The crowds were going wild.

Wonder finally had his Tamer debut.

It hadn’t been that huge a deal in Wonder’s book. One of the RDF vacationing there was also a Tamer, so challenged Wonder so they could give their new Beast some practical experience.

Wonder, or rather Garados, kicked the other’s ass.

The small crowd that had gathered to watch were going ballistic. The orc who had challenged Wonder smiled. “Not bad. Up for a Round 2?”

Wonder whistled, and Garados climbed up and around him. Wonder said, “Totally! Send your next one out!”

The orc waved, and a multi-colored unicorn appeared. It ninnied, prepping for battle.

Gonna have to watch out for the horn.

Wonder whistled, “Megatron!!! Your turn! DIG!”

The ground rumbled, and Megatron burst out of the ground right underneath the unicron. Megatron bit down on the Beast, causing shards of crystal to go everywhere.

The orc Tamer laughed. “Nice. Dare I ask how long he was hiding under there?”

Wonder smirked. “I had a Tamer turn his Beasts on my kids when they were only toddlers. Never making that mistake twice.”

The orc blinked and looked down, understanding Wonder’s comment perfectly well.

Wonder called out, “Wave weight, Megatron!”

Megatron threw the crystal Unicron towards the edge of the marked battle area. Specifically towards the area with water. Wonder hoped that a tactic he read in CLAMP’s Battle Angelswould work towards his advantage.

The Unicorn landed on its feet in the water and ninnied. The Orc laughed, “Should have finished it off sooner! CHARGE!”

The unicorn tried. But its weight was already causing it to sink. It soon tripped over itself. Wonder yelled, “BELLY SLAM!!!”

Megatron jumped up, curling into a spiky ball. He spun on the way down, allowing his own weight to turn him into a weapon of mass destruction. Sand and water went everyone, and it was Tismil’s shield that protected Wonder. Wonder yelled, “FINISH IT WHILE IT CAN’T FIGHT BACK!!!”

The masses of sand and water vanished… revealing a sparkling Unicorn in Megatron’s jaws. He smiled eeriely.

The orc quickly checked his screens, and sighed out of relief. The ref yelled, “BATTLE TWO IS CALLED! THE WINNER IS ONCE MORE WONDER HYDE!!!”

The crowd’s cheering went bonkers. Someone said, “Izuku apparently got his knack from somewhere!”

The referee said, “Round 3?”

The orc waved it off. “All of my others are enjoying a good day off. I’m not ruining things for them.”

The referee turned towards Wonder. Wonder said, “Sounds good to me, buddy.”

The referee called out, “AND WONDER IS OUR ROUND WINNER!!!”

The crowds went wild. Wonder walked up and held out a hand to the orc. “Not bad. Maybe we would have faced each other in Azeroth in a past life.”

The orc smirked. “For the Alliance?”

Wonder smirked more. “For the Horde.”

Two isaeki Tamers shook hands heartedly.

Megatron lumbered up as the orc left. Wonder summoned some meat and gave Megatron his treat. “Atta boy!”

He rolled his neck out. “Let’s head back. I think it’s almost my turn to take Kat out…”

“Not so fast, Dad.”

There were squeals and whoops of excitement. Wonder could only smirk. He looked up at the other side of the field, which Izuku now stood. Wonder said, “Gonna try to swarm me with numbers, baby boy?”

Izuku smirked. “Why not?”

Wonder looked at the ref. He said, “I only have three Battle-capable Beasts with me. That work?”

The ref nodded, and raised his hands. Everyone shut up immediately. The ref shouted, “ROUND TWO BEGINS! WONDER HYDE VERSUS IZUKU HYDE!!! RELEASE YOUR FIRST BEASTS NOW!!!”

Wonder yelled, “Swap-out! Megatron and Garados!”

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Megatron quickly went behind his master, and Garados jumped into the circle. Izuku smirked, and then whistled. The polar bear came lumbering into the circle.

Fuck! He knew I was prepping for the Bunnies!

Wonder ground his teeth, but he had to smile. That was impressive strategy. But it left some problems. Izuku always went with Bunnies, and Polar Bear as a heavy hitter. Problem was, they knew each other’s lineup, and didn’t know which would be #3.

First deal with the polar bear. Luckily, Garados isn’t only a water type.

Wonder shouted, “Garados! Sneaky strike!”

Garados charged. Izuku smirked. “Get him, Polar!”

Polar raised a paw and swiped down perfectly. Wonder yelled, “NOW GARADOS!!!”

Garados pounced, wrapping his long body around Polar’s paw. Polar was thrown off, so Wonder yelled, “THUNDERSHOCK!!!”

Garados lit up brighter than a Christmas tree. There were shocked squeals and whoops. It wasn’t commonly known, but for most Beast-battle systems, from Pokemon to Digimon to Hosekin, Beasts could learn attacks other than their type. Wonder had used this strategy in Pokemon to save himself and train Pokemon multiple times.

He hadn’t expected to need it against his own son.

Wonder watched Polar’s HP bar. It only went halfway. FUCK.

Izuku said, “Bite him!”

Polar roared, and lunged. But Garados was smart. He let loose a full torrent of water into the polar bear’s mouth. While it wouldn’t do lasting damage to an undead, it still caused enough discomfort for Polar to throw Garados off.

Wonder said, “Atta boy, Garados!”

This was where Hosekin Battles differed from Pokemon Battles. While you could swap out Pokemon at any time (you might just be open to attack), you were only allowed to change out a Beast in the beginning of the battle in Hoseki. And only once, which was how Wonder was now caught.

He ran through Garados’s training, and checked his mana. That electrical spell was 100% meant for emergencies. Garados’s mana was nearly drained, meaning he was stuck between his natural abilities and body type. Polar would easily overpower them.

Unless…

“Garados! Time to play dirty!”

Garados nodded, and dove under the sand. Everyone gasped and cooed. Izuku looked around, and then froze. “Polar!!! Protect your…”

Too late.

Garados smashed into Polar’s family jewels from below.

Polar made an almost-comical face, then vanished in glittering sparkles. The ref yelled, “BATTLE ONE GOES TO WONDER!!!”

Everyone wildly whooped and cawed. Wonder said, “Nice job getting me into a corner, baby boy.”

Izuku smiled. “Thanks, Dad. Too bad… you’re in my territory now!!!”

WHAT…

NONONONO!!!

Even Garados had known what that meant, because he quickly jumped. However it was too late. The dreaded bunnies of doom suddenly came surging from every ounce of sand underneath. Garados had no chance, and soon was in sparkles himself.

Garados HP 0. Retracted to Recovery Stasis.

“BATTLE TWO GOES TO IZUKU! SCORE IS TIED ONE TO ONE!”

Wonder huffed. That was a great strategy. Garados was really his primary crowd control. There was only one other who could handle the masses of bunnies.

Wonder said, “Well, if I have no choice… Yugi!”

A pot appeared. There was a flash of gas, and a series of cards appeared, creating a bit of an shield around the floating pot.

Izuku huffed. “The genie!”

“Yugi, great explosion!”

“Everyone underground!”

The explosion lit up the nearby area. Wonder winced. Yugi was a recent addition… Acryoa had helped Wonder find this one. When he heard Wonder’s usual strategy was to take and develop one team instead of constantly rotating out, he wisely suggested a second crowd control one just in case Garados went out. Wonder was grateful for the help.

Yugi floated safely up outside flying range. The ref held up a hand, using his own magic to count who went down. When it came to “crowd” monsters, instead of eliminating all, you had to eliminate a giant amount. Wonder doubted Yugi got enough in the first wave.

The ref called, “599 eliminated! 401 still required! The battle continues!”

Izuku sighed out of relief. Wonder bit his lip, and looked at Yugi. Yugi was safe… at least until Izuku started having the bunnies build a pyramid out of themselves and climb up. Wonder had to make sure that didn’t happen.

Wonder said, “Yugi! Make it so the bunnies can’t get a foothold!”

Yugi seemed to get the idea. The cards spun around it, and the ocean suddenly flooded in. The sand began to get replaced by water. Bunnies were instantly trying to swim out or dig out of range.

The ref held up his hands. “1,000 HAVE BEEN ELIMINATED OR OUT OF BOUNDS! BATTLE THREE GOES TO WONDER!”

Izuku blinked. Yugi was still a wild card. Wonder hadn’t been able to train with them much. That might be Wonder’s one saving grace.

But he knew what Izuku was about to do.

So for once, he was ready.

Izuku waited until all his bunnies were safe on solid ground, then whistled. An undead bird the size of a horse flew in with a loud cawing. Wonder yelled, “Swap-out! Yugi & Megatron!”

Yugi vanished, reappearing by Wonder’s feet as a pot. Megatron jumped in, roaring.

Izuku froze. He didn’t know what was about to happen. But he clearly knew the basis, because he yelled, “Cawer! Defend yourself!”

“PIERCE THAT ARMOR, MEGS!”

Megatron roared, and all his metallic spikes aimed and fired. Since the bird was trying to roll into a defensive ball, it stood no chance. It was soon sparkling.

The ref yelled, “BATTLE THREE IS WON! WONDER WINS THE ROUND!”

Everyone burst into cheering. Wonder smiled and walked to his son. “Well done, baby boy! You had me in a pinch there.”

Izuku blushed and smiled. He said, “Yeah…”

“Next time, maybe tell me you don’t want me on the circuit directly, okay?”

Izuku turned red. “Th-Th-That wasn’t it. I just… Dad, you’re good.”

“So are you. And remember, you grew up among these creatures. I didn’t. What I’m going on is based on tactics from another world, and training with each creature individually. I still know very little about these creatures.”

Wonder smiled, and hugged Izuku. “You are going to become the Champion, if that is your desire. I’m here to live a childhood dream, but I only won 2 Leagues out of 10. You have a much better chance than I do.”

Izuku said, “Dad… thanks. That’s total bull crap, but I appreciate it all the same.”

Wonder laughed. “Awwww, stop growing up so fast!”

Izuku laughed harder, and hugged him. “Sorry, Dad. I love you.”

“I love you too. Next time, let’s save it for the Hosekin Championship.”

Izuku laughed. “Of course.”