Pierre waited by the lake, killing the time watching a mother duck teaching her chicks how to dive. He sat cross-legged on the grass, squinting in the fading sunlight. He checked his watch. Where were they?
"Pierre!"
He turned at the sound of his name and saw his two best friends, Yoshi and Kane running towards him.
"Hey! What took you so long?" Pierre stood up, brushing the dirt from the back of his grey pants.
"We were on time," explained Yoshi, catching her breath as they finally joined Pierre, "but then we saw this announcement on tv and we had to stop and listen!"
"And? What was the announcement?" Pierre had forgotten to be mad at his friends for being late. He was excited to hear this news, whatever it was. The grins on his friends' faces was enough to tell him it was big.
"Tyson's going an a Beyblade tour!"
As soon as the words left Kane's lips, Pierre was filled with a wave of disappointment.
"Oh. I already knew that. It was on tv last night." Pierre expected his friends to be disappointed that he already knew, but they kept on grinning like idiots.
"Yeah, but last night they didn't announce which places were included on the tour," Yoshi teased.
Pierre's eyes opened wide. "Wait a second. You know where he's going to be? And when?"
The two nodded.
Pierre felt excitement building inside him.
"No way." He said.
"Yes." Replied Kane, "Tyson's coming here."
"When?" Asked Pierre, a grin bursting onto his face.
"We're the last stop on his tour," replied Yoshi, picking up a flat stone and skimming it across the lake.
Kane picked up his own stone. "It means there'll be a bit of a wait, but it gives us time to practice." His stone bounced five times across the water before sinking into the depths.
Pierre could hardly contain his excitement. Already, strategies were playing through his mind, all ending with victory and fame. It could happen! He stooped and picked up one of the rocks at his feet.
"You know, if we all want to battle Tyson, it means we'll be against each other. I'm sure they won't be letting everyone in to battle Tyson. There'd never be time." He launched the rock in his hand and it skipped twice, startled the ducks into flight, then sunk.
"Yoshi laughed and punched him on the shoulder. "Don't you worry abut us, Pierre," she smiled, "we're going to be just fine."
Kane slipped his blade from a pocket inside his jacket.
"So, you guys ready to practice?"
