Jackson spent twenty minutes formulating a strategy with Briggs and then another twenty warming up Asena and Scrappy.
By the time the bell sounded announcing he was two fights away, Jackson felt confident. Asena and Scrappy both looked crisp and seemed focused on his commands, not one-upping each other. Charles had a formidable team of a Wind-Elemental Siercle and a Plain-Elemental Buffaroam (meaning that neither Jackson nor Charles had an Elemental advantage). Sure, Asena could use Earth-Elemental attacks, but it’d be hard for her to hit the flying Siercle, so it almost made that advantage null and void. But Jackson still liked his odds. When all went well, Asena and Scrappy made an awesome complementary pair.
Jackson pulled up Charles’s Djinn’s stats as soon as the battle began.
GENERAL OPPONENT STATS
Djinn: Siercle
Level: 20
Element: Wind
Species Rarity: Somewhat Rare
HP (Hit Points): 285/285
EP (Elemental Power): 126/126
Attack: 95
Defense: 85
Speed: 125
Status: Neutral
GENERAL OPPONENT STATS
Djinn: Buffaroam
Level: 19
Element: Plain
Species Rarity: Somewhat Common
HP (Hit Points): 360/360
EP (Elemental Power): 65/65
Attack: 125
Defense: 105
Speed: 60
Status: Neutral
Jackson took a deep breath. This wasn’t going to be easy. In terms of both core stats and Element, these two Djinn complemented each other very well, It actually wasn’t too different from how Asena and Scrappy were coordinated. The bad part was that these two were slightly higher levels and therefore trounced his Djinn in the core stats department. Jackson wouldn’t be able to make very many mistakes without paying the price.
Right out of the gate, Jackson knew things weren’t going to go well. Although Asena and Scrappy had both warmed up in the big stadium, and Asena had fought in it only an hour previous, the two Djinn seemed completely undone by the massive crowds. Jackson wasn’t sure if it was his reduced mental focus, which had to be split between two Djinn, but something definitely wasn’t right.
Charles came out swinging and sent both of his Djinn after Asena, making it clear his strategy was to knock her out first thing. While Jackson kept Asena evading, he tried to have Scrappy hit with a Mocking Wind counterattack on the enemy pair. The ruffled Scrappy missed wide and ended up clipping Asena with the attack.
It took all of Jackson’s will to keep Asena from charging across the arena circle at Scrappy. Charles saw the division between Jackson’s Djinn and hit Asena hard with a combination of attacks from the Siercle and Buffaroam. The crowd let out a gasp as Asena’s health dropped down just under a third.
As if blaming the whole situation on her partner, Asena launched herself at Scrappy, who narrowly avoided her snapping jaws.
“Looks like Hunt’s got some issues with his Djinn — they’re at each other’s throats!” the announcer blared. “Hickam is quick to take advantage!”
Stop it, Asena, he called out to her. Now is not the time for this. Asena begrudgingly listened and focused her attention back on the opponents.
Hoping to keep his two Djinn away from one another, Jackson tried to order Asena and Scrappy to split duties on Charles’s Djinn — Asena against the Buffaroam and Scrappy against the Siercle. The move proved to be ineffective, as Charles was adamant on keeping the focus on taking Asena out. Immediately, Jackson put Asena on the defense, using her Wild Sprint to keep out of reach of the other two.
Every so often, Jackson had Scrappy come in with an attack, but so focused was he on keeping Asena in the match, he had a hard time even thinking about Scrappy. After a couple minutes of failed attacks on Asena, the two Djinn turned their attention to the Magglecaw.
Even while fending off Asena’s Fire Barks, they still managed to knock the Magglecaw out in a matter of minutes. Without Scrappy to help distract them, it didn’t take long for the pair to surround and defeat Asena as well.
“Ouch!” The announcer said as Jackson recalled his Djinn and begrudgingly shook hands with Charles. “Hunt came out of the gates swinging in this tournament, but I rather think he’d like to have this match back.”
Every clap of the crowd smarted like a slap on bare skin as Jackson stalked off the field, barely keeping his temper in check. Kay and Briggs fell in behind him. When they reached the locker room door, Jackson let out a frustrated yell and punched the door. Several tamers and stadium staff looked up. Briggs grabbed Jackson by the shoulder and steering him to an empty bench in the corner.
“Get a grip, kid, this ain’t over yet,” he said, gruffer than usual. “Like I told you after your first match, this is a marathon. We can come back from a single loss, but you’ve gotta keep it together.”
He pointed to Akamu, who was sitting over in the corner watching and grinning. “See that dirtbag? You’re playing right into his hands. Chill out for a minute and then let’s talk about getting those two back in shape.”
Despite his boiling anger, Jackson felt much calmer after a few minutes. He forced himself not to replay the match with Charles over and over. What had gone wrong with his Djinn? Things had been just fine during warmups.
He took Asena and Scrappy to the healing tank and again had Kay assure him everything with the Djinn was fine. Then Briggs sat down next to him, tablet in hand, and they dissected the match. Jackson explained how his Djinn seemed completely flustered in the center of the spotlight. Briggs nodded and waited for Jackson to finish before giving his feedback.
“Okay…okay, we can fix this. Probably just some first-time jitters — especially with Scrappy. And I’ve told you before, it’s different for a Djinn to have its mental link split with a tamer. Your Djinn might have been used to it, but throw in the live speed of an actual battle with the crowds and that’s what happened. I should’ve thought of that. Here’s what we’re gonna do next time you’ve got a dual battle…”
Briggs outlined a defensive strategy allowing Jackson to keep his Djinn on tight control. The idea was to wear down opponents with small hits here and there, rather than wading into the thick of things as was usually the plan when fighting one-on-one with Asena. Jackson felt better by the time they’d finished and was in awe at the flash of greatness Briggs exuded in working out a new plan. In another rare moment, Jackson saw the shadow of the tamer that’d once been the best of the best. No matter the quirks and saltiness, he was glad he had Cassius Briggs in his corner.
Even so, Jackson couldn’t help but let his nerves get to him when his next matchup was announced: Jackson Hunt vs. Antony Barranco.
CHAPTER 30
“Appleby’s the best strategist in your group and one of the best in this current generation of campers,” Briggs said. “I had a few chats with his uncle while we were at camp. The kid makes up for his average Djinn with some serious book smarts.”
“We knew that coming in,” Jackson said. It felt weird talking about his friend like some kind of stat sheet, but that’s what they’d boiled down the competition to. “He’s smart, but he’s hesitant. I just need to go in swinging and not give him too much time to think.”
The battle was one-on-one. So far, Appleby had won his first match, a two-on-two against Rando. He’d relied heavily on his Moldune and kept his Water-Elemental Djinn — a Glauco, which featured a hard shell — Djinn in reserve. Though, given the fact that Rando’s Wind-Elemental Djinn had an advantage against any Water-Elemental, and that his Earth and Wind-Elementals were weak and neutral against the Moldune, respectively, it made sense.
What bothered Jackson most was that Appleby had gone up against Rando with one Elemental disadvantage and come out on top. Jackson had an Elemental advantage in the form of Asena, and he still only managed to just scrape by. This wasn’t going to be easy. Appleby was a much stronger tamer than he was when
they’d faced off back at the invitational.
So how could Jackson take him on?
The trick was figuring out which Djinn Appleby would go with. His Glauco was a pretty common Djinn and wasn’t nearly has strong or high of level as the Moldune, Wacky. On the other hand, the Elemental advantage the Glauco had over Fire would give him an even playing field against Asena, assuming Appleby thought Jackson would go with his Fire-Elemental Lyote.
Of course, if Jackson chose to fight with Scrappy and Appleby went with his stronger Moldune, he would be at a double-disadvantage. Not only would the Moldune have the Elemental advantage against Scrappy, but he’d be a slightly higher level. Then again, in terms of the Elemental advantage his mind then went back to the Glauco-Lyote match-up potential. And he circled the pros and cons around and around in his head until he started to get dizzy.
This entire thing was one big gamble.
“What do you think?” Jackson asked Briggs and Kay. He hated after all their study and preparation that it all came down to a last-minute decision to figure out what Djinn he was going to fight with.
“Well, his Moldune is a higher level than Asena, but not by much, so you’ll still mop the floor with it,” Briggs said. “Asena got a little banged up in the first two matches, though. Her energy is fine, but you’ve still got to face Akamu and that’s going to be a real fight. I say go with the Magglecaw for that reason alone.”
Akamu. Somehow it seemed fitting, or at least ironic, that he’d be facing the younger Kaleo last. The final and biggest test. Just like when he’d faced Fiona for the championship in the McAllister Invitational.
Jackson forced himself to put Akamu out of his head. Appleby first.
Kay nodded in agreement. “Asena’s physically healthy enough, but if you overuse her, you may find yourself having to rely on Scrappy.”
Jackson took a deep breath and let it out slowly to relieve some of the tension building in his neck and chest. “All right,” he said in a low voice so the other tamers wouldn’t hear. “Scrappy it is.”
“One last thing,” Briggs said. “The top two tamers in this pool are going to be the Kaleo twerp and one other tamer. Don’t pull any punches with your friend Appleby. There’s not room for both of you. Sucks, but that’s the way it is.”
Jackson started to protest but knew Briggs was right. Out in the ring, Appleby had to be just another tamer.
It wasn’t long before the speakers called Jackson and Appleby to be on deck for the next match up. The two friends met at the edge of the locker room in the entrance of the tunnel leading out to the stadium. Appleby looked tense and drawn, his normally jovial, round face grim. Jackson doubted he looked any better.
For some reason, the fact that one of them had to lose made it all the more difficult. Jackson recalled during the Vance McAllister tournament, when Appleby had told them about how he was hoping to win the prize money to help his younger brothers and sisters. Jackson knew Appleby’s father had died at some point and his mother relied on him to be as much of a breadwinner as herself. Jackson forced the thought from his mind — as much as he liked Appleby, going easy on him because he felt a guilty conscience wasn’t the right thing to do.
“Who would’ve thought back when we fought in the Underground that we’d both be trying out for the Bronze League, huh?” Appleby said with a nervous laugh. Sweat trickled from his short, wavy, dark hair.
“Yeah,” Jackson said, mouth dry. A horn sounded again and one of the stadium staff called to Jackson and Appleby down the tunnel.
“Good luck, man,” Appleby said and offered a hand.
Jackson shook it. He didn’t know which one theirs was more cold and clammy. “You too — don’t go easy on me, okay?”
Appleby flashed a nervous smile and they walked out of the tunnel together onto the field. The applause sounded all at once and the noise of the crowd seemed to send Jackson’s heart beating even faster. Entering the arena and hearing the rules from the ref all went by in a blur. Before Jackson knew it, the giant digital letters projected in the center of the ring flashed down. Jackson curled his fingers in the hand that held Scrappy’s ring and waited.
The final horn sounded. Jackson and Appleby’s fists punched the air at the same time, their shouts overlapping one another as they summoned their Djinn from stasis. Scrappy’s gray light flashed just in front of a tan beam. Jackson’s stomach clenched in a brief moment of panic. Appleby had chosen Wacky — the Elemental superior of the two.
GENERAL OPPONENT STATS
Djinn: Moldune
Level: 19
Element: Earth
Species Rarity: Common
HP (Hit Points): 262/262
EP (Elemental Power): 102/102
Attack: 95
Defense: 98
Speed: 80
Status: Neutral
GENERAL STATS AND INFO
Djinn: Magglecaw
Level: 17
Name: Scrappy
Element: Wind
Species Rarity: Common
HP (Hit Points): 236/236
EP (Elemental Power): 88/88
Attack: 75
Defense: 86
Speed: 149
Accessories: None
Items: None
Status: Neutral
Move Set: Swipe Left to See More >>>
Appleby grinned and sent his Moldune underground with a wave of his hand. For a brief moment, Jackson regretted helping him out with mental commands but then pushed the thought away. There was a battle to win.
Jackson sent Scrappy hovering above the ground, waiting. Although the Moldune had an Elemental advantage, Jackson was going to make sure Appleby had to use ranged attacks exclusively on his Magglecaw. Circular burrow lines appeared inside the ring. With no other option until the Moldune surfaced, Jackson commanded Scrappy to kick things off.
Mocking Wind!
The blast hit the tip of the furrow, hypothetically the spot where Appleby’s Moldune would be digging. When the wind hit the ground, however, it kicked up a large wave of dirt. Jackson shielded his eyes as a virtual sandstorm started within the perimeter of the ring. He couldn’t see anything, and a brief inquiry to Scrappy revealed the same from the Magglecaw’s position.
It’s just what he wanted, Jackson thought to himself. Whatever happened, he wasn’t going to play into Appleby’s hands. He had no idea where he was going, but hopefully keeping Appleby and his Moldune on edge would be enough
Hit them with another Mocking Wind, pal!
Scrappy squawked in protest but pumped his wings and released another gust toward the ground. The wind kicked up even more. If the ring had been open it would have died down after a few moment, but because they were within the safety forcefield, a mini tornado kicked up. Jackson’s clothing whipped against him and he struggle to see anything going on. Above, Scrappy was buffeted by the dirt swirling around and could barely keep himself in the air.
No counterattack had come from Appleby. What was he thinking?
Dive Bomb!
Scrappy rose as high as possible inside the battle forcefield and then dove straight for the ground, beak first. He struck. The attack wasn’t strong — after all, it was a Wind-Elemental move against an Earth-Elemental at home in the ground — but until they could get the Modlune to show itself, there wasn’t much more to go on.
Now, get out, get out!
Scrappy yanked its beak free from the ground and fought to rise back in the air. The spinning, shifting winds made it almost impossible to take flight. Scrappy made it a couple feet off the ground when the Moldune burst upward and struck him hard. Jackson shouted as Scrappy crashed back into the ground and only flapped out of the way in time to miss a series of swipes from the Moldune’s powerful digging claws. It was almost like fighting the Badgerage all over again, except Appleby and his Djinn had been together much longer and had the Bond and experience to go with it.
Above ground, the Moldune wasn’t fast. Now that Scrappy had an opponen
t to fight, he rose in the air again. The winds died down enough for him to control his flight and he dipped at the Moldune, striking with his beak or talons, narrowly missing the clawed swipes of his opponent each time. The exchange didn’t last long and Appleby sent his Moldune back into the ground.
Jackson gritted his teeth. Fighting against Appleby was so annoying. This time, he decided against another Mocking Wind. He didn’t want to waste too much of Scrappy’s Elemental Power, and the wind hadn’t helped him any more than it had hurt Appleby. He had to rethink his strategy if he wanted to make it through his bout.
Fly low across the ground, but be ready to get out of the way.
Scrappy started circling the arena just a few inches above the ground. Jackson hoped the action would bait Appleby into striking. But after several seconds, the Djinn didn’t surface.
Jackson glanced at the stats on the screen.
Scrappy still had over half his health and Moldune was only down about a quarter. The Djinn might’ve been slow, but his Defense and Appleby’s tactics made up for it.
The ground shuddered just in front of Scrappy, but Jackson had no time to shout out a warning. The Moldune burst forth in a spray of dirt and sand. Scrappy’s instincts and natural speed saved him from a knockout. The Magglecaw swooped up at the last moment and only took a glancing blow. In any other instance, Jackson would have felt annoyed that Scrappy made a move without his command; he supposed, in this instance, it was a good thing. But there was little time to celebrate his narrow avoidance of the knockout. The hit still threw Scrappy off a bit, and Appleby wasn’t planning on letting him go. The Moldune opened its pointed snout and released a spray of gravel into the air, hitting Scrappy like a blast of shotgun pellets. Scrappy managed to avoid most of the pellets, but it still reduced Scrappy’s HP down to one-fifth. Was this going to be how it ended?
Stay high! Stay high!
Scrappy rose to the top of the forcefield, struggling on his two injured wings.
Rivals Page 25