“Feeling good, Kyle?” asked Aurin as Kyle sat on his porch. It was the dawn of his first competitive Minakai battle in years and Aurin had been the one to do the early morning cleaning and feeding of the Minakai at the ranch, something he was happy to do.

“I’m all good,” said Kyle. “It’ll be strange being back in front of a crowd, but I’m ready for it.”

“You’ll do well,” said Aurin. “After how strong you were in the Palace Royale, I know you’ll smash your competition. Come to think of it…who’s your opponent?”

“That old girlfriend of yours, Eclare,” said Kyle with a smug grin.

“She was never my girlfriend!” yelled Aurin. “But I’m glad she’s fully recovered after what happened to her during the Zeera Crisis. I didn’t realise how badly those Funglie spores could hurt you.”

“As dangerous as the burning fires of a Volcarrow. That said, I’m still not going to go easy on her. If she’s fighting in the tournament, there’ll be no holding back on my end.”

Aurin laughed. “I would expect nothing less.”

*

“Ladies and gentlemen, let’s hear it for your favourite local rancher, Kyle!” called the announcer.

Kyle walked out onto the battlefield and gave a small wave to the crowd. He met Eclare in the centre, who gave him a big smile.

“I suppose you’ll know all of my Minakai already,” she said. “They live at your ranch after all.”

Kyle let out a dry laugh. “It doesn’t help as much as you would think,” he said. “Good luck.”

“Likewise.”

The two walked back across the grass and stood in their positions, waiting to be counted in. As he had expected, it was indeed strange to be back on an official battlefield, but he was excited. Eclare was not a weak tamer, but she was far from the strongest tamer in town. He knew that she was the perfect opponent to test himself against.

“Three…two…one…begin!” called the announcer.

The two tamers drew their summoning stones like gunslingers and sent out their first monsters; Kyle summoned his Snowlem and Eclare summoned her Spikruption. The icy snowman and the fiery dinosaur stared at each other for a moment before making their moves.

Spikruption curled its long neck downwards and tucked its head between its front legs while throwing itself forward and rolling along the battlefield towards Snowlem. Having sparred with Aurin enough times, Kyle had already devised the perfect counter for this attack and Snowlem was the Minakai for it.

“Divert,” ordered Kyle.

Snowlem unleashed his magic and paved the grass with frost, making Spikruption wobbled as it rolled. With a wave of its branching arms, Snowlem summoned an ice wall either side of the slippery terrain and then redirected Spikruption towards the wall of the battlefield, but before crashing, Spikruption engulfed itself in flames and melted the eyes, giving it the chance to slow down.

It unfurled itself and opted for a charging attack instead, but Snowlem had another counter prepared. He hurled an icy spear at Spikruption, who shattered it with a heavy fireball, but a follow-up icicle struck the dinosaur in the neck, making it gasp and unable to exhale fire.

“Avalanche!” called Kyle.

Snowlem raised his arms high and then swung them low, summoning a pile of snow that fell upon Spikruption, burying the dinosaur out of sight. As the slow slowly began to melt from the heat of the dinosaur’s body, Snowlem ran towards his opponent and coated one of his fists in ice.

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Upon Spikruption’s reemergence, he leapt up and smashed his frozen knuckles into Spikruption’s jaw, toppling the dinosaur who could not even call out; it had lost consciousness before it hit the ground. It lay limply on the grass as the last of the snow faded away, giving Kyle an early lead.

“A great first showing by Kyle!” called the announcer. “Spikruption has been snuffed out, but what will Eclare do next?”

To answer the announcer, Eclare summoned her Shamasaur. The large masked reptile stomped on the ground and did a clumsy dance, waving its arms in the air, but this was not to celebrate its appearance, it was a making an attack. It conjured a boulder and flung it at Snowlem, who smashed it to pieces with his icy fist. Kyle’s Minakai couldn’t sustain the ice around its hand after such a forceful attack and went on the defensive.

Shamasaur launched a relentless barrage of rocks as Snowlem summoned ice wall after ice wall to defend itself. As each one was shattered, another took its place, but the walls were too thick for Snowlem and Kyle to see past. To both of their surprise, the ground opened up and Snowlem fell into a pit, which closed and left only his head resting above ground level. The final ice wall shattered as Shamasaur burst through and delivered a powerful kick to Snowlem’s head, knocking him out and evening up the numbers between the two tamers.

“And Eclare makes a fantastic comeback!” cried the announcer as the crowd went wild.

“She’s improved a lot,” muttered Kyle, “I suppose it’s time to go all in.”

He threw out his hand and a burst of blue light appeared before him. As it faded, his Minasma was revealed. The sludgy mess of a Minakai rippled her filthy, watery body and smiled widely at Shamasaur. With a flick of the horn that sat upon her forehead, a tidal wave appeared and knocked Shamasaur back, sliding it across the battlefield.

Not one to be left behind, Minasma rode her own wave of filth water and launched herself at the green dinosaur, piercing its chest with her horn. Shamasaur grabbed Minasma and threw her aside, but Minasma simply rolled along with her smile as wide as ever. Eclare looked unsettled as she watched Kyle’s Minakai grinning.

Minasma opened her mouth and unleashed a water jet, striking the hole she had made in Shamasaur’s chest right as it stood up, knocking it straight back down again. Once the water jet had subsided and Shamasaur tried to climb to its feet again, Minasma did the same again, and then again. After exhausting itself from the constant beatings and attempts to right itself, Shamasaur collapsed and was unable to continue.

“Kyle pulls back ahead. That was a brutal assault, folks,” said the announcer. “Eclare’s down to her final Minakai and it going to need to make this one count.”

“And count, it will,” said Eclare, holding up her tamer glove and summoning her favourite Minakai, her Titanitoise to the field.

“No, it won’t!” retorted Kyle. “Tsunami!”

Minasma drew in a deep breath and glowed blue as she focused all of her elemental power into one attack. A tidal wave encompassed the entire battlefield, sweeping Titanitoise away before the spiked tortoise even had the chance to move. It was slammed into the wall by the wave, but the intensity of the water did not let up as the tortoise struggled to breath. Once its eyes rolled back in its head, did Kyle finally order Minasma to relax. He had won.

“Did I call that last attack brutal?” asked the announcer as the crowd cheered for Kyle. “This one really takes the cake! Titanitoise is out for the count.”

Kyle and Eclare walked into the centre of the battlefield and shook hands once again. “How do I always manage to draw the most difficult opponents so early?” she laughed.

“Bad luck, I suppose,” chuckled Kyle. “I have to say though, you caught my completely off guard with that Shamasaur of yours. Took out my Snowlem nicely and he was with me in the national championships back in the day.”

“I hoped he would be a little rusty, but it seems like I misjudged. Tell Aurin I said hello, will you?”

“You do it and tell him in front of Luna. That’s always good for a laugh.”

Eclare smiled and nodded as she and Kyle separated, making their way back to the tunnels while the crowd continued to cheer. In the tamer box, Aurin and Luna were clapping and shouting the loudest of all, thrilled to see Kyle storm through the first battle of his comeback.

“He’s back,” said Aurin, being forced to slow his clapping by his pained hands. “That was great to witness.”

“I’m very glad my first chance to battle him will be in the semi-finals,” said Luna, looking relieved. “If I had to battle him before that, I think he would eliminate me.”

“Speaking of,” said Aurin, checking his watch, “what time is your first match?”

“Three more battles and them I’m up.”

“Wetting yourself?”

“Could you ask that in a nicer way?” asked Luna, sticking her tongue out. “I’ll have you know, I’m feeling just fine. I thought I would be more nervous than I am. Maybe I’ve gotten over my fear of being watched by large crowds?”

“We’ll see,” muttered Aurin, trying not to laugh. “I give about twenty minutes before the panic sets in.”

“No, my dearest,” said Luna, poking him in the arm. “You will see.”