This was supposed to be a fun time with his friend. Time to let go and relax. Though Matt was having a hard time relaxing at anything lately. Not with being monitored every mission, honestly it just pissed him off. Not that he said anything about it. Kept his head down, did his work, and stayed silent.

It was some costume party. At least that was something he could get down with. He had fixed his hair to hang in front of his face, much how a Midnight Lycanroc's hair was. Over his hands were gloves that had claws on them and paw-pads on the inside. A furred jacket lined like a lycanrocs fur, with the ribs on the side.

Obviously a tail was included too, and finishing the look was some punk-styled white boots, along with some glowing eye-ware to give the glowing eye-effect.

Matt didn't come riding up on any of his pokemon though, he simply walked up to the gym with his hands stuffed into the red and white mix-matched pants. Seeing Josh... he lifted a brow. Huh. Guess he was a Raikou fan.

"Nice threads."

Josh Devlin

"That's Josh the Committed to you, fiend," the Gym Leader teased Matt, slashing his sword in his friend's general direction but well clear of him. Saber couldn't help but laugh and howl at Josh's enthusiasm. "Thanks," his tone suddenly changed to a more relaxing, normal tone as he lowered his sword arm. "Yours looks great too. What Pokémon is that supposed to be again?" Despite having been with the Rangers for almost three months, he still wasn't up to snuff on Alolan and Galarian species. He knew the rest of the regions' wildlife fairly well. Perhaps spending some of his downtime on missions reviewing files about Alolan, Galarian, and eventually Paldean wildlife would help a lot with that deficiency.

"SM and SF runs one of the best fish fries in Hoenn in the summer and fall," Josh advertised for the local business. While he didn't have to, he was encouraged as a Gym Leader to try to keep money within the city. Plus, he genuinely liked the meal there. "For the last three they have a costume contest, and anyone who orders from their fish fry and does well in the contest gets a bunch of free raffle tickets for their Halloween 50/50."

Once they had looked at each others' costumes to their liking, Josh led the way to the club's entrance. The parking lot was packed, and within was a dance floor, a dining area, a dance floor, a members-only bar, and a corner full of old arcade games, about half of which were sports titles. There were even a few dartboards; perhaps the club had darts tournaments?

Oh man, he wished he brought Nico with him. He might have enjoyed all of this. Now he really did feel kind of off just being here with Josh. Eh, whatever. Hell even Isaac Merlo being here. Okay, okay, he really needed to stop. He was just being so off lately, he really needed this pick-me-up. The bar was so calling him..

"It's Lycanroc, one of the evolutions of Rockruff." He finally answered, looking around the club with interest. "So we gonna order the fish then?" Not that he was gonna tell Josh, but he was so looking at the vodka on the wall for later.

"Shoulda invited some friends" he joked.

Josh Devlin

Josh internally laughed at himself from failing to recognize Lycanroc's color scheme. He was familiar with the Pokémon, but was unable to connect the dots. To be fair, he was far more familiar with the dusk form of Lycanroc than the midnight form. "Right, Rockruff's evolution is dynamic like that," he sighed, feeling like a big dunce cap had been placed over his head. He was a Gym Leader now; that kind of lapse of judgment could result in an otherwise undeserving challenger getting a Badge. Too many of those mistakes would invoke the wrath of Commissioner dahlia goode . While he felt he would meet her in person one day, the Mauville Leader much preferred the meeting to be on good terms.

"Yeah, let's get some vittles," Josh agreed with Matt. While he didn't want to withdraw Saber, what with the Manectric being an important part of his costume, he would have to hop off his Pokémon while inside. Not because of a low ceiling; the ceiling had plenty of clearance for him. Reaching down to get his plate filled would be too far! The "hero" stood in line alongside his "legendary" partner, taking his share of his favorite variety of fish and a good pile of lightly salted fries, getting a few compliments on his costume.

The more he looked around the club, the more he realized most of its members had to be older, perhaps even elderly. With notices of darts tournaments, shuffleboard tournaments, and even a golf playday, it seemed like most of the place's regular patrons were retired folk, with big, open events like this being one of the club's biggest sources of funding. The 12 PD price of the meal was a bit higher than he was used to, but the first bite into his fish was all he needed to know that it was well worth the price of admission.

As they sat and Matt got his beer, he looked at Josh. "Did you say vittles?" He was trying to stop himself from snorting in laughter. Not a word he ever thought would come out of Josh's mouth at all. Oh well, was funny to him, at least.

Josh also was right, that price could hurt the soul. But if it was as good as Josh said, he would forgive him for this. Otherwise, he was for sure getting a earful later! So Matt grabbed his food, going to head to a more isolated table, looking at Josh. "So how'd yo ufind out about this place?"

Josh Devlin

"...It was the first word that came to mind," Josh shrugged. "My late aunt used to say that all the time. Used to play cards with her a lot when I was younger. She used to call be a '#%&%er' at the card table, too. Said it was a term of endearment. Then breast cancer took her from us some years ago." He didn't seem sad about it at all; the Leader had come to grips with that loss before even his first trip to Hoenn.

Great follow-up question from Matt! "I found out almost everything I know about Mauville's city life from the Gym Challenge. When you take on several challenges a day, you get to hear local business recommendations when walking challengers down to the track. There was this kid who lived with his grandparents. Probably barely old enough to be a trainer. Challenged my Gym with a Butterfree. Never thought I'd ever see some try to ride one of those. I smoked him, of course, but he recommended this place's fish. Probably pretty rich, if he comes here regularly."

Not too long after Josh finished his fish and lemonade, the event staff started calling people for the costume contest. "That's my cue." To make sure he wouldn't cause any damage to the dining area, Josh guided his Manectric to the edge of the dance floor being used as the contest area before he asked the electric-type to sit down and let him aboard. "Alright, Raikou, let's wow them." A crackling cry from Saber's mouth caught the attention of several patrons sitting close by.

Matt nodded, he could understand that. His mom was like that sometimes with the other siblings. "I get it." But he let the conversation move on, not wanting to bring Josh down.

Eating his own food, it wasn't too bad! Beer was good too, he leaned back and laughed. "Knock 'em dead." He teased, seeing the crowd cheer as Josh started to go up with his 'Raikou.' It had him thinking if he should bring out Kazzy when he goes up. If the pup didn't bark everyone's ears off.

Josh Devlin

There were a total of ten entrants in the costume contest, and Josh was the second person on stage. While there wasn't enough room for his Manectric to charge back and forth across the stage, there was enough room for the two to make a slow lap or two around the tile floor, Josh looking much like a medieval knight in shining armor as he manipulated the plastic, yellow sword in his hand much like a cavalry unit would.

Once they had completed their run, Josh dismounted "Raikou" to let the attendees get a good look at the two individually. If Josh had a shiny Luxray instead of a Manectric wearing the costume, the feline would have been a far more convincing Raikou. Almost too convincing, in fact. That might have been a good idea for next year. Just as his time was running out, he struck a triumphant pose, raising his sword high above his head and getting its pointy end stuck in a ceiling tile. The contest end of the club hall erupted in laughter.

Josh had to hop back on his Manectric to get enough height to pull his prop out. When his time was called, he and his Manectric took a bow before exiting stage front and returning to Matt's side. "Did you enter, too?" he asked, Saber sitting down next to the table they were at.

"Sure did." Matt answered, as his name was called. He walked up to the stage, crouching down in the lycanroc pose. Smirking and revealing a pair of fangs he had in his mouth- to fully pull off the canine look. With a bark, he let out Kazzy. The pup barked, looking around, looking wide-eyed at Matt.

With a yip, he started to dance around on his back feet. Matt smirked and picked the dog up on his shoulder, giving a thumbs up to the crowd. Kazzy kept wagging his tail, barking and yipping happily. The crowd was busy awwing at the cute pup with it's trainer. When his time was up, Matt went to sit back over with Josh.

"Couldn't leave Kazzy out."

Josh Devlin

"No you couldn't," Josh added, "just like I couldn't leave Saber...err, Raikou...out." That one was a slip. One he hoped not too many voters overheard. "You wowed me. I think Kazzy's act is going to get a lot of attention. Not much we can really do until all the ballots get filled out." He sighed and hopped off his Manectric's back. "I'm gonna wander for a bit." He took his lemonade with him and finished it before heading to the video game corner. He was forced to be a mere observer; all of the cabinets were occupied.

After around twenty minutes, the sound of the PA system being turned on made Josh and his "legendary" flinch. It was time to announce the contest results. The ten contestants were asked to line up. Saber sat down to let Josh back aboard before they took their position. Matt and Josh happened to be standing next to each other in the line-up.

Overall, the contest was quite tight, many of the announced spots being separated by just a few points. Six of the ten had already been called forward, and both Matt and Josh still hadn't been. Did they one-two? The fourth place winner was dressed as a traditional vampire, but their acting was what wowed voters. Their dream remained alive...

...until Matt Vice 's name was called for third place, edging out fourth by only two votes. Josh's hopes were dashed, as well, what with him being the runner up rather than the winner. At least they got some free raffle tickets. It wasn't the number Josh wanted, but they at least got something. This, of course, meant they would have to come back on the 31st.

"So close..." Of course dressing up as a well-known Hoennian celebrity would get a young man the win. "I got a lot of compliments about it, and that's what counts. This was a fun night out, and I needed it. Thanks for coming, Matt. But I have a lot of challenges tomorrow, and I can't be up late."

Honestly Matt did not think he would place. It was just for fun and here he was in third. Well, huh. That was a surprise. A little awkward, but a surprise. No reason to sweat it! Always next year or whatever.

Smiling at Josh he gave him some finger guns. "A'ight dude. Catch you later, I gotta get on back to Nico."

Josh Devlin