Looks like dad is a celebrity now: the host of the world’s first Kryptomon tournament! I never imagined KeyStone entering into mainstream media quite like this. Our business has always been syndicating news organizations, funding upstart media entities, but now this… what’s next: KeyStoneTV? Well, I’ll admit it’s exciting. Nothing like this has ever been done before, and anything to distract me from the whole Diabaté mess is a welcome change.

It’s a bit nostalgic: a big global tournament with all the trappings and hype of the Olympics… I remember mom got us tickets to watch speed skating at Salt Lake in 2002, and I could hardly believe all the different colors of all the countries’ flags. Maybe dad is having a nostalgic moment of his own, chasing some dream he had as a kid or a young father. But I would never know. Even thinking about those memories at the arenas in Utah, I don’t remember dad there at all.

It gets me thinking about mom, how she would always take us to gift shops wherever we went and give us a keepsake, a souvenir. She loved keeping memories. I have to be grateful. After all, as dad was always keeping up with business — thinking for the future — mom would keep us up with our past. Us Pounds have been all over the world, and I think mom felt an urgency to remind us to feel present while my dad was living 10 years ahead of us. But now she’s gone, and all I have left are all the toys and stuffed animals she would give me. She would always tell me: “It’s a human’s job to remember to love all creatures, because love isn’t just for survival’s sake. We know it best: love is more.”

This tournament makes me nervous, but I trust that dad is just working overtime to solidify his legacy. Our legacy. A tournament in the Pound name that could stand for generations… And, well, Charles is a better TV personality than I am. I better get used to cameras. But the spotlight is hardly on us… Kryptomon battles will be a spectacle unlike anything the world has ever seen. Something they’ll never forget.

About Kryptomon
Kryptomon is an NFT Play-and-Earn game set in its own universe, allowing you to raise your own Kryptomon.

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The Training Program

“Eighty-seven, Eighty-eight…”

Gripping the 20kg weighted vest he had strapped on, Kyros’s expression was permanently twisted into a grimace as he lowered himself into his 89th squat of the day. “Come on Fyllo! Twelve more squats and we’ll be done!”

“Grr!” came the enthusiastic reply. Doing squats in a custom, 50kg weighted vest built specifically for him, Fyllo’s expression mirrored his trainer’s as both man and trainer struggled to pump out the remaining twelve squats.

Grunts filled the air as Eva and Koa sat nearby, bemusedly watching the heavy exercise regimen but making no move to participate.

“You do know that there’s absolutely no scientific proof that this training program will work right?” Eva said while leaning over to pick up the piece of paper that was the source of all this exercise. Kyros had immediately begun the new training plan following the news that the Keystone Group would be hosting the first ever Kryptomon Battle League.

“100 pushups, 100 squats, 100 sit ups and a 10km run every day?” Koa reads. “For the heroes out there who want to make something of themselves. Warning, side effects may include a loss of hair”

“Where do you even get this stuff Kyros?”

“Hey we only have 2 weeks left before the competition.” Kyros replied, unbuckling his weighted vest before moving to help Fyllo with his. “Let’s not forget that you’re the one who asked me to join it.”

“Well yeah but you didn’t need to start training for it. You and Fyllo are already the strongest trainer we know” replied Koa sheepishly.

“Hey if we’re going to do it, we might as well take home the championship!” Kyros grinned in response. “That and the $100,000 for coming in first will help with Fyllo’s upkeep. You guys have no idea how much Fyllo eats now that he’s all grown up.”

Reaching over and grabbing two water bottles, he tossed one over his shoulder that Fyllo promptly caught. Despite having just completed the intensive workout, both trainer and Kryptomon looked almost eager to continue.

“Come on Fyllo. Let’s do one more set of target practice with your Whirlwind of Thorns skill.” Kyros said, already walking over to the garage where several straw dummies had been set up. “We’ll need to make sure each one of your thorns finds its mark if we want to be champion!”

“Grr!!”

No Pain, No Gain

“Come on Fyllo!”

Yelps filled the air as Kyros, armed with boxing gloves repeatedly pummeled Fyllo. Despite the pain, Fyllo didn’t retaliate and remained stationary as he took the heavy blows.

“I still think this is a terrible way to be training your Kryptomon” Eva sighed, a look of defeated acceptance on her face.

“You can argue with his methods, but you can’t deny the results. Besides, you know that Fyllo was the one who started it” Koa responded as he watched his friend throw blow after blow that would make any man wince. “Wow, he really isn’t pulling any of his punches is he?”

“Still… there must be a better way of training Fyllo’s Blessing of Nature skill”

“Look at how fast Fyllo can heal himself now. A week ago Fyllo was scratching himself and healing minor wounds. Now he’s taking Kyros’s full strength and barely flinching.”

A Game of Catch, Fyllo style

“Ready Fyllo?” Eva hollered as she, Koa and Kyros all stood in a large triangle around Fyllo.

“Go!”

At once, the three scientists began to throw an assortment of items up into the air. Pepsi cans, books, even a dumbbell began sailing through the air — some towards Fyllo and others in random directions.

This modified version of catch was the newest training exercise they had come up to improve the number of vines Fyllo could control at will. Accuracy and multi-tasking was the name of the game here as he began to independently manipulate each of the 4 vines that had been summoned from the ground.

“This is too easy isn’t it Fyllo? Think you can go a bit faster?” Kyros grinned at his partner.

“Grr!!”

About Kryptomon
Join the Kryptomon-verse and grow your own living NFT in the up-and-coming Kryptomon blockchain game.

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I thought KeyStone Azerbaijan back in 2017 would be the largest project I’d ever slave over, but that was just valet work compared to this. I have to give dad credit, though. He told us he was going “full production” for this and he absolutely delivered. A full-service streaming program and sponsorship package. A brand new arena to seat thousands. Investments are pouring in, advertisements are at a premium, and that is to say nothing about the Kryptomons. And I’m not talking about the Kryptomons up there, like Eva’s little darlings. These basement creatures are killing machines. I’m looking at one right now. Apparently dad has buyers lined out the door for these “athletes” — yeah, he just called them athletes. Charles the salesman. Athletes for sale. Just “for the love of the game”, right?

…

Sometimes I can’t read dad. When the Kryptomon stuff blew up last year with the Pink Moon, dad hasn’t really been the same. We couldn’t reach him for weeks. Does he really just love this Kryptomon technology stuff so much, or the Kryptomons themselves — I don’t know, but he’s been nonstop about the Kryptomon. I mean, look at this arena. Dad couldn’t care less about sports, but here we are: full-throttle gamers.

There is joy in it though: building a sports empire: all fun and games. Mom would’ve loved this. She was always so cynical about the investors and real estate types… always rolling her eyes when Charles would talk about “the deal in Panama with the eye-patched airport tycoon” or whatever off-the-record conversation he was having. Maybe she was more sensible than cynical, honestly. She really would love the Kryptomon if she were here. Things would look a bit different if she were here, though. Especially down here.

…

This goddamned green light. Even when I close my eyes, this sickly green is burned on my retinas. How did a creep like Diabaté build such a powerful technology? What even is this technology? Scientists are an uncanny breed.

About Kryptomon
Kryptomon is a Pokemon-inspired play-to-earn blockchain game that lets you grow your own Kryptomon, similar to a once great trend the Tamagochi.

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The Three Musketeers

“Hey nerd! Come look at this!”

Eva grinned as Koa looked up from his research, completely unperturbed at the nickname Kyros still used for him.

This was the “Father of Kryptomon”, the man who now stood at the apex of Kryptomon research. With Kryptomons capturing the hearts of many and quickly becoming the hottest new trend, it wasn’t long before Koa was featured on many a publication and invited as a guest onto popular talk shows that were televised to millions all around the world.

And yet, the man who had to turn down an invitation from Oprah had not changed one whit. Watching Koa shuffle over to Kyros and quickly becoming engrossed in the email on the screen, Eva’s smile only grew wider as she was convinced that their friendship would never change.

A New Puzzle Piece

“Just think what this could mean!” Kyros exclaimed excitedly. “This could be the missing link we needed to bust this mystery right open.”

Koa dropped into the nearby chair, his calm expression failing to hide the excitement in his eyes as he processed the new information. “We don’t know what it means yet, or even if it has enough in parallel with modern languages that the linguists could try and understand it.”

“But you have to admit, this and the murals are definitive proof that humans before us must have known about Kryptomons!” Kyros shot back, his enthusiasm not waned the slightest.

About to nod, Koa paused as the wider implications of it all began to settle in. His smile disappeared, replaced by a grim frown as he looked back at the email still on Kyros’s screen.

“The more important question is — If Kryptomons really existed hundreds of years ago, why isn’t there a single known record about them before we discovered that ruin?”

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