Chapter 18: Ursa Upgrades? Training to the End!

“I’ve got to train Ursa to become strong enough to win at the regionals tournament!” Ugen yelled to his teammates. Ugen was determined to do whatever he could to train hard and win the regionals tournament. He started his grinding training the day after they came home from the dojo. After a good night’s rest, Ugen invited the whole team over to his backyard to train.

“Is there any specific reason why you chose your backyard over our training room at the school?” Hoeinn asked in confusion over why he was in Ugen’s backyard.

“Isn’t the school closed on the weekends?” Ugen asked Hoeinn.

“Our training room isn’t,” Hoeinn replied to Ugen. Ugen’s face turned apologetic.

“Well, we’re here now, so I guess we should train here for today,” Ugen said, thinking it was the most logical thing to do.

“This can work for today,” Gabe told the team, “We will train here for today.”

“If it’s ok with you guys, I’m going to try and unlock Ursa’s true power. I’ve been noticing some wear on the driver, and I think it’s performance is gonna change for the better soon,” Ugen requested time his teammates.

“Sounds good to me. Training alone sometimes can unlock potential you never would have found otherwise training together,” Gabe said acceptingly. Ugen went up to his personal stadium and launched Ursa. Ursa was still as fast as it usually was.

It’s gonna take awhile before it awakens, but once it does, it’s speed will increase dramatically, Ugen thought. Hard launches were the key to awakening the driver, and he knew this would be the key to give him a chance in the regionals. He was awaiting an invite, to which he figured he’d probably get since he beat Gabe in the finals of the local tournament. Ugen knew the more times he launched, the more worn down his tip would get. He had to keep going until it happened. So Ugen did exactly that.

Several hours went by. Ugen kept launching Ursa over and over again, trying to awaken it.

Saoki started walking over to Ugen and said, “Shouldn’t you take a-“

Gabe stepped forward, in the way of Saoki.

“Don’t talk to Ugen right now. He’s in the zone. Just get him a sandwich or something if you want to get him something to eat,” Gabe told Saoki. Saoki modded, and went inside to get Ugen a sandwich, with the permission of Ugen’s Mom.

Ugen kept going for a few more hours. He had eaten the sandwich Saoki had given him in between launches. 5:00 PM rolled around. Ugen launched Ursa, and a sudden burst of speed came upon Urgent Ursa, which rushed around the stadium. It’s dual strike practice attacks were much more powerful than before.

“It’s finally ready! Gabe, if you don’t mind, I’d like to battle you real quick,” Ugen requested to Gabe.

“I’ll accept. I’m excited to see how well Ursa does in a battle. Don’t expect me to hold back though,” Gabe said assuringly.

“I won’t. Hoeinn left a little bit ago, so Saoki, could you come judge this battle?” Ugen asked Saoki.

“Fine by me. I’m interested in how this battle is gonna go,” Saoki accepted, and walked over to judge the match.

“Ready? Set!”

I have literally just awakened the driver, so it’s going to be hard to control at first. I have to try my best, Ugen thought, readying his launcher.

“Three...Two...One...Go Shoot!” The two launched. Gaia went straight to the center, wobbling. Ursa dashed around the outer part of the stadium.

“Dual Strike!” Ursa went right to the middle and landed a hard hit on Gaia. Gaia went to the top of the stadium slope as usual with this attack.

“Gaia! Swing Counter!” Gaia came speeding down quickly. Ursa didn’t hesitate and collided with Gaia, sending the two into the stadium wall and burst at the same time.

“Simultaneous Burst Finish. No point!” Saoki called the match.

“Interesting to say the least. Let’s keep going until one of us gets a point,” Gabe proposed to Ugen.

“Works for me. Hopefully that’ll be soon, since it’s about dinner time,” Ugen accepted. Eight rounds went by, each one ending in a draw, every time being either a simultaneous KO or Burst. By the time the tenth round came, Ugen was getting discouraged.

“After that round, come in for dinner!” Ugen’s Mom opened the outdoor door and called out.

“Ok, Mom!” Ugen responded. He knew this was his last chance to win against Gabe today. He wanted to end off today with a victory, should he be able to. The match started, and Ugen decided to try a risky move after Gabe used Swinging Smash.

“Urgent Crash!” Ugen yelled out to Ursa. Ursa came crashing down like usual, but almost looked like a flying eagle, swooping down to catch its prey. Gaia tried to dodge, but was hit on the side and immediately burst upon impact.

“ A Burst Finish! Two points go to Ugen. Ugen wins the match!” Saoki announced.

“You have definitely improved, Ugen. Wearing down that driver has really shown Ursa’s true potential. If you can master using Ursa’s awakened form, I have no doubt you could go on to at least be the best Blader in Japan,” Gabe told Ugen. Gabe noticed when he picked up Gaia that a small crack had formed on the side the Ursa had hit Gaia on.

That’s some serious attack power. If Ugen had mastered Ursa’s awakened form, it might have broken Gaia, Gabe thought. He and Saoki went home right after the match. Ugen ate dinner and went to bed early that evening. He knew his training wasn’t done yet if he wanted to make it far in the regionals. He still had a ways to go.

To be continued in Chapter 19: The Regionals Begin! Last Chance Training!