victory_road | ANOMALY DETECTED

Marik had been unfamiliar with the technology before due to being from a slightly different timeline than Ryou but after having the fellow teen explain things and a friendly Duel, he now had a much better idea of how the glass cubes work.

The blonde happens to be walking along while still exploring the various parts of the island with Chen slumped over his shoulder when he spots Sion.

"Ah- Hey, Sion. It's been a while! I didn't expect to find you here."

Or himself for that matter. Sure, it was a location from his world but he had only read about it.

"Well, seeing as I didn't expect to be here, that's hardly surprising."

These weekends really do have a tendency to throw everything off.

"Are you familiar with this place, then?"

That's... a good point. Marik realizes what he said was probably stupid but he doesn't know how these bizarre weekends work. He just assumed only people who are from these worlds could go to them.

"Not personally but it is from my world. It's called Duelist Kingdom. I had always wanted to come here... I just... wasn't expecting it to be like this."

He pauses and looks over at the Battle Cube. "This is different. These cubes aren't the same technology that's in my... version of this world. My friend just showed me how they work though. It's a bit primitive but they work well enough."

To be fair, this particular scenario is something of a new one, but really, there's no telling what might happen during these weekends in general.

"Oh? What are they for?"

"They're for the card game Duel Monsters," he answers as he pulls out his Deckbox and places a card on to the table. It summons a small hologram of a slime monster. "Normally it's just the players announcing their moves and whatnot. With this table, it provides a visual presentation to the game. It's a pretty neat setup."

"So it's all just for playing a game?"

That's actually a pretty impressive amount of effort and setup, really. And makes one wonder what other technology this world must have.

"Mmhmm! I wish this version had the Dueling Arenas. Imagine what's on the table itself except it's the size of a stage and the holograms are life sized. I believe it was after this tournament that Kaiba finalized his Duel Disk which allows you to have all this on your wrist."

He picks up the card, which deactivates the hologram.

"Ah... if you were interested, I could teach you how to play. Unless you'd rather look around the island more. Mr. Pegasus's Castle should be here as well."

"Oh? I actually am not very familiar with games, so I don't know if I'd be much good at it..."

He had a deprived childhood on that front, suffice to say. And while he's learned chess, well, he tends to approach that as a wargame more than just, you know, a game.

Likewise, Marik didn't really have access to many games besides a few ancient Egyptian ones. Not much to do but study and waste away when you're stuck in a tomb and Duel Monsters wasn't a thing until about a year ago in his world.

"It's fairly straight forward. Do you have a mind for strategy?"

Sion can't help raising an eyebrow at that question.

"I should certainly like to think so."

Does that mean this is another game like chess? Because chess he knows, at least.

"Good, good," Marik can't help but grin. "Because strategy is part of this game. The other is luck of the draw. So it's random what cards you're given but it's up to you to make them work together. Does that sound more up your alley?"

"Is the luck supposed to be part of the appeal?"

That's definitely one thing he lacks experience with. He could never afford to leave things up to chance or luck, and games that involve it typically require more than one person to play. Which is to say, Sion simply doesn't understand luck-based games due to sheer lack of exposure.

"Sort of? I know someone who's always going on about believing in the heart of the cards and whatnot but," he shrugs to finish his sentence. "It is an interesting way to try different techniques despite using the same cards. Keeps the game from getting stale."

Out of everyone here in the pokémon world, Marik has the worst win/lose ratio in Duel Monsters. He understands the game but his problem is never test running his decks before he plays them. He comes up with a concept, uses it right away, and it usually blows up in his face.

Still, he's a decent enough teacher.

"There might be the Dueling Arenas somewhere in the castle if you're interesting in trying to find that instead."

Sorry, Marik, Sion's just trying to wrap his head around this. Sure, he's heard of games that include an element of chance, but there's never been any particular reason for him to try them.

"Ah, then it's something of a test of one's adaptability in uncertain circumstances?"

A little like his gym's challenge, in a way. Though Sion's definitely always thought of that as a test for the challenger rather than comparing it to a game.

He's fine. Marik's just failing to remember the battle system here is almost exactly like the card game. He's gotten so used to just existing along side pokémon that it doesn't occur to him at the moment.

"Yeah. It's-" he looks at his Yamask, who's decided to sit at the table regardless if they're staying or not. He remembers at least - and gives Marik a skeptical look. The blonde's eyes widen and he slaps his forehead when it hits him.

"Ugh. I'm sorry. It's basically like pokémon battles. Turn-based, only six monsters allowed on the field at a time, you use items and equips to help you during the fight. Some of the monsters even look similar enough. Does that make a bit more sense?"

"Oh?"

That does sound interesting in concept, though he still doesn't fully get the whole 'luck of the draw" element.

"But in this case, your 'team' is determined by which cards you happen to possess?"

"Right! And depending on their 'level,' you can summon them directly or you have to meet certain requirements to bring them out. Like if a monster has more than four stars but less than six, it needs to have one monster on the field sacrificed to summon it. If it's seven or more stars, you need two active monsters."

That's probably more info than Sion needs right now but Marik's kind of excited to actually have the tech here to properly show someone the game.

"Then that would mean that if you never happen to acquire some of those lower level ones, you wouldn't be able to use anyway."

Normally, at least. And yes, he was able to come to that conclusion just based on the explanation that higher level ones require something already fielded to be summoned.

At least he gets it.

"Yeah, that can happen from time to time. They call that a bricked hand."

He's had plenty of those against his sister, that's for sure.

"Both players start with 4000 life points. The purpose of the Duel is to get your opponent's life points to zero. If you don't have a monster on the field, any attacks will hit you directly. Monsters have Attack Points and Defense Points depending on what position you play them in."

Just because he lacks experience with games doesn't mean he can't figure it out!

"Then wouldn't the possibility of a hand like that potentially mean the difference between winning or losing the match?"

He's still trying to see how much sheer luck factors into this, really.

"It can. It really depends on if you continue to draw only spells and traps with no monsters and how many life points you still have. There are also some spell and trap cards that allow you to look through your deck and pull a monster."

Now, this is new information that hadn't factored into his prior assessments so far. That there were additionally means to potentially control or sidestep the randomness of drawing cards from a deck wasn't something Sion had realized was an element of the game.

"... If that's the case, then it would be possible to play cards that would largely eliminate the need to rely on chance."

~~Potential UB control deck player here.~~

"Right," he nods. "Obviously you can't have too many of those specific cards in your deck. Some are on what's called a Limited or Banned List. That helps the game remain a bit more balanced."

He waves his hand. "But that's not super important unless you were legitimately looking to get into the game."

Marik glances around, catching a glimpse of the castle way in the distance above the treeline. "I really wish there were card packs on this island because I really need to rework my deck... Ah, but I digress. Were you... interested in seeing the game in action or do you want to check out Pegasus's Castle?"

"You mean using this device?"

... He might possibly be interested. He might also be reluctant to admit it. Though he does pause as he considers the way Marik's glancing around.

"Though if you wish to explore, by all means don't feel obligated to demonstrate just for my sake."

"Yeah. It's the best way to play the game, in my opinion. I didn't want you to feel obligated to try it if you'd rather explore or aren't interested." He smiles nervously. "If you do want to try, I don't mind teaching you."

Duelist Kingdom

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