Episode 16

"Genius Master Chef 'Michio Mokota'" (天才料理人『茂古田未知夫』Tensai Ryōrinin "Mokota Michio"), known as Menu Venue: Part 1" in the Dub version, is the sixteenth episode of the Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V anime.

To gain eligibility to join the Junior Youth Championship, Yūya has to win 4 straight official Duels. With the guidance of Nico Smiley, Yūya heads towards the Cuisine Duel School. There waits Michio Mokota, a cuisine Duelist with high popularity among the housewives. Facing Michio's unique Dueling style, how would Yūya counter-attack?

Summary
At night, Yūya is editing his Deck and is satisfied with his results, eager to win his next four Duels with it. He also remembers Reiji mentioning an evolution to Pendulum Summoning. Yūya picks up one of his cards and promises not to lose to Reiji.

The next day, Yūya washes his face in the bathroom. As he leaves, En, Core, Kilo, and Watt greet him. Yūya notices the two cats who joined his current pets and wonders if his mother picked them up. Yūya enters the kitchen, where Sora greets him with a good morning. Yūya asks if Sora made himself at home. Sora replies that it's fine, since both of them are friends, and wishes him luck in the four Duels. He adds that he'll be working hard to enter the Maiami Championship as well. Yūya asks if Sora will do the six Duels to enter and Sora says he will, calling all six of them a cinch. Yūya asks Yōko if breakfast is ready. His mother replies it will take a while longer, since she's learning how to make mille-feuille tonkatsu with special salad. Yūya is dumbfounded and requests that she make her usual pancakes instead of something that takes a lot of work. Yōko says she also has Michio Mokota's popular recipe open right now on her tablet. Yūya tells her to make whatever and do it quick. Yōko scolds Yūya for being impatient as Sora drinks his milk. Yūya explains that he'll be late for the Duel if he doesn't hurry; at this point, Yōko complains that Yūya made her mess up.

Later, Yūya walks through Maiami City on an empty stomach. He complains that he didn't get to eat anything because he had to rush out. Yūya picks up on a delicious scent and starts to follow it. He arrives at the source, Cuisine Duel School, and remembers that he was asked to come here the other day. Nico Smiley comes close to Yūya and says he's been waiting for him while inviting him inside. Yūya asks if he'll be taken to the gas chambers, but Nico ignores the question and pushes him inside the school. Food is cooking and Yūya is allured by the various scents before noticing a banner reading "Mitchie-love". Nico introduces Yūya's opponent, Michio Mokota. Michio asks if his opponent is Yūya Sakaki, which he confirms. Nico says Michio is a young chef whose self-made recipes are popular among housewives. Yūya's stomach growls, which annoys Nico, though Michio doesn't seem to mind as he comments that Yūya seems hungry himself. Yūya apologizes because he had to skip breakfast and compliments Michio for the good-smelling food. Michio says he'll fill Yūya's empty stomach with his perfect recipe and his Cooking Duel style.

A voice yells, "Principal Kirigakure!" Yūya turns to find a woman arguing with the school principal, a man wearing a golden toque. She complains that Michio already qualified for the Maiami Championship and there shouldn't be a reason for him to compete in another match. Kirigakure tries to explain, but Michio tells his mother to calm down and reminds her that Yūya was the one who defeated Strong Ishijima. He says though the upcoming Duel will be fun, he will make a light meal out of Yūya. Mrs. Mokota agrees with Michio, since Yūya shouldn't be a problem for him. She urges him to show him the strength of one who doesn't lose to even LDS's top players. Michio promises to do his best, while his mother, in turn, promises to cheer him on. Yūya watches the pair leave and is greeted by Tatsuya, Ayu, and Futoshi. Yūya asks if they were here the whole time, which Ayu confirms. Tatsuya says this is because Yūya is taking the first step of becoming a pro, with Futoshi having Yūya promise to win the Duel in style.

Nico announces the start of the Duel and introduces the pioneer of Pendulum Summoning, Yūya Sakaki, and the Cooking Duel Prince, Michio Mokota. He waves to the crowd of cheering housewives, with one exclaiming she's a fan of his recipes. Mrs. Mokota is recording the Duel before turning the camera to face her. She asks her husband if he's watching this and explains that their son is having an important Duel today, with Mr. Mokota not showing up because he was busy with prep work. Nico has Kirigakure do the honors of making a brief speech: cooking is a journey of possibilities, with Dueling being the same thing. Kirigakure decides to have the youths do their Duel on the most fitting Action Field, "Action Kitchen". The arena is replaced by a kitchen several times the size of an ordinary one. Yūya asks if this is really a kitchen, with Michio agreeing to it. He says this is the place where he can "cook" Yūya properly. Yūya replies that no matter the field, he can pull through with his Entertainment Duelingand activates his Duel Disk. Both Duelists recite the Action Dueling chant, with the spectators concluding with "Action...DUEL!"

Michio goes first and says freshness matters in both cooking and Dueling. He invites Yūya to get a good taste of his cooking Dueling and Normal Summons "Cookmate Chickwheat". Michio mounts "Chickwheat" and it waddles across the kitchen floor before making a tremendous leap towards a rice cooker. Michio jumps off of "Chickwheat" and opens the cooker by landing on the button. It opens and an Action Card flies out, with Michio taking it. Yūya is surprised that he took an Action Card already. Michio is satisfied he picked up a good card and decides to use it right away while it's still fresh. He activates "Food Prepping Microwave", which lets him return a monster he controls to his hand and Special Summon a Level 4 or lower monster from his hand. He returns "Chickwheat" to Summon "Cookmate Eggong". Michio activates the effect of "Chickwheat" as it was returned to the hand, which lets him Special Summon it back to the field. Since Michio controls two or more "Cookmate" monsters, he Special Summons "Cookmate Potatopard". Michio uses "Eggong" to fly to a blender, where he dismounts and activates it. A gust of wind blows out another Action Card, which Michio also takes. Tatsuya is impressed that Michio Summoned three monsters in one turn, with Futoshi marvelling that Michio already got two Action Cards. Ayu remarks that while Michio appears to be a pushover, he's actually good. Michio Sets two cards and ends his turn. Nico says Michio is in top form today. Kirigakure replies that Michio knows this Action Field very well; he collects the ingredients first. Mrs. Mokota agrees with the principal; Michio is only getting started.

At another Dueling school, a sumo Duelist begins his turn. Most of the Duel is skipped, but Sora finishes it off with his "Death-Toy Scissors Bear". Yuzu appears to have stared into space during the Duel, but Sora grabs her attention by telling her they should move on to the next opponent. Yuzu snaps out of her daydreaming, though Sora is irritated.

Back at Action Kitchen, Yūya begins his turn. After drawing, Yūya's stomach growls, which flusters the children. This infuriates Ayu to the point when she yells at Yūya to get him to focus. Yūya blushes, while Michio comments that he's something, but can't blame him because he skipped breakfast; he doesn't want Yūya to use that as an excuse for losing. An annoyed Yūya asks who decided that he would lose. Michio replies that this is because his recipe is perfect, so there's no way Yūya can defeat him once he starts. Yūya yells that Michio doesn't know that for sure. He Normal Summons "Entermate Whip Viper". He encourages it to show how things are done as he uses it as a rope to latch on to a faucet and hoist himself up. Yūya slips on the faucet's top, but he quickly grasps it with his legs before he can fall. Dangling upside-down, Yūya spots an Action Card stuck to the faucet. Kirigakure calls Yūya impressive; Nico replies that this is because Yūya is the son of Yūshō Sakaki, the Action Duel pioneer. Lauder says he understands why Nico had high hopes for Yūya. Yūya declares the start of his Battle Phase as he swings "Whip Viper" like a lasso and orders it to attack "Eggong". Michio calmly activates his Action Card, "Freeze Freezer", which Yūya recognizes as the card Michio picked up earlier. Michio explains that this card negates a monster's attack this turn; a chilling blizzard blows from the freezer, freezing "Whip Viper" solid. Futoshi gets the "real" shivers, as he shivers from the cold. Yūya counters with his own Action Card, "Battle Burner", which lets a monster whose attack got negated attack again, with that attack being unable to be negated. The manifested blowtorch releases a stream of fire that thaws out "Whip Viper". Yūya orders "Whip Viper" to attack "Eggong" again, with Yūya's monster destroying it with a single bite. The attack brings Michio down to 2300 LP. Ayu cheers that Yūya did it. Yūya reveals another effect of "Battle Burner": when the attacking monster destroys a monster by battle, all the opponent's monsters are destroyed as well. "Battle Burner" explodes, with two flames heading for "Chickwheat" and "Potatopard". Both monsters panic and try to flee before they're incinerated by the fireballs. Tatsuya exclaims that Michio's monsters were wiped out, while Futoshi gets his shivers. Yūya ends his turn, with him telling Michio that the outcome of a Duel isn't known unless one tries. Michio laughs in an uncharacteristic manner, saying he already knows the outcome and this is all going according to his recipe. He activates his face-down "Food Cemetery". A stove emerges from a dark aura as Michio explains that all destroyed "Cookmate" monsters are placed in it. The cards emerge from the Graveyard portal as "Food Cemetery" opens its door and takes them, which Ayu takes note of. Michio reveals another effect of "Food Cemetery": he can add a number "Cookmate" monsters equal to the number of monsters sent to "Food Cemetery"; he adds three monsters as three cards are in "Food Cemetery". Michio says the more monsters are sent to "Food Cemetery" this turn, the stronger it becomes and that Yūya saved him a lot of trouble by destroying his monsters for him. Michio declares that new "Cookmate" monsters are on the menu. Mrs. Mokota praises Michio for doing a good job. Yūya remembers that Michio added three monsters to his hand this turn. Michio smirks as he says his recipe is now ready.

At his restaurant, Mr. Mokota is watching the Duel from his tablet while doing his prep work. He briefly glances at his tablet before continuing his work. At Action Kitchen, Michio begins his next turn, saying he saved the best for last for Yūya's empty stomach. A housewife knows what's coming next: Michio's best dish. Michio activates the Magic Card, "Wonder Recipe". This lets him Special Summon a "Cookmate" monster from his hand for each card under "Food Cemetery". Rainbow lights hit "Food Cemetery", causing it to move about. Yūya remembers that there are three cards under "Food Cemetery" before "Food Cemetery" opens and the three monsters under it fly out and transform into "Royal Cookmate Knight Napolitan", "Royal Cookmate Prince Curry", and "Royal Cookmate Princess Pudding". Tatsuya is impressed that Michio brought out high-Level monsters for each card in "Food Cemetery". Futoshi starts to state that Michio is exquisite, but glares from his two friends make him change his wording to "expert".

Michio reiterates that all "Cookmate" monsters destroyed the turn he activates "Food Cemetery" are placed under it; thanks to "Wonder Recipe", he can Summon a "Royal Cookmate" for each card. Yūya understands now: "Food Cemetery" punishes him for destroying Michio's monsters by replacing them with stronger ones. Michio praises Yūya for understanding as he slides down the noodles of "Knight Napolitan" into a teacup. He climbs out with an Action Card in his hand, with Yūya being frustrated at this fact. Yūya runs to look for another one, but Michio activates the other effect of "Wonder Recipe" before things cool down. It inflicts 300 damage to Yūya for each monster Special Summoned by its effect. The "Royal Cookmates" release bolts of lightning as Tatsuya recalls that three of them were Summoned. Futoshi does the math with "300 x 3", with Ayu finishing with "900". Michio makes another food metaphor, with Yūya paying his restaurant bill in LP. Yūya lands on a saucer, but he gets zapped, bringing him to 3100 LP. He says Michio may have a lot of food on the table, but those monsters have 300 ATK each, which isn't enough to defeat "Whip Viper". Michio admits it's true, but the "Royal Cookmates" are his perfect recipe, since they get stronger. Yūya is confused, but Michio activates the effect of "Princess Pudding" which lets him double the ATK of another "Cookmate" monster he controls. He chooses to double the ATK of "Prince Curry". A housewife calls this combination Michio's set menu, with Ayu agreeing with her: if you have dessert with your meal, your happiness doubles. Michio reveals that "Princess Pudding" can't attack during the turn its effect was activated, with said monster bowing out. He also activates the effect of "Knight Napolitan", which is the same as that of "Princess Pudding", doubling the ATK of "Prince Curry" to 1200. Futoshi is excited that Michio served a curry and neapolitan set and he would gladly accept double that size. The sight is enough to leave Futoshi and Ayu drooling, but Tatsuya quickly rebukes them. He starts to explain that Yūya is Dueling with all he's got, not before falling flat on his face after hearing Yūya's stomach growl again and getting annoyed. Yūya laughs nervously before Michio points out that he has taken a liking to his menu.

Yūya admits that the sight of the "Cookmates" left him drooling too, although "Prince Curry" is still weaker than "Whip Viper" even with the quadrupled ATK. Michio admits this is true as well, but adds that this may change if he adds another flavor. He activates the Action Card "Excellent Spice", which increases the ATK of one of his monsters by 1000 until the End Phase. A spice shaker scatters spice on to "Prince Curry" as Michio encourages it to become more delicious. This raises its ATK to 2200. Michio starts his Battle Phase and orders "Prince Curry" to attack "Whip Viper" with "Excellent Express Curry Plate". "Prince Curry" boards an express train before releasing its contents at "Whip Viper", which causes it to cry out in pain before it's destroyed. This reduces Yūya to 2600 LP. Michio asks if this was too spicy for him and ends his turn, with the ATK of "Prince Curry" returning to normal. He asks if Yūya is having his fill.

Yūya takes his next turn and draws "Timegazer Magician". He decides to give Michio a taste of his Pendulum Summon as thanks for earlier. He places "Timegazer" and "Stargazer Magician" in his Pendulum Zones. The three children cheer as Yūya sets up the Pendulum Summon, with Tatsuya excited for the counterattack. Yūya Pendulum Summons "Entermate Trampolynx", "Entermate Partnaga", and "Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon". Michio is unfazed, but he welcomes the whole team with open arms. Since Yūya showed him the Pendulum Summon, Yūya decides to entertain his guests. Yūya repeats, "guests?" with Michio replying with, "the greatest, of course". He activates the effects of each of his "Cookmate" monsters as Yūya Normal or Special Summoned monsters. Michio declares "Full House of Full Stomachs" as the three "Cookmates" fly towards Yūya's monsters, with "Princess Pudding" feeding "Partnaga" its own pudding, "Prince Curry" feeding "Trampolynx" curry and rice, and "Knight Napolitan" feeding "Odd-Eyes" its own noodles. Yūya complains that it isn't fair that his monsters get to eat while he doesn't. Eventually, the "Cookmates" overfeed Yūya's monsters to the point their bellies get round, as Michio encourages them to eat more. The three children are horrified at what they see: Ayu comments that Michio's monsters are forcing Yūya's monsters to eat, while Futoshi complains the good atmosphere was ruined. Yūya looks at his monsters, whose bellies are stuffed with the food they just ate. "Odd-Eyes" and "Partnaga" are rolling around helplessly, while "Trampolynx" bounces across the field. Michio says Yūya seems satisfied that Yūya had no regrets to leave in this world. He returns all three of his "Cookmate" monsters to his hand to destroy each of Yūya's monsters. All Yūya can say is, "No way...my monsters...all". Michio smirks, while Yūya gets frustrated and stares him down.

Yūya Sakaki vs. Michio Mokota
At the start of the Duel, the Field Magic Card "Action Kitchen" is activated, as per the rules of an Action Duel. It will allow the players to use Action Cards, but they may only have one in their hand at a time.

Turn 1: Michio

Michio Normal Summons "Cookmate Chickwheat" (CG Star 2/100/400). Michio finds and activates the Action Card, "Food Prepping Microwave". This lets him return a monster he controls to his hand, then Special Summon a Level 4 or lower monster from his hand. He returns "Chickwheat" to Special Summon "Cookmate Eggong" (CG Star 2/0/300) in Attack Position. As "Chickwheat" was returned to his hand, its effect allows Michio to Special Summon it during the turn it was returned. He does so now (CG Star 2/100/400). As he controls two or more "Cookmate" monsters, Michio Special Summons "Cookmate Potatopard" (CG Star 3/600/300) from his hand in Attack Position via its own effect. Michio finds an Action Card, then Sets 2 cards.

Turn 2: Yūya

Yūya Normal Summons "Entermate Whip Viper" (CG Star 4/1700/900). Yūya finds an Action Card. "Whip Viper" attacks "Eggong", but Michio activates the Action Card "Freeze Freezer", which negates all attacks from opponent's monsters this turn. Yūya activates the Action Card "Battle Burner", which will allow a monster whose attack was negated to attack again, with that attack being unable to be negated itself. Should that monster destroy an opponent's monster by battle, all Attack Position monsters the opponent controls will be destroyed. "Whip Viper" attacks and destroys "Eggong" (Michio: 4000 → 2300 LP), with the effect of "Battle Burner" destroying his other monsters. Michio activates his face-down "Food Cemetery", which places the "Cookmate" monsters that were sent to the Graveyard this turn underneath it. Michio may then add a number of "Cookmate" monsters to his hand equal to the number underneath this card. He does so now, but should he control more monsters than the number underneath "Food Cemetery", all cards he controls will be destroyed.

Turn 3: Michio

Michio activates "Wonder Recipe", letting him Special Summon a number of "Royal Cookmate" monsters from his hand equal to the number of cards underneath "Food Cemetery", then inflict 300 damage to his opponent for each monster Special Summoned. He Special Summons "Royal Cookmate Knight Napolitan" (CG Star 8/300/1100), "Royal Cookmate Prince Curry" (CG Star 7/300/1000) and "Royal Cookmate Princess Pudding" (CG Star 6/300/100), all in Attack Position. Michio finds an Action Card, then the other effect of "Wonder Recipe" activates (Yūya: 4000 → 3100 LP). Michio activates the effect of "Princess Pudding", which will double the ATK of another "Royal Cookmate" monster he controls ("Prince Curry": 300 → 600/1000) until the End Phase, but "Princess Pudding" cannot attack this turn. He then activates the effect of "Knight Napolitan", which is the same as that of "Princess Pudding" ("Prince Curry": 600 → 1200/1000). Michio activates the Action Card, "Excellent Spice", which will increase the ATK of one monster the field by 1000 ("Prince Curry": 1200 → 2200/1000) until the End Phase. "Prince Curry" attacks and destroys "Whip Viper" (Yūya: 3100 → 2600 LP). At the End Phase, the effects of "Princess Pudding", "Knight Napolitan" and "Excellent Spice" expire ("Prince Curry": 2200 → 300/1000).

Turn 4: Yūya

Yūya draws "Timegazer Magician" and subsequently places it (Left Pendulum Scale 8) and "Stargazer Magician" (Right Pendulum Scale 1) in his Pendulum Zones. Yūya Pendulum Summons "Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon" (CG Star 7/2500/2000), "Entermate Partnaga" (CG Star 5/500/2100) and "Entermate Trampolynx" (CG Star 2/300/300) from his hand, all in Attack Position. As his opponent Normal or Special Summoned a monster, Michio activates the effects of each of his "Royal Cookmate" monsters, each of which allow him to return them to his hand to destroy a monster his opponent controls. He returns "Knight Napolitan", "Prince Curry" and "Princess Pudding" to destroy "Odd-Eyes", "Partnaga" and "Trampolynx", with the latter three being sent to the Extra Deck as they are Pendulum Monsters.

Duel continues in the next episode.

Sora Shiun'in vs. Unknown Duelist
Duel already in progress. Sora controls "Death-Toy Scissors Bear" (CG Star 6/2200/1800) in Attack Position, while his opponent controls no cards.

Sora's turn

"Death-Toy Scissors Bear" attacks directly (Opponent: ? → 0 LP).

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

List of Featured Characters

 * Yūya Sakaki
 * En
 * Core
 * Watt
 * Kilo
 * Sora Shiun'in
 * Yōko Sakaki
 * Nico Smiley
 * Michio Mokota
 * Mrs. Mokota
 * Kirigakure
 * Futoshi Harada
 * Ayu Ayukawa
 * Tatsuya Yamashiro
 * Mr. Mokota
 * Unknown Duelist
 * Yuzu Hīragi