“There’s no way he can come back from this,” said Aurin as Hunter’s Flambot eviscerated Gardner’s Wingbloom; it was the third Minakai Flambot had defeated in a row. Gardner had only one Minakai remaining while Hunter had only lost his Steambot so far.

“It’s not looking good, is it?” posed Luna, while Shamtile shook his head and Innogon tried to scratch his fin but struggled to reach.

Gardner was looking panicked as he threw forward a green orb of light, summoning his Desparee to the field.

“And of course, he uses Desparee now,” scoffed Aurin.

“You wouldn’t just be a little bitter now, would you Aurin?” asked Luna, poking him in the arm with a smarmy grin on her face.

“How dare you accuse me of such a thing,” he replied while looking away. He was joking, but he still felt a slight sting from losing. “Seriously though, I hope Gardner can take out at least one more Minakai before Hunter takes him out.”

“He can go down in a blaze of glory that way,” said Luna before realising which Minakai Desparee was up against.

Flambot’s furnace was looking weaker than usual; he was tired. Desparee dived out of the way of the jets of flame and swept away the burning embers being thrown at him with giant leaves he conjured. He closed in on Flambot and summoned entangling vines to hold his enemy down.

Desparee charged a moderately-powerful nature cannon and blasted Flambot point blank in the screen, cracking it and ending an impressive run from the fiery robot. Had it been at full strength, Desparee would have been ablaze before he got within ten feet.

“I knew he could do it,” said Luna cheering.

“Who did you want to win going into this?” asked Aurin.

Luna looked pensive. “I didn’t really think about it, I suppose. Gardner was always the underdog and I like to cheer for the underdog…but Hunter is our friend too. Who did you want to win?”

“Hunter. He’s the better tamer at the end of the day so I think he deserves it.”

“And if you had battled him?”

“Myself, of course.”

“So you’re the better tamer?”

“Maybe if I won, I would be,” laughed Aurin.

“Let’s hope you can best him before we’re old and grey.”

“You think we’ll still be doing tower runs in Hazelton when we’re old?”

“Things won’t stay the same forever, will they?”

“I don’t know,” said Aurin. “I can’t imagine a day when I’m not spending most of my time with you.”

Luna just smiled and continued to watch the match where Hunter had summoned his Anacondice. Aurin knew it was the smart move, an ice elemental against a nature element, but that also confirmed to him that Hunter had yet to obtain Microbot’s ice evolution.

Anacondice slickly slithered its way towards Desparee, wriggling free from any of the vines and roots used to try and trap it. It exhaled a frosty breath that coated the area beneath Desparee in a sheet of ice. Gardner’s Minakai wept upon feeling the cold, a feeling he hated so very much.

It only took that momentary distraction for Anacondice to slide along the ice and skewer him with the spikes on its helmet. Desparee wrestled himself free and pulled himself along the ice with a vine he summoned. Soon he was back on the grass nursing the holes in his wooden stomach and crying horrifically.

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Anacondice had no reason to retreat, very much having the upper hand. It slithered towards Desparee then coiled its way up his body and tightened itself. The constricted Desparee tried to break free, even enlisting his vines from the earth but it was to no avail. Anacondice ended the battle by coating the nature Minakai in a veil of frost from its icy breath.

“And we have our winner, folks!” called the announcer. “Hunter will advance to the next round. Can you believe how these Hazelton competitors are knocking each other out? What a tough bunch of tamers.”

Gardner looked thoroughly disappointed that he had only been able to defeat two of Hunter’s Minakai after the many hours of training dedicated to preparing specifically for Hunter, but he shook off the expression as he shook his friend’s hand. Aurin could see the two talking to each other and was curious about what was being said.

“I’m sure there’s no hard feelings there,” said Luna.

“Absolutely,” said Aurin. “You couldn’t get a better sport than either of them.”

The two headed out of stadium to get some lunch from one of the stalls set up outside. Afterwards, they would be back in for the next match of the day. As disappointed as he was to not be competing, Aurin was enjoying the matches thoroughly.

*

The last days of the tournament passed quickly. Hunter stormed his way through his next matches with his robot army leading the charge, backed up by occasional other Minakai. It wasn’t until the semi-finals did he finally get taken down by a tamer named Alistair whose team of dragons and demons were a force to be reckoned with. Alistair’s Guilgon alone took out both Hunter’s Flambot and Vinewolf before Steambot out-cannoned it.

Hunter didn’t let on that he was disappointed to lose a stone’s throw away from the final, but Aurin knew that it had to be a kick in the gut for him. Alistair went on to win in the finals and got the chance to fight Tobias for the title of Bretonian Champion.

Tobias’s Grakadon took out Alistair’s Skrow and Vambra before the white-cloaked phantom that was Alistair’s Bansheet bested the earthen dragon. Tobias came back swinging and defeated both the stubby ghost and Alistair’s Splashard with his Guilgon before it fell to a lucky strike from a Debigger. The ravenous plant didn’t last long after that and Tobias flattened it with his Tundrurtle to retain the title.

The audience was elated that their champion had once again proven himself to be the best in the land and Aurin wished he could have congratulated Tobias in person, but he would no doubt be swamped with fans until the early hours of the morning.

“It was a good match,” said Hunter, looking satisfied.

“You’re just happy that the person who beat you put up such a good show against the champion,” said Aurin.

“No,” replied Hunter, shaking his head. “I’m pleased that the guy who beat me got wiped out by the champion.”

Aurin, Luna and Gardner all laughed while Shamtile pretended to laugh along as Innogon sat there, confused. Shamtile at least pretended to understand the human’s humour on occasion.

The four tamers walked away from St Michael’s Stadium and Hunter headed straight for one of the train stations. “As ever, it’s been a pleasure,” he said, shaking each of their hands in turn.

“You’d better not rest on your laurels,” said Aurin. “I’m coming for you next time we battle, do you hear?”

“When have I ever rested on my laurels?”

“That’s fair, I don’t think you have.”

“Build up that team of yours and make yourself unpredictable. Remember our conversation in the park?”

“Yes,” said Aurin. “I’ve got a new Minakai in serious need of training and a bunch more eggs to find before we meet again.”

“Glad to hear it.”

“Take care, Hunter,” said Luna, not knowing when the next time they’d be reunited would be.

“And you,” he said. “Make sure this one doesn’t do anything too dangerous in the tower to prove himself.”

“How else would I get better?” grinned Aurin.

“That’s why I said too dangerous.”

“Have you far to go?” asked Luna.

“I’m just four stops away.”

“Say hello to Petunia and Saxon from me, alright?”

Hunter nodded. “I will. I’m going to take Saxon out to kick a ball around when I get home. I haven’t spent as much time with him as I should have with the tournament on.”

“I’m going to beat you next time,” said Gardner confidently. “Just you wait, mate.”

Hunter put his hand on Gardner’s shoulder. “I look forward to the challenge,” he said before turning around and walking down the steps. He waved over his shoulder before disappearing from view and leaving the three tamers and two Minakai behind.

“And I’m going to beat you next time,” said Aurin, prodding Gardner.

“I’d like to see you try,” he replied.

“When I’m finished with you, those Minakai of yours will be going in the compost bin.”

“That Steambot of yours will be heading to the bottom of the ocean.”

“He would thrive at the bottom of the ocean. That’s where he’s strongest.”

Luna sighed and walked along with the two boys trading jabs and chuckles as they headed to the park to enjoy a final quiet day in Ludonia before packing up and heading home. The three lazed around and summoned half their teams to enjoy the summer sun. As ever in Bretonia, it would fade before long and the rainy Autumn would set in, but what better opportunity to shelter from the rain in Harmony Tower?