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

As Josh checked the pairings online, he breathed a sigh of relief: his opponent was Marianne Lovelace , who had apparently bubbled into Day Two. This was the closest he had to an "easy" opponent all day. He couldn't let his guard down, though! Anyone who made Day Two was a strong combatant in their own right.

Josh and his Zeraora walked to their assigned arena, where he waved to his opponent. "Hi there! Mauville Gym Leader Josh Devlin. Great to meet you, Marianne!" He squinted when Marianne mentioned she was new. To get this far in the tournament, she had to have some kind of battle prowess. "Best of luck! You'll need it to keep up with the Master of Faster!"

"And fast," Josh bragged. "I've got a very dear friend to thank for Raikiri."

Rare on their own. It was particularly rare to see one fight on four paws rather than two. In a way, Raikiri looked more like a Luxray or Raikou than the way the species was normally depicted. Those familiar with Mauville Gym were likely familiar with the anomalous Zeraora. While Josh rarely used the mythical thundercat at his Gym, the species was associated with him due to his popularity. Being able to withstand the electric-type's blistering speed was something very few people could do, the Pokémon capable of outrunning a race car.

Raikiri circled the small fairy-type with great AGILITY before about-facing, the friction burn causing all four of his paws to ignite in a similar fashion to how a bipedal Zeraora would throw a FIRE PUNCH. Josh's prized partner made no effort to dodge, instead trading blows to have a better shot at overheating the Pokémon so small that hitting it would be a challenge even for him!

That very dear person was Top Champion kyle lopez . He owned three, but none of them saw very much action. Raikiri saw more action with Josh than all three of the Champion's Zeraora put together. It was clear that the hyperactive was much happier being with the Mauville Leader.

FOUL PLAY was a great tactic to use Josh's speed against him. It was common among challengers to his Gym, and it was a tactic Josh was used to turning against those who employed it. His paws still burning, the electric-type left a burning trail behind himself before about-facing again, this time launching a trio of ELECTRO BALLS toward the Klefki. They wouldn't hit as hard as the flames did, but they moved with incredible speed that would make them difficult to evade, even at range.

The Klefki absorbed Raikiri's electric projectiles into its FLASH CANNON and sent the energy flying back at him with multiplied speed. Were it not for his ability to drain electricity and convert it into energy, the steel-type attack would have outright downed the mythical thundercat. This Marianne Josh had never heard of before was good. She had to be, if she made the second day of the tournament.

Raikiri had to bite and claw his way to a win if his Fairy-type foe could simply use his own attacks against him. Diving toward the Klefki's ring with white arcs surrounding his PLASMA PAWS, the cool cat sought to overload the steel-type and leave it dazed. Badly dazed.

The METAL SOUND was agonizing for Raikiri, forced to back away from the Klefki as only one paw smacked the fairy-type around. Even Josh had to cover his ears, the brief exposure to the noise leaving him temporarily deafened. If Marianne's Pokémon was that desperate, Josh was more than willing to put it out of its misery for the round.

Lining up his Z-GLOVE at his partner's shoulder level, the Z-CRYSTAL within and the QUICKINIUM-Z hidden beneath the Zeraora's fur gleamed luminous yellows and whites. Empowered with Z-Energy, the electric cat backed up to a corner of the arena before seemingly disappearing. Slicing toward the Klefki in a HYPERSONIC PLASMA CHARGE that lasted a split second, the pressure such a paw swipe had to put on the small foe was immense. Even if they could somehow evade the ultrafast, physical aspects of the charge, they would also need to dodge the line of lightning bolts left in the Zeraora's wake and withstand the aural blast that came with Josh's Pokémon outrunning his own sound waves!

"Thanks, Marianne," Josh replied. "There aren't too many Pokémon that can withstand that. That you made it so far against me says something about your own battle prowess." It wasn't just Raikiri's strongest attack; the Z-Move was shared by many of Josh's electric Pokémon. "You should see what it's like riding on him! It's so fun taking to, say, Route 110 or 117 and just racing across Hoenn."

Another win put Josh closer to solidifying his position near the top of the leaderboards. If he were to secure a large prize, that would help him refill his cash reserves after being without his primary source of income for a while drained it to close to nothing. "We should meet up some time. I can give you some pointers to be better at battle!"