He had decided that he liked Zac. Before that day, the avatar had been a stranger. Bo hadn't really dived into the gym circuit yet—but that was coming, hopefully! Between attempting to connect more with Roman Maher , and fulfill his ranger duties, there was less and less time for fun—especially when he also liked naps. Bo was one of those people who slept enough to make up for the insomniacs in the world. Ah, balance.

“Hell no, buddy! Thought you’d beat me harder than this!”

The Hypno came in out of nowhere, fast. Rhyhorn, still recovering from a prior assault, continued dragging itself up off the ground when it was assisted by its opponent—all the way. It flew into the air, giving a surprised cry as it soared which lowered in volume as it continued skyward. How was this possible? Where were physics?

They were defied. Physics were nothing. There was only pure, unadulterated power.

“What the fuck?”

Bo gave a bark of laughter at their own misfortune—although the Rhyhorn was definitely getting the shit end of the stick. It landed finally, nose first in the sand, legs kicking.

“Okay! Color me surprised! Rhyhorn: HORN DRILL!”

Its stuck horn began spinning, but with the way it was lodged in the ground, its whole upside-down body spun faster about with it in a fantastic display which kicked up sand in all directions and dug it into a crater of sand. It was released, but found itself in a new grave, then spending time attempting to climb out of it.

The glow of V-CREATE and the odd hand gesture, paired with Zac’s sudden outburst of concern sent Bo into action. “Rhyhorn, EARTHQUAKE, now!” The ground shook, and Rhyhorn fell into the earth more. With the sand, it was nearly enough to choke and drown, but the rock and ground shielded it from the full power of such a forceful move.

Still, the hit landed, and the Rhyhorn keeled over, still stuck in the dirt—FAINTED. Without hesitation, Bo ran over to assess the condition of his Pokemon. Once at its side, he kneeled, smoothing a hand over its rock body. He looked over at the Hypno, and then to Zac. “What was that move?”

Well. That was pretty fucked up. A Revive was tossed and all was forgiven, though, because they were about to go eat. And, also, because Bo was easy. “Thanks!”

He administered it skillfully, and Rhyhorn shifted in the dirt again, gave a grumble, and then was returned to her ball as his other hand ran over her stone shoulder. “Sorry, girl.”

Then, watermelon. Bo was up on his feet and after Zac shortly.

“All good! She seems okay. I’ll take you up on that. Tellin' you though, I'm gonna win.” 

“I dunno. We’ve been practicing!” Not that they’d known there would be such a competition. It was summertime. Watermelon. Hello?

This was their first eating competition. It would surely not be their last, now that it occurred to Bo that this was a thing.

Scraggy sat at the table, melon splayed in front of him on a paper plate, with more pieces set aside in a heap. One arm released his pants skin, adjusting before scooping the dripping fruit flesh up towards him messily in a three-fingered fist.

“Use your other hand, Scraggy!”

“We eat plenty!”

Oh, no. Too much.

Scraggy felt a kick in his stomach that shouldn’t have been there, and suddenly, all the melon the lizard had eaten was projectile-hurled out onto the front row. A woman shrieked.

“Oooh...”

Bo was wide-eyed. Shit. He withdrew his fallen partner, and went quickly for the next. The opponents were already ahead now, and with a Blastoise at their lead. Surely, the thing could put away.

Nerves were riled, and Bo released the next. Skarmory flashed in the light with a screech, and a cameraman ducked out of the way, cursing his existence.

The steel bird perched on the edge of the table, not fitting in the same chair as Scraggy. Its beak jabbed at a slice of melon, and tossed it up, attempting to swallow it whole.

“Birds don't need to chew!” He pointed out, grinning at Zac.

More stomach acid and fruit were sprayed out onto a screaming crowd. They had asked for this. What else had they expected? Honestly.

Unlike Scraggy, Skarmory successfully kept down the bits of melon swallowed whole, until the bird had had its fill. She squawked and belched, eliciting a shocked expression from Bo, as he was unaware that birds could do such a thing. He clapped, appreciative. “Nice job!”

Next up was Gigalith. 'GIGA...' Unable to get itself into a chair, the hefty Pokemon instead maneuvered its rocky face along the table, shaking it while attempting to gobble what it could with the help of its slobbering tongue.

Bo put a palm to his face at his Gigalith’s lapping at the table. It didn’t seem to enjoy the taste. Luckily for it, though, a palm tree sprouted out of the stage and lifted the table enough that the melon slid right out of reach anyways.

Next up was Rhyhorn. Fresh from a knock-out and after such a humiliating defeat, she was ready for a good lunch. Ravenous, even.

“Get in there! You deserve it, girl!”

In the excitement and with such encouragement, Rhyhorn clambered onto the table, splintering it, and consuming all the melon she could.
Bo winced.