Dedicated to my friends
Monique, Jenna, Sarah, and
Lauren.















“Hey Katie! Come here! There is something here that you might like!” Julia shouted on a Saturday morning. Katie got out of bed, and ran down to the living room. She sat on the couch next to Julia.

“What is it?” Katie asked.

“Look at this.” She pointed to the TV. A commercial was on.

Come here to the fighting tournament for pets. We still have plenty of room for people to sign up, but you have to do it by tomorrow. You can find the sign up sheet at the counter of the pet shop. We have a special training room for them, so they can warm up before it begins. There is a reward if you win the tournament. It is a trophy and one thousand dollars. Sign up now at a pet shop near you...

“Do you think Venalim is up to it?” Julia asked.

“I think she can do it.” Katie replied. Venalim came down to the living room, and sat next to them. “Do you want to battle other animals for fun.”? She just stared at her. Then she nodded. “Good.”

“Katie. I picked up the eggs that you wanted. They were six hundred dollars all together, including the tank. The tank is filled and set up for them. There are dividers in between each one.”

“Thanks.” She ran off to the lab, with Venalim following her. She ran in the room, and closed it when Venalim got into it. She saw the big tank in the corner of the room. She looked at each egg, and saw that they were all different. She walked out of the lab, and into the training room with Venalim. Katie threw several balls up into the air. Venalim jumped up, and caught them all. She threw them into a box in the side of the room. They all landed in it. She then threw a few frisbees into the air. Venalim caught most of them, but missed a couple of them. Venalim started training by herself as Katie walked back to the lab. She saw empty eggshells at the bottom of the tank. She walked over to it, and pulled the eggshells out of the tank. All of the animals were hiding, so she couldn't see them. She made the mixture in four different containers. Black smoke poured out of them. She put each eggshell in a different container. Four small balls of slime came out of it. She peeled the slime off of each thing. They were all eggs. She put each egg in the same section as the animal it came off of. All of the eggs looked pale. A couple minutes later, the eggs were colorful. She went out of the room to get Venalim, and came back. The eggs were glowing gold and silver. Then, they hatched out of the eggs.

The first egg cracked. A green nose poked out of it. Katie pulled off the top part of the shell. It quickly swam out of the shell. It swam behind one of the bigger rocks in it. It dug into the sand as far as it could go. It didn't take long for it to stop. It stopped and rested. Katie looked closer at the new creature. It was a bright green creature with a mermaid-like tail, with webbed hands, and webs down its back and tail. Its gem was green.

The second egg opened. It was a long, thin creature, with blue and silver stripes, and its arms were also thin, but it had feet at the end of the other two legs. Its gem was diamond shaped.

The third egg opened. It wasn’t as thin as the second creature, and it had a line to separate the two colors of green and black. Its mouth was its head with eyes on each side of its mouth, with the same colors and some brown. It had sharp teeth with two long purple teeth. There was also some brown on the tail. The gem was on the head just below the mouth.

The fourth egg opened. It was a creature that looked like a crock, but it had scales going down its back. The first four on its head were longer than the rest. At the end of its tail, there was a spiky ball. The center tooth was longer than the rest. Its gem was shaped like a star. He swam around the aquarium for a little while. Katie walked out of the room. The crock creature hit the aquarium with his tail. Cracks appeared. He kept on hitting it, until it broke open. All of the water from his section came out. He jumped into one of the other sections, and put him in his mouth. He jumped out of the tank, and ran to the wall. He smashed it with his tail, and made a hole in the wall. He walked out of the hole, and ran to the creek. He jumped in, let the creature go, and they both swam away. Katie heard the noise, and went back to the lab. She saw that the two creatures were gone. She saw the hole, and knew that they were gone.

The crock and eel swam down the creek and to the lake. A fisherman was in a small, old boat in the lake. He loaded his net with a few worms, and put it in. He slowly waved it under. The crock and eel could smell those worms, and they were hungry, so they swam towards the net. They ate them all in seconds, and swam away. The fisherman pulled the net up. Nothing. He put two fish in, and put it back into the lake. They got into the net, but they took too long eating the fish. The fisherman pulled the net up, and saw the two creatures in the net. He put them both in a cooler full of fish and water. He rowed to shore, and took them home with them.

Katie looked around her yard, and didn’t see the crock.

The next day, she checked on her two other creatures, and saw that they were twice as big. She had to get a bigger aquarium, so she headed off to a store. She looked around, and saw a large aquarium big enough for the two creatures she had to put in.

She walked up to the counter, and asked the sales clerk, “Can I have that aquarium there?”

“Sure. I'll get it for you, but can you afford it?” the sales clerk replied.

“Probably. How much is it?”

“One thousand dollars.” Katie grabbed ten one hundred dollar bills.

“Here.” she said as she put the money on the counter. The sales clerk took the money and counted it. He put it in the register, and closed it.

“Okay, you have it, but how are you going to get it there?”

“I can do it.”

A commercial came on the small TV by the counter.

We are now rolling at the prison, for an early release of someone. Someone who has been put in for kidnapping. Her name is Amanda. She is being released early, and is going home.

The man at the counter smiled. Katie looked at him, and ran out of the store. She ran behind a tree, and Venalim flew her home. Venalim was tired when they got to the house. Katie moved the two creatures into the aquarium after she filled them. They were friendly to each other, so she didn't separate them. Venalim took out the other aquarium into the front yard, so it was out of the way. She had to keep the new aquarium outside, because it was so big. After that, an old, red truck pulled into the driveway. The sales clerk came out of the truck.

“I know you. You're the one who put Amanda in prison to begin with. You have that monster with you too. You have to get rid of her.”

“She's not a monster, and why do I have to get rid of her?”

“It could hurt you.”

“No she won't. I'm her friend.

“You never know. What did you need that aquarium for anyway?” He walked over to the new aquarium, and saw the creatures in them. “You have more?” He looked at the broken one. “And others escaped? You could be a real threat here.”

“I have everything under control. You can go now. Why did you come here anyway?”

“I saw that aquarium go up into the air, and fly away. I followed it here, and found you.” He looked at Venalim. He started to walk toward Venalim, and she backed away. She ran into the house. The sales clerk pushed Katie out of the way, and chased after it. Katie got back up, and ran after them. Venalim jumped and stuck to the ceiling. The sales clerk looked around, but couldn't find her. He wandered around the house, and found the lab. He looked at the container. It was still filled with some of the mixture. He poured the rest of it into a smaller container. He ran off with it, and ran back to his truck. Venalim followed him outside after she saw what he was holding. He opened his truck door, and quickly got inside. He started up his engine, but it took a while to start. “You can't catch me.” Venalim started to glow a bluish color. He put the truck in drive. Before he pushed the petal, he felt that he was already moving. He pushed the gas pedal, but he didn't go any faster. He looked out the window, and saw that he was off of the ground. He opened the door, and his foot couldn't touch the ground. He slipped out of the truck, and started to fall. He was about thirty feet off of the ground. He yelled when he fell, but right before he hit the ground, he stopped falling. Venalim had caught him. She slowly lowered his truck to the ground. Venalim let him go.

“Did you do that?” he asked her. Venalim nodded. “Your too dangerous to be around, you little critter.” The sales clerk pulled out his pocketknife, and chased after her with it. She ran into his truck. He followed her in there. He closed the door, and turned off his car after he rolled down the windows. He put his keys on the seat. “I know you’re in here. You can't hide from me little critter.”

Katie didn't know what to do. She just saw him climb after Venalim. She thought why he was after Venalim, and she thought she should stay out of this fight.

“There you are.” the sales clerk said when he found her in the back of the truck. He raised his hand that held the knife. Katie saw it, and ran to the truck. Venalim just sat there staring at the knife. She pounded on the truck door. He put his arm down, and looked at her. She opened the truck door.

“Leave her alone!” Katie yelled.

“Go away!” he said. He got out of his truck, and pushed her away. Venalim got up, and got out of the truck from the top of it. He drove away.

“I think I've seen him before.” she said. Venalim's ears went up. Katie shrugged, and walked into the house, with Venalim following her. Katie walked into her yard, and added rocks and small rock formations to the aquarium. They found tunnels and small spaces. They chose their own spaces to sleep in. Katie put the lid on the aquarium, locked it, and went back into the house.

“Ready for the battle?” Katie asked her. Venalim nodded, and they flew to the battle arena. She saw several lines of people in front of a large desk. They got into the shortest line, and waited. They weren't very long to begin with. She saw many different animals there, from dogs to cats, and bigger carnivores. She even saw a tiger there.

They eventually got to the front of the line.

“Hi. Welcome to the pet battle arena. What kind of animal are you entering?”

“I don't know what kind of animal she is. My name is Katie. I am the one who created this animal, and faced the kidnapper Amanda, and won.”

“Oh! You’re her. I'll sign you up right away.” Katie gave her the information that the person at the desk wanted. “Okay, you’re all set. You will be having your first battle soon. Just walk into the training room, and someone will get you when it is about to start, okay?”

“Okay, thanks.” Katie walked into one of the doors to the training room. It was very big. There were things to do in every corner. There were several baskets full of stuff, like frisbees and balls and nets. The room had lines going through it, separating each person into different sections. Katie and Venalim chose one of the areas, and started to train a little. There was a line of dummies, all made of different materials. They didn't look to badly beat up from the last people here. Venalim jumped on the first one. She squeezed the middle of it, and ripped it in half. She went to the next one, and scratched it open. She was shredding each dummy in different ways. They were quickly being destroyed. Someone came up to her.

“Your Katie, right?” the person asked.

“Yep.” Katie replied.

“It is time for your first battle to begin.” They both looked at Venalim. The materials that the dummies were made of surrounded her. She was lying on her back, chewing on a harder dummies head. Venalim stopped, and looked up at them. She got up, and jumped into Katie's arms.

“Follow me.” the person said. Katie followed her into one of the many doors. She stopped in front of the doors, and said, “Each one of these doors hold one of the battles. There are hallways that lead to them so that there is plenty of room to battle.” Each of the doors was light blue, and they all had an animal sticker on the door. They had names above the stickers. The names of the door said Katie vs. Jenna. The sticker was a gray wolf. The person opened the door, and Katie and Venalim walked in. The person shut the door behind her. She looked ahead, and saw that the hallway was long. She walked down to the end of the hallway. There was another door, but it was red. It also had a wolf sticker, but only her name was on the door. They went in, and she saw a large arena. They were behind a thick plastic wall. She saw someone come in next to her from a different door. There was also a thick plastic in between them. She thought it would be Jenna. Jenna had a dog with her. She couldn't tell what breed it was though. Someone grabbed Katie, and pulled her over to another section of the large room. It was a dome covered in thick plastic, with a few holes on top of it, and in front of her, leading to the dome.

“This is where you will be during the battle.” The person said. “Put your pet through this tunnel.” She pointed to a small tunnel. Katie put Venalim down, and Venalim crawled through. She saw Venalim a quarter of the way down. She was in a small box. The tunnel sealed itself from that side. “Good luck.” The person walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

“Welcome to the fifth annual pet battle arena.” the announcer started. “This is round one of the battles. In our left corner, we have Katie with her pet, Venalim. In our right corner, we have Jenna with her pet Chewy.” Chewy was a Rottweiler. Venalim and Chewy were released from their boxes. “Let the battle begin!” Chewy charged at Venalim. He jumped at her, and right before he hit her, she started to glow. Chewy stopped in the air. He couldn’t move. Venalim pushed him into the wall. He quickly got back up, and growled at her. Venalim put her ears back. She meowed at him. It sounded like a loud, echoic meow. Everyone in the crowd covered their ears. Katie and Jenna did as well. Chewy put his head on the floor, and covered his ears with his paws, and closed his eyes. Venalim picked him up again, and threw him across the room. After that, Chewy got back up, slower this time, and charged at her again. Venalim jumped onto the wall, and as Chewy jumped at her, he hit the wall. Venalim got down, and she swung her tail at him. He flew halfway across the room. Venalim ran over to him. She heard him whimper. The crowd was silent. A judge came out onto the field. Jenna turned away. The judge nodded at the announcer. “Katie and Venalim is the winner!” The crowd cheered loudly. Venalim went back into the box, and through the tube. Katie picked Venalim up.

“Good job. Now we have to do the rest.” Katie said. Someone led them out of the arena. They saw Jenna walk out, holding Chewy. The judge made them shake hands.

“I’ll knock you out so easily the next time we meet.” Jenna said to Venalim. Katie said nothing, and they both walked back from their doors. They were soon back in the training room.

“Your next battle is in about an hour. You can either practice or you can relax in one of the other rooms.” the judge told them. He pointed to one of the other doors in the room. Katie saw Jenna and Chewy go out of the room. She looked at them evilly before they walked out of the door. The judge walked back into the arena to set up for the next battle. Katie looked around, and saw a few people around a board. She went over there too, after putting Venalim in her training section. She saw that there was a chart saying who moved up, and who was fighting whom. She saw her name, and looked where she had moved up to. Katie and Venalim were going to fight against someone named Sarah.

Someone came up to Katie and said, do you want to play with me and my pet?” Katie quickly turned around, and saw someone about her age.

“Sure.” Katie replied. “Where is your pet?”

“Over there.” She pointed to a larger training place in one of the corners. Plastic surrounded it. It was a white Bengal tiger.

“How did you get a tiger?”

“My dad owns a zoo, and one of the tigers had four cubs. Only one of them was white. I begged him for me to have it. He thought about it for a few days, and said I could. He let me train it. When he was two, dad put him in a separate cage, just for me. It was sealed off, so I could train him alone. It was easier to train him after that. I saw the ad a year later, so I entered. I won the finals last year, so I’m going for it again today.” They were at the tiger’s training area. “Are you ready to play?”

“Sure.” Someone came up to Katie.

“It’s time for the next round Katie. Sorry it has to be so early, but they got the arena set up early. Katie grabbed Venalim and followed her.

“My name is Monique by the way.”

“Mine is Katie.” The person walked up to the door. The door had a black rhino sticker on it. Above the sticker, it said Katie vs. Sarah.

“Good luck.” the person said. She opened the door, and Katie and Venalim walked in the door. The person closed the door behind them. Katie walked down the hallway. The door right in front of her had Sarah’s name on it, so she went down the hallway next to it. She stopped at the door that had her name on it, and opened it. They walked through the door, and she saw Sarah next to her. She was wearing a brown glove, and Sarah turned around too quickly to know what kind of bird was on her arm. Katie walked into the domed room. Someone closed the dome door. She didn’t notice too well. Katie put Venalim down, and Venalim went through the tube. The entrance of the tube closed. Katie saw Venalim in the box. Katie looked in Sarah’s pet’s box. She couldn’t see it very well.

“Welcome to round two of the fifth annual pet battles.” The announcer said. “On the left side, we have Sarah with her pet Peck. On the right side, we have Katie with her pet Venalim.” The boxes opened. “Let the battle begin!” The crowd cheered. Venalim walked out of the box, and it closed behind her. Peck hopped out of his box, and it also closed behind him. Katie saw that Peck was an eagle. Venalim charged after Peck. Right before she hit him, he flew up into the air. Venalim couldn’t slow herself down. She ran up the wall, and then stopped after she was halfway up. Peck turned to face her, and he charged. Venalim dropped to the floor, and Peck got his beak stuck into the wall. Venalim stood under him. Peck quickly got his beak out of the wall. He flew in the center of the arena. Venalim was right under him. She jumped, trying to grab him. He just flew higher every time she jumped. Peck stood on the rafters on top. He looked down, and Venalim saw him land up there. She started to glow a bluish color, and jumped. She landed on the rafters also. They faced each other on two different bars. Venalim stopped glowing. She jumped at Peck. She held on to him, and they fell to the ground. Venalim held him under her. Peck landed on the ground. Venalim got off of him. He didn’t move. The crowd cheered. The judge came out. Venalim backed away. The judge nodded to the announcer. “Katie wins again!” Venalim went into the box, and came through the tubes to Katie. She looked tired. Katie picked her up, and she fell asleep. Someone opened the door, and Katie walked out of the arena. She saw Sarah holding Peck. She was sad, not knowing if he would live or not. She didn’t even looked up at her as she walked out. Katie went through the door after her. She was in the training room. Katie walked to one of the resting rooms. She opened the door, and saw a small bed. She put Venalim in it. Someone walked in.

“Good job. You won the second round. The semi finals are up next. I will come back to you when it is ready. Should I also send in Monique with her pet when she is done?”

“Sure.” The person walked out, closing the door behind her. She came back in a few minutes later with Monique and her white tiger. She closed the door behind them. The tiger walked to the other bed, and slept. There were large pillows around the room. Katie and Monique both grabbed one, and sat across from each other.

“Did you win this round too?” Monique asked.

“Yes.” She replied. “What about you?”

“I did also.”

“How did you get a pet like her? I saw her on the news before, but not in the pet battles.”

“I was on the news for capturing a criminal, and putting her in prison for kidnapping. I made Venalim, but I can’t explain how.”

“Do you know who you are battling next?”

“No, do you?”

“Yes. I am battling against someone named Amanda.” Katie’s eyes widened.

“You’re battling her? She is the person I put into prison. She also got out of prison recently.

“Really? I saw who you are battling against next. You are battling someone named Lauren. We can probably play after the finals are done.” Someone walked into the room.

“It’s time for your next battle Katie.” She said. Venalim woke up, and Katie picked her up. She followed the person out of the room. “I've heard that this room is the most unique other than the finals. There are other objects added in there to make it more interesting. The finals and semi finals are in domed rooms, so there aren't any rafters this time. Good luck to you and Venalim once again.” They stopped at the door. It had a monkey sticker on it. Above it said Katie vs. Lauren. Katie and Venalim walked through the door, and the person closed it behind her. Katie walked down the hallway, and saw that the door in front of her had her name on it, so she opened it, and went through. The glass of the arena was tinted, so it was hard to see through. She walked over to the small dome, and the dome door closed. Katie could see right through the plastic now where she was. She put Venalim down, and she walked through the tube, and into the box. The tube closed. Katie looked at this new arena, and saw that there were vines hanging on top, and there were trees around the arena.

“Welcome back to the semifinals of the fifth annual pet battles. On the left, we have Katie with her pet Venalim.” The crowd was cheering louder then the other two battles that took place. “On the right, we have Lauren with her pet Zansbar.” More of the crowd cheered for her. “Let the semifinal battle begin!” The doors of the boxed opened. Venalim walked out, and the door closed behind her. Zansbar slithered out, being a python snake, and the door closed behind him. Zansbar slithered after her, quicker then any of the other animals had before. Venalim climbed up one of the trees. Zansbar went up after her. He made coils around the tree. Venalim crawled through the branches, and dropped to the ground from one of them. She looked up, and saw Zansbar on the vines above her. Venalim kept running, but Zansbar was faster. He dropped out of the vines, and landed on her. He wrapped himself around her, and tightened his coils. Venalim couldn't move, but she could feel him getting tighter around her. Then, she bit him. He wouldn't let go, so she kept on biting him harder. She heard him hiss at her when he finally let go. She stopped biting him, and he weakly slithered up back into the tree. Venalim was also trying to recover, but she started to glow. The branch that Zansbar was on started to bend, and then the branch broke. Zansbar was stuck to the branch as it fell. Venalim stopped glowing, and saw that the branch fell on his head when he hit the ground. Venalim weakly stood on all fours, and she couldn't take another step. The judge came out, and nodded to the announcer. “Katie and Venalim are the winners again!” The crowd cheered on. “They will be going on to the championships tonight.” Venalim slowly made it into the box, and through the tubes. She collapsed when she was at Katie's feet. Katie picked her up, and walked out of the dome as soon as it opened. She walked all the way back to the resting room. She put Venalim in the bed that she was in before, and she also slept on one of the pillows there. Right before she was out, she heard the door open, and heard a loud purr. She didn't open her eyes, and she went to sleep. Monique pulled a pillow next to her, and slept there.

“Hey! Wake up you two!” Katie and Monique opened their eyes, and saw someone there. “It's time for the championship! Come on!” Venalim was already up, and so was the tiger. They all followed her to a gold door. There was a sticker of a white lion on it. Above the sticker said Katie vs. Monique. They all walked through the door. Katie's door was right in front of her. Monique walked all the way down the other hallway. Katie went through, and walked straight through to the dome. Venalim walked through the tube, and into the box. The boxes at the end were completely blacked out, so no one could see them. The tubes closed on both sides.

“Welcome to the Championships of our fifth annual pet battles!” The crowd roared. Katie looked around, and saw that the seats were filled! There wasn't a seat that didn't have a person in it. There were even some people standing close by, trying to see. “On our left, we have Katie with her pet Venalim.” The crowd cheered. “On our right, we have last years champion, Monique with her pet Saber!” The crowd got even louder. “Let the final battle begin!” They were let out of the boxes, and they both walked out at the same time. The doors closed behind them. There wasn't anything in the way this time, so it was just a large empty room. Saber charged at her first. Venalim backed into the wall. Saber jumped at her, and she jumped onto the wall. Saber ran into it, and got back up quickly. He put his front paws on the wall, and bit Venalim's tail. She lost her grip on the wall, pulled her down, and stood over her. She rolled toward him, tripping him as she rolled. Venalim jumped onto the wall again, but this time, she got all the way up. Venalim got onto the ceiling, looking down. She was right above Saber, so she dropped, and landed on him. She held on to him while Saber jumped around, but Venalim wouldn't let go. He jumped up high, and landed on his back, landing on Venalim. They both flipped back over. Venalim jumped at Saber, and he flew back to the wall. She slammed him into the wall a few times, and then she let him fall to the ground. Saber was growling softly. Venalim backed away, and a judge came out, and nodded to the announcer. “Venalim is the champion of the fifth annual pet battles!” The crowd roared. Venalim crawled back to the box, and through the tube. Katie picked her up, and was also cheering.

“Great job! We did it!” Katie shouted. The door opened, and she walked out and through the hallway, and into the training room. Someone led her out to the front area. Katie went to the front desk.

“Congratulations! You won the championship. For your prize, you will get a trophy and $2,500.” The person at the desk handed her the trophy, full of money. “Please come back next year.” Katie walked out the door with Venalim. She saw Monique walking out, carrying Saber. As she walked out, she stood next to Katie.

“Good job. Are you coming back next year?” Monique asked her.

“I don't think that I will.” Katie replied. Monique nodded.

“Will I see you again?”

“I hope so. I'll see you around.” Katie grabbed on to Venalim, and they took off. Monique waved, and walked home.

It was late when they got back. They saw a truck driving out of their yard. They landed, and Katie saw that the aquarium lid was off of it. She got closer to it, and saw that the aquarium was broken and on its side. The creatures were gone, and nowhere to be seen.