"Sounds like being well prepared was a necessity," he says quietly. He knows that too well...his ex-father's paranoia, the company's past in weapons dealing. But even still, the most physical activity he'd had to do was soccer practice.

He notes that the terrain's getting hillier, so he lets Kingyoku go back into his ball. Wouldn't want the little guy to dry out while he struggles. "I was the CEO of a gaming tech company. The game I developed for was based on virtual monster battles, and I loved dominating with strategy and dragons...but it didn't really prepare me for training real ones."

And his Blue Eyes was a much grander dragon than the little guy in his ball. But Kingyoku had cuteness going for him.