This would be her second volleyball battle in the tournament, which is quite surprising given that Skyler knows absolutely nothing about the sport - except that the ball has to land on the other side of the field. Preferably over the net.

"I still can't believe you ditched me at the ren-faire," is how the ship captain chooses to greet the Hoenn champion, one eyebrow quirked up. "I got lost in woods. Twice." Five times actually, but there is only so much her pride would let her admit. 

She chooses the left side of the field if only to make sure the sun is at her back, having learned a couple of things from her last match. Looking at the tired-looking volleyball ball, she wonders how long it'll last against the two of them.

Probably not long.

If there is a referee, Skyler pays them no mind. A familiar Lycanroc materializes by her side, tongue lolling out in apparent excitement at being chosen, and the captain has to swallow the evil smile that threatens to pull at her lips.

kyle lopez

Skyler is ready. Or as ready as she thinks she'll ever be, given the circumstances. "Glad you're so fond of traumatic experiences." Her feet sink into the sand as she gets in position, Bonnie drooling a whole swimming pool by her side and looking like the most ineffective volleyball partner ever (save for the Brozong on the other side of the net).

Captain Dross cracks a grin, competition flaring within her and brightening her quicksilver eyes. "Hopefully I'll be able to return the favor, boss. Wouldn't want you missing out."

It's almost like the champion had forgotten how uniquely bad Skyler was with any sort of projectiles - despite having witnessed it first hand. Or perhaps he was counting on it.

Her fist slams into the ball, disregarding any volleyball rules and effectively punching it. It sails through the air in an unlikely arc that would leave any physicist utterly befuddled. 

The good news is that the ball does manage to just sail over the net. The bad news is that it goes straight for Kyle's head.

kyle lopez

"At least it wasn't a javelin this time." Not that she would ever hit Kyle with one of those. On purpose, that is. That guy from the cabbages cart back at the ren-faire wouldn't soon forget her though, or the javelin that had nearly stuck his leg. Apparently, 'whoops' hadn't been the appropriate response. 

With an inner compass that steers her towards trouble, the captain couldn't take Kyle's question as anything but a challenge. "Sure. Let slip the Mightyenas of war - or something." She's pretty sure she'd read that somewhere.

The ball soars through blue skies, high above them, and Skyler grins with perfect confidence, positioning herself to receive it. 

She isn't expecting Kyle to hit it so weakly that - it barely slips past the net. 

And immediately starts falling.

Heart in her throat, Captain Dross starts running towards the descending sphere, throwing herself onto the sand with utter abandon and getting a healthy mouthful of it for her troubles. 

She misses the ball by an inch. 

"Fuck." 

By her side, Bonnie helpfully catches the ball and trots back, waiting for the game to resume. Shaking sand from places where sand shouldn't be, Skyler narrows her eyes at her newly appointed enemy and serves - no punching involved this time. As the ball flies over the bet, Bonnie jumps and uses ACCELEROCK to shift the direction of the ball just slightly. 

skyler - 0 // kyle - 1

kyle lopez

"I didn't use it to make an omelet."

Too distracted to properly answer, Captain Dross positions herself to receive the ball when Kyle's uttered command causes the volleyball's course to turn erratic. Silver eyes widen in response, a foul curse slipping from the sailor's mouth. Moving quickly, she does her very best to follow the ball's position throughout her half of the field, tripping over poor Bonnie in the process - but somehow managing to hit the ball. With her head.

Hey, it counts. Right?

"It hatched into a cute blue blob like the ones from Sootopolis," she replies, spitting sand from her mouth. Phione, wasn't it? It'd made a small nest in the crow's nest of the Sotally Tober. "Did yours?"

The ball's vaulting over the net when the Lycanroc jumps up, a FIRE FANG effectively setting the sphere on fire.

And a little bit of the net too, for good measure. 

skyler - 0 // kyle - 1

kyle lopez

"Mine's taken to the ship very well. Cute water critter." It should be no surprise really, given how they'd gotten them in the first place. Hers had hatched fairly recently too.

The whole concept of a play date has Skyler snorting, reminding her of parents trying to get their kids to like each other. "That's actually a good idea. See how they behave with each other." A pause. "The ones in Sootopolis were in a group, right?" So maybe they were social creatures.

The next time the ball goes over the net, Skyler barely notices it. Lycanroc, however, is wholly unaware of the conversation going on - he just wants to have fun. 

Dogs love chasing after balls, after all.

So the second it swings into Skyler's side of the net, the canine jumps on its hind legs and turns to swipe at the ball with its bushy tail in a BRICK BREAK - sending it back to the other side.

skyler - 1 // kyle - 1

kyle lopez

"Yeah, sure." A pause then, Skyler's expression turning into one of puzzlement. "Wait, have you ever visited the Sotally Tober? You'd get to meet the crew too." Including, although unofficially, a certain blue-eyed 'chef'. Then again, if he wasn't there she'd be able to offer Kyle her number one specialty, Gulpin green egg sandwiches...

Perfect.

The ball's descent seems to happen in almost slow motion, and Skyler's attempts to catch it are at best halfhearted - mind busy trying to engineer a way to get full control of the kitchen if only for a single afternoon. 

Bonnie's the one to catch the ball, but it doesn't go over the net. Instead, sharp fangs sink into the spherical object and pop a few holes into it along with a healthy amount of drool. If anything the ball looks even more dejected now. 

"Uh... point to you?"

Happily trotting over to Skyler, the Lycanroc drops the ball into his trainer's hand. The ship captain hits the ball, barely watching as it sails over the net in the Brozong's direction.

skyler - 1 // kyle - 2 (?)

kyle lopez

"They probably have plenty of them." It's not really a viable excuse, seeing as they had pretty much ruined it (well, mostly Skyler, but who cares about the details, right?).

Mulling over the subject, and because Kyle was apparently at least mildly responsible for upholding the law, a questionably brilliant idea blooms in Skyler's brain.

"Here, give it to me." All but taking the ball for herself, Captain Dross scribbles something on its spherical surface with the sharp end of a blade (where'd it come from? no one knows). Should Kyle peek, he'd see a single 'sorry' in near-perfect calligraphy written on it, followed by a single smiley face. For some reason it has an eyepatch. "Think it's good enough?"

Bonnie seems to think so. Then again, Bonnie thinks everything is good enough as long as it is 1. tasty and 2. catchable.

skyler - 2 // kyle - 2 (?)

kyle lopez