Scrappy and Asena eyed each other warily but didn’t try to attack one another. Compared to where they’d been just weeks ago, Jackson didn’t mind. With enough time, they’d grow to trust and love one another just as they did him.
A buzz from his holo-watch drew Jackson’s attention. It was his grandma.
“Okay, when were you expecting to give me a call with your big news? I mean, the clips were nice, but is a phone call too much to ask?”
“Sorry, I’m still taking it all in.”
“I can’t believe how quickly this has all happened for you! Think about it. It was less than a year ago that you started to train Asena behind my back.”
“Oh, we’re bringing this up again, huh?”
Jane chuckled. “Never in my wildest dreams did I actually think you’d be this close to going pro. I thought it would take until at least another few years.”
“Thanks, Grandma,” Jackson said, not entirely sure if he should be taking that as a compliment, though he was grateful she kept those thoughts to herself when she did. “I still can’t believe it, either.”
They talked for several more minutes until Jackson’s holo-watch buzzed again, indicating that Kay was trying to call him. After a quick goodbye with the promise of sending her the details for attending the upcoming tournament, Jackson ended the call with his grandma and answered Kay. She had a big, sly grin on her face that filled the projection.
“You did it! How come I had to call you? I thought we were better friends than that, dude!”
“Sorry! Grandma asked me the same thing.” Jackson ran a hand through his hair, still trying to grasp everything “It’s still sinking in, you know? I’m kinda losing it over here.”
He kept telling himself that he hadn’t made it yet — that he still had to perform well in the tournament, but after all the hard work he’d put in over the last month, and the last year, it felt good to have something to celebrate.
At Kay’s insistence, he recounted the obstacle course and the issues he’d had to overcome with Asena and Scrappy. Both raised their heads when he said their names, but otherwise went back to dozing in their preferred spots. They needed some rest as much as Jackson — it’d been a long day for everyone.
“Do you have any details about the tournament yet?” Kay asked. “I know all the local and regional stations will be covering it, along with the Bronze League Network.”
Jackson shook his head. “No clue. Coach Vanova said we’d have the weekend off and they’d given us the rest of the details on Monday morning.”
The tournament was scheduled for the following Saturday but Jackson had no idea what might be required of him between now and then. He hoped it involved a lot of rest and relaxation but knew he shouldn’t get his hopes up.
“Well, you better keep me posted — you can’t go into a tournament without your Djinn rehabber on hand, can you?”
Jackson laughed. “No way. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear, okay?”
They talked for a few more minutes. Jackson asked how things were back at Sato and as Kay told him about the goings on, he was struck with a terrible wave of homesickness. In the flurry of camp, he hadn’t had time to think about everything he was missing back home and it all came rushing in at once. In spite of the almost daily calls, he found himself wishing he could see his grandma and Kay in person, not just as a blue projection out of his watch.
Kay must have noticed, because suddenly she stopped giving him updates on the pregnant Lambaa. “You all right? You’ve got this funny look on your face all of a sudden.”
“Yeah,” Jackson sighed. He didn’t want to make it weird by telling Kay how much he missed her. “I just hadn’t realized until now just how much I missed…Sato and stuff.”
She nodded. “It’s definitely been different without you around but I’m happy for you, Jack. And we’ll all get to see you soon!”
After Jackson said goodbye, he responded to the rest of his messages from friends and then flipped on the holo-vision. With training camps across the league just ramping up, there wasn’t much on the Djinn Sports Network, but Jackson listened to the newscast anyway.
It seemed the Silver and Gold Leagues were starting regional play the following week and the announcer mentioned that the Bronze League tournaments would begin across the country shortly after. The same familiar names popped up in the Gold League as early favorites to win the year’s championship. Jackson imagined what it would be like to be entering the Gold League with a maxed-out team of Djinn, a dream that didn’t seem as far away as it had a few weeks before.
He’d just started dozing off to replays from the previous year’s playoffs when a buzz from his watch woke him up. It was a camp notification: Final Camp Rankings Posted.
Jackson jerked up in bed and eagerly tapped the notification. A projection blossomed up from his wrist with a list of tamers:
1. Moto Rine - Barrack 4
2. Akamu Kaleo - Barrack 4
3. Adrian Gallo - Barrack 8
4. Charles Hickam - Barrack 1
5. Rando Vallez - Barrack 8
6. Fiona Sato - Barrack 4
7. Imelda Malcolm - Barrack 3
8. Trey Anderson - Barrack 3
9. Kayleigh Sefton - Barrack 7
10. Primrose Felicity - Barrack 5
11. Miguel Sansez - Barrack 4
12. Genesis Brown - Barrack 3
13. Danai Azikiwe - Barrack 2
14. Gail Parr - Barrack 1
15. Antony Barranco - Barrack 4
16. Gavin Thatcher - Barrack 7
17. Brady Wilmer - Barrack 5
18. Sabina Schmidt - Barrack 2
19. Madeline Noir - Barrack 1
20. Jackson Hunt - Barrack 4
A quick count confirmed only two of the remaining Barrack 4 tamers, Hayden and Lucia, hadn’t made the cut. Jackson felt a stab of sadness for both — they’d been decent tamers and had always had his back when Akamu was being a tool. He doubted either of them would want to chat, but he sent them both a quick text message anyway. Neither responded but he wasn’t surprised.
In the next instant, he received a text from Appleby, followed by Miguel. Both congratulated him on making the cut and asked if he wanted to join them at a small party the remaining tamers were holding in Barrack 2. Jackson declined. He’d never been a big partygoer in the first place, and all he wanted to do after the past four weeks was spend a quiet night alone.
After a brief hesitance, he shot off a congrats message to Fiona. Her response was short and sweet a few minutes later: Thanks, you too.
Jackson grinned at Fiona being Fiona and fired back. Maybe we’ll get that rematch ;)
Hopefully not…for your sake :P
Jackson tried to think of a quick comeback for a long minute when he got another message.
What’s this? No retort?
Jackson smiled.
I save my talking for the field.
Satisfied with his response, he closed out his messaging app.
The thrill of making it to the finals was starting to wear off and Jackson felt his eyes growing heavy. Fighting a sudden rush of fatigue, he managed to brush his teeth before falling into bed. In his dreams, he imagined himself winning the camp finals tournament in front a packed stadium.
“All right, boys and girls, it’s come down to this — you’re the last of the bunch, but you’re not on the Granite Region roster yet.”
Coach Vanova addressed the remaining Barrack 4 tamers in their common area, pacing back and forth like a drill sergeant in front of her troops. Everyone looked straight ahead at her, even Akamu. This clearly wasn’t the time for any sarcastic quips or daydreaming.
It was Monday morning. After two days of relaxing and recovering, the tamers faced the final obstacle between them and the title of Bronze League tamer. They were informed they’d take the train into Green Town a day before the tournament — Vanova had already threatened them with immediate expulsion if anyone left the hotel for any rea
son. It went without saying that they’d better be the picture of professional tamers during their short stay.
“You want to make the roster and I want as many tamers from my barrack to make the final cut,” Vanova continued. “So pull out all the stops and make me proud. I think there’s a very good chance that someone in here will take home that first place prize. As I’ve told each of you, there’s no reason you won’t make it if you perform to your highest potential. You’ve got a couple more days to work out any final kinks and injuries with your Djinn. We leave Friday morning and start battling bright and early Saturday. I suggest you make the most of your time.”
With that, she left them to their own devices for the next three days. Jackson spent as much time as possible with Briggs. Although his coach insisted that they’d gone over their game plan so much he was dreaming of it, Jackson always wanted one more. The tournament bracket wasn’t going to be released until Friday morning, but based on their rankings, Jackson had a pretty good idea of which tamers and Djinn he would face.
Their strategy relied on Asena’s powerful Elemental attacks up front and Scrappy’s natural speed, whether in single or dual battles. Since the timed course, neither of Jackson’s Djinn had picked a fight with one another, but Jackson always felt on edge whenever something went wrong. He could tell both Asena and Scrappy still struggled to control themselves and fought for Jackson’s attention and praise.
Briggs kept telling Jackson he was worrying too much and Jackson admitted Briggs was probably right. Half of him obsessed over every little detail, the other half actually felt pretty good about his chances in the tournament, in spite of his placement in the rankings.
The tournament was a round robin structure. The twenty remaining tamers were divided into four groups of five tamers each. Each tamer would fight everyone in their group — two dual matches and two single matches randomly chosen before the battle. The two best tamers in each group, eight total, would make the final roster and compete in the Granite Region during the Bronze League season.
Jackson couldn’t even dream of that possibility of actually joining the Bronze League right now. First and foremost, he had to focus on the playoffs in front of him, not the one several months away that he may not even be competing in.
While he didn’t recognize two of the other competitors, when Jackson saw the breakdown of the tamers in each of the groups, he knew he had his work cut out for him:
Group 1:
Jackson Hunt
Akamu Kaleo
Antony Barranco
Rando Vallez
Charles Hickam
CHAPTER 28
Jackson worked hard in his last week. In spite of Briggs’s uncertainty, he insisted he’d work until Asena and Scrappy each gained a level. After some hemming and hawing, Briggs finally obliged, insisting that they try and accomplish it before Thursday so his Djinn had time to recover.
Midnight didn’t seem to pull as many punches, although Jackson knew it would have been no competition in a real match. He fought Asena and Scrappy to the brink of defeat every single time. Every so often, it seemed like Asena and Scrappy seemed on the verge of working together, but as things grew tough, they would occasionally still snap at one another. Jackson supposed that hard-fought battles brought with it some level of irritability, but it still didn’t do much to stoke his confidence about the two of them working together. Nonetheless, his goals of leveling up came to fruition.
Scrappy leveled up first, hitting Level 17.
GENERAL STATS AND INFO
Djinn: Magglecaw
Level: 17
Name: Scrappy
Element: Wind
Species Rarity: Common
Tamer: Jackson Hunt
HP (Hit Points): 10/236
EP (Elemental Power): 42/88
XP (Experience): 1,136 to Next Level
DJP (Djinn Points): 2 Unallocated
Attack: 75
Defense: 82
Speed: 145
Accessories: None
Items: None
Status: Neutral
Bond: 70%
Move Set: Swipe Left to See More >>>
Jackson was surprised by the base boosts gained by the Djinn. Usually he could only expect a few points added to Attack and Defense, but with a good chunk of his points coming from his fights with Midnight, it made sense there’d be more added to those stats. After a moment’s thought, he allocated the DJP to Defense and Speed — those would be helpful in the tournament. The two core stats rose to 86 and 149, respectively.
A couple quick battles later, Asena’s level up followed.
GENERAL STATS AND INFO
Djinn: Lyote
Level: 18
Name: Asena
Element: Fire/Earth
Species Rarity: Rare
Tamer: Jackson Hunt
HP (Hit Points): 8/292
EP (Elemental Power): 75/136
XP (Experience): 1,382 to Next Level
DJP (Djinn Points): 2 Unallocated
Attack: 112
Defense: 84
Speed: 89
Accessories: None
Items: None
Status: Neutral
Bond: 72%
Move Set: Swipe Left to See More >>>
Jackson huffed at what he saw. His mind went back to when he first found Asena. She was a well-rounded Djinn, nearly equal across Attack, Defense, and Speed. He’d decided to capitalize on her slight edge on Attack back in the early days. Camp had made him a bit hasty in terms of leveling out the core stats, it seemed, and this edge in Attack seemed to be diminishing based on how he was allocating his DJP, with Defense and Speed slowly catching up.
He looked at Asena’s Speed. He needed to start thinking about how his two Djinn worked together. Sure, there were going to be one-on-one fights in the future, but they were all going to be partners now, and he needed to treat them like it. Instead of thinking of how strong they are individually, he needed to make them complement one another. Jackson decided that, at least for now, he could forego Speed in favor of a couple of other stats — Scrappy could handle Speed, Asena could handle Attack.
Jackson hoped their focus on Speed and Attack would make Defense less necessary and allocated both DJP to Asena’s Attack, bringing it to 120.
He looked to Briggs, almost if asking for approval on his thought process, but Briggs only gave him a shrug.
“I ain’t got no crystal ball, kid,” he said. “But I don’t hate what you just did.”
That was as much of an endorsement as Jackson could expect from Briggs.
The end of the week came quickly. After a day of rest and another day of easy training and fine tuning, it was soon time to board the monorail on Friday morning. Jackson had dinner with Kay and his grandma Friday evening in the hotel restaurant, and before he knew it, the day of the round robin tournament had arrived.
Jackson dressed, following all of his pre-battle rituals he’d acquired between sports in school and the brief start of his career in Djinn taming. Before walking out the door, he checked his wardrobe one last time. He’d never had much money for or interest in clothes growing up, but all of the best tamers had a look. Going back to his fights in the Underground, however, he’d cultivated a careful image: black t-shirt, red cap, jeans, and his leather work boots from Sato Breeders.
Although the hotel was Djinn-friendly, both Asena and Scrappy were in their rings in preparation for check-in at the stadium near the hotel. It left Jackson feeling very alone in the quiet, empty hotel room.
“You got this,” he told himself after a deep breath. “Make it happen.”
Continuing his rituals, Jackson ate a hearty breakfast — a bowl of oatmeal and eggs on the side — and washed it down with a couple of glasses of Bovan milk. He was surprised at his appetite but took it as a good sign, as long as he didn’t throw it all up on the field.
Briggs, Grandma Jane, and Kay were waiting in the lobby when he emerged from the dining area. F
or Jackson, it felt like a bizarro version of the Vance McAllister tournament. There, he’d been alone with Kay. Briggs wasn’t speaking to him, and Jane still had no idea about her grandson’s budding career as a Djinn tamer. It felt much better to have Jane on his side and Briggs in his corner going into this tournament.
“Oh, you look so handsome!”
Before Jackson could dodge, his grandma grabbed him in a hug and then stepped back, beaming. Jackson’s face burned.
“You ready, kid?” Briggs asked.
Jackson nodded. Following their intense strategizing and game plan, he felt like he could take on the Gold League Champion at the moment.
“Let’s do this,” Jackson said.
They took a long walkway suspended over the city to the stadium just across the street. Once there, Jackson, Kay, and Briggs entered an area with a large sign that read “Granite Region Tamers” above it.
Jackson was surprised at the number of people already mulling around in the concourse area of the stadium. There were only twenty tamers, and most had invited a dozen people or less to the tournament. With the competition being shown on all of the major DBL stations in the area, Jackson had thought only a few dozen locals would show up. He guessed there had to be hundreds already in the stadium, although the first match wasn’t set to begin for another two hours.
They reached the registration portal and Jackson raised his watch. The camp program opened and sent an ID beam to the receiver sitting behind a desk and sliding glass doors. As soon as Jackson’s transmission reached the desk, a green light sounded and the doors opened.
“Welcome, Jackson Hunt, Cassius Briggs, and Kendal Watts,” a pleasant voice said.
The doors shut behind them and a member of camp staff — Jackson had seen her before but couldn’t remember if he’d ever heard or read her name — greeted them with a smile.
“Follow this tunnel all the way down to the end and take a left — that’s the tamer locker room,” she said. “There are signs all along the way with the directions projected. You can’t miss it!”
Jackson led the way down the long cement tunnel which opened up into the tamer locker room. Unlike a traditional dressing room for most sporting competitions, the tamer locker room was a wide open area with different mini habitat stations for tamers to release their Djinn in a comfortable environment before the battle. Several tamers were already there, including Miguel and Moto. Jackson waved hello but went off with Briggs and Kay to find his own spot. They might have been barrack-mates for the last month and still on friendly terms, but today was competition day and everyone needed their own space to get ready for the stretch of upcoming matches.
Rivals Page 23