Haven Tales

Chapter 28: The Pog Tournament

  "Aww yeah. This game is super lit, fam" AJ said as she and BJ were playing Street Fighter II: The World Warrior at the arcade.
"Stop saying that" BJ replied.
"Why should I" AJ asked.
Just then, Ayanna and Bailey rushed into the arcade with exciting news.
"Where's BJ at" they asked.
"He's over in the fighting game section" Bri answered.
They located him and dragged him away from the game.
"Hey girls. What's up" he asked.
"There's a tournament coming up that we think you should enter" Ayanna answered.
"What kind of tournament is it" BJ replied.
"It's a pog tournament" Bailey said.
"Oh. I never heard of pogs" BJ said
After a brief history lesson, they gave him a pog-tainer filled to the brim with pogs based on Looney Tunes, Power Rangers, Animaniacs and Lion King.
"Thanks" BJ said.
"You're welcome" Ayanna replied.
"Does anybody know how to play the game of pogs" BJ asked.
Just then, a girl with long brown hair, pale skin and an outfit consisting of a gray crop top, faded blue jean shorts and gray and black tennis shoes came in.
"Perhaps I can of assistance" she said.
"Who in the blue sky are you" Bailey asked.
"The name's Sammy Asherman. Nevermind that I'm in the same age group as you guys. I happen to be an expert on the game of pogs" she said as she introduced herself.
"Okay. How do we play" Ayanna asked.
"It's pretty simple. Each player contributes a predetermined number of pogs and stacks them face down and then the first player throws a kini or slammer at the stack. After the impact, any pogs that land face up go to that player. Whoever ends up with the most pogs at the end of the game is the winner" Sammy said as she explained everything.
"Okay. It seems fairly straightforward" Bailey replied.
"Well there is one other thing I should mention" Sammy said.
"What's that" BJ asked.
"In tournaments, they play for keeps. So choose your pogs wisely" Sammy answered.
"Alright. I'll keep that in mind" BJ said as he signed up.
"Whoa. You're actually signing up for it" Ayanna asked.
"Yes. I know I can win it" BJ answered.
Upon getting back home, he broke the news to Mikki and Mika.
"Wow. I hope you do well" Mika said.
"Thanks Mika" BJ said as he kissed her on the cheek.
"Hey. What about me" Mikki asked.
"Don't worry honey. I haven't forgotten about you" BJ said as he kissed Mikki on the cheek.
"Hey kids. Whatcha talking about" Fred asked
"BJ signed up for a pog tournament at school" Mikki answered.
"Oh wow. I remember when pogs were popular back in the early to mid 90's" Fred replied.
After a few days of intense training, the day of the tournament had finally arrived.
"C'mon BJ. Wake up" Mika said as she tried to wake him up.
"Ugh. What time is it" he asked as he slowly woke up.
"About 6:00 in the morning" Mika answered.
"Okay. Let me get ready. The tournament isn't for another 12 hours" BJ replied.
"I know that. But we still have school" Mika said.
"That explains why you woke me up so early" BJ said.
After school, they went home, had a quick dinner and then reported to the gym and helped set everything up.
"Hey. Who are those guys" Mikki asked.
"Those are the announcers for the radio station" Sammy answered.
"This is gonna be broadcast on the radio? Cool" BJ replied.
Once everything was set, the brackets were finalized and the tournament was underway.
"Good evening everyone and welcome to the 1st annual Grand Haven Pog Tournament. I'm Floyd Fonte and with me as always is Eric Kalyn" Floyd said as he introduced the tournament.
"We got a great night planned for tonight, Floyd. Many students from this very school are eager to go against each other and one will win a trophy and be crowned pog champ of the year" Eric replied.
"That's right, Eric. The first match is against Spencer "Morphinominal" Mulligan VS Lita "The Leader" Zick" Floyd said as he read the first match.
"You ready for this" Spencer asked.
"Oh please. I just know that I'll be the winner of this tournament" Lita answered.
"We'll see about that" Spencer replied.
After flipping a pog, Lita was chosen to be first.
"Let's see what I can get" she said as she threw her slammer at the stack.
Only 3 of them flipped face up.
"Not a bad start" Floyd said as he and Eric gave commentary on the match.
"Yeah. She may have only flipped 3 pogs, but it's not over" Eric replied.
Upon throwing his slammer at the stack, Spencer flipped 10 pogs.
"And Spencer has taken the lead 10-3" Eric said.
After the match, Lita won 22-19.
"Good game" Spencer said.
"Thanks. Back at ya" Lita replied.
"Alright. The next match will be against Sophie "The Slam Monger" Yamamoto and BJ "Dr. Poggenstein" Holstege" Eric said as the competitors made their way to the table.
"Do you really think you can beat me" Sophie asked.
"I went through days upon days of intense training. So I think I can win" BJ answered.
After stacking up 20 pogs, the game was underway.
"And it looks like we're ready for the next match" Floyd said.
"Yep. My money is on BJ to win this" Eric replied.
"Why do you say that" Floyd asked.
"I have no idea" Eric answered.
After an intense game, he had won.
"No hard feelings, right Sophie" BJ asked.
"Don't worry. I may have lost some of my beloved pogs, but you won fair and square" Sophie replied.
"Round 3 will be Amber "The Rose" Sole VS Ladonna "The Gambler" Meadows" Eric said.
"Ready to lose" Amber asked.
"The real question is will you lose" Landonna replied.
After stacking the pogs, Ladonna went first and flipped the whole stack
"Holy cow. The Gambler has just won with just one move" Floyd said as he and Eric witnessed the flip.
"What? How is that even possible" Amber asked.
"Two words. Sheer luck" Ladonna answered.
"Whatever" Amber replied.
Many hours later, the final round had commenced between Lita and BJ.
"Finally. I thought we'd never get to the final round" Eric said.
"Yep. Let's see who will be crowned pog champion of the year" Floyd replied.
After some intense flips, BJ began to get stressed out.
"C'mon BJ. Show Lita what you can do in a game of pogs" Sammy said as she cheered in the audience.
And with those words of motivation, BJ managed to get through the round and win.
"That's it. That's all she wrote. BJ "Dr. Poggenstein" Holstege has won the tournament" Floyd said as he and Eric wrapped up their commentary.
Just then, Mikki, Mika, Jenna and the others came down from the audience to congratulate him.
"Way to go, honey" Mikki said.
"Thanks sweetheart" BJ replied.
"Anytime. Now let's go celebrate" Miki said.
"But it's almost midnight" BJ said.
"Good point. We'll celebrate tomorrow" Mikki replied.