"The Little Belowski", known as "Exhaustion! Moke Moke Duel" in the Japanese version, is the twenty-third episode of the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX anime. It first aired in Japan on March 9, 2005 and in the United States on December 8, 2005.
Jaden Yuki is forced to Duel Belowski, a former Obelisk Blue student who was isolated from the rest of Duel Academy due to his strange powers. Dr. Crowler hopes that Belowski's powers will rid Jaden of his motivation to Duel, thus disallowing him from participating in the Duel against North Academy's representative.
Summary
Dr. Crowler is unable to accept that Jaden Yuki has officially been declared Duel Academy's representative against North Academy. However, he states he still has a last resort to stop this from taking place. He arrives at a chicken coop in a fenced area deep in the forests surrounding the school, and is immediately assaulted by chickens. Also in the fence is a sandbox, which he runs to, uncovering a secret hatchway beneath the sand. He manages to enter it, but due to the chickens still attacking him, he falls in, rather than being able to use the ladder. Eventually he detaches himself from the chickens. He dons a strange astronaut-like suit, and a bridge extends outward to let him enter a large sphere after scanning a card key.
Jaden is sitting in class, attempting to rebuild his Deck, and is unable to decide what to take out. Alexis Rhodes, Syrus Truesdale, Bastion Misawa and Chumley Huffington approach him, and all ask him to put their cards into his Deck - "Etoile Cyber", "Blade Skater", "Power Bond", "Water Dragon" and "Des Koala", respectively. He declines, but they will not leave him alone. He runs, and manages to lose them by rounding a corner. He wants to rebuild his Deck in peace, and ends up on Duel Academy's roof. However, he finds he's not alone, and meets a short student dressed in a tattered Obelisk Blue uniform and sandals, who introduces himself as Belowski. Winged Kuriboh appears, and Belowski reveals that he can also see spirits. Belowski challenges him a Duel, stating he's always wanted to Duel someone that could see spirits. Jaden's friends arrive, while Crowler watches the Duel from atop one of the pillars, still dressed in his strange suit. The Duel begins, and Belowski Summons "Mokey Mokey" in Defense Position, and all of Jaden's friends remark on how cute it is, while Chumley yawns, beginning to feel sleepy. Belowski Sets two cards to end his turn. Jaden Summons "Elemental Hero Sparkman" in Attack Position and then plays "Polymerization", fusing the "Elemental Hero Avian" and "Elemental Hero Burstinatrix" in his hand to Fusion Summon "Elemental Hero Flame Wingman" in Attack Position.
Jaden attacks with "Sparkman", destroying "Mokey Mokey". Belowski activates his face-down "Human-Wave Tactics", which will let him Special Summon the same number of Level 2 or lower Normal Monsters were destroyed during each turn during that turn's End Phase. Jaden attacks directly with "Flame Wingman", ending his turn. "Human-Wave Tactics" lets Belowski Special Summon "Happy Lover" in Attack Position, and he then Summons another "Mokey Mokey" in Attack Position as well. He activates "Mokey Mokey Smackdown" and then attacks "Sparkman" with "Happy Lover", destroying his own monster. "Mokey Mokey" turns bright red, and Belowski explains that if a Fairy-type monster is destroyed in battle, "Mokey Mokey Smackdown" will raise the attack points of all "Mokey Moke]s" on the Field to 3000 for the duration of the turn. "Mokey Mokey" destroys "Flame Wingman", and then Belowski activates "Mystik Wok", Tributing "Mokey Mokey" to add its attack points to his Life Points, thus recovering all the damage he had to take to set up his combo, increasing his Life Points to 4100. He ends his turn, and "Human-Wave Tactics" lets him Special Summon "Haniwa" since "Happy Lover" was destroyed. Jaden's friends urge him to relax and stop fighting, and by this point, Chumley has been affected enough by Belowski's strange powers to fall unconscious.
Crowler reveals himself, jumping down from the pillar he was hiding on. He explains that three years ago, Belowski was Duel Academy's top Duelist, and a series of short flashbacks are shown to his previous Duels. Crowler explains that eventually, Belowski's opponents began to lose their motivation, and they all dropped out of the Academy. Belowski states he has no idea why it happens, but it always does after he uses "Mokey Mokey". In order to protect the Academy's students, Belowski was isolated within his own dorm, which included a virtual paradise. The Duel continues, and Jaden Summons "Elemental Hero Wildheart", who he uses to destroy "Haniwa". "Sparkman" attacks directly, and Jaden Sets a card to end his turn. "Human-Wave Tactics" lets Belowski Summon another "Happy Lover" in Attack Position. Crowler questions why all of Jaden's motivation is still present, while his friends have all fallen asleep. Belowski ignores him, and plays "Pot of Greed", drawing two cards. He then plays "Dark Factory of Mass Production", adding the two "Mokey Mokeys" in his Graveyard to his hand. He fuses them with the third "Mokey Mokey" in his hand using "Polymerization" to Fusion Summon "Mokey Mokey King", which appears floating next to the Academy, taking up an absurd amount of space. However, it still has only 300 attack points, but Belowski attacks "Wildheart" anyway. "Mokey Mokey King" is destroyed, but its effect Special Summons all three "Mokey Mokeys" from the Graveyard.
Belowski's effect on Jaden's friends.
"Happy Lover" attacks "Wildheart", destroying itself, but this increases the attack points of all three "Mokey Mokeys" to 3000 via "Mokey Mokey Smackdown". The first "Mokey Mokey" destroys "Wildheart", and Jaden protects "Sparkman" from the second "Mokey Mokey" by activating his face-down "Hero Barrier", negating the attack. The third "Mokey Mokey" attacks and destroys "Sparkman" afterwards. Belowski ends his turn, with "Human-Wave Tactics" letting him Summon another "Happy Lover" in Defense Position. He then activates his face-down "Gift of the Mystical Elf", gaining 300 Life Points for each monster on the field, bringing him back up to 1800. Jaden Summons "Elemental Hero Bubbleman", drawing two cards. He then plays "Hero Heart", which will let "Bubbleman" attack twice if Jaden halves his attack points. He uses the first attack on a "Mokey Mokey", which increases the attack points of the other two to 3000 via "Mokey Mokey Smackdown". Despite this, he attacks another "Mokey Mokey". He plays the Quick-Play Spell Card "Bubble Illusion", which lets him activate a Trap Card from his hand when "Bubbleman" is on the field. He chooses "Mirror Gate", which switches control of the two battling monsters. "Mokey Mokey" destroys "Bubbleman" reducing Belowski's Life Points to 0. Belowski theorizes that his powers did not affect Jaden because he loves Dueling far too much. After this, Belowski falls alseep and Jaden attempts to wake up his friends by offering to use the cards they offered him earlier, but that fails.
Featured Duels
Jaden Yuki vs. Belowski
 | This Duel uses Yu-Gi-Oh! GX anime gameplay. Rules and card effects may differ from that of the TCG/OCG. See the individual card articles for more information. |
Turn 1: Belowski
Belowski draws "Mokey Mokey" and subsequently Normal Summons it (300/100) in Defense Position. He then Sets two cards.
Turn 2: Jaden
Jaden draws. He then Normal Summons "Elemental Hero Sparkman" (1600/1400) in Attack Position. Jaden then activates "Polymerization" to fuse "Elemental Hero Avian" with "Elemental Hero Burstinatrix" in order to Fusion Summon "Elemental Hero Flame Wingman" (2100/1200) in Attack Position. Belowski's hand contains "Mokey Mokey Smackdown", "Mystik Wok", and "Dark Factory of Mass Production".
"Sparkman" attacks and destroys "Mokey Mokey". Belowski then activates "Human-Wave Tactics". Now during each End Phase, Belowski can Special Summon a number of Level 2 or below Normal Monsters from his Deck equal to the number of Level 2 or lower Normal Monsters that were destroyed in battle that turn. "Flame Wingman" then attacks directly. (Belowski 4000 → 1900). On Jaden's End Phase, Belowski Special Summons "Happy Lover" (800/500) from his Deck in Attack Position via "Human-Wave Tactics".
Turn 3: Belowski
Belowski draws "Mokey Mokey" and subsequently Normal Summons it (300/100) in Attack Position. He then activates "Mokey Mokey Smackdown". Now each time a Fairy-type monster is destroyed while "Mokey Mokey" is face-up on Belowski's side of the field, any "Mokey Mokeys" Belowski controls will have their ATK become 3000 until the End Phase. "Happy Lover" attacks "Sparkman". "Sparkman" destroys "Happy Lover" (Belowski 1900 → 1100). The effect of "Mokey Mokey Smackdown" activates ("Mokey Mokey": 300 → 3000/100). "Mokey Mokey" attacks and destroys "Flame Wingman" (Jaden 4000 → 3100). Belowski then activates "Mystik Wok" to Tribute "Mokey Mokey" and increase his Life Points by the ATK of "Mokey Mokey" (Belowski 1100 → 4100). On Belowski's End Phase, he Special Summons "Haniwa" (500/500) from his Deck in Defense Position via "Human-Wave Tactics".
Turn 4: Jaden
Jaden draws. He then Normal Summons "Elemental Hero Wildheart" (1500/1600) in Attack Position. "Wildheart" attacks and destroys "Haniwa". "Sparkman" attacks directly (Belowski 4100 → 2500). Jaden then Sets a card. On Jaden's End Phase, Belowski Special Summons "Happy Lover" (800/500) from his Deck in Defense Position via "Human-Wave Tactics".
Turn 5: Belowski
Belowski draws "Pot of Greed" and subsequently activates it to draw two cards. He then activates "Dark Factory of Mass Production" to add the two "Mokey Mokeys" in his Graveyard to his hand. He then activates "Polymerization" to fuse the three "Mokey Mokeys" in his hand together and Fusion Summon "Mokey Mokey King" (300/100) in Attack Position. "Mokey Mokey King" attacks "Wildheart". "Wildheart" destroys "Mokey Mokey King" (Belowski 2500 → 1300). Since "Mokey Mokey King" has been removed from the field, its effect activates, allowing Belowski to Special Summon his three "Mokey Mokeys" (300/100 each) from his Graveyard in Attack Position.
"Happy Lover" attacks "Wildheart". "Wildheart" destroys "Happy Lover" (Belowski 1300 → 600). The effect of "Mokey Mokey Smackdown" activates (all three "Mokey Mokey": 300 → 3000/100). One "Mokey Mokey" attacks and destroys "Wildheart" (Jaden 3100 → 1600). Another "Mokey Mokey" attacks "Sparkman", but Jaden activates "Hero Barrier" to negate the attack. The third "Mokey Mokey" attacks and destroys "Sparkman" (Jaden 1600 → 200).
On Belowski's End Phase, he Special Summons "Happy Lover" (800/500) from his Deck in Defense Position via "Human-Wave Tactics". At the same time, the effect of "Mokey Mokey Smackdown" wears off (all three "Mokey Mokey": 3000 → 300/100). Belowski then activates "Gift of the Mystical Elf" to gain 300 Life Points for each monster on the field. There are currently four (Belowski 600 → 1800).
Turn 6: Jaden
Jaden draws "Elemental Hero Bubbleman" and subsequently Normal Summons it (800/1200) in Attack Position. Since Jaden summoned "Bubbleman" while he had no other cards on his side of the field, its second effect activates, allowing Jaden to draw two cards. Jaden then activates "Hero Heart" to halve "Bubbleman's" ATK ("Bubbleman": 800 → 400/1200) until the End Phase and allow it to attack twice during this turn's Battle Phase.
"Bubbleman" attacks and destroys "Mokey Mokey" (Belowski 1800 → 1700). The effect of "Mokey Mokey Smackdown" activates (two remaining "Mokey Mokey": 300 → 3000/100). "Bubbleman" attacks another "Mokey Mokey". Jaden then activates "Bubble Illusion" to allow himself to activate "Mirror Gate" from his hand, allowing Jaden to switch control of both battling monsters before damage is calculated. After both monsters have switched control, "Mokey Mokey" destroys "Bubbleman" (Belowski 1700 → 0).
Belowski vs. Obelisk Blue Student #1
Duel already in progress. Belowski controls no cards, while his opponent controls "Gaia The Fierce Knight" (2300/2100), "Leghul" (300/350) and "Buster Blader" (2600/2300), all in Attack Position.
The rest of the Duel is not shown.
Belowski vs. Obelisk Blue Student #2
Duel already in progress. Belowski controls no cards, while his opponent controls "Queen's Knight" (1500/1600) and "King's Knight" (1600/1400), both in Attack Position and two Set cards.
The rest of the Duel is not shown.
Belowski vs. Obelisk Blue Student #3
Duel already in progress. Belowski controls "Kaiser Dragon" (2300/2000) and "Diamond Head Dragon" (0/2800), both in Attack Position and two Set cards. His opponent controls "Giant Soldier of Stone" (1300/2000) and "Cyber-Tech Alligator" (2500/1600), both in Defense Position and a Set card.
The rest of the Duel is not shown.
Differences in adaptations
In the Japanese version, Cronos refers to letting Motegi out as "opening Pandora's Box", but that doing so will give him hope, as that is always the last thing left in Pandora's Box.
In the English version, Belowski's character, as well as the episode name, are references to the movie The Big Lebowski.
The English version cuts most of the flashbacks to Belowski's Duels, and instead only shows the final scene of them.
Featured cards
The following cards appeared in this episode. Cards in italics debuted here.
