28 Phase 23: Sunshine Town Duos Tournament

The time soon came that Colin stood in the Sunshine Town Battle Arena, registered and waiting for the battles to start.

"Nervous?" Satrox asked him.

"Very." Colin admitted. "Satrox, I haven't seen any other Yellow Badges here besides you and me. What kind of competition am I going to face?"

"Easy ones, I imagine. I don't even know if there are any other yellow badges competing." Satrox admitted. "Even Katrin and those three at the farm are Green Badges."

"I feel like an idiot, still at Yellow while everyone else reached Green." Colin growled.

"Well, you're probably the strongest Yellow Badge around right now, so feel more confident about yourself." Satrox told him. "I just hope there's enough people around to have a yellow-badge contest."

Colin shook his head. "Satrox, is there any difference between the Solos Tournament and the Duos Tournament?"

"Sure there is." Satrox said. "The Solos Tournament only allows one Comrade to be sent out. The Duos mean you send two."

"But there's just one Dreamer commanding them both, right?" Colin asked.

"Not necessarily. Two Dreamers are allowed to take part together, each sending one." Satrox said. "But I don't think anyone would bother to do that at Yellow Badge."

"Don't rub it in." Colin muttered, trying hard not to wish he was at Green Badge already.

He failed. "I want a Green Badge!!"

***

"Ladies and Gentlemen…" the announcer said. "We'll begin tonight's competitions at the lowest level allowed. Tonight, we actually do have enough Yellow Badges to compete, and there are some rumors that this isn't going to be as boring as we all thought."

Colin felt a chill as an Arena attendant motioned him forward. He entered the battle zone of the Arena at the same time as three others, coming from four different sides of the Arena.

"We'll hold the battles at the same time." The announcer added. "On the south-east side, we have a Traveler who just landed at Lynn airport an hour ago; Daniel of Rados Town!"

The guy on Colin's far left waved. He was wearing a red cap and brought two Arachnids with him. A few people clapped.

"On south-west side, we have a boy who hails from the mountains and mines – Benny of Granath Town!"

The guy across from Daniel waved. He wore a mining cap and an orange jacket. He brought a Rock Beetle and a Red Panther.

"Go, Benny!" some girl from the crowd yelled.

Colin tried to see the person coming towards him, his first opponent, but he couldn't really see much because the spotlight fell on him next.

"On the north-east side, one of our very own. He's just returned from the South Sunshine Forest - Colin of Sunrise Town!"

{Colin of Sunrise Town…? Oh… that's right. This is where I started, after all… what was it Michi said? Next week, new Travelers will start from Riverside Town.}

"And on the north-west, another of our own! She just got back from the ruins of Hot Sands Village. Please welcome our only girl competitor at Yellow Badge Ranking…

"Rita of Sunrise Town!"

***

"RITA?!" Colin jumped.

"Hello, Colin." Rita waved, but at him rather than the crowd. "How have you been?"

"What happened with Henry?" was the first thing out of Colin's mouth.

"He's fine." Rita said, mouth twisting. She said no more on the matter. {Cripes. Rita's always been super-talkative. If she doesn't want to talk about something, it's got to be bad.}

"Do your best, Colin!" Rita said then. "I'm not going to hold back!"

Colin inspected her Comrades. She'd brought her Arachnid, named 'One' and her Venuspot, named 'Two'. The Arachnid was her First – that one would be stronger. The Venuspot, which looked like a hopping venus fly-trap, was slow, but dangerous with close combat.

"Shiro…" Colin said. "Careful with that Venuspot."

"Yip." Shiro replied. He turned to Rall. "Yip?"

"Rawrl." Rall answered.

Rita would recognize his Comrades, of course. She was there when he picked Rall up, after all.

"Let the first round begin!" The announcer said.

***

"One, Two, Pick up Shoes!" Rita chanted.

Her Arachnid and her Venuspot dashed forward.

{What DOES 'pick up shoes' mean? Run straight?}

Every Traveler could make up their own code signals, Satrox said. It would be good for him to make up his own commands for Tournaments.

Except that Colin seldom needed to use commands. All he said was, "Shiro!"

"Yip!" Shiro replied. He turned to Rall. "Yip!"

"Rawrl!" Rall replied, and they split up, each to either side.

Just in time. Rita was calling, "Two Jaws Come Right Together, One ring to rule them all!"

Her Venuspot clenched its teeth tight and sent a stream of thorns from its mouth after Rall, and her Arachnid started setting up a sticky web in a ring around them.

{She's setting up for long-range combat… Webbing to keep the guys out, and shooting thorns from inside.}

"Rall! Provoke One!" Colin shouted. "Earth barrier!"

Rall roared, and threw a splat of honey into the face of Rita's Arachnid. The spider hissed, turning away from its job and spat at Rall.

Rall, though, had already raised his Earth Barrier, a thin layer of soil and sand drawn up from the grassy floor of the Arena. The spitball hit it and stuck there.

"Two Jaws Come Left Together!" Rita said, and her Venuspot, Two, turned left and shot thorns at Shiro.

But Shiro was too quick, too witty, to be hit by those thorns. He changed directions in mid-run and dove behind the Arachnid, who was still trying to spit webbing at Rall.

"Two O'Clock Rain!" Rita called.

Her Venuspot jumped...

{What the… it can jump THAT high?!}

…and rained thorns down at Shiro from above.

"Shiro! H-bolt Two!"

Shiro sped forward, directly under the Venuspot, and fired up a Hypersonic Bolt. The ripple of it glowed green.

"Hypersonic?!" the announcer gasped. "At yellow?!"

"Get 'em!" Colin barked.

Shiro leapt up and Bit Two from below, then Lashed his tail into the roots of the Venuspot.

The hopping plant went tumbling into the ground as Rita yelled, "Two in the Afternoon Sun!"

But her Venuspot didn't respond. It had fainted outright.

"Shiro!" Colin called. "H-bolt One!"

"Yip!" Shiro replied, and did exactly that.

The Arachnid spun around and hissed at Shiro.

"Rall! Provoke! Earth Barrier!" Colin called again.

The Arachnid got splattered by another faceful of honey. It spun back to Rall.

"Shiro! Get 'em!"

"One! Watch out!" Rita yelled.

Too late. Shiro's Sharp Fang and Tail Lash hit, hard.

Amazingly, One still kept his feet. He stumbled, but he bit back at Shiro.

Shiro dodged.

"Rall! Provoke!" Colin called.

But it didn't work any more. One had clearly been too hurt by Shiro to care about Rall's sticky honey. One kept biting at Shiro, who kept dodging.

"Rall! Charge!" Colin ordered.

Rall dashed forward.

"Behind you!" Rita screamed.

The Arachnid ignored her.

Rall slammed into it and sent it tumbling for about ten feet.

When it stopped tumbling, it didn't move any more.

"One! Two! Are you guys all right?!" Rita yelped.

Neither of them so much as twitched.

"North side winner: Colin of Sunshine Town!" The announcer called.

And then the south side caught fire.

Colin turned to the south side in time to see Daniel's Arachnids running around, scrambling avoid the fire.

Benny's Red Panther didn't let up. The cat was sending a stream of fire at them from above its head and didn't look like she was about to stop any time soon.

His rock beetle, meanwhile, was charging full-tilt at the Arachnids.

"Forfeit! FORFEIT!!" Daniel was yelling.

Too late. The Rock Beetle slammed home and the two Arachnids went flying across the Arena like bowling pins.

"A fast Beetle and a Red Panther with strong fire attacks…" the announcer sounded amazed. "I can hardly believe it."

"FORFEIT!!" Daniel yelled again.

"Daniel calls forfeit!" the announcer said. "Medics, get in here! The first round is over!

"South side winner: Benny of Granath!"

***

"Colin!"

Colin paused, wincing. Rita was there, waving at him.

"Uh…"

"That was amazing!" Rita grinned. "Battle me again one day!"

"Uh…"

"Did you see Satrox? He disappeared after I got back. You know, Mayor Henry's saying they can turn the whole mess around, take advantage of the fact that their desert homes are now under a ton of water…"

Rita, it seemed, was not nervous any more. She was back to her excited talkative self all over again.

"…and then the carpenter said the wood from… Colin? Colin, are you listening?"

"Sorry, Rita. I'm thinking about the next round." Colin told her. "Benny's a lot stronger than I thought."

"Yeah." Rita subsided. "Most Red Panthers are physical attackers, not long-range attackers. And that Rock Beetle…"

"The ones I've fought before were always slow." Colin agreed. "But Benny's beetle… that thing's fast."

"Not as fast as Shiro." Rita shrugged, but he could see that she was uneasy too.

Colin turned to his Comrades as they rested up in preparation for the next round. Meanwhile, the Green Badge competitors were having their first round.

Rita went to check on her Comrades and started chatting non-stop with the medic tending them. Colin watched the Green Badge Tournaments.

They were having four battles at the same time. One of them was over already, and the other three didn't seem like they would last much longer.

{They finished up in a minute. We took… how long?}

More than a minute, for sure.

The Blue Badges had their first round. They, too, had four battles at the same time.

{So many people… all of them stronger than me… }

Far stronger. Some of those attacks were making the Arena shake. Colin saw another bear use Earth Barrier, and that one looked like a thick wall of rock rather than Rall's flimsy little layer. He saw a bigger wolfcat use a Sonic Rain, and cover the entire area in Sonic Bolts from above.

So much more powerful.

The Purple Badge competitors had two battles. Colin watched them closely; Gym Trainers and a Breeder he didn't recognize, but no Scarlet.

{Scarlet… where is Scarlet? She's not in the Purple Badge contest?}

Colin was waiting for them to call out a Red Badge contest when he heard his name called.

"Yellow Badges, round two! Colin of Sunshine and Benny of Granath!" the announcer repeated.

{Maybe Scarlet's only going to show up for the Overalls… having no one at her level to contest her for it.}

But whether or not Scarlet had any competition, Colin had a battle to fight.

Colin stepped up to face Benny.

***

"Yo, dude." Benny greeted him.

The announcer was talking about the last match between the Purple Badges. Colin and Benny were obliged to wait for the Arena crew to clean up the place before they started their battle.

The audience seemed to be relaxing now; the big fights were over and it was time for a toilet break while the little guys played.

After everything he'd seen earlier, he could hardly blame them, but even so, Colin felt a bit irked about being ignored when he was facing his final round in this tournament.

Benny, looked twice as annoyed about it as Colin did. Colin couldn't blame him – getting a Red Panther and Rock Beetle that rare had to have taken a great deal of effort, and the audience around here didn't seem particularly interested in what he'd managed.

"Hello, Benny." Colin answered.

Benny gave him a toothy smile. "You know, I've never seen a white wolfcat until now."

"I've never seen a Rock Beetle that fast, or a Red Panther that strong in long-range attacks." Colin countered.

"Good point." Benny agreed with a smile. "I'm going to crush you completely, you know that."

Colin shrugged. "Guess we're about to find out."

Benny had brought the same Beetle and Panther. Colin eyed them and then wondered if he'd made the right decision.

For this battle, he'd left Rall behind and brought Fireheart. He'd done a quick check of her techniques and found her strongest attack to be Cat's Claw. Fireheart, though, had two advantages he was counting on – the technique known as Double Claw, and the Fire Essence that might protect her against Benny's Red Panther's fire.

"The field is ready. Colin and Benny, are you set?"

"Set!" Colin called back.

"Set!" Benny shouted, and they took their positions.

"Go!"

***

"Both of you, full evasive!" Colin called, just as Benny ordered a Fire Stream and a Full Tilt Charge.

"Yip!" Shiro barked as he dashed ahead of the Red Panther's fire stream, every now and then jumping over the flames or lying flat under them.

"Riao!" Fireheart answered, as they circled Benny's Comrades from either side.

"Shiro!" Colin said, and Shiro doubled his speed…

And stopped abruptly.

{What the…?}

"Reddy, cease fire!" Benny yelped. Colin blinked until he realized where Shiro had stopped. The little wolfcat was right in between the Panther and Benny himself.

Shiro turned towards the Red Panther and charged. Fireheart came in from the side, the Rock Beetle just behind her.

"Wow… that boy's in trouble." The announcer said.

It was true. Benny was panicking now. The Red Panther couldn't attack either of Colin's comrades, because if she attacked Fireheart and Fireheart dodged, she'd hit the Rock Beetle. Worse, if she attacked Shiro and he dodged, she'd hit Benny.

The audience murmured.

"Reddy, dodge!" Benny found himself with only one option.

But Reddy, the Red Panther, couldn't do as ordered. She tried, she really did, but trying to avoid Shiro was like trying to avoid the wind. He was just too fast, and try as she might, she got hit no less than three times before Shiro suddenly jumped away.

And {then} Fireheart slammed into Reddy, the two Red Panthers tumbling some two feet before Fireheart, too, leapt clear away.

Just in time for Benny's Rock Beetle to crash into his own ally and bowl her over.

"Whoa!" The announcer said. The audience murmured again.

"Yip!" Shiro barked to Fireheart, and the pair of them closed in on the Rock Beetle from either side.

{Wait… what about that Panther…?}

But Benny's Red Panther was no longer moving.

{Shiro knew… he knew when she was out…}

{One down. Fireheart never needed the protection of her Fire Essence…}

{But she still has her other advantage.}

"Double Cat's Claw!" Colin called. "Take him out!"

Fireheart Double-clawed the Rock Beetle and Shiro bit him with the Sharp Fang technique. The Rock Beetle spun around, trying to bite him back, but when he spun, they simply swung around and went on attacking his back.

"Stone Aura!" Benny ordered.

A faint gray light shone from the Beetle, trying to push Shiro and Fireheart back.

Colin thought of ordering Shiro to use Sonic Howl on the Beetle, but then decided against it. The Sonic Howl wasn't too well developed just yet. "Shiro! H-bolt!"

"Yip!" Shiro replied and blasted a Hypersonic Bolt into the tail of the Rock Beetle.

The Rock Beetle spun, furiously. He stopped the Stone Aura and spat a huge spray of acid at Shiro.

Shiro Howled. Colin saw the sheer ripples of sonic energy and realized that he wasn't using his old, basic Howl any more. This was, for certain, the Sonic Howl.

The force of his Howl slammed into the spray of liquid and halted it in mid-air.

Meanwhile, Fireheart clawed the Beetle for all she was worth. The Beetle squealed in pain, and turned around to face Fireheart.

Shiro's Sonic Howl smashed through the remains of that acid spray and crashed into the Beetle's side. The whole thing tumbled in mid turn and suddenly fell over on its back.

"It's over." The announcer said.

"What?!" Rita's high pitched voice came clearly over the audience's murmuring.

The announcer spluttered. "Sorry! That wasn't an official statement! Just my personal opinion! Sorry!"

"It's not over!" Benny said, but his face was pale.

Colin said nothing and watched.

Benny's Beetle was kicking the air helplessly under Shiro's Howl. It shook like that there for a while as Shiro blasted at it, but then, Shiro stopped.

The Beetle stopped moving too.

"Okay. NOW it's over." The announcer said, clearing his throat. "Ladies and Gentlemen, this year's Third Sunshine Town Duos Tournament, Yellow Badge ranking has a champion! Colin of Sunshine Town has won!"

The audience actually cheered.