The yellow glow around Chull faded, as his new form was revealed to Aurin and Luna. Standing before was a much larger black bird with sleek, swept back head feathers and a face made entirely of solid bone that merged into his beak. The white skull and crossbones pattern on his chest feathers reflected almost silver in the morning sun. He had evolved into a Skrow.
“I’m still not sure that this was a good idea,” said Luna, shaking her head.
“It’s the perfect strategy,” said Aurin. “Evolve him right before the match, his form doesn’t change all that much, but it catches my opponent off guard if they’ve studied my team at all.”
“Have you studied your opponent’s team?”
“He’s the finalist from last year that Hunter defeated for the big win.”
Luna’s jaw dropped. “Are you insane? Why would you evolve a Minakai you haven’t had time to test before such a talented opponent?”
“It’ll be fine,” said Aurin.
Kyle walked over. “I couldn’t help but overhear,” he said, “and I agree with Luna. What on Earth are you thinking? Evolving a Minakai to use in a tournament match before having the chance to train him is an easy win for your opponent if he’s in any way a half-decent tamer.”
“It’s a gamble, sure,” admitted Aurin, but he was uncompromising. “If he uses the team I’m expecting him to use then it’ll pay off beautifully. You two wait and see.”
“Alright,” said Kyle. “I was planning to skip this one, but I’m going to come along just so I can see if you’re brilliant or an imbecile.”
*
“Let’s not forget, folks,” said the announcer, “that Bentley came in second place last year and gave it a good shot at the national championships. Aurin is going to have to bring his A-game today, there can be no room for errors.”
Aurin’s Leonite stared down Bentley’s Chopchop, who waited patiently for the lion to make a move. Chopchop’s twin arm-blades looked as though they could cut through diamond, so Aurin wasn’t going to run the risk of a rash move in the first round.
“Steady,” he said to Leonite, who bowed his head in agreement. “The crowd may get impatient, but we wait until he comes for you. You can do this if you just remember yesterday’s training.”
Aurin had predicted correctly, the crowd were murmuring, expecting something to happen. “Neither one of these Minakai are conceding an inch,” said the announcer. “Who’s going to make the first move?”
“Now!” called Bentley, as his armoured insect sprinted forwards, its blades behind its back.
As the Chopchop grew close, it swung one arm forward. Leonite ducked underneath and pushed forwards, as the second blade aimed for his neck. He raised a sharp claw and deflected it with his nails before knocking Bentley’s Minakai to the grass.
Leonite pounced on him, pinning his arms down and sank his teeth into his opponent’s neck. He clamped his jaw down hard as the Chopchop struggled to break free. It wasn’t its day as its arms went limp and flopped to the ground to the ground, too pained to carry on.
“An early lead for Aurin and a disappointing start for Bentley,” called the announcer.
“Cybuzz, you’re up,” said Bentley, summoning his second Minakai to the field; the metallic wasp appeared in a flash of grey light with his pointed metal-arms ready to strike.
“He’s fast, Leonite,” Aurin warned his Minakai. “You’ll need to be evasive.”
Cybuzz and Leonite charged towards each other, Cybuzz’s razor-sharp wings humming as it flew and Leonite stared fiercely as he ran. Aurin’s Minakai leapt and threw a heavy swipe at the wasp, but the metallic wasp was too quick, dodging and weaving through the air as its wings cut into Leonite’s side.
He roared in pain and anger, flipping over and pouncing back towards his foe. Cybuzz buzzed around, darting in and out, evading each attack from Leonite, who was being far more careful and narrowly escaped further injuries.
The crowd were on the edge of their seats as they watched the intense battle of speed. Aurin and Bentley watched both Minakai carefully, trying to find an opening to utilise to their advantage. Cybuzz’s stinger arm caught Leonite in the chest as he closed his jaw around the wasp’s abdomen, crushing it and turning it to scrap metal.
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“Get back!” called Aurin, but it was too late.
Cybuzz flew up into the air and pieced Leonite in the back with both of its stingers at once. The lion landed on the ground, too injured to carry on further. Aurin let out a grunt of frustration and banished his Minakai back to the ranch.
“Skrow!” he called, eliciting a look of confusion from Bentley.
He knew that Bentley had an aerial Minakai and had to fight back with a strong one of his own. Even though Leonite had fallen, he had injured Cybuzz enough that Skrow was going in with an advantage against his fellow flyer.
Skrow appeared in a burst of light and flew forward upon Aurin’s command. The black bird harnessed his air elemental energy and sped forward as fast as lightning and struck Cybuzz in the chest, causing the wasp to spin out of control. Bentley’s Minakai took to the skies, desperately trying to flee from Skrow who gave chase immediately.
“Come down!” called Bentley, knowing that Aurin had the advantage in the sky.
“You heard him!” shouted Aurin.
Cybuzz sped toward the field as Skrow conjured up a powerful gust, forcing his opponent to descend faster than he could handle. It slammed into the ground; its stingers wedged deep into the hard soil. Skrow followed up with a beak-first charge, pummelling Cybuzz in the back of the head.
“One of last year’s finalists is down to his last Minakai!” called the announcer. “Aurin is showing that he’s a real contender this year. I don’t know about you, but I’m astounded.”
Kyle turned to Luna. “Alright, he’s not an imbecile.”
Luna nodded in agreement with a big smile on her face. “He keeps on surprising us. Such a simple technique.”
“The battle isn’t over yet,” said Kyle. “Bentley still hasn’t pulled out his Titanitoise. It’s much heavier and far harder for Skrow to fight.”
Bentley threw his hand forward, one of his summoning stones glowing grey as he called upon his final Minakai. Aurin had expected his signature Titanitoise to appear, but something else stood in its place. It was a bronze, quadrupedal golem with topaz crystals for eyes. It was expressionless and that made it all the more terrifying.
“What’s that?” asked Luna.
Kyle looked shocked. “It’s a Gorunze,” he explained. “Gorungol is a Minakai that has a split evolutionary tree. If you use a Lunar Shard it will turn into this instead of the Gorungra you would get with a Solar Shard. Why didn’t he use his Titanitoise?”
“For the same reason Aurin did something unexpected. To catch his opponent off guard.”
“Skrow, I haven’t fought one of these before, so you’ll need to be extra careful.”
The large bird flew downward to close the gap with his opponent but was immediately met with a yellow beam that shot from Gorunze’s eyes. It pierced Skrow’s wing, and he was in free fall. He hit the dirt with an uncomfortable crunch and didn’t move.
“That was fast!” cried the announcer. “The odds are well and truly even now. Can Aurin recover from this?”
Much to everyone’s surprise, Aurin was smiling. He threw his hand forward and summoned his final Minakai, Desparee. The nature elemental spawned on the field, ready to make use of his advantage against the metal elemental.
Luna turned to Kyle. “That’s good, right?”
Kyle nodded. “It should be, but elemental advantage doesn’t count for as much as you’d hope when both Minakai are so strong.”
Gorunze fired another laser beam from its eyes, but Desparee swerved to avoid the attack. He whipped his head forward, slinging two razor-sharp leaves at the Gorunze, who blasted them out of the air with ease while Desparee pushed forwards to close the gap. Aurin needed him just close enough that the lasers couldn’t react fast enough.
“Don’t rush,” he warned his Minakai.
Desparee threw a weak nature beam, forcing Gorunze to move out of the way to avoid the attack. He moved forwards again while Gorunze fired a continuous laser, trying to hit the surprisingly nimble tree. Unfortunately for Aurin, Desparee wasn’t quite fast enough and took a hit to the leg, tripping him to the ground.
As he fell forwards, Desparee broke his fall with his hands. His palms were flat on the ground as Gorunze charged in to finish the job. This was the mistake Aurin needed. Desparee focused his energy on the ground and used his entangling vines to grab Gorunze and tie him to the grass.
Bentley’s Minakai was struggling hard, trying to break free of the vines as Desparee hurriedly limped towards him.
“Don’t worry about the vines!” called Bentley, but Desparee had already moved behind the bronze golem. Aurin’s Minakai charged up a more powerful nature beam and unleashed it on his opponent, crippling his back legs.
“Surely it must be over?” asked the announcer.
Suddenly, Gorunze broke free from the vines; they had been weakened by Desparee’s focus on his beam attack. It pushed into the ground and flipped onto its back, shooting lasers when he landed and hitting Desparee in the arm as he dove out of the way.
It was now or never, Aurin knew that. “Hit him with another nature beam, last chance!”
Desparee charged another beam as Gorunze built up the enemy for another laser attack. The two waves of elemental energy met in the middle, but Desparee’s elemental advantage gave him the edge he needed. The lasers were swallowed whole by the green energy blast and Gorunze’s face took the hit hard.
“It’s over!” called the announcer as the crowd jumped to their feet. “A former finalist knocked out upsettingly early, but Aurin gave just too good of a performance. He advances to the top thirty two.”
“He did it?” asked Luna, delighted but surprised.
“I owe him an apology,” said Kyle, clapping along with the crowd.
Aurin and Bentley met in the centre of the field and shook hands. “You were a second away from winning,” said Aurin.
“And it’ll haunt me all the way to next year,” laughed Bentley, taking the loss well. “You’d better win this thing, or I’ll be coming back for vengeance.”
“Just you watch,” chuckled Aurin. He was pleased to have earned the respect of another strong tamer.
“I wouldn’t miss it. Best of luck, Aurin.”
The two parted ways and Aurin walked back through the tunnel, making his way to the stands to find Luna and Kyle. He wasn’t going to let them hear the end of it after their scepticism that very morning. Knowing that he had it in him to defeat someone who had made it into the national championships gave him confidence. It told him that that was where he belonged.