Aurin was hyping up Shamtile for the town brawl as everyone made their way over to the Hazelton stadium. Sixty three tamers were signed up with their Minakai and everyone was excited, however with that excitement came the nerves.
“Sixty three!” cried Luna in terror as Hannah and Emily held her shoulders to try and calm her down.
“You’ll be fine,” said Kyle. “Remember how you almost thrashed Aurin a while back? Just do that, but to everyone.”
“Almost win against everyone? Isn’t that just losing?” remarked Aurin, at which Kyle shot him a look that bordered on malice. “Don’t listen to Mr Floor Thirty Seven. We’re going to have each other’s backs throughout the match and be the last ones standing.”
“That’s right,” said Gardner, tapping his Desparee on the shoulder, at which it yelled with rage and startled a bunch of passersby.
“Okay, okay,” muttered Luna, trying to ease her own panic.
“Jimmy!” called Aurin at his friend who was walking ahead in the crowd with his Zenoman—Arium’s four-handed evolution.
“Aurin? I thought I spotted you earlier,” said Jimmy, stopping to let the group catch up with him. “How’s it going?”
“Good, Jimmy,” replied Aurin. “Your Zenoman is looking strong today.”
“He is,” said Jimmy as Zenoman started unleashing a flurry of mid-air punches trying to show off, all the while his tamer chuckled. “I think he’s eager to defeat you this time.”
“You still owe me, Zenoman,” said Aurin, reminding the golden alien that he had saved him from the Zodiac Squad’s lair over a year ago. Zenoman sighed and his fists flopped down, but when he saw that Aurin was laughing and it had been a joke he perked up again.
“Hello, handsome,” came a sweet sounding voice as a wave of blonde hair swept in towards Aurin and locked arms with him. “Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?”
“Hi Eclare,” said Aurin taken aback by Eclare’s typical forwardness.
Luna’s face turned almost as red as her hair and she stormed up towards the two, bumping Eclare aside and grabbing Aurin’s arm herself.
“Still in the picture, ginger?” asked Eclare, sticking her tongue out and winking slyly.
“Yes,” said Luna defiantly, not even looking at Eclare.
The forward tamer giggled. “Well, we’ll see who’s the better match for him at the skirmish, won’t we?” And with that, she strutted on ahead.
“I don’t like her,” said Luna, trying to hold back her rage.
“You know she’s just teasing you, right?” asked Aurin.
“That’s why I don’t like her!”
The rest of the group laughed, Aurin included, pleased to see that Luna’s anxiety had been replaced by a fiery drive to take on Eclare. They all made their way inside the familiar stadium, splitting into two groups of which one headed into the stands to watch and the other towards the battlefield. Aurin, Luna, Gardner, Jimmy and their four Minakai, Shamtile, Innogon, Desparee and Zenoman, passed through the tunnel beyond the waiting room and walked out onto the grass where Mayor Boren and Lord Kensington awaited everyone.
As the last of the competitors arrived, the large screen built into the stadium switched on and the mayor spoke into a microphone. “Greetings, everyone. I welcome you all to the final event of the Tamer Day, and I must say it’s the one I’m most excited for. It's the Minakai skirmish!”
The tamers all cheered, but they were drowned out by nearly ten thousand people in the stands who were eager for the battle to begin.
“The rules are very simple,” continued Mayor Boren, “your Minakai must be the last one standing. Use whatever powers and abilities they have as you would at any normal tournament, but of course, I must remind you that you cannot order attacks on other tamers, nor can you use items to give your Minakai any sort of advantage. Tamers, I now ask that you spread yourselves out around the perimeter with your Minakai by your side and await the beginning of the brawl.”
Aurin, Luna, Gardner and Jimmy stuck together as they walked over to the edge of the battlefield with their Minakai. Each tamer giving their monster a final peptalk before the chaotic battle ensured.
“You stick with your friends until the crowd starts to thin out, alright?” Aurin reminded Shamtile, who grunted in agreement. “We’re here to show what we can do, so there’s to be no digging under the battlefield and waiting out the match. If you sense any other Minakai doing that, you pull them out and launch them out of the stadium!”
Everyone was in their places and the mayor and lord had vanished into the stands. The speakers started to crackle for a second before the booming voice of the tournament announcer called out. “Ladies and gentlemen! Are you ready to begin?”
The crowd cheered that they were ready.
“Tamers, how about you?” asked the announcer.
The tamers all shouted that they were ready. Aurin couldn’t help but notice that Luna had her eyes fixed on Eclare who was almost directly opposite her.
“Three! Two! One! Fight!”
Sixty-three Minakai charged forwards and the deafening sound of dozens of attacks colliding spread throughout the stadium. Shamtile immediately knocked a Peekawe out of the sky with an accurately conjured stone spear, securing him the first win of the battle.
“And Aurin’s Shamtile takes out Riley’s Peekawe! We’re at sixty-two remaining already, folks.”
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Innogon had surfed his way through the crowd on a wave of water, making a beeline for Eclare’s Titanitoise. Luna’s peptalk was less about encouraging him to do well and stick by his friends and more about eliminating one of the few people in Hazelton she did not like.
The blue drake leapt over a wall of stone and covered himself in a watery bubble that carried him through a flaming blast a nearby Hornferno had shot at a Windjinn. He spotted Eclare’s Titanitoise just as it had claimed its first victory when it slammed itself down on a terrified-looking Thunding.
Innogon shot a mighty water jet at the Titanitoise, who was knocked over. It righted itself and stomped furiously, using metal elemental powers to harden its skin. Luna and Eclare locked eyes across the battlefield as their Minakai squared off.
Titanitoise flung sharp metal spikes at Innogon, who shot them out of the sky. As he used a water jet to shoot himself into the air, he was knocked down by a Cybuzz who was whizzing past to chase after a Pyrofly. Titanitoise seized the moment and charged at Innogon, headbutting the little drake and flinging him into a Rabbafat, which turned and delivered a series of intense punches.
Being hit from so many angles, Innogon was feeling the pressure, but he was not going to let Luna down. He scurried under the Rabbafat and shot an intense water jet into it, knocking it into the Titanitoise and slowing down the charging tortoise’s momentum.
“Whirling fin,” muttered Luna, knowing that Innogon couldn’t hear her.
Her Minakai knew what to do even without hearing his tamer’s order. He shot himself into the air and spun around rapidly, the sharp fin on the back of his head glowing an intense watery blue. Innogon dropped down like a spinning razorblade, cutting deep into Titanitoise’s shell and slicing his flesh underneath. Eclare’s Minakai cried out in intense pain and collapsed, as Eclare shot a look of disdain at the smirking Luna.
“Eclare’s Titanitoise has just been defeated by Luna’s Innogon, who was sadly absent at the most recent tournament. The little dragon still has it, folks. That leaves us with fifty-one Minakai remaining.”
Shamtile, Desparee and Zenoman all stood back to back covering each other, throwing punches of stone, nature energy and psychic fists at anything that dare approach. Now free having defeated the Titanitoise, Innogon rushed over to join them. He shot a thrashing Gorungra out of the way as it headed for Desparee’s blind spot, saving the sad tree from being gored by an amber crystal.
“That was close,” muttered Gardner, surprised by the level of intensity the large skirmish was bringing compared to a one-on-one battle.
“Shamtile!” called Aurin. “Make sure you’re checking your surroundings.”
The masked lizard dropped to the ground, pressing his hands and feet firmly onto the soil. He could feel another earthy presence approaching quickly. He stood up straight again and stomped his feet, causing a pillar to erupt and toss the approaching Totempo across the battlefield where it landed on top of a Gittup, crushing the hair, blue beast.
The chaotic battle raged on and the numbers kept thinning faster and faster as the Minakai all took hits and grew more tired. Soon there was thirty-seven competitors left. Then twenty-five. Then thirteen. Each and every Minakai was feeling the strain, but they knew they were close to the end.
“No!” yelled Gardner as a Techwing’s sharp wing cut across a distracted Desparee who had been battling a Doripper.
“And one of the Hazelton representatives from the national championships is out!” cried the announcer, almost sounding disappointed. “With Gardner eliminated, we’re now down to the final six Minakai.”
Shamtile, Innogon and Zenoman were still holding strong. All that stood between them and the top three was three other Minakai.
“Aurin’s Shamtile just flattened that Doripper!” called the announcer.
All that stood between them and the top three was three other Minakai. A Techwing owned by a tamer named Benedict and a Hoofreeti owned by a smug-looking tamer called Damien.
Aurin had yet to see a Hoofreeti in person before. The burly bipedal goat stood hunched over with its cloven hooves and large curled horns covered in brown fur with a flaming tail. This fire elemental had a reputation for being ruthlessly destructive and it was not to be taken lightly.
Zenoman threw its fists at the demonic goat as Shamtile and Innogon both aimed for the Techwing that had taken out Desparee. The Hoofreeti breathed an intense jet of flame and all four of Zenoman’s fists were torched. The alien felt the pain from his burning detached fists and dropped to its knees, screeching loudly. The Hoofreeti bounded forward and rammed the incapacitated Minakai with its horns as Shamtile and Innogon defeated the Techwing with a joint attack of earth and water.
“Just like that, folks, we’re down to the final three,” said the announcer as the crowd were all on the edge of their seats.
“That Minakai looks tough,” said a worried Emily to Hannah.
“It does,” she agreed.
Kyle shook his head. “Shamtile and Innogon may not look strong, but they’re two of the strongest Minakai around. Aurin and Luna have trained them well. It doesn’t matter how strong that Hoofreeti is, they’re not going to lose.”
“What makes you so confident?” asked Hannah.
“I’ve seen what they can do up close more than enough times,” said Kyle with a smile. “In fact, I don’t think it’ll be that long before Aurin and Luna surpass me in skill. Aurin alone is almost there, and Luna isn’t as far behind as she thinks. All they lack is experience and they’re gaining that quickly.”
Hoofreeti was proving itself to be no pushover as it fought against an exhausted Shamtile and Innogon. Each rock Shamtile threw was knocked aside with a mighty hoof and every water jet was turned to steam with an intense blast of flame.
“We attack in unison,” Aurin said to Luna.
“Right,” she said.
They ordered their Minakai to flank the Hoofreeti as the black-haired Damien visibly scoffed nearby. “It’s useless,” he said in a drawling voice. “Hoofreeti, scorch them!”
As Shamtile and Innogon were about to unleash their attacks, Hoofreeti roared and glowed bright orange as an immense heat wave burst from him. Shamtile dove underground to escape the attack as Innogon tried to cover himself in water, but it was too late and he took the attack. Even the tamers had felt the heat standing by the sidelines.
“Luna’s Innogon has fallen,” said the announcer. “Our final two are Damien’s Hoofreeti and Aurin’s elusive Shamtile. Where did he go, folks?”
“Avenge him,” Luna said to Aurin, using Innogon’s summoning stone to send him back to the ranch to recover.
“I will,” said Aurin. “Shamtile, combo!”
Hoofreeti leapt out of the way as the ground beneath it shook. It conjured a flaming whip in its hand and attacked what it thought was the emerging Shamtile, only to be met with a small boulder. Shamtile leapt up from behind him with stone-encased fists and delivered a heavy punch to the back of Hoofreeti’s head, knocking it to the ground.
The ground it fell to shot upwards, throwing the demonic goat into the air. Shamtile waved his hands and a ring of rocks shot up and surrounded the Hoofreeti. Shamtile clapped his hands together and the rocks began to pummel Hoofreeti, juggling it in mid-air and giving it no chance to fight back.
“Finish it!” ordered Aurin as Damien’s face was contorted with rage, no longer daring to scoff.
Shamtile hurled himself into the air with the momentum of a stone pillar, his encased fist pointed forward. It collided with Hoofreeti’s jaw, making a gruesome crack that echoed throughout the stadium and the fire elemental finally fell back to Earth, utterly defeated by the masked lizard who landed and broke into a victory dance.
“Our winner is Aurin!” called the announcer as the stadium filled with applause. “Fresh from the national championship himself, he’s clearly not been neglecting his training. I would expect nothing less, folks.”
Damien was staring intensely at Aurin as his friends all congratulated him and patted him on the back. The angered tamer glanced at the mayor who simply shook his head and muttered something under his breath.
“Are you alright, Boren?” Lord Kensington asked the mayor.
“Never better,” boomed Boren, climbing to his feet. “Shall we award the prizes, Theo?”
“My favourite part,” chuckled Lord Kensington as he too climbed to his feet.