He is, in fact, a trainer.

But Gavin's not itching for a fight; far from it. He's sitting down in the sand and spectating the battles of others as a Corviknight stretches its wings in flight overhead. Sunglasses shade the amber eyes of Rocket's underboss as he tilts his head to look up at Kazimir Wynter. A lazy hand brushes chestnut brown hair away from his forehead.

"Wasn't planning on it—"

Corviknight's wings block the sun as it swoops low overhead, then lands heavy in the sand. It cocks its head, beady eyes fixed upon the Ninetales as it lets out a challenging quark.

"—but I guess I can make an exception," Gavin amends.

He stands to his full height and brushes sand from his shorts.

"Liam King. You are?"

Corviknight takes up a position at one end of their stretch of beach, feathers shimmering with IRON DEFENSE.

Far from being intimidated by the growling fox, Corviknight scores its sharp talons through the sand and ruffles its feathers, puffing up as if to challenge the other Pokemon.

Gavin's attention lingers on the wisps that wreathe 'Stormbringer'.

"Ah, this one's the same," he says by way of dismissing the apology.

Is it...?

There was no way to know for sure without well and truly exposing his identity, so Gavin stems his curiosity.

The ghostly wisps of flame seem as if they're sure to strike, but the corvid takes off with a sudden burst of EXTREME SPEED to evade them and close the gap between itself and the aggressive fox. Its AERIAL AUTOTOMIZE activates mid-flight, shed steel feathers peppering the sand like tiny knives.

As Corviknight closes in, the singular Ninetales splits into copies so convincing that even Gavin's having a hard time keeping tabs on the original. He could've sworn it was the one closest to the center but that one bursts into embers when his Pokemon swoops through the illusion.

He whistles, the sound pitching up at the end. Corviknight abandons its reckless charge and flaps its wings to gain some height.

Gavin clicks his tongue.

What STEEL WING feathers have been loosened by its ability but not yet shed are utilized now as projectiles that Corviknight scatters with a fierce flap of its wings, seeking to identify the correct target by virtue of which metal shards find a solid purchase.

---

It's a single target attack that's usable at range b/c of the ability, just flavoring it as trying to find the right Ninetales.

This time Corviknight is not so lucky.

It shrieks in pain and fury as ghastly purple flames lick at what steel feathers remain, fire finding purchase against exposed flesh and leaving a nasty BURN along its belly.

This Ninetales seemed extraordinary. Perhaps he'd ask THEO BECKETT if he'd ever seen its like.

Another click of his tongue directs the bird to dive, its sharp beak poised for a DRILL PECK.

Whatever hypnotic quality the fox's gaze held seems to take root within Corviknight's mind; though it could clearly do some serious damage with its beak if it continued to ravage Ninetales as ordered, the corvid instead staggers back in the sand with a discomforted croak.

What's that about?

A click to instruct the bird to resume its assault is met by another harried shriek.

"All right, then."

He clicks again, and the singed Corviknight lunges for a POWER TRIP instead.

Move after unfamiliar move baffles Gavin.

What is it doing now?

He'd assume perhaps a hex thanks to the callout but his Rotom knew the move and he'd never known it to behave like this. Corviknight crashes into the Ninetales with speed but suffers for it as nails pierce charred flesh and stick painfully between feathers.

The more it tries to shake them off, the deeper they dig.

This didn't look like a fight they would win, but they would not give up.

This time, Corviknight utilizes a slash of its STEEL WINGS at close range.

Corviknight seems confident in itself as steel feathers sink into flesh. It crows with its victory—

—then shrieks, furious, as some psychic force invades its mind.

Its typing should dull the pain of an assault upon the mind but it seems to struggle more than Gavin would expect. Its flight path falters mid-dive as it attempts to go in for another power trip, curving wide and crashing unsteadily into the sand.

Gavin folds his arms as he watches, frowning.