Cardfight!! Vanguard Episode Rating Graph

Shin introduces the "Standing Fight Table (Name Subject To Change)" to enrich the experience of a Vanguard fight, with Morikawa and Kamui being the first to play on it. After Kamui once again beats Morikawa, Aichi and his friends return to their homes but then see Kai walking back to his home. Wanting to learn where Kai lives, Aichi, Kamui, and Miwa try to follow him, but Kai soon notices them tailing him. Aichi apologizes and tries to get Kai to battle him again, but he declines. However, Kamui challenges Kai, and he reluctantly accepts. The next day, the two commence their cardfight. Kai gains the upper hand by getting a Grade 3 card, Embodiment of Victory, Aleph, into play before Kamui, who counterattacks with his own Grade 3 unit Mr. Invincible. But Kai soon summons another Grade 3 unit Vortex Dragon, and he later activates its Soul Blast skill to destroy some of Kamui's units, leaving Kamui unable to defend himself from Kai's final attacks. Kai defeats Kamui and takes his leave, but not before Aichi tells him that he'll become a stronger and more worthy opponent for him.

Aichi's little sister, Emi, is worried by Aichi's different behavior as of late. After school, Emi sees Aichi with Morikawa and Izaki, who want him to go with them to the Card Capital. However, Emi misinterprets the situation as Aichi hanging with the wrong crowd. Concerned for her brother, she secretly follows the trio to the Card Capital. There, Emi is astounded by all the people in the shop, icluding Aichi, Morikawa, and Izaki, playing Vanguard. It is then that the card shop's manager, Shin Nitta, appears and introduces Emi to the world of trading card games. Emi and Shin then observe a cardfight between Aichi and Morikawa. The battle ends with Aichi winning without taking any damage. Watching Aichi play, Emi sees how much her big brother has changed because of Vanguard. And so, she has become supportive of Aichi playing the game.

Aichi trusts the voice of his cards, riding Solitary Knight, Gancelot and calling King of Knights, Alfred to the Rear-Guard circle. His opponent uses an Oracle Think Tank deck. Though his first Counter Blast with Gancelot is thwarted by Chocolat, he tries again during the next turn, and scores an unexpected Critical trigger, winning the match. Misaki proceeds to win the second fight with a clever combination of Oracle Guardian Red-Eye and Goddess of the Full Moon Tsukuyomi. Team Q4 also advances, but Aichi seems exhausted from his previous fight and collapses, unable to continue. The next fights are conducted without his presence, and Kamui and Kai easily dominate their opponents, allowing Q4 to move once more to the very last round, where they hope to face Team Handsome. However, Gouki and the others are defeated by a mysterious team called Avengers, whose leader is revealed to be none other than "Crusher" Kyou Yahagi, seeking revenge against Kai...

In spite of Nagisa winning and her getting to marry Kamui as a result, Kamui weasels out by saying that Team Q4 as a whole hasn't lost yet, so their agreement is still pending. With one loss in their record, Team Q4 has to win both the next matches in order to advance through the regional tournament. Though everyone is certain that Kai will win, Aichi becomes increasingly desperate, as his match will be the one to decide the fate of the team, going as far as to thinking of running away to have Misaki participate instead. As Kai walks up to play, he indirectly tells Aichi that people who run away are not worthy of fighting him. His opponent, Kaoru "Ka-boom!" Komatsubara, seems to be a formidable opponent who gloats how he's a national-tournament-level player, but Kai gains an early lead, pushing his enemy into a bad situation. Throughout the battle, Kai chooses to not defend against all except one of Kaoru's attacks, puzzling everyone about his decisions. Aichi believes that Kai is trying to tell him something through these actions; he deduces that Kai knows that he does not need to defend and will still be able to win. When both players are at five damage, Kaoru confidently declares that he will survive and claim victory, but Kai refutes that claim, loudly announcing Final Turn! He rides a new card, Blazing Flare Dragon, and uses a card skill to retire one opposing unit and increase its attack power. Kai relentlessly adds to the power by drawing two Critical Triggers in a row, thoroughly annihilating Kaoru. Seeing Kai's power, and remembering his own aspirations to reach his level, Aichi becomes motivated to win his fight!

Aichi makes a comeback by calling more units from his deck to boost the power of The King of Knights, Alfred, forcing Ninja Master M to use most of his cards to guard against his attacks. As a result, M is left with no cards to defend himself from Aichi's last attack. Aichi wins and therefore advances to the semifinals. Ninja Master M disappears, and Mark soon arrives (with a bag containing his Ninja Master M attire). After Aichi's match, Kamui and Misaki play in their respective cardfights, and they both advance as well. Before the start of the semifinals, the tournament is put on hold for a lunch break. So, Aichi and Emi have lunch outside the card shop where Kamui tries to get Emi to feed him, but no such luck. After everyone returns to the shop, Aichi, Misaki, Kamui, and Kai all draw lots to determine who will be playing against who. Aichi is put up against Kamui while Kai must fight Misaki. With the matchups set, the semifinals begin.

Aichi goes to the card shop to buy a booster pack in the hopes of getting a Grade 3 card. When he arrives, he sees a grade-school kid, Kamui Katsuragi, convincingly defeating Izaki in a cardfight. Aichi challenges Kamui, but he refuses, noticing that Aichi is not a strong player. Then, after Kamui beats Morikawa in a cardfight, Aichi tries to buy a booster pack. Suddenly, Emi appears, and Kamui immediately falls in love with her. Before Aichi could buy a pack, Emi drags him back home while Kamui looks on, thinking that the two are boyfriend and girlfriend. Later, Aichi buys a booster pack and is pleased to find that the pack contained a Grade 3 card, Solitary Knight, Gancelot. Just then, Kamui shows up and challenges Aichi, demanding to get Emi if he beats him. Although Aichi misunderstands Kamui's intentions, he and Kamui begin their Vanguard fight. Kamui uses powerful cards like Genocide Jack and King of Swords to quickly deal a ton of damage to Aichi, who strikes back by using his newly-acquired Solitary Knight, Gancelot. But in the end, Aichi loses to Kamui after he calls his ace card Asura Kaiser. Afterwards, Emi arrives and tries to get Aichi home, and it is then that Kamui learns that the two are actually siblings. Now, hoping to get closer to Emi, Kamui starts referring to Aichi as his "big brother", although Aichi is not exactly glad about it.

As the fight between Kiriya and Aichi begins, Kai is seen watching the match in another area. Emi runs to Team Q4, worried about Aichi playing in another fight, but finds both Misaki and Kamui visibly shaken from Aichi's words. While the fan girls for Brilliant Stars are cheering, Kiriya is still wondering if Aichi has really mastered the Shadow Paladin Deck, while deciding to prove his worth by beating him in front of Ren. With his Pale Moon Deck, Kiriya successfully deals damage to Aichi with his Juggler cards and calling cards from the Soul. Aichi simply takes a few damage and defends himself with a couple of cards, all while taunting Kiriya about Ren giving him the Shadow Paladin Deck because he is strong. After riding Dark Illusionist, Robert, Kiriya is able to deal three damage to Aichi, giving him almost complete control of the match. However, as Miwa states, Aichi is just playing around with Kiriya, as he rides Phantom Blaster Dragon, and calls Blaster Dark to the rear guard to help deal damage. Kiriya is able to defend himself, allowing only one damage as he eagerly calls "Final Turn" on Aichi. With Ren watching, Kiriya stands in shock as Aichi completely defends himself and takes no damage. Wondering if Kai is watching his fight, Aichi claims he will show how strong he is, calling his "Final Turn" on Kiriya. Calling two more Grade 3 units, Aichi soundly defeats Kiriya, while still muttering that he needs to be even stronger for Kai's recognition. As everyone in the stadium cheers Team Q4 for winning the elimination rounds, Ren congratulates Aichi for winning, while forgetting who Kiriya is. Meanwhile, Kai is seen walking away from watching the match, swearing to himself that he will stop Aichi.

At the start of the tournament, Team Q4 is placed in the same block as Team Jurassic Army and Team Brilliant Stars, another faction of Foo Fighters. After having a brief conversation with Team Q4, Kiriya Bidou, leader of Brilliant Stars, is summoned by Ren, who tells him that if he can take care of Aichi, then he will be allowed into AL4. When Team Q4 is getting ready to face Jurassic Army, they are greeted by the members of Team Caesar, who wish them luck to meet in the finals. Aichi then claims that even without luck, they will be at the finals, since their victory is guaranteed, puzzling Team Caesar. As he steps onto the field, Aichi is once again faced off against Gunji, who asks if he has gotten stronger since their last match. Fed up with people asking how much stronger he has gotten, Aichi tells Gunji that it is best to just show much power he has, and warns him that he will soundly defeat him. Using his new Shadow Paladin deck, Aichi beats Gunji, despite drawing a heal trigger like last time. Although Gunji claims that Aichi has gotten stronger, it is not something that should be praised for. Soonafter, Ren claims that Aichi still has not released his true powers, as Aichi once again collapses from using Psy Qualia. As Aichi is resting in the infirmary, both Kamui and Misaki agree that till the finals, they would not let Aichi fight again, while Kourin returns, hoping that Kai will make it in time to help Aichi.

After losing to Aichi, Kourin goes to Card Capital, asking for Kai. Since Miwa is the only person who knows where Kai is, he rides with Kourin to the Underground cardfight area. They find Kai, who is beating all the underground fighters to relieve his frustrations. Kourin soon challenges him to a fight, where Miwa and Jun get to sit in the middle of the action. While Kourin uses her Royal Paladin deck, Kai reveals his newly modified Kagero deck, which focuses on Amber Dragons. As each of them are dealing damage to each other, Kourin confronts Kai about how it's his fault that Aichi has fallen into the power of Psy Qualia, saying that Aichi only sought the power because he wanted to become stronger for Kai's approval. Kai agrees, and also claims that he had seen the corrupted effects of Psy Qualia before, not knowing how to prevent it from happening. He then tells Kourin that it may have been one simple thing: to exceed that power. Kourin then asks Kai if he can stop Aichi before he falls completely under the influence of Psy Qualia, to which Kai says that he can. After losing to Kai, Kourin gives him Aichi's Royal Paladin deck, and hopes that he can succeed where she had failed. Meanwhile, Aichi spends the entire night in his room, mentally preparing himself for the National Tournament. When arriving at the tournament, Aichi tells Kamui to relax as he is sure that they will win, revealing his newly acquired Shadow Paladin deck, much to the shock of his teammates.

Kamui is concerned when Aichi stops coming to Card Capital after the tournament. Aichi continues to be haunted by Kai's words and finds himself unexpectedly at the door to the PSY Card Shop. Aichi enters the shop and is greeted by the members of Ultra Rare where he asks them if he was strong in the last tournament. Everyone is then surprised when Ren enters the shop. Confronting Aichi, Ren explains what has been happening to him lately and the nature of the power, PSY Qualia. Ren tells Aichi that Kai will only acknowledge strong fighters and that he must get stronger. Ren then gives Aichi a Shadow Paladin Deck, the dark opposite of his Royal Paladin Deck. Seeing through PSY Qualia, Aichi is nearly overwhelmed by the deck's power and believes this new deck makes him invincible. Kourin believes he's being arrogant and challenges him to a duel with her Royal Paladin Deck. In the match, Kourin is easily and soundly defeated by Aichi using Blaster Dark and his new Shadow Paladins, demonstrating the fearsome power of PSY Qualia. All the while, Ren watches from the shadows, smiling and encouraging Aichi to embrace his new dark power.

The fight between Miwa and Aichi begins. Miwa, who surprisingly uses a Kagero deck like Kai, forces Aichi into a corner by using powerful retiring strategies, and even though Aichi manages a powerful attack using two Pongal and Young Pegasus Knight, and then Solitary Knight, Gancelot as well as Soul Saver Dragon, Miwa blocks his efforts, and calls Dragonic Overlord, activating its Eternal Flame. Though Miwa gloats with 'Final Turn', Aichi blocks his attack, and then places down Flash Shield, Iseult to neutralize Overlord's hit. He proceeds to win the game using Soul Saver Dragon - however, Kai is informed by Miwa that Aichi hears the call of card spirits, which greatly worries him.

Surprisingly enough, Nagisa steps into the fray as the first fighter of Team Handsome, resulting in Kamui being in a desperate situation as she declares that Kamui has to marry her if she wins. Kamui answers back by declaring that if he wins, then Nagisa will leave him alone. Both parties agree to these terms and then start their Cardfight. Using a Nova Grappler deck like Kamui, Nagisa proves herself to be an excellent fighter, fighting toe-to-toe with him. Though it seems that the agonizing Kamui can make a reversal using Lion Heat, Nagisa is able to fully negate his attacks and finish him off using her own Lion Heat and Magician Girl, Kirara with a "Wedding Hold" during the next turn. After the match, as per agreement, Nagisa gets dressed in a wedding gown and is ready to marry Kamui, who tries to run for his life.

Aichi has difficulty pushing for victory, and his opponent gets a Critical Trigger on top, bringing him to five damage. Aichi desperately needs to block the next strike, but is unwilling to leave his hand empty. He guards with Wingal and Intercepts with his new unit Knight of Truth, Gordon. At first, it seems that Aichi has an insufficient amount of Shield, but he reveals that Gordon's skill, the Especial Intercept, allows its shield to rise by 5000 points during an Intercept. Aichi then proceeds to call Gigantech Charger, another new card whose skill is used to completely fill Aichi's side of the field, and finish the match with a Critical Trigger. Team Black Magic's next fighter, Kurosaki, appears, while on Team Q4's side, Kai steps up. They both use Kagero, and the announcer, MC Miya, and spectators seem to think it will be an exciting match. However, they are soon disillusioned - Kai annihilates his opponent without even breaking a sweat. Afterwards, everyone sees that underneath Team Black Magic's dark cloaks are actually three sparkling-bright young men. Kai's victory leads to Team Q4 advancing to the next round and Kamui becoming enraged that he was not given the chance to fight.

The day for the regional tournament is here. Shin drives the team of Aichi, Kamui, and Kai to the tournament site. on the way there, while Aichi and Kamui make adjustments to Aichi's deck, Shin decides to name the team "Quadrifoglio" (Italian for "four-leaf-clover"; Q4 for short). They arrive and watch a promotional video of the pop idol group Ultra Rare, who are the three girls, Kourin, Rekka, and Suiko, who Aichi met at the card shop PSY. After a run-in with Team Handsome, it is then accounced that Team Q4 will play in the first round against Team Black Magic, three dark-robed men who all have "Kuro" (Japanese for "black") in their names. Because of Misaki's absence, Aichi will have to participate, and in the first match, too! Aichi's fight does not go well. His opponent, Kurosawa, appears to use the same clan as Kai, the Kagero, but with many new units. When he Superior Rides Demonic Dragon Berserker, Yaksha and uses several skills to retire all of Aichi's Rear-Guards, Aichi panics, realizing that even if he rides Alfred, he cannot use fully use its ability. In a desperate move, he uses all the cards in his hand, including the newly-added Knight of Truth, Gordon, to create an almost full field.

As Emi continues coming to the Card Capital Card Shop, Shin convinces her to try the game out for herself. While approaching the game shop, Katsumi has his fortune told and he finds that he will have luck with his juniors today (however, Yuta corrects him and says that he'll have terrible luck today). When they arrive at the card shop, Aichi is surprised when Emi is preparing to play Vanguard. Emi is handed Misaki's deck as Shin wants both Aichi and Emi to battle together. However, Katsumi wishes to take Aichi's place and a battle between the new player Emi and the "Expert Naive Player" Katsumi begins, with Kamui bitter about how Katsumi is playing against her instead of himself. Despite only using "cute" cards, Emi defeats Katsumi with some beginner's luck.

Kids from all over town converge to play Vanguard, a card game that seems to be the biggest thing going around. A timid boy, Aichi Sendō, has a rare card, the Blaster Blade, which makes him a target for Katsumi Morikawa, a player who wants to use Aichi's card to get revenge on another player, Toshiki Kai. After school, Morikawa and his buddy Yūta Izaki steal Aichi's Blaster Blade from him. Aichi runs to a card shop called Card Capital to find that Morikawa lost it in a bet against Kai. It is then that Aichi and Kai meet and play a round of Vanguard with Blaster Blade as the prize. Before the match, Kai gives Aichi Blaster Blade in the hopes of him using it effectively against him. During the course of the match, Kai teaches Aichi the rules of playing Vanguard. As the fight goes on, Aichi reveals that he has met Kai before when summoning his ace, Blaster Blade, which Kai gave to him long ago, stating that it was because of him that he wants to learn more about Vanguard.

After taking a look at Aichi's deck, Shin decides to show him "something nice". So, Shin has Aichi battle Misaki, who, despite working at the card shop, has never actually participated in a Vanguard fight before. Nonetheless, after Shin gives Misaki a special deck, she and Aichi begin their cardfight. In the midst of the battle, Misaki shows that she knows more about the game than she lets on as she draws multiple cards and calls her ace card, the Grade 3 CEO Amaterasu. Using the "Twin Drive" ability that Grade 3 cards have, Misaki defeats Aichi. Through this loss, Aichi learns that he has much more to know about Vanguard if he ever wants to play against Kai again.

A tournament is being held again at Card Capital, but it is now a team fight due to the large number of participants. Team Q4 fights and moves all the way up to the final round, with Kai not participating in the team fight. Q4 discovers their opponent to be Team Overthrow which consists of Miwa, Yūta, and Katsumi, who is dressed up as Ninja Master M, since the costume was donated to him by M, since he decided to not participate in tournaments anymore. In the first round, Katsumi faces Misaki and completely loses due to his deck being full of grade 3s. The second round features Kamui and Degozaru's secret weapon, Princess Maiden, who is actually Emi, who wanted to participate in the tournament. Because of Kamui being unwilling to give his all against Emi, she defeats him using her Bermuda Triangle/Oracle Think Tank deck. Now it is Aichi's turn, and his opponent is none other than Miwa!

Miwa spys on Kai who has begun fighting in underground fights in order to find stronger opponents. Underground Cardfights usually result in the loss of cards, and players do not abide by the rules that ensure fair play in a Cardfight. When Miwa discovers that Kai is searching for Jun, the King of Underground Fights, he goes looking for him. He confronts Jun, and is captured. Jun and Kai then have a Cardfight with Miwa and Kai's freedom at stake. Jun uses a Dark Irregulars deck against Kai, and puts up a fierce fight by making use of his cards' abilities. At the end, he attempts to use his ace, Edel Rose, and her critical strike ability to finish off Kai, but is prevented by the complete defense of Kai's Wyvern Guard, Barri. Kai and Miwa leave, with Miwa figuring out that he had been used by Kai to draw Jun out.

Aichi and his friends decide to go to a different card shop called PSY. There, they try out the shop's special Vanguard Fight Stage. It oddly reacts to Aichi, which leads to a woman, Kourin, challenging him to a cardfight. When the two begin the battle, Aichi is surprised that the stage brings the cards to life. Aichi and Kourin, who both use a Royal Paladin deck, continue their battle, until Aichi makes a bad decision in not guarding one of her Vanguard's attacks, ultimately leading to his defeat. Afterwards, another woman, Suiko, gives Aichi the card The King of Knights, Alfred as a special memento for visiting the card shop. Later, Aichi learns from Morikawa that the card shop they visited has disappeared.

The second match is between Misaki and Yuri, two female fighters with completely different playstyles. While Misaki makes her decisions based on highest probabilities and most logical outcomes, Yuri relies on her intuition to take high risks for greater rewards. The latter strategy holds true as Misaki makes a grave misplay by not going for said high risks which could have won her the match. Showing the reason why she is called the Empress, Yuri uses her instincts to draw a Stand Trigger as if she commanded her deck to allow her to do so, thus giving her enough power to defeat Misaki and take the second game. With the score tied 1-1, the last match between Kenji and Aichi will decide who will go on to the finals. As both players deal damage to each other, Aichi sets up to play Soul Saver Dragon in his next turn. However, Kenji sees through Aichi's plan and intends to put a dent in it.

The fight between Aichi and Gouki continues. Aichi blocks Gouki's attack, and counterattacks with Alfred, bringing Gouki to five damage. However, Gouki replaces his Vanguard with King of the Demonic Seas, Basskirk, who uses eight cards from the Soul and five cards from the Damage Zone, to instantly revive as many Granblue units from the Drop Zone as possible! Though Aichi perfectly defends during that turn, he realizes that he must finish it immediately. A strange blue light emerges from his deck, which Kai notices. Aichi draws into one of the new cards that he had acquired, which he had put in his deck despite Kamui's advice. He rides Soul Saver Dragon, the powerful God of the Royal Paladin knights, and activates its skill to power up his rear-guard units. Though it seems like Gouki will make it past, Aichi Drive Checks a Stand Trigger, and finishes the game with a brutal attack. With Aichi's win over Gouki, Team Q4 wins the regional tournament and is therefore eligible to enter the national tournament. At the awards ceremony, Ultra Rare congratulates Q4 for their victory, and Suiko invites Aichi to visit PSY once more.

Now that the Cardfight Club has become official, the new faculty advisor Nakamurabashi makes the club decide on a captain and vice-captain for the club by order of the student council president. Since Aichi was the person who started the club, he reluctantly accepts the position of captain. As for who should be the vice-captain, Shingo is the only person who honestly wants the job while the others are apathetic on the matter. Not wanting to make a hasty decision, Nakamurabashi recommends to hold off until tomorrow on who to elect for vice-captain. After school, Misaki is convinced by her friend Akari to try out for vice-captain. The same happens with Kourin being persuaded by Takuto. The club meets the next day, and when Nakamurabashi asks again for who wants to be the vice-captain, Shingo, Naoki, Misaki, and Kourin all raise their hands. To finally settle things, the four cardfight each other with the overall winner becoming the vice-captain.

Kyou is back for revenge against Team Q4 - specifically Kai. Kyou then proceeds to explain how things came to be this way - since he lost his match to Kai during the Nationals, he got banished from AL4. As a former member of AL4, Kyou had trouble finding a new team to join because no one wants to recruit a discarded AL4 member to prevent any conflicts. After multiple rejections, Kyou goes insane and swears vengeance against Team Q4. For the first match, Aichi decides to take the lead instead of letting Kai face Kyou again in hopes of earning more of Kai's acknowledgement. Under the influence of his new powers, Aichi becomes a completely different Cardfighter. Before the match, Aichi declares his victory and the card Young Pegasus Knight as the key card to win the match - something that Ren would do. During the match, Kyou slowly becomes intimidated by Aichi's resemblance to Ren. Kyou believed Aichi was simply bluffing after retiring his Young Pegasus Knight during his second turn. But at the end, Aichi reveals the second Young Pegasus Knight he had and declared his victory with the same attitude and aura as Ren.

Aichi, Kamui and Misaki visit Card Shop PSY after Suiko's invitation. They meet an aloof red-haired stranger with a peculiar attitude. However, once the Ultra Rare group arrives, they learn that he is none other than Ren Suzugamori, the winner of the previous national tournament! Kourin and Ren engage in a Cardfight, both using the exact same deck structure, and Aichi, who had been beaten by Kourin before, watches in amazement as Ren easily controls the match. Strangely using the same speech patterns that Kai does during his matches, Ren uses a seemingly simple Grade 1 card called Blazer Idols to finish the game. However, what are these visions that Aichi has of the planet Cray, when Ren is about to make his move...?

Kourin defeats Izaki, which ties the score 1-1. The third game pits Misaki against Hitsue Vanguard Club's ringer and old Q4 teammate, Kamui Katsuragi. Although Kamui gets an early lead, Misaki mounts a comeback with Battle Deity of the Night, Artemis. Kamui then combines the Break Ride of Beast Deity, Ethics Buster and the Limit Break of Ultra Beast Deity, Illuminal Dragon to stand four of his rear-guards to launch multiple attacks in one turn. However, Misaki protects herself, only taking one point of damage from Kamui's five attacks. In what seems to be a hopeless situation, Misaki rides Eternal Goddess, Iwanagahime and uses its Limit Break to retire Kamui's front-row units. Weakening Kamui's defenses, Misaki wins and puts Miyaji Academy up 2-1. In the fourth game, Shingo is selected to fight against Miwa. Before the fight, Shingo underestimates Miwa, which ends up being his undoing when Miwa demolishes him and evens the score 2-2. So, it's Aichi vs.

Miyaji Academy's unofficial Cardfight Club is set up to have an intramural match against Hitsue High School's Vanguard Club, in which Kai, Miwa, Morikawa, and Izaki are members. The two teams play in a best-of-5 match, and opponents are randomly selected. Under the conditions that the Miyaji Academy student council president created, if the Cardfight Club loses this match, then it will be dissolved. In the first game, Naoki fights Kai, with both using Eradicator-themed Narukami decks. Naoki combines both the Break Ride of Eradicator, Vowing Sword Dragon and the Limit Break of Eradicator, Gauntlet Buster Dragon to retire Kai's units and gain more critical value and power, but Kai manages to survive the assault. Then, Kai uses a similar devastating combo with Vowing Sword and Eradicator, Dragonic Descendant. Although Naoki blocks his first attempt, Kai activates Descendant's Limit Break to have it stand up, gain another critical, and attack again.

The fight between Aichi and Leon reaches its climax. After Leon uses the Ultimate Break of Glory Maelstrom to increase its power and prevent Aichi from guarding with grade 1 or higher units, Aichi attempts to guard with two grade 0 units. However, Leon drive checks a heal trigger, which gives Glory Maelstrom enough power to penetrate Aichi's defense. Aichi survives the attack thanks to his own heal trigger. Leon slowly grows weakened after absorbing Void's power as Aichi crossrides Platina Ezel and activates its Ultimate Break to overpower and finally defeat Leon. Void leaves Leon's body, and Takuto opens the path to the planet Cray, declaring that Aichi's Gold Paladin clan is the rightful leader of Cray. Aichi holds up his deck, and with a reformed Leon's help, the Gold Paladins and Aqua Force units dispel Void's darkness from Cray and free the sealed Royal Paladin, Shadow Paladin, and Kagero clans.

Team Q4's second match against Team Muscle Brain begins. Team Muscle Brain believes that training the body will result in a better mind, and thus practices brutal fighting prowess. However, when Kai steps up to the first match, he is able to annihilate his opponent easily by Superior Riding Blazing Flare Dragon. Misaki takes the second match, using a new line of cards located in the deck that was given to her by her parents before their death. Though she can't seem to get a Grade 3 in hand, using the effects of her units she Superior Rides Goddess of the Full Moon Tsukuyomi. Using skills that allow her to draw, she increases her hand to the point where she comfortably blocks her opponent's desperate move, and finishes the game. There is no time to celebrate, though, as the next match is versus Team AL4, the strongest team.

The national tournament preliminary rounds begin! After an explanation of the tournament rules by Ultra Rare, Team Q4 discovers that they are put in the same block as Team Foo Fighter Apex Limited Four, Ren Suzugamori's team and previous winners. To his great surprise, Aichi discovers that Kai not only personally knows one of AL4's members, but is also acquainted with Ren. They are soon forced to forget about AL4, though, since the first round begins and pits them against Team Jurassic Army, a group of militaristic Cardfighters using the brutal Tachikaze clan. Aichi takes the first match against Gunji, and though he allows himself to take damage and use the skill of Blaster Blade effectively, he is cornered by the Tachikaze ace, Tyrant, Deathrex...

Kamui takes Aichi to Card Shop Handsome, a pirate-themed store that Kamui used to visit. They meet the national-tournament-level and previous regional champions Team Handsome, which is led by Gouki Daimonji. Soon after, they also meet Gouki's little sister Nagisa. She has a huge crush on Kamui to the point that she wants to marry him despite their young age, but he does not feel the same way about her. When Kamui tries to explain that he's in love with Aichi's sister Emi, the situation is misinterpreted as Aichi trying to take away Kamui and hurting Nagisa's feelings. Wanting to make her little sister happy, Gouki challenges Aichi to a Cardfight with the winner getting Kamui. As the fight goes on, Aichi learns the horror of Gouki's Granblue deck as he constantly resurrects his undead pirates from the Drop Zone. The level of a Cardfighter who has played in a national tournament proves to be too much for Aichi; Gouki beats Aichi, learning the level of competition that he will face in the future. After the game, the misunderstanding is cleared, and Nagisa goes back to chasing after Kamui, much to his dismay.

The Card Capital Shop Tournament begins soon, but Aichi is hesitant to play in it, even after making a new deck. However, when he learns that Kai will be in the tournament, Aichi decides to enter as well. But when he submits his entry application form, another Vanguard player, Osamu Kishida, places his application at nearly the same time as Aichi. Both of them want to enter, but there is only one open spot left in the tournament. To resolve this issue, Shin recommends to have Aichi and Osamu play against each other to see who gets the last entry spot. Using his Megacolony units' effects, Osamu restricts Aichi's units from standing while scoffing at him for calling so many weak units. However, Aichi uses his new card The King of Knights, Alfred, whose power is increased by the number of other Royal Paladins in play. With Alfred, Aichi defeats Osamu and is therefore officially in the tournament.

Team Q4 arrives at the site of the national tournament grounds and meets Team Caesar, composed of Kenji "Koutei" Matsusada and the siblings Gai and Yuri Usui, who were the last national tournament's finalists and previous winners. Everything seems to be going well, but due to Kai's increasingly arrogant and insulting attitude, Kamui decides he can no longer work with him and abandons the team. Aichi attempts to go after him, but is reminded that if he also leaves, Team Q4 will be unable to participate in the tournament and will therefore be disqualified. With some advice from Kenji, Aichi decides to win the preliminary rounds and earn Q4 a spot in the finals, so Kamui can return.

Aichi's Cardfight Club is attracting attention all around the school as male classmates (who are mostly interested in being with Kourin) have him teach them the rules of Vanguard and again attempt to play against Kourin in order to be inducted to the club but to no avail. Additionally, the female students gossip about a rumor that claims Aichi only started the club to get close to Kourin, which makes Misaki worry. Aichi tries to ask Misaki to join the club, but she declines because of her job at Card Capital. Kourin gets an unsettling feeling that there is someone watching her, with Naoki suspecting that it could be a stalker. Naoki eventually confronts the stalker who turns out to be a classmate, Shingo Komoi. Naoki threatens to beat him up, but Shingo suggests to settle things with a cardfight instead. Despite modifying his Narukami deck, Naoki's inexperience at Vanguard causes him to struggle against Shingo's Murakumo deck.

The news of Kourin transferring into Aichi's class becomes a hot topic, especially when the male classmates start talking to Aichi to get closer to her once they learn that the two know each other. Then, Aichi gets an idea on how to promote Vanguard at his school. Because there is no Cardfight Club, Aichi decides to make one himself. The next day, he tries to recruit enough members to officially start the club (needing a minimum of five people, including himself) by handing out leaflets in front of the school. His pleas fall on deaf ears until Kourin agrees to be a member. Her enlistment is followed by several other boys who want to join (only to be with Kourin), but she proposes that anybody who wants to become club members will have to defeat either her and Aichi in cardfights before they can enter. The two easily beat all of the challengers, but then Naoki steps up to play against Kourin with honest feelings of wanting to join the club.

Months after the conclusion of the VF Circuit, Aichi enters high school as a freshman at Miyaji Academy. However, he has trouble adjusting to his new school life due to the academy's heavy emphasis on studies. After school, Aichi goes to Card Capital while being tailed by a classmate, Naoki Ishida. There, he sees the many customers playing Vanguard, which Naoki has no knowledge about. He spots Aichi conversing with Team SIT Genius in the back of the shop. Curious by how different Aichi's behavior is in the card shop compared to how he acts at school because of a card game, Naoki becomes intrigued to Vanguard. And so, Aichi teaches Naoki about Vanguard through playing an actual match, with the latter being lent a new Narukami trial deck to use from Shin. As they cardfight, Naoki slowly gets immersed into the game. After Aichi eventually wins, Naoki buys the trial deck and hastily leaves in a frustrated manner, which worries Aichi.

Depressed about losing his Royal Paladin deck, Aichi meets Kai. He learns that not only has Kai's deck been changed to a Narukami deck, but also that Kai has no memory of using a Kagero deck or of Aichi using Royal Paladins. To find some answers, the two have a cardfight. As Aichi struggles to get comfortable with his new Gold Paladin deck, Kai slowly realizes that something is off. Getting his memory back, Kai nonetheless chooses to continue using his current deck, but Aichi is conflicted about using his. Kai tells Aichi that he is bound by his own limits by not wanting to use Gold Paladins and that he needs to break through them. To prove his point, Kai rides Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, declares "Final Turn", and performs Limit Break, an ability that activates when a player has 4 or more damage. With Vermillion's Limit Break, Kai attacks all of Aichi's front-row units in one strike and wins as a result.

Kamui and Kai advance to the second round of the tournament, along with Ninja Master M, an eccentric player who dresses and acts like a ninja. He meets Aichi, who deduces that he is actually his teacher Mark Whiting, but he denies that claim (even though it's true). The tournament progresses to the second round matches with Aichi facing off against Ninja Master M while Kai plays against the previous tournament's champion Kazuki Inaba. Ninja Master M uses his Nubatama ninja units' effects to deplete the cards in Aichi's hands. He drives Aichi to a corner when he rides his ace card Stealth Dragon Voidmaster and leaves only one card in Aichi's hand. While this is going on, Kai defeats Inaba in his match.

The last fight between Aichi and Kai is reaching its climax. Despite the overwhelming Limit Break of Kai's Dragonic Overlord "The Яe-birth", Aichi nullifies most of its attacks. Kai insists on ridding himself from the world because of the sins he committed, but Aichi finally gets him to realize that he has and always will be there for him. Upon understanding that, Kai's Reverse is dispelled as well as the effects of Reverse that were still inside Aichi. They both continue the fight to the best of their abilities. In the end, Aichi defeats Kai with a final attack from Blaster Blade Liberator, the card that connects the two. Aichi and Kai then descend the Tatsunagi building and reunite with their friends as the gate above fully disappears. Some time later, life returns to normal as Kai walks to Card Capital, where he will play against Aichi, who he now recognizes as the strongest fighter and his best friend.

While the Link Joker units have begun attacking Aichi's friends, Aichi is still wavering after hearing Reversed Takuto's words. Just as Aichi loses hope, he hears the many cries from his friends who are still fighting, which motivates Aichi to continue the battle. Aichi rides Liberator, Monarch Sanctuary Alfred to return his locked units to the deck and superior call them back to the field, thus countering Reversed Takuto's "World End" strategy. Aichi defeats him, which causes the many gates over the world to disappear along with the invading Link Joker units and all of the Reversed fighters returning to normal. However, about to also disappear, Reversed Takuto tries to take Aichi down with him in a last ditch effort, but he is stopped by the appearance of the original Takuto. Apologizing to Kourin, Rekka and Suiko, Takuto sacrifices himself and dissipates along with his Reversed self. Although the long battle against Link Joker seems to be over, the gate above Aichi is not completely gone, and he is soon confronted by Kai, who is still Reversed...

The battle between Ren and Kai draws near the end as Ren declares "Final Turn". He Crossbreak Rides Revenger, Dragruler Phantom and activates its Limit Break to automatically deal 1 damage to Kai, bringing him closer to defeat. Despite that, Kai protects himself from Ren's assault and responds with his own "Final Turn" announcement. He Crossbreak Rides Dragonic Overlord "The Яe-birth", locks all of his own rear-guards, and launches a triple attack on Ren with it. Exhausted of all of his heal triggers, Ren loses and faints while in the process of being Reversed. Aichi is left as the only person who can take on Reversed Takuto and Kai. Reversed Takuto orders Kai to fight Aichi, but he refuses because he already beat Aichi and no longer deems him as a worthy opponent. So, Reversed Takuto takes it upon himself to cardfight Aichi.

Just as Aichi and his friends are surrounded by more Reversed fighters, Teams Asteroid and Avengers appear. They fend off the Reversed fighters while Aichi and Ren go together to face Reversed Takuto, who has revealed himself as being the emissary of Link Joker. They meet on the rooftop of Tatsunagi HQ, where Reversed Takuto states that he has completely absorbed the original Takuto and has gotten stronger from doing so. He further explains that the world will end once the gate floating above them fully opens. Then, Kai appears and challenges Ren. And so, the two wage battle as Aichi and Reversed Takuto observe, with Kai returning to his Kagero deck. As the cardfight ensues, Ren expresses his enlightenment in fighting against Kai while showing signs of his former sadistic self when he was possessed by Psyqualia. Kai responds by forewarning Ren's defeat once his true power is unleashed...

Aichi tries to end the match with Liberator of Bonds, Gancelot Zenith, but Kai completely defends himself. Kai then uses Star-vader, Chaos Breaker Dragon to finish off Aichi and walks back into the Tatsunagi HQ building, leaving Aichi to be Reversed. However, Team Dreadnought shortly appears, and Leon tells Aichi to use Psyqualia. With help from the real Takuto in a spiritual form, Aichi prevents himself from being Reversed but is left exhausted. Then, Leon informs everyone about how he rescued the real Takuto and their plans to infiltrate Tatsunagi HQ to defeat Link Joker. Aichi wants to join them, but Leon and Takuto tell him that Aichi's Reverse process was only temporarily stopped. They also say that if Aichi fights again in his current state, it could be fatal. So, leaving Jillian and Sharlene to take care of Aichi and his friends, Leon and Takuto prepare to go inside Tatsunagi HQ.

Continuing his broadcast which is only visible to cardfighters, Takuto reveals everything about Reverse and the black rings in the sky scattered around the world. He explains that those are gates which grow with each fighter becoming Reversed, eventually enveloping the entire world in darkness. At the end of the broadcast, as Aichi and his friends come to grips with this revelation, Kamui finally succumbs to Reverse and challenges Aichi. Soon becoming overwhelmed by an increased number of Reversed fighters, Aichi and his friends escape along with Gouki, Nagisa, Emi, Mai, and Rekka thanks to the timely arrival of Shin. Elsewhere, Miwa fights Kai using the latter's Kagero deck in an attempt to open his eyes. However, his efforts end in vain as Kai defeats him with Star-vader, Chaos Breaker Dragon while also telling Miwa that he became Reversed of his own volition to become as strong as Aichi and Ren. At Card Capital, Aichi and his friends decide to confront Takuto for information. Suddenly, Miwa, now Reversed, appears and tells them that they will have to fight Kai before getting to Takuto. He also tells Aichi that he and Ren are what drove Kai to becoming Reversed in the first place. After Miwa takes his leave, everyone resolves themselves to press onward, but Aichi is showing signs of hesitation after what Miwa said...

Kamui continues his battle against the Reversed Rekka, who reiterates how she has no friends despite Emi and Mai being there for her ever since she transferred into Miyaji Academy. After both fighters perform Crossbreak Rides and stop each other's attacks, Kamui points out a flaw in Rekka's logic of using Emi and Mai as hostages when it would have been easier to Reverse them. This is proof of how Rekka does not actually want to Reverse Emi and Mai and that despite her earlier claims, she deeply cares about them as friends. While Rekka reels from this exposure, Kamui launches multi-pronged attacks to win the fight and dispel her of Reverse. Along with Emi, Mai, and Team Handsome, Kamui and Rekka then battle and defeat Reiji, Eiji, and the Rekka Corps, lifting the spell of Reverse from them. Emi expresses her thanks to Kamui, which causes him to run off in embarassment. At the front of the school, he runs into Maki and Kourin who have just arrived from the camping trip. Kourin gives a troubling look towards Kamui as an airplane flies overhead.

Kai meets with Takuto and tells him about the incident with Naoki. Takuto explains that it is the work of Reverse, a phenomenon created by the evil Void in its quest to envelop everything in darkness. He further elucidates that those who are Reversed will lose their souls and become engulfed with Void's energy if they lose to a Reversed fighter. It is then revealed that Takuto has been Reversed and is now an agent for Void. The two engage in a cardfight, and Kai is surprised to see Takuto's deck representing Link Joker, a never-before-seen clan that acts as the harbinger of Void. As the fight progresses, Kai is shocked by the terrifying Lock effect of Link Joker; his units are sealed away from being used until the end of his turn.

After Naoki makes another offhand comment towards Suiko, the two start their cardfight. Suiko criticizes Naoki for being a good but uninteresting fighter. He tries to prove her wrong when he activates the Limit Break of his new ace card: Armor Break Dragon. At the cost of discarding three cards from his hand, Naoki not only eliminates Suiko's front-row rear-guard units, but he also increases Armor Break Dragon's power and critical value to unbelievable heights. Despite this, Suiko defends against Naoki's attacks with almost all of the cards in her hand. On the following turn, Suiko wins the game with Chief Nurse, Shamsiel by moving cards to and from her damage zone thus increasing most of her units' power. Afterwards, Naoki apologizes to his friends for his loss and realizes how weak he actually is. Shingo cheers him up (although with some harsh choice of words) and says that he'll train Naoki to become stronger.

Kouji leads an elite team, including TRY3, on a mission to infiltrate Ryuzu's lab to retrieve both his Depend Cards and the units that he had summoned from Cray. There, the group is separated due to the efforts of Ryuzu's security robots led by a young boy named Hiroki Moriyama, a member of the "Company". Chrono and Kouji are furthered separated from Kamui, Tokoha, and Shion; those three wind up in battles against the other Company members, which consists of the enigmatic Sousuke Wakamizu, the Dark Zone branch chief Satoru Enishi, and Shouma. Meanwhile, Chrono and Kouji come face-to-face with Ryuzu. He reveals his ambition to gather specific units called the Zodiac Time Beasts to open the Stride Gate, which he believes will perfect the world. Ultimately, the Company successfully stalls for enough time to transport the Time Beasts to another location and escape. However, due to the accumulative side effects from summoning the Time Beasts, Ryuzu dies but not before giving his last words: "For though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again."

Team Trinity Dragon stumbles upon a secret facility run by Wakamizu, and they challenge him. If any members of Trinity Dragon beat Wakamizu, then he will tell them his scheme. However, if Wakamizu defeats all of Trinity Dragon, then they will become guinea pigs for his experiments. Both Karl and Tsuneto lose, but Kei gathers information from their fights to finally defeat Wakamizu. As promised, he tells them that he has been using this facility to gather Stride Force to summon the last Zodiac Time Beast and open the Stride Gate. Wakamizu escapes by activating the facility's self-destruct mechanism. Team Trinity Dragon also escapes before the facility is destroyed, and the group tells Kamui what they have learned. After praising them, Kamui informs them about everything that has happened.

Chrono meets with Kouji to ascertain that Rive is still alive. Kouji also explains his reasons for keeping this information secret. Meanwhile, the United Sanctuary Branch is invaded by the Company's Hiroki Moriyama, a young boy who believes he is a hero of justice while all who oppose him are evil. Since Team AL4 is currently out, Taiyou takes it upon himself to defend the branch by cardfighting Hiroki. As the battle continues, Hiroki spouts more of his ideals of how justice always wins, evil always loses, and evil must be punished. This reminds Taiyou of the old elitist philosophy of the branch and gives him more reason to defeat Hiroki. Unfortunately, not only does Taiyou lose, but Am (as Ace) summons one of the Zodiac Time Beasts and uses its power to destroy the branch. While there were no casualties, Taiyou is nonetheless disheartened that he could not defend the branch.

Chrono and Taiyou seek Kanzaki, who is training in a secluded mountain range. They tell him about the situation with Ryuzu, and in exchange, Kanzaki tells them more about Depend Cards; they are contracts between a fighter and a summoned unit from Cray, but summoning units require a large amount of Stride Force. Kanzaki also reminds Chrono of their fight when Chrono had truly summoned Chronojet Dragon, which surprises Chrono of his own untapped power. Meanwhile, Shouma approaches Ibuki and warns him of certain punishment. After spending the night at Kanzaki's hut, Chrono and Taiyou return to the city and confront Hiroki, following Kanzaki's hunches. Having rebuilt his deck, Taiyou challenges Hiroki to a rematch.

Taiyou starts his rematch against Hiroki. Realizing how lonely Hiroki truly is and how he clings to his twisted sense of justice, Taiyou defeats Hiroki, who escapes with help from Wakamizu. Meanwhile, Am tells both Tokoha and Luna her reason for working with Ryuzu: to revive her comatose parents. She also tells them her role as Peacemaker, the one who will eventually open the Stride Gate. Although Am cuts off her ties of friendship with the two, Luna nonetheless wishes to stay by her side. Later that day, Chrono learns that Mikuru also knew that Rive was still alive but kept that secret from him. Appalled, he storms out of his home, and standing next to him is Ryuzu...

After having an odd dream about Rive, Chrono and Ryuzu talk more about the latter's goal to perfect the world into one without strife or war. Chrono says Ryuzu's methods to do so are contradictory, but he replies that sacrifices are necessary. Ryuzu also tells Chrono that he is the singularity, as in the first person to create a link between Earth and Cray, which causes sudden images to appear in Chrono's head. Meanwhile, Enishi, Am/Ace, and Luna appear at the Dragon Empire Branch. To defend the branch, Mamoru cardfights and defeats Enishi. Then, when Am fights Kouji, Luna shockingly summons one of the Zodiac Time Beasts, Chronobeat Buffalo, and has it attack and destroy the branch. In the midst of the attack, Mamoru protects Tokoha but gets injured in the process. Before the Buffalo's rampage could continue, Enishi knocks Luna unconscious, which causes the beast to disappear. With the destruction of the branch, Enishi, Am, and Luna retreat.

Transported to a secluded ruined area, Chrono cardfights Ryuzu. While battling, bits of Chrono's lost memories regarding his father slowly pop into his mind until he finally recalls the incident involving himself, Rive, and Ryuzu. As it turns out, Rive and Ryuzu were friends who were working on creating a link between Earth and the planet Cray. One day, Chrono was brought over to a laboratory and watched an experiment in which Rive was used to open a portal to Cray. However, Rive later learned how Ryuzu wanted to sacrifice Cray for Earth's benefit. While Rive argued with him, Chrono heard a voice calling him from the Cray side of the portal. That voice belonged to Chrono Dran, and Chrono had summoned the dragon to Earth. When Ryuzu wanted to capture Chrono Dran, Rive knew at that moment what he had to do. He overloaded the system, caused the portal to explode, and destroyed the lab while protecting Chrono and Chrono Dran. While carrying the two away, Rive told Chrono to forget everything. Back in the present time, with all of his memories retained, Chrono is more appalled with Ryuzu, who knocks him unconscious with a taser.

Chrono discovers that he has been taken to a private villa where he and Ryuzu continue from where their cardfight left off. Meanwhile, Kouji, Kamui, Shion, and Tokoha track down Chrono's location but are impeded by the Company. During the scuffle, Enishi tells Tokoha that Luna has become the new Peacemaker and has lost her sense of self as a result. Back at the villa, Ryuzu comes to realize that no matter what he says, Chrono will not join his cause. Just as Ryuzu lands the potential finishing blow, he summons his Chronofang Tiger to the real world and attacks Chrono with it. But it is at that moment when Chrono's 3 remaining Depend Cards awaken and are summoned to aid him. Chrono also summons Chrono Dran, and his four units fend off Tiger and knock out Ryuzu. This causes him to drop his other Depend Cards, which Chrono takes and tries to awaken all of them. However, doing so not only drains Chrono's energy and make him faint, but also unbeknownst to him, it worked in Ryuzu's favor. Later, after having an ominous dream about the Zodiac Time Beasts trapped with Luna, Chrono wakes up and finds himself back home safe with his friends and family.

Shin tells Chrono about his past with Rive. Back then, Shin was part of Team Nippon along with Mark Whiting and Rive, who was also the team's mentor. Together, they won the national Vanguard tournament and were invited to the world championship. Around the same time, Rive was also spending time with Ryuzu, which Shin did not like because it was taking time away from training. One day, Shin met Ryuzu and had a cardfight with him; if Shin won, then Ryuzu would not be allowed to see Rive. Although Shin won, Rive still kept meeting with Ryuzu. Eventually, Shin realized the likely reason why Rive kept seeing Ryuzu: they both agreed on and pursued the idea that Vanguard can be used to make the world a better place. Rive tells Shin about the existence of the Gear Chronicle clan and said that it was the key to change the world, which was the last memory Shin had of him.

After Shion agrees to help Am save Luna, Chrono and the gang are called out by Ryuzu. He pulls Chrono into an image that details how he was able to summon the Zodiac Time Beasts after Rive's betrayal. Then, with the power of all the Zodiac Time Beasts in possession, Ryuzu opens the Stride Gate, creating a Tower of Light. Sacrificing the Planet Cray and converting it into energy through the gate, Ryuzu's image of a "perfect future" is born; everyone falls into a deep slumber and will dream blissfully about their own perfect futures forever. But Chrono, Shion, Tokoha, Am, and Taiyou awake from their dreams because they have been chosen as arbiters who will fight Ryuzu and the Company. The outcome of their battles will decide the future once and for all.

Q4 arrives in Singapore. While sight-seeing, they run into their friendly rivals, Team Caesar. Kenji and his friends take them to a local university, SIT (Singapore Institute of Technical Studies), where students learn about specific studies in Vanguard and where Kenji hopes to attend when he graduates from high school. They then meet three young boys, Christopher Lo, Ali Pajeel, and Lee Shenlon, who are students of the university despite being the same age as Kamui. The SIT boys get into a heated discussion about how they got an early start in attending SIT and how there's little to no hope for those who attend later than they have. After leaving the university, Aichi sees Takuto and follows him trying to get an answer. Kourin arrives and lets him know the only way to meet with Takuto is to win the VF Circuit. Before leaving, Kourin gives Aichi a card, Incandescent Lion, Blond Ezel.

The match between Aichi and Tetsu continues while an anxious Kamui watches. Confronted by Nagisa, Gouki and Emi, who learned of the situation via Team Caesar, Kamui is motivated to support Aichi. Aichi begins to make a comeback by shutting down his opponent's offense and evening out the damage with a heal trigger, but Tetsu rides Demon World Marquis Amon, and with a Critical Trigger, pushes Aichi down to five damage. Aichi gains a vision of the Royal Paladin knights joined together, and draws and rides Soul Saver Dragon, whose effect is used to power up all his units. Regardless, Tetsu manages to block, and during his next turn rides Still Vampyr. That card has a deadly effect that replaces the opponent's Vanguard with another Rear-Guard, thus Aichi is forced to ride the Grade 0 Future Knight, Llew. In this weakened form, he is unable to withstand Tetsu's attack and suffers a terrible defeat. It seems as if all hope is not lost, as Jurassic Army loses to Muscle Brain and a 3-way tie is formed. Through a final judges' call based on overall performance, Ultra Rare announces that Jurassic Army is the team that progress. Ren meets up with Q4 and tries to get Kai to rejoin his team, but Kai refuses him, and Ren blames Aichi for Q4's failure.

Q4 has gone to the beach in order to train at Vanguard - though a lot of its supporters, such as Katsumi, seem to have other priorities. The team meets up with Team Caesar, who set up the training camp, and they quickly engage in cardfights. Surprising everyone, Kai actually defeats Kenji, and the two engage in an elaborate discussion about strategies and tactics. In the meantime, Aichi loses to Yuri five times in a row. Yuri requests to see Aichi's deck, and once she does acknowledges that it's a good deck, but with a weak unifying victory strategy. Aichi thinks about her words as everyone prepares curry for dinner, and while everyone else sleeps, he begins working on his deck.

Aichi sleeps late and is thus the last to get up. Kai and Kenji have woken up before everyone else and are already engaged in Cardfighting. They have leftover curry for breakfast, while Aichi reports the unfortunate results of his deck editing session. They go to the beach, where Aichi, Katsumi and Yūta are put under a special training regimine by Kamui, which culminates in them imagining themselves as valiant Vanguards on Cray. Shin presents Q4 with a briefcase full of rare cards, which they used to build up their decks. Aichi's Royal Paladins speak to him in his mind, and he reconstructs his deck without realizing it. Yuri challenges Aichi to a rematch, and Aichi skillfully uses the effects of Hi-Dog Breeder Akane and Pongal to get Soul Saver Dragon in his hand, before Katsumi interrupts the match. The team finally leaves the training camp, satisfied with the experience they have gathered.

A few weeks have passed since Team Q4 won the national tournament. One day, Aichi goes to Card Capital and meets a young boy who wants Aichi to teach him how to play Vanguard. Aichi agrees and teaches the boy about Vanguard through playing a game, much like how Kai taught him. The boy, using a Gold Paladin deck, eventually drops the newbie facade. When he rides Great Silver Wolf, Garmore, he draws Aichi into a vision of the Royal Paladin's Blaster Blade, Shadow Paladin's Blaster Dark, and Kagero's Dragonic Overlord being captured by a mysterious force on the planet Cray. He then tells Aichi that a new power that can go past the boundaries must be attained in order to combat this force. After the vision, the boy disappears and Aichi discovers that his Royal Paladin deck has changed to a Gold Paladin deck. What's more is that everyone else's memories have been rewritten to think that Aichi has always used Gold Paladins, not even noticing the change.

After receiving the invitation to the VF Circuit, Aichi wants to enter with all of the original members of Team Q4 (minus Kai). He convinces Misaki to rejoin with no problem, but then Aichi learns that Kamui has joined Team Handsome. So, he goes to Card Shop Handsome to recruit him back. When Aichi tells him about the invitation, Kamui becomes torn between his own feelings of wanting to participate in the Circuit and his promise to Team Handsome to go with them to the upcoming national tournament. It is ultimately decided to settle things with a cardfight between Aichi and Kamui. If Aichi wins, then Kamui will return to Q4 and enter the VF Circuit. If Kamui wins, then he stays with Handsome. And so, Aichi and Kamui's cardfight ensues. As Aichi tries to get used to his Gold Paladin deck, Kamui puts on the pressure with his slightly-improved Nova Grappler deck, driving Aichi to 5 damage.