Doodle Champion Island Journeys!

31. (Fire-bearer and the Blizzard)

Words spread out quickly like wildfire. About the cat who had conquered six games within three days.

Lucky was overjoyed, and it wasn't because of the cheering crowd. Although getting praised was fun, the fluttering feeling she had right now was from her own accomplishment. All that hardship training had paid off, and she was just one step away from being Grand Champion.

However, that one step was the hardest step, Kou reminded her that with a pat on the shoulder:

"Take a good rest and eat something. Fukuro is merciless, so you better face him at beyond your best."

"I will, thanks!" Lucky nodded.

Pushing through the crowd, the cat teleported to Tanooki City, where she was sure to have a warm, nice meal and somewhere to sit, thinking of the thirty-eight coupon for ramen she had left. The cat walked down the busy street. Somebody congratulated her and passed her a water bottle. It had a funny taste, the kind that only appeared in mineral drinks. Lucky drank half of it in one gulp - she hadn't realized how dehydrated she was - then closed the cap and gratefully looked around to see who had given her the bottle.

"Are you tired? Let's go to the Ramen Shop! Get yourself hydrated and fueled up, right?" a familiar chubby white cat smiled as he grabbed her arm. It had been merely a day since he started doing gym workouts, but Coach Tsunami did miracles. She could feel muscles growing underneath the fat.

"Daichi! How are you doing?" Lucky asked.

"Better than I could've thought, to be honest," he replied, "And Coach's great! She lets me rest when I feel too sore, so I decided to hang around the food street... Just for thirty minutes, I promise!" Daichi frantically waved his hands.

"I know, I know," Lucky chuckled, "Looks like you're really into it. I'll be seeing you in the next Championship, then?"

"The next? Aren't you winning this one?"

"That doesn't mean there won't be a next time, right? And having won this one or not, I can't just miss such an awesome sporting event!"

"I'll have to try my best, then!" Daichi gave such a big smile that his eyes were practically shut.

They entered the Noodle Shop. The octopus cook greeted them gleefully like he normally does, and his tentacles began working on his signature dish. Lucky sat, dangling her legs on the tall stool and thinking of how exactly would she scale the mountain without being crushed to death by Fukuro's snowballs or losing her footing on unstable holds or running out of time, all of which were serious deciding matters. Her previous attempts were painful failures. Everywhere she looked, it only pointed out that Mountain Climbing is an extreme, unconquerable challenge, the biggest roadblock to any athlete, and the closest to ever reaching Fukuro on top of his crazy cliff was a rabbit known as "Super Mountain Girl".

"Here you go! Two "Athlete's Choice" serves, stimulate your muscles and," the octopus winked playfully at an embarrassed Daichi, "keep yourself hydrated."

"Shut it, Tako," Daichi grumbled.

"Tako? As in, you know? That's your name for real?" Lucky asked, amused. 'Tako' meant 'octopus'.

"Ohoho, no. My name is Taniruko, but Daichi here likes playing a pun on my name," the cook laughed, "But you can call me Tako too, if you want. Us big city creatures often have fancy names, so it wouldn't hurt to try something simpler. Coach has a simple name herself."

"Ushi Tsunami. Simple but powerful, if you ask me," Daichi said while sipping his soup, "It suits her well.

"Say, Lucky, you're up against Fukuro next, right?"