Cardfight!! Vanguard Episode Rating Graph

The Card Capital Shop Tournament finally begins. In the first round, Aichi must play against Izaki while at the same time, Morikawa battles Misaki. Since this is his first time in a tournament, Aichi grows nervous. His tournament jitters get the better of him as he makes many amateur mistakes. But when he sees that Izaki is also just as nervous and makes similar mistakes, Aichi realizes that he's not alone, regains his composure, and remembers that Vanguard fights should be fun. When he tells Izaki that, he too calms down, and the two continue playing the game at their best. In the end, not only does Aichi win, but Misaki also advances to the next round.

After Aichi plays Blaster Blade, he and Kai recall their first meeting. Back then, after seeing a young Aichi beaten up, the young Kai cheered him up by giving him Blaster Blade, and he told Aichi to imagine himself as a strong warrior like the card. With that in mind, Aichi got absorbed into Vanguard, creating his own deck in the hopes of playing against Kai, who had already moved away by then. Back to the game, Aichi deals a bit of damage to Kai, who retaliates with his ace card, Dragonic Overlord. It wipes out Aichi's units and greatly damages him. All seems lost until Aichi draws a "Heal Trigger", which allows Aichi to stay in the game for one last turn. Aichi launches a final attack with Blaster Blade, which breaks through Kai's defenses and deals one more point of damage to Kai, thus giving Aichi the win. A day later, Aichi revisits the card shop. Despite thinking that Kai would not show up after being defeated, Aichi is glad to see that Kai returns.

After easily blocking Kyou's quadruple attack, Aichi declares 'Final Turn'. Though it seems his plan is going to be defeated, thanks to a Stand trigger, Aichi manages to deliver the finishing blow using Young Pegasus Knight. It is determined by Suiko that Aichi possesses the ability PSY Qualia, which they seek. Kyou has a vision of planet Cray, where he is slashed down by Pegasus Knight, and collapses, obliterated. Similarly, an exhausted Aichi falls in Kai's arms, and he is brought to the infirmary. The second match between Misaki and Team Avenger's second member begins. Aichi is visited by Emi, who claims Aichi looked scary during his fight, though Aichi doesn't notice anything different. Misaki wins her fight, though Suiko and the others decide she doesn't possess the ability PSY Qualia. Aichi is visited by Kai, and although he seeks his approval for becoming stronger, Kai calls him weak, and abandons him and Team Q4 after Aichi challenges him to a fight in order to prove his strength. Kyou continues seeking his revenge, until Team Brilliant Stars appears, ordering Kyou and the others to be arrested.

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.

Although Kamui tries his hardest, Tetsu is victorious, putting Team AL4 up one game to none.

The final match begins, with Kamui against Tetsu.

Although happy that Aichi woke up, Kai thought of the time when he was still young. He wanted to get Ren out of his Pysqualia self, but then Ren's image was so bad that Kai left him defeated. Now that Kai changed, he vowed to rescue Ren from his PSY Qualia addiction and is bent on winning!

The shop tournament continues, with Morikawa having a seemingly unstoppable series of victories and Emi's Bermuda Triangle deck dominating the junior division. Though he doesn't win, Aichi realizes that he plays Vanguard because it's fun.

Card Capital is holding a casual shop tournament, and Aichi, Kamui, and Morikawa enter in the senior division, while Emi competes in the junior division. Unfortunately, Morikawa has left his super-strong deck at home. Shin lends Morikawa an unmodified trial deck to use, but to his dismay it contains only one Grade 3. Can Golden Rutile go the distance?

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.

After defeating Jurassic Army, Team Q4 are now up against Team Spyder, and Kamui easily defeats his opponent using Stern Blaukruger, despite being tricked throughout his match. Misaki is up next, but her opponent uses data to attack and uses the skills of deadly cards like Elite Mutant, Giraffa and Ant Lion to choose units from Misaki's field to not stand next turn. Even with that, she drew Goddess of the Full Moon, Tsukuyomi and uses counterblast to replace all her rear-guard units. With that, they move on to face their last opponents in the C Block, FFBS (Foo Fighter Brilliant Stars).

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 regionals commence once again, with Team Q4 and Team Handsome competing. Battles rage as Team Handsome advances to the next round. Team Q4's first opponent, though, is Team Fragrance, a dangerous group whose members claim to be able to sense their opponent's feelings by their scent. Aichi displays extraordinary positiveness by claiming the first spot for Q4, and proceeds to the fighting arena.

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.

Jaime takes TRY3, Kamui, Misaki, and Taiyou to a deserted island reserved for training. After said training, Jaime devises a plan to give TRY3 some alone time; he has the team search for the lunch preparations which were "accidentally misplaced" in the mountains. As they hike the mountain, the three let out their feelings about everything, thus increasing their bond. After TRY3 returns with the food, they train more and discuss their plans for the future.

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.

In the first battle of the semi-finals, Kamui faces off against Gai Usui, the "Gladiator" of Team Caesar.

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.

Kouji Ibuki lays on the verge of death, then hands his Deck and Fight over to Chrono Shindou. Will Chrono be able to defeat Gastille with Ibuki’s Deck?

Chrono Shindou and the others hold a Christmas Party for Arata Nishizawa and Makoto Asada after they return home to Japan. Meanwhile, Kouji Ibuki and Gastille face off in a dramatic showdown.

An illusion obstructs the fighters, who are fighting to destroy the Relics Generators around the world in order to save Chrono Shindou and the others that were taken. And the shocking scene that Chrono saw while fighting in Relics is...?

Chrono Shindou and Tsuneto encounter Gastille while trapped in Relics. Meanwhile, on Earth, Valeos challenges Taiyou Asukawa, using the power of his Zeroth Dragon.

U20 has ended and Noa Hoshizaki appears before Chrono and demands a cardfight.

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.

Aichi battles Kenji the Emperor for the right to face Team AL4 in the finals. Can Aichi defeat his strongest opponent yet without relying on his PSY Qualia?

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.

Determined to turn Ren back to his former self, Kai crossrides Dragonic Overlord The End and performed Persona Blast to get Ren out of his PSY Qualia self. It didn't get Ren out of the box but got him to also crossride his own trump card (which is given by Suiko)Phantom Blaster Overlord. The period was to prepare for the worse as Phantom Blaster Overlord had the same ability as The End and could also do Persona Blast which destroyed The End. Because of this failed battle, it left Kai devastated with no hope.

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.

Gunji brutally corners Aichi with the speed and power of his Tachikaze deck, bringing the score to 5-3 in Gunji's favor. To make a reversal, Aichi rides his new ace card, Soul Saver Dragon. Managing to get a Critical trigger, it looks like the match has been decided, but luck favors Gunji, who gets a last-minute Heal Trigger and survives, winning on the next turn. The next match features Misaki who, despite cleverly using the attribute of Silent Tom to cripple her opponent's ability to guard, is also defeated in the exact same manner. With their first match ending in a brutal defeat, Team Q4 cannot afford to lose again.

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.

As Ren fights his Reversed best friend, Tetsu, we go back several years to see how they first met, when Ren was a wide-eyed freshman and Tetsu was a juvenile delinquent brawler who wanted to have nothing to do with him.

The battle between Ren and a Reversed Asaka reaches a fever pitch! If he loses, he'll become a mindless slave (according to her).

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.

The ones who target Chrono Shindou, the strongest candidate for becoming "Gyze's Vessel", are the three Apostles. Kazuma Shouji and Taiyou Asukawa fight to defend Chrono from the Zeroth Dragon of Star Gate, which is under the command of Chaos Breaker.

Arata Nishizawa and Makoto Asada have reunited with Noa Hoshizaki, who was released from Chaos Breaker. However, the trio is ambushed by Gredora and Darkface, who were chasing Chaos Breaker.

Toshiki Kai, Arata Nishizawa, and Makoto Asada meet up with Kamui Katsuragi and Misaki Tokura, who plan on invading the Apostle's secret laboratory. Awaiting them was the diffrided Sousuke Wakamizu.

Shion Kiba encounters Valeos, who seeks to obtain or destroy the sacred sword Fides. To ensure his goal, Valeos summons the forbidden Zeroth Dragon.

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.

The scheming Dumjid aims for the recuperating Chrono. To protect Chrono and his friends, Tokoha Anjou stands up to the threat of the Zeroth Dragons with the card entrusted by Miguel's illusion.

Kamui Katsuragi and Misaki Tokura reach Arata Nishizawa and Makoto Asada. Kamui, pushed by his fighting spirit and manly feelings, faces off against Gredora, the strongest enemy. Will Kamui be strong enough to defy the power of a Zeroth Dragon?!

Chrono Shindou, who reached to the place where Taiyou Asukawa and Kazuma Shouji fought, witnessed a spectacular scene. At the same time, the fight where Chrono definitely can't lose open its curtains.

Units who have been at his side, and then Kazuma Shouji... Chrono Shindou was tormented by the loss of many precious things, and Kazumi Onimaru challenges him to a card fight. And the future that the two wished for at the end of the fight is――

In front of Shion Kiba who infiltrated the Apostles' headquarters, stands Valeos. In order to settle all pasts, Shion challenges Valeos again.

TRY3 heads toward the "Land of Descent", the place where the Sword Saint Fides supposedly landed at once upon a time. There, the one waiting for those three is Chrono Shindou's father.

In order to completely revive Gyze, Apostles enter the North America Branch Association. Darkface, who seeks the destruction of the facility, is met by one of the members of the defense team, Misaki Tokura. Can Darkface be defeated for sure this time!?

Aimed by Aichi Sendou and Toshiki Kai, Chaos Breaker shows itself-- In order to take back Noa Hoshizaki, what Arata Nishizawa and Makoto Asada arrived at is......!?! Aichi and Kai tags, challenging the titan that wields despair!!

A decisive battle with reverse position from before begins!! In order to rescue Kazuma Shouji, Kazumi Onimaru challenges Gyze with all of his might. Alongside Shiranui with new powers, can Kazumi catch up to Gyze......!?

The world swallowed by "Void" and returns into nothingness, the ones who fight to prevent the world from being eroded by "Void" are vanguards, and their allies from all over the world......! The final battle of TRY3 vs Gyze begins!!

Units that claim "apostles" from Planet Clay descended to the earth. "Ryujin gauze of destruction" to destroy everything. "Apostles" who plan their resurrection invade the earth using the power of the six dragons "Zero Dragon"! Vanguard fighters, now stand up. Beyond fate, grasp the future under a bond that connects each other!

Confronting Gyze with TRY3's thoughts and futures on the line. Their thoughts finally awaken the power of the Dimensional Overstride!

Following the fight with Gyze, everyone has regained their peaceful daily lifes. The Quest System has been revived anew, as the adults throw a party and go to the barbecue. And then Chrono Shindou, aiming to become an astronaut, is seen at a study group.

Some time has passed after Ryuzu's death. While on his way to meet with Taiyou, Chrono meets a peculiar boy who has a Gear Chronicle deck and decides to have a cardfight with him. Much to Chrono's shock, the boy reveals himself as Ryuzu Myoujin reincarnated. As the fight goes on, Ryuzu expresses more of his ideals of making the world perfect through Vanguard. After Ryuzu defeats Chrono, he tells him that his father Rive Shindou is alive and that Kouji knew it all along. Before leaving the distraught Chrono, Ryuzu suggests he should join with him.

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.

Because of the "adjustment" that Shouma made to the summoning process, Kouji is unaffected by Ryuzu's image and goes into the Tower of Light to face Ryuzu. Chrono and the gang soon enter the tower, become separated, and each prepare to fight against the members of the Company (except Chrono). For the last time, Taiyou battles Hiroki, defeats him, and offers to be his friend despite everything that happened.

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.

The attack on the Dragon Empire Branch left many people hospitalized, including Mamoru and Kouji. Tokoha blames herself by thinking if she had stopped Am and Luna, then this incident would not have happened. Tokoha is then approached by Rin Hashima, who challenges her to a cardfight. Tokoha is too sad to fully focus on the battle, but when Rin defeats her, she snaps out of her depression and is glad to see that all of the patients are recovering. Later, Chrono confronts Ryuzu again and challenges him...

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.

To help with the reconstruction of the Dragon Empire Branch, Saya Yatomi returns to hold a special event, the "Happy Vanguard Festival", along with fellow idols Lisa Ferris and Remy Altena. Drawing many attendees, the festival moves on to the main event: a stage performance in which Saya, Lisa, and Remy try to show the evil "Black Vangua-rou" the fun of Vanguard. However, during the show, rain falls and causes one of the stage props to malfunction. Just when Saya thinks the show is ruined, Team TRY3 appears as Card Warriors Vanguamen. Thanks to them getting the audience involved, the show is saved, and the festival is an overall success.

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.

Kouji learns from Kai that the Zodiac Time Beasts are somewhere in outer space and relays this info to Chrono and his friends. Later, Chrono decides to cardfight Kouji to test his modified deck which no longer has Chronojet Dragon in it. During the battle, Kouji apologizes to Chrono for withholding information about Rive's condition. He also tells Chrono the reason he treated him so harshly in the past was to toughen him for the battle against Ryuzu. After the fight, Chrono tells Kouji that he is prepared to let Kouji use his power however he wants, even if it may cost Chrono his life.

To prevent Luna from being sacrificed for the Company's project, Am cardfights Enishi. She resolves herself to save Luna even if it means losing the chance to revive her parents. On the other hand, Enishi reveals his past in which he and a female friend suffered from a disease. He swore to protect her, but the girl eventually died while Enishi lived, which he thinks her life was given to save his. Believing that Luna's sacrifice is necessary for the sake of a better future, Enishi defeats Am and banishes her from the Company.

With things going smoothly for the Company, Wakamizu proceeds to summon the last Zodiac Time Beast. However, Shouma wants to make his own "adjustment" to the process and cardfights Wakamizu to do so. Meanwhile, Am requests Team TRY3 to help her save Luna, but Shion refuses to forgive Am for her actions and walks away. On the other hand, Tokoha tells Am that she still considers her as a friend and accepts her request. Back at the Company's headquarters, in spite of Wakamizu's calculations, Shouma defeats him. After having Wakamizu forcibly removed, Shouma makes a slight adjustment to the summoning process.

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.

Aichi's match against Gouki begins. Aichi remembers Gouki as a formidable opponent, and realizes that he cannot stay the same as before if he wishes to win. Using a combination of the skills of Barcgal and Knight of the Future Llew, he Rides Blaster Blade from the deck, surprising Gouki. With both sides getting a Heal Trigger and staying at nearly the same amount of damage, it becomes an intense fight. Gouki Superior Rides Spirit Exceed from the Drop Zone and prepares for a full frontal assault.

To prepare for the national tournaments, worried about Cardfighters on Ren's level, Aichi and Misaki engage in a fight. However, memories of her tragic past surface in Misaki's mind, causing her to break down. Though she dominates the match by preventing Aichi's strategy from taking effect until it is too late, and finishing him off by means of a Critical Trigger, she abandons the team directly afterwards, claiming to be unable to fight any longer. Stunned, Aichi and Kamui try to discover what they have done wrong...

Though Kai won the first match of the team battle, Misaki is challenged by Asaka Narumi, known as the "Assassin". Asaka skillfully uses a Pale Moon deck, and though Misaki tries to fight by reading her opponent's moves, Asaka plans further ahead and cripples Misaki's strategy while preparing her field. Using an unavoidable three-pronged attack pattern coupled with a Draw Trigger, Asaka delivers the final blow to Misaki. This leaves both teams with a single match won, and it is up to Aichi to determine Q4's fate against Tetsu, the General of AL4. Tetsu, using a Dark Irregulars deck, deals 3 damage to Aichi in his very first turn - however, Aichi has a plan.

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.

Misaki draws upon her memory power as she battles Asaka in this second-round revenge match.

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.

With Team Q4 reunited, Aichi, Kamui, and Misaki go shopping in preparation for the VF Circuit. After they finish their shopping, they visit Card Shop PSY so that Aichi can talk to Suiko about the mystery behind the replacement of his Royal Paladin deck. Once there, they find out that the Ultra Rare girls will also be going overseas. Noticing the large amount of shopping bags that Team Q4 has, Rekka questions the team's motive for participating in the VF Circuit. When Misaki says that she's going because she was asked to, Rekka insults her for treating their ticket to the VF Circuit as a free vacation and having no intention to win. To prove her wrong, Misaki challenges Rekka to a cardfight. While using the new Angel Feather clan to use cards in her damage zone to her advantage, Rekka criticizes Misaki's deck for being good but still lacking. Rekka then shows Misaki what that missing attribute is when she rides Circular Saw, Kiriel and utilizes its Limit Break to defeat her.

Kamui has won his match, so now it's up to either Aichi, Misaki or both to best their ninja opponents, who are much more worldly than Team Q4.

Team Q4 battles Team Divination in the 2nd round. All 3 members supposedly have psychic powers that allow them to see the future, and they each play with Oracle Think Tank decks, the same deck Misaki uses. The familiarity with the deck gives Team Q4 the advantage as they sweep Team Divination while exposing them as phony prophets. After the battle, Team Q4 runs into Team SIT Genius on the street. Kamui vows never to lose to fighters the same age as he is, and Misaki wonders how she can avoid facing off against an opponent with the power of Limit Break.

Team Q4's 3rd round match begins; their opponents are revealed to be against Chris, Ali, and Lee - Team SIT Genius. Lee Shenlon is shown having great pride, and he declares he is the only one who can defeat Chris. Meanwhile, Ali promises to defeat Kamui and steal Emi from his heart forever. Ali seems to have the advantage as Kamui is given a quick 5 damage to Ali's 3. Misaki gives Lee 3 damage and then attacks the rearguard, fearing Lee might have the power of Limit Break. That move is made void though as Lee plays a card that will give him one additional damage for a full turn, thus giving him the power to gain Limit Break.

Kamui vs. Ali and Misaki vs. Lee Shenlon finish their matches. The results will be a 1-1 draw. As the scene shifts to Aichi vs. Chris, Takuto Tatsunagi calls out to both of them with his spirit on Cray. Aichi's Psyqualia is returned, but Chris also gains the power of Psyqualia and slowly begins to go mad. Takuto states this is the only time he can interfere in a match, and in order for Aichi to gain any additional knowledge about Cray and the Royal Paladins, he will have to win the tournament.

The battle between Aichi and Chris continues, but this time both amp it up by using Psyqualia. Chris declares he will defeat Aichi with a triple slash from his School Hunter, Leo-pald, but the experience against Ren's Psyqualia could give Aichi the advantage in this match.

Q4 returns home to rest and recover for the next leg of the Circuit. Aichi learns that Kai hasn't appeared at Card Capital and hasn't been seen in the city since they left. As Aichi wonders about his missing friend, the scene shifts and reveals Kai is traveling the world getting stronger. Currently, he is in a snowy mountain region where he battles a rumored abominable snowman. It is soon revealed that the snowman is actually Kyou Yahagi in disguise, still aiming to get his revenge on Kai. Kyou has gained new cards, one of them being Demonic Lord, Dudley Emperor which has the power to Limit Break.

While Team Q4 trains at Card Shop Handsome to get ready for the next round of the VF Circuit, the group is informed that Tetsu has arrived to Card Capital, assuming that he is causing trouble. However, their assumptions are disproven when they return and see Tetsu helping out Emi and the other kids at the shop. Kamui asks Tetsu what his real intention for coming is, to which Tetsu answers by telling Q4 how weak the team is due to losing at the VF Circuit's Singapore Stage. Enraged, Kamui challenges Tetsu to prove him wrong. Tetsu accepts the challenge, and the two start their cardfight. With support from the latest expansion set, Tetsu uses new Dark Irregulars to soulcharge, and then he utilizes the Limit Break of Dark Lord of Abyss to overwhelm and defeat Kamui once again. Tetsu leaves, warning Q4 of stronger teams awaiting them in the VF Circuit.

The Seoul Stage of the VF Circuit begins with Team Q4 coming across Team Movie Stars, the local favorite favored to win the Seoul Stage. The teams head into the cardfight area where they learn special rules will be applied in this stage. Team Q4 faces off with Team Seven Seas, who are all pirates who use Granblue decks like Team Handsome. Aichi's special rule is to have a drive check for rear-guards, Misaki's rule is all turns must be completed within 30 seconds, and Kamui's rule is you can't see what you attack. Aichi trails 4 damage to 2 when he summons Incandescent Lion, Blond Ezel and places 2 grade 3 units in the rear-guard zone. This means he gets a minimum of 6 drive checks. His opponent guards twice, but thanks to 2 stand triggers, Aichi manages to pile up the damage and wins 6-4. Misaki memorizes her opponent's hand and makes it where he can't guard with a timely bind allowing her to win 6-2.

After returning home from Seoul, Team Q4 runs some errands to help Aichi relax after the team's loss. Then, in front of Card Shop PSY, they meet a young blonde-haired and mysterious man named Leon Souryu, who is able to feel the "wind". The Ultra Rare trio returns, and they discover that their supposedly-closed shop is unlocked. The entire group enters, and they are surprised to find that the legendary cardfighter Daigo is there. It was believed that Daigo had gone missing for months, to which Daigo explains in a private conversation with Ultra Rare that he had been randomly teleporting from place to place. Suiko believes it is because of Daigo's deck, which is composed of Royal Paladins, one of the clans that were removed from the world, and therefore considered legendary by everyone except Aichi. Afterwards, Daigo offers up a challenge to anyone willing to cardfight with him. Before Aichi can accept, Leon steps up to be Daigo's opponent.

Q4 returns to Japan with new strategies for winning being devised. Aichi and Kamui test them in the final round of a tournament held at Card Shop Handsome. Unbeknownst to them, Kenji Mitsusada arrives, looking for Aichi. Gouki tells him that Aichi is currently in a cardfight with Kamui. Feeling anxious and being short on time, Kenji decides to leave until Gouki challenges him. It's the first-ever match between the two. Although Gouki gets a bad starting hand with no grade 2 or 3 units, he manages to smoothly superior ride with cards he sent to the drop zone, including his new ace card, Ice Prison Necromancer, Cocytus. Kenji is impressed by Gouki's determination to overcome the odds stacked against him, to which Gouki expresses his disappointment in Kenji the "Emperor" for saying such a thing to begin with. Remembering the feeling of never giving up, Kenji continues to play at his best, crossriding Ultimate Dimensional Robo, Great Daiyusha and winning the match.

Team Q4 and friends head to the Hong Kong Stage of the VF Circuit, hoping to advance to meet with Takuto. While in front of the stadium, before the fights start, they have a short run-in with three males, one big, one normal-sized, and one small. Shin vaguely remembers seeing them before, and it is then that two identical girls appear. They tell him off by saying how that group is actually a powerful team before taking their leave. The Hong Kong Stage officially begins. The unique attribute of this stage is that each cardfight will be 2-on-2 tag-battle style; the first team to deal 9 points of damage instead of the usual 6 to the opposing team is the victor. However, Kamui cannot comprehend the numerous difficult rules, leaving Aichi and Misaki to pair up and take on Team Lao (the group of three men who they met earlier) in the first round.

The tag fight between Q4's Aichi and Misaki versus Lao's Terence and Felix continues. After Misaki's attack on Felix, he strikes back with Tyrant, Deathrex to put Team Lao in the lead. Then, wanting to make up for Misaki, Aichi rides a new ace card, White Hare in the Moon's Shadow, Pellinore. With its Limit Break, getting two drive triggers, and multiple superior calls from his deck, Aichi tries to finish the game with powered-up attacks. However, Terence manages to survive with support from Felix's tag guard. On Terence's turn, he also activates Limit Break, retiring his own units to increase the attack power of Military Dragon, Raptor Colonel while also superior calling more units from his deck. Aichi defends with all of the cards in his hand, and Misaki uses the extra cards drawn from her previous turn to tag guard with him. She anticipates Terence getting a drive trigger, which he does but her tag guards nonetheless successfully block his attacks.

Q4 makes it to the semifinals of the Hong Kong Stage with Aichi and Misaki doing all of the cardfighting. After diligently studying the tag fight rules, Kamui offers to participate in the next fight. So, it is decided that Kamui and Misaki will pair up for their fight against Team Battle Weeds, a group of three kids who greatly admire the tenacity of weeds. True to their namesake, the members of Battle Weeds use Neo Nectar decks. Withstanding the Limit Break of Battle Weeds' ace card, White Lily Musketeer, Cecilia, Kamui proceeds to ride his new key card, Perfect Raizer. Its skill increases its power to exponential heights, and managing to pull a critical trigger, Kamui wins the match for Q4, thus advancing the team to the finals. However, Q4's next opponent is Team Dreadnought, with its members consisting of the two previously-encountered twin sisters, Jillian and Sharlene, and their leader, Leon Souryu.

Q4's Aichi and Kamui face off against Leon and Sharlene of Dreadnought in the finals of the Hong Kong Stage. Remembering Leon's fight with Daigo, Aichi and Kamui do their best to minimize the damage taken from Dreadnought's multi-attacking Aqua Force units. Although Aichi deals damage to Leon, he is unaffected by his attacks. Then, Aichi asks Leon what he means whenever he refers to the "wind". It is then revealed that Leon's "wind" is actually the power of Psyqualia. In a Psyqualia-induced vision, Leon tells Aichi a tale from long ago about a conflict between the many clans on the planet Cray. This war was eventually resolved by the appearance of the dominating Aqua Force armada. In the human world, the Souryu family had control over the Aqua Force which was used to hold power over the seven seas. However, for unknown reasons, the Aqua Force clan disappeared, and so did the Souryu family's power.

Aichi uses Psyqualia to gain a winning image. Although things seem to go just as he envisioned, his attacks are foiled by Leon's perfect defense and Sharlene's tag guard. On the next turn, Sharlene again uses the Limit Break of Navalgazer Dragon and forces both Kamui and Aichi to use a lot of their cards to defend against its attack. Then, Kamui says that his turn will be the last as he rides another Perfect Raizer, bringing its power up to full potential. However, the usually-mellow Sharlene easily blocks Kamui's attacks and grows angry with his indirect "Final Turn" declaration. On Leon's turn, he follows his "wind" and calls another Blue Storm Dragon, Maelstrom as a rear-guard, now having two Maelstroms as Aichi had seen through Psyqualia. Leon attacks him with his vanguard Maelstrom powered up via its Limit Break, and Kamui tries to tag guard for Aichi.

Aichi is feeling desperate by the fact that he and Q4 must win the Japan Stage of the VF Circuit. To better prepare the team, Shin recommends for Aichi, Kamui, and Misaki to battle against other stronger, non-Q4-affiliated cardfighters. Aichi takes a look at his Blond Ezel card and is reminded about Kourin, the person who gave it to him. So, Q4 goes to Card Shop PSY and requests for the Ultra Rare girls to cardfight with them for training purposes. They accept, and thus the battles ensue. The first match-up is between Aichi and Kourin, who now uses an Angel Feather deck. Aichi gains the upper hand when he superior rides Pellinore, but Kourin uses her Angel Feathers' skills to swap cards from her damage zone and then calling them. As the fight continues, Kourin antagonistically puts down Aichi by telling him to give up and how he's reached his limits. He proves her wrong and shows his determination when he rides Blond Ezel and activates its Limit Break to defeat her.

Kamui and Suiko's cardfight continues. Suiko uses Shamsiel's Limit Break and the Angel Feather stategy of switching cards from her hand with ones from the damage zone, thereby increasing her units' attack strength and acquiring the cards she wants. She also tells Kamui that power alone is not enough to win. Despite her words, Kamui manages to win through the sheer force of Perfect Raizer. Then, the rematch between Misaki and Rekka begins. Although Misaki gets the first turn, Rekka gets a grade 3 in play first by superior riding her new ace card, Crimson Impact, Metatron. With its Limit Break, Rekka superior calls more Angel Feathers from her damage zone and pressures Misaki to use a lot of her cards to block against her attacks. The two then have a conversation about how it was Rekka who motivated Misaki to change her deck. Misaki further elaborates that she was hesitant on changing her deck because she thought it would also mean changing the memories associated with her first deck.

The Japan Stage of the VF Circuit is drawing near, and many teams, including the victors of the previous stages, will appear there. As Team Dreadnought's plane lands in Japan, it is directed to and locked in a hangar with a jungle environment inside. It is really a trap set by Kyou Yahagi and his Team Avengers (all dressed as bugs), who plan to take Dreadnought's spot in the VF Circuit. Although Jillian and Sharlene handily take care of Kyou's teammates, he nonetheless challenges Leon to a cardfight. Now using a Megacolony deck after witnessing the strength of insects from his experience in the jungle, Kyou prevents some of Leon's units from standing and retires others. Thus, he seals the Aqua Force strategy of launching multiple attacks and Blue Storm Dragon, Maelstrom's Limit Break.