DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN BAKUGAN.
Alright, let's see. Thought Izuse as he browsed throught the internet, typing in the link that was on the paper given by the woman back in the park.
He was surprised of how similar the link was to the official bakugan webpage, as he didn't expect the tournament to be an actual thing, even though he heard there had been others held prior. But his biggest surprise was when he confirmed that it was actually advertised on the official bakugan website.
Once there, he started following the steps given by the website itself. He logged in with his account and the required data was registered for the tournament. And, to his surprise, that was all he needed to sign up for the tournament.
He raised his eyebrows as the page told him he was signed up for the tournament that would be held that coming weekend. Though he felt quite lucky when an announcement came up in the website informing that the spots to participate in it were full, meaning that he probably had been the last one to join.
However, he didn't fell as lucky when one final announcement appeared on the main page of the website. This one seemed to be aimed to bakugan enjoyers who wanted to watch it, as it showed some of the confirmed participants. And he stopped feeling lucky once he saw some of the names.
Jenny, Jewls, Runo Misaki, Marucho Marukura, among other names that just made Izuse feel sick. However, when he tried giving up his spot, he found that there was no option, and for such he was pretty much forced to participate even if he didn't want to.
"What happened?" Leonidas asked as he noticed the concern in his human partner's face while moving all around the room trying to figure out what to do.
"I signed up for a tournament," he explained, which made the green bakugan very interested in the situation. "But there are brawlers that are literally some of the best in the world."
"And? I don't see the issue," Leonidas confidently replied. "We'll crush them anyways."
Uuuugh, he doesn't have an idea of how strong the brawlers are. Izuse dropped onto his bed and put a pillow on his face, while still thinking for a way to avoid the consequences of signing up for a tournament without much information on it.
After a couple of minutes of thinking with his pillow over his head, he stood up again and walked from one side of his room to the other, repeatedly. Still, he found no way to solve his problem. At this point, the rest of his bakugan had joined Leonidas to watch what their human was doing.
Without figuring out anything, he thought of asking someone for advice, but the new question would be whom to ask. That's because he didn't have friends, even though he used to have as a kid, in more recent times, with the bakugan trend, he struggled to make friendships as he sucked and lost all the time. That's also why the only people that talked to him were the guys in the park who would beat him all the time. Until Leonidas, that is.
"Are you still thinking about the tournament?" Leonidas asked, noticing the long time his human partner had taken to try and not participate in it.
Izuse nodded, though slightly embarrassed because he knew how excited the news of a tournament had gotten the green dragon. And as he turned around to face his bakugan, he found Leonidas shaking his now small body in disappointment. Siege seemed to be annoyed at this gesture from the dragon though, and he pushed him softly so he would stop.
"Hey hey, guys, don't fight," Izuse kneeled so his head would be at the same height as the bed, where the bakugan were standing. He used his right hand as a wall and put it in the middle of the two bakugan, while Falconeer and Mantris merely watched as it went on.
"Do you not want to fight against some of the best?" Leonidas asked, with indignation clear on his tone.
Siege wished now more than ever that he was able to talk, so he could respond to the Ventus dragon. But for now he'd have to be content with gestures and the little movement his ball form offered.
"Alright, alright..." Both bakugan turned to the human, who finally took his hand away from the conflict and stood up. "We'll participate, but don't complain when we get beaten, understood?"
"Who said we'd lose?" Leonidas asked, with the same indignation he talked to Siege with. "We'll crush everyone, like I said before!"
Izuse cringed at his bakugan's stubbornness. "I appreciate your confidence, but I don't think-"
"I don't care about what you think, you'll see when I beat them all!"
Izuse woke up, initially glad that it was finally the weekend and that he wouldn't have to go to school. However, this relief vanished immediately after he remembered that he had a tournament to assist that day.
With his smile already vanished, he got ready for the day that awaited for him. In previous days, he'd started to plan what he would do before the game, with the objective of maybe getting some preparation. So apart of battling at the park, he decided to go visit Alice's Bakugan Shop that so much people talked about in the Bakugan website.
He got to know the place better when he asked in the forum of the Bakugan website, even though he already knew there was a bakugan shop in his city. What he didn't know is that Alice Gehabich herself, one of the Battle Brawlers, was the one to run it.
It didn't take long for him to be ready. And with his semi-long messy hair, his white hoodie with green details, his black joggers and his bakugan pocket ready, he went out. Without of course eating breakfast before.
As expected from a saturday, the streets were filled with cars and people walking by. Izuse tried to ignore what was happening later as he would get very nervous if he thought about it, and he didn't want to embarrass himself in front of one of the Battle Brawlers.
The shop was far away from his house, and he noticed that while walking to it. He had, of course, checked the address of the place on the internet, but he didn't picture how far it would be. Still, it took him around an hour and a half to get there. And while being tired distracted him, the sight of bakugan and cards being advertised on the front part of the shop.
The green-eyed boy's heart was starting to sweat without noticing at the mere thought of having to battle against the likes of Runo or Marucho, literally the Battle Brawlers. He should've been more aware when he signed up for it. It had been such a stupid idea not to ask a single thing before accepting the paper.
While she swept the floor, Alice noticed how there was someone talking to himself right outside the shop. It was strange, because he was standing right in front of the door, but the boy didn't enter, he just kept talking to himself for some reason.
She scratched her forehead in confusion before heading to the door to ask him if he was okay. The redhead girl left the broom on a nearby wall and fixed her hair before going out the door. Once she opened the door, the black-haired boy kept talking to himself, which caused Alice to raise an eyebrow.
"Did you come to the shop?" asked Alice, her voice as gentle and soft as usual.
Izuse was snapped out of his trance and was faced by the hazel eyes of the girl of the ginger hair. He cleared his throat and took a while to come back to all his senses. "Uh, yeah yeah."
While weirded out, she didn't give it much thought and let the boy in. "Welcome in, then!"
Her welcoming and friendly tone surprised him, especially after how he acted. He was very embarrassed, his face even turning almost all red as he remembered it. Though he still tried to keep going.
"How can I help you?" She asked, her eyes capturing the boy's attention.
"Well, I heard you made bakugan upgrades here, and I wanted to know how it worked." Izuse explained.
Alice nodded in understanding and went behind the counter to get her upgrading gear. "I basically can slightly increase your bakugan's G power with this little gun, but don't worry, it isn't like an actual gun, it shoots some sort of energy and that's what increases their G power."
"Is it expensive?"
"Yeah, it is. And it gets more expensive every time, because it also gets harder to upgrade them with time, it's like they have a limit." Alice explained as she checked if the energy gun was working.
The green-eyed boy got his hand on his chin as he started thinking. He didn't have much money to spend on it, but upgrading one of his bakugan could be useful for his upcoming challenges. He was unsure of what to do.
"If you can't afford it," the ginger haired girl spoke up, "I can offer some good cards for you bakugan, having a good set of cards is usually key for winning battles."
Cards were cheaper, so he nodded in response. "I use Ventus bakugan."
"Ventus..." Alice started searching among the great amount of cards she possessed on the drawers behind the counter. After a while, she started picking some up, her recommendations, and then turned around to show them to her customer. "So, first I'd recommend for now would be the ability cards Perfect Flight, Blowing Winds and Updraft. These are a good start."
"Umm, I'll take the first two, thanks." Izuse said after examining them carefully for some time.
"Alright!" said the ginger haired with an enthusiastic tone. "Now, I'll recommend you one gate card that could be quite useful! It's Lightning Gate."
"An extra 100 Gs for ventus bakugan?!" The green-eyed boy was shocked at how good the card was for him and his bakugan. "I'll take it right away!"
"Great, then!" She smiled, and the cuteness of said smile caught Izuse for a second.
"Um, by the way, I would know if you had any tips for actual brawling and such." He scratched the back of his head and didn't look directly to her eyes. "You see, I'm participating today in a tournament and some battle brawlers are participating as well, and I'm quite bad at this."
Alice was surprised to hear that someone who was participating in a tournament against her friends would ask her for advice. Nevertheless, she felt complimented that someone asked her for some tips. She put her hand on her chin as she tried to think of something.
"Against which ones, exactly?"
"Runo and Marucho, I don't know if there's any because I stopped reading the list of participants at that point." He laughed nervously as he confessed he didn't even know the full list of participants because he was too scared about confirming two battle brawlers were in it.
"Well, I do have a couple of tips for battling against them..."
The moment had come. After spending a while at the bakugan store, it was time. There was nowhere he could go and nothing he could do not to face the great challenge.
Izuse still felt very intimidated, but he still went into the building the tournament was being held, finding several brawlers getting ready.
Hope you liked the chapter!
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