Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Heroes

"Motegi Yuuo — a senior who's a full year ahead of Ryo Marufuji. Three years ago, he was considered Duel Academy's Number One!"

He looked small — about the same size as Sho, Judai's sidekick — and had the appearance of an elementary schooler. But in reality, he was a full year older than Ryo, making him a true upperclassman.

"Whether it's the opponent's tactics or face-down cards, he can accurately predict over 60% of them! In a way, he's a genius across all aspects of Duel Monsters!"

"What!? That guy… was the academy's No. 1 three years ago?!"

Judai was stunned. This boy in tattered Obelisk Blue attire — barely elementary-school height and exuding a constantly lazy vibe — was a top-tier duelist from the year above Ryo Marufuji!?

It was honestly hard to believe.

"But then, for reasons unknown, your dueling style suddenly underwent a drastic change!"

"Ever since then, most students who've dueled you lost all motivation. Some even dropped out voluntarily and left this island academy altogether!"

Judai: !!!

Holy crap! This guy's dueling can drain people's will to live? That's seriously spooky!

"But it was also from that moment on that you began displaying something beyond the ordinary — the ability to see and even use the power of Duel Spirits!"

Yuuya Sakaki had come here precisely because of this. By keeping an eye on Chronos (to prevent him from doing anything shady to Judai), he'd discovered the presence of Motegi Yuuo and used his academy privileges to investigate him.

Due to time constraints, Yuuya only managed to review surface-level records on the guy — he hadn't even had time to watch any of his duel footage.

"I don't know who you are, but since you went out of your way to investigate me, it would be rude not to respond with a duel."

The name "Judai Yuki" — he'd only heard it from Professor Chronos. Otherwise, given how isolated Motegi had become, he wouldn't have bothered to leave his place to track him down.

This red baseball cap–wearing guy called Sakaki Yuuya also possessed Duel Spirit power. Judging by his aura, he might even be stronger than Judai himself. If that's the case, then he'd duel this strong… uh… "junior?" first, and then complete Professor Chronos's task afterward.

"Duel!"

Sakaki Yuuya: 4000 LP

Motegi Yuuo: 4000 LP

"My turn first! I activate the Spell Card Graceful Charity! I draw three cards from my Deck and then discard two from my hand."

A standard draw-and-dump play — after sending his partner card and another to the Graveyard, Yuuya immediately summoned the first monster in this "Duel Spirit Users' Duel":

"I summon Elemental HERO Oceanman in Attack Position!"

A new HERO monster appeared — a blue-skinned merman warrior holding a crescent-shaped spear materialized in front of Yuuya.

(Elemental HERO Oceanman, Level 4, ATK: 1500, DEF: 1200)

"Whoa! Oceanman!?"

Excluding the "Fantastic Four" variants and the draw-supporting Bubbleman, this was the seventh HERO Judai recognized — and one that also existed in his Deck!

"I set two cards face-down and end my turn."

As Yuuya's two set cards appeared at his feet, it was now Motegi Yuuo's turn. With a sluggish expression, he drew a card with seemingly no energy and lazily slotted it into his Duel Disk.

"I summon my favorite monster in Attack Position — Yuyu."

"Yo~"

It was a sky-blue rectangular creature. It had no claws, just cute stubby little arms and legs like something out of a kids' manga. A pair of tiny beige angel wings — no bigger than a fist — fluttered on the back of its head, along with a large pink "?" organ sprouting from its crown.

(Yuyu, Level 1, ATK: 300, DEF: 100)

"Yuyu… even weaker than the 'Kuriboh' family?"

Staring at the cute sky-blue little creature, a visible question mark seemed to form on Yuuya's forehead. A Normal Monster with the same attack as Kuriboh but 100 less defense — and it was summoned in Attack Position?

"That monster's kinda cute!"

A girl's voice came from behind. Yuuya turned to see Judai sitting on the ground with Asuka and the others, who had somehow shown up at some point without him noticing.

"Cute? Yeah… I guess it is."

He said that out loud, but in his heart, Yuuya stayed on high alert. If this was the first card summoned by someone who was once the academy's Number One, then there had to be some secret strategy behind it.

"Next, I activate the Spell Card Cards from the Sky. I banish the LIGHT-Attribute Fairy-Type monster Holy Sphere from my hand to draw two cards from my Deck."

Bathed in sacred light, the angelic soul known as Holy Sphere was banished to another dimension. Under the effect of this draw spell exclusive to LIGHT Fairies, Motegi Yuuo drew two cards.

"Then I activate Yuyu-chan's exclusive Spell Card — Angry Yuyu."

In the artwork of Angry Yuyu, Yuyu was shown puffed up and turning into a big pink cube.

"Lastly, I set all my remaining cards face-down and end my turn."

Cards from the Sky have the drawback of preventing Special Summons and the Battle Phase during the turn it's activated, but that hardly mattered for a monster like Yuyu — with ATK as low as Kuriboh's, entering the Battle Phase was meaningless.

"My turn — draw!"

Yuuya drew his card, but instead of rushing to his Main Phase, he reached the Graveyard zone of his Duel Disk.

"Oceanman's effect — once per turn, during my Standby Phase, I can return 1 'HERO' monster from my field or Graveyard to my hand."

"Using that effect, I return Elemental HERO Blazeman, which I discarded last turn with Graceful Charity, to my hand."

He retrieved Blazeman, and with a smooth motion, slapped it into the Monster Zone:

"I summon Elemental HERO Blazeman in Attack Position! His effect activates on summon — I can add the Spell Card Polymerization from my Deck to my hand."

After searching and adding Polymerization, the Duel Disk auto-shuffled his deck. Then Yuuya activated the freshly added card and played another HERO from his hand:

"I activate the Spell Card Polymerization! I fuse Elemental HERO Oceanman on the field with Elemental HERO Woodsman from my hand!"

A humanoid warrior with skin made of half-green leaves and half-brown tree bark, along with the merman Oceanman, was pulled into the fusion vortex.

"Embodiment of the Earth's will! Fusion Summon — Elemental HERO Gaia!!"

The powers of the ocean and the forest combined — descending was the Duel Monster incarnation of the very planet humanity depends on to live: Earth itself.

(Elemental HERO Gaia, Level 8, ATK: 2500, DEF: 2000)