VCT

Vs Josh Devlin

"Ah, Devlin! Heard you've been doin' well; Good on ya, man." He said, nodding at the other man's words as his digits fleeted over his pokeball.

The last time a tournament like this had rolled in, Mauville's then Gym Leader (yours truly) had won. If the current one did well, it would do wonders for the city's rep were battling was concerned.

"Honestly, I'll be happy enough if people get a kick out of the battle." He chuckled, glancing down at his ball.

His and Kama's performance had been hit or miss since the tourney began; they had managed to snag a few wins once warmed up, but he wouldn't have called it an exemplar performance. He was not expecting to see his face anywhere near the Top 4 this time.

"Anyway..." He chucked the ball in the air, releasing Kama out. The old Scyther landed in a low crouch on the arena, taking a moment to stretch her limbs and acclimate before bringing her gaze over to her opponent. "Let's not keep the crowd waiting— ready when ya are, Devlin."

---

TL;DR:
-Hi hi Devlin.

"The war was awful. I spent a few weeks in Dewford Regional. Had to have an entire cup of Bullet Seeds extracted from me. See all these scars? That's what those are from." Not now, though. There would be plenty of time to talk about the war after the tournament. The war, their futures, and the aftermath of the tournament itself.

Josh wished he had brought earbuds; with how loud a Scyther's wings could get, his ears would be ringing by the end of the match if the bug-type flew for most of it. The purr turned into a roar when the horn sounded, Raikiri lunging at the bug trainer's Scyther in a QUICK ATTACK that was almost too fast for even trained human eyes to follow.

VCT

Vs Josh Devlin

It was a bit jarring when the other youth started speaking about the most recent skirmish; Not quite the time and place.

Luckily, the public wasn't anywhere near enough to them to hear the grizzly details.

Even if some had been— they likely would've been distracted by the dazzling show of speed dominating the battlefield.

The battle began in earnest with both speed specialists rushing to strike fast and strike hard. The Scyther responded to the lightning speed of her opponent with a rushing gales, her scythes blurring as they whipped up and sent flying walls of highly pressured wind for her opponent to hopefully run into.

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TL;DR:
-Kama (Scyther) used Vacuum Wave.

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If there was one thing that was both good and bad about Josh, it was that he was not afraid to speak his mind. Good because he would not mince words and was honest. Bad because he often spoke his mind when it was not appropriate to do so. Those conversations would have to wait, though; following the two speedy combatants at all required the Leader's complete attention.

The VACUUM WAVE formed far too fast for even Raikiri to outrun, sending him flying backward and nearly out of bounds. It was clear that speed alone would not topple this war general's bug-types; he would need to turn up the heat on them. In this case, the actual temperature. Standing up, Raikiri ran in one direction then about faced sharply, his front paws igniting from friction burns. Burns he aimed to share with the Scyther as he dove toward the green foe with twin FIRE PUNCHES.

VCT

Vs Josh Devlin

The Scyther's eyes narrowed as her opponent came at her with flaring fists, taking a instinctive step back.

Experience triumphed instinct after a moment, however. There was no point in attempting to run from her opponent; they were too fast for it to work in such small arena.

She had to get in there and make him regret getting into fisticuff's range—

With a burst of speed, the scyther surged forth as her opponent's blazing fists came flying towards her, her body low to the ground in an attempt to dodge the blow, before the back of her scythe swung up in an attempted counter—

---

TL;DR:
-Kama (Scyther) used Counter.

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The COUNTER was egregiously mistimed, the Scyther's blade cutting only the air where Raikiri once stood. Though both the electric Pokémon and the bug Pokémon specialized in speed, one was faster than the other. The new Gym Leader was also more adept at utilizing that speed than the old one was.

Raikiri kept his distance from the Scyther before suddenly lunging again. Instead of trying to trample over the foe this time, he slid toward Doug's Pokémon, ready to BOUNCE into the air and send it flying upward faster than it may have been comfortable!

VCT

Vs Josh Devlin

Taking a blow with little to show for it, Kama found herself on the backfoot, feeling her temper flare as her opponent slid away unscathed.

Her aura surged, deep crimson pooling into her scythe before she released an explosive whirlwind around herself, attempting to push away the lunging Zeraora

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TL;DR:
-Kama (Scyther) used Z-move:Heaven Cleaver.

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The immense whirlwind sucked up the airborne Zeraora, flinging him away from Kama at high speed. His claws gripped the pavement, doing his best to slow down in time. Were he not used to traveling so fast, he would not have been able to react in time to avoid going out of bounds, losing the match on the spot. It was an impressive attack that nearly won him the match.

Nearly wasn't enough, though, and Josh had his own signature attack up his sleeve. Raising his Z-GLOVE to head level, both it and the QUICKINIUM-Z crystal glowed with a brilliant yellow light. Lightning bolts encircled Raikiri as he dashed to one corner of the arena. In the next split second, he was in the opposite corner, a cascade of electricity and an aural explosion threatened to ravage Kama... if the paws rocketing toward the bug-type at supersonic speed didn't take it out first!

VCT

Vs Josh Devlin

At least Mauville was in good hands, he concluded as he approached the downed Kama, crouching besides her.

With a tap of his digit, her wounds dissipated into nothing, causing her to snap back up to her feet temperamentally.

Another fight, another loss. The tourney could've been going better.

"Thanks for the match, Devlin." He said politely, smiling as he returned the sourly Kama to her ball. "Best luck in the rest of the tourney."

Well, time to head back to the ER.

Raikiri huffed, Mauville Gym's ultimate attack leaving the electric-type winded. Healing machines could only do so much to help a Pokémon exerting itself so much every match. It was another win for the thundercat, and another pay jump for Josh. He still had that bit of cushion in case of another tough matchup.

"Thanks, Doug," Josh answered. "Hopefully we get to rematch in the top cut. I think I have to win out to get there, though. For now, I gotta find an open machine and get Raikiri all patched up for the next match. Might even try to grab another chicken sandwich. There's this sandwich shop in the commons that has amazing chicken sandwiches. Can't stop ordering from them."

With that, Josh waved goodbye to the man he succeeded Mauville Gym from.