Ash VS Yugi

Ash VS Yugi is an upcoming episode of Death Battle, featuring Ash Ketchum and Pikachu from the Pokémon series and Yugi Muto and Yami Yugi from the Yu-Gi-Oh! series in a battle between young monster-summoning anime champions.
==Interlude==
Ringmaster shouts...
The screen then statics into playing the Death Battle intro.
Boomstick: He's Wiz and I'm Boomstick.
Wiz: And it's our job to analyze their weapons, armor, and skills to find out who would win... a Death Battle.
==Ash Ketchum==
==Yugi Muto==
==Prelude==
Wiz: Alright, the combatants are set. We've run the data through all possibilities.
Boomstick: IT'S TIME FOR A DEATH BATTLEEE!!!
==Death Battle==
==Results==
We cut to the "Winner" card.
Wiz: The winner is...
==Original Track==
===Composition===
The track for this fight is "???" by ???.
===Title===
The title references...
===Cover Art===
The cover art depicts...
==Trivia==
===Production===
*The core connections between Ash Ketchum and Yugi Muto are that they are both young anime heroes who are masters of monsters (Pokémon and Monsters, respectively), which they summon to fight against other summoners' monsters in globally-played sports (Pokémon battles and Duel Monsters, respectively), having won major tournaments (Ash won the Orange League, the Manalo Conference, and the World Coronation Series, while Yugi won Duelist Kingdom, Battle City, the KaibaCorp Grand Prix, and Battle City V2) and achieved royalty-themed champion titles denoting them as the best in their worlds (the Pokémon Monarch and the King of Games, respectively) in the process. In addition:
**Both have met their primary battle partners through unusual, if not unwitting, circumstances (Ash received Pikachu from Professor Oak after accidentally waking up late to choose a starter Pokémon, while Yugi merged with Yami Yugi's spirit after solving the Millennium Puzzle), but would nonetheless form an everlasting bond with them and travel together in the hopes of achieving a journey-wide goal (Ash and Pikachu traveled through numerous regions to achieve Ash's dream of becoming a Pokémon Master, while Yugi worked alongside Yami to collect the Millennium Items and recover the latter's memories).
**Throughout their adventures, both have met and traveled with numerous friends and companions, including that of former bullies turned best friends (Gary Oak and Joey Wheeler, respectively), close female peers from childhood (Serena and Téa Gardner, respectively), and intense rivals of rudely arrogant demeanor (Paul and Seto Kaiba, respectively).
**Both have frequently came into conflict with and defeated several villainous organizations (Giovanni's Team Rocket and Marik Ishtar's Rare Hunters being more common and respective examples) who misuse the power of their monsters and often sought to obtain the powers of legendary creatures for their own gain (numerous Legendary and Mythical Pokémon and the Egyptian God monsters, respectively).
**This is also a battle of opposites, as the two have contrasting reputations within their respective fanbases (Ash was usually looked down upon and seen as incompetent by fans due to losing multiple notable Pokémon battles and League Conferences before he won the Manalo Conference and World Coronation Series, while Yugi is highly respected among fans due to his numerous victories in and out of tournaments and a better win-loss ratio compared to Ash).
**Yugi and Yami's English voice actor, Dan Green, has also done multiple voice roles for the Pokémon anime, most notably as Ash's Treecko and Mewtwo, the latter of whom Ash has encountered on several occasions.
**Both of their series were adapted into extremely popular real-world children's card games (the Pokémon Trading Card Game and both the Yu-Gi-Oh! Official Card Game and Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game, respectively).
**Both got their series dubbed by 4Kids Entertainment, which led to them becoming iconic anime of the early 2000s in the West, as well as both characters appearing together in 4Kids' various channel adverts (including one that technically results in Ash attacking Yugi and one where Yugi bests Ash in a duel). Additionally, both were affected by 4Kids' censorship practices, which would become subject to scrutiny and numerous memes years later.
*This episode was confirmed during the Save Death Battle Kickstarter, having been the $375,000 stretch goal reward alongside another unrevealed episode.
**While it was initially announced as the 200th episode, the stretch goal image on the Kickstarter was edited to remove any reference to it being a milestone episode, leaving it ambiguous whether it will remain as the 200th episode or if it might happen at a different point.
*OriginTheHero has previously made several fan-made projects for the matchup prior to its confirmation. These include:
**Custom sprites for Ash and Yami.https://x.com/OriginTheHero/status/1592731088996425728https://x.com/OriginTheHero/status/1592735005779836930https://x.com/OriginTheHero/status/1595270866438438912https://x.com/OriginTheHero/status/1670963343031427075https://x.com/OriginTheHero/status/1671350223858200580https://x.com/OriginTheHero/status/1715918239367114890
**An animated scene of Yami using Brain Control on Ash's Rotom Dex and inadvertently causing it to release his 30 Tauros to celebrate the DEATH BATTLE! YouTube channel hitting five million subscribers.https://x.com/OriginTheHero/status/1531506259610025984
**A short collaboration scene with community member Electrik that depicts Ash summoning Gengar to fight Dark Magician Girl.https://x.com/OriginTheHero/status/1642714304364392448
**A short animated bit of Pikachu using Volt Tackle to scale the body of Slifer the Sky Dragon.https://x.com/OriginTheHero/status/1648888464882933761
**Fan-made storyboards depicting the setup of the fight as an exhibition match between the two and ends with the first half of his aforementioned collab with Electrik showing him summoning Gengar.https://x.com/OriginTheHero/status/1720998525859721699
===Other===
*This is the 21st Anime-themed episode, after Zoro VS Erza, Natsu VS Ace, Lucario VS Renamon, Naruto VS Ichigo, Jotaro VS Kenshiro, Roshi VS Jiraiya, Sasuke VS Hiei, Mob VS Tatsumaki, All Might VS Might Guy, Gray VS Esdeath, Beerus VS Sailor Galaxia, Sanji VS Rock Lee, DIO VS Alucard, Madara VS Aizen, Tanjiro VS Jonathan Joestar, Deku VS Asta, Gogeta VS Vegito, Killua VS Misaka, Gojo VS Makima, and Mahito VS Shigaraki.
*This is the third Nintendo VS Hitotsubashi-themed episode, after Kirby VS Majin Buu and Guts VS Dimitri.
*This is the 39th episode to feature a returning combatant, after Zitz VS Leonardo, Batman VS Captain America, Boba Fett VS Samus Aran (2015), Goku VS Superman 2, Pokémon VS Digimon, Mewtwo VS Shadow, Deadpool VS Pinkie Pie, Metal Sonic VS Zero, Thor VS Wonder Woman, Black Panther VS Batman, Ryu VS Jin, Mario VS Sonic (2018), Mega Man Battle Royale, Captain Marvel VS Shazam, Dragonzord VS Mechagodzilla, Ganondorf VS Dracula, Deadpool VS Mask, Leonardo VS Red Ranger Jason, She-Ra VS Wonder Woman, Venom VS Crona, Hulk VS Broly, Shadow VS Ryuko, Lex Luthor VS Doctor Doom, Link VS Cloud (2021), Batman VS Iron Man, Akuma VS Shao Kahn, Thor VS Vegeta, Boba Fett VS Predator, Excalibur VS Raiden, Darth Vader VS Obito Uchiha, Phoenix VS Raven, Guts VS Dimitri, Goku VS Superman (2023), Omni-Man VS Bardock, Bowser VS Eggman, Kratos VS Asura, Master Chief VS Doom Slayer, and Aang VS Traveler, and with the next one being Hulk VS Godzilla.
**This is the 27th episode to feature a returning loser, after Batman VS Captain America, Boba Fett VS Samus Aran (2015), Goku VS Superman 2, Pokémon VS Digimon, Mewtwo VS Shadow, Thor VS Wonder Woman, Black Panther VS Batman, Ryu VS Jin, Mario VS Sonic (2018), Mega Man Battle Royale, Captain Marvel VS Shazam, Dragonzord VS Mechagodzilla, Leonardo VS Red Ranger Jason, She-Ra VS Wonder Woman, Hulk VS Broly, Shadow VS Ryuko, Lex Luthor VS Doctor Doom, Link VS Cloud (2021), Batman VS Iron Man, Thor VS Vegeta, Boba Fett VS Predator, Darth Vader VS Obito Uchiha, Goku VS Superman (2023), Bowser VS Eggman, Kratos VS Asura, and Master Chief VS Doom Slayer, and with the next one being Hulk VS Godzilla.
**This is the third episode to feature a previous combatant working under another combatant (in this case, Ash's Pikachu fighting with his trainer after battling solo in Pikachu VS Blanka), after Pokémon VS Digimon and Bowser VS Eggman.
*Prior to the episode's announcement, Brandon Yates made a track for this matchup called "Masters of Monsters" as part of his "What If?" commission tracks.
**This makes it the 13th episode that received its own commission track before its release, after Blake VS Mikasa, Goku Black VS Reverse-Flash, Jason Voorhees VS Michael Myers, Guts VS Dimitri, Bill Cipher VS Discord, Frieza VS Megatron, Gojo VS Makima, Galactus VS Unicron, Joker VS Giorno, Bowser VS Eggman, Kratos VS Asura, and Master Chief VS Doom Slayer, and with the next two being Simon the Digger VS White Lantern and Ruby VS Maka.
***This is the 12th one to be done by Brandon Yates, after Blake VS Mikasa, Goku Black VS Reverse-Flash, Jason Voorhees VS Michael Myers, Guts VS Dimitri, Bill Cipher VS Discord, Frieza VS Megatron, Galactus VS Unicron, Joker VS Giorno, Bowser VS Eggman, Kratos VS Asura, and Master Chief VS Doom Slayer, and with the next two being Simon the Digger VS White Lantern and Ruby VS Maka.
==References==
Category:Death Battles
Category:Death Battle '25 Episodes
Category:'Heroes' themed Death Battles
Category:'Anime' themed Death Battles
Category:'Team' themed Death Battles
Category:Community Death Battles
Category:'Protagonists' themed Death Battles
Category:Pokémon episodes
Category:Death Battles with returning combatants
Category:'Rivalry' themed Death Battles
Category:'Mascots' themed Death Battles
Category:Confirmed Death Battles
Category:'Army' themed Death Battles