Elephrock stood on the battlefield with its little legs trembling. Its purple-grey snout waved back and forward nervously upon seeing how ineffective its earthen attack was against the Rabbafat which casually strolled towards it.

“Don’t make it too painful,” said Luna sympathetically as Drea, her opponent, looked on helplessly.

Rabbafat stopped beside Elephrock and pushed the small elephant over. Too terrified to fight back, Elephrock just let it happen. Rabbafat jumped and bellyflopped onto the stunned earth-elemental, flattening it and ending the battle rather clumsily.

“And that’s that!” called the announcer. “Luna advanced to the next round. Commiserations to Drea who gave a strong performance, but today was not her day.”

Luna and Drea shook hands in the centre of the battlefield. Luna congratulated her on making it this far, but it was clear that Drea was battling well out of her league and her string of unchallenging opponents had lulled her into a false sense of security. Drea walked away silently, feeling embarrassed.

*

It was a beautiful spring day and Aurin, Luna, Gardner, Jimmy and Emily were all drinking milkshakes by the river path outside the stadium where another battle was underway. Luna, fresh off her win, had bought everyone a drink, including Shamtile and Innogon who had already finished two shakes each and were stretched out on the brick paving, relaxing.

“I can’t believe we’re halfway through the tournament,” said Gardner, looking to the grassy bank at the far side of the river. “Is it just me or is the competition not as strong this year?”

“It looks about the same to me,” said Emily, cocking her head to the side. “Are you sure it isn’t just because you’re all much stronger than you were last year?”

“I mean…I didn’t want to be the one to say it,” laughed Jimmy, “but I think you’re right. After the Palace Royale and the Zodiac trial by fire over the winter…not to mention Zeera, I think we’re at our peak.”

“Nah, I haven’t come close to peaking yet,” said Aurin. “When I find a way to hatch Zeera’s egg, only then will I be really starting my ascent.”

“Big head,” said Luna, pointedly, waiting for Shamtile to jump on Aurin to try and contain his tamer’s head from swelling, but Shamtile was snoring and didn’t stir. “Oh…”

“Nice try,” remarked Aurin, grinning at her. “I mean it though. Sure, we’re tough tamers, but I honestly believe we’re still only scratching the surface. Just think of how many tamers are out in the world and the fact that some of the best don’t even enter tournaments. In five years from now, I don’t think we’ll even need to enter tournaments like this to prove we’re good.”

“Fair,” shrugged Gardner. “Anytime I’ve travelled abroad, I’ve seen new Minakai that you just can’t find here. Battling them always leaves you realising that there’s something to learn. Different Minakai of the same element don’t fight the same way and aren’t always capable of the same techniques, so you can always be caught off guard.”

“And on top of that, there are so many more epic Minakai beyond Arusom and Zeera. I wonder how they compare in terms of power?”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” said Luna, “but I would expect them to be as tough, if not more so.”

“Imagine if we show up to Ludonia and someone pulls out a legendary Minakai,” said Gardner, shaking his head. “How can we possibly battle against one of those effectively when we’ve never even seen one in action?”

“Just go all out and flatten it,” shrugged Aurin, knowing rightly that it was much more complicated than that.

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Emily got up from the bench and walked over to the grass, falling back onto it. “Sometimes I think it would be fun to battle with Minakai, and other times I’m glad I don’t have a thousand thoughts running through my head at all times.”

Everyone laughed at her and she realised what she had implied.

“Very funny, yes, I’m a big dumb dumb,” she giggled. “What I mean is that you’re all thinking tactically at all times. It’s nice to have Minakai and just enjoy having them around because you enjoy their company rather than constantly preparing them for the next battle.”

“I enjoy my Minakai being around,” said Aurin.

“I know that,” said Emily, “and I’m not trying to suggest otherwise. My point is more that sometimes there’s beauty in simplicity.”

After a moment’s silence, Gardner chirped up. “So, the next battle, eh?”

“One step closer to the national championships!” yelled Luna excitedly, making Innogon jump and Shamtile jolt away.

The little lizard shook his fist angrily and walked further away, lying back down on the path. He waved a single arm and rocks fell on top of him, burying him underneath and dampening all sound.

“He’s taking his rest day seriously,” said Jimmy.

“He’s under orders to,” said Aurin. “I told him to sleep at the ranch, but he knew we were going to get milkshakes so he insisted on following. I didn’t mean for him to have two though…”

“I didn’t realise you had already bought one for him and Inno,” said Luna.

“Yes, and there was no way they were going to do themselves out of a second.”

Innogon yapped merrily at hearing this and wandered over to Luna, climbing onto the bench and nestling his head into her lap. His tamer laughed and stroked his head fin as the crowd erupted with applause from the stadium.

“Who’s battling now?” asked Gardner.

“Beats me,” said Aurin with a shrug.

“But I know who’s battling next,” said Luna slyly.

“Yep,” sighed Jimmy, looking at Aurin.

“I’m going to crush you, Jim,” said Aurin, beating a palm with his fist. “There won’t be anything left, my friend.”

“Not happening this time, my friend,” said Jimmy standing up. “I’ve been training specifically to beat you, wouldn’t you know?”

“Who’s on your team then, eh?” asked Gardner with a smirk. “Go on…tell us!”

“I’m keeping things hushed,” said Jimmy, folding his arms. “I’m not giving away even the smallest advantage to my toughest competition.”

“This is what I mean,” laughed Emily. “You can’t even talk freely around each other in case you say something that’ll be used against you.”

“Alright, now I see your point,” said Aurin, nodding slowly. “In any case, my team is being kept quiet too. Going to keep all of you guessing.”

“You won’t even tell me?” asked Luna, feigning being hurt and tugging on his arm. “Please?”

“Nope,” said Aurin. “It’s strictly confidential.”

Emily sat up and whispered into Luna’s ear. “I would bet anything that they’ll both be using a Zenoman to see which one is stronger.”

Luna grinned, confident that Emily was correct.

“Alright,” said Aurin, standing up. “Relaxation time is over and I’ve got more training to do. I’ll see you all bright and early.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to march over to the stadium and withdraw?” asked Jimmy.

“Tough talk, Jimmy,” said Aurin with a chuckle, “but you’re going to need more than that. Bring your best tomorrow, bud.”

Aurin walked over to the pile of rocks and uncovered Shamtile, slinging the little masked lizard over his shoulder before bidding everyone farewell and walking back to the ranch as the chatter of his friends resumed behind him.

“You awake, mate?” Aurin asked Shamtile, who slapped him on the back of the head. “Fine, but you’re not fighting tomorrow anyway. We’ll flaunt the rules just this once, alright?”

Shamtile crawled down Aurin’s back, rolled onto the ground and then stood up to walk alongside his tamer.

“When we get back to the ranch, you’re going to be making sure that tomorrow’s candidates are ready for war, alright? I’ll have Sunny on standby to administer any healing that we need, so don’t worry about pulling punches.”

Shamtile let out a tiny roar of agreement.

“This is just the start. We’ve had a good run of things so far, but we cannot lower our guard for a second. We’ve defeated Jimmy before, but he’s been training hard too. As much as he and I joke, I think he’s going to be much tougher than before. You and I have both seen how he handled things a few months back. Don’t let the fact that we’re all friends hold you back.”

Shamtile nodded and pumped his fists in the air.

“Good. And the same goes for when we inevitably have to fight against Luna, Kyle and their teams, alright?”

Shamtile’s fist pumping stopped and his pace slowed.

“It’s not going to be fun, my friend, but you will have to fight against their teams. Innogon, Wingbloom, Splashard, Hogannon…any of them, alright?”

Shamtile let out a reluctant growl and then hurried up again. He and Aurin strolled through the streets of Hazelton, aiming for the ranch. As much as the reptilian Minakai did not relish the idea of fighting his friends outside of sparring, he knew that he must. Rather than wallow about it, he was filled with determination to win and prove that he was the strongest.