Lutgarde inclines their head slightly, "A joy to fight against you here, Josh. Where do you have your gym, maybe I'll stop by sometime," they grin, adding, "I'm pretty new here, so sorry for not knowing." Gym Challenges were a fun way, in their opinion, to get to know a city better, see how the vibe's there, so they quite liked doing them when they found the time in-between missions.

"I'm Lutgarde, only a ranger cadet, and this is my partner Sylv; you better not underestimate us, though!" Their black-red dyed Sylveon steps forward with a friendly hum, loosening his ribbon's grasp from Lutgarde's wrist. "Let's have a good battle!"

Josh Devlin

Josh nodded at his opponent's greeting, smiling slightly at their interest in his Gym. "Mauville Racing Grounds in Mauville City, on the northwest side." As the name implied, the Gym was all about Pokémon racing. If they wanted to challenge the gym, they had best learn how to saddle up!

"You're a Ranger, too?" Josh asked them. "I'm actually second in command at Mauville's Rangers too, behind Captain annalise henderson ." Any further chitchat would be forcibly stopped by the sound of the starting horn, Raikiri not showing any mercy upon the Sylveon. He lunged toward the devilish-looking fairy-type in a QUICK ATTACK, those sharp claws ready to turn more of that black into red!

"Racing, huh?" Lutgarde grins, excited at the prospect of a challenge that they've never done before. "Racing with wheels required, or does aerial also count?" they do wonder - with the latter they have actual experience, but the first ... even as they're more at home in cities, ultimately, they're also a pedestrian.

"Ohhh? That is really good to know," they grin, "I haven't been assigned to a fixed station yet, but I'll probably be in Mauville City officially, too, sometime."

However, chitchat would need to wait for later - right now, the battle is on! And it seems that the electric type pokémon couldn't wait to attack, rushing towards it. "Quick Attack, Sylv!" Lutgarde commands, and Sylv leaps into action immediately, attempting to outspeed the other.

Josh Devlin
HP: 3/3
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It was not racing with wheels or metallic wings. Josh's Gym was all about saddling up with one's Pokémon and watching the world fly by. It was a traditional means of travel, sure, but there was nothing like the adrenaline rush of a living thing ferrying one across the land, sea, or sky at impressive speeds.

There would be no outspeeding Raikiri, the mythical thundercat whose quickness rivaled many legendary Pokémon known for speed. What Sylv lacked in speed, the fairy-type made up for in power, using the foe's expedience to rake long cuts across his back. If a contest of power was what they wanted, Raikiri would oblige, rearing and attempting to stop Sylv with vicious PLASMA PAWS.

Sylv can't rest on his laurels for long, seeing as the counter attack is quick to follow. Seeing as he can't put any distance between himself and Rakiri, he throws up an Light Screen, hoping to at least block the brunt of the attack with the sudden light. Then, he goes for yet another Quick Attack, trying to find a spot that he could hit without being torn apart by paws immediately, putting as much force behind it as possible.

Josh Devlin
HP: 3/3
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What the Sylveon lacked in speed, it had in sheer grit. Withstanding such a powerful paw swipe was no easy task, and the follow-up QUICK ATTACK left Raikiri reeling. Shaking his head, the Gym Leader had to intervene, raising his Z-GLOVE skyward.

Both he and his Zeraora glowed in bright yellows and white in the light of his glove's Z-CRYSTAL and the Pokémon's QUICKINIUM-Z. Backing into a corner, Raikiri bolted toward the opposite corner, looking to tag the pink foe in a jolting HYPERSONIC PLASMA CHARGE. Were the mythical cat's trampling paws not enough to bring the Sylveon to its knees, perhaps the whirlwind of lightning and the sonic boom following the ultrafast ramming attack would!

Lutgarde's grin seems to deepen as they see Josh raising his hand with the Z-glove - it's time for the showdown! Sylv only seems to share their excitement in part, tensing up as they feel the big move coming. Outspeeding seems impossible - but nothing the Sylveon wouldn't try!

He throws up a Light Screen, but doesn't stay idle - he runs, constantly trying to keep a wave of Light Screens coming, and eventually gaining more and more speed, topping off the combo as he did before. A Quick Attack comes as fast as his legs can carry him.

Josh Devlin
HP: 3/3
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"Incredible..." Josh gasped. There were very few Pokémon in all of Hoenn that could withstand the ultimate technique Mauville Gym taught: an electric ramming attack that used Z-Power to propel the user at supersonic speed. Such exertion came with a steep price, though; completely discharged for the time being, his electrical attacks were offline, and he was still reeling from how quickly and how intensely he expelled that energy.

Even Raikiri was woozy, putting on a display of AGILITY not to go faster, but to slow down more smoothly after coming down from the high that was the speed of his Z-Move. He was still plenty fast; any strike the Sylveon tried to make would require almost supernatural precision to land a hit at all!

Lutgarde fully can't see anything as Hypersonic Plasma Charge releases and meets the various Light Screens that Sylv set up - it's quite literally too blindeningly bright. They do, however, hear Josh's gasp as the attacks cool down, and grins with pride. "That was a crazy attack," they comment, then focus on the fight again.

Sylv indeed was still standing, fur crackling from residue static because evading this attack fully is impossible, no matter how many shields you put up - or maybe, he ponders, just a cage ... but there's no time for defense in this battle. He sees his opponent suffering from after effects as well (it's so damn fast even now?!), and strikes - or sings, in fact. With a Disarming Voice, his song is clear and calming, and travelling at sonic speed.

Josh Devlin
HP: 2/3
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All the time while Sylv warmed up its voice. a trio of ELECTRO BALLS formed on Raikiri's teal faceplace and the tips of his bolt-shaped whiskers. The fairy-type's song disrupted the Zeraora's concentration, causing the three spheres to fly toward the Eeveelution before they had been fully formed. Without the focus the electric-type lost from the soothing song, the mythical feline collapsed in dizziness.

The horn sounded one more time as the exchange happened, this one almost certainly coming down to a judge decision. Even if Sylv were to fall to the barrage of electric attacks, did the electric cat get the attack off before the clock read zeroes?

The song has disrupted, but not entirely taken its full effect - it is easier to lull in pokémon you haven't fought before just mere seconds ago, after all. And well. If it's, in general, not an intended battle situation. Nonetheless, it does give Sylv a little bit of time to set up Light Screens again to try and block the Electro Balls coming his way. This time, he tries the new idea of forming a cage around him - at least half of it, enforcing his front rather than his back, thinking that the balls surely wouldn't fly in weird ways!

Josh Devlin
HP: 1/3
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The trio of ELECTRO BALLS zoomed toward Sylv, two bouncing off the outer LIGHT SCREEN layer while a third bounced rapidly between the deeper layers. Whether it would bounce away from the fairy-type or into them was a coin flip. That coin flip did not matter, the judges waving the attack off. Rolling his eyes at the red flag waved his way, he had lost in the first round yet again.

"Thought I had you," the Gym Leader shook a fist, clearly not happy he had been eliminated so early into a flight. Those entry fees were really starting to eat into his winnings. "Good luck to you in the next round."

Lutgarde actively had to look away as the Electro Balls bounced between the Light Screen, both blinding in their own right, as the result was announced. Sylv himself also seemed slightly dizzy, being so close to the light sources, but has no trouble returning to his trainer with a happy chirp, his ribbon immediately wrapping itself around Lutgarde's wrist.

"Almost," they reply with a grin that hopefully might smooth over some grumpiness, "Thanks! Let's have a battle again sometime, and I'll see you on the clock?" they add - ambiguous if they mean as ranger or gym leader.

Josh Devlin
WIN