Yu-Gi-Oh! - Episode 171

Kaiba and Mokuba go directly to Paradius, while Yami, Tea and Tristan attempt to locate Joey. To face Valon's unshakable armor combo, Joey brings out every resource he has left, but Valon fights back with all of his strength also. In this struggle, they begin to sense the full depths of each other's devotion to protecting Mai.

=Episode Summary= While Rebecca uses her computer to trace Joey's duel disk in the KaibaCorp satellite system, Tristan is anxious to go look for Joey. The others warn him that it won't help to just wander, but he says that it's not just Valon that's out to get Joey; Mai is also tracking him down. The others know that's a big problem, as Joey can't fight her, but she'd challenge him regardless. Just then, Rebecca announces that she's found Joey. She gives a map to Yami, and Tea and Tristan insist on coming along. Yami entrusts Duke with the task of guarding Rebecca and Prof. Hawkins. He also asks Rebecca if she'll trust him, and he promises to bring Yugi back. She nods, and the three rush off. Her grandfather reassures her that it will be all right; Yami won't be confused by the temptation of the dark powers. Silently, they both put their hopes in his ability to save them.

Joey begins his turn, summoning new monsters and then bringing out Hermos. Valon welcomes this, claiming that when he defeats that power, he'll have the perfect victory. Joey fuses Hermos to Rocket Warrior to create Rocket Hermos Cannon, and Valon wonders if any monster combo can compare to his armor combo. But he is left without words when the attack becomes a barrage of rockets that cannot be redirected. One by one, the explosions blast him, and after the echoes and smoke fade away, he is sprawled on the ground, bruised and with all his armor destroyed. Joey declares that it's enough damage that he wins, but he stops when he sees that the Seal is not disappearing. To his surprise, Valon laughs a bit and climbs to his feet. He acknowledges that the attack hurt a lot, but there was still the effect of Active Guard protecting his life points. Joey ends his turn, knowing that at least the armor combo is gone.

But Valon still has a trick left. He reveals the effect of his spell card from before: when the equipped monster is destroyed by an enemy's spell, he can duplicate the effect of that spell. A copy of Rocket Hermos Cannon appears, and he takes his turn, summoning a new armor monster for attacking. He then picks up the copied cannon, eager to try out such a powerful weapon. He attacks, and the first missile strikes Joey's heart before the second wipes out his monster and sends him flying back, smashing into the Seal's barrier before dropping to the ground bruised and smoking. Valon ends his turn, so the temporary copy expires, and he taunts Joey at being beaten by his own legendary weapon. Even before all his life points are gone, he can't even stand up. With hardly a sound, Joey pushes himself to his feet, slowly straightening up, and Valon wonders if he wants to give up and take a break.

Joey grins and denies the idea, saying that he won't run away. Putting his stance forward again, he raises his faint eyes to Valon and insists he'll keep going to the last minute. Valon wonders at this, thinking how Joey's never been afraid of him, remembering that this is the guy that Mai has emphasized so much. Joey draws, sets one card, and ends his turn. Valon sees he didn't summon any monsters, and he claims it's a pointless struggle -- he'll beat him no matter what card it is. He takes his turn, strengthening his armor further. He attacks directly, and it connects, sending Joey reeling back. But then, Joey begins to glow, and when the light clears, he is wearing his own suit of armor -- the Trap card, Aura Armor, allowing him to survive the attack and gain armor that's on the same level as Valon. But there is one difference: this armor is bound to Joey's life, so if it's destroyed, he loses. With interest, Valon realizes this makes it a contest to see who will be the last one standing.

Joey's next turn lets him gather new cards, and he uses them to combine his armor with the power of his ace monster, his, Red-Eyes Black Dragon. In this new form, he gains a high amount of attack power, and he uses it to strike out for maximum damage. At the last second, Valon blocks the attack at the expense of one of his armor pieces. Once again, he's saved himself, but his hands are trembling. Even so, he realizes it's not fear -- it's excitement at facing an opponent like none he's faced before. He declares that he's glad to be fighting a duel like this, and Joey agrees.

Just then, Mai arrives, and she immediately tells Valon off for challenging her rival. She demands that he switch with her, but he refuses, saying he finally understands why she's so drawn to fight Joey. He has something the two of them don't have -- a simple and direct passion, one that goes beyond dueling. With that, he and Joey go back to their duel. On Valon's next turn, he uses Monster Reborn to revive the instant-destruction weapon, Buster Pyle. Joey cuts off his move by activating Scapegoat, which seems like a trivial defensive move. But he clarifies that it's not for escaping. Rather, he just fulfilled the conditions for his own ability, which is able to destroy all other monsters on the field. His armor burns with power, and he takes flight, lunging at Valon, who refuses to let him make it, counterattacking with Buster Pyle. The midair collision explodes with a resounding shockwave that clears the field below, and Mai shields her eyes, looking up as a burnt form drops to the ground. Valon lies battered on the ground while Joey lands calmly. As Valon shakily stands up, all of his armor crumbles away, but he insists it's not over yet.

Joey takes his next move and goes for a direct attack, but Valon comes back with a trap that will let him break apart Joey's armor and stop the attack. His fist glows with energy, and he strikes out, landing a solid hit to Joey's midsection that leaves his opponent groaning for breath, then knocks him all the way back across the field. Prone on the ground, Joey's Red-Eyes Black Dragon is extracted from his armor, leaving him on his back, barely able to speak. Valon gasps for breath as he recovers from the counterattack, and Joey sways to his feet, similarly bruised and weary. Mai looks on, wondering who will win, and knowing that it would only take one more hit to reveal the answer.

=Featured Duel: Joey Wheeler vs. Valon - Part 3= Duel continues from previous episode.

Joey Wheeler's Turn

 * Summons "Brigadier of Landstar" (900 ATK / 1200 DEF) in Attack Position.
 * Activates Spell Card "Monster Reborn" to Special Summon "Rocket Warrior" (1500 ATK / 1300 DEF) back from his Graveyard.
 * Activates "The Claw of Hermos", fusing it with "Rocket Warrior" to create "Rocket Hermos Cannon", which he equips to "Brigadier of Landstar".
 * Uses "Brigadier of Landstar" to attack: thanks to "Rocket Hermos Cannon's" special ability all of Valon's Armor Monsters are destroyed.
 * Before it's destroyed, Valon's "Active Guard" prevents all damage being inflicted to him.
 * Before it's destroyed, "Data Brain's" special ability activates: it copies Joey's "Rocket Hermos Cannon" and generates a copy of it on Valon's side of the field (NOTE: in the real game, this would not be possible because, as an Equip Card, "Rocket Hermos Cannon" must have a valid target to equip itself to. It is possible that the copy is generated as an Armor Monster, however. It could be pointed out that appearances of any of the Legendary Dragons often walk a very fine line between legality and illegality if transposed to the real-life game.)

Valon's Turn

 * Activates "Psychic Armor Head's" second special ability, Special Summoning it (0 → 500 ATK / 500 DEF) back from the Graveyard.
 * Summons "Burning Knuckle" (0 → 500 ATK / 1000 DEF) in Attack Position.
 * Thanks to its special ability, "Burning Knuckle" gains +200 ATK for each face-up Armor Monster Valon controls: with 2 such monsters this totals to a +400 ATK bonus ("Burning Knuckle": 500 → 900 ATK / 1000 DEF).
 * Valon equips "Burning Knuckle" with his copy of "Rocket Hermos Cannon".
 * Uses "Burning Knuckle" to attack: thanks to "Rocket Hermos Cannon's" special ability all of Joey's monsters are destroyed and he is inflicted 900 damage (Joey: 1300 → 400 Life Points).
 * After its use, the copy of "Rocket Hermos Cannon" generated by "Data Brain" is destroyed.

Joey Wheeler's Turn

 * Sets a card.

Valon's Turn

 * Summons "Black Hole Shield" (0 ATK / 0 DEF) in Attack Position ("Burning Knuckle": 900 → 1100 ATK / 0 DEF).
 * Uses "Burning Knuckle" to attack Joey directly, but Joey activates Trap Card "Aura Armor": he pays half his LP (Joey: 400 → 200 Life Points) to negate the attack and Special Summon a "Player Token" (? ATK / ? DEF) with ATK/DEF values equal to his own LP ("Player Token": ? → 200 ATK / ? → 200 DEF). (NOTE": Joey is shown to wear his Player Token's "Aura Armor" as if it were his own armor.)
 * Sets a card.

Joey Wheeler's Turn

 * Activates Spell Card "Roll of Fate" and rolls a four: Joey draws 4 cards and sends the top 4 cards of his Deck to the Graveyard.
 * Activates Ritual Spell Card "Red-Eyes Transmigration", tributing "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" from his hand and his "Player Token" to Ritual Summon "Lord of the Red" (2400 ATK / 2000 DEF) in Attack Position. (NOTE: Just like with "Aura Armor", Joey wears the armor of "Lord of the Red" as if it were his own armor.)
 * Uses "Lord of the Red" to attack "Psychic Armor Head", but Valon uses the special ability of Armor Monsters and redirects the attack to "Black Hole Shield", tributing it to negate the damage ("Burning Knuckle": 1100 → 900 ATK / 0 DEF).
 * Sets a card.

Valon's Turn

 * Activates Spell Card "Monster Reborn" to Special Summon "Buster Pyle" (0 ATK / 0 DEF) back from his Graveyard ("Burning Knuckle": 900 → 1100 ATK / 0 DEF).
 * Joey activates Quick-Play Spell Card "Scapegoat", Special Summoning 4 "Sheep Tokens" (0 ATK / 0 DEF) in Defense Mode.
 * Since two Spell Cards have been played this turn, "Lord of the Red's" special ability activates: all other monsters on the field are destroyed.

Joey Wheeler's Turn

 * Uses "Lord of the Red" to attack Valon directly, but Valon activates Trap Card "Extinction Fist": Joey's attack is negated, "Lord of the Red" is destroyed, and the monsters used to Tribute Summon it ("Red-Eyes Black Dragon": 2400 ATK / 2000 DEF) (Aura Armor's "Player Token": 200 ATK / 200 DEF) are returned to Joey's side of the field.

Duel concludes next episode.