“And a beautiful display from Kyle’s Totempo!” called the announcer as Totempo stood atop his opponent—a Windjinn—who was then banished by its tamer. “Kyle has two Minakai left while Lloyde is down to his final one. What’s he got in store for everyone’s favourite rancher?”
“I’ve saved the best for last, Kyle,” shouted Lloyde from across the battlefield. As much a she tried to put on a brave front, he was visibly shaken. “Bansheet, you’re up!”
In a flash of cream-coloured light, appeared a ghost-like figure that was draped in a sheet. It held its two arms out and its sleeves drooped, but there were no hands within them. Within two dark eyeholes in its head sat glowing purple pupils while the cloth at the back of its head was swept back and lumpy as though it had hair underneath.
“Is that what Chlost evolves into?” Luna asked Aurin in the tamer box.
“Yep,” he said, looking over at her. “Your match starts after this one. Shouldn’t you be in the waiting room already?”
“Ah! You’re right!” she squealed before rushing off.
Kyle’s Totempo dragged its foot along the ground like a menacing bull as the ghostly Bansheet gave it a wicked smile. The armless stone dinosaur roared and charged forward, but before he was halfway across the battlefield his foe vanished into thin air.
Lloyde has a smarmy look on his face while Kyle remained cool. His Totempo continued his stampede even though it was now toward nothing. Aurin wandered what Kyle was up to in not changing his head-on strategy.
As Totempo ran through the empty space, he abruptly stopped. Bansheet faded in behind him, ready to strike, but a huge earthen spike erupted from Kyle’s Minakai’s back, piercing the sheet and impaling the ghostly Minakai underneath. Totempo looked over his shoulder and gave a smug roar as he retracted the spike, leaving the sheet to fall to the ground.
“And Kyle’s outwitting of his opponent has just cost Lloyde a spot at the national championships!” cried the announcer. “Congratulations, Kyle. You’re the third contender to advance to the Bretonian tournament.”
Rather than walk across the battlefield to shake Kyle’s hand, Lloyde banished his Bansheet and strode through the tunnel and out of sight. He wasn’t going to stand there and force a smile against the man who had taken something he had wanted so badly from him.
Kyle waved to the cheering half of the crowd while the others booed Lloyde for his bad sportsmanship. The boos soon turned to further applause for Kyle and he walked back through his own tunnel and towards the waiting room where he found Luna sitting on the sofa, clutching her knees and rocking back and forth.
“Do I need call therapist?” Kyle joked, making Luna jump a mile; she hadn’t noticed him appear.
“I’m fine!” she said in a much higher pitch than her normal voice.
“You don’t look fine,” said Kyle with a raised eyebrow. “The pressure getting to you?”
“Nope. I’m fine.”
Kyle shrugged. “Alright, suit yourself. Where’s Aurin anyway? Normally he’s here to talk you off the cliff edge.”
Luna shook her head rapidly. “I made him promise not to come this time and to wait in the stands. I need to learn how to calm myself down.”
“Well, I won’t offer any support then,” joked Kyle, heading for the door. “I’ll go join young blondie in the stands. Good luck, Luna.”
“Thank, Kyle,” she said as he left. Luna suddenly rushed over to the door and called after him. “Congratulations!”
She then returned to sitting on the sofa, taking slow deep breaths, trying to keep her mind clear. It wasn’t helping much so Luna dropped onto her knees and clasped her hands, saying a prayer. Once she was finished she stood up and walked over to the door. She knew she wasn’t meant to be waiting in the tunnel, but the waiting room felt stuffy to her so she had to at least breathe in some fresh air, whether it was filtered through a dusty tunnel of bricks and concrete or not.
Luna paused halfway down the corridor, but no more than five seconds later, she was called to take her position at the end of the tunnel to await her introduction. She walked towards the edge and waited at the yellow line, just out of sight of the crowd while the ringside official stood with his hand to his earpiece.
“Two minutes to go,” he said. “How’re you doing, Luna?”
“Nervous,” she said. “This is the match that will determine whether I make the national championships or not.”
“What is it that Aurin always says to you? Just imagine your opponent in her underwear.”
“I…don’t think he’s ever said that.”
“Oh,” laughed the official. “I could have sworn it was something like that. Well, you can always give that a try and see if it works.”
“Mhmm, maybe.”
“Just a suggestion,” shrugged the official before putting his hand up to his earpiece. “Looks like we’re going a little early. You’ll be going on in about ten seconds.”
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“Ah!” squealed Luna with no time to ready herself. “What do I do? What do I do?”
The announcer boomed out over the microphone. “Everyone, give it up for Hazelton’s own, Luna!”
Luna took a final deep breath and walked out onto the field alone, waving to the crowd who were applauding enthusiastically for her.
“And today, her opponent is none other than Verity!”
A tall girl with a long brown ponytail walked out onto the field from the far tunnel. She had a confident smile and an athletic physique that she showed off with her tank top and shorts. She looked more like someone who was going to do a one hundred metre race in the stadium rather than battle using Minakai. Although, thinking about it, Luna supposed attire didn’t matter. She herself was wearing jean shorts and a purple t-shirt.
Luna and Verity met in the middle of the battlefield and shook hands.
“Good luck,” said Luna.
“Likewise,” replied Verity with a smile.
Luna had wished Verity was ruder to her, that would have given her an excuse to get more fired up; the fury would have replaced her anxiety. The two tamers walked back to their sides of the battlefield and Luna glanced over at Aurin in the stands who gave her a smile and thumbs up while Shamtile danced what he thought was an encouraging dance.
“Ready tamers?” called the announcer. “Three. Two. One. Battle!”
Luna summoned her Dogember to the battlefield while Verity summoned a Cybuzz. Dogember wasted no time in sprinting across the battlefield while the winged, metallic bee shot metal spikes towards the fiery canine as he ran. Having trained against Shamtile who delighted in throwing rock spears, Dogember knew the perfect way to weave, dodge and leap while maintaining as much of his momentum as he could.
Before Cybuzz knew what was happening, Dogember had covered himself in a fiery aura and headbutted Verity’s monster in the chest. It buzzed loudly as it rolled across the grass, but Dogember was not yet finished. He inhaled and unleashed a powerful fireball that followed the rolling insect before colliding with it.
Cybuzz flapped its wings rapidly to take to the sky, but it was too disoriented to fly up in a straight line, leaving itself open for a follow-up fireball from Dogember that knocked it out of the battle, leaving Verity looking shaken.
“And Luna comes out hitting hard!” called the announcer. “I thought she looked nervous walking out, folks, but that must have been a cunning ruse to ensure Verity lowered her guard.”
Content with having the cheering crowd believe that, Luna smiled and waved to them while Verity summoned her next Minakai. It was the shake of a scrawny man, but it was anything but. It was made up of a purple gas that swirled and flowed, while it had a metallic mask with a pointed nose that rested upon its face. Around its wrists and ankles were silvery metallic bands, but Luna had no idea what they were for.
“Mummet, hit that Dogember hard!” called Verity.
Her undead metal elemental ran across the grass with its arms dangling behind it. It swung for Dogember who leapt out of the way, but Mummet then jumped and emitted a Dolissile-like pulse that knocked Dogember off his feet. He then began beating the pup with his fists.
Upon bracing himself, Dogember bit into Mummet’s arm, but his teeth passed right through. Luna realised that its being a ghostly undead, allowed it to make itself incorporeal. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to rely solely on physical attacks to fight back.
Dogember backed away hurriedly, forcing Mummet to chase him. With a spare moment to concentrate, Luna’s Minakai unleashed a powerful fireball that passed right through Mummet. Luna had expected this, but needed to see it to be sure.
“It may be able to phase through you and your attacks, but it still occupies space!” Luna called to Dogember.
The orange dog backed away again as Mummet unleashed another pulse, hoping to knock Dogember down, but he braced himself. He focused all of his elemental energy on heating up the air itself. As Mummet closed in on him, its movement slowed and its gaseous form started to ripple and streak.
“What did Luna and her Dogember do?” asked the announcer, as the crowd watched the air warp.
Mummet’s mask and its four metal bands started to glow red hot as they heated up at an alarming pace. Luna knew that now was the chance to deliver the final strike and Dogember could sense that. He ceased heating up the air and bounded forwards, headbutting Mummet square in the chest and sending it flying across the grass where it rolled and then lay motionless.
“Luna is storming ahead today, folks,” said the announcer. “It’s not often we see such a lead at such a late stage in the tournament. Verity has her work cut out for her if she wants to make a comeback.”
Rattled as she may have been, Verity calmed herself and threw forward her gloved hand. From a green summoning stone, shot a burst of light and, once it faded, stood a brown metal-plated Minakai with green legs and a thick bush on its top. Resting in the middle of its black-screen face was a blue eye.
“Treebot, that Dogember has exerted itself! Strike!”
The nature elemental construct let out a metallic groan as it whipped up a storm of leaves that soared through the air towards Dogember. He burned the first wave to cinders, but the leaves kept coming. Verity was right, he was tried. The second wave of leaves struck him, cutting into him and the third wave finished the job, ending his strong quarterfinal performance.
“And Verity is making her comeback!” called the announcer. “But wait…is Luna…smiling?”
It was true. Luna had a confident grin on her face as she hurled a burst of icy white light onto the field, summoning Frocean to the battlefield.
“Treebot is no pushover, but neither are you. You’ve got the elemental advantage, Frocean. Make it quick.”
With a rumbling croak, Frocean countered the leafy storm with a hailstorm. The leaves were tossed aside by the icy stones that were cast across the battlefield. Frocean crouched low and leapt through the air, clearing half the field in a single jump and landing before Treebot.
The Microbot evolution headbutted Frocean’s large stomach, but he exhaled, using his large belly as a cushion and suddenly inhaled, swelling up and bouncing Treebot away. With Treebot caught off guard, Frocean whipped out his long tongue and wrapped it around Treebot’s front legs. He retracted his tongue at lightning speed and whipped Treebot over his shoulder, releasing its legs and sending it crashing into the wall of the stadium, sending a large crack through the stone.
Treebot was not done yet and stood up, only to be met by a barrage of icicles being flung its way. A dozen of them collided with him, half of them striking him in the screen and he fell down once more. As his screen flickered, he tried to stand up but collapsed as his blue eye disappeared.
“And it’s a resounding victory for Luna!” called the announcer as the entire stadium leapt to its feet. “She’s all the way through to the semifinals, securing her place in the national championships and putting her up against our earlier victor, Kyle.”
“I knew she could do it!” yelled Aurin as Shamtile jumped for joy.
Luna beamed with pride as she walked over to meet Verity who looked slightly embarrassed.
“You really whooped me,” said the athletic tamer. “All that time in the underground gym didn’t pay off, did it?”
“It was a good match,” said Luna with a smile, shaking Verity’s hand.
The two parted ways and Luna walked back through her tunnel, thrilled that her Minakai had performed so strongly against tough opponents. Even though she knew she was up against Kyle next, she was not afraid. No matter the outcome, it would be a good battle.