"It was," Josh reiterated as he listened to Amor's recounting of the battle. "Wow, great stuff. Sometimes I have thought to myself to try an adult beverage once, but I can't bring myself to do it. For some people, just one drink is enough to push them over the edge. I'd rather not find out." Amor's point was valid, too. Even among Gym Leaders, every single one of them had their strengths. CIAN MAHER in his adaptability. noah faber in his raw strength. Alexei Ivanov and his agility in the skies. "No matter how strong a trainer is, though, every single one has chinks in their armor. And winning battles is all about finding the chinks in your opponent's armor. It's a constant information and self-improvement battle."

Amor's point was precisely why Josh wouldn't consider his dream completely fulfilled until he completely held the Beast's metaphorical reins in his own hands. The one ride he got on Raikou was unforgettable and showed just how many shortcomings he still had to patch up.

Josh's attention turned back to the game after Veilstone miraculously converted a huge kickoff return into a touchdown just as the two-minute warning sounded. While it wasn't enough to tie up the game thanks to Heahea ultimately getting within field goal range and kicking one through the uprights on their previous possession, they still had one more hope. "It's a long shot, but Veilstone can still turn this around. Their only way out of this is to attempt an onside kick. If they can recover an onside kick, they've got a chance."

Amor just smiled when he mentioned that everyone had chinks in their armor, that would be where their philosophies diverged because Amor didn't believe that everyone had chinks in their armor. As he downed his drink, and listened as the man continued to explain the sports game to him, he mulled over his response. Amor knew for certain that there were people in this world that just had unfair strength, and had really no chinks in their armor. He had met them, and even fought a few of them. Everyone liked to believe that humanity was created equally but the truth of it was that they weren't. It was a fact that everyone would have to accept at one point or another, and whether they broke from the knowledge or not would determine their own strength.

"I don't think that is the case. Sometimes there is a person that is near perfection, where everything you do is completely meaningless in the face of them. When faced with someone like that, and believe me they do exist, you have to get a bit more creative than just trying to exploit perceived weaknesses." He chuckled easily, and soon he noticed the time, it was getting a bit late, and there was a club nearby that he wanted to go to before it got to late. Perhaps he would find some female companionship for the night. Standing up he called the waiter over, and paid for both his meal, and Josh's.

"Just don't get into to much trouble before we get to have a rematch." He nodded to the man, and then without another word he left the diner before Josh could continue to explain the game to him. It had been an interesting conversation to have with the newest Gym Leader at the very least.

Josh Devlin

Before Josh could respond to Amor or thank him for picking up the tab, the older man was gone, leaving the Gym Leader alone to watch the end of the game. He had called the play correctly: Veilstone did indeed attempt the onside kick, but were unable to recover the kick. Heahea had excellent field position and clock management, running the play clock all the way down to one or two seconds on every single snap. They quickly ran the Sinnoh team out of their timeouts, running the ball downfield a few plays at a time before scoring one last touchdown.

Without enough time to score twice, Heahea would be advancing, and Veilstone would be eliminated. That would be a tough matchup for Goldenrod to overcome, but it wasn't impossible. The game over, Josh stood up, slid his chair in, and left for the evening, another great sports bar to add to his list.