Two Champions

On an island off the coast of Angel City sat the Calis Arena. Far smaller than the modern stadiums built to house the crowds of international matches, the Calis Arena was instead famed for its history. It was the permanent home of the Four Guardians, and the sitting champion had the right to stay under its white adobe walls and dull red roof. Anyone who wanted to become a champion had to defeat the Four Guardians in succession, and then, they had to overcome the sitting champion themself. Any of the Four Guardians was not just a formidable master, but one of the best, in their own right, and was seen as an authority on many things.

I stood lazily in the center of the arena as Fire entered, my arms curled back behind my head. “I’m the most powerful trainer in the world,” I asserted. I lost. That was how he became the sitting champion, a title he’d held uncontested for the past two months.

He jogged down the middle of the moving train, a Capture Ball gripped in his hand. Fire’s toothed grin flashed like a shark’s maw as he threw open the next room on the train. I poked my head in after him. There was an old man huddled around his young granddaughter. He looked relieved to see us, “C-champions…”

Fire cracked his knuckles, “You guys aren’t with the Starlight Gang…” He paced forward, losing the excitement in his earlier jog.

I slowly shut the door, “We’ll make sure nobody gets hurt,” I promised. Ummerfron’s Capture Ball was the first one I reached for. Nidlord was so large that if he fit in the train at all, he’d be hindered by it. Or worse, he’d damage it.

“Bet they’re way at the front of the damn train,” Fire complained, “they’re supposed to come out and fight us!”

“They might not even know we’re here.”

“Boring,” he stopped to scratch his back. Fire took a deep breath, “I can’t believe this. Not even noticing that we’re here? It’s so disrespectful. I mean, I’m me. You’re a champion, too.”

“We’ll have the element of surprise,” I justified.

He groaned, “My way always worked better than yours. They’ve been afraid of us since we crushed their boss like a little bug.”

“They’re different now.”

“Still a bunch of cowards,” He pressed a button at the end of the car, opening the door to the next. As it slid open, a rush of wind came in from between the train cars, blowing my ears back. Fire ran through to the next car, and he turned back to watch as I crossed behind him. “What is that stance?”

“It’s balanced.”

“It’s like how a Capmon fights,” he rolled his eyes, “come on.”

I snorted, “You have no idea.”

“How a Capmon fights? Cyan, I’m the dragon-whopping champion. I’m the only person you can’t correct on this stuff.”

“No, you’re right,” I laughed to myself.

“Hey, wait up!” The door clunked open again behind it. Zane ran through to the next car with us, panting. Chii jogged after him.

I turned to him, “You should wait behind.”

“These are just Starlight flunks,” Fire tapped his foot, “Let them come. Watch and learn, y’know? There won’t be any real danger.”
“Flunks?” Chii blinked.

“I dunno,” Fire shrugged, “it sounds dumb enough to describe ‘em. Logs. No-ears. Capmon.”

I scoffed, “Capmon?”

“You know I love Capmon! You’re right. Equating Starlight trash to Capmon is an insult to the weakest Wizzel ever born.” He kept walking.

“What do you mean?” Chii asked hopefully.

Fire shook his head, “It was a stupid joke. Just forget it. Are people not allowed to make dumb jokes anymore?”

Zane mumbled, “It sounded hurtful.”

“Dude, that’s why it’s a joke,” Fire yawned, “It’s like this: you’re a worse battler than your mom. Now, you try it.”

“My mother was a badge trainer!” Zane clenched his fist.

Fire tilted his head side-to-side, “Alright then. You’re a worse battler than your grandma. You gotta be creative with these kinds of–”

“Just stop,” I raised an eyebrow.

Fire stuck his tongue out as he slammed open the door of another room. Nothing inside. “This is such a waste of time!” He kicked the wall.

“We have to check,” I insisted, “they could use these rooms to ambush us.”

“Whatever.” Zane took a deep breath, then walked past us.

I chased after him, “What are you doing?”

“You guys are just going to keep arguing. I thought you’re supposed to be the most powerful trainers in Calis- in the world, even,” He started running forward. The door to the next car shot open, and he ducked through as quickly as I could, barely giving me time to step in after him.

This car was dark except for a single buzzing light. Fire and Chii would catch up to us any moment. I grabbed the sleeve of Zane’s shirt. “Take a deep breath,” I whispered, “these trains get regular maintenance, the lights wouldn’t just be out.”

He grabbed my hand to push it away, then stopped. “Your fingers are sparkling,” he winced, “static electricity or something.”

“They do that now. Don’t worry about it.”

“Bianca went off to explore the train before this happened,” he swallowed, “I have to make sure she’s alright.”

“She’ll be fine. Trust me.”

The light snapped on suddenly, filling the car with a blaring white light. There were no seats or rooms for passengers in here. The walls were lined with crates. A tall man in a black suit, formerly hidden in the darkness, stepped forward. “A little pair, are we?” His voice creaked, “A-do-ra-ble.”

“Who are you?” Zane grabbed Prince’s Capture Ball.

“Call me Marco, boy,” the man said, running his hands through his graying, blonde hair. I’d met him plenty of times before, an enforcer for the old Starlight Gang rearing his ugly head again. Marco was the kind to laugh in uncanny glee when a Capmon died, even one of his own. The type to beg his comrades, pleading like an entranced toddler, to keep Capmon they’d stolen for his own personal projects, Capmon that would never be seen again. He smiled broadly, “What a cute little champion you’ve got with you. Were you holding hands?”

I pulled my hand away from him, balling my fist, “I think you’re confused, Marco.”

“Oh… I’ll speak louder!” He pretended to yell, “You must have trouble hearing with those fuzzy, little ears. How weird. If those are just a costume, shouldn’t you have normal ears on the sides of your head, too? Where are they?”

“My hair is covering them, idiot.”

Zane stepped forward, “You’re just here to waste our time.”

“Guilty!” Marco unbuttoned his suit jacket, throwing it to the side casually. He stopped to fiddle with his tie before grabbing one of his Capture Balls, “I know you, little boy. You got obliterated at the Jubilee Cup, that beginner's tournament. Third place? How humiliating.”

Prince shot out of Zane’s Capture Ball, waddling forward. He held his flipper out as if he were flexing it. Zane tapped his foot. “Well, you’d have gotten dead last.”

“N-no,” I shook my head, “he wouldn’t have, Zane.”

Marco stuck his tongue out, “Look at that little tail wagging! And to protect my image, too? What did I do to deserve such a cute display?”

“I’ll throw you off the train,” I offered.

“Scary!” He pretended to flinch, “Alright, get out of your stupid ball, Zorb.” A perfectly spherical Capmon with a metallic body appeared at Marco’s feet. Zorb wasn’t known for being particularly useful in a straight battle, but they had one ability they were most notorious for. They could blow themselves up at a whim.

I shook my head, “We’re on a train, you moron!”

“That’s the point!” He threw his arms out to the side, “I’ll glass the entire train car, sending you both flying out the windows while I watch from…” He looked around himself.

“Last time there was any chance of you actually getting hurt, you ran off like you were scared,” I grabbed one of my own Capture Balls, “if all you have is a Zorb that you’re too afraid to use, just get out of our way.”

He pointed at my hand with the Capture Ball, “You can’t join in, it’s one on one!” He was right, legally speaking.

“Prince,” I commanded, “get as close to the opposing trainer as you can. If you do, Zorb can’t blow up!”

Prince looked at me like I had two heads. “Who are you?” His beak hung open.

“Doesn’t matter. Just listen to me.”

“Giving commands for him, that’s cheating!” Marco complained.

“You’re threatening to blow up the train!” Zane shot back, “Prince, she’s a champion.”

Prince waddled forward, rocking back and forth on the moving train. Zorb rolled to the side, being pulled slightly toward us from the train’s momentum. I smiled, “Zorb is a lightning type, but if it stops to actually channel that power against Prince, it won’t be able to focus on keeping itself from rolling away.” Prince pushed past the Zorb and turned back toward it while sitting under Marco’s legs.

“Now, splash it with water!” Zane called out. I nodded. The stream of water that spat out of Prince’s beak splattered all over Zorb’s body. It slipped while trying to roll, then spun out of control, quickly being pulled to the very back of the train car. It slammed against the door to the car behind us, then stopped. It had to be recalled without exploding.

Marco stomped his foot on the ground, clumsily trying to kick at Prince, who ran back to Zane’s side. The Starlight enforcer screamed at the top of his lungs, “Useless! Useless! Useless!” He stepped over to the wall and began repeatedly bashing Zorb’s Capture Ball against it.

“Stop! If you break the Capture Ball, you could kill it!” Zane ran to him.

Marco grabbed his arm. He spoke quietly, “I know, little boy. I know.”

Zane pulled his arm away. “Give up. You’ve lost.”

“My captain is still running the show here,” Marco cackled. He ran to the door and forced it open. I tried racing after him, but stopped as he didn’t step into the next car. Marco climbed on top of the train. The door behind us shot open as Fire and Chii caught up.

Zane pointed up, “He escaped on top of the train.”

“I can see that!” I yelled back at him.

Fire laughed to himself, “You couldn’t stop him, Cyan?”

“Where were you?” I asked.

“One of them came up on us from behind. I don’t even know where he came from!” Chii mumbled, “Nyaro made quick work of them!”

Zane opened the door and grabbed the little metal ladder to climb on top of the train. “Come on, this way!”

“Their captain is going to be at the front, not up there,” I said.

“He could kill that Zorb if we don’t stop him!” Zane yelled, “The captain can wait!”