Media

Renowned champion disappears from finals match. Zane flicked between channels in our hotel room. A little red bar spread across the bottom of the screen with boldface white lettering scrolling across it. Three retired trainers sat behind a rounded blue-and-gold desk with swirly text across its front SolveTV.

One had been a member of the Four Guardians before he stepped down. The other two were Masters, having collected all eight badges, but had never become a proper champion. The former guardian’s hair had all gone, and the curly gold wig he wore over his head shifted back and forth as he spoke. The wrinkles around his mouth spread widely as he looked up at a teleprompter just offscreen. He shook his head as he saw the words, then angrily recited, “You know, I just don’t know what would possess someone to run off like that!”

“You know, Chuck!” The older master on the guardian’s right elbowed him. She still wore a baseball cap and a cheesy outfit like she was a kid who’d just left on her journey for the first time, “We saw that crazy lightshow all around her. Youngin’ had something strange going on.”

“I’ve seen weirder, Mildred.”

“Bah!” Mildred leaned forward toward the camera, “Ever seen a guardian who doesn’t think they know everything. This guy never even won any of the Big Three!”

“I’ve won dozens of major events.”

“Not Needleton. Not Angel City. Not Red Bridge,” she hummed.

“Did you ever play in the World Cup, Mildred?”

“Did you ever make it out of the preliminaries?”

The third master slowly lifted himself up, fixing his hunched posture. He groaned as his back snapped into place. Frail arms shaking as he forced his tired face up to the other two. In one hand, a brass horn held up against his ear. “Eh!? Both ya kids, shuddup!” I was surprised he hadn’t been snoring a minute ago. Wiry, white hair dangled down over his face.

“Sir, I…” Mildred flinched.

“It’s normal,” the old man coughed repeatedly. He slowly caught his breath, “It’s normal champion behavior. Do something annoying and flashy to get everyone’s attention, then run off like a stage magician. Back in my day, there was a champion who won the title, then stood alone on top of a mountain for a year. Kids always overreact.”

“We’re not in the fifteen-twenties anymore, Hubert,” the guardian yawned, “these new-age champions aren’t old guys who want to live in solitude over some waterfall. They’re little kids.”

Zane kept watching. Flopping back on the big, soft hotel bed, he yelled out, “What do they even know?”

The screen buzzed as Mildred stood up from her seat, “These kids are better than you ever were.”

“Thank you!” Zane threw his arms back behind him. He yelped as his knuckles hit the back of the bedframe. I sat at the edge of the bed, my head tilted to the side as I just listened to what they had to say.

“Kids always get lucky,” the guardian folded his hands behind his head. He had a comfortable job sitting behind a desk and talking about a sport he didn’t understand anymore. My tail flicked behind me. What did he know?

Zane yelled at the screen as if the pundits could hear him, “You all can’t battle, anyway!” I shook my head. He was right, but I’d let him make that argument when he’d at least become a master himself. That wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.

“What was that trick, the lightning?” Mildred asked.

“Some party trick.”

“Balderdash, my boy!” The eldest slapped the former guardian on the shoulder. His bony hand cracked as he did, “That’s something like I haven’t seen since I was a little boy. It’s almost like an old bedtime story. I saw it with my own eyes, though!”

“You should go back to bed soon, Hubert.” They kept bickering among themselves as the segment came to an end. Zane changed the channel to an anime series and lay back, watching it.

“Bianca, come here,” he mumbled and patted the mattress beside him. I begrudgingly came closer and flopped over just beside him for him to wrap his arm around me, petting the fur on my back. He stopped as he looked up at the animated samurai on the screen flashing his sword to the side, “here- here, watch! It’s the best part!”

I slapped the television remote with my tail. It flickered as the channel changed. Another anime, this one showed a young girl in the middle of a beautiful, glowing transformation. Light swirled around her and changed into a brilliant uniform. A flashing wand landed in her fingertips as she repeated a stock statement about justice. Zane groaned at it, “Oh, come on…” I reached over to change it back, but I pushed the remote away from him.

He rolled his eyes, “Bianca, please!” As he wrestled the remote from me, I started sparkling with electricity. Zane carefully put it back down before I could shock him, “F-fine… I didn’t think… Whatever, it’s a lame show anyway, you’ll see!” It had always been one of my favorites.

“I don’t get it,” he complained, “that’s a bad guy, right? Does she like him?” Zane rolled over and leaned forward. His bare feet kicked up and down behind him as he rested his head on his folded arms near the edge of the bed.

“I mean he’s evil, but he’s adorable!” I squeaked, “How could she not like him? She turns him good in the end, and they get together!”

“You’re really rooting for her, huh?” I couldn’t tell if he’d gotten good enough at understanding Capmon speech, or if I was that transparent about the series.

“Well, I’ve already seen the whole thing three times!”

Six episodes later, and Zane threw his arms out to the side, nearly throwing me off the side of the bed, “Oh come on! Just kiss him! Please!”

Just as she leaned toward the villain’s lips in the next episode, the season finale, the screen screeched. It went black, then static, then an entirely different broadcast appeared. Zane blinked, “Bianca! Why did you change the channel now?” He looked down at the remote lying silently on a bedside table. “N-nevermind…” He looked up at the screen disappointedly, fumbling for the remote with his other hand. I’d already seen that episode before, so I wasn’t so bothered to miss it. The protagonist’s annoying friend always ran in at the very last second, ruining the drama.

Now, the screen showed a line of police officers with Capmon at their sides. A journalist loudly yelled into a microphone, wind blowing through his hair, “Jubilee City is urging all residents and visitors from the recent event to stay inside! There’s been a burglary at the Jubilee Museum and the fossils of extinct Capmon have been stolen! The culprit is still at large. They are assumed to be accompanied by dangerous Capmon and potentially armed.”

“Well, it’s safe enough for you to be out there,” He rolled his eyes, “stupid reporter.”

The report continued, “Jubilee City’s very own Badge Trainer, Bartholomew, is working along with police detectives to track down the perpetrator.”

Zane leaped up, “We should go help them, come on.”

I hopped off the bed after him, “This isn’t a good idea.”

“Uh-huh,” he flashed the bronze medal around his neck. I hopped up on his shoulder as he ran down the stairs into the lobby of the hotel. The sliding glass doors started pulling open.

A concierge ran over to us. She curtseyed, “You must be the trainer, Zane, right?” She spoke softly.

“Y-yes, that’s me!”

“There’s a message for you at the front desk,” she said, “your mother called for you earlier.”

He ran over to the desk and dialed a number into the phone. Zane waited as it buzzed until it clicked, and he pressed the speaker button on it, “M-mom! You knew I was here?”

“Were you planning to tell me you got third in the Jubilee Cup?” Her voice screeched like a bold fangirl, “Zane, that’s amazing!” She was a former Badge Trainer. A tournament like that one wouldn’t have been a challenge for her at all.

“O-oh… Of course, yeah…” He mumbled. It was my own fault that he’d been watching a girly TV show all day, “I’m mad that I lost to Chii. I would have…”

His mother giggled, “It’s your first competition! You know, when the first round came on TV and they showed the matchups, I made a bet against your uncles that you wouldn’t make it out of the first round! Well, I was pleasantly surprised. Anyway, how many coins did you win?”

“A couple thousand.”

“Right, I owe three hundred to your uncles, could I borrow some?” She spoke as quickly as he could. There was no way he could afford to give away what money he had like that. It was just enough coins to pay for a bill in an emergency. And, the three thousand he was promised for his tournament result only came out to nineteen hundred after taxes.

“M-mom…” He whispered into the phone, “I have to go.”

“What, why so quickly?”

“I’m looking to hunt down a criminal!”

“Oh,” she sighed, “Well, be careful. Jubilee City already, I’m really proud of you. I love you.”

“Yeah… You too,” Zane carefully hung up the phone. He took a deep breath, “Alright, the museum now.”