Call of the Wild!
Asena tipped back her head and let out a forlorn, hair-raising howl. Smoke poured from between her fangs and shot toward the Tandile. As it escaped her mouth, it grew into wraith-like feral canine forms until a pack of a half-dozen raced toward the Tandile. The pack of smoke canines circled Akamu’s remaining Djinn, howling and circling it like downed prey. Against all odds, the Tandile curled its tail around itself and pulled back in fear.
“They’re not real, idiot!” Akamu screamed. “Finish that Lyote!”
The pack of smoke canines faded away as the Tandile shook itself free of their intimidation. But the attack had done its job. Asena now stood on shaky legs and Scrappy finished flapping off the last of the river mud and slime from his wings.
Akamu stared across the ring at Jackson and his lip curled in a half smile, half snarl. “If you hadn’t caught that worthless Magglecaw, you’d have won today,” he yelled to Jackson. “I just want you to know that. Killer, finish her!”
Scrappy Dive-Bombed the Tandile and grabbed the tip of its enormous scaled tail in an effort to slow it down. The Tandile lumbered forward as if it couldn’t tell the difference and Asena readied for the final attack.
Jackson glanced at his holo-watch. Asena didn’t have much left in the tank, health or energy-wise. Her stats showed a series of minor injuries from the battle.
Jackson raised his hand with Asena’s Djinn ring. He couldn’t bring himself to put her through what would come next.
The flash of vermilion light shot across the ring but Asena sidestepped the energy. She gave Jackson a long look and then tipped her head back once more toward Scrappy.
Jackson’s holo-watch vibrated.
New move learned.
Jackson swiped over to Asena’s move set.
Fire-Elemental: Fire Growl (5 EP), Fire Bark (15 EP)
Earth-Elemental: Earth Hunt (10 EP)
Plain-Elemental: Attack, Headbutt, Wild Bite, Fierce Cry, Wild Sprint, Pack Leader (X)
Pack Leader? Jackson scrunched his face in confusion. And what in the world was that “X” next to it? Regardless, it was clear that Asena wanted to execute this maneuver, and he wasn’t about to argue.
Do what you have to do, Asena.
A flash of golden light covered the Lyote. It gathered around her and then rose and encircled Scrappy. Jackson watched in awe as Scrappy’s health went up about a fifth while Asena’s remaining health drained. Asena fell to the ground. Jackson’s jaw hung open slightly in disbelief. She’d sacrificed herself for Scrappy.
I’m proud of you, girl, Jackson told her as she disappeared back into her Djinn ring.
Across the ring, Akamu burst out laughing. “Are you kidding me? You throw in the towel with your most powerful Djinn?”
For the first time since the match started, Jackson truly felt his nerves calm. His resolve hardened. All he wanted to do was beat Akamu, not even to make it into the Bronze League, but just to teach him a lesson. Jackson nodded to Scrappy.
It’s down to you now, buddy. Asena gave you a chance, now make the most of it. Let’s beat them together. I believe in you!
It may not have the core stat advantage, but it did have the Elemental advantage. Scrappy streaked toward the Tandile like a flash of black-and-white lightning. The Tandile swung its scaled head around just in time for Scrappy’s beak to strike him in the eye. As the large reptilian Djinn thrashed from pain and rage, Scrappy dove again. And again. And again.
The attacks almost bounced off the Tandile’s thick hide, but Scrappy refused to relent. He flew around in a blur; too fast for the bigger, slower Djinn to catch him with his tail or long, tooth-filled mouth. Little by little, the Tandile’s health ticked away.
Akamu screamed, raging as much as his Djinn.
“ENOUGH! FINISH HIM!”
The Tandile tipped his head back and let out a dragon-like roar. The deafening sound reverberated throughout the inside of the forcefield ring and shook the air and ground alike. Halfway into another dive, Scrappy veered sideways from the blast and went beak-first into the ground.
Before Jackson could shout a warning, the Tandile was upon Scrappy. In one giant gulp, it trapped Scrappy between the rows of its dagger-like teeth. Jackson’s insides froze.
“I told you you don’t belong out here,” Akamu called out to Jackson. “And now, it’s over.”
Jackson knew when its jaws closed, the Tandile would crush Scrappy completely.
Fight, buddy, fight! Don’t give in.
Jackson’s brow furrowed and he poured his will into one final communication with Scrappy.
Akamu’s hand slowly lowered and, with it, his Tandile’s jaws began to close, like a fanged vice grip, pressing the life out of Jackson’s Magglecaw.
DON’T GIVE IN!
Scrappy let out an ear-splitting call. Jackson’s holo-watch shook and rattled until his wrist went numb. A ball of black energy engulfed Scrappy and whirled around him, growing and spreading from between the Tandile’s jaws.
Jackson’s eyes shot between the two Djinn and his holo-watch. What was happening? He had no idea what attack Scrappy had used, didn’t know what was going on with his tech — had it malfunctioned?
The black orb swirling around the Magglecaw exploded. The Tandile’s jaw’s forced apart and Scrappy flew across the ring. After a final shudder, Jackson’s watch stopped and let out a weak ding.
Congratulations! Your Magglecaw has evolved into a Scoundrook!
Scrappy — now a Scoundrook — let out a triumphant croaking call. His wings and tail feathers were long; as was his beak, which now had a vicious curve at the end like a scimitar. Flashes of purple, green, and blue shone in his black feathers. His dark, beady eyes shone with a dangerous, mischievous glean.
GENERAL STATS AND INFO
Djinn: Scoundrook
Level: 17
Name: Scrappy
Element: Wind
Species Rarity: Fairly Common
HP (Hit Points): 255/255
EP (Elemental Power): 95/95
Attack: 86
Defense: 94
Speed: 165
Accessories: None
Items: None
Status: Neutral
Move Set: Swipe Left to See More >>>
Jackson exhaled in disbelief. Not only had Scrappy increased its core stats substantially, but he had regained all his HP and EP in the evolution. This was unreal. So this was the kind of duress that led to evolution? Jackson never dreamed it would happen mid-battle like this.
The Tandile let out a groan and heaved itself back onto its legs. Its movements were slow and sluggish. After the long, hard battle, only a sliver of its health remained.
“No!” Akamu shouted. “No! I can’t lose to some damn newt!”
Let’s end this. Feather Needle!
Scrappy wrapped its wings around himself. They unfurled in a burst and dozens of long, dark feathers sprang like arrows from his body. The projectiles buried themselves deep in the Tandile’s scaly hide.
Finish it off with one final Mini-Twister.
Jackson had been saving this attack for when he could be confident it would finish the battle. Unfortunately, it took a whopping 35 EP, so he only wanted to use in case of extreme emergencies, for fear of being left with no EP left on other attacks. Finishing off a Djinn like a Tandile seemed like a good enough time as any.
A twister formed between Scrappy’s wings and launched straight at the Tandile.
That final attack was all it took. The Tandile may have been strong, but against a full-strength Scoundrook using a move with an Elemental advantage was just too much all at once.
An instant later, it was all over.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Jackson stood in his tamer’s box, stunned. The forcefield melted down around the ring and the blast of the crowd mingled with the announcer’s raving hit him full on.
“Jackson Hunt wins the match, Jackson Hunt wins the match! I can’t believe it, ladie
s and gentlemen!”
Jackson couldn’t believe it, either. Scrappy floated over to him and landed at his feet. His new form came up to Jackson’s waist. The newly-evolved Scoundrook nuzzled Jackson’s hand. The action brought his tamer back into focus.
“You were amazing!” Jackson said, kneeling down in front of his Djinn. Scrappy cackled and gave a weary but convincing victory dance by shuffling and hopping around. Jackson laughed and ran his hand over the Djinn’s glistening black feathers one last time before returning Scrappy to stasis in his Djinn ring.
The referee motioned for both tamers to meet at the center of the ring and shake hands. Akamu stormed forward, still ranting and swearing. When they met, he shoved a finger past the ref at Jackson.
“A fluke, a lucky fluke was all that was,” Akamu said. “He didn’t deserve to win here. He’s just some damn newt who got lucky with an evolution.”
Jackson shrugged. “Well, sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.” He didn’t mean it, but he knew it would ruffle Akamu’s feathers.
It did.
Akamu lunged at Jackson but the ref grabbed the opposing tamer’s shirt and held him back.
“That’s enough! Knock off your nonsense, Kaleo, or I’ll see that you’re disqualified from Bronze League Regionals. Now, shake hands and act like a decent human being.”
“If you think I’m going to shake that —”
“Akamu!”
Lei Kaleo stood on the edge of the ring. He scowled at his son. “You’re embarrassing yourself. Stop acting like a damn child.”
Akamu stiffened immediately and took a silent breath, and for a moment, Jackson saw what he thought looked like fear in his eyes. He then glared at Jackson, who shrugged and offered a hand. After a few long seconds, the younger Kaleo finally grabbed the hand in front of him.
Jackson smirked as they grasped one another in what he imagined was a pretty good imitation of the expression he’d seen so often from Akamu over the past several weeks.
“Congrats on making it into the Bronze League, man.”
Akamu gripped Jackson’s hand even tighter and pulled him in close. “You think this is the end? I’m going to prove once and for all that a kid who just picked up taming at age 17 doesn’t stand a chance against someone who spent his whole life dedicated to the sport. This. Isn’t. Finished.”
Jackson squeezed back even harder. Muscles borne from working on a Djinn ranch made Akamu wince before they released the handshake. “I’m counting on it.”
With that, Akamu spun and stalked out of the circle toward his father. Jackson watched him go, still trying to comprehend what had just happened. Right before Akamu reached his father, Lei Kaleo gave Jackson a long look and then nodded once. With that, father and son turned and left the field.
A giddy scream cut through the crowd’s cheering, and a second later, Kay crashed into Jackson. “You did it, you did it!”
Jackson laughed and returned the hug, then picked up Kay and spun her around. He felt…exhilarated. Like he could do anything he wanted.
When he let go of Kay, Briggs was waiting. The crusty old tamer had his muscled arms folded across his chest and the ghost of smile on his lips.
“You’re all right, Jackson Hunt,” Briggs said. “We might make a tamer out of you yet.”
Jackson laughed and walked toward Briggs, who extended a hand. As soon as Jackson took it, Briggs yanked him into a rib-crushing hug.
“Thanks for reminding me what this sport is all about.”
When they pulled back, Jackson thought he caught the glimmer of tears in Briggs’s eyes.
The next several minutes passed in a blur. Jackson returned to the locker room and had his Djinn treated in the healing tanks. Jane showed up and they shared a long hug. She openly cried, shaking her head and smiling.
“I can’t believe it, I just can’t believe it,” she said to anyone who would listen. “My grandson is a real professional Djinn tamer.”
“Semi-professional,” Jackson said. “The Bronze League, at the end of the day —”
“Jackson, can’t you let yourself have anything?” Jane said with a roll of her eyes. “You’re getting paid to do what you love, aren’t you?”
Jackson opened his mouth to argue, but stopped himself. “Yeah,” he smiled. “Yeah, I am.”
A handful of matches remained until the award ceremony, giving some of the other tamers from camp the chance to congratulate Jackson. When he saw Appleby approaching, Jackson’s excitement waned just a little.
“I’m sorry you didn’t make it,” Jackson said. “You deserve to be here as much as me.”
Appleby shrugged. “Thanks, man. That means a lot. But no, I don’t. I was one and three. Clearly, there’s something more I need to be doing. It wasn’t even close. Nothing to be sorry for, though — at least this way I’ll know what to expect next year!”
“Listen, Appleby, if there’s anything I can do to —”
Appleby waved a hand. “Don’t worry. We’ll be fine. I appreciate the offer. Maybe we can still train together once in a while?”
Jackson enthusiastically agreed and they planned a handful of times and dates before Appleby left to find his family.
By the time the congratulations ended and Jackson received both of his Djinn back, only one fight remained. Jackson took a look at the standings to catch up on the battles he’d missed and his mouth fell open in shock.
Fiona had finished 2-2 in her group. She wouldn’t qualify for the Granite Region roster.
He asked around to see if someone could tell him what happened since he’d missed the fight. Apparently, things had gone completely south in Fiona’s final match — she’d been pushing her Djinn too hard in the earlier battles, they said. Halfway through the fourth match, both Rebel and Fiona’s Donkick completely fizzled out.
I bet she was going hard to win 4-0, Jackson thought. Sometimes just winning wasn’t good enough for Fiona. In the end it had backfired.
Jackson tried to call her on his holo-watch, but it went straight to her recording. Fiona wasn’t anywhere in the locker room — someone said she’d left right after healing her Djinn. He sent her a text as well, writing and rewriting it several times to try and sound empathetic without coming off as pitying or cocky.
Hey…hope everything is okay. You’re a great tamer. I’m here if you need anything.
He didn’t receive an answer. Before Jackson could dwell on it much longer, however, the top tamers were called back onto the field for the recognition ceremony.
Jackson walked down the tunnel once more, still strangely nervous, although he had no idea why. When they came out onto the stadium field, a series of cheers and applause met them, much more controlled but no less thunderous than during the match. The tamers took their places on a podium based on their overall record from each of their groups.
Although Jackson beat Akamu, he technically still took second place in the pool due to the tiebreaker scoring format based on how long each match took and how much health the winning party’s Djinn had upon victory. Jackson didn’t care — he’d made it into the Bronze League and also ruined Akamu’s perfect record — they didn’t give out medals based on place anyway.
On by one, the announcer read of the full name of each tamer, their Djinn and their coach. The head coaches from each camp barracks went along and shook everyone’s hand after their name had been read, much like a graduation ceremony. When they reached Jackson and called his name, Coach Vanova gave him a wink as she passed by and an extra pat on the shoulder after they shook hands.
“Knew you had it in you, Hunt. Congratulations.”
She only had stiff words for Akamu, who stood next to Jackson and refused to look at him. He all but radiated hatred toward Jackson, but apparently whatever dressing down his father gave him between their match and the ceremony was enough to keep him quiet.
They passed down the line to Moto Rine, who had, unsurprisingly, swept her pool, which included Fiona’s second defeat
. She didn’t register any happiness or pride when they called her name, though, and almost looked… Upset? Mad? Jackson watched out of the corner of his eye, bewildered. The barrack coaches continued to the remaining tamers. Jackson kept watching Moto. She looked like she wanted to speak, like she was fighting to hold something back.
All at once, she stepped forward in the line. Jackson sucked in a breath. What was she doing?
“Excuse me, I need to say something,” she said to Mr. Golding, who gave her his spot behind the lectern after a quick back and forth between the two of them.
All eyes on the lectern turned to look at Moto. A moment later, the camera drones and announcer caught on as well. Before she could say anything else, Moto Rine became the center of attention for the entire stadium.
She glanced around and Jackson could tell she was fighting her nerves. When Moto spoke again, her voice was amplified over the stadium sound system.
“Over the past few weeks, I’ve been examining my future career as a Djinn tamer. I love Djinn. I love my Djinn. I’m proud of the legacy I’ve inherited from my parents. I’ve always done my best to live up to that name and their expectations. But there’s been something bothering me since training camp started, and I wouldn’t be true to myself if I didn’t do something about it. It also wouldn’t be fair to the other hard working tamers from our region, many of whom care more about the sport of taming, more than I ever could imagine. I have been given every opportunity and every break, and while I appreciate the amazing experiences they have afforded me, I have come to realize this simply isn’t the path for me.”
The head coaches glanced at one another, frowning. This obviously hadn’t been part of the ceremony script. Moto looked around, almost like she hoped someone would stop her. Everyone just stared. She took in a long deep breath and then exhaled slowly through a small circle in her mouth.
“And that is why I am officially withdrawing from the Bronze League roster. Consider this the end of my professional taming career.”
Djinn Tamer - The Complete Bronze League Trilogy Page 52