It wouldn't take long for Eris to find that familiar set of closed eyes paired with a warm smile - though his attire was slightly different from his norm: a blue coat drapes over his back like a cape, and the suspenders would be easy to spot over his color-coordinated striped sweater and shorts.

The Beheeyem by his side wore a similar blue coat.

"Glad you could make it," Hideo said, approaching her. "It's been a while since we had a real battle with each other. Think the last time was Hoenn Star Tournament. Maybe this battle will play out differently?"

He'd won that previous battle - by a hair's breadth, his Beheeyem fainting shortly after her Salazzle.

"Anyways, follow me: the room isn't that far from here."

The walk over would be a pleasant one; the library portion of his gym was as quiet as one would expect, various citizens of the town browsing, reading, and studying amongst the humans and Pokemon that staffed the area, the latter consisting of some of Hideo's Pokemon.

A few that recognized Eris waved to her, including a familiar Shaymin that was being studied by a curious child.

"I set this place up to be a pretty cozy gym. A place people could go to if they want to learn, or they just want a peaceful place to spend time at. 'course, we still got plenty of places for the actual battling."

Eris Halla

Hideo nodded, chuckling. "'course it's coordinated! The person that made the jackets made sure of that! And Elga here picked everything else out too; they match him pretty well, so I was told."

The light blush on the Beheeyem's cheeks went unnoticed by the boy. "And we'll get to test our skills real soon~ I'm sure won or lose, we'll both get to learn a lot today."

As for the design, he shook his head. "They helped a bit with organizing everything, but the idea was mainly from me. And my Pokemon. A library's a pretty good place for that. You might not think it, but I did read a lot before I started the Gym Circuit. And I still do now."

As for the offer? He happily nodded. "'course you can! We'd love to have more art around here! And I'd like to have something you made shown here."

But in time, they'd reach a set of doors. "Alright, here we are." The doors opened inwards without him needing to touch them - his Beheeyem opening them Psychically for dramatic effect.

Inside was a fairly featureless room, with a number of people sitting on the bleachers on each side. A number of psychic Pokemon were at each end of the arena, and on the opposing end of the arena, stood two of Hideo's Pokemon. One, a decidedly-psychic Xatu, the large mystical bird tilting its head at their arrival.

The other, a decidedly-not-psychic Dusk Lycanroc, eagerly watching the group's arrival.

"I was planning on Elga being your other opponent, but the moment Rocky there caught on that you'd be bringing Reiner along, he insisted on taking part. Seems he's wanted to have a scrap with him. And it ain't easy to get Rocky to change his mind, so I'll let him have this one."

He'd break away from Eris, turning to her one more time. "I'll give you a sec to prepare." With that, he made his way over towards his team, Elga following close behind.

Eris Halla

As Eris prepped her team, Hideo reunited with his own. "Ok, guys. I know it's Eris, but we gotta try our best for real this time." After a second of silence, he faced towards his Lycanroc, kneeling down. "Try not to get too caught-up, Rocky. We're battling her like a challenger, not like we're dealing with Rocket, understand? We're battling for real - but not really real. Got it?"

He received a lick to the cheek. That'd have to be good enough.

Hideo stood back up, offering a thumbs-up to his Beheeyem as he wiped off the bit of slobber on his face. The dressed-up Pokemon walked off to the side of the arena, where the other psychic Pokemon were readying themselves. Once he was assured Eris's Pokemon were also ready, they could begin.

"Now that we got our Pokemon ready, let's set up the stage!" A Psychic Terrain was spread by the Psychic Pokemon on the outer edges of the arena, the environment quickly transforming into something completely different.

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[attr="class","puppycat"]@eros

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[attr="class","puppycat"]Round 1! Fight!

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A Garden of Vines

The building around them disappeared, the bleachers and the audience disappearing as well. It would be as if the building they were in had never existed; even the ground was seemingly reclaimed by nature, a healthy forest around them.

But the greens of nature were overtaken by purple petals, the vines they came from growing everywhere, even hanging down from the sky above. The ground was littered with these petals, and while they would merely pass through whatever tried to touch them, they could be blown around by the upcoming battle.

The ground itself still felt the same as before, despite the grass and petals covering it. And while it would appear it was just the two of them and their Pokemon out in the wild, they would still be intrinsically aware of where everything was in reality; they'd know where the walls were and where the spectators were, to lower the risk of an accident.

"Now then," Hideo said, sending petals around him flying as he swept his foot along the ground, "the challenger has the right to the first move!" He dramatically pointed towards Eris and her team, eagerly waiting.