“You’re going to get us fired!” Kay’s panicked whisper echoed through the room at Sato Breeders.

“What are we doing wrong?” Jackson asked her nonchalantly. He turned the nozzle so a slow stream of warm water started spraying out of the hose. They were in one of the grooming rooms where the more docile Djinn were groomed.

“It’s not like we aren’t supposed to be in here,” he continued. “If anyone asks, we’re just washing another Djinn.”

“I don’t want to inflate your ego any more, but an Earth and Fire combo Elemental Lyote is not just another Djinn!” Kay whispered back. “And we don’t have any Lyotes at Sato, period. In fact, these things are endangered!”

“Yeah, I know. I was there when the Djinncyclopedia told me that too.”

Kay gave Jackson an exhausted sigh, but he only grinned as he fished inside his shirt for his tamer’s ring hanging from its necklace.

“Well, if you’re really worried, then we’d better be quick!” Jackson said. “You’re the one that said I needed to treat her better.”

He slid the ring over his finger and moments later his Lyote appeared. Her eyes darted around the strange, new surroundings of the Sato Breeders washroom and Jackson worked quickly to put her at ease.

“It’s okay, Girl,” he said. “We’re just going to give you a quick —”

Apparently, their task needed no further explanation. After seeing the hose in Jackson’s hand, the Lyote bolted across the room. Luckily, Kay had shut all the doors behind them, so at least the Djinn couldn’t escape. Even so, Jackson realized their task would be harder than he’d first anticipated. That was starting to be a trend in his life, he realized.

“Hey, now,” he cooed, walking across the tile floor, the drizzling hose still in his hand. “This is gonna feel good! Don’t you want to be all fresh and clean?”

The Djinn growled, expressing her official stance on cleanliness. Jackson made one last attempt to get closer, but she merely ran to another corner of the room.

“All right, you asked for it!” He raised the hose in his hands and used the level on the sprayer to increase the pressure. A stream of water shot from the nozzle across the room and soaked the Lyote in a matter of moments. Instead of accepting her fate (as Jackson was hoping), however, the Djinn continued to run back and forth throughout the room as fast as she could, dodging the spray of water, even though she was already wet.

“You’re getting water everywhere!” Kay shouted as Jackson continued to drench his Djinn like a fire brigade drone dumping water on a blaze. “And you’re not using any soap!”

Afraid that Kay’s objections would draw attention from other workers passing by, Jackson turned off the nozzle. The Lyote glowered at him from across the room, her once luscious, poofy fur now reduced to a dark orange, sopping mass.

“I told you what was going to happen.” Jackson said, far from feeling sorry for the Lyote. “That water was warm anyway — you’re fine!”

Kay handed him a bottle of soap and he approached the Lyote cautiously. The Djinn went from forlorn to growling at the sight of her tamer nearing with the soap. Jackson halted a few feet away, knowing there was no way he’d be able to even get the soap on the Lyote, let alone work up the suds.

“Now what are you going to do?” Kay asked in a smug tone.

Jackson set the soap back on a nearby shelf and instead reached for a brush stuck in the back pocket of his shorts. “Look, I put the soap down, see?” he said, adopting his overly-friendly voice. "Let’s brush your hair out so it dries, how does that sound, girl?”

The Lyote stopped growling and allowed him to get nearer. Jackson raised the brush and took a cautious step close. The Djinn watched him, wary. Jackson took another step. Again, the Lyote darted away across the room. Holding in his rising frustration, Jackson turned to try again but saw this time the Djinn’s tail wagged and her mouth hung open in what looked like a smile.

“She’s messing with you!” Kay said, laughing.

“Oh, it’s all a game, is it?”

Jackson tried to approach the Lyote but she darted away once more, this time letting out a playful bark. The sound echoed throughout the cinderblock room and Jackson winced. He was glad the Djinn was enjoying herself but the noise would easily carry out into the yard.

“Come on, Girl,” Jackson said. “Please just let me brush you?” He approached the Djinn again and she darted away once more.

As Jackson made his way over to the Djinn’s new spot at the other end of the room, a heavy knock came at the outside door. Shooting a panicked look at one another, Kay ran for the door while Jackson fumbled for his tamer ring. Realizing what he was going to do, the Lyote took off again, her gaming mood gone in an instant. The door pounded again and Jackson slid the ring on his finger, held out his fist to whimpering Lyote, recalling her to the ring just as Kay was forced to open the door.

Fiona stood in the doorway, a confused look on her face. As she looked around the room, Jackson slid the ring off his finger and stuck it in his pocket. He could feel it vibrating, a sign of the Lyote’s resistance to being put into stasis.

“What are you guys doing?” Fiona asked.

“Oh…we were just —” Kay began

“Cleaning up the washroom,” Jackson said, cutting her off. “We had a couple of Floraceros in here earlier — you wouldn’t believe the mess they made!”

Luckily the washroom was mostly clean, aside from the random things the Lyote had knocked over. Fiona’s expression bunched into a frown. “That’s so weird — I thought I heard barking. And why was the door locked?”

“Barking?” Jackson repeated. He and Kay looked at each other, at a loss for what to say. Fortunately, Fiona must have taken it for confusion on their part.

“It must have come from somewhere else, I guess,” she said.

“I think the door locked when we came in,” Kay volunteered. “We were cleaning and didn’t notice.”

Fiona smirked and Jackson had the impression she thought he and Kay were doing something else entirely while alone in the washroom.

“Looks like a few things have changed while I was gone,” she said playfully. “But try keeping it in your pants at work, okay?”

Kay opened her mouth to loudly object but Jackson stepped in front of her and tried to summon a sheepish look. “Uh…yeah... Just cleaning here — that’s all.”

Laughing, Fiona shook her head. “Look, I’m not the boss around here — do what you want. I just don’t want you two to get caught. Anyway, I’ve got to get a workout in for Rebel this morning, so I’ll catch you guys later. Maybe I’ll swing by after lunch and see if you need help with anything…unless you’re still cleaning the washroom.”

Still grinning, Fiona walked away across the barnyard. As soon as she was out of sight, Kay punched Jackson in the arm.

“You need to stop doing that!”

“Now she thinks we were doing things in here! What if she tells her dad? I don’t want to get fired, especially for fooling around with you!”

“It’s fine. Fiona wouldn’t rat us out to her dad.”

“No more Djinn at work,” Kay said in a lower voice. “Aside from the fact you don’t want anyone to know about your Lyote, we’re not supposed to bring personal Djinn on the property — you know the rules!”

“All right, all right!” Jackson said, holding up his hands. “No more Djinn at work, I promise!”

The rest of the day passed with Jackson constantly watching over his shoulder and half-expecting Fiona or one of the ranch managers to approach him and reveal they’d found out all about his Djinn.

Despite his cool, collected demeanor with Kay, he wasn’t so sure Fiona hadn’t noticed the vibrating ring in his pocket. But it seemed his paranoia was unfounded, as by the end of the day, no one had said anything. With immense relief, Jackson finished feeding the last of the herbivore Djinn assigned to him and started home with Kay.

Because Kay’s house was on the other end of the neighborhood, the two split up pretty early into their walk home. Jackson always took a shortcut across a couple of rolling, bush-covered hills to get to his house. He’d never thought much of it but the shortcut now provided the perfect opportunity to let his Lyote out for a bit to stretch her legs on the way home.

As soon as the Djinn appeared, she shot Jackson a resentful glare and shook herself vigorously. From the looks of it, she had dried a bit during her stasis, but was still a little damp. Before Jackson could stop her, the Lyote found a tall patch of thick grass and collapsed into it, rolling and wiggling back and forth. Jackson sighed when the Djinn rolled backed onto her feet, covered in a fine layer of dust and bits of broken grass. So much for the bath.

“If you would’ve let me brush you, you wouldn’t have been all itchy,” he said.

The Djinn’s tongue lolled out as she panted, staring at him with a satisfied expression on her face. Rolling his eyes, Jackson patted his leg and the Lyote followed alongside him, just outside of his reach. When they got within sight of the back of the rows of homes he lived by, Jackson lifted his hand to return her to the ring. Once more, the Lyote whined and cowered down.

“I’m sorry!” he said, completely taken by the Djinn’s displeasure at going back into stasis. “If I didn’t have to I wouldn’t — I promise.”

The Djinn whined again but no longer tried to run away as the orange light engulfed her. On the rest of the way home, Jackson wracked his brain for ways he could let the Lyote stay outside of the tamer ring more. He resolved to set aside more time for her…somehow. As things were, he was already doing that as much as possible whenever he didn’t have to work or help his grandmother out with her garden or house chores. The little extra effort over the past few days had helped raise the Lyote’s Bond, but not by much. Kay had yet to let him try another battle with Sunshine as a result.

Walking in the front door of his home reminded Jackson once more of the ticking clock that marked their eviction. Even more determined, he resolved to start waking up an hour earlier and use the long summer days to train with his Lyote as much as possible.

The house was quiet, save for the soft white noise of the holo-vision on in the other room. Walking past the kitchen, Jackson saw a plate left out for him. Late spring meant many of the Djinn at Sato were giving birth and, although Jackson wasn’t involved with that process, he still had to cover for the work of the more skilled ranch hands as they went about bringing the high pedigree baby Djinn into the world. The past few days had been especially hectic and he wasn’t getting home until after eight each night.

“Grandma?”

He peeked into the living room and saw Jane asleep on the couch, still wearing her gardening clothes. From the look and smell of things, she’d been spreading fertilizer. The sight reminded Jackson again of his grandma’s age — a short time ago she never would have been caught dead wearing her work clothes while on the furniture. He suspected she’d dozed off after dinner, waiting for him to get home.

A thought crossed Jackson’s mind. He pulled off his boots, making as little noise as possible, and ran up the stairs. Shutting the door behind him with a soft click, he put on his tamer ring and summoned the Lyote on his bedroom floor.

“Take it easy, Girl, take it easy,” Jackson said, making a calming gesture as the Djinn looked around the bedroom. Unlike her first time in the house, the Lyote was tense, but didn’t start an immediate ruckus.

“Look,” Jackson said, jumping onto his bed and patting the spot beside him. “Have a seat!”

The Lyote looked at him with a confused expression but then hopped up to the foot of the bed. She sat down just beyond Jackson’s feet and shot him a glance as if to ask, “What next?”

“Want to watch some battles on the projection?” Jackson asked her. “Check this out!”

He flipped on his projector and started scrolling through a series of thumbnails, many of which showed off images of Djinn and their tamers. The Lyote seemed captivated by the light blue screen as Jackson scrolled through match after match, looking for just the right one.

“Hmm, I’ve seen Richards vs. Cohela about a dozen times. Sad match though. Richards’ Ancespion took out Cohela’s Tandile — only the damage was too much. Usually, if you hit a Djinn down to zero HP, there’s a grace area before they’re in mortal danger, but the Ancespion’s sting brought the Tandile’s HP way past zero and…”

The Lyote let out a small whine.

“Yeah, I know. It’s sad,” Jackson said. “It happens sometimes — but I won’t ever let that happen to you, I promise. Ah, I know! I’ll show you a classic match: Vance McAllister vs. Cassius Briggs. It’s about fifteen years old — I don’t remember it, of course, but people still talk about it!”

The Lyote’s head moved from side to side as Jackson scrolled through the last few pages of matches. When he came to the one he was looking for, he tapped on the thumbnail and the arena filled the screen. The Lyote jerked back but was too fascinated to be overly spooked by the surprise.

“This one really came down to the wire,” Jackson said as the battle commenced between the two tamers. “I’ve seen the whole thing a hundred times but the best part is here at the end — it comes down to each tamer’s last Djinn: Vance’s Anacobra and Briggs’s Hurricanther.”

Jackson exhaled in envy at what he saw on screen. The Djinn moved with such precision that Jackson couldn’t help but be awed, no matter how many times he saw it. Their tamers executed each move to perfection and the Djinn feinted and struck at one another more like a pair of dancers than opponents.

Jackson’s Lyote watched, ears raised and turned to the screen, jerking a bit every now and then when one of the Djinn did something unexpected.

“This is where it gets good,” Jackson said, continuing his narration. “Watch close!”

The Hurricanther blasted the Anacobra in the face with a jet of water, lowering its hit points from 75 to a meager 32. Briggs made a chopping gesture with one hand across his other arm and mouthed something unintelligible. The Hurricanther pounced and buried its fangs deep into the Anacrobra’s body. Red lights flashed and the health bar above the neon-colored snake dropped from 32 to just 16.

Although he knew exactly what was coming, Jackson sat up to watch the grand finale. A first-time observer would have probably placed a large bet on Briggs’s Hurricanther for the win.

“Not so fast,” Jackson whispered, mostly to himself.

The Anacobra’s thrashing throes turned into a desperate attempt to ensnare the Hurricanther in the folds of its coils. With its jaw still locked around its opponent’s body, the Hurricanther couldn’t get away fast enough. Soon, it was completely roped up in the Anacobra’s body and its health points flashed down. 45…23…12…2…0.

A horn blared as the Hurricanther collapsed. Moments later, the Anacobra’s coils sagged and the screen revealed its own hit points to be a paltry 3. As the cheering erupted over the projector, the camera zoomed in on Vance McAllister for a moment. He flashed a crooked grin then threw his head back and let out a howl of triumph. The camera panned again, this time showing Briggs, his head hung low and he sagged to one knee. Jackson minimized the clip.

“Briggs never came back from that one,” Jackson told his Lyote. “He fought for like three more years but never again made it to the Gold League Championship. Kinda sad — he just disappeared after that.”

“Jackson? Who are you talking to?”

Jane’s voice called up the stairs but before Jackson had time to answer, he heard slow, footsteps creaking up the staircase.

“Crap!” Jackson whispered to the Lyote. “We’ve got to put you away!”

But the Djinn let out another whine when Jackson raised his fist and she jumped from the bed, head against the footboard.

“I kind of hate you right now,” Jackson whispered.

“Jackson?” Jane called. “Are you in there?”

With no time to waste, Jackson hurtled himself off his bed. With one hand, he yanked open his closet door and with the other, grabbed hold of the loose puppy-like scruff on the young Lyote’s neck and hauled her into the closet. Just as he turned around, the door opened and Jane appeared.

“Didn’t you hear me?” she asked. “I heard talking — I didn’t know you were home.”

“Oh that was just the projection,” Jackson said, standing in front of his hastily-shut closet door.

Jane peered around the room, suspicious but apparently unsure what to be suspicious of. Fortunately, Jackson had left the streaming channel on and the video had auto-played another battle.

“If you’re looking for something constructive to do with your time, why don’t you mow the lawn before dark?” Jane asked, frowning at the ensuing Djinn battle playing out on the illuminated projection.

Normally, Jackson would have made an entire argument about what was a constructive use of his time and what wasn’t.

“Sure, I’ll do it this weekend,” he said. He wasn’t sure if he imagined or not, but the Lyote might have just let out a whine and pushed against the door. “Does that work?”

Jane opened her mouth as if to argue, only for her to realize what he’d said. “Oh…okay, that would be nice,” she said. “I saved you some dinner downstairs if you’d like it.”

“Thanks!” Jackson summoned a smile and fought back the urge to wince at the sound of the Lyote’s claws scrabbling against the door frame. He leaned back as casually as he could manage and the closet door clicked shut. Jane paused at the sound and Jackson froze. She looked back in the room and took a deep sniff.

“I think you need to get some laundry done, kiddo,” she said. “It’s starting to smell in here.”

“I — I’ll get right on it!” Jackson abandoned his post and thumped across the floor to cover the sound of the Lyote trying to escape the closet. Before Jane was all the way into the hallway, he grabbed the door and started pushing it shut. “I’m gonna jump in the shower real quick, then I’ll do laundry and be down for dinner!”

Taken aback by his sudden willingness to do chores, Jane didn’t have much to say. “Oh, okay, I’ll see you downstairs, dear.”

Jackson pushed the door shut and turned the lock. Holding his breath, he listened until the sound of his grandma’s footsteps made it all the way to the bottom stairs before rushing to the closet and letting the Lyote out. When the closet door swung open he found the Djinn chewing on a pair of his sneakers.

“Hey, bad girl!” Jackson whispered. He grabbed the shoe and the Djinn growled, yanking it back in her mouth. Not wanting to cause any more ruckus, Jackson relented and let her keep it. Sighing, he peeled off his dirty shirt. Like it or not, the Lyote couldn’t stay out unattended — even if she didn’t like confinement, it just wasn’t worth the risk.

Slipping the tamer ring on his finger, Jackson lifted his arm to recall the Lyote when a flash of orange on the projection caught his attention. Jackson paused and looked at the battle streaming on the screen. It was another classic, one from almost fifty years ago.

The picture was only 2D but still clearly showed a Lycanris, the fully matured form of Lyote, in its prime, facing off against an Ostrack. The big, flightless bird with extra-long legs and lethal talons hissed and pecked at the Lycanris, which only had a handful of hit points left (the older battle footage didn’t have the tech to show exact stats).

Just as the Ostrack charged, preparing to trample its opponent into the arena dirt, the Lycanris’s mouth opened wide and a streak of flame shot toward the charging mega-bird. The blast of fire hit the Ostrack and completely consumed it, stopping it in its tracks.

When the flames cleared, the scorched Djinn took a wobbly step forward and then collapsed on the ground, knocked out. Moments later, the Lycanris collapsed as well, but it had lasted long enough to win the match.

“Gold League Championship, Erin Black vs. Nadif Andal.” Jackson read the names at the bottom of the screen as Black rushed forward and wrapped herself around the valiant Lycanris. The Djinn stirred and licked her tamer’s face as the crowd cheered them on. The next shot showed them named as the Gold League Champion and the Djinn’s name appeared next to her tamer’s.

“Asena,” Jackson repeated the name aloud and looked at his Lyote, who was also staring at the Lycanris on the projector. When she heard the name, she looked at Jackson and her tail wagged. Jackson smiled and felt his watch vibrate, alerting him of another increase in Bond with the Lyote.

“Asena,” he said again. “I think we finally found you a name.”