Aurin, Luna, Kyle, Shamtile and Innogon walked up the stairs and onto the station platform to the cheers of a gathered crowd. None of them had expected this and were a little embarrassed, but they waved and thanked everyone all the same.

Among the crowd was Lord Kensington, who stepped forward. “Have you bought tickets yet?” he asked them, sounding alarmed.

“What, no?” asked a suddenly panicked Aurin, looking around for a conductor.

Kensington chuckled. “Good because you would have wasted your money,” he said, gesturing towards a train pulling a single carriage. “I’ve arranged for the three of you to take my personal transport to Ludonia. Kenny would have joined you, but I believe he’s already in the capital as of three days ago.”

“You’ve provided a train and a carriage for us?” asked Luna, trying to hide her excitement.

“The railway, my dear Luna, is one of Bretonia’s greatest sources of pride. It’s only fitting that representatives of this wonderful town make use of it when travelling to an important event such as the national championships.”

“Thank you, Lord Kensington,” said Kyle graciously, prompting both Aurin and Luna to thank him too.

“Think nothing of it,” said the Lord, sweeping his hand through the air. “It’s the least I can do.”

“But…what did we do for you?” asked Aurin.

“Aside from saving the town during the Zeera Crisis, you put on one heck of a show last month. If your matches in the coming days are even close to that level of exciting, then I will consider myself very blessed to watch them. Now, go on. The train can stop here for too long or the next train will be delayed. Shoo shoo now!”

The three tames and two Minakai boarded the carriage and sat down on the delightfully comfortable seats, looking forward to the journey much more. The journey to the Palace Royale almost a year ago was luxurious, but to travel much further would be a great experience. Seconds after the doors closed, the train took off and the trio of humans waved to the crowd as they departed from Hazelton Station.

“Eee!” squealed Luna. “I can’t believe it!”

“What?” asked Aurin.

“This train carriage is so nice!”

“I thought you were excited about the championships,” laughed Kyle.

“That too,” said Luna, but she turned to the window and started inspecting the pristinely varnished frame, running her fingers along each of the grooves and carvings to take it all in.

As the train steamed along, the three watched the beautiful Bretonian countryside pass them by. The fields rolled for miles towards hills and mountains. The forests were thick and lush with greenery. Even the villages and towns that they passed by were in immaculate condition, reminding them all three just how good they had it.

“Look!” called Aurin, spying a monster tower from the window. “Epiphany Tower.”

“You pointed that out last time,” said Luna.

“I did?” asked Aurin.

“Yep.”

“Kyle, have you ever entered Epiphany Tower?” Aurin asked, turning to the rancher.

“No,” lamented Kyle. “And sadly, it locked its doors and the keys all vanished three months ago.”

Aurin was shocked. “What? How did that happen?” he demanded.

Kyle furrowed his brow. “Do you really think I have the answer to that? I don’t know how the magic works and where the keys go when they disappear.”

Aurin pulled out his own threaded keys from underneath his t-shirt. “Good,” he said, seeing his Harmony and Ludonia keys still there.

“Were you worried they had vanished since you put that on this morning?” giggled Luna.

“I’m paranoid now, knowing that a tower so close to Hazelton closed. What happens if all of the towers in the world close and never reopen?”

Kyle was about to dismiss him, but he stopped to think for a moment. “It’s unprecedented, but…I suppose it’s possible. There are enough Minakai out here in the world that I’m sure we could continue breeding them without towers, but their fertility plummets outside of their own magical environments. It wouldn’t be easy to sustain the populations and I reckon many species would go extinct in a generation or two.”

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Shamtile and Innogon looked at each other, fearing for the extinction of their species on Earth. The pair had never given much thought to finding mates, for Minakai partnered to tamers rarely cared for much other than serving their human owners.

“I’m sure we’ll find lovely ladies for you two should the worst come to pass,” said Luna, patting both monsters on the heads.

A couple of hours later, the train slowed to a halt as it pulled into Ludonia Central Station. A couple of passersby marvelled at the old, but immaculately kept, train and carriage. Upon seeing Aurin, Luna, Kyle and the two Minakai they moved along, evidently expecting some sort of celebrity to disembark.

“Your tower runs must be very lucrative to afford that,” said Hunter, walking towards the group.

“Business has been good,” shrugged Aurin before laughing and shaking Hunter’s hand. “You all trained and ready to go, Hunter?”

“I’d face you right here and now if it counted as an official match, Aurin. Luna, it’s good to see you competing again.”

“And it’s good to be competing again,” replied Luna with a big smile. “I still haven’t forgotten how you defeated me in the first Hazelton tournament. I’m coming back for revenge, my friend.”

“Hard to believe that was over two years ago, isn’t it?” asked Hunter. “In any case, I look forward to our prospective battle.”

“Get in line,” said Kyle, nudging Luna. “I’m coming for you first, Hunter. My comeback isn’t complete until you’re thoroughly humiliated in front of the entire nation.”

“I’m afraid, Kyle, that you’ll not want to continue your comeback once I’m through with you.”

“Both of you won’t even make it to the five-on-five rounds because I’ll have knocked you both out before that,” said Aurin.

The quartet all had a good laugh while Shamtile and Innogon started playfighting on the platform, attracting further attention from commuters as they made their way to their own trains.

Aurin checked his watch. “I’ve got somewhere to be soon,” he said. “Where are you all going?”

“Where do you have to go?” asked Kyle, eyeing Aurin suspiciously. “What are you up to?”

“I need to visit an old friend.”

“Who, Eclare?”

Luna’s face turned red and she shot Kyle a scornful look. She was about to say something, but Aurin headed her off.

“It’s last-minute tournament preparation,” he said. “I can’t reveal all my secrets before showtime now, can I? I shouldn’t be too long.”

“Do you want us to hold off on lunch?” asked Hunter.

“No,” said Aurin, grabbing Shamtile’s wrist and pulling him along. “I don’t want to keep you all waiting if I run longer than I plan for.”

Aurin ran off, leaving his three friends wondering what it was that he was doing. As Aurin hurried away, he put his hand on his bag to make sure that the golden egg he carried within was still there.

“What do you reckon, Shamtile?” asked Aurin of his Minakai.

Shamtile threw his hands in the air and made a denying wail as he scurried along.

“I know it’s a long shot, but if anybody would know what to do with this egg, it would be him.”

Aurin and Shamtile hopped on a bus outside of the station and hopped on a bus. As they rode along, Aurin held his bag in his arms and tapped his fingers on it constantly, irritating his Minakai who kept yelling at him to stop.

“I can’t help it! I’m nervous.”

“Waagh!”

“I don’t know why. I know I’ll not be able to use it in the tournament even if I could hatch it. I’m still torn about whether or not I’ll use Zeera.”

The two rode the bus for half an hour and got off at on a fairly quiet and clean street. They walked across the road and followed it for another minute until they stood outside a building they hadn’t seen in almost a year; Professor Socrates’s laboratory.

Stepping inside, they could see that it hadn’t changed much since their last visit. The researcher himself was pouring over a book on the desk. He glanced up upon seeing someone enter his domain, but did a double-take upon seeing who it was.

“Ah!” exclaimed Professor Socrates, smiling warmly. “It’s been a while, Aurin.”

“Hello, Professor,” said Aurin, smiling back.

“What brings you here today, young man? Hatching something ahead of the tournament? Leaving it a bit late, no?”

“Professor, I believe I can trust you and I need you to keep a secret for me.”

Socrates scratched his beard and adjusted his glasses. “Is that so? It must be something very important if you would come all the way here for it.”

“Well, I’m here for the tournament,” admitted Aurin, “but I found something only a few days ago that I want you to see.”

“Don’t keep me waiting, boy!” chortled the professor.

“Yes, of course,” said Aurin, taking his bag off and setting it on the table.

He opened it up and moved his crammed clothes aside, revealing the top peak of the golden egg. Socrates’s expression changed from that of curiosity to awe as Aurin took the egg from the top of Harmony Tower out of his bag. He leaned in close with his mouth wide open and muttered something incomprehensible before clearing his throat and standing up straight again.

“Well…that certainly is something,” he said. “You…you obtained this yourself?”

“With my Dolissile, Steambot and Shamtile here.”

“Yes, quite. I did not mean to diminish the role of your Minakai, but what I meant to ask was that you made the journey alone? If memory serves, you were often with that redheaded girl.”

“Luna? No, she wasn’t with me this time.”

“So, nobody else knows that you have this egg?”

“Only you and that assistant of yours in the corner who’s pretending not to listen.”

A brunette woman with her hair in a bun turned around and gave an awkward smile before excusing herself into another room. Socrates chuckled and assured Aurin that she could keep a secret.

“What exactly is it you’re asking of me, Aurin?” said the professor, raising an eyebrow.

Aurin nodded slowly. “I recently hatched a Zeera egg and that wasn’t possible with a normal incubator. It took me traveling to—"

“Excuse me, but a Zeera egg? Goodness gracious, young man. You have certainly been busy this last year, haven’t you?”

“Busy doesn’t even come close,” laughed Aurin. “Anyway, I want to know if you know how to hatch it?”

Socrates held a finger to his top lip and let out a small sigh. “Well, I last came across one of these a few years ago. I’m sure my old notes are still filed away somewhere and I can follow the steps exactly to hatch it for you too.”

Aurin turned to Shamtile with a look of glee on his face while the Minakai jumped up and down excitedly. Aurin walked over to the donation plate that Socrates kept near his high-tech incubator, reached into his pocket and then dumped a large bag of silver coins onto the plate.

“What a generous donation,” chuckled the professor, immediately heading off to a locked filing cabinet.