finishing up their duels.
"Interesting." Ash muttered.
A man who had his blond hair tied in a ponytail oversaw the duels.
"Um, sir." He was unable to leave because someone in a black suit had stopped him. "We just got word that two individuals arrived."
"Did you just call me sir?"
"Apologies, I'm new, Miss."
"I deserve to be called Dr., thank you very much." He then faced away from the man. "Let those two know to come back next year."
His colleagues were left dumbfounded.
"We still have time for more duelists, Dr. Crowler."
"These two are not-" Crowler's cell phone then rang, cutting his tirade short. "Who is it?"
"Chancellor Sheppard."
"Hello, Chancellor. It's really nice for you to call."
"I'm just calling you to make sure everything is going well." Was the response. "Remember what transpired last year."
Crowler was spooked. It wasn't the first time he had done something like this.
"Make sure everyone gets a chance to duel." Sheppard ordered.
"Yes, sir." Crowler ended the call with his boss. 'If he's so determined to give these two a chance, fine.'
He then stood up. "Excuse me, gentlemen." He couldn't get far because a box of Duel Monster cards was held out.
"Who will they face and what deck will be used?"
"Let me worry about that." A deck was taken out of his blazer.
Meanwhile
Ash and Jaden had encountered two other boys. One had black hair and the other had light blue hair.
"You did a good job." Ash told the black-haired teen.
"Thank you." He responded with a British accent.
He was revealed to be Bastion Misawa, the smartest among the upcoming students.
"I'd consider you to be the second best duelist." Jaden stated.
Ash was staring at the deck of cards he was holding, thinking about something.
"Jaden Yuki, please head down to exam field 4." The PA announced.
"Wish me luck, guys." Jaden prepared for his duel.
The four were in for a surprise though.
"Can Ash Ketchum also head to exam field 4?"
The raven-haired teen wasn't expecting his name to be called as well. He went along with it though and prepared for the duel.
Both then strolled down to the exam field.
"He has a lot of confidence."
"Those two will need it." Bastion noted. "Take a look at their opponent."
Dr. Crowler waited for them on the exam field. A Duel Disk shaped like a guitar was strapped to his chest.
"What are your names?" Crowler asked confidently.
"Ash Ketchum and Jaden Yuki."
"Well, I'm Dr. Vellian Crowler, Department Chair of Techniques at Duel Academy."
"Department Chair, huh? I was honestly expecting more." Ash muttered.
He wasn't too impressed with their opponent.
Crowler then activated the Duel Disk on his chest as five cards were ejected from it. He was acting like this would be a fast duel.
"That's some sweet gear, teach. How do I obtain it?" Jaden asked.
"I get the feeling it won't be easy." Ash noted.
"Quite right." Crowler agreed with Ash.
Speaking of Ash, he had been provided a Duel Disk before entering the Kaiba Dome.
"Well, I'm ready." Jaden declared.
"Duel!" All three shouted.
Crowler: 4000
Jaden: 4000
Ash: 4000
"Here goes." Jaden drew a card to share the duel. "Sweet. I'm summoning Elemental Hero Clayman in defense mode." (4/800/2000) "I'll also throw a card face down."
"Guess I'm up next." Ash drew a card. "And I'll begin with Big Shield Gardna in attack mode."
"In attack mode?"
"That's not very smart." Bastion remarked. "While in attack mode, he'll lose a lot of life points."
The rest of the spectators thought the same thing.
"Heh." A teenage boy with spiky black hair chuckled. "This kid is acting like a complete amateur."
A young woman with sandy blond hair and brown eyes was watching intently.
"He has potential." The young woman with sandy blonde hair said out loud.
"That remains to be seen." A new voice was heard.
A tall teenage boy with dark blue hair came over to her.
"That has to be one of the worst moves I've ever seen." Crowler mocked Ash before he drew a card. 'I'll defeat these two in no time.'
He then looked at his hand. "I'll begin by activating Confiscation."
"Mind explaining?" Ash asked with a raised eyebrow.
"With pleasure. I pay 1000 life points to send a card to the graveyard."
Crowler: 3000
Jaden: 4000
Ash: 4000
Monster Reborn was the card sent to the graveyard.
"After that I place two cards face down." Another card was held out. "Finally, I activate Heavy Storm."
A strong wind picked up and all the face down cards were destroyed.
"Forgot about your own face downs." Jaden remarked.
"No, actually he didn't." Ash corrected the brunette. "That was all part of his strategy."
Two worm-like creatures crawled up from dark clouds.
"What just happened?"
"Two of those three trap cards were Statue of the Wicked." Bastion explained. "When it's destroyed by a card effect, two Wicked Fiend Tokens are special summoned."
"No way!"
"Crowler's using his own deck."
"Those two aren't going to last much longer."
"I'm gonna enjoy seeing Crowler wiping the floor with these two." The boy with spiky black hair grinned.
"What a jerk." The young woman with sandy blonde hair said. "These two are just beginners."
"You're way too soft, Alexis." The tall boy with dark blue hair stated. "I'm looking forward to seeing Crowler's legendary monster."
"You two ready to learn more?" Crowler asked his opponents.
"Oh yeah!" Jaden replied, laughing. "I don't remember the last time learning was exciting."
Crowler brushed it off. "I am a excellent teacher, thank you."
Both tokens then started to glow and writhe. "And now I sacrifice my two Wicked Tokens to bring out Ancient Gear Golem." (8/3000/3000)
"There it is!" Alexis gasped. "His legendary monster."
"We're about to find out why." The tall teen with dark blue hair said, watching the duel.
"I hope my legendary Ancient Gear Golem doesn't frighten you." Crowler said sarcastically.
"I've seen scarier." Ash didn't seem to be phased by Crowler's monster.
He had seen a lot more frightening things then Ancient Gear Golem.
"He's not intimidated by that legendary monster at all."
"At least he has some bravado, Zane." Alexis noted.
"Not for much longer."
"Golem, attack Elemental Hero Clayman with Mechanized Melee!" Crowler ordered.
Ancient Gear Golem pulled it's fist back and punched Elemental Hero Clayman.
Jaden: 3000
"That's gonna cost you." Ash told Crowler.
While the attack had been carried out, Ash was looking at his hand to read some of his card's effects. "Destroying Elemental Hero Clayman allows me to summon this. Zip through the sky, Blue-Eyes Jet Dragon." (8/3000/0)
"Do you know what that is?"
"No idea." Bastion shook his head.
The rest of the people in the stadium had never seen this monster before either.
"That's one sweet dragon." Jaden exclaimed.
He then looked at Crowler.
"I really wanna come to this school now." He declared. "You really know your stuff, teach."
Crowler was caught by surprise. 'Don't these two understand. I won't allow them to pass this exam.'
'Getting a little too worked up, huh?' Ash mused.
Jaden then prepared to draw a card. 'He must be impressed.' Before he drew a card, he heard a faint coo. Pausing briefly, he looked at the card. The man he and Ash encountered earlier gave it to him. 'Thanks for giving this to me.' He wasn't sure if he was imagining it or not, but the card winked at him. After calming down, he made a decision.
"I summon Winged Kuriboh in defense mode." (1/300/200)
Some of the girls squealed at how cute it was.
"Next, I place a card face down." He finished as a face down card appeared behind Winged Kuriboh.
"And now it's my turn." Ash drew a card before proceeding to insert it into his Duel Disk. "Go, Polymerization! I call forth First of the Dragons!" (9/2700/2000)
"I then place one card face down to end my turn."
"You two must understand I'm a master technician." He teased Jaden and Ash. "A Kuriboh to me is rather pedestrian; even one with wings it's defense points are no match for my Ancient Gear Golem! It's a textbook mistake, so let's proceed." He then drew a card. "Ancient Gear Golem, attack Winged Kuriboh with Mechanized Melee."
Ancient Gear Golem pulled it's fist back and threw a punch at Winged Kuriboh, shattering the hologram.
'Sorry, Winged Kuriboh.' Jaden apologized mentally.
Dr. Crowler then noticed that his life points hadn't gone down. "Check your gear, your life points haven't changed."
"You're right." Jaden agreed. "They haven't changed because the turn Winged Kuriboh's destroyed, I take no battle damage."
This threw Crowler for a loop. He was aware of Kuriboh's effect, but not Winged Kuriboh's effect. A few people in the audience were surprised he didn't know that.
"Well, what do you know." Alexis asked as she watched the duel. "A technique he wasn't aware of."
"Not every technique is well known, Alexis." Zane pointed out. "Especially one that obscure."
"He certainly did." Alexis chuckled.
"It seems your little, lame monster kept you safe." Crowler taunted Jaden.
"Hold on!" Jaden hollered. "Destroying him doesn't give you the right to call him lame!"
"Oh right, I forgot that you new duelists are attached to your monsters." Crowler taunted him again. "I'm sorry."
"You definitely will be." Jaden pressed a button on his Duel Disk. "Because now I activate this. The trap card Hero Signal." The letter H appeared in the sky. "I special summon Elemental Hero Burstinatrix."
A gray-skinned woman wearing a red suit landed on the field. (3/1200/800)
After she landed on the field, Jaden drew a card.
"Now it's my move." He looked at his hand again. "Time to avenge you, Winged Kuriboh!"
He placed another monster on his Duel Disk. This one had a pair of wings on it's back.
"Another rookie mistake, but this is good, now would anyone want to tell me what he's..." Crowler was about to taunt them again, when he was interrupted by Jaden.
"I'm not finished." He said. "My monsters might not be very powerful, but when they're fused together it's another story!"
Another card was taken out of his hand. "Polymerization!"
Both monsters swirled together and in their place was a new monster with a dragon head for a arm. "And there he is, Elemental Hero Flame Wingman. Hope your Golem's ready for a Clash of the Titans!"
"You're dueling pretty good for a amateur, but next time summon a stronger monster." Crowler wasn't threatened by the fusion monster.
"What's he talking about?"
"Flame Wingman's attack points are lower than the Golem's 3000." Bastion explained. "Which is disappointing."
"Okay." Crowler said, annoyed. "I don't mean to rush you, but I'm a busy man...are you through?"
"No." Jaden took the card he drew and the field spell slot on his Duel Disk opened.
"Flame Wingman might be weaker than Ancient Gear Golem." He placed the card in the field spell slot. "Which is why I'm activating Skyscraper."
Buildings emerged from the ground.
Ancient Gear Golem acted like a giant monster attacking the city. Flame Wingman stood on top of a building.
"Okay, Flame Wingman." Jaden called out. "Display your heroics."
He gestured at Ancient Gear Golem. "Attack with Skydive Scorcher!"
Flame Wingman then dived down towards Ancient Gear Golem.
"Bring him on." Crowler said, not worried a bit. "Your field spell hasn't lowered my Golem's attack points."
"What it's done is increased Flame Wingman's by 1000." Jaden explained.
"Wait!" Crowler cried out. Flame Wingman didn't stop though before it's body was covered in flames.
He felt a panic attack coming as Jaden's monster slammed into his, breaking parts of it off.
"That was my strongest monster!" Crowler whined.
"And now Flame Wingman's effect activates." Jaden said, getting his attention. "When it destroys a monster in battle, it's attack points are dealt as damage."
Upon saying that, the remains of Ancient Gear Golem fell on Crowler and buried him, even though he tried to run away.
Crowler: 0
Jaden: 3000
Ash: 4000
"That would be game!" Jaden shouted.
"It seems we passed, didn't we?" Ash questioned with a raised eyebrow.
As the holograms vanished, a good portion of the audience was surprised these two beat a teacher in a duel, while they were using their own deck. Crowler was in disbelief. He lost to kids who were late.
"No way." He gritted his teeth. "I lost to a amateur and someone who's never even played Duel Monsters before."
The teen with spiky black hair thought the same thing. "No way Crowler would lose to these two."
Alexis smiled after their victory. "Those two are promising."
Zane silently walked off.
'Those two are worthwhile competition.' Bastion thought.
Ash just stood there, deep in thought.