Set 3 years later after the events of Legion Mate, the story follows Chrono Shindou, an apathetic teenager who finds a Vanguard deck and a map in his school locker one day.
Chrono finds Vanguard enjoyable, so he decides to return to Card Capital 2, where he takes up a quest and becomes a Grade 1 fighter.
Over the next few days, Chrono meets and Shion Kiba and Tokoha Anjou (although his first encounter with both of them was not so pleasant but they slowly become very good friends).
Chrono also makes an acquaintance of Mamoru Anjou, the Kagero clan leader, and Jaime Alcaraz, the Spanish ace of the European League.
Desperate to prove Kamui wrong (although he was really faking it), Chrono, Tokoha, and Shion become determined to make their unnamed team successful.
They find that the United Sanctuary branch is turning card fighters into people obsessed with winning by brain washing them and by forcing them to think that "weakness is a crime".
Unbeknownst to Team TRY3, the Branch Manager is doing this to obtain a special unit that was used against him in a card fight years ago.
His deck is composed of the unique Gear Chronicle clan, which he received from an anonymous person who is later revealed to be Kouji Ibuki.
Birthday: 17 April Star Sign: Aries Blood Type: O Chrono's classmate and the younger sister of Mamoru.
Birthday: October 25 Star Sign: Scorpio Blood Type: A A popular and athletic schoolmate of Chrono's and a very skilled fencer from a high class.
A popular card-fighter due to her strength and beauty, Rin is an arrogant, selfish, and sadistic fighter who uses psychological attacks to enrage or frighten her opponents.
Chrono revisits Card Capital 2, meets Shin Nitta, and then talks with Kamui about his Gear Chronicle deck.
Then, after meeting Team Trinity Dragon, Chrono is given a Fighter's Card ("Fica" for short) by Kamui, who also tells him about the Federation of International Vanguard Association (FIVA).
To earn her trust while also improving himself, Chrono does menial tasks for Reika such as pulling weeds from her yard and buying her groceries.
When Chrono returns from shopping, he is shocked to see that Shion Kiba, a popular and athletic student/cardfighter from his school, has already acquired the requested card and also earned Reika's trust (and affection).
One day, she is asked by her older brother Mamoru, a famous pro fighter, to tell him about any information she finds about the new Gear Chronicle clan.
The next day, Tokoha takes her friend Kumi Okazaki to Card Capital 2 and gets her registered as an official Vanguard fighter.
Chrono accidentally drops his deck due to suffering from a toothache, which allows Tokoha to see that he has the Gear Chronicle clan that Mamoru told her about.
Kamui invites Chrono to a special FIVA event where one lucky person can get a chance to fight against Mamoru, who is the Kagero clan leader of the region.
While working with Chrono in setting up for a Vanguard tournament for children, Tokoha reunites with a woman named Akane Kiyosu.
After attending a party and getting reacquainted with an old friend, Yuya Karasumori, Shion overhears rumors about the Masked Ghost, a mysterious fighter who has been challenging other players and taking their avatar cards.
Later, Shion receives a tip from Ryota, the boy who he befriended at the Vanguard Quiz Competition, that the Masked Ghost has been spotted.
Tokoha gathers Chrono and the rest of the gang for a meeting to brainstorm ideas on what they can do for an upcoming regional Vanguard festival.
In the midst of the festivities, Chrono sees Mamoru hard at work himself, doing tasks such as helping attendees, advertising other booths, and cosplaying as Vangua-rou.
Tokoha puts on a smiling face, but she has grown frustrated and despondent by people referring her as "Mamoru's little sister", having high expectations of her for being related to a pro cardfighter, and not seeing her as an individual.
One day, a socially awkward teenager named Ogawa had a cardfight with a girl who he fell in love with at first sight.
One month later, he eventually makes a quest that Chrono, Shion, and Tokoha accept to locate that girl and return her card.
In the film, Kenji, Yuri, and Gai are members of Earth Defense Squad Caesar; they pilot their own giant robots and protect the world from alien monsters.