200 Chapters! For those of you who read this from the beginning, thank you so much.


The grounds of Squid Academy are so lively that the pandemonium of the Rank Wars and Spring Invitationals didn't even hold a candle to the elation they feel now, being blessed not only with a surprising Rank War followed by an unforgettable run in the spring, but now they were in the big dance! For the first time in several years, Squid Academy is competing at Nationals. Students and faculty alike were in a state of euphoria, salivating at the thought that this might be the potential year they could go far; the last team to do it was the squad of the "Golden Age" that made it as far as the quarterfinals. It was a stretch, but for some it felt like a historic moment since the Squid Academy squad of this age somewhat mirrored the golden age squad: an unlikely squad led by an underdog captain, upsetting the best teams and making deep runs. Salivating is one way to describe the excitement, with most students planning how they would spend their time in Squirabia knowing that the school would likely fund the trip for all students to attend and show their support, and that wasn't all, the entire community looked to join in on the celebration and even show their support through sponsorship and endorsements. To accommodate the damages that happened in Ravia, the National Tournament was scheduled to happen at the end of the month with more games happening simultaneously for the early stages, which meant there was roughly 3 weeks until the first game and plenty of time for a countdown. In that time, that gave Squidcom a chance to revel in their glory of becoming the heroes on campus-their legend as the team who revived the school by bringing in success that hadn't been seen in so long, their dazzling performance from just a month ago proving that they were the real deal.

It's a bliss day for Squidcom, who for once can enjoy the moment in the spotlight unlike the previous occasion. Truly they have evolved from the public enemy on campus to the unlikely heroes that an entire school-no, community, place their hopes in. Throughout the day, teachers and faculty alike congratulate the team on their accomplishment, showing their full support for their long road ahead. The students also treated them with divinity, doing their utmost best to make their experience as enjoyable as possible since what awaits them with be a tumultuous road. A moment worth cherishing for those who were there in the beginning, it felt like a massive weight was lifted from their shoulders, though they knew a mountainous weight they never experienced was about to replace it. After school on the way home, Azule learns from Todd and the others that they wanted a bulk buy on groceries for the upcoming weeks, and in turn send him on a solo grocery run. He accepts without protest since he enjoyed roaming the city alone as a therapeutic session, but that session turns to an hour after picking up everything and having to take the bus since the train was too crowded and he had quite a lot of bags to carry. After a long and quiet drive, Azule hikes to the gate where he spots an octoling man with a huge afro who had his hands in his pockets and looked quite the hard-boiled man; as he got closer, he found his shades to look a little lame. Why was he there? Could he be waiting for someone? As if a moment of fate, Azule approached the suspicious man in a friendly manner. The man looked at him and waited for a few awkward seconds.

"You must be Azule Royale." the man said, taking one hand out of his pocket.

Azule's eyebrows furrow along with his narrowing eyes-already suspecting the man, "I am, and who are you?"

"You're carrying a lot of bags there...mind if I carry some?" the man said, pointing at the bags with a nonchalant tone.

Azule didn't know what the guy must be thinking, but for now he seems to be okay. "Sure..." he responds, handing him some of the bags.

The walk back to the dorm is an awkward one with the silence between them so apparent that it felt like even nature hisses for them to have a conversation, swishing in the breeze as the pair pass through the campus. Azule had several questions on his mind while leading the stranger, but he felt it might seem rude to bombard the man with suspicion-filled questions after he came this far helping him carry the bags; it looked especially creepy to the students they pass by on their way to the dorms, who only gave the man a chance since he appeared to be with Azule. Later they arrive at the dorm where Azule drops off the bags on the kitchen counter, inviting the man in. But he politely refused and instead waited at the door to hand him the bags. Afterwards, Azule knew he couldn't just leave the man at the front door and quickly grabbed his coat and shouted to the others that he might be gone for a while so to make supper without him.

"I appreciate what you did, so I'll hear you out. Why did you come here?" Azule asks with a sharp eye, wondering what the man is up to after everything.

The man scratches his face as if he didn't plan this out, "Er, wanna get some ramen?"

"...Huh?" Azule's face twists as he leans in a bit, unsure if he heard him correctly.

"Ramen. I know a good shop in the city that is a bit of a hole in the wall but I assure you it's delicious."

"O-okay…?" he responds, not sensing any hostility from him so it couldn't be anything malicious or dangerous.

A stroll through the city looking for the elusive ramen shop, Azule didn't have a read on the guy. He looked hard-boiled and super macho, but something felt off about him-a sense of humility that he couldn't pinpoint from his imposing features. All while scanning for anything that might give him an idea on the guy, he kept asking himself how in the world he got into such a situation, finding it too spontaneous that his grocery run turned into him getting some ramen at a shop buried deep in the city; not how he planned to spend his night. Ten minutes pass by and after following the man in what felt like circles, they arrive at a shop in the back alleys. Right away Azule knew he didn't have any business on this side of town, not after the stuff he used to do on the low when he was a transporter. Inside the shop is small but homely environment that continues the familiar setting when the pair are greeted by one of chefs telling them to sit wherever they please. Instantly the octoling man takes a seat at the table where the chef is cooking and calls for two bowls with the same distinct orders, assuring Azule that he's in for a treat. Azule's still surprised that this is where he's spending his dinner, noticing the many office workers and other corporate workers coming in for a meal on the way home; indeed this place had to be doing well with business, especially with such a clientele. After a few minutes listening to the sizzles and boils of the food around them paired with an irresistible aroma that fogs the room, the pair finally get their dinner bowls. With the snap of his chopsticks, the octoling man became a different person…

"Let's dig in!" he announces in his mother tongue, something Azule only caught since he'd been learning about the octoling language and culture from Fuchsia for a while; Azule also snaps his chopsticks and stares at the bowl before him.

What a succulent meal, from its sparkling bronze hued broth that covers the noodles in savory coating to the eggs and meat parted nicely by the fish cakes, scallions, and other ingredients. His mouth watered with the scent of the noodles piercing his nostrils in a vicious attack, and without hesitation, the boy also digs in-his chopsticks dancing as he fills his cheeks to the max. Not only the appearance of the bowl so enticing, but as the noodles slither down his throat with a savory slurp, the delightful warmth leaves him yearning for more; the moans from the other patrons were truthful, the food they indulge in so delectable that their bodies couldn't help but allow a few pleasure filled reactions to escape. The man was already done with his bowl and now just watching Azule's chopsticks go to work clapping against the bowl.

"You nearly missed the cut." he says, keeping an emotionless expression behind the shades. Azule's chopsticks stop and he looks up with his cheeks full of food, furrowing his eyebrows questioning the man; "If it wasn't for me stepping in and making a case for your team, you wouldn't be sniffing Nationals. And I know you must be thinking who am I to invite you for dinner only to spew such insults, but I'm being honest with you: the others aren't sold on you and your team."

This all felt like a slap in the face to hear, just let the boy enjoy his ramen!

"Why are you telling me this?" Azule asks, gulping down a chunk of the food.

"There's a catch to your entry into Nationals, and there also a price to pay. I'm aware that your club only has about four or five members, and well, for Nationals, teams must have at least sixteen players and at most twenty four players. So far you're in, but that changes if you fail to gather more players. If you aren't able to extend your roster to meet the minimum requirement, your entry will be stripped and given to another school."

Azule nearly chokes on his noodles, coughing furiously, "WHAT!?"

"I don't like it either, but this was the negotiation. They weren't sold on your squad, but I was after what I saw at the Spring Invitationals; that was nothing short of a National caliber team, and if Squidops were allowed entry, I don't see why your team shouldn't get a spot. When I brought up your team's sudden rise, they couldn't simply refute it...in a way, your squad is a rougher version of the polished Kalebrough Inkstinct: you both started from nothing and made sudden leaps and bounds, where Kalebrough was undercover, your team fell short in the Rank Wars the first time around with an undermanned squad, then you both rose to the top, with the Inkstinct getting ranked and your side winning the next Rank Wars, I pitched to them that if there was ever a year for an upset on the top teams in Inkland, this is the year."

Azule's serious, "You said there was a price to pay, may I ask what it was?"

"My job was the price." he said plainly.

Azule's heart sinks, "WHAT!?"

The octoling man holds up his hand, "In exchange for your entry, I have gambled my job. They wouldn't allow it otherwise since they thought I was just bluffing. When they placed that as the wager and saw that I answered without hesitation, they knew I meant business."

"H-holy carp…"

"Before you ask me more, the answer is yes. If you fail to even make it for the tournament, I'm axed. If you perform poorly in the group stage, I'm axed."

Azule's face is worrisome, but he isn't panicking at the situation; the octoling man liked the look he saw in the child's eyes, "How long do we have?" he asked, turning his body to face the octoling.

"The tournament begins in three weeks, and the deadline for your official spot is by the weekend; I'll need an answer as well as the roster list to finalize your place."

"Alright, I'll do something about this. You're sure they won't strip the spot away from us if we satisfy everything?"

"Yes, we made the announcement because they trust me. If you hold your end, so will they."

"Alright. We'll do this, sir. I can't sleep well knowing someone's livelihood is riding on the line."

The octoling man flashes a grin, "I did it because I believe in your skills. If I was presented with the opportunity another ten times, I'd do it again."

A vow to meet the deadline, Azule felt the need to let the others know about this new information since it puts into perspective the pressure they'll be under before even beginning the tournament. To start with, they didn't know too much about the tournament, and with this new development they couldn't afford to procrastinate. On his way home after branching off from the octoling, whose name he forgot to ask for, Azule requests an emergency meeting at his place; by the time he gets home, everyone is gathered in the living room like he requested. Already served so refreshments as thanks for coming in on such a short notice, Azule relayed the information he gathered from the octoling man. At first everyone was questioning his judgment for following a stranger like that and ragging on him for skipping out on dinner with the boys, but after he explained the seriousness of the situation, everyone reviewed what he said. The views were mixed as some panicked at the thought of coming this far only to get shafted by yet another roadblock, where others were motivated to still be doubted and were hungry to get to work immediately and stick it to them. A free flowing conversation that felt like a stream of consciousness by the way everyone chimed in, little did they know that Todd overheard everything-only eavesdropping because he was curious as to why so many people were gathered at his home at this time of the night.

"We need a plan of action!" Azule declares, raising a fist.

"Ohhhh!' they bellow, raising their fists in response.

Fuchsia's deep in her thoughts for a moment, "We only have less than a week to gather new members? Guess that explains why it came up as Squid Academy rather than Squidcom of Squid Academy, they must be expecting us to have more players in our reserves like the other teams or maybe..."

Sally frowns, "Still testing if we're worth the salt, huh? Those old sneaky-"

"It's fine!" Kosami declared; "We're Squid Academy. If they want to challenge us, we can answer it. There's more than enough students in this school who can play for us."

Fuchsia nods, "The question is who can we consider recruiting? I mean, who wouldn't want to go to Nationals? We need capable players who can fight on the big stage."

"This will be hard after all." Jory groaned.

Fuchsia's smile widens, "Well, let's think about it: we need sixteen players at minimum and twenty four at maximum, the equivalent of four club teams." Todd bites his lip nervously, not wanting to hear anything else and returning to his room swiftly; "Alright, there's plenty to do but our priorities are to work on building this team and to get started on training. So players, you all will focus on the training aspect and leave the management to us." she said looking around to everyone, who all come to an agreement on the plan. The team focus is clear with a couple of objectives, first being that they needed to build a team capable of handling Nationals. Not only did they need a team in general but they needed only those who could handle the talent they'd be battling. Second was to get themselves ready as well. Even though they are good, those 3 weeks before Nationals are precious time for them to evolve their game and unlock new strengths. If they're going to put up a fight, they need to condition themselves for a war. Splitting the work in half, they went with two teams. The first team consists of the players, and it's their responsibility to train-in the case of Sally, she needs to continue her rehabilitation as an injury reserve. The other team consists of the rest of Squidcom needing to fulfill managerial duties. They needed a head coach, assistant coach, several scouts, and several key position jobs to carry out if they'll make it work. So far Fuchsia was the unanimous decision as the team coach, and Kosami was a strong decision as the assistant with Cobalt and Tangie serving as scouts. For now their ultimate goal was to recruit players, but they'd need more hands to help in managing everything else, such as getting a budget, creating work menus, and everything of the like. Very soon, they were all about to see why Nationals is an uphill battle even before taking the stage.

Earlier that day over in Yermozani...

"Come on everyone, keep up!" Janice shouts, similar to a drill instructor commanding the cadets. Her shoulders are high and her gaze forward with a goal in mind, she's brimming with confidence all the way to her bright confident smile and her energetic tone. She's hungry for a Nationals, her competitive side awakened after suffering defeat in the Spring and then watching the exciting Squid Academy earn their bid. After seeing that not only did Squidops and Squid Academy get in, but the four top teams of Inkopolis were up in the top 25 after the rankings finalized, she felt a fire in her stomach that couldn't be quelled no matter how much she resisted, which led to this impromptu training session before the real camp begins tomorrow. The restless sensation in her chest and legs keeping her active, and the same could be said for her squad of 15 players who all trail behind Hector, Nantes, and William, all three of them motivated by their defeat in the Spring as well, determined to not only win it all for Yermozani and their wonderful community, but to also do it for Janice, admiring her resolve shown in the last few weeks. Watching the team do their run are the coaches of Yermozani, who are timing them and looking to not only strengthen their core for training camp, but bring them up to pace with the talent they'll face at Nationals.

In Kalebrough…

Hundreds of students are present and twice that amount are journalists and scouts who were all there for mainly one person: Kippy Moreno. The superstar wonder girl who shocked the nation by defeating Special Forces in the finals of the Spring Invitationals, they were the hottest team in the tournament, and she was perhaps the most explosive player going into the tournament. Cameras are flashing watching the team engage in their usual practice, paying extra close attention to th game between Kalebrough's stars from the spring: a showdown between Captain Zepp and Virgil against the Moreno siblings Kappa and Kippy. Both teams looked great, with the Moreno siblings showing more energy in their movement, but that was counteracted by the experience of Zepp and Virgil, who knew the pair better than anyone. Although they had an answer for slowing down Kappa, they couldn't find one for Kippy, who played with such speed and accuracy it felt like she was a walking cheat code. After swiftly beating her captain and superior, they're welcomed by a roar of fangirls and boys alike chanting and calling for Kippy, wanting her to show them attention, adoring her and hoping to one day see the face beneath the mask. Kippy looks at them with innocence, getting a little shy as some of the squealing girls begging for her attention were her very own friends attempting to embarrass her. A fun time to be a student at Kalebrough, everyone was enjoying the new publicity that came with the success. Kippy became an idol on campus and nationally, with her mask becoming a phenomenon and major fashion trend. Everyone from the top pop stars and song artists to even some pro athletes, everyone hopped on board the Kippy hype train. As the breakout star, she saw her face on billboards, magazine covers, in advertisements for different products, and especially in fashion, where an entire fashion line was dedicated to her and the Kalebrough Inkstinct, who even became their sponsors for Nationals. In the short time that they've risen to the top, they've become the most popular team in Inkopolis.

"Great work, Kippy. Kappa, you were rocky towards the end there. Let's correct that next time."

"Yes!" the siblings answer simultaneously.

Around that time in a certain gym, Special Forces were also undergoing practice before the real training starts the following day, with their massive roster of reserve players helping out the starting 24 players on the first team roster. Notable names were out and about for this practice, especially Jin, who looked like a different person ever since he came back from the Invitationals. The arrogance he carried was gone, instead replaced by a chill and humble attitude. After nearly getting kicked off the team only to have his butt kicked instead, Jin felt humiliated after not only losing to Sky, but to Kippy as well. He went back to the drawing board and re-evaluated the mistakes he made, understanding that it was more psychological than physical, but still knew he needed his body to operate automatically if he was going to win the battle against himself. Aside from him, the promising first years were also at work in separate training with their seniors. Kary is busy learning from some of the other seniors who sat out the previous competitions for this tournament, whereas 18 and 12 were receiving tutelage from 24, who was one of their top players they were counting on for the upcoming tournament. With a load of talent in all grades, Special Forces had expectations to not only get over the hump of the quarterfinals defeat suffered last year. Another team looking to overcome their failures of last season's National tournament is Beacon Hills, who saw an exit in the round of 32. This season has been an unforgettable ride for them as they went from always being that second place team to achieving a signature victory of their own, only to get defeated by the most unlikely of teams. Whenever it felt like they found validation in their progress, they took several steps backwards. A good showing at Nationals can erase all the comments made by the naysayers, especially when they have a capable team this year to go very far and potentially make a run at winning it all, though their odds are still stacked against them in their own country with fellow schools Kalebrough and Special Forces looking powerful as is, Yermozani being a dark horse candidate, and the unpredictability of Squidops and Squid Academy adding to the list of teams to keep an eye on for a surprise run. In some eyes, Beacon Hills could be seen as the lost team in the bunch despite arguably being the best! Because of that, all the players were more worked up than usual, putting in some intense workout sessions during practice, but none more intense than Gin who looked possessed hammering through his menu. He had spite and he had frustration, but most importantly, he had a drive-a will to not only improve, but to send a message to the rest of the world that Beacon Hills not only belonged at the top, but would dominate it, and what better stage than Nationals? Inspired by their captain, the rest of Beacon Hills are motivated to keep up with him and support him in any way, knowing he'll be their ticket to the top.

Alone in the living room in the dead hours of the night, Azule is up at work continuing his research on the teams of Nationals. Thus far he was doing research of the top 25 teams and jotting down as many notes as possible, detailing anything subtle that could work to his advantage, approaching this battle not as one of physicality, but of psychological warfare. To him, he saw it firsthand that going up against top ranking opponents took more than being able-bodied, but your mind had to flow too. Every punch thrown is coordinated, and none are wasted. A shift to a technical approach, Azule knew he needed more than relying on Midnight mode and clever usage of the schemes Fuchsia sets up to go far at Nationals, he needed something far beyond just an obvious joker card and gimmick. Narrowing his eyes to contain the light burning in his retinas, he studies the first 5 teams on the list: Numbers 20-25. He didn't know much about them, but from the way they played, he could see how they were ranked so high. Competition like this would be awaiting him in 3 weeks' time, and just the thought of crossing paths with them brought out a wide grin.