"I'm surprised there hasn't been another announcement yet. Seems like we have one every year," Josh managed before the starting horn sounded, signaling the start of the match. He had experience fighting a Mawile in a past tournament flight. Having learned his lesson from that match, he had a plan.

Raikiri circled the fairy-type quickly, putting on a burst of AGILITY that made him look like a yellow comet. With a loud screech that sounded like squealing tires, the Pokémon made a sharp turn, his paws igniting from the friction burn. Taking advantage of it, he sought to trample the Mawile with FIRE PUNCH-like strikes.

Paxton had a point; ollie morales had been the lone Head Ranger for a long time, and there had not been a lot of new leadership changes within the Rangers. Wasn't Shalin the most recently appointed Captain over two months ago? Had it really been that long?

The Mawile's prison dropped on top of Raikiri just in time; had another split second past, those paws could easily have roasted the steel-type. While the boulders would miss his tail, they would trap him in a small circle, preventing him from leaping out. Seeing how tightly packed they were, the electric-type slammed his PLASMA PAWS into several of the stacked rocks as a means to break out of the earthen jail.

The clever Mawile was waiting on the other side of the prison, blocking the exit Raikiri had made. Conibear was ready with a crushing swing of her serrated mouth, smacking him and pinning him to the ground. Without direct line of sight, Josh could not sync with his Pokémon to unleash their devastating Z-Move. "Raikiri! You have to get out of there!" he called out to his precious partner.

The Zeraora had only one hope for escape. With Conibear above him, he BOUNCED upward as high as he could from his vulnerable position. While he would not be able to get the height to leap out the top of the ring of rocks, he could ricochet the Mawile off its walls like a pinball, giving him a window to get into open space again.

The last hope for escape worked, flinging the Mawile away and giving Josh's Pokémon room to run! The Zeraora wasn't out of danger, letting the now Mega Evolved Mawile take advantage of him being in the air. All it would take was a moment of being ground-bound, and the fairy-type would try to crush Raikiri between her two mouths.

Paxton and Conibear wouldn't even get a single moment.

As the Zeraora tumbled toward the court, the Gym Leader turned his Z-GLOVE toward his Pokémon. The QUICKINIUM-Z crystal beneath his fur glimmered with a bright white and yellow light. The instant Raikiri touched down, he vanished into a HYPERSONIC PLASMA CHARGE, reappearing in the opposite corner. In that split second, he had moved fast enough to cause a sonic boom that may have rocked the Mawile if she was not used to those kinds of attacks. And even if she was, she would have to deal with paws and lightning bolts also flying at her at supersonic speed!

Even after the sonic boom rattled the Mawile, she was still standing. Paxton's Pokémon was incredibly tough to be able to withstand such power. Elinor Anderson was one of the few other trainers Josh had come across with Pokémon so tough. Rattled as he was by seeing the Mawile standing while Raikiri was catching his breath, Josh had to stay the course.

Slowly getting to his feet, the Zeraora stared right into the fairy-type's eyes and sounded an intimidating purr before crouching, getting into a lunging position. Were the Mawile not savvy enough to see the QUICK ATTACK coming, it would only take the one fast strike to end the close match.

What was Josh to expect from Paxton's Pokémon? He was in HBIC. He had to be a strong trainer by virtue of being in Law Enforcement. Conibear was quick to use Raikiri's own speed against him, hurling him out of the arena. The judges declared a Ring Out, Paxton the winner.

Josh withdrew the thundercat before stepping forward to shake hands with the officer. "You're really good to be able to keep up with Raikiri," Josh complimented with a smile on his face. "I'm not even upset at losing. You've got potential to go far in this tournament. Keep going."