After returning the little vivosaur Professor Little (which almost required a tranquilizer), Nate and I met with the other candidates in the Captain's office.

"FINALLY!" Dahlia practically whined when we got there, "Where WERE you?"

"Oh, just on a little adventure." I sighed tiredly, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"That's an understatement!" Nate interjected, catching everyone's attention, "We discovered a hidden chamber with a little vivo-ow!" He cried out in pain and fell on the floor, clutching the foot I had dug my heel into.

"A little what?" Penny asked innocently.

"Nothing." I assured her, glaring at the pink-haired doofus on the floor.

"Rookies." I heard Leon mutter quietly, although he looked away when I turned to him. Nate must have good ears, however, because he got off the floor and faced the purple-haired punk.

"That's not true!" Nate cried, sounding slightly insulted, "Tria was able to defeat this HUGE rogue vivosaur! Tell them, Tria!"

I looked at the floor as everyone's eyes turned back to me, blushing. I'm not good at handling spotlight. "I didn't defeat it. I just managed to drive it away."

"What kind of vivosaur was it?" Dahlia asked excitedly, eyeing me curiously.

I looked around at the others. They all clearly wanted to know. I sighed as my eyes returned to the floor and muttered quietly, "A Gorgo."

The group looked at each other in confusion, not recognizing the name. Except one.

"WHAT?!" the guy with the glasses, Yamamoto, shrieked, "You faced a Gorgo?! And you survived?!"

The group continued to glance between me and Yamamoto before Roland asked hesitantly, "What's a Gorgo?"

Yamamoto turned to the group, his brown eyes wide as saucers. "A Gorgo is a large, carnivorous, Fire-type vivosaur. They are intelligent and aggressive, and have even been known to hold a grudge."

Everyone's eyes turned back to me, this time in awe. Even Leon looked impressed, which was an accomplishment.

"That's amazing!" Penny exclaimed, running up and hugging me, "I'm glad you're okay!"

"Weren't you scared?" Roland asked me, looking terrified at the mere thought of the vivosaur's description.

"You're INCREDIBLE!" Dahlia declared, patting (slapping) my shoulders.

I noticed Leon smirking at me before he glared at Nate, who was still bugging him.

"That's enough, everyone."

The group got quiet as Captain Stryker entered the room and approached his desk.

"You can all discuss your lessons later. For now, it's time to start the Warden Test." he said, pulling out a box filled with slips of paper.

"In this test, you'll form teams of two and face off against civilian fighters in the Fossil Stadium. If you win twice, you pass. And in that case, I'll be pleased to shake your hand and call you a full-fledged Warden." Everyone muttered in excitement and anxiousness. Stryker held out the box. "We'll start by deciding the teams. Everyone draw a lot."

We all drew a piece of paper, with Stryker noting the teams on a clipboard.

"All right, then. Our teams are…Penny and Dahlia."

The two girls turned to face each other. "Great! Let's do this!" Penny said optimistically.

"As long as you can keep up with me, we'll be just fine!" Dahlia agreed excitedly.

"Nate and Leon."

Nate turned to Leon, ignoring the glare he was receiving. "Nice! We're gonna kick butt! Oh, but don't kick my butt, okay? It's kinda sore from the little vivos-"

"Just stay out of my way." Leon growled, causing Nate to squeak in surprise.

"Yamamoto and Sydney."

"This will be a walk in the park." Yamamoto said confidently.

"Like racin' dingoes 'round the outback!" the Australian agreed (I think?).

"And finally, Tria and Roland."

Roland turned to me. "I was hoping I'd get paired up with you, Tria. After all, if it hadn't been for you, I might've rolled right out of here! Plus, you managed to defeat a vicious rogue vivosaur!"

I sweatdropped. "I guess that's true, huh?" It would be pointless to tell him that he would've just hit the building and stopped there.

"Here's a last piece of advice." Stryker said, calling everyone's attention back to him, "Don't relax just because you're facing civilian fighters. The folks who come to this Fossil Park are known for their prowess in Fossil Battles. They may not be Wardens, but it would be wise not to take them lightly. Get your teams in order, and then enter the competition whenever you're ready."

Stryker then dramatically held out his hand, proclaiming, "As long as you and your allies support each other, you'll have nothing to fear! Now get out there and fight!"

"Yeah!" the group chorused back, and we all left. While exiting the elevator, I heard Leon muttering to himself.

"This test is a joke." he grumbled, crossing his arms, "What's the point in teaming up in a fight? There's only one person you can trust in a Fossil Battle, and that's yourself!"

"I don't know about that." I interjected, walking over to him, "Sure, everyone makes mistakes, and those mistakes can bring the team down, but teammates can also pull you out of a jam when you need it most."

"Pfft. You're soft as the rest of 'em." he snarled at me, "What would you know?"

I crossed my arms, mirroring the taller male, "I know that, if I'd had some help in my fight with the Gorgo, I may have actually been able to defeat it instead of letting it escape."

"Hmph." Leon huffed, turning away from me, "Like I need to be lectured by some rookie who happened to get lucky a few times. And don't bother trying to be my friend, 'cause I'm not interested."

"The feeling's mutual." I barked back at him. He just ignored me. I walked past the receptionist, still fuming, when I heard a familiar cry.

"AHHH! SOMEBODY, STOP ME!"

I turned to see Roland rolling towards me again. Reacting faster than last time, I held up my foot, catching him before he could knock me over.

"Oh, Tria! Thank goodness! I was trying to catch up to you when I tripped on something."

"Uh…Roland…your shoes are untied." I pointed out, trying not to laugh.

Roland turned bright red. "Oh yeah! I can't ever see my feet, so I never notice when they get untied."

Once he tied his shoes, he looked back to me. "Anyway, I've got an idea, Tria. What if we visited Paradise Beach one more time before going to the Fossil Stadium?"

I looked at him, shocked. "Are you sure? You know the Gorgo is still there, right?"

Roland shook his head. "You drove it off, remember? And if it does come back, you can just drive it off again!"

"Ok…" I replied, still a little unsure.

"Come on!" Roland urged, "We can get our teams stronger so we can do well in the Warden Test! Or, at least, so I can keep up with you."

"All right." I finally relented, "But don't say I didn't warn you."

"Awesome!" Roland cheered, "Ok, it's a plan! Let's go!" He then took off toward the Garage. I followed close behind, making sure he didn't trip and fall again.

We drove around Paradise Beach, digging up fossils of new vivosaurs and battling rogues to strengthen our own. We even ran into a few of the other teams and had friendly sparring sessions with them.

"Hey, come on, Tria! Let's check out this area! I haven't been here before!" I heard Roland call me through the radios of our Bone Buggies. I drove over to where he was, only to see him driving into the clearing where I had fought the Gorgo.

"Roland…" I said slowly, "I don't think we should be here…"

"Why not?" Roland asked me, "There are fossils here! Maybe we'll find some new vivosaurs!"

I was about to respond when I noticed something.

"Watch out!" I called out as a large rock fell right in front of Roland's Bone Buggy.

"Woah! That was close!" he cried, backing away from the rock, "That rock could've crushed us!"

"That's weird…" I muttered, looking at the rock, "There weren't any rocks on the cliff before…" I looked up in time to see two more rocks tumbling directly toward Roland's Bone Buggy.

"Roland! LOOK OUT!" I yelled, driving forward and ramming his Bone Buggy out of the way. I then pressed my body to my Bone Buggy's floor as the rocks fell on it.

"TRIA!" I heard Roland scream.

Luckily, because of how sturdy the Bone Buggies are (especially the ones they give to newbies), it wasn't completely destroyed, but the roof had collapsed and kept me pinned to the floor. The edge of the roof had also slashed my left arm, which was now bleeding badly.

"TRIA! ARE YOU OK?!" Roland called to me.

"Peachy…" I replied, hissing in pain as the movement caused the broken roof to cut deeper into my arm.

"Hang on! I'll come get you!" I heard my companion say, followed by the sound of an engine revving, "Aw, come on! My Bone Buggy's busted!"

I cursed silently, "Crap! I must have damaged it when I pushed him out of the way! At least he's not hurt."

"Hang on, Tria! I'll get to you on foot!" Roland called to me.

My eyes widened and I lifted my head, ignoring the burning agony in my arm to yell, "Don't even think about it!"

"Why?" Roland asked, but then I heard him scream and I knew his question had been answered, "What the heck is that?!" That outburst was followed by a roar that I recognized instantly.

"The Gorgo…" I said loudly enough that Roland could hear me through the radio, "They have been known to hold a grudge. It's come to take revenge on me for attacking it earlier." Pain was starting to color my voice.

"This is bad! This is really bad!" Roland was starting to panic, "I'm calling Captain Stryker!"

"You do that…" I muttered, clenching my teeth to keep from screaming as the now-furious Gorgo pushed my Bone Buggy, tearing off the front so that I could see out. As it glared at me, yellow eyes burning with rage, I closed my eyes, beginning to lose consciousness from blood loss. That's when I heard another familiar growl.

My eyes shot open as the Gorgo roared in pain, turning around to look at the little red vivosaur that had bitten down on its leg. The little vivosaur jumped in front of my Bone Buggy, growling protectively.

"What are you doing here, little guy? Get out of here!" I called out to him, but he didn't listen. Instead, he began to glow.

"What the-?" I muttered, vaguely registering Roland's call to Stryker as the little vivosaur grew to about half the size of the Gorgo. His elongated tail had a pair of spines on either side of the tip. He roared, charging at the Gorgo.

"RAAAWWR!" The Gorgo charged as well, jaws agape.

The Gorgo lunged at the not-so-little vivosaur, who jumped out of the way, bringing his hind legs down on the Gorgo's flank and driving it back. He then lunged at the Gorgo, biting into its chest. The Gorgo slammed its muzzle into its opponent's side, causing the bright red vivosaur to let go and jump back again. The red vivosaur roared in fury and leapt forward, snapping at it rapidly, dealing large amounts of damage before it could react. The Gorgo, realizing it was outmatched, took off, fleeing further into the dig site. The red vivosaur bellowed victoriously before shrinking and running over to my Bone Buggy.

"Holy wow!" Roland exclaimed excitedly, "Did you see him transform?"

"Yeah. Thanks buddy." I tried to sound grateful, because I was, but my voice came out as a pained gasp.

"Grah…" the little vivosaur growled worriedly, climbing onto my broken Bone Buggy and trying to lift the collapsed roof off of me.

"Hold on, Tria!" Roland called to me through the radio, "Captain Stryker and Mr. Liu Ren are on their way! They'll get you out of there!"

"Oh, good." I mumbled, "It's starting to get cramped in here."

The little vivosaur whined, straining to lift the collapsed roof. He then snorted and jumped down, transforming again into the large carnivore that had battled the Gorgo. As he lowered his head to my level, the Captain's Digger's Rig appeared, followed by a large mobile Bone Buggy repair car.

"Hang on, Tria!" Stryker called, driving as fast as he could toward the red vivosaur. The vivosaur turned to face Stryker, growling dangerously.

"Hold it, Stryker!" I commanded sternly, causing him to stop in his tracks.

"What do you think you're doing, Tria?!" Roland exclaimed disbelievingly, "You can't speak like that to the Captain! You're not even a Warden yet!"

"Just…trust me, okay?" I pleaded, not just with Roland, but with the two senior Wardens as well. I then locked eyes with the red vivosaur, who was looking at me with concern. "Please…continue…" I was starting to have trouble staying awake again, now that the adrenaline of battle was literally flowing out of my body.

The red vivosaur, realizing how much danger I was in, lowered his head again and, as gently as he could, grabbed the collapsed roof and lifted it off of the Bone Buggy, tossing it away once it had cleared my body. He then gingerly picked me up in his jaws and brought me over to the mobile repair car, where Liu Ren was waiting with Roland. Stryker soon joined us as the red vivosaur put me down and shrank again.

"Oh my gosh! Are you okay, Tria?" Roland cried. He was bawling. "I'm so sorry you got hurt! If I had just seen those rocks…"

"Relax, Roland." I said, smiling, although I cringed when Liu Ren put disinfectant on the gash on my arm, "It wasn't your fault. Those things were right above you; you couldn't possibly have seen them."

"Yeah, but still…" he whimpered, tears streaming down his face.

"You should consider yourself lucky." Liu Ren told me, "Other than this gash on your arm, your injuries are minor. You'll make a full recovery; you just need a few days of rest." The little vivosaur nuzzled my uninjured arm.

"Hm." Stryker hummed thoughtfully, looking in the direction the Gorgo had run, "We're going to have to do something about that Gorgo. It's starting to get out of hand."

"Can't you handle it, Captain?" Roland asked nervously. Stryker sighed.

"Not right now. I have to oversee the Warden Test. The other candidates are getting impatient."

"As do I." Liu Ren said, clearly anxious about the Gorgo, "But we can't just let this chance go. It's been severely weakened already…"

"I know…" Stryker groaned, pressing his temples, "What are we going to do?"

"Send us."

Everyone turned to look at me. I had managed to get to my feet, albeit unsteadily.

"Fix our Bone Buggies, and Roland and I will chase it down and finish it off."

"Out of the question!" Stryker replied sternly.

"You're in no condition to give chase!" Liu Ren added, grabbing my shoulders to steady me.

"You need to rest!" Roland cried, staring at me with wide eyes.

"Grrr!" the little vivosaur growled at me.

"I don't think you understand." I stated, standing up straight, "That Gorgo was targeting me specifically. It's still mad at me for protecting this little guy. And as long as it sees me as weaker than it, it will continue to come after me."

"What are you saying?" Stryker asked me.

I looked over at my teammate. "Roland uses a Tricera, a Water-type vivosaur, which is strong against the Fire-type Gorgo. My Lophus MN, which I used to drive off the Gorgo earlier, has experience fighting it. With Roland's help, we could take it out once and for all. And if the Gorgo falls by my hands, even with an ally's help, then it will give up on its vengeance and settle down."

Stryker glared at the ground. He knew what I said was the truth. "Liu Ren…fix their Bone Buggies."

"Yes, sir." Liu Ren answered, quickly fixing our damaged Bone Buggies.

"Unfortunately, I can't let him stay with you." Stryker said to me, gesturing to the little vivosaur, "We still don't know what he's capable of, and you can't handle him in your condition."

"RAAR!" the vivosaur protested, snapping at Stryker. I placed my hand on his head.

"It's okay, little guy. If you're good, they'll let you stay awake. Show them how good you can be." I told him, smiling kindly. He growled quietly, grudgingly relenting to my argument.

"By the way…" Stryker muttered to me, his voice becoming quiet, "How did you know why the Gorgo is behaving the way it is?"

I looked at the Captain, analyzing the curious look on his face, before replying, "I just know."

Stryker was about to respond, but Liu Ren approached us.

"The Bone Buggies are fully operational." he reported, glancing at me before looking to Stryker, "We need to get going, Captain. The candidates and the fighters can't wait much longer, and the audience is getting restless."

"All right." Stryker replied, "Tria, Roland, the rest is up to you. But please…" He looked pointedly at me. "Be careful."

"Yes, sir!" we both answered, climbing into our Bone Buggies and following after the Gorgo.

"Um…Tria?" Roland asked after a minute.

"Hm?" I acknowledged.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked worriedly. I chuckled quietly.

"For now, anyway, but we'll need to do this quickly. I lost quite a bit of blood from the gash on my arm." I looked at the monitor. Roland looked like he was about to be sick. "Sorry…" I apologized.

"It's…okay…urp!" he gagged, holding a hand to his mouth, "Let's just get this over with."

"Agreed." I said, driving through the gate at the end of a narrow canyon. On the other side, we found the Gorgo.

"Wow…" Roland muttered as he and I stopped behind the vivosaur, "I almost feel sorry for it."

"So do I." I agreed. The large vivosaur was sitting in a slumped position, its head pointed downward with its muzzle on the ground.

"Do you really think it's okay to attack it?" Roland asked me, "I mean, it looks so weak."

"Don't let your guard down!" I responded, "It's faking it!"

Roland opened his mouth to respond, but stopped when the Gorgo suddenly growled and jumped up, facing us.

"Ah!" Roland screamed, "It hasn't been weakened at all!"

"Yes, it has!" I assured my partner, "It's putting on an aggressive front, since its weak act failed! Release Tricera!"

Roland obeyed, sending out the large horned vivosaur. The aggressive herbivore roared at his opponent, his confidence making up for Roland's nervousness. I sent out Lophus MN, who proceeded to whistle challengingly at the familiar adversary.

The Gorgo roared, charging at Lophus MN, due to her weaker appearance. Lophus MN, however, had seen enough of that move, and side-stepped the carnivore, slamming into it with her side. Tricera, taking advantage of the Gorgo's weaker stance, charged, sending the Fire-type vivosaur flying. As the Gorgo landed against the ground, it tried to run, but Lophus MN and Tricera were having none of it. At their fighters' commands, with the help of their fighters' Support Shots, the two Water-type herbivores lunged forward, slamming the carnivore into the wall behind it. The Gorgo, unable to withstand the double assault, shined brightly before turning back into a Dino Gear.

I got out of my Bone Buggy and retrieved the Dino Gear, looking at it with sympathy and understanding. It had been abused, and therefore didn't trust anyone. I returned to my Bone Buggy under the watchful eyes of the two vivosaurs above me. With the Gorgo subdued and our vivosaurs returned to their own Dino Gears, Roland and I returned to the Fossil Park, with me passing out the moment my Bone Buggy was parked.