"Stalked by the Rare Hunters", known as "Ghouls Storms - The Targeted Red-Eyes Black Dragon" in the Japanese version, is the fifty-fifth episode of the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime. It first aired in Japan on May 15, 2001, and in the US on December 14, 2002.

SummaryEdit

Joey learns about the upcoming Battle City tournament from Yugi and Téa. He decides to join in to help Yugi, despite their warning about Seto Kaiba having a grudge against him.

At the registration office, Yugi is well-qualified to enter the tournament, but when Joey tries to sign up, he finds out his ranking is too low. However, the clerk notices Joey's Rarest Card is the "Red-Eyes Black Dragon", something the Rare Hunters would like to get their hands on. The clerk then changes Joey's ranking so that it is high enough to let him enter the Tournament. The clerk then issues Yugi and Joey their Duel Disks. Shortly after Yugi and his friends leave, the shop clerk calls the Rare Hunters to tell them that he found a nice catch. That evening, Joey separates from everyone else to go to the hospital to visit Serenity, who is about to get her eye operation. He is confronted by three Rare Hunters. One of them forces Joey into a Duel. The Rare Hunter states to Joey if he loses the duel, he must give up his "Red-Eyes Black Dragon". All the Rare Hunter does is Draw Cards and Set 'Wall' Monsters. Joey continuously Destroys his Monsters, but the Rare Hunter eventually Draws all five pieces of "Exodia" and wins. Joey questions the Rare Hunter how he was able to do all that. The Rare Hunter then reveals to Joey that the pieces of "Exodia" are very rare, but he has three complete sets of "Exodia" to insure him of his victories. The group of Rare Hunters then beat Joey up and take away his Red-Eyes as per the stakes of the duel, claiming that there's no Card they can't replicate.

The next morning, Joey's mother calls Yugi, to say that he never showed up at the hospital. Yugi, Tristan, and Téa search for him. Tristan, riding his cool motorcycle, finds him at a beach. After some words and blows are exchanged between the two, Tristan takes Joey to the hospital. Apparently after getting beat-up, Joey was angry with having lost his Card and thought he couldn't face his younger sister. He helps Serenity get the confidence she needs to go through with her operation. Joey is determined to get his "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" back from the Rare Hunters.

Featured Duel: Joey vs. Rare HunterEdit

Turn 1: Joey
Joey Normal Summons "Panther Warrior" (2000/1600) in Attack Position.

Turn 2: Rare Hunter
Rare Hunter draws. He then Sets a Monster.

Turn 3: Joey
Joey draws Quick-Play Magic Card "Scapegoat" and subsequently activates it to Special Summon 4 "Sheep Tokens" in Defense Position (0/0 for each token), but these Tokens can't be used for a Tribute Summon. He then Tributes 1 "Sheep Token" to allow "Panther Warrior" to Attack. "Panther Warrior" Attacks and Destroys Rare Hunter's Set monster: "Hannibal Necromancer" (1400/1800).^{[Notes 1]}

Turn 4: Rare Hunter
Rare Hunter draws. He then Activates Magic Card "Graceful Charity" to Draw 3 Cards and Discard 2 cards from his Hand. He then Sets a Monster.

Turn 5: Joey
Joey draws. He then Normal Summons "Alligator's Sword" (1500/1200) in Attack Position. He then Tributes another "Sheep Token" to allow "Panther Warrior" to Attack. "Panther Warrior" Attacks and Destroys Rare Hunter's Set monster: "Three-Headed Geedo" (1200/1400). "Alligator's Sword" Attacks Seeker (Seeker 4000 → 2500 Life Points).

Turn 6: Rare Hunter
Rare Hunter draws. He then Activates another "Graceful Charity" to Draw 3 Cards and Discard 2 cards from his hand. Rare Hunter then Sets a Monster.

Turn 7: Joey
Joey draws. He then Tributes "Alligator's Sword" and "Panther Warrior" to Tribute Summon "Red-Eyes B. Dragon" (2400/2000) in Attack Position. "Red-Eyes B. Dragon" Attacks and Destroys Rare Hunter's Set monster: "Death Hand" (???/???).

Turn 8: Rare Hunter
Rare Hunter Draws the last piece of "Exodia". "Exodia" is then Special Summoned in Attack Position (∞/∞). "Exodia" attacks; destroying every monster Joey controls and dropping his Life Points to 0 (Joey 4000 → 0).

Differences in adaptationsEdit

• Cut from the dub Yugi and his friends looking at cards through the shop window.
• When the shopkeeper looks up Yugi on his computer, he it says he is a level 8 duelist. In the English version it is change to see Yugi as a a 5 Star Duelist. Also, when he looks up Joey, in the Japanese version it shows him as a level 2 duelist, whilst in the English version it shows him as a 1 Star Duelist.
• "Exodia's" star is given five more points in the dub.
• Cut from the dub, Tristan's driving along the causeway above the beach, when he spots Joey sitting on the sand. Joey's all dirty and beat up, saying, "I'm sorry, Serenity." Joey saying that he can't see his sister because he lost "Red-Eyes Black Dragon", Tristan punches and knocks him flat on the floor, hauls him up and gives him a ride on his motorcycle.

TriviaEdit

• Seeker goes through 15 cards of his Deck before drawing all 5 pieces of "Exodia". With 3 copies of each piece in his Deck (normally illegal), the probability of getting a complete set in the first 15 cards is about 10.2%.

Featured cardsEdit

The following cards appeared in this episode. Cards in italics debuted here.

NotesEdit

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} In the TCG/OCG, "Hannibal Necromancer" is an Effect Monster. It was used here as a Normal Monster.