Yu-Gi-Oh! - Episode 004

Episode Summary
The gang stands in the bow of the ship as it approaches Duelist Kingdom. The ship arrives at the dock, and the duelists get ready to disembark. Tristan's worried about being spotted as a stowaway and thinks maybe he and Téa ought to try to swim back. Téa calls him a lamebrain and tells him to just act normal. So Tristan tries to "play it cool" as he leaves, but as he strides stiffly off the ship, he catches the attention of one of Pegasus's suits, who tells him not to be so nervous. Relieved, he hurries away to join the others.

Joey starts to celebrate everyone's safe arrival, when he sneezes all over Téa. Yugi says Joey wouldn't have caught that cold if it wasn't for Weevil.

Kemo tells the duelists to head up the stairs toward the castle to meet their host. On the way up, Téa spots Bakura again standing off in the trees, but he disappears before anyone else catches sight of him. Téa thinks maybe it's all in her head. But as the gang head on, Bakura emerges from behind a tree.

The duelists gather before the castle gates. Mai Valentine is there. Some kids point out Weevil Underwood, Rex Raptor, and Mako Tsunami and notice Kaiba's absence. One person explains that Yugi's the one to beat now.

Their host is announced, and Pegasus comes out onto a balcony to greet the duelists. Joey'd like to get just five minutes alone with that guy, as they recall how Pegasus took Grandpa's soul. Yugi vows not to leave the island until he saves his Grandpa, no matter what Pegasus has planned. Pegasus welcomes them to Duelist Kingdom. They're the world's greatest duelists, he says, but come the end of the tournament, only one of them will be crowned King of Duelists, so they must assemble their decks with care. (In the Japanese version, Pegasus says he'll now explain the rules. All duels will be played with Duel Monsters cards. Life Points will begin at 2000, and direct attacks against the players are forbidden.) To track their progress in the tournament, they've each been given a dueling glove and two Star Chips. They must wager Star Chips on each duel they compete in, must use their dueling gloves to collect the Star Chips. Whoever wins ten Star Chips will be allowed to enter the Castle for the finals, and the chance to face Pegasus himself in one final duel.

Yugi thinks Grandpa must be in the castle, but they'll never be able to get in with all those guards. They'll just have to win enough Star Chips to get inside. Pegasus continues to tell them that state-of-the-art dueling arenas cover the entire island, and new rules will be in effect which the duelists will discover as they play. He admonishes them to play boldly, think strategically, and duel mercilessly. They have one hour to prepare. Fireworks will mark the beginning of the tournament. (In the Japanese version, Pegasus says that the tournament will be fought battle-royal style. It will begin in one hour, and last no more than 48 hours. At that time, any duelist with less than ten Star Chips will be considered a loser and deported from the island.) Pegasus walks back into the castle, thinking that everything is going exactly as planned. (In the Japanese, Pegasus thinks that if Yugi wants to duel him, he'll have to fight his way through all those others.) Yugi thinks he's just gotta win his way into that castle!

Later, standing out in a field, Joey says he doesn't know if he can win and offers to give Yugi back his Star Chip, but Yugi tells him to keep it—his little sister is counting on him. (In the Japanese, Jounouchi tells Yugi he's sorry he's put Yugi at a disadvantage, but doesn't offer to give the Star Chip back.) Téa tells Joey he can do it, as long as he steers clear of the more experienced duelists at first. Tristan agrees that it's just a matter of working his way up. Joey tells Yugi that between Yugi's Grandpa and Joey's sister, they don't have any room for mistakes. Yugi agrees.

The fireworks start, and the tournament is on!

For his first duel, Yugi is determined to challenge Weevil. They have a score to settle. The gang spot Weevil standing at the edge of a forest, and Yugi calls out his challenge. But Weevil laughs and runs off into the woods. Yugi and the others run after him. They wonder what Weevil's up to. Then Yugi remembers what Weevil said on the boat—this must have something to do with the new rules he mentioned.

At last, Weevil leads them to a meadow, where he turns and tells Yugi he's come right into Weevil's trap. (In the Japanese, Haga challenges Yugi to duel.) Yugi says it's time Weevil answers for what he did on the boat, and Yami emerges, saying that it's time to duel. Weevil accepts the challenge, and the ground begins to tremble as a huge arena rises up out of the earth. Joey says these aren't going to be like the duels back home! Weevil jumps onto one of the dueling platforms, which rises into position, and Yugi steps onto the other platform.

Weevil sees that Yugi only has one Star Chip, and says he'll eliminate Yugi from the tournament in this one duel. After that, everyone else will be easy pickings. But Yugi says he'll eliminate Weevil—this will be an all-or-nothing match for them both. He offers to put up his dueling deck along with his single Star Chip against Weevil's two Star Chips, and Weevil agrees. (In the Japanese, Weevil says that since he'll be getting Yugi's deck anyway, he wishes he hadn't thrown away Exodia.)

Several other duelists arrive to watch the duel. They recognize Weevil Underwood, but who's that other guy? Joey tells them it's Yugi Muto, who beat Kaiba. And he's Yugi's best friend, Joey Wheeler, and these other two—they're trespassers. (In the Japanese, Jounouchi calls Anzu and Honda their funny sidekicks.) Téa and Tristan aren't pleased. The other duelists settle in eagerly to watch the Weevil–Yugi matchup.

Weevil begins the duel by playing Killer Needle. Yugi counters with Mammoth Graveyard (1200 ATK), thinking his monster will match Weevil's, and attacks. But Mammoth Graveyard is destroyed, while Killer Needle survives. Yugi doesn't understand it—it should have been a stalemate. Weevil explains—the field they're playing on is one part wasteland and one part forest, where bugs thrive. As long as Weevil plays his insect monsters in the forest area, they receive a field power bonus. Maybe if Yugi had been smart enough to steal the tournament's new rule book, like Weevil did, he'd be the one getting a field power bonus! (In the Japanese, Haga says he's the only one Pegasus told about the new rules. The field they're playing on is 80% forest, and 20% wasteland. The forest is the perfect field for his insects, which receive a 30% boost to both their attack and defense power.) Weevil's Killer Needle's attack is raised to 1560 points. Joey thinks it's cheating—Weevil has an unfair advantage. But Yami laughs, as Weevil's Killer Needle is also destroyed. Mammoth Graveyard received a field power bonus from the wasteland area, making its attack equal to Weevil's monster. Weevil grumbles, as Yugi explains that as soon as he saw the field display, he understood. Each type of monster has a field that it does best on, and the island contains every type of field imaginable. When Weevil led them to this spot, Yugi realized it was to gain a field advantage.

Weevil congratulates Yugi for putting it together, but says it won't be enough. He plays Hercules Beetle. Yugi's in a tough spot. Even though he now knows about the field power bonus, it's too late to rebuild his deck to take advantage of it. He plays Feral Imp, and powers it up with the magic card Horn of the Unicorn, adding 700 points to its attack. But Weevil's Hercules Beetle destroys it—monsters with a field power bonus are resistant to any type of magic attack. (Needless to say, this isn't a real rule.) Yugi's Life Points are reduced to 1350.

Yugi thinks he'd better defend, and plays his next monster face-down in Defense Position. Weevil plays Basic Insect, then powers it up with Level 3 Laser Cannon, and Level 2 Power Boost. Weevil attacks, and Yugi's defense monster is destroyed. (In the Japanese, Haga says that Yugi's defense monster was Griffore.)

Yugi plays another card face-down. Another defense card, Weevil thinks, and he's going to keep Yugi on the defensive. Setting his own face-down card, he says that the instant Yugi attacks, it will activate Weevil's trap. But Yugi thinks that Weevil's so busy bragging, he's not paying any attention to Yugi's moves. He slips a face-down card into a Spell & Trap Card Zone, thinking he'll set a little trap of his own. (In the Japanese, Yugi says he'll have to set a defense card himself, and Haga says Yugi must have decided to set a Spell Card in desperation.)

The boasting Weevil continues to summon monsters, saying he can attack at any time, while Yugi can only draw and wait. Yugi mentally urges Weevil to put all his monsters on the field—that's what he's counting on. Téa says to just look at Yugi—he's so confident up there! Joey agrees—when Yugi's dueling, it's like he becomes a totally different guy.

Weevil laughs. He's down to his last insect monster, and Yugi's about to be exterminated. Yugi draws Dark Magician, and thinks this is perfect—there's no way Weevil can resist this as a target. He plays Dark Magician in defense. (In the Japanese, Yugi thinks this card is his last resort. But he can't attack.) Weevil attacks with the powered-up Basic Insect. Yugi laughs. Weevil's not the only one who can set a trap! While Weevil was loading up his field with bug monsters, Yugi was preparing a special surprise—his Mirror Force Trap Card! Weevil tries to call off his attack, but it's too late. Mirror Force reflects Weevil's attack back on him, and destroys all of Weevil's monsters, reducing Weevil's life points to 555. (The real Mirror Force doesn't inflict any damage to the opponent's Life Points, it just destroys all the opponent's monsters in Attack Position.)

The gang cheer, while Weevil fumes. How dare Yugi obliterate his army of beautiful bugs! Yugi tells Weevil he's a liar and a cheat, but it was his overconfidence that allowed Yugi to get the best of him. Now his Life Points are low, and he's used up all his monsters. (The Japanese episode ends here, with Yugi's successful move.) Weevil laughs. He lied about that, he says—he still has his most formidable creature waiting in the wings!