Cardfight!! Vanguard episodes

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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).

Team Q4 proceed to fight Team FFBS and Kamui is up first, facing Hiromi from FFBS. Hiromi then used the skills of Young Pegasus Knight, Hi-Dog Breeder Akane, Great Sage Barron, Knight of God-speed Galahad and Margal to power up her units. Kamui skillfully defends and used the skill of Stern Blaukruger to stand Stern and the unit behind him to finish the fight. Hiromi congratulates Kamui about winning the first fight, but tells him that their victory as a team had vanished. Aichi then wakes up and manages to watch Misaki's fight, and found out that Misaki had lost the match due to Sealed Dragon Blockade, a vicious card that disables Misaki's rear-guards to intercept. After watching the fight, Aichi slowly makes his way to the fighting area to start the third fight. As he walks towards the Motion Figure System, Shin, Misaki and Kamui were shocked. Aichi tells Misaki and Kamui that he was disappointed in the two and gave them and confident, evil smile. His opponent, Kiriya Bidou told Aichi he was convinced that Aichi would run away and Aichi replied, saying that there was no need to be afraid of him. The fight begins!!

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.

Kai heads to the Underground area to await his fateful match with Aichi. Back at home, as Aichi reviews his Shadow Paladin deck, he receives a Psy Qualia induced summon from Ren who is waiting for him at Card Shop PSY. Aichi, led by Ren's Psy Qualia summon reaches as far as outside the Card Shop when Kourin suddenly rides up throws him a helmet & tells him to come with her. Back at the Underground area, Miwa shows up with Misaki & Kamui who both implore Kai to face Aichi in a Vanguard fight and help bring him back to normal. Just as Kai informs them that that is exactly why he is here, Kourin immediately arrives with Aichi. Miwa, Kourin, Misaki & Kamui clear the area to watch the fight from a distance. Kai upsets Aichi when tells him that he still thinks he is weak & Aichi vows to prove his strength to Kai as they get ready to begin their fierce battle. Aichi is startled when he realizes Kai is going to fight him with his former Royal Paladin deck. Kai vows to show Aichi the "true power" of the deck that he threw away which rattles Aichi even more. Aichi goes first & uses his units' skills to add Blaster Dark who he refers to as his avatar from his deck to his hand. Kai has a flashback of losing his parents 4 years ago & meeting Ren from his new school & later Tetsu (after he leaves town to live with his uncle). Tetsu loses to Kai in a Cardfight & he and Ren tell Kai of Foo Fighter. They recruit Kai & they have a love of fun until one day Ren's Psy Qualia powers awakened. He beat Tetsu repeatedly claiming that he was now the "strongest fighter" ever. Ren abandoned the idea of him, Tetsu & Kai being Team Foo Fighter & has construction begin for the new Foo Fighters Headquarters where only the best fighters would be selected. Kai realizes that Ren has become obsessed with power and refuses to go along with his new plan & quickly challenges him to a card fight. The match is fierce and as Ren announces his "Final Turn" he taunts Kai but before he can claim victory his overuse of his PSY Qualia power causes him to collapse. Kai catches him in time but Ren is still fixated on how much stronger he's become. Kai quits the team & moves back home peeved about how powerless he was to stop Ren. He reminisces on how refreshing after all of this it was to meet Aichi again and of how much fun Aichi made him remember Vanguard fights to be. He also remembers how fixated Aichi had become on "getting stronger". He vows to himself that while he couldn't stop Ren, this time will be different. With stern determination to accomplish this, Kai draws & uses his units' skills to add Blaster Blade from his deck to his hand. Kai reminds Aichi that then & now his avatar is not Blaster Dark as he claims but will always be Blaster Blade. Kai faces Aichi thinking that this time he's going to teach him what true strength is & declares that he is going to stop him!

Kai rides King of Knights, Alfred to give Aichi some damage. However, on the next turn, Aichi declares "Final Turn", attacking with Phantom Blaster Dragon and Blaster Dark attacks but Kai successfully guards against both of them. Failing his Final Turn, Aichi is shocked and forced to end his turn, giving Kai the chance to show Aichi what true strength is. Kai declares "Final Turn" as he rides Alfred Early, a more powerful form of King of Knights, Alfred. Through Alfred Early's skill, Blaster Blade is Superior Called from the soul. Blaster Blade makes Aichi realize that relying on PSY Qualia isn't real power and how Aichi always wanted to have a Cardfight with Kai. The fight is called off, and Kai gives back Aichi's Royal Paladin deck.

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?

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.

The tournament finals begin and Ren delivers an egotistical speech at the beginning that angers the other teams. Team Q4 battles through the first two rounds, but coming up next is their "rivals", Team Caesar.

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

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.

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?

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!

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.

The final match begins, with Kamui against Tetsu.

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