With Josh so close to the title of Champion, a battle tournament would be a great way to get the Master of Faster prepared for his title match with KYLE LOPEZ. His regulars would be watching from the lounge on the second floor of Mauville Gym, following the action and watching feature matches their Leader was involved in.

The sheer efficiency that the tournament's healing machines operated at was a marvel of the event: they worked faster than ones at most Pokémon Centers, making sure the Pokémon were all in top shape for each round. This was going to be a long day: battle after battle. With them being only one Pokémon per side, at the very least they would be quick. As Josh was sipping on a bottle of water, an announcement blared over the venue's loudspeakers:

"Attention all Vital City Tournament participants. Pairings are up for round six. Pairings are up for round six."

Pulling up the list on his phone, he scrolled down to his name and found his opponent and his assigned arena number. That opponent was kasper thaler  .

Josh took his place on his assigned side of the battleground. Next to him was Raikiri, the Zeraora he was known for. It seemed he wasn't fooling around; he was in it to win the whole tournament. "Hi there! Gym Leader Devlin or Elite Ranger Devlin, but please, call me Josh," he introduced himself. "Good luck, and may the best trainer win."