Chapter 4: Preparations for the Tournament

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh

Ash was still staring at the Duel Monster in front of him, still surprised that he heard it talk. The others were staring at how Dark Blade bowed to Ash, but they apparently didn't know why or that he talked.

"Wait so you can talk?" Ash questioned again.

Dark Blade nodded at him and then answered. "Yes you are one of the few that can actually hear us Duel Spirits."

"So I take it my friends can't hear you then, right?" Ash asked, quietly. Dark Blade nodded and then turned back to the field. 'Okay talking to my cards. Well it's not the weirdest thing that's happened to me."

"Uh Ash are you alright?" Serenity asked. Ash snapped out of it when he heard her voice.

"Yeah I'm fine." Ash assured her.

"Then can you hurry up and get on with your turn already?" Duke asked rather impatiently.

"All right, all right!" Ash shouted. "I end my turn."

"My turn then!" Duke said as he drew a card. "I summon Gradius in attack mode!" As he placed the card down, a white jet-fighter appeared in the air around the field. (ATK: 1200/DEF: 800).

"Why would he play that?" Joey questioned. "It has less attack points than Ash's monster."

"Not after he plays that." Mai said.

"Next I play the Magic card, Limiter Removal." The card he played was of a speedometer and it looked overloaded. "This card double the Attack power of all Machine type monsters for one turn." (ATK: 2400).

"Now it's a problem!" Joey said.

"Now Gradius attack Ash's Dark Blade!" Duke shouted as his jet fired at Ash's knight. However…

"I reveal my facedown card! Negate Attack!" As he said this one of his facedown cards flipped up and revealed a card with a picture of a barrier of sorts on it. The shots were blocked by the barrier and Ash's Dark Blade was safe. "You'll have to do better than that."

"I intend to." Duke said as he placed two cards in his Duel Disk. "I'll play two cards facedown and end my turn." Just as he said that, his jet exploded.

"What just happened?" Serenity asked.

"At the end of the turn, all monsters effected by Limiter Removal are destroyed which will cause some problems for Duke." Mai said.

"Unless of course those face-downs are game changers." Yugi pointed out.

"Alright, it's my turn." Ash said as he drew his card. 'Okay one of those cards could be a trap so I better be careful.' He looked at the cards in his hand and then thought of something. "Okay first I summon out my Marauding Captain!"

As he said this a warrior wearing rusty armor with a cape and carrying two rusty looking swords appeared on his field next to the dark armored knight. (ATK: 1200/DEF: 400). "Next his special ability lets me summon out another monster to the field, so I summon Battle Warrior!" Also appearing on his field was a warrior wearing a blue suit with yellow lining and purple visor. (ATK: 700/DEF: 1000) Both warriors turned to Ash and bowed to him.

"I am at your service, my liege." Marauding Captain said.

"Allow me to help you win this battle, boss." Battle Warrior said.

"This is still taking some time to get used to." Ash muttered before focusing back on the duel. "Okay hope you guys are ready then!" His three warriors turned to face Duke and were ready for their orders.

"Nice with all three of those guys, Ash will be able to take out a huge chunk of Duke's Life Points!" Joey said.

"Alright, Marauding Captain attack Duke directly!" Ash said as his captain obeyed and charged at Duke who looked ready.

"I activate the trap, Call of the Haunted!" One of the cards on Duke's field flipped up and had a picture of a cemetery on the front. "This card lets me take one monster from my Graveyard and summon it in attack mode. I think you know who I'm bringing back."

Appearing back on Duke's was Gradius who fired at Ash's captain and then was slashed at by said monster before the both were destroyed.

"Wait what happened to my monster?" Ash questioned.

"When two monsters battle and they have the same number of attack points they destroy each other." Duke explained. "And since you destroyed one of my monsters, I'll have to return the favor with this." Duke activated another Trap card this one having two men on a mountain. "I activate Michizure."

"What does that do?"

"It destroys one monster on your field, when one of mine is destroyed." Suddenly two hands appeared from the ground and grabbed Ash's Dark Blade and started crushing it.

"Forgive me, master!" Dark Blade shouted before he was destroyed.

"You may have gotten rid of two of my monster, but Battle Warrior can still attack!" Battle Warrior charged and then punched Duke right in the gut.

Duke LP: 3300

Ash LP: 4000

"Not bad, kid." Duke complimented. "So is that it?"

"Yeah I'll end my turn with two face downs." Ash said.

"He may not have taken out a whole lot of Duke's life points but at least he did some damage." Tristan said.

"Yeah, but Duke's probably gonna make a comeback now and Ash had better be careful." Yugi said.

"Don't worry, I'm sure he's got something planned." Serenity said having full confidence in her friend, with Pikachu squeaking in agreement.

'Hmm so confident in him, seems she's become quite taken with him.' Mai thought as she looked at the younger girl.

"Alright, Ash it's my move." Duke said drawing his card. "Perfect. Hoe you're ready for something big, Ash. Cause I play the Magic card called Summon Dice!" The picture on the card showed a die having smashed through stone. "Here's how it works, I pay 1000 life points and then I can summon a monster depending on what I roll."

Duke LP: 2300

Ash LP: 4000

A die appeared out of nowhere and started to roll, before stopping on a five.

"Since it landed on a five I can now summon a level 5 or higher monster." He took a card from his hand and placed on his Duel Disk. "Meet my ace monster, Orgoth the Relentless!" Appearing on the field was a huge warrior wearing purple and yellow armor with a helmet that only showed its eyes, while carrying a big sword. (ATK: 2500/DEF: 2450)

"Okay that's a pretty cool monster, I just wish that I wasn't fighting it right now." Ash said in shock and awe of this monster.

"Just wait till you see what he can do. Orgoth attack Battle Warrior!" Orgoth raised his sword and prepared to strike Battle Warrior.

"Look out, Ash!" Serenity called out.

"I reveal the Spellbinding Circle!" Ash said as he activated a trap showing a circle of some sort and then that same circle appeared around Orgoth stopping him. "Now this card stops Orgoth from attacking or changing his battle position, also he loses 700 attack points." (ATK: 2500-1800)

"Well played, Ash. You're move I guess." Duke said.

Ash looked down at his Deck. 'Okay, I've at least managed to stop Orgoth, but if I don't pull a winner out now I'll be in trouble. No don't think like that just believe in your cards like you do your Pokemon and your friends.' Ash closed his eyes and drew his card.

"It seems Ash is putting his faith in the Heart of the Cards." The Pharaoh said as he appeared next to Yugi.

"Yup and I know it will help him pull a winner out." Yugi nodded.

Ash looked at the card he just drew. The card was the Fiend Megacyber. "It's you." He whispered. As he said this the Fiend Megacyber appeared as a spirit next to him.

"Glad to meet you, my young friend. I hope I will be of great assistance to you." Fiend Megacyber said.

"You know I think you will." Ash said. "Think you can take down, Orgoth there?"

"Yes, but I will need some assistance."

"Well I've got that covered."

The monster nodded to his master. "Very well, then summon me."

Ash nodded. "Okay, Duke it's time to end this. First I sacrifice my Battle Warrior in order to summon out my Fiend Megacyber." Battle Warrior was removed from the field and in his place Fiend Megacyber took over. (ATK: 2200/DEF: 1200)

"Pretty good move but how is he gonna end this?" Duke questioned.

"Well I'm not done yet, cause now I activate my own Call of the Haunted!" The other card on Ash's field revealed itself showing it to be the same card Duke used earlier. "And with it I return Dark Blade." The dark armored warrior returned to the field.

"Thank you for giving me a second chance, master." Dark Blade said.

"Don't mention it." Ash told him. "Next I play the Magic Card, Lightning Blade!" A Magic Card showing a sword surrounded by lightning appeared in Fiend Megacyber's hand. "This card give Mega here a little power boost." (ATK: 2200-3000)

"3000 attack points?" Duke questioned in disbelief.

"That's right, alright pal attack Orgoth!" Ash exclaimed.

"As you wish!" The Fiend Megacyber charged in and slashed Orgoth across the chest with the Lightning Blade and Orgoth was destroyed.

Duke LP: 1100

Ash LP: 4000

"Sorry Duke, but this duel is over. Dark Blade attack Duke's life points directly." Dark Blade charged at Duke as slashed at him with his swords.

Duke LP: 0

Ash LP: 4000

"Alright!" Serenity cheered as Pikachu squeaked in happiness.

"That was amazing." Tea said impressed by Ash's win.

"Yeah his first duel and he didn't even take any damage. Not bad for a newbie." Joey said.

"Which is more then what a lot of people could say for you right Joey?" Tristan teased before Joey pulled him into a headlock.

The Pharaoh appeared next to Yugi again. "Ash truly is something, wouldn't you agree, Pharaoh?" Yugi asked.

The Pharaoh nodded with a smile. "Yes, he dueled with the skill and heart of a duelist. Perhaps he will be a worthy opponent to duel one day." He said as both watched Ash and Duke walking up to each other and shaking hands.

"That was a great duel, Ash." Duke said to the visiting trainer.

"Thanks Duke you were pretty good also." Ash said. Pikachu hopped onto Ash's shoulder. "What'd ya think, buddy?"

("You were awesome, Ash!") Pikachu squeaked in excitement. Serenity, Tea, Yugi and Joey also came over to him.

"That was incredible, Ash." Yugi said to him.

"Yeah sweet moves out there." Joey said.

"How did you come up with that strategy anyway?" Tea questioned.

"Well, all my years as a trainer has helped me with strategizing and working on the fly in battle." Ash explained.

"I get it, you visualized it like it was a battle at your world." Yugi guessed. Ash nodded.

"Well if you could do so well in just your first duel, I'd bet you'd clean house in the tournament." Joey said.

"Joey let's not rush him into something." Mai scolded.

"What? I'm just sayin'" Joey said.

"He has time to think about it, it's not for another couple of days." Yugi pointed out.

"I think I'll give it a shot." Ash said everyone turned to him. "I mean I might as well try something else while I'm here."

"You sure? Cause there are gonna be a lot of really skilled players there." Serenity told him.

"Then I'll just need to be prepared for it then." Ash told her.

"And we'll help you out." Yugi said with Joey and Mai nodding.

"Maybe we should start on it tomorrow." Duke suggested as he saw the sun going down.

"Okay tomorrow we'll start practicing." Yugi said. They all went into Yugi's place and after a while Mai and Duke left while Yugi, Joey, Serenity, Tea, Tristan, Ash and Pikachu stayed at Yugi's before turning in for the night.

Well almost all of them. Ash was in the room Yugi let him stay in going through his deck and trying to come up with strategies that could help him in future duels, while also reminiscing about what happened today during his duel with Duke.

'I still can't believe that my cards were actually talking to me. I wonder if I can only see and hear my monster cards or if I can see all monster spirits.'

"You're still up?" Ash turned and saw Serenity standing in the doorway. "Sorry I saw the light on in your room and thought I'd see what was up." She said as she walked into the room.

"It's okay, I was just trying to figure out some strategies that could help me in any future duels of mine that's all." Ash explained to her.

"Well try not to stay up too late, Joey and Yugi will need you at your full energy tomorrow."

"Don't worry I won't stay up too long. Though trying to sleep may be a little difficult considering what I've learned today and it couldn't have been possible if I hadn't met you."

Ash's comment made Serenity blush slightly. "I'm glad to have met you too." She told him. "Well I better get back to sleep. "Good night."

"Night." Ash said as he turned back to his cards. Serenity was almost to the door before she turned around and then planted a quick kiss on Ash's cheek, making the trainer blush.

"Thanks again for helping me, Ash." She said before leaving and closing the door. Ash touched the place where she kissed him and knew he'd have a little more motivation for dueling.

Ash, you sly dog you.

I know I said I would re-do this, but I'll try and work on it a little more and see where it goes. (Note: In the anime, Spellbinding Circle makes a monster lose 700 attack so I borrowed that effect for this story)

Also if I do a sequel it will be that Unova has already happened and Ash and others with him will be going to Kalos. So no Iris. If you don't like her too much and want to laugh, go ahead laugh.