Monster Wrangler

The sun had barely finished creeping over the horizon when Dion and Morty arrived at the shore. His boat had gotten here a day later than expected and he hadn't even checked in as a competitor yet but he wanted to explore and take in the sights as soon as he could. The wind and water were cold this early but that didn't stop him from wading out into the surf and soaking himself into salty water still in his clothes. It seemed like a months worth of grime was washing off him while his monster just lay on the beach next to his bags.

It was a little too early for Milo to consider a swim, but he had fancied a walk along the beach. Diva bounded around him as he strolled along, hands behind the back of his head, taking in the view. He wanted to see the docks soon too. For now he spots a monster lying on the beach and someone swimming in the water away from it. Had the monster scared someone into the water?

He didn't recognize the creature, but it had intimidating looking blades for arms. He signals Diva to calm down and they both moved slowly closer to see what was happening...

"HOLY CRAP IS THAT A WARWOLF!!??!" The shouted as he came bounding out of the waves. once clear of the waters drag he slowed down as he approached the two with Morty slowly rising and trundling up behind him. "That's super cool, I've never seen one up close before."

"Uuuhhh, hey." Milo had come to a stop. He greets the enthusiastic swimmer with a slightly shy wave. Dion was soaking wet.

"This is Diva."

The Warwolf didn't seem to care about Dion being wet. It bounds over, tail wagging.

"She likes to meet new people." Milo adds quickly by way of explanation. "And attention."

As the Warwolf approached them Morty curls into a defensive ball but Dion just sticks out his hand offering it to the robodog. "Hi, umm, Dive I'm Dion and this is Morty. Morty, Safe!" The boy says to his companion. "It's nice to meet you both, sorry about Morty he's a little shy when he first meets someone. I uh, I guess you're here for the tournament?"

The hand is nuzzled into readily.

"Yeah, it's our first. I'm Milo. It's nice to meet you too." Milo smiled agreeably toward Dion. "Morty looks strong. I was a little worried he had chased you into the water when I first saw you both from the top of the beach."

"Oh no, Morty loves to play but he isn't fast enough to chase most things. I was just trying to clean up a bit before I go to check in with the tournament people. The boat I was on was supposed to be here yesterday but we got stuck in a storm and were late. Sure am glad to be off that boat, it was really small and boring."

"Oh? You must have travelled far. I ended up a few towns over and heard about this tournament so I came here on Diva. Um... they have rooms for us at the big hotel. I think it's called Oceanside." He turned to look for it and to point it out to Dion. "There are showers and a laundry service." It sounded suspiciously like Milo was used to such things.

"Oh, I don't have money for a hotel but thanks for the info." He said somewhat embarrassed. "So you can ride your Warwolf? That's pretty cool. I tried riding Morty once when I was smaller but it's faster if I walk and he's way too heavy to ride me. Do you have any other companions yet or is Diva your first?"

"Um, the hotel stay is included for competitors." Milo clarifies. He nonetheless nods as Dion seems keen to shift topics. "It's a little difficult with the cannon, but if she points it up I can manage. It's just us so far."

"I hope we have enough a time to roam around a bit while we are here, I hear that you can find Zephid south of here and I really wanna try and wrangle one for my team. So is this your first tournament and you just came here for fun or are you a future pro?" He asks kind of sizing up his potential opponent the best an excited kid can.

"Um, I thought it'd be fun." Milo admits. "It's my first tournament so I really need to read the rules and think about some, uh, tactics, you know?" The boy flashes a smile at Dion. "How about you?"

"I've been in a few before back home, the rules are pretty simple and if they do things like where I am from the will go over them before the match. Just make sure you don't kill your opponent's monster, that is usually really bad and can get you disqualified or worse." He says somberly. "The main thing is to have fun and take advantage of anything they offer before and after the fighting."

There's a few nods and non-verbal sounds of agreement from Milo. He crosses his arms as he thought about it. "I'm looking forward to it. I bet it's going to be really exciting."

"I'm always the most nervous before I know what the pairings are, once I know who I am battling I can start planning but right now anything is possible. Like, I for sure don't want to face you in the first round. I've never seen a Warwolf fight, just pictures and articles, so getting to see it in action will help me a lot. If I'm really lucky I'll get paired with someone who brought a Pumpkeen, I've got lots of practice against them. Have you done much dueling, like with friends or just people in your town?"

"Um, not really, no. I've seen matches on TV and a few in person when I was younger, but otherwise it's just been wild monsters for Diva and I." Milo responds honestly. "I wonder who we'll be up against."

"We should know by tomorrow morning if this is like my previous tourneys. Till then just keep an eye on what monsters you see around town; like I'm pretty sure I saw a really crazy looking Maguana on my way here. That could just be some rich person's pet but I would expect to see it in the arena cause it's so rare."

Morty begins to slash at the sand with his scythes, digging a small hole.

"Good idea." Milo concurs. "I'll keep my eyes open." He adds with a smile.

"I hope you and Morty do well. Maybe I'll see you in a match? Good luck!"