I stumbled backward as the Leafa I hunted down attacked me with a Tail Vine. This Kaimecha might be small, but its tail packs a ferocious punch. I raised my bow and launched an arrow at the leaf-like monster; It ducked and continued its barrage of attacks at me. Understanding that I couldn’t defeat this simple monster by myself, I bolted back to the city. When I go hunting, I don’t travel too far away from the city limits, so my trek to safety didn’t take me too long.
When I re-entered the city, I felt a slight tingle as I passed the electromagnetic border that keeps the creatures away. A soldier stopped me with a hand stretched out.
“I need to see your identification,” The armored man told me. I opened up my hand with my palm facing the sky and double-tapped my palm. A hologram with a picture of me, along with my name, Akira Endo, appeared over my hand. The guard jerked his head, motioning me to continue.
With the sun beginning to set, the neon lights from the Main Street shops lit up the streets; vendors stood along the road, hawking their wares. I passed a man who was attempting to get my attention so he could sell me a counterfeit Kaimecha card.
“Come on, kid. It’s a genuine Aphinex’s Wings card. I’ll even discount it 50 gold less than what it resells for.” The scammer said to me. I shook my head and continued walking until I reached Belford Avenue and took a right. I quickened my pace as the light dimmed. I live in the part of Sylvia that citizens refer to as Shadow Way.
I passed by people camped out along the sidewalk, sleeping on cardboard and being protected by blankets propped up over their heads. Many of these campers held signs asking for either money or food. I kept my head down and continued to my humble abode. Before long, I smelled the sweet aroma of Dargator meat, and I smiled. I jogged to the tent where I live and saw a guy cooking outside of it.
“Hey, Ty,” I said to the cook. He grinned, slapped me gently on the chest to greet me. “Where’d you get the food?”
“My Armamole and I took it down on the south side today. I made a little money selling two skeletons to the lab, so I bought us some root beer.” Ty tossed a brown bottle toward me. I almost didn’t catch the drink but managed to fumble it around a bit before getting both hands on it. I set it down and pulled a rectangular device called the Kaimecha Index, then opened the page for Armamole.
ARMAMOLE
Type: Stone
Generation: Infant
Description: A mole with the armor of an armadillo
This Mutimon can curl up into a ball and will increase in speed the further it goes; eventually, it cannot be stopped. This Mutimon is on the endangered list but can be found on the mountain of Tyrilla. When Armamole evolves, it jumps from the Infant stage to the Premier stage.
“You’re so lucky that you found the data for an Armamole,” I told Ty. “If only I went with you when you looted that abandoned Kaimecha card factory.”
“Don’t worry, Akira, you’ll find a Kaimecha,” Ty said to me as I sat on a log near the fire.
“How much longer until the food’s ready?” I asked. My friend poked at the meat before responding.
“It should be good to go now,” Ty said, removing the Dargator meat from the fire, cutting a few slices off, plating it, and handing it to me. “Try it; I seasoned it with herbs I found in the river where I found the Dargator.” I took a bite of the reptile meat, and my eyes began to water. I coughed and drank more of the root beer.
“You’re trying to kill me!” I gasped. “This is way too spicy.”
“No, you’re too weak,” Ty said with a smirk on his face. He tasted it and had a look of understanding. “Nevermind, you’re right. It’s way too spicy.” Ty looked at the root beer in his hand and poured some of it over the skewered meat. After taking a bite, he signaled for me to try it; when I did, the flavors exploded in my mouth. “I am a genius!” Ty shouted, standing up and raising his plate to the sky. A man with an oversized hat stumbled over to us and cleared his throat.
“You wouldn’t mind sharing that, would you, Mr. Genius?” Our fellow homeless man asked. He smiled, and I couldn’t help but notice that his sun-baked skin brought out the tone of his white beard.
“Get lost,” Ty told him. “Find your own food.” The man gave Ty a rude gesture and continued stumbling along Belford Avenue.
“I could’ve given him some of mine,” I told my friend. Ty waved his hand at me and shook his head.
“No, he would’ve kept coming back for more,” Ty said to me. “Anyway, you never told me about your day. What’d you do?” I thought about my day for a moment before responding.
“I found a cool knife when I was traveling through the sewers. I tried using it to fight some wild monsters on the east side, but it didn’t work out too well for me.” I scratched the back of my head. “A Leafa chased me out of the wild.” Ty burst into laughter.
“A little puppy that looks like a leaf?” Ty said with one hand on his knee and the other wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. “I told you if you want me to go out there with you to help, I can.” I rolled my eyes.
“And I told you,” I said. “I need to do this on my own. If someone else defeats my monsters for me, then what pride can I have in that?” Ty set his plate on the ground and raised his hands in surrender.
“Okay, okay!” He said, then shook his head. “You and your pride. Is that what’s keeping you from talking to Polaris? You know she’s hanging out with her cousin, Kai, next door.” I perked up when I heard that.
“Polaris is—.”
“Hey, losers,” A voice from the tent next to ours called out. I sighed.
“Good evening, Kai,” I groaned.
“Whatever you guys made smells mighty fine. You wouldn’t happen to have any more, would you?” Kai licked his lips, so I stood up and handed my plate over. He thanked me and tucked into the meat.
“Is your cousin still over there?” Ty asked the voracious teenager. He nodded as he used his finger to get a piece of meat from his teeth.
“Yeah, she’s staying the night; why?” Kai had a curious look, and Ty smirked.
“Oh, no reason,” Ty said, winking at me. I gave him a look to stop, but he didn’t heed my warning. “Think you could have her come out here?” Kai shrugged and called for Polaris to get out here. When she stepped out of the worn-down tent and flipped her pink hair out of her eyes, my heart began to race.
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“What’d you want, Kai,” She said in an annoyed voice.
“Ty was asking about you,” He replied. She looked over to Ty and raised her eyebrows. I looked at my friend with wide eyes and swiftly shook my head. Don’t do this to me, I thought to myself, hoping that Ty somehow hears my thoughts.
“Akira was only wondering if you’d go for a walk with him?” Ty told her. I lowered my head.
“Oh?” Polaris said with a slight smile. “Yeah, sure. It’ll be better than sitting in this tent all night.” She sniffed for a moment. “Did someone make Dargator?” She looked at her cousin and signaled for him to hand over the sustenance, which he promptly did.
Ty gestured for me to go, and I reluctantly complied. I stood up and nodded at my crush.
“Shall we get going then?” I offered. She nodded and began walking along the street, the plate still in her hand.
“Thanks for getting me out of there; I was getting bored,” Polaris told me. We walked a few steps in silence before I spoke up.
“How do you like being a Tamer?” I asked her. She acquired enough data for a Boltipole last week. I brought out my Kaimecha Index and searched the monster.
BOLTIPOLE
Type: Aqua
Generation: Infant
Description: A purple tadpole with neon yellow fins
Boltoles are fish but can slither on dry land. Motion works up an electric charge, but Boltish can let out that charge in one giant burst. This Mutimon is slow but has excellent Mystical stats.
“It’s cool!” She said with a grin. “Scavenging for parts from the Kaimecha in the old power plant makes so much more money than selling monster skeletons. The lightning and metal creatures drop parts instead of food, so I have an inventory full of random objects. I have to take them to Taliah’s parts shop in the morning before my bag weighs me down. Have you had any luck getting a Kaimecha?” She looked over at me, and I lowered my gaze.
“No, not yet. I’m too weak to kill anything in the wild,” I told her.
“Have you thought about buying Kaimecha cards to try to find data?” She asked me. I wrinkled my nose. “I know data cards are scarce, but it might be easier than hoping that you land a lucky blow on a wild monster.”
“I can’t afford that,” I said. We continued walking, and I noticed that we were walking towards the shopping district. As I looked up at her, lights from the buildings shined on Polaris’s face, and her bright blue eyes seemed to stand out in the darkness. I blushed when she noticed me staring at her.
“You okay?” She asked me with a silly look on her face.
“Yeah, I thought I saw something on your face,” I said, hoping she bought it, which she did. Polaris shrugged her shoulders, and we continued walking past many shops preparing to close for the night. The night was quiet until we heard a scream from a shop ahead of us. Without thinking, I ran after the noise.
“Stop, you can’t do this!” Shouted a man from Lumen’s Card Shop. When I entered the building, the store owner stood in the corner with his hands up. A man had a pistol pointed at the clerk while he loaded packs of Kaimecha cards into a duffle bag.
“Stop!” I shouted as I withdrew the knife I found earlier today. The robber turned around and pointed his gun at me. When he aimed the weapon at me, my arms went weak, and I couldn’t feel my legs. “I didn’t think things through this far,” I said with fright in my voice.
“What’re you going to do, bud?” The criminal asked, still shoving products in his bag. I looked over to the store owner, whose hands were lowered and moving toward the shoplifter. The two adults wrestled over the pistol; I didn’t know what to do, so I charged at the bad guy and slashed his hand with my knife. He dropped the gun and held a hand over the cut. I picked up the weapon and aimed it at the wounded man.
“The police are on their way,” Polaris said as she entered the store. When she saw me with the gun, she stopped with her eyes wide open. “Where’d you get that?” She asked. I told her about what took place moments ago.
“Thank you—thank you so much!” The shop owner repeatedly bowed while he thanked me. “Please, take some packs. You just saved me so much money.” The man snatched the bag from the burglar’s hand, reached into it, and handed me a handful of his product. I looked at him with astonishment.
“Are you sure about this?” I asked him.
“Losing about 15 gold instead of most of my inventory? Of course, I’m sure about this.” He told me. I nodded and took in a deep breath.
The police showed up a few minutes later, and I handed over the firearm to an officer. One of the officers told me how foolish I was to take down the burglar before contacting the authorities. I told him I wouldn’t do it again, then Polaris and I walked back to where Ty and Kai were waiting for us.
“So, Mr. Hero, is it okay if I join you when you open those packs? Maybe you’ll get some data in one of those.” Polaris wrapped her arm around mine as she drew closer to me. I tried to keep my cool, except all I could get out was a jumbled mess of words. She looked at me with confusion. I took a deep breath and tried to speak clearly.
“Yeah, that’s fine. I’m not expecting too much, though. You can have anything you want out of these.” The pink-haired girl let go of my arm and walked alongside me. We trekked along in silence as we approached the area where Ty remained sitting by the fire.
“Everything okay?” He asked. “I heard some kind of commotion going on in the shopping district.” I looked at Polaris, and she looked away.
“Heroman over here stopped a robbery at Lumen’s. Mr. Lumen gave him a few packs as compensation.” Polaris said to Ty, who perked up.
“Dude, I need a Stonemaker Shell,” Ty said with enthusiasm. “If you pull one, I call dibs.”
“We’ll see,” I told my friend. “What if I want it, though?”
“You don’t even have a Kaimecha!” Ty shouted with a slight chuckle in his voice. At the sudden burst of noise, Kai emerged from his tent.
“Everything okay out here?” He asked. Ty retold the story of what happened minutes ago. Kai walked over to me and patted my shoulder. “I remember when I tried impressing a pretty girl.” I felt my face getting warm, and I wanted to duck into my tent and hide away from the world.
“Shut it, Kai,” Polaris said, throwing a small rock at her cousin, who dodged it and took a seat by the fire. “Akira, the fire should be enough lighting to see the cards if you wanted to unpack your prize.” Ty and Kai agreed with her and gave in to their suggestions.
I pulled the plastic packets from the pocket where I stored them and looked at the front of it. A Kingaroo, a kangaroo with massive arms, purple tape wrapped around its hands, and a blue boxing robe, posed on the pack. Mr. Lumen gave me six new packs; my heart threatened to burst from my chest as I ripped the plastic open.
“Haru’s Yo-Yo,” I said as I read the cards in my hand. “Trenson’s Magic Wand, Slugice Slime, Anglon’s Feather, and the last one is—.” I paused for effect, and the others held their breath in anticipation. “Briger Claw Dagger.” The three around the fire groaned.
“I might take that Slugice Slime off of you,” Polaris said. “I might be able to combo it with the electricity of my Boltipole.” I shrugged and nodded my consent, and handed her the item.
“Here’s the next one,” I said as I proceeded to open the next one. “Another Anglon’s Feather, Rockapede’s Shell, Megaroo’s Boxing Gloves, Ghozzly’s Mighty Roar, and Stonemaker Shell.” As I said the last one, I handed it to Ty, who stood up and shuffled back to his lawn chair in a strange dancing motion. I picked up the next pack, my breathing still uncontrollable from the nervousness.
“Megaroo’s Boxing Gloves, Trenson’s Magic Wand, Eggstatic Grenade, Anglon Wings, and 100% Fawnock Data.” I placed the cards in a pile on my lap with the others. I held the next pack in my hands and prepared to open it, but Ty lunged at the cards stacked on my legs.
“Did you just say what I thought you said?” He said as he thumbed through the cards. When he found what he was looking for, Ty stared at it with amazement. “You found one! It’s a full set of monster data!” I looked at him in confusion.
“And you said you didn’t want to check out packs,” Polaris said before winking at me.
“This is great, but I’ll have to wait until the morning to re-code this card,” I told the group. Kai stayed sitting by the fire. “You okay, Kai?”
“Yeah, I’m good,” He said, crossing his arms. “Now I’ll be the only one of us without a Kaimecha. I don’t like being the odd man out.”
“If my boy, Akira, can find a monster, I’m sure you can,” Ty said, patting me on the shoulder. I elbowed him in the chest and continued opening the packs.
In the end, I finished with 2 Anglon’s Feathers, 3 Megaroo’s Boxing Gloves, another Stonemaker Shell, 3 Trenson’s Magic Wand, another Slugice Slime, 3 Swiftness of Brigers, 1 Anglon Wing, 4 Bulk Ups, 2 Eggstatic Grenades, 3 Ghozzly’s Mighty Roar, 2 Haru’s Yo-Yo, 1 Briger Claw Dagger, 1 40% Lunorm Data, and 1 100% Fawnock Data. I almost ended the unpacking with two Kaimecha—I’m perfectly fine with one, but having two would be spectacular.
After the small talk and Ty trying to convince me to give him the Lunorm data, we all went our separate ways; I groggily stumbled into my tent and fell into my cot.