Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monster GX Fan Fiction ❯ Life in the Pro League, or Lack Thereof! ❯ The Summer Camp Division ( Chapter 20 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Most of the last half-day of filming consisted of a long interview.

They had already asked about square watermelons and the like. Now it was on to the serious stuff.

However, even that was carefully edited to make sure it sounded as good as possible.

Most of the so-called “serious” questions were really stupid. Typical example: “Do you feel pressured to have an undefeated record?”

Well DUH. That was kind of the whole POINT, wasn’t it?

Ryo would have said that, but Monkey was lurking somewhere in the room’s shadowed corner. So he made up some lie about how it was indeed difficult, but it was worth it because of his loyal fans.

Nothing could be farther from the truth, of course.

However, all things must come to an end, even this. Somehow, Ryo survived the interviews, and the filming crew finally left to return to whichever studio/skyscraper/dungeon they had originated from.

But they could have originated out of thin air for all Ryo cared. All that mattered was that this torture session was now behind him.

It was over! Finally! Ryo could exist again!

He had plans to just lock himself up in his apartment until that exhibition match, just reveling in the solitude.

Wait a minute. That reminded him.

He still didn’t know who this exhibition opponent WAS.
And how could he do his best if he didn’t even know his opponent?

The solitude would have to wait for a bit. This was crucial.

As much as Ryo hated to admit it, he needed Monkey’s help.

--------------------------


Lightning flashed and creepy music played as Ryo gazed up at the place where Monkey lived. A lone owl hooted menacingly and flew out of a dead tree, which was flailing its branches every which way. And then, the door to Monkey’s residence slowly creaked open, and...

Yes, Ryo was exaggerating again. Actually, he was waiting in the apartment hallway, outside Monkey’s door. However, if it wasn’t a haunted house in reality, it certainly was in spirit!

Wow. That last thought was an exceedingly bad pun.

But puns or not, Ryo had to walk in and ask his question.

Monkey was standing approximately three millimeters away from the doorway, and Ryo had to be careful not to trip over him.

One good thing (and probably the only good thing) about Monkey was that he had detailed records about every single Pro League participant. Ryo wouldn’t be surprised if Monkey had had tracking devices put on all these people. That was how good the records were.

As Ryo started flipping through the dozens of documents spread out on the table, he idly noticed that almost every single person had a stupid name.

Ryo was a bit confused by this, until he realized that these couldn’t be their real names. Because no one would be stupid enough to name their kid some of the sillier names.

No, these had to be stage names. Ryo thought about maybe looking into a stage name for himself, but decided against it. That would be conforming to what the endorsers, and Ryo had always been a nonconformist in cases like this.

Ryo flipped through schedules until he found the record for the person he was going to go up against in ten days.

He started reading it, then frowned and called Monkey over.

Of course, that was not a necessary action, since they both knew that Monkey had been breathing down Ryo’s neck this whole time. However, Ryo felt bound to observe at least some niceties.
Monkey, also pretending he hadn’t been there the whole time, asked what was wrong.

“There’s a typo in this.”

Monkey looked at the page, and announced that it was absolutely free of typos.

For once, Monkey had to be mistaken. There was no way this one thing could be correct!

Ryo pointed at the person’s birth date.

“See? The typo’s right there. There’s no way that could be correct. If it were, the guy would be younger than my brother, and people that young aren’t in the Pro League.”

Monkey continued to insist that all the facts were correct.

Well, it wasn’t like Monkey to have false information like this. But if this were true....

The truth slowly dawned on Ryo.

His opponent would be a fifteen-year-old!

When Ryo pointed this out, all Monkey said was, “Well, he’s almost sixteen.”

“I don’t care if he’s sixteen TOMORROW! What’s he from, the Summer Camp Division of the Pro League?”

“He’s a special case.”

“Doesn’t matter. The point is, he’s fifteen and...”

“Almost sixteen...”

“Will you be QUIET? The point is, you should find someone who’s actually OLD enough to be my opponent!”

Okay, time out. Ryo was getting too mad for his own good. There was no way he could reason properly unless he was calm. He had a reputation to keep up, and he couldn’t blow it all with a show of temper.

So he became quiet for a few minutes.

Finally, he said, “All right. Fine. I will go up against this person. Even if he’s fifteen...”

“Almost sixteen.”

“Yes, I KNOW. Okay. Even if he’s almost sixteen, then. Maybe there’s more to him than appears on this sheet. Maybe not. But next time, try not to pull kids out of summer camp for exhibition matches, okay?”

Monkey opened his mouth to protest once more that this person was not from a summer camp, but Ryo was already walking out the door.

Ryo mumbled to himself too quietly for even Monkey to hear, “Well, at least it will be an easy match...”

A/N: Um...sure it will, Ryo. Right...