Festival of Fire

by RockyRoadSmith

When the Searchers find themselves at a quaint festival, turmoil seeps from the group when a young man suddenly shows affection toward Holly. As secrets unfold, however, there may be more at stake than just emotions.

2. Chapter 2: Stage One - Ignition

Oh Phoenix, I'm so rusty! I'm so sorry about this, I definitely will need some time to get used to writing again. Go read ripitupgenki's stories instead to save yourself the pain of reading my garbage writing! XD

I want to thank TheZoe611, AutumnAdvocate, and ripitupgenki for your wonderful reviews on the first chapter of this story! It really means so much to me! I also want to thank Guest, who I sadly am not able to directly thank you by name, but your kind review means so much to me! I hope to one day get back to writing Delusions of the Heart so you won't be left at a cliffhanger forever. :3

This takes place after the episode "The Sand Assassin, Renocraft" and right after the start of "Magic Stone Mayhem".

Festival of Fire

Chapter 2: Stage One - Ignition

The streets of the small town were filled with people and monsters of all sizes, which reminded Genki of the very first town he had ever gone to when he first arrived in the world of monsters. Due to the dense crowd, the Searchers had to uncomfortably squeeze through the mass of festival attendees to make it to their destination.

After what felt like ages, the crowd thinned out and the group was greeted to a much less tightly populated area with a small booth in the middle. The registration booth for the tournament wasn't nearly as busy as Genki was expecting, especially with the amount of prize money riding on it. A purebred Mock and purebred Gaboo stood in front of the stall while the Weed the group had seen helping Hunter earlier was seated behind the registration booth; the plant-like monster writing down their names on the roster with care. As the Mock and Gaboo departed, the Searchers and Hunter advanced to the front of the booth, with Genki scowling slightly as Hunter took the lead. Hunter, however, didn't seem to notice the other boy's dismay.

"Hey, Weed! It's good to see you again!" Hunter greeted with a smile. "Thanks again for your help earlier."

"Oh! Hunter! You know it's my pleasure to be of assistance," the Plant hybrid smiled as he adjusted the collar on his festival uniform. "Are you and these other fine folks here to enter the tournament? We don't have many entries yet, so it would definitely be great if you did!"

"Well, you're in luck! Add Surmal and I to the roster, we're gonna try to win this!" Hunter told Weed while signaling to the purebred Garu clung to his back.

"Excellent! The two of you are all set," the Plant hybrid replied after writing down Hunter's name on the registration form.

"My name's Genki and I'm also gonna sign up for the tournament with Mocchi as my partner!" Genki stepped forward and exclaimed while giving Mocchi a pat on the head.

"All right, you and Mocchi are signed up," the purple flower-like monster confirmed while scribbling down Genki's name.

"I'm Holly and I'd also like to enter the tournament with Suezo, please," Holly piped up from a little further behind the two young men, albeit a little nervously.

"Okay, miss. You and your friend are all good to go. Best of luck to all of you!" Weed spoke with a smile and a wave of his vined hand.

"Thanks! Let's do this, guys!" Genki grinned and, without talking to the rest of the group, grabbed Mocchi and took off down the dirt path.

The group pushed through the crowd yet again to make it to the dirt arena that had been used for dancing only minutes earlier in order to get a close view. Although it wasn't a grand arena like the one they had fought in when they first met Hare, it was still a nice little clearing for a low-key tournament. As more of the festival goers made their way to the arena, the Searchers were relieved they got there early enough to get good seats.

"We definitely have the best view for this," Tiger spoke up as he took a seat on the cool grass.

"Yes… It will be… easy to root for… our friends from this… close to the… sidelines…" Golem spoke in agreement. After scanning the area around him to make sure he wouldn't squish anyone, the rock giant proceeded to sit next to Tiger as carefully as he possibly could.

"At least you guys get to relax and watch the battles! You're not the ones stuck participating in this barbaric event!" Suezo spoke up with a bitter scowl.

"Hahaha, come on, Suezo! You get to show us all how a strong monster like yourself fights!" Hare piped up with a playful grin while taking a seat on the other side of Golem.

"You need to shut your mouth…" the eyeball monster's scowl only grew.

Genki watched his friends banter and couldn't stop himself from smiling. Even though their group didn't always get along, he still couldn't possibly be happier with how much the team had grown, both in strength and to each other. He remembered a point in time where he was certain Tiger and Hare really would turn on one another, but those days were far in the past. Now, their fights were always harmless, childish even.

"…and from that day on, I haven't let Surmal eat any seafood. When I tell you it was bad, it was bad! He made such a scene, even other villagers got sick!"

Genki's attention turned to the newcomer standing near his team, and the smile he had a moment earlier vanished. Hunter stood next to Holly as he regaled her with the details from a memory he had mentioned in passing earlier that night, his eyes locked with the wielder of the Magic Stone's own warm eyes as he spoke. Holly's laugh of entertainment was inviting, but the fact it was a reaction to Hunter only made the knot in Genki's stomach tighten. Before he could think too far into it, a tap on Genki's shoulder caused him to turn his head, and he was greeted with the concerned look of Mocchi.

"Genki okay, chi?" Mocchi asked with a curious tilt of his head.

"Oh! Hahaha, yeah, I'm great! Just thinking about the tournament! Are you ready for this, Mocchi?" Genki asked the young monster still clung to his back, changing the topic completely.

"Yeah, chi! Mocchi's gonna win that prize money, chi!" Mocchi chirped confidently.

"That's our Mocchi! Always the dependable one! He knows the importance of this tournament!" Hare spoke proudly from behind the pair.

"You only care about the prize money, you cheap bum," Tiger snorted with a roll of his eyes.

"Well, yeah. Why else would we participate in this? It would be a waste of time and energy if there wasn't money involved. Some of us need money to live an honest life, unlike a certain primitive mutt I travel with," the rabbit monster replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

"An honest life?! That's rich, coming from a con artist like you!" the blue wolf monster growled aggressively.

"No more arguing… Just watch the tournament…" Golem's voice boomed as he placed his giant hand in between the two feuding monsters before a fight could break out.

"Ah, your group has so much energy. The joys of being youthful!"

The Searchers all turned to the sound of the voice behind them and were greeted with an amused Tesca. The old man approached the group with a smile and a wave of his hand while holding a clipboard close to his body.

"Hey, Tesca! What are you up to?" Genki asked.

"I'm about to address the crowd with some details about the tournament. You know, rules and such. Your group certainly sounds like they have the energy to do well in this tournament," the old man chuckled to himself.

"We're gonna aim for the top!" Genki announced while pumping his fist into the air.

"Yeah, chi! The very top!" Mocchi vigorously agreed with his partner.

"Always the optimist…" Suezo mumbled with a roll of his eye.

"Hahaha well, I'm sure all of you will do great. You seem like seasoned fighters, after all," Tesca spoke with a smile before giving the group a small bow and heading towards the center of the arena.

At seeing Tesca enter the arena, the crowd went silent with anticipation.

"Good evening, everyone! Thank you for joining us for this year's Festival of Fire tournament! We have eight entries in the tournament so we're looking at a smaller group than usual, but I'm sure the battles will be just as entertaining!" Tesca announced.

Before Tesca could speak further, the Weed from the registration booth slinked over to the old man and handed him a slip of paper. Tesca squinted his eyes and slowly looked over the piece of paper in his hands before clasping his hands together with a smile.

"Alright, everyone! It looks like our matchups for the first round of battles have been determined! The first match will be Mocchi versus Mock! The second match will be Gaboo versus Surmal! The third match will be Suezo versus Titan! Lastly, the fourth match will be Hopper versus Kitten!" Tesca declared, causing the crowd to cheer in response.

"Nice, Mocchi! You've fought Mocks before with Ducken, just remember your strategy from back then!" Genki grinned eagerly.

"Yeah, chi! Mocchi will win!" the young monster announced while taking in a deep breath and puffing his tiny chest out.

"I… I have to fight a freaking Titan?!" Suezo exclaimed in horror, his face draining of color.

"Come on, don't be a baby! You're Holly's loyal partner, right? You can't let her down!" Hare chimed in, a playful smirk plastered on his face.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?! You're a sick monster, Hare!" the eyeball monster frowned while glaring daggers at his companion.

"Suezo, I know you can win this. You've been getting stronger recently so just do your best! No matter what, just remember; we can withdraw from the tournament at any time, okay?" Holly spoke with a smile as she gave her closest companion a comforting pat on the head.

"Oh, Holly! You understand me!" the eyeball monster exclaimed happily as his eye sparkled.

"Just don't go quitting right as the match starts like a spineless fish! At least try to win! There's money on the line!" Hare spoke with a stern glower.

"Hey! Give me some credit! I wasn't gonna do that! Of course I'm going to fight hard and aim for the prize money!" Suezo scowled at the rabbit monster, a bead of sweat forming on his head as he thought bitterly to himself. 'Dang, he caught on to me! Now I can't just bail out right away! Hare, you jerk!'

"Now, the rules for the tournament are simple! Firstly, this is a battle for sport, so ensure your attacks won't cause permanent harm to your opponent! Secondly, no outside intervention is allowed unless it's to give orders or signal withdrawal from the fight! Lastly, there's no time limit; the first monster to either cause their opponent to surrender, push their opponent outside the arena boundaries, or completely knock their opponent out will win the match! So… without further ado… let's start this tournament! Good luck, everyone!" Tesca shouted energetically.

The crowd cheered enthusiastically in response, and the sound was almost deafening.

"So first up is Mocchi versus Mock! Both monsters and their human partners, please take your stations!" the older man announced while the crowd flew into an even louder wave of cheers.

Genki looked over to his monster companion who, in turn, gave the young boy a wryly smile.

"Alright! Let's win this, Mocchi!" Genki exclaimed eagerly.

"Yeah, chi! Mocchi will destroy him!" Mocchi announced with clenched fists and passion in his eyes.

"Well, uh, maybe a little bit less than literally destroying him…" Genki chuckled nervously.

"Destroy him! With fire! Chiiii!" Mocchi let out a battle cry while running into the arena; leaving Genki to sweat nervously.

"Did you teach him to say that?" Hare asked while narrowing his eyes.

"What?! No! He's been watching you and Tiger argue too much! He's learning this stuff from you two!" the young boy scowled.

"That's not true!" Both Hare and Tiger quickly argued back in union.

"No no, that's definitely true. I heard Mocchi refer to Pixie as "mutt" the other day, thinking it was an endearing thing. He's so lucky she wasn't there to hear that, otherwise our group of seven would now be a group of six," Suezo piped up.

Genki narrowed his eyes at Tiger and Hare who, in turn, quickly turned their attention away from the young boy with sweat forming on their brows. Before Genki could scold the two monsters for their poor role modeling, however, his attention was adverted when a hand was placed gently on his shoulder and he spun around to face the only female member of their group. Genki's eyes met with Holly's warm gaze, and he immediately shifted his attention to the ground in response.

"Good luck, Genki. I know you and Mocchi will do great!" Holly spoke merrily, completely oblivious to her friend's discomfort.

"O-oh, heh heh… Y-you know it! I'm the Monster Champ, after all!" Genki weakly croaked out like a dying animal, his face turning an even darker shade of red in the process.

"Genki, the match is about to start! Stop dragging your feet and get out there, you dingus!" Suezo berated from his place next to Holly.

"O-oh! Right!" With one last glance in Holly's direction, Genki gulped before stepping out to the side of the arena where his monster companion was waiting for him.

"Genki okay, chi?" Mocchi asked with a curious tilt of his head, once again worried for his friend.

"Y-yeah! I'm great! We just have to focus and win this!" Genki spoke while puffing out his chest.

"Win, chi!" Mocchi mimicked his companion by puffing his own flabby chest out before marching out to the middle of the arena where his opponent was waiting for him.

The purebred Mock stood at twice the height of the pink penguin-like monster and was equipped with pointed spear-like fingers specialized for impaling foes. Instead of legs, long roots protruded from the bottom of his trunk which he used for mobility. His brown bark-like skin was excellent for camouflage in forests, but did nothing in the arena setting. A lone branch with several green leaves jutted out from the side of his head and the top of his cranium looked almost hollow. Mock grimaced as he looked down at his opponent; a look of disappointment crossing his rigid face.

"What? I'm fighting a mere child?" Mock scoffed irritably.

"Hey! Mocchi is young, but strong, chi!" Mocchi scowled, insulted by the tree-like monster's attitude.

"Feh, what a joke. I'll end this quickly…" Mock mumbled under his breath while turning his attention to Tesca, who approached the two monsters with a friendly smile.

"Alright, you two. Please be careful, for your safety is the most important thing. Remember, this is for sport only and if either of you break any of the rules, you will be immediately disqualified. Do you both understand?" Tesca explained.

"Yes, I understand."

"Mocchi does too, chi!"

"Very well, then. Take your places on your side of the arena and the fight will begin at the ring of the bell."

Mock slowly slinked over to his side of the arena while Mocchi did the same. The two monsters kept eye contact with one another while the sound of the crowd died down to an empty silence in anticipation of the oncoming fight. Mocchi let out a soft breath of air while keeping a close eye on his opponent, and his body shivered slightly from anticipation. The young monster wasn't used to fighting in front of a crowd and he couldn't help but feel nervous from all the attention. A glance back at Genki won him a reassuring smile from his friend, though, and Mocchi felt a new burst of confidence blossom in his chest.

Ding ding ding!

At the sound of the bell, Mock's arm immediately shot forward without a moment's hesitation; his sharpened fingers prepared to grab his opponent and end the match quickly. Mocchi, however, swiftly rolled into a ball and bounced out of the way of the attack with surprisingly fast reflexes for a monster his size. It took Mock a moment to realize his opponent had dodge his attack so easily, and the tree-like monster couldn't stop the scowl from forming on his face.

"You got lucky I wasn't taking this seriously, but that changes now!" Mock shouted irritably while extending his clawed hand out in Mocchi's direction.

Mocchi, still curled up in a ball, rolled out of the way once more before changing direction and rolling directly towards his opponent. Once close to Mock, Mocchi bounced in the air before extending his hand upward with clenched fists. The tree-like monster was unprepared for such a quick counter-attack from Mocchi, however, and could only watch as the young monster closed the gap between the two fighting monsters.

"Double Pounder!" Mocchi yelled while smashing his tiny fists into the side of Mock's face in a barrage of several hard-hitting punches.

"Great job, Mocchi! Keep him on the run!" Genki encouraged from the sidelines.

Mocchi threw another fast punch at his opponent, this time striking Mock in the stomach, before leaping up in the air and landing a punch directly against Mock's face. The tree-like monster staggered back from the hit and shakily lifted both his arms up to defend against any further incoming attacks.

"You little pest! I'll make you pay for that! Head-butt!" In a fit of rage, Mock carelessly charged forward at Mocchi with his head down, ready to plow through his opponent.

Mocchi stood his ground as the tree-like monster approached him, and he clenched his fists eagerly.

"Alright Mocchi! Teach Mock how to stop and smell the flowers!" Genki shouted with a wryly grin plastered on his face.

Mocchi beamed back at his partner before leaping into the air and spinning as fast as he could; his body emitting a soft pink glow that grew with each passing moment. Small pink petals started raining down from the sky and were quickly caught up in the air around the young monster. The longer he spun for, the larger the flower cyclone became and before long, the wind speed around the small pink monster had become a vicious force.

"Cherry Blossom Blizzard!"

Without a moment to spare, Mocchi swung his arm in the direction of Mock, who was just an inch away from landing his Head-butt attack. Instead of smashing Mocchi into the ground as intended, Mock was instead flung into the air by the specialty attack with such force, he didn't have time to process what was happening. Instead, the tree-like monster rocketed in the air like an Iron Bird before gravity kicked in and forced the purebred monster to fall back to earth. Mock smashed into the ground with a low 'thud' and gasped in surprise from the impact. After a moment to regain his senses, Mock coughed weakly and slowly hoisted himself into a sitting position; the tree-like monster still a little dazed from Mocchi's attack.

Before Mock could recover and counterattack, however, Tesca entered the arena with a smile on his face.

"Mock has been thrown out of the arena, meaning Mocchi has won the match! Mocchi will be moving on to the next round!" Tesca announced energetically.

"W-what?! No way!" Mock gasped before looking down at the ground. It was then he realized Mocchi had, indeed, sent him flying out of the ring using his Cherry Blossom Blizzard attack.

"Yeah, Mocchi! Way to go!" Genki praised while running up to the young monster and bringing him in for a tight victory hug.

"Yay, chi! Destroyed him! With fire! Whatever that means, chi!" Mocchi cheered happily.

"Yeah, something like that!" Genki grinned while giving Mocchi a loving pat on the head. Mocchi, in response, grinned even wider and ran off to the rest of the group, in which Genki followed after.

"Mocchi! My knight in shining armor! Great job out there! Keep that up and the prize money will be ours for certain!" Hare grinned greedily from ear-to-ear.

Instead of replying to the rabbit monster, Mocchi completely ignored the rest of the group and ran up to Holly. The young monster looked up at her with sparkling eyes and extended his arms upwards toward her like a child. "Mocchi won! Did you watch, chi?"

"Oh, Mocchi, of course I watched your match and you did such a good job! I'm really proud of you!" Holly smiled as she picked up the young monster and cradle him in her arms like a baby.

'Of course he runs to Holly first,' Genki thought to himself as he watched Holly hold Mocchi close, and he felt a happy warmth blossom in his chest at the sight. Holly always had a motherly aura about her that Mocchi vied for and for a reason he couldn't put his finger on, Genki always felt an odd sense of admiration for this side of her personality.

"Hey, Genki! Mocchi did a great job out there! Where I come from, Mocchis are usually kept as companions and aren't used too much for battling, so I haven't seen many of them fight before. Mocchi is really talented," Hunter praised, breaking Genki out of his thoughts in the process.

"Oh! Thanks! Mocchi trains really hard and he's grown so much since we met. He get stronger every day!" Genki responded proudly.

Before Genki could speak further, a sudden silence filled the area, causing the young boy to turn his attention back to the arena to see what had gotten everyone's attention. Tesca stood in the middle of the arena with his clipboard still in hand. The older man appeared to jot down some notes before looking into the crowd with a smile.

"Alright, everyone! Time for the next match! Next up is Gaboo versus Surmal! At this time, both monsters can take their places in the arena!" Tesca announced boldly before exiting the arena.

As the crowd buzzed with excitement, the Searchers all turned their attention to Hunter and the purebred Garu picking at the grass next to him. With a grin, Hunter adjusted the collar of his blue jacket before looking down at his monster companion, who was more interested in playing with the worm he had just finished digging up from the ground than he was the tournament.

"Well, I guess it's Surmal's turn in the ring. This'll be interesting, that's for sure!" Hunter chuckled nervously while taking Surmal by the hand and escorting him to the arena to prevent the young monster from running off aimlessly. Surmal's only response was to shove the worm he had found in his mouth and follow Hunter without a struggle.

"Good luck, you guys!" Hare called out after the young man.

Opposite of Surmal was a large purebred Gaboo, who didn't appear to be a monster looking to make small talk. The yellow clay monster lacked legs and, instead, had only muscular human-like arms coming off the sides of his round body. His head and body had no defined separation, making him an all-around simplistic monster to look at. Surmal could only stare at his opponent quizzically.

"Listen, kid, I'm just here for the prize money. No hard feelings when I have to take you down, alright?" Gaboo spoke up gruffly while cracking his knuckles.

"But… I don't get it!" Surmal whined while pacing back and forth anxiously.

"Huh? Get what?" Gaboo asked with confusion.

"Your legs! They're gone! Did they fall off?!"

"Huh? Gaboos don't have legs, idiot!"

"Oh… Oh! Haha! You're just weird looking then!" the lion-like monster giggled merrily while clapping his hands together.

"Weird looking?! I'm gonna stomp you into the ground, you little brat!" Gaboo gritted his teeth angrily.

"But, how do you stomp without legs?" Surmal asked with a curious tilt of his head.

"Shut up!"

The rest of the crowd watched the exchange with curiosity, not certain if Surmal was taunting Gaboo or if the young monster was truly just confused. Near Surmal's side of the arena, Hunter stood awkwardly and hid his face in embarrassment from listening to the conversation.

Ding ding ding!

Not wasting a moment, Gaboo immediately sprung forward with a large clenched fist, ready to smash it into his frustrating opponent. Before his punch could land its mark, Surmal jumped to the side, leaving Gaboo's fist to smash into the arena floor. Dirt from the ground flew into the air from the impact and when the dust cleared, a small crater remained where the clay monster's attack had landed.

"Watch out, Surmal! Gaboo's punches will hit hard if you don't dodge!" Hunter yelled out to his companion.

"But! It's so confusing! He says he doesn't have legs! But are they arms? Or legs? Does he punch or kick? I'm so confused!" Surmal whined.

"I have arms! ARMS! Gaboos don't have legs, we have arms!" Gaboo shouted irritably.

"But you walk with them, like legs! Then you use them to pick stuff up, like arms! It's like magic!" the young lion-like monster prattled.

"…you're not wired right in the head, are you?" Gaboo questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"There are wires in my head?!" Surmal replied with shocked, wide eyes.

The crowd watching the tournament observed the scene in confusion while Hunter could only shake his head in shame.

"Gaboo, on behalf of my partner, I'm very sorry! He's just very, uh… inquisitive. Unfortunately, uh, he's inquisitive about literally everything," Hunter sighed.

"Well, that's not my problem! I'm here to win some prize money, so let's do this already!" Gaboo fired back while getting into an offensive stance.

"R-right! Surmal! No more talking! Remember the training you did back at Age Island? Now's the time to use it!" Hunter spoke sternly.

"Oh! Oh, yeah! Huego's training!" Surmal grinned eagerly, bouncing back and forth from one foot to the other.

Gaboo didn't wait for the banter between Hunter and Surmal to continue and, instead, bent his powerful arms and used them to launch himself into the air. Once the ascension stopped, the yellow clay monster focused on his opponent's location as his decent began. Like a meteor, Gaboo's body plummeted back down toward the arena with speed that matched a Kato, although without the accuracy.

"Diving Press!"

The Gaboo purebred closed his eyes as his body made impact with the arena, sending dirt and debris flying into the air. Although the attack didn't hit the intended target, the shockwave sent Surmal flying aimlessly into the air. Without hesitation, Gaboo was already launching himself at the purebred Garu with his fist extended outward.

"Long Punch!"

Gaboo's fist smashed into Surmal's stomach, and the lion-like monster let out a small yelp of pain as he fell back down toward the arena. His opponent was already above him, however, with his arm reeled back in preparation for another attack.

"Ninja Kick!"

Gaboo's fist smashed into Surmal's back, sending the young monster crashing down onto the arena floor. Surmal slammed into the dirt with a loud crash while Gaboo landed several feet away with a victorious grin on his face. The crowd burst into cheers at the exciting battle with the exception of the group of Searchers, who looked on in worry.

"Do you think he's okay?" Genki asked with a nervous glance over to Hare.

"I… I'm not sure. Gaboo hit him really hard so quickly, it may have been too much for the little guy," the rabbit monster responded with a look of concern.

"Poor Surmal…" Holly whispered to herself, her eyes filled with worry as she held Mocchi a little tighter.

"Wait a… moment… look…" Golem's booming voice got the group's attention, and everyone was quick to bring their attention back at the arena.

Even with the air still a little hazy from the dust that had been kicked up from Gaboo's last attack, Surmal's shaking silhouette was still visible to the crowd. The young monster slowly staggered to his feet, his shoulders slumped and knees bent, before letting out an angry bellow that echoed throughout the area. With a swift glare in his opponent's direction, Surmal leapt forward with his fangs bared and his claws extended forward. For the first time that night, Surmal looked serious.

"Wild Slash!"

The attack was so fast, Gaboo was unable to block the incoming attack. Surmal's clawed paw connected with Gaboo's face with incredible force, causing the yellow clay monster to yell out in pain and reel backwards. Surmal didn't hesitate as he continued to charge towards his opponent before leaping into the air and landing behind Gaboo. The purebred Garu growled angrily while lunging forward with his mouth wide open without giving his opponent a moment to react.

"Wild Bite!"

The lion-like monster's jaws clamped down on Gaboo's head, causing the yellow clay monster to yell out in a combination of surprise and pain. Gaboo immediately grabbed onto Surmal's jaws and tried to force him to release his hold, but to no avail. The purebred Gaboo clenched his hands into fists before punching Surmal repeatedly over the head in hopes of forcing the lion-like monster to release his hold on him, but his attempt proved unsuccessful.

"Let go, you little pest!" Gaboo shouted while pulling at Surmal's ears, but this did nothing to stop the young monster from tightening his hold.

The pain began to worsen, and Gaboo could feel himself getting light-headed from the pressure put on his skull from the bite. Gaboo gritted his teeth with frustration as he let out a pained sigh before looking over to Tesca.

"I surrender! I'm done! Just get this guy off of me!" Gaboo desperately shouted.

The crowd looked on in surprise at how quickly the battle had shifted from Gaboo's favor, but Tesca nodded his head in understanding at the clay monster.

"Alright everyone, Gaboo has withdrawn from the match. Surmal will move on to the next round!" Tesca announced with a smile, causing the crowd to cheer in excitement.

"Surmal!" Hunter immediately leapt onto the arena and rushed over to his companion, who was still clamped onto Gaboo's head. He placed a gentle hand on Surmal's back and gave him a soft pat. "The match is over, buddy. It's time to let Gaboo go, okay?"

Surmal looked around warily, as if expecting it to be some sort of setup, before he slowly released his hold on Gaboo. The angry look in the young monster's eyes that had been there earlier seemed to vanish instantly at seeing his friend, leaving the usual childish personality reflecting back.

"Geez, you've sure got one heck of a jaw. I'm gonna be feeling this for weeks!" Gaboo chuckled while rubbing his sore head.

"But! But! I was right!" Surmal grinned eagerly.

"Right? About what?" Gaboo asked.

"You! You used Long Punch! Then Ninja Kick! Punches are for arms, kicks are for legs! See? It's like magic!" the young monster replied giddily.

"…I never actually noticed that before," Gaboo mumbled to himself while looking down at his hands. 'So… are these hands or feet? No, no, they're definitely hands. But… what if they're not…?'

Gaboo awkwardly waved goodbye to Surmal and took off to think about if his life had been a lie or not, leaving Hunter and Surmal to regroup with the Searchers. Immediately, they were greeted by a wave of congratulations and praises from the group, causing Hunter to smile proudly at the attention and for Surmal to flash a toothy grin.

"Surmal did great, chi!" Mocchi chirped happily from his place in Holly's arms.

"Mocchi is nice! But I got distracted, which is bad. I need to focus! Next round, I'll focus better!" Surmal spoke while puffing his chest out.

"You did a really good job, Surmal. Don't beat yourself up, everyone battles differently and you won the match," Genki said with a smile.

"Yeah, I agree with Genki. You did great, Surmal. You had me worried for a moment, but I'm relieved you're okay. Just be careful in future battles because we don't want you to get hurt," the hint of worry wasn't lost in Holly's voice as she looked the young monster over for any injuries.

"I'm okay! I'll be careful! You're nice! Very nice! I like you!" Surmal grinned while hopping over to Holly with his tail wagging like a puppy.

"Oh! Well, I like you too, Surmal," the young girl replied with a warm smile.

"Hey guys! You know, now that Surmal's battle is over, I think I know who's up next…" Hare cut in from the back of the group with a playful grin while glancing over to Tiger.

"That's true. The strongest member of our group is about to show us how to fight properly," Tiger sarcastically replied.

"You two are the worst…" Suezo mumbled under his breath while glaring daggers at his two companions.

"Are they serious? You're the strongest member of your group?" Hunter asked in surprise, completely missing Tiger's sarcasm.

"Absolutely! I'll have you know I've fought all the members of the Big Bad Four and I have the most useful specialty attack you can imagine!" Suezo bolstered.

"Pffft, something like that," Hare rolled his eyes and chuckled to himself.

"Hare, you're such a -!"

Suezo didn't get to finish his sentence because the area fell into silence and everyone's attention was shifted back to the arena. Once again, Tesca stood in the middle of the arena with his arms stretch upwards and a smile on his face.

"What a great match that was! Hopefully each match will continue being this exciting! Next up, we have Suezo versus Titan! Both monsters, please come up to the arena so the match can begin!"

The crowd cheered and clapped at the announcement with the exception of one of the participants, who only slunk back into the crowd. Suezo gulped nervously at the announcement and he gritted his teeth anxiously. No matter what facade he put up, at the end of the day he wasn't a fan of fighting even when it was necessary for survival, let alone for sport. The eyeball monster bit his lip as he did his best to try and calm his nerves, but to no avail.

At seeing her companion looking stressed, Holly gently placed Mocchi into Genki's arms before making her way to her companion's side. The young girl smiled softly before she crouched down and placed a warm hand on the eyeball monster's head.

"Suezo, if you don't want to do this, it's okay. We can withdraw," Holly spoke gently.

"But… but we need the prize money!" Suezo exclaimed.

"True, but I would never want you to do something like this if you didn't want to. We always find a way to get money, don't worry about that. Only do this if you actually want to, don't worry about what anyone else wants," the brunette girl smiled.

Suezo looked into Holly's sincere brown eyes and he felt a sudden surge of strength. Holly had been with him since the beginning and had always defended him, even at times when he knew he was in the wrong. The eyeball monster glanced briefly at the rest of his companions, but he instantly looked back up at his best friend's face. He didn't care about participating in the tournament for the rest of the group, he only cared about doing it for Holly.

"Holly… Don't worry about me, I'll do my best and fight to the end! I would fight Moo alone if it meant helping you! Leave everything to me; your most loyal companion!" Suezo announced with vigor while dramatically turning away from Holly and hopping confidently into the arena. 'I hope I looked cool just now with that speech.'

"I know you can do it, Suezo! Just please be careful!" Holly cheered for her friend while taking her place on Suezo's side of the arena.

"I'm doing this for you, Holly!" the eyeball monster responded, his face completely serious. "I'm not doing this for the greedy deadbeats we travel with!"

"H-hey!" Hare scowled.

Before the group could argue with Suezo, the sound of large heavy footsteps vibrating the entire area caused the whole crowd to go silent. Standing at the opposite side of the arena was a Titan (Golem/Suezo), and his very presence brought an intimidating aura to the entire area. Titan looked almost exactly like Golem did, except he was mostly yellow in color. The only parts of his body that weren't yellow were his arms, abdomen, and legs, which were a rusty brown. Unlike Golem, however, his eyes didn't reflect the same warmth Golem's did and, instead, gave off a violent feel.

Suezo could only stare up at his opponent with his mouth agape like a suffocating fish.

"Are you ready to get smashed into smithereens?" Titan's booming voice echoed throughout the area.

"Well… uh… I mean…" Suezo began to sweat.

"I'm going to enjoy scraping your flattened body off the bottom of my foot," the Golem hybrid sneered.

"Erm… uh…" Suezo couldn't make a cohesive sentence form and, instead, only began to sweat more profusely.

"Well? Aren't you going to say something, you weakling?" Titan asked with a twisted grin.

At a snail's pace, Suezo slowly turned around to face Holly with his face completely drained of color and his body shaking like a leaf; the faux courage from just a moment ago completely gone. "R-remember when… you, uh, said… I could withdraw at any time…? About that…"

Ding ding ding!

Suezo had been so wrapped up in his own thoughts, he hadn't even noticed Tesca announce the match and leave the arena. A large shadow hovered over Suezo and with only a second to react, Suezo leapt to the side right before Titan's massive foot could come crashing down on top of him. The eyeball monster breathed a sigh of relief, but he didn't have a moment to spare as Titan's fist came speeding towards him. Suezo ducked just in time to avoid the attack and he hopped backwards to widen the gap between the two of them. The eyeball monster gulped nervously before glancing back at his partner.

"This guy's gonna pulverize me!" Suezo whined. "Holly, I think we should-"

"Suezo, watch out!" Holly shouted with wide eyes.

"Chop!"

Suezo didn't get the chance to finish his sentence as he rolled out of the way to dodge Titan's Chop attack just in the nick of time, thanks to Holly's warning. Titan's large hand smashed forcefully into the ground, sending dirt and rubble scattered throughout the arena. Suezo coughed from all the dust in the air, but he sighed in relief that he was still in one piece. The eyeball monster knew he couldn't dodge forever, though, and he laughed nervously as he waved his tongue at his opponent.

"Titan, my buddy, let's talk about this!"

"No, let's talk about this! Brow Hit!"

Suezo hopped back to avoid being smashed by the Brow Hit, which landed forcefully into the arena floor with a loud crash. The entire arena shook from the impact and the tremor caused even the crowd to stumble slightly. Pieces of the arena floor flew up into the air along with another cloud of dust, and Suezo felt anger bubble up into his stomach as he watched Holly use her arms to shield her face from the debris while just managing to keep her balance without falling over.

"Alright, that does it! It's one thing if you mess with me, but it's a different story when you mess with Holly! Take this! Spit Attack!" With all his might, Suezo formed a large wad of saliva in his mouth and spat it at Titan with as much velocity as he could muster. The attack hit the Golem hybrid directly in the face, but other than making him angrier, the attack didn't seem to have any effect. Not wanting to get close to such a giant monster to use his close range attacks and risk getting flattened, Suezo formed more saliva in his mouth and was prepared to keep his distance for as long as possible.

"Spit Attack! Spit Attack! Spit Attack!"

Without a plan, Suezo launched a barrage of Spit Attacks at his opponent in hopes that, maybe, Titan would get so disgusted that he would just surrender. Titan and even the crowd watched in slight revulsion as Suezo's attack covered the entire arena, but the eyeball monster didn't care.

"Is this all you can do? Spit? You really are pathetic," Titan mused as he flicked some of the saliva off of his arm.

"S-shut up! I can do more than that! I'm just, uh, warming up!" Suezo fired back defensively.

"Well, all that warming up was for nothing because this next attack is going to end you," the Golem hybrid grinned devilishly. Without waiting for Suezo to respond, Titan crouched down before extending his legs and leaping into the air.

"Quake!"

Titan stretched both his giant feet down towards the ground, preparing to unleash one of his most devastating specialty attacks. Just as his feet hit the ground, however, instead of entirely obliterating the arena along with his opponent, his feet slipped completely out from under his body from Suezo's saliva covering the arena floor. Titan let out a yell of surprise as he staggered backwards before falling flat on his back with a loud crash; the entire area shaking from the weight of the Golem hybrid's body hitting the ground. The crowd fell into a still quiet.

After a moment of silence, Tesca approached the side of the arena with an amused smile.

"Titan has slipped out of the arena's boundaries! Suezo will move on to the next round!" the old man announced.

Suezo stood still in absolute shock as the crowd broke out into a wave of cheers and applause. Never in his wildest dreams did he actually expect to win the match, although he wasn't about to complain. The eyeball monster noticed Titan, completely humiliated by the defeat, storm off in an angry huff, and he still couldn't believe that he actually defeated such an intimidating opponent.

"Suezo!"

Suezo was caught off guard as he was brought in for a tight hug from Holly, and he was suddenly snapped back into reality. He felt his body relax at her warm touch and he couldn't stop a content sigh from escaping his lips.

"You did it! You did a great job!" Holly praised, her eyes shining in pride at her companion.

"Haha, I knew I would win that fight from the very start! I just wanted to psych everyone out by making it look like I didn't know what I was doing, you know?" Suezo grinned smugly.

"May I have your attention, please!"

At the sound of Tesca's voice, Holly and Suezo glanced at one another before quickly exiting the arena and making their way back to their friends to get out of the way. The older man entered the arena a moment afterward while the Weed from the registration booth began mopping up Suezo's spit from the arena floor.

"We need to clean and fix the arena, so we'll take a 20 minute break. Once the arena is ready, we'll commence the battle between Hopper and Kitten!" Tesca announced to the crowd.

As Tesca continued to announce more information about what the festival goers could do while waiting for the tournament to reconvene, the Searchers turned their attention away from the arena and turned to each other instead.

"Seems like we have a quick break," Tiger noted to no one in particular.

"No way! Really?! Where did you get that idea from?" Hare replied mockingly.

"I just mean we have a chance to get some more food and drinks while there's a break, you dumb bunny!" the wolf monster growled irritably.

"Yeah! More food, chi!" Mocchi cheered happily at the idea of getting more festival food.

"That's a good idea, I'm starving after my fight with Titan. Winning can make a guy hungry, you know?" Suezo grinned arrogantly.

"Is it really considered winning if all you did was get your opponent to slip out of the arena using your spit?" Hare mused.

"That's called a top tier strategy, unlike the ones you usually make," Suezo replied defiantly while sticking his tongue out at the rabbit monster.

"That was definitely a unique strategy. I've never seen a Suezo use their Spit Attack to cause opponents to slip before. I'm learning a lot from you guys for when I eventually go back into being a monster breeder," Hunter noted.

"Yeah, a unique strategy! I'll try to learn one, too!" Surmal grinned eagerly.

"You can try, Surmal, but it'll take years of training to get even close to my level of expertise. Most Suezos don't have the experience level to fight like I do," Suezo arrogantly bolstered. "You know, if I was fighting in real tournaments regularly, I'd be beyond an S-Rank monster!"

"You?! An S-Rank monster?! Are you serious?! Psssst, yeah, okay. And I'd be married to Gali," Hare snorted with a roll of his eyes from his seat next to Golem.

"You know, in another life, that could have been true! Once we unlock the Phoenix and we revive all the Lost Discs, you can have your shot with him!" the eyeball monster retorted irritably.

As Hare and Suezo argued, Genki glanced over to the only two members of the anti-Moo rebels to not have spoken openly since the match between Suezo and Titan had ended. Holly and Golem talked quietly to one another and although he couldn't hear what they were saying, he could tell the two pacifists of the group were embarrassed by the constant bickering of their comrades, especially in front of Hunter and Surmal.

'The tournament is on hold for now, I wonder if Holly would want to walk around the festival with me while we wait for it to continue…' Genki thought to himself, but he immediately squashed the idea in his head. 'That would make things weird, I think. But it's just a walk, so it would be fine. But what if it's not? What if I say something stupid and make things weird between us? It's just Holly, though. Everything's fine with us, I'm just overthinking. Man, Hare made things complicated!'

The young boy sighed and kicked a small pebble with the tip of his geta. The unconfident feeling constricting his lungs wasn't normal for Genki and it only made him feel more anxious. 'I wish Hare never brought up the crush thing. He's wrong and he only made things weird between me and Holly! I don't like her like that!'

"Genki?"

Before Genki could delve further into his thoughts, he was snapped back to reality with a gentle call of his name. Holly's worried eyes stared back into his own apprehensive ones, and Genki could only imagine how long he had been lost in his own thoughts.

"Huh?" Genki's reply was much less sophisticated than he intended.

"Are you okay, Genki? I called your name a few times, but you didn't seem to notice," Holly spoke with concern coating each of her words.

"Oh! Hahaha, I'm fine! Just a bit tired from all the traveling," Genki hurriedly replied with a nervous laugh.

"Are you sure you don't want to turn in for the night? This tournament isn't worth you getting sick over."

"No no! I'm fine, really! I'll go straight to bed once the tournament is over. Then I'll sleep for a hundred years!"

His answer seemed to satisfy Holly's worries, and she rewarded him with a soft smile and a wholesome chuckle. "Well, I'll be sleeping for two hundred years and maybe an extra hundred depending on how I feel by the time we get back to the inn, so you might have to use the Magic Stone and find the Phoenix without me!"

The two friends shared a laugh, and the turmoil-filled atmosphere Genki had been feeling just minutes earlier completely dissipated. Genki liked the comfortable feeling between himself and Holly; how natural it felt for the two to be with each other and how easy it was to talk to one another. For now, the deep-rooted fears in his mind retreated and only trace remains lingered.

"Sorry I didn't hear you calling my name before, though," Genki sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"Oh, it's alright. I just wanted to make sure you were okay before I go," Holly replied.

"Wait, you're leaving?"

"I'm going to get us some drinks. Suezo used his Spit Attack a lot in that match so I know he must be thirsty," the wielder of the Magic Stone responded with a smile.

"Oh! Uh, I can help! I mean, do you want help?" Genki asked hastily.

"That would be really nice, thank you so much!" Holly's smile was infectious, and Genki couldn't stop a grin from forming on his own face.

"Great! Let's go then!"

The two human Searchers left the group just as the heated argument between Suezo and Hare escalated, resulting in Golem physically separating the two feuding monsters. Most of the crowd they had squeezed through earlier was stationed near the arena, so the festival grounds didn't feel quite as packed as it had earlier in the night. Still, there were enough people hovered around the food stalls that it made walking through the festival grounds a more difficult task than necessary.

Genki couldn't help but notice how close Holly walked next to him and how focused her eyes were on her surroundings; her attention completely fixated on the other festival attendees and festival stalls. With the sun now set and the air getting cooler, Genki could feel the warmth radiating off from the girl walking besides him and it caused butterflies to form in his stomach. Although he could tell the kimono Holly wore wasn't an outfit she was very comfortable in, Genki couldn't help but still be flustered seeing his companion in such elegant clothing instead of her usual traveling clothes. The way Holly's hair framed her face only added to her already mesmerizing presence and the faint glow from the festival lanterns shone on the wielder of the Magic Stone's face in a way that made her appear even more gentle than usual. The concerned look in her eyes felt out of place for such a moment, however, and it wasn't lost to Genki.

"Is everything okay, Holly?" Genki asked, his clear eyes reflecting the same concern Holly had for him earlier.

The young boy's question shifted Holly's attention toward him, and Genki did his best to not turn his gaze away from the wielder of the Magic Stone.

"Oh, I'm sorry for getting distracted. I was just keeping alert for any Baddies since I wouldn't want us being here to put the rest of the people here at this festival in danger, you know? Wherever we go, Baddies seem to show up not too long after us. Now that we know my father- I mean, Moo can sense my presence, we can't stay in one place for too long without putting other people's safety in jeopardy," Holly let out a stressed sigh while glancing over to her companion; her eyes failing to hide the worry she was feeling.

Genki looked over to his friend with sympathy and immediately stoked himself up.

"Don't worry, Holly! We can beat any Baddies that come our way, so you don't need to worry! Just enjoy the festival! We'll find the Phoenix and rescue your father any day now! I'll personally make sure of it!" Genki threw a punch in the air and flashed Holly a reassuring grin. His declaration seemed to work, which earned him a sincere smile from his comrade.

"You're right, Genki. Thank you, it really means a lot to me that you're on this journey with me," the young girl beamed.

The annoying butterflies in Genki's stomach returned in full force at the girl's comment.

"Holly! Genki!"

Genki didn't get the chance to respond to Holly as both the Searchers' names were called out from within the crowd. Hunter emerged from the mass of people with a wide grin plastered on his face, one that made Genki scowl in return at the intrusion.

"Hunter? Is everything okay?" Holly asked.

"Oh, yeah! Everything is fine! Golem mentioned you two went off to get the group some drinks and since Suezo and Tiger went to get food, I just thought you two might want some help carrying the drinks," Hunter replied with a thumbs up.

Genki gritted is teeth as he flashed Hunter an empty smile. "I think we're fine, but thanks anyways."

Hunter grinned further in response, unfazed by the rejection. "No, really. I've been having a great time at the festival with you guys and I want to help you out. I can't enjoy myself if I know you two are out juggling drinks while I'm just hanging around relaxing. Don't worry, I'm really happy to help!"

Genki glanced over to Holly, who he realized had also glanced over to him. He knew the look she was giving him, the "it would be rude not to" look she so often gave the Searchers when making decisions. The young boy felt a disappointed stab in his gut at his time with Holly being interrupted, but he let out a sigh while nodding his head.

"That would be great, thanks," Genki forced out.

"Great! Let's go!" Hunter smiled.

The trio walked together through the crowded streets, although Genki wasn't feeling the excitement of the festival like he had been a moment earlier. He wasn't sure why he felt irritated at Hunter joining them, but the feeling continued to nag at him like a persistent gnat. The feeling became more like a swarm of mosquitos, however, once Hunter sauntered closer to Holly and struck up conversation with the wielder of the Magic Stone.

"How long are you guys in town for?" Hunter casually asked.

"We're just staying the night. We'll be back on the road tomorrow morning if we stick to our schedule," Holly replied. "What about you?"

"I'll stay here a couple days depending how things go. It's too bad you're leaving so soon, though. There's a lot more to see at the festival, you know, and it's a lot more enjoyable when you're with good company such as yourself."

Genki felt himself fight back a scoff at Hunter's last comment, although he wasn't even sure why the comment went under his skin. It was a general comment, perhaps not even aimed specifically at Holly. Still, he felt annoyed by it, as if Hunter had an ulterior motive or was trying to be manipulative.

"You still have Surmal to hang out with once we're gone," Genki could feel the passive aggressive statement leave his mouth without hesitation.

"I suppose so, but being able to meet new friends is always a nice thing when you're traveling, right?"

The trio fell into an uncomfortable silence. Genki mentally kicked himself for coming off as harsh as he did, especially because Hunter hadn't actually done anything to warrant the cold attitude. The young boy glanced over to Hunter, who was looking aimlessly at the food stands with an unbothered expression. He then turned his attention to Holly, who he realized was looking over at him with a look that varied between confusion and concern. Genki sighed softly to himself, knowing how confused his friend must have been, before giving Holly a sheepish smile. She returned it, although the confusion still lingered in her eyes.

"Oh, look! A drink stand!" Hunter hastily pointed out, breaking the awkward silence in the process. A large stall was lined with empty drink mugs and was manned by a couple of purebred Ghosts. One of the spirit monsters counted gold coins on an old abacus while another Ghost placed the counted gold coins into its top hat for storage.

"Good evening! What do you have to offer for drinks?" Hunter asked the two soul-like monsters.

"Sorry, but we're currently out of everything besides apple juice and whisky," the Ghost holding the abacus replied apologetically.

"We'll definitely take nine mugs of apple juice then," Holly replied without batting an eye.

"Really? No alcohol for your group?" Hunter mused.

"With Suezo around, absolutely not."

Without elaborating further, Holly counted out several gold coins before handing them over to the Ghost with the abacus. The Ghost grinned happily and immediately retrieved nine mugs of apple juice for the three humans to take. Without a word, Genki, Holly, and Hunter each grabbed three mugs each and began the long trek back to the arena.

The walk back to the rest of the Searchers was quiet due to all three humans trying not to spill any of the drinks amidst the packed crowd of festival goers. Genki walked slightly behind Holly and Hunter, and he couldn't help but notice how often Hunter looked over at Holly when she wasn't looking. Hunter's eyes shone with a look Genki couldn't quite pinpoint, and this made him feel even more uncomfortable.

When the trio made it back to the other Searchers, they could see Suezo and Tiger had already gotten some food for the group to snack on. Hare insatiably swallowed a mouthful of bread and waved his companions over to rejoin them.

"Hey, guys! You just missed it, too!" the rabbit monster called out.

Genki completely ignored Hare's statement and handed the rabbit monster a mug, in which the ex-thief took happily, before handing one of the other mugs to Mocchi and keeping one for himself. Hunter followed Genki's lead and handed a mug to Golem, Tiger, and then Suezo. Finally, Holly gave Surmal a mug, which the young monster greedily accepted, before handing one to Hunter and keeping one for herself.

"Are you sure? I didn't think you were buying us drinks, too. I can definitely pay you back," Hunter said while giving Holly a grateful look.

"Oh, there's no need. Thank you for helping us carry all these back," Holly smiled before taking a sip of the drink.

"What?! Apple juice?! What am I, a toddler?!" Suezo exclaimed irritably after taking a sip of from the mug. "What, they don't serve alcohol here?! What kind of festival is this?!"

"They do serve alcohol, but we both know what happens when you drink and we're not going down that road tonight," Holly sternly replied.

"I get tipsy one time and I can never live it down!"

"One time? Funny, I remember that number being much higher on our journey when it was just the two of us and I also remember some interesting situations you got us into because of it."

Beads of sweat formed on Suezo's forehead, and the eyeball monster quickly looked away from his partner while whistling off-key to himself in an attempt to change the topic. "Yeah, you know, apple juice is a good choice, too, and it helps prevent acid reflux."

"You're such an idiot, Suezo," Tiger mumbled with a roll of his eyes.

"What did you just call me?!" the eyeball monster scowled.

"Hey, Hare. You said we just missed something. What'd we miss?" Genki asked quizzically, indirectly preventing a fight from breaking out in the process.

"The match between Hopper and Kitten is over, you guys took too long and missed it. Suezo and Tiger missed it, too, and it was a fun match to watch," Hare replied before taking a large swig of apple juice.

"Who was the winner?" Holly asked.

"Kitten did by a landslide. Hopper was definitely not trained at all," the rabbit monster snorted.

"That means… Mocchi and Surmal… will be battling next…" Golem stated.

"I didn't even think about that! I guess we'll be opponents," Hunter said with a competitive smile aimed towards Genki.

"Yeah, this'll be an interesting battle!" Genki grinned, a fire burning in his eyes.

Before the group could talk further, the crowd fell silent and the Searchers followed suit. Tesca slowly entered the arena, clipboard still clutched in his wrinkled hands, while clearing his throat and taking in a deep breath of air.

"That was a great match! Now that the preliminary rounds are complete, it's time to start the semi-final matches! With the end of the last match, it leaves Mocchi, Surmal, Suezo, and Kitten in the tournament! So we'll have two semi-final matches before the third place determination match and the big finale!" Tesca announced with enthusiasm, an emotion the rest of the festival goers matched.

"Our chances of winning some money are really good! Mocchi, go out there and win this thing!" Hare whispered to the young penguin-like monster.

"Yeah, chi! I'll do my best, chi!" Mocchi replied confidently.

"Alright, everyone! The next match is Mocchi versus Surmal! Both monsters, please take your positions!" Tesca declared before leaving the arena.

Genki gave Mocchi an encouraging pat on his shelled back before the young monster marched into the arena with his hands curled into tiny fists. Across from him stood Surmal, the small lion-like monster bouncing from one foot to the other energetically while throwing erratic punches in the air. Mocchi could feel the vibration from the crowd surrounding the arena cheering and stomping their feet, but his focus was completely on the purebred Garu staring him down from the opposite side of the arena. They were similar in size, which wasn't something Mocchi was used to since most Baddies he fought were larger than him and the lion-like monster didn't act like any monster he had ever fought before. Mocchi pushed back his thoughts and grounded his feet, ready to take down his unpredictable opponent as quickly as possible.

Ding ding ding!

The chime of the arena bell tolled loudly and Mocchi immediately bound towards his opponent with his clenched fists ready to strike. The young monster sprinted with as much force as his tiny legs could muster and, to his advantage, Surmal was more focused on the cracks on the arena floor than the oncoming attack.

"Double Pounder!"

Mocchi's fist connected with Surmal's face with incredible force, sending the Garu purebred flying across the arena and skidding across the dirt floor towards the edge of the ring. With a growl, Surmal extended his clawed hands out and dug them deep into the earth, slowing his movement to a halt and preventing himself from being pushed out of boundaries just inches away from the arena edge. The crowd howled in excitement at the close call, although Surmal's partner lacked the enthusiasm.

"Surmal! You have to focus or you're gonna lose!" Hunter called out to his companion.

"I know, I know! I'll do better!" Surmal called back like a pouting child.

"Keep him on the edge, Mocchi! You've got this!" Genki called out to his own partner.

Mocchi kept his eyes glued to the lion-like monster crouched across from him. The way Surmal's back arched upwards and his tail stiffened made him look like a feral cat, with teeth bared and claws extended. Mocchi took several cautious steps to the left of his opponent and the Garu purebred followed suit, mimicking his movements. Due to the way Surmal copied his movements, Mocchi couldn't find an easy opening to land more blunt attacks on his opponent, and a bead of sweat rolled down the side of the young monster's face.

"He's on guard now, Mocchi. You'll have to throw off his balance!" Genki called out to the sweet cake monster.

"Okay, chi!" Mocchi nodded in agreement.

Making sure to read his opponent's movements first, Mocchi rolled up into a ball before quickly bouncing into the middle of the arena. A pink aura slowly began to form around Mocchi's body as the small monster built up his power and the air surrounding the arena suddenly picked up a small breeze. Surmal, unsure of what Mocchi was planning, continued to circle his opponent while keeping a bit of distance.

"Cherry Blossom Blizzard!"

Leaping into the air, Mocchi extended his pudgy arms and spun rapidly in a circular motion. The air around the pink monster picked up in speed as hundreds of pink cherry blossom petals rained down from the sky like fluttering snowflakes and combined with the ever-growing whirlwind. The specialty attack only grew in size the longer Mocchi spun for until the flower cyclone enveloped the entire arena, leaving his opponent with nowhere to run. Surmal gritted his teeth as his body slowly was pulled towards the petal tornado until his light body could no longer stay grounded. The purebred Garu let out a yelp as his feet left the ground and he was sent flying into the air; the small lion-like monster trapped at the center of the Cherry Blossom Blizzard attack.

"You got this, Mocchi! Just send him out of the arena!" Genki called out to his partner with an excited grin. He couldn't help but look in the direction of Hunter, hoping to see the disappointed reaction on the older boy's face to the situation, but Genki felt a feeling of uneasiness sink into his stomach from the look Hunter had on his face instead: tranquility.

Hunter's eyes flickered with firm resolve, like someone who had cornered the king in a game of chess. The corners of his mouth twitched into a small smirk while his hands clenched into tight fists. "Now, Surmal! Use your favorite punch attack!"

Surmal's eyes snapped open at the sound of his companion's voice, and the young monster's demeanor changed completely. The lion-like monster shut his eyes tightly and took in a calm, deep breath of air before releasing it slowly. A faint orange glow emitted from the palms of Surmal's hands while a small amount of steam trickled out from the sides of his mouth from the difference from his internal temperature to the cool night air.

"Fire Punch!"

Orange flames burst from Surmal's clawed hands, causing a surge of light to explode at the top of the Cherry Blossom Blizzard attack and for sparks to scatter in the night sky like fireflies. With a growl, Surmal extended his burning claws and dove down the center of the whirlwind with as much speed as he could muster, even with the wind and flower petals cutting into his skin. The fire from his paws crackled as it made contact with the cherry blossom petals within the cyclone, enveloping each petal with its fiery influence. What was once a beautiful display of elegant flowers floating in the wind suddenly transformed into a raging whirlwind of hellish fire; resulting in the crowd releasing shocked gasps at the spectacle and for everyone but the contenders to take several steps back.

Mocchi's silhouette could just barely be made out from his position in the center of the fiery cyclone, and it was no question that the young monster was struggling with the situation. Even with the flames mostly masking everyone's view, the crowd let out a gasp as the vague silhouette in the center of the blaze collapsed forward to his knees before completely disappearing from view as the inferno grew in size.

"Genki! Be careful!"

Genki could hear Holly's concerned shout, but he was too focused on the sweltering inferno in front of him to process her words. His mind raced with questions, self-criticality, and most of all, fear for his friend's safety. The heat from the transformed Cherry Blossom Blizzard attack radiated on Genki's skin and even from the distance he was standing, the heat still slightly burned. To be trapped inside the middle of the inferno had to be absolutely scalding, and fear for Mocchi's wellbeing further rose in his gut. Swallowing his pride, the young boy shouted and waved wildly to get Tesca's attention; his care for winning the match completely gone.

"Stop! I withdraw! Stop the match!" Genki shouted to Tesca, his face etched with worry. Tesca, his forehead wrinkled in concern, nodded his head in understanding.

"Genki has withdrawn Mocchi from the match! Surmal wins and will be moving on to the final battle! Surmal, end your attack immediately!" Tesca announced loudly from the sideline, making sure to keep a safe distance from the tornado of fire engulfing the arena.

"Okay, Surmal! The battle is over! It's time to stop your fire!" Hunter ordered sternly.

As Hunter's words registered in Surmal's mind, the purebred Garu released the breath he had been holding and freed his concentration of keeping the scorching windstorm alive. With Surmal no longer supplying the storm with hungry flames, the distorted Cherry Blossom Blizzard began to lose its power, causing Surmal to plummet downwards and fall face first unceremoniously on the hard arena floor with a loud crash.

"Owwies…" Surmal mumbled while rubbing his sore muzzle and shakily getting to his feet with the help of Hunter.

With the fiery tornado dissipated, Genki bolted past Hunter onto the ashen arena to check on Mocchi. The blood in Genki's ears was pounding from nerves as he hastily made it to his partner's side, and he breathed a sigh of relief at seeing the young monster was still breathing. Mocchi was curled up in a tight ball, his shelled back facing upwards to protect his body from the flames. Although his skin was a little darker than usual from soot, Mocchi was otherwise unharmed and wasn't burned in the slightest. Genki gently placed his hand on Mocchi's back and gave him a small shake.

"Hey, Mocchi, are you okay?" Genki asked.

"…no, chi," the baby monster's reply was muffled.

"What's wrong? Where are you hurt?" the young boy's fears from just moments earlier came back in full force.

"…not hurt, chi," Mocchi mumbled.

"What is it?"

"…Mocchi lost the match, chi…"

Genki smiled before gently scooping Mocchi up into his arms and hugging him tight; the baby monster burying his face into Genki's chest while holding firmly onto his shirt in response. The boy with clear eyes held his best friend close and gave him a comforting pat on the head while chuckling softly.

"Mocchi, I don't care about that. I'm just relieved you're okay! I thought you got burned!" Genki exclaimed.

"Fire was all around me, but never touched me, chi," Mocchi sighed tiredly.

"I made sure to keep Mocchi in the eye of the storm! So no burns! No pain! Just lots of heat!" Surmal spoke giddily while bounding over to Genki and Mocchi.

"I'm relieved Mocchi is okay. Just because Surmal didn't plan on hurting Mocchi, doesn't mean it couldn't have happened. Surmal is inexperienced and could have easily lost control of that situation. I didn't expect him to try completely taking over the Cherry Blossom Blizzard attack, I thought he was just going to burn through enough of the petals to escape the whirlwind," Hunter admitted with a sheepish smile. "But you're a great fighter, Mocchi. I've seen other Mocchis battle before and they weren't nearly as powerful as you."

"But, Mocchi lost! Mocchi's still too weak…" Mocchi miserably sighed.

"It's okay that you lost, though. You did your best and that's what counts. That doesn't mean you're weak! All of us have lost battles, it's just how it goes sometimes," Genki replied with a reassuring smile.

"Genki's right, Mocchi! You're really strong! Surmal beat you because he had the element of surprise. You and Genki didn't know Surmal has attacks that use fire since neither of you have ever encountered a Garu before now. If you both knew that, you would have planned ahead for it and it would have been a much more evenly matched fight," Hunter encouraged.

"Yeah! I had the advantage! I fought other Mocchis before, they didn't even have specialty attacks! No Cherry Blossom Blizzards! Just attacks like Double Pounder! You're very strong! A good rival!" Surmal said happily while clapping his hands together like a windup toy.

"See, Mocchi? And you didn't even use your Mocchi Cannon attack! The Mocchi Cannon is way more powerful than your Cherry Blossom Blizzard!" Genki pointed out.

"Really? A more powerful attack? Why didn't you use it during the match?" Hunter asked quizzically.

"Mocchi didn't want to accidently hurt the audience, chi. The Mocchi Cannon is really powerful, but the arena is too small. If it missed, someone could have gotten hurt, chi," Mocchi admitted.

"If you had used it you probably would have defeated Surmal, but you put everyone else's safety before winning. You're an incredible fighter, Mocchi," Hunter smiled with admiration towards the young monster.

Mocchi blushed at the compliment and bashfully buried his face into Genki's shirt. Genki chuckled at Mocchi's shy response before turning his attention back to Hunter, who was already heading back towards the other Searchers with Surmal in tow. Being defeated by Hunter was a stab in the gut, for he wanted to win the tournament so badly earlier in the night. Still, Genki swallowed his pride and called out to the other boy.

"Hey, Hunter!"

Hunter turned in surprise at being called, and he gave Genki a confused look. "Hm? What's going on, Genki?"

"I… I just wanted to say, um, good luck with your next match," Genki said awkwardly while cordially extending his hand out.

"Thanks! We'll do our best!" Hunter beamed and eagerly accepted the handshake.

With Mocchi still nestled in his arms, Genki took one last look over at the vacant arena before walking with the match's victor and making his way back to the other Searchers. Immediately the two boys and two monsters were greeted by praise from the rest of the team, and Genki sighed in relief at seeing Mocchi's mood lift at the attention.

"I'm so relieved you're not hurt! You had me really worried!" Holly doted on the young monster snuggled in Genki's arms.

"Yes… Golem is relieved… Mocchi is not hurt…" Golem's voice boomed from behind the group.

"See?! These tournaments are dangerous! We shouldn't have even entered this! You know, we still have time to withdraw…" Suezo piped up from next to Holly, but his words were completely ignored.

"That was a good match, Mocchi. You did well," Tiger praised.

"Yeah, even if you didn't win the prize money, you- OWWWW!" Hare started, but the rabbit monster let out a pained howl when Tiger's claw smashed down on his foot; stopping him mid-sentence.

"Shut up about the prize money already!" the wolf monster snarled hoarsely.

"The prize money is the whole reason we entered this tournament in the first place, you dumb mutt!" Hare countered irritably while rubbing his sore foot.

Genki chuckled while looking down at Mocchi, who didn't seem phased by Hare's comment and, instead, was too preoccupied trying to keep his heavy eyelids from closing. The young monster was completely exhausted from the battle and Genki made sure to hold onto him tight in case he gave in to sleep.

"Ahem, all that aside. It looks like it's Suezo's turn now. Don't lose this! Don't forget about the prize money! You need to win more than ever now that Mocchi's out of the tournament!" Hare spoke while his eyes narrowed at the eyeball monster.

"Easy for you to say…" Suezo mumbled grumpily while turning his attention towards the arena.

"It's okay, Suezo. I know you'll do great," Holly smiled warmly at her oldest friend.

"Yeah, great. Something like that," the eyeball monster pouted.

Knowing his match was up next, Suezo reluctantly hopped into the arena while muttering profanities under his breath with Holly following tentatively behind to her position near the arena. After watching Mocchi lose his last match, the eyeball monster wasn't looking forward to whatever beating he was potentially going to endure in the coming moments. Even worse, his next opponent had already won a match in the tournament, which made Suezo that much more nervous for the next fight. Still, he had made a promise in Holly's name that he would at least attempt to win the tournament, and he couldn't back out unless it was truly justified. He also knew if he bailed out of the tournament that he would never hear the end of it from Hare and Tiger either, which would be just another thing they could hold over his head.

'I just can't catch a break!' Suezo thought grumpily to himself.

"The next match is Suezo versus Kitten!"

Suezo blinked in surprise at the announcement while turning his head to get a better look at his opponent. Kitten was a Pixie/Kato hybrid, and she was a combination Suezo was definitely not complaining about. The woman-like monster had brown cat ears atop her head and a short, flat brown tail coming from her lower spine. Her short brown hair framed her pale face and her large chocolate eyes sparkled in excitement from the cheering crowd. Unlike most Pixie breeds, Kitten lacked wings and horns entirely.

"Holy Phoenix! I… I… I must be dreaming…!" Suezo drooled while staring lustfully at his opponent. "I've always been a cat person! I'll be her scratching post any day!"

"Suezo! Have some decency!" Holly whispered hoarsely to her partner while a flush of red tinted her cheeks from embarrassment for her partner's behavior.

"How can I?! Just look at her! Me-ow!" the eyeball monster swooned happily.

Ding ding ding!

"Slobbery Kiss!"

With the sound of the bell, Suezo wasted no time in puckering up his lips and lunging forward like a lion going after an antelope with no strategy what so ever. Kitten let out a yelp of surprise at the very bold attack, but she managed to leap backwards just in time to avoid getting suffocated by Suezo. The Pixie hybrid sighed in relief at her successful dodge before glaring at her opponent and raising her hands in the air.

"Lightning!"

Electricity flowed through Kitten's body before being released from her hands in a stream of light and crackling energy. The attack hit Suezo dead-on, and the eyeball monster let out a horribly loud scream as the electricity mercilessly coursed through his body. His tail contorted into a painful angle from his nerves convulsing while saliva ran down his chin as he lost strength in his muscles. Kitten's ruthless attack finally ended with one last crackle of light while smoke from the attack began to obscure the arena, leaving Kitten to squint her eyes to try making out the condition of her opponent.

"SUEZO!" Holly cried out from the sidelines, eyes tearing up with fear. "SUEZO!"

Kitten smirked as the arena fell silent and the atmosphere became still with apprehension. The Pixie hybrid took a step forward to confirm the status of her opponent, but she let out a shocked yelp as a large tongue emerged from the smoke and wrapped around her leg so quickly; she didn't register it until it was too late. Suezo's tongue yanked Kitten to the arena floor with one hard tug and slowly began pulling her into the smoky area of the arena. Kitten hit the ground and immediately began scrambling to escape her captor while her foe remained cloaked in the smokescreen. With a growl, the Pixie hybrid used her free leg to aimlessly kick at her opponent, which earned Kitten her freedom, but a shadow looming behind her from within the smoky arena leapt towards the humanoid monster without warning.

"SLOBBERY KISS!"

"EEEEEK!" Kitten shrieked like a banshee while just avoiding Suezo's massive lips completely smothering her. Instead, Suezo flew past the Pixie hybrid and clumsily smashed face first into the arena floor.

"Come on, beautiful! Stand still! Slobbery Kiss!" Suezo licked his chapped lips before diving at Kitten with puckered lips once more, completely unfazed by the Lightning attack she had launched at him.

"How are you okay after being hit dead-on with my Lightning?!" Kitten shouted while sidestepping out of the way of the frantic eyeball monster.

"Love will do that to a guy!" Suezo replied seductively with a bat of his eye.

"Ewwwww! This isn't worth it! Enough of this, you disgusting pervert! I withdraw!" Kitten huffed with crossed arms before turning her back to Suezo and marching towards the edge of the arena.

"W-What?! Wait! No! No! Please! Don't withdraw!" Suezo desperately pleaded while frantically hopping after the Pixie hybrid. "This is the only fight I've ever wanted in my entire life! Don't destroy my dreams!"

"Hmph! Get away from me, you dirty bottom feeder!" Kitten hissed while taking a step outside the arena boundary and aggressively pushing her way through the crowd. The Pixie hybrid never looked back to watch the look of anguish on her opponent's face and only stopped when approached by Tesca, although she only shook her head at the old man and disappeared into the crowd.

"NOOOOOO!" Suezo collapsed to the ground in despair at the match ending prematurely.

"Kitten has withdrawn from what I can say is one of the most unusual matches I've ever witnessed! Suezo will move on to the final battle!" Tesca announced with a weak chuckle.

Suezo sank to the arena floor in a crumpled heap of anguish. The eyeball monster looked miserably over to where the other Searchers stood; each anti-Moo rebel looking rather embarrassed for their comrade's shameless display. At the sound of Tesca making an announcement, Suezo begrudgingly stood up and slowly hopped towards the edge of the arena with a depressed sigh while making his way over to his human partner. Even from a distance he could see the look of disapproval on Holly's face, and the eyeball monster did his best to put on a fake smile and to put on a convincing act. Suezo merrily hopped over to his closest companion and immediately flashed her a giant smile.

"My strategy of making Kitten withdraw on her own so I wouldn't waste energy for the final match worked!" Suezo spoke with fake bravado.

"Oh, really? Because that looked like a pretty legitimate attempt to get a kiss or more out of the poor girl," Holly dryly replied, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"What?! Me?! Never! It was all just part of the plan! Now I can fight with all my energy in the final battle, so everything worked out just like I planned!" the eyeball monster laughed nervously while avoiding eye contact with Holly.

"May I have your attention, please!"

Tesca's voice echoed throughout the area, causing all the festival goers to fall into complete silence. The older man paused for a moment, eyes scanning the crowd briefly, before clearing his throat and raising his hand. Holly and Suezo stayed near the edge of the arena to avoid having to push through the crowd and make a scene to get back to their friends as they listened to the announcement.

"During her leave, Kitten stated that she decided to withdraw completely from the tournament! This means, by default, Mocchi is our third place winner! Suezo, stay in the arena since your next match is coming up now! Surmal, please join Suezo in the arena!" Tesca shouted.

The crowd clapped and cheered at the announcement, and the Searchers shared the enthusiasm of the crowd. Before anyone could congratulate Mocchi, however, they stopped at seeing the young monster curled up in Genki's arms, completely asleep. Genki couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt for getting as wrapped up in the tournament as he had earlier in the night. Although Surmal ultimately won the match, he was still incredibly proud of his monster companion and was just relieved he wasn't injured in the battle.

"He's had a really long day," Genki said while cradling the baby monster in his arms. "He's gonna sleep for a long time tonight."

"Mocchi will be… happy when he… wakes up… to find out… he won third place…" Golem smiled warmly down at his companions.

"That leaves the last match. This'll be interesting…" Tiger chuckled.

"HEY, SUEZO! MAKE SURE YOU WIN THIS NEXT MATCH! PRIZE MONEY IS ON THE LINE!" Hare shouted.

"FOR PHOENIX'S SAKE! I KNOW ALREADY! SHEESH!" Suezo shouted irritably back from his place in the arena.

"Hare, it's okay. We'll be getting prize money no matter what the outcome of Suezo's match is," Genki pointed out.

"That's a good point! Suezo's already gonna get at least the five thousand golds second place prize money no matter what since he made it to the finals! And he still has the chance to win ten thousand golds if he wins against Surmal!" Hare snickered deviously as he counted the prize winnings in his head. "That's on top of the third place winnings of three thousand golds Mocchi's already won! We're still gonna make out really good!"

"We are in… a good position… so no need to… add extra pressure… to Suezo…" Golem spoke calmly.

"Absolutely not, Golem! The pressure's still on! The outcome of this match is the difference of five thousand golds! FIVE THOUSAND GOLDS! Suezo can't slack off! He needs to win this tournament and get the full ten thousand golds first place prize!" Hare declared.

"You're insufferable…" Tiger mumbled with a roll of his eyes.

Back in the arena, Surmal stood at the opposing side from Suezo; the little lion monster bouncing around sporadically while not listening to the announcements at all. Suezo watched the smaller monster carefully, fully aware of the potential threat he was after watching his fight with Mocchi. The eyeball monster could feel a bead of sweat roll down the side of his face and it only reminded him of how nervous he truly was. Standing before him was the monster who defeated Mocchi only minutes earlier, and he internally knew Mocchi was a much better fighter than himself. Suezo gulped nervously before glancing back to Holly for reassurance, and he felt his nerves calm a bit. Holly looked just as anxious as himself, but her eyes also reflected a look of confidence in her partner's abilities that he wasn't certain was deserved. Still, his heart soared at seeing his partner's confidence in him and he narrowed his large eye at his opponent; ready to do his best to win.

"Without further ado, the final match is about to begin between Surmal and Suezo! Let's end this tournament with a great battle!"

The cheers from the crowd at the announcement went unheard by Suezo, who was too focused on keeping an eye on Surmal to hear it. Instead, his eye followed Surmal's every move as the purebred Garu leapt around the opposing side of the arena in no distinguishable pattern just as he had during his match with Mocchi. The unpredictable nature of Surmal only made Suezo more apprehensive, and he wasn't sure what kind of strategy to even try using against such an unusual opponent.

Ding ding ding!

At the sound of the bell, Suezo immediately prepared a large wad of saliva in his mouth for a classic Spit Attack. The eyeball monster bounced around in synch with each move Surmal made, waiting for an opening to fire off his attack at the little lion monster while keeping an eye on the distance between the two monsters.

'I don't think getting too close to this guy is a good idea since as far as I've seen, all of his attacks have been close range,' Suezo thought to himself while keeping a good distance between himself and Surmal.

Surmal bounced around with anticipation just as he had in his match with Mocchi, and this only made Suezo's nerves go into hyper drive. Every move Surmal made only made him that much more uneasy, and Suezo knew he had to finish the match as quickly as possible before the purebred Garu became serious about the fight.

"Spit Attack!"

Suezo quickly launched the wad of saliva at his opponent, but the little lion monster was faster. Surmal rolled out of the way of the attack with ease before running forward and pouncing towards Suezo with a large grin and his claws extended.

"Wild Slash!"

Suezo let out a yelp as he just managed to duck underneath Surmal's sweeping claws. The eyeball monster immediately rolled backwards to put distance between himself and Surmal once again while the little lion monster cackled wildly on the opposing side of the arena.

'I need to move around more to keep the distance between us otherwise he's gonna tear me to shreds!' Suezo thought frantically to himself. 'Maybe I can get him to slip out of the arena like Titan did! That would be so lucky!'

With every step Surmal took, Suezo hopped further away from the purebred Garu as if he was a deadly plague. The eyeball monster still couldn't see a pattern in Surmal's movements, so he still lacked a concrete plan of action. Suezo prepared more saliva for another attack in an attempt to keep Surmal at a distance, but he wasn't sure how long the strategy would work for.

"Spit Attack!"

Suezo launched another sloppy Spit Attack at Surmal but, just like the first time, the purebred Garu dodged the incoming attack.

'As long as I keep enough distance between us, I should be fine until I can come up with a better strategy to fight this guy. Eventually he'll get tired from dodging, I hope,' the eyeball monster thought anxiously.

"Take this fight seriously, Surmal! Close the distance!" Hunter shouted from his position at the side of the arena.

Before Suezo could prepare for another Spit Attack, his eye widened at seeing Surmal take on a more offensive stance. The small lion monster got down on all four paws so that all his claws were planted firmly on the ground. His back arched slightly as an orange glow began to emit from his figure and streams of fire began to envelope his entire body. Steam escaped the sides of his wryly grin as the Garu purebred let out a hiss, with more fire building around his body in the process. Suezo was terrified.

"Watch out, Suezo! You have to dodge!" Holly called out to her companion.

"FIRE CHARGE!"

Surmal didn't waste a moment as his body rocketed toward Suezo like a missile with such speed, Suezo barely saw him coming. The Garu purebred smashed directly into Suezo's tail, knocking the eyeball monster flat on his face onto the hard arena floor. Suezo dizzily coughed out some dirt from his mouth while trying to get is bearings, his head rattled from the fast attack.

"Fire Kick!"

Surmal's flame-encased foot smashed upwards into Suezo's chin, which sent the defenseless eyeball monster flying into the air. Suezo could barely breathe from the impact of the attack and his head spun with dizziness from not having a chance to recover from the barrage of attacks.

"Fire Upper!"

Suezo's mind reeled as Surmal's fiery elbow further collided with his jawbone, causing him to fling even further into the air like a discarded ragdoll. His head felt as though he had been punched by Golem and further electrocuted by Tiger all at once; the pressure in his head was immense.

"Suezo! You have to get out of there! Use Teleport!" Holly's worried command was lost in the midst of the battle.

"Fire Punch!"

Surmal smashed his fire-encased fist down into the back of Suezo's head, sending the eyeball monster crashing back down into the arena floor. Suezo brutally hit the ground face first again; the taste of dirt and blood coating his sensitive tongue and causing his stomach to become nauseated. With a weak cough, Suezo shakily lifted his beaten head off the ground, his mind so rattled he could barely see two inches in front of his face.

"Quick, Suezo! Teleport out of the way!" Holly sounded as though she was going to have a panic attack at the rate the battle was going.

"T-teleport!" Suezo slurred his words and, as usual, remained in the same spot without moving an inch.

"Wild Stomp!"

Surmal's foot crashed down onto Suezo's skull, sending the eyeball monster's face smashing back down onto the cold ground. Suezo gritted his teeth in response, especially as Surmal's foot connected with his head a second time, followed by a third. The sounds from the crowd were muddled; he could just barely make out the sounds of Genki encouraging him and Hare screaming something about the prize money. The eyeball monster's vision spun and he felt as though his skull was going to explode from the pressure.

"Suezo! We can withdraw! It's okay! I don't want you to get hurt!" Holly cried out to her battered friend.

Holly's voice cut through all the other sounds around him, and Suezo felt his nerves calm down. Holly was always a beacon of light in his world, ever since he could remember. For reasons he couldn't explain, the words Suezo wanted to hear all night suddenly made his heart sink, however. He never wanted to join the tournament to begin with and the idea of withdrawing was what he wanted in the first place, but now his pride was just as wounded as his body was. Even more intense than his pride being hurt, however, was one thing among all else in his mind: he didn't want to let Holly down. He knew he wasn't a fighter like the rest of the Searchers were. He couldn't take on Baddies in the same capacity as his friends, but Holly was always there for him no matter the situation. The idea of failing her made his stomach sink into the lowest cavity of his body and forced the nausea he was already feeling to worsen.

"N-no… No! I can't give up! I'll… I'll win! For you, Holly!" Suezo growled with determination; a mixture of saliva and blood dribbled down his chin with each breath he took.

"Wild Bite!"

Surmal lunged forward at Suezo with his mouth wide open, his pointed fangs ready to sink into the tender flesh of Suezo's cranium just as he had done with Gaboo earlier in the night. Suezo felt the world around him go into slow motion, for his heart rate to relax, and for his vision to clear. The eyeball monster let out a deep breath of air, his eye closing and his mind completely clearing of all uncertainties.

"TELEPORT!"

Suezo's eye snapped open before he completely vanished; leaving Surmal's bear trap-like jaws to snap shut into thin air. The Garu purebred blinked in surprise that his bite didn't hit his target before looking around for his opponent, but Suezo was completely gone from sight. Confused murmurs from the crowd began to fill the area while the group of Searchers could only look on with relief that the fickle attack had actually worked for once.

"Way to go, Suezo!" Genki cheered from the sidelines while clutching Mocchi tightly.

"I can't believe he was able to use Teleport! It's a miracle!" Hare gaped in surprise.

"Miracle or not, some monsters just need a little extra pressure to unlock their potential," Tiger stated firmly.

In the arena, Surmal whipped his head around, wildly looking for his opponent, before he released an aggravated growl when he had no such luck. Hunter still couldn't help but stare in shock at the spot Suezo had been laying just seconds before, his mind still trying to process what had just happened.

"No way! He used a Teleport specialty attack?! Be careful, Surmal!" Hunter shouted to his companion.

"I'm trying! But he's gone! Poof! Disappeared!" Surmal replied with a nervous whine.

"TAIL ATTACK!"

Suezo suddenly reappeared directly above his opponent, with a dangerous gleam in his bloodshot eye. Suezo's tail smashed into the top of Surmal's head like a wrecking ball, causing the little lion monster to let out a squeak as his body was forced forward to the ground below. With the weight of Suezo's entire body on his head, Surmal crashed face first into the arena floor like a hammer smashing down onto a nail, causing a loud bang and a cloud of dust to form from the impact. Suezo, eye burning with fury, immediately leapt off his opponent and wrapped his tongue around Surmal's leg. With a grunt, the eyeball monster swung the little lion's body over his head like a lasso, his frustration and adrenaline at its peak.

"You gave me the worst headache of my life, you little twerp!" Suezo loudly shouted before releasing his hold on Surmal's leg, allowing the Garu purebred to launch from his grip and to fly through the air like a competition discus.

The crowd screamed and shouted as Surmal flew towards the boundaries of the arena, but the little lion monster was too disorientated to react. Instead, Surmal landed ungracefully on his back in the grass of the arena's perimeter and skidded to a halt as he slid into the trunk of a nearby tree. The little lion monster, still woozy from being twirled around, dizzily tried to sit up, but he immediately leaned back against the tree to prevent himself from falling over. The crowd fell silent as Hunter ran to Surmal's side to check on his companion, a relieved sigh escaping his lips at seeing the Garu purebred unharmed.

Tesca took center stage in the middle of the arena while the Weed festival attendant rang the arena bells.

Ding ding ding ding ding ding!

"Surmal has been thrown out of bounds! Suezo and Holly are the winners of this year's tournament and are given the titles of Festival of Fire Champions!" Tesca announced proudly.

Suezo stood shakily in the arena, his body swaying from the beating he had taken and his pupil dilated in shock. The deafening cheers from the crowd only made his already sore head pound more and it took all his strength to not vomit from nausea. Part of him wasn't sure who the crowd was even cheering for, only that something good must have happened. His head was still rattled from Surmal's barrage of attacks that he didn't know what was going on anymore, just that he really wanted to sleep.

"Suezo!"

Suezo's body felt numb and he could barely feel Holly's tight hug, but he still felt a wryly grin plaster on his face anyways from her warm embrace.

"You did it! You won the tournament! You were amazing out there!" Holly praised.

"I… I won? I mean, yeah! Of course I won! You know, I went easy on him that time. I'd beat him in less than a second if we had a rematch!" Suezo weakly gloated.

"I'm sure you would, Suezo," Holly played along with a relieved smile. The young girl gave her monster another pat on his head as she helped to guide the weakened monster back over to their friends. The walk was slow due to Suezo hopping sluggishly from still being disoriented, but the duo was able to make it over to their group of friends, all whom were beaming at their companion.

"Suezo, you know you've always been my favorite member of this group!" Hare gushed.

"My head got hit a lot, but not that much. I know you're up to something," Suezo narrowed his eye at the rabbit monster.

"What?! No! I'm not up to anything! We're just so lucky to have such a powerful monster in our group! You did a great job winning the prize money- I mean, winning the tournament!" Hare smiled greedily.

"Hare, your love for money is a disease," Tiger huffed before turning to Suezo. "You did a good job out there, Suezo. You had me worried for a minute there."

"I was just putting on a good show, I had it all under control," Suezo replied arrogantly while leaning up against Holly for support. "I'm the Festival of Fire Champion, after all!"

"Hey, Suezo!"

At the sound of Suezo's name being called, the group of anti-Moo rebels all turned to face Hunter, who was carrying a very tired Surmal in his arms. Besides his fur being a bit tussled, the small lion monster was otherwise unharmed and was just completely drained of energy. It was the first time that night Surmal was calm.

"Suezo, you were amazing out there! All this time I thought you were a pretty clumsy fighter, but you were really putting on an act the entire time! You really had us fooled! You've definitely earned the title of Festival of Fire Champion!" Hunter grinned.

"Oh, you know, I don't like to show off my true strength right away otherwise all my opponents would forfeit. Plus it's not fun if the match only lasts a few seconds, am I right?" Suezo's ego tripled in size with each word he spoke. "But everyone needs to start referring to me as Champion Suezo from now on."

"Oh, great. We're gonna be stuck dealing with this for the next few days, lucky us…" Tiger murmured under his breath.

"Hey! You're not stuck dealing with this; you get the rare opportunity to be in the presence of greatness! I'm gonna single-handedly take down Moo and revive the Phoenix, so the least you can do is refer to me as 'Champion'! There's no need to fear the Baddies with me around!" the eyeball monster exulted further.

"We'll see what song you're singing the day you're facing Moo head-on! I think there'll be a lot of groveling and tears coming from you!" Hare snorted while crossing his arms.

"Genki's usually the one we're stuck using all our bandages on since he runs into battle blindly, don't make us have to patch you up too, Suezo," Tiger huffed.

As Tesca entered the arena, the crowd fell into silence to hear the final words of the night, the Searchers and Hunter included.

"That concludes this year's Festival of Fire tournament! Thank you, everyone, for watching and please enjoy the rest of the festival! Tournament winners, please come talk to me about your prize money!" Tesca's final tournament announcement echoed through the area before the older man exited the stage with a round of applause.

The Searchers and Hunter immediately looked at one another before bounding over to Tesca, their excitement not lost to the other festival goers. Hare rudely pushed Genki and Hunter out of the way so he could deal with securing the prize money himself, leaving both human boys to scowl at the rabbit monster.

"So we'll just collect our prize money and be back on the road tomorrow morning. That's thirteen thousand golds, as I recall, since we won both first place and third place," Hare greedily extended his hands out to procure the tournament winnings.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. We don't distribute the prize money until after the festival is over," Tesca replied apologetically. "This is what I called you over for, to explain when you'll be receiving it."

"W-wait, say what now?" the rabbit monster stuttered.

"We used to give out the prize money immediately after the tournament was finished, but there were several incidents years ago where thieves went around to each of the winners during the rest of the festival and stole the prize money from them. Attending a festival where everyone knows you have prize money attracts problems like that, so we hold the prize money now until after the festival is over for safety reasons," Tesca explained.

"But… but we have to get back on the road tomorrow!" Genki exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, but you'll have to wait to receive the prize money unless you want to leave tomorrow without it," the older man replied sympathetically.

"How much… longer is the… tournament?" Golem inquired.

"Today is the first of four days, so there are three more days. On the fourth day, you can collect your prize money since most of the festivities will be over by then, so I'm afraid you may be stuck here for a few extra days. I must leave you tonight, but please make yourselves comfortable and enjoy the festival," Tesca explained as he looked down at his clipboard before giving the group a gentle wave and heading off into the crowded festival.

The Searchers fell into silence before looking over to Holly for guidance. She blushed nervously at the sudden attention and fidgeted with the sleeve of her kimono.

"I suppose we don't have much of a choice. We'll stay, but the moment we receive the prize money we'll have to get back onto the road. The longer we're here for, the more at risk we put everyone attending the festival. We don't know if the Baddies know our location or not right now," Holly said with a sigh.

"Don't seem too bummed out, guys! The best thing to do is to make the best of it. I mean, there's a lot of different shows to watch and don't forget about all the great food!" Hunter grinned while patting Surmal on the head.

"Yeah! All the seafood!" Surmal grinned mischievously.

"No seafood for you ever again! I mean it!" Hunter's eyes narrowed at his partner.

"Hunter's right, though. We could definitely be stranded in a much worse situation than this. I mean, remember the desert we just came from?" Hare pointed out. "We literally fought each other over one apple."

"True. We should make the best of this and enjoy the festival then. I won't complain about getting a warm meal for the next few days," Tiger spoke up with a yawn.

"Yeah, champions like myself need sleep! How else am I supposed to keep my strength up?" Suezo tiredly chimed in while weakly flexing his tongue. "I'm over an S-Rank monster, after all."

"You're delusional," the wolf monster rolled his eyes.

"Alright guys, let's go back to the inn and get some sleep! I think we're all a little tired!" Genki said while looking down at Mocchi's sleeping form still curled up in his arms.

"I hear you there! Good night, guys! I hope I'll see you around! Maybe tomorrow we can watch a show together or something!" Hunter suggested with a grin. "They have games and different trinket stands we could check out, too!"

"Yeah! While eating seafood!" Surmal exclaimed giddily.

"Uh, yeah, we'll have to see what's going on first before we make plans," Genki replied hesitantly, not really wanting to spend any extra time with the other boy if he didn't have to.

"Oh, haha, I understand. Well, have a great night! Hopefully we'll see you tomorrow at some point," Hunter calmly brushed off the comment before he and Surmal walked off in the opposite direction. When they were gone from view, the rest of the Searchers immediately turned their attention to their leader.

"That was a little cold, don't you think?" Holly questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"I didn't mean it in a bad way. I just don't know what we have planned for tomorrow yet, is all. If we run into Hunter and we don't have plans he can hang out with us, but I didn't want to make plans in case something comes up, you know?" Genki defensively replied.

"That's true. There's no sense in making future plans if we can't uphold them, right?" Hare agreed.

"I… I suppose…" Holly trailed off.

"Alright, guys! Let's go get some rest!" Genki announced while marching towards the inn with the rest of the Searchers in tow, hence stopping the conversation about Hunter from continuing.

A little further behind, Holly took one last glance to where Hunter and Surmal had disappeared into the crowd before following after the rest of her friends; an unsettling feeling still lingering in her stomach.

---

Fwew, I'm definitely not used to writing anymore. Sorry for the terrible fight scenes and bad pacing! It's going to take me awhile to get back into a writing groove. I thought each chapter would only be around maybe 5,000 words at most, but since this chapter is over 18,000 words, clearly my estimation skills are complete garbage. XD I don't think the other chapters will be quite as long as this one just because the tournament made this longer than I expected by a lot. We'll see!

I also thought it was weird, when I was a kid playing Monster Rancher 2, that Gaboo uses moves that have "kick" in them even when it only has arms. I'm a very simple creature. XD

Thank you for reading! Keep the Monster Rancher fandom alive!

Chapter Preview (Chapter 3) – Genki and Holly have the opportunity to spend some time together, but Hunter's arrival allows time for him to get closer to Holly and for Genki to experience a variety of new emotions. Stay tuned!

RockyRoadSmith: Signing off! :3