Splatourney: The Intro

A New Friend

Chapter 6: A New Friend

It was the next day. Rona had still gotten dinner as usual, but he'd taken it back to the Pipefish Posada after hearing several people bring up his name in conversation. He'd achieved fame alright, but not the kind he'd wanted. Now there was news spreading about him. He remained confident despite his slight discomfort, thinking that this would all stop eventually.

He hadn't regret his choice though. Now he knew how strong she was, he could prepare for when he actually decided to face her for real. Of course, he'd tried to train, but there would be a few people who would mock him every time he entered a Splatter Royale match. If Rona managed to kill them though, he gave them a squidbag, and they'd leave him alone for the rest of the day. If they killed him, they'd only smirk deviously, and Rona would not stop playing matches until he brought them down at least once. He really went all out on the taunts.

One particular match had led to him getting to be in the top 10. As he left the place via bus, he began counting his coin. He overheard whispers about him of course, but he didn't listen. Those creatures were just jealous that he'd actually had the guts to do that to Celine, and they didn't. As he got off the bus at his usual stop, he began walking back to the Pipefish Posada to nap.

"Excuse me sir?"

Rona looked down to see a small, humanoid salmonid (salmonling?) looking up at him. He looked like some mom's kid had gone loose. Was he a new player or something?

"Yeah? What is it?" Rona asked.

"Are you...that..."Rona" everyone's been talking about?"

Ah, this question. He'd been asked this too many times already.

"Yeah, why? Did you come here to make fun of me?" Rona replied nonchalantly.

"N-no, not at all! In fact, I thought what you did was super cool!" they exclaimed.

"Yeah, I kn-wait what?!"

"Yeah! I don't think I've seen anyone stand up to Celine in a while! It was amazing how you held your ground in front of her!"

"Gee, uh...thanks?"

Well, this was new. Rona had thought about it, but now it was happening before his very eyes? Wow, what a day...

"No problem! Can we be friends? I'll try not to bring you down!" the salmonling exclaimed happily.

Rona paused. An ally in his adventure...sure, he didn't see why not!

"Absolutely. How long have you been here, eh? Who're you with?" he asked.

"Ah, my older brother brought me here because mom wanted us to hone our fighting skills, but he's off with another group, so I'm alone right now!"

"Do you have a place to sleep?"

"Yeah! It's called the Hermitcrab Hotel, and it's not too far from here! Just a couple blocks over!"

"Cool, my place, The Pipefish Posada, is like...down this street."

"Ah, are you heading back?"

"Yeah, just had a Splat Royale match...hey, what's your name by the way?"

"Rex!"

"And you're a salmonling, right?"

"Yup!"

"Neat."

Rona slowly began walking in hopes that his new friend would follow, and sure enough, he did. He wondered if bringing other people into your hotel room was allowed. He wasn't sure if he had enough money to pay for any fee if there was one involved...

"Anyway, what do you plan on doing now?" Rex asked.

"Rematching of course! Even if I don't get to take her spot again, it would mean practice for when I actually DO get the chance to!" Rona replied. "Just not now though, I planned on resting and maybe eating something later."

"I like it! Can I help?"

"Absolutely. How good are you, eh?"

"Oh, I've been studying for the years I've been here! I know a few things about weapons, and strategies you can use! I read books, look at the internet, all that stuff!"

Years sounded like lots and lots of experience...which was what Rona needed. Perfect.

"Well then, why don't you start by listing the weaknesses of long rangers for me?" Rona asked, remembering how Celine had finished him off with dualie squelchers.

"Sure thing! Long rangers seem to DESPISE brush users, since they're too fast. There's also catching them off guard of course, but sometimes that can be tricky to do in a Splat Royale when you're surrounded by foes or in the wrong terrain."

"Yeah, mhm, go on..."

"Another weakness is rangers that out-range THEM, though some people say "the longer the range, the harder it is to use", which I agree. You don't seem to be the kind of person to out danger Celine though, but that's just me," Rex said.

"Yeah, I don't have the patience to use a charger or anything. I could TRY and use a brush, but...maybe there's another way? Maybe I can corner her in an area of the stage, or-"

"I doubt that...Celine, like the rest of the top 10 and most veterans players, know the stages well enough already. They won't fall for simple tricks, at least not the ones I know anyway."

"Drat, and I was just about to-"

"Hey man, is this it?"

Rome stopped himself and turned around. Sure enough, he'd walked right past The Pipefish Posada! He chuckled nervously, hoping to pass it off as a joke or something.

"Hey, glad you noticed! See? You'll be a great help when I go back there and have a rematch with Celine!" he said.

"Ah, thanks!" Rex smiled.

Rona smiled with him, and the two entered the Pipefish Posada. There was a different set of workers now, by there were still some people lounging around in the main lobby.

"Is there like...a few or something for non hotel-members to get in?" Rex asked.

"Well...maybe we can sneak ya through! If anybody asks, we can ask them then!"

"If you say so..."

The two made their way to the elevators without trouble. As they pressed the button and entered the open elevator doors, nobody said anything. Nobody was in the elevator either, so they assumed it was okay. They snickered to themselves as they went back to Rona's room, ready to plan an attack. Boy oh boy...

This was going to be fun.