With the sun having fully set, the tournament would be limited to indoor arenas only for the remainder of the evening. Capacity filled quickly, the Mauville Gym Leader frantically filling out the electronic paperwork to sign up for what might be his final flight of the event. He was getting tired, too: three days of match after match was wearing him down.

His first opponent of the flight took him by surprise. "Evening, Hideo!" Josh waved, Raikiri raising his front right paw as well. Had he forgotten in the moment that the Littleroot Leader could not see? "Figured I could slip one more flight in before I turn in. I volunteered to help with teardown, after all. We'll have to catch up after the tournament. A lot's happened."

Hideo'd managed to get through the Hoenn Star Tournament; three days of this felt like little in comparison. "Imagine there's a lot to have to tear down here," he said, "but I'm sure most of that could be handled by Pokemon."

Catching up would be a whole other matter. "Well, you're not wrong there. Been plenty that's happened since we last met…"

But that would be for another time.

Hideo's Beheeyem informed him of what they'd be facing: a Zeraora. Hideo knew how strong those were, considering he had one of his own; just meant he shouldn't hold back.

"Alrighty then; Elga, you know what to do for this kind of Pokemon~"

The Beheeyem would start with a move meant to limit its foe: several rocks were torn from the ground, collecting as a Rock Tomb that it'd fire at the Zeraora.

HP: 3/3

EXeofj9l(+15 if even)

Josh Devlin

Hideo wasn't wrong; a lot of the teardown work would be handled mostly by Pokémon. Overseeing the logistics of it would be work only their trainers could do. It would be a lot to coordinate, given the size of the tournament and the thousands of matches that happened. Catching up indeed would be another time; with the starting horn cutting their conversation short, Raikiri had to spring into action quickly.

The Zeraora's lunge would be cut short by the ROCK TOMB if they stayed on the ground. He and Josh had a plan for that, though; the electric-type was also an incredibly high jumper, BOUNCING and pouncing toward the Beheeyem! Timing was important, too; those boulders were still on the ground to constrict the fast-moving feline's movement once he was on the ground again!

Well, there was little surprise the Zeraora was able to evade that attack. His own Zeraora was a speedy one, and he had little doubt Josh would want his as fast as possible.

Which also meant there was little shock when that Bounce landed on his Beheeyem. Hideo knew he'd want to get that Zeraora away as quickly as possible - last thing he wanted was to have to deal with Plasma Fists.

His Beheeyem was already on it, letting out a Round to try and repel the Zeraora.

HP: 2/3

VmRf4vW3(+15 if even)

Josh Devlin

Josh's Zeraora was indeed optimized for speed, perhaps to the detriment of all his other battle parameters. His strongest weapon was not raw power, but the confusion and deception of being seemingly in multiple places at once, Double Team or no. It was almost impossible for those with eyesight to follow. He couldn't have imagined the kind of focus it took from Hideo to even comprehend what was going on.

The ROUND knocked the thundercat away, putting distance between the two. Josh smirked; Raikiri was more than capable of fighting from a distance. Taking advantage of his incredible speed, the mythical feline loosed a barrage of ELECTRO BALLS toward Hideo's partner from a myriad of directions, their ferocity fueled by his blinding speed.

The Round worked, giving the Beheeyem a bit of distance - just as it liked. It was never much of a close-range fighter (then again, Hideo didn't have it battle much to begin with - not a good idea to let your best support Pokemon get knocked out in a serious fight).

The distance was enough to let the Beheeyem lay down a Calm Mind, its body shimmering pink as it readied itself for the incoming retaliation: a barrage of Electro Balls, coming from every direction.

The Beheeyem would put that Calm Mind to use, focusing on where the Zeraora would be in the next moment based on its speed and movements - and aiming a Psychic blast at that location. It'd leave its enhanced defenses to weather the worst of the spheres flying at it.

HP: 2/3

xCDMdg3b(+15 if even)

Josh Devlin

What a strong mind the Beyeehem had to stand up to such a destructive and fast volley of electric attacks. Josh knew the battle with Hideo wouldn't be easy. They were coworkers, after all, and some of the most talented trainers in Hoenn!

Hideo's idea to lead the PSYCHIC explosions was the right way to go, though Raikiri's intense speed kept it to no more than a thick graze or two. Clouded in a split-second lapse of judgment, the QUICK ATTACK Raikiri lunged with was at a slightly off angle; with good reaction time and a little good fortune, perhaps they might feel only the wake of displaced air from the charge!

It was a longshot, but the Psychic tactic seemed to work - at least enough to make his opponent change tactics. Not that it was too surprising; he'd be surprised if Josh was only training Pokemon with single battle tactics in mind.

Hideo knew he had to train his Pokemon in managing a variety of situations - battling being just one of them.

His Beheeyem needed just one more solid hit to cement this - though who knew what trick Josh had waiting in store. The best he could do at the moment was try to intercept the Zeraora with a Rock Tomb, either to strike it or at least divert its attack away.

HP: 2/3

WgE3deOg(+15 if even)

Josh Devlin

Psychic-types were marvels of nature. Josh knew; he had Janus, an Espeon mount that reacted to his commands at the speed of the mind. With every tug of his reins, the rider's arms and the mount's turns were almost in sync with one another. The Master of Faster, though, indeed had a trick up his sleeve. A trick so fast even the most astute and sharp of minds could not react to.

Josh's raised Z-GLOVE gleamed a brilliant yellow and white, as did the QUICKINIUM-Z crystal carefully hidden within Raikiri's fur. The Zeraora backed up to a corner of the arena before disappearing into Mauville Gym's signature attack: the HYPERSONIC PLASMA CHARGE. If the invisibly fast paw strikes did not drop the Beheeyem, then Hideo's partner would have to handle the line of lightning bolts that followed in its wake, as well as the aural explosion that pounded at the eardrums of anyone nearby!

And there came the Z-move; it was only a matter of time until Josh put it to good use. The Rock Tomb Elga had tossed a moment ago didn't hold up against it at all, crushed into dirt. A quick Reflect enveloped the Beheeyem as it did what it could to soften the blow, though it couldn't do much against the attack.

But Hideo wasn't without a trick up his own sleeve: he took out his Tera Orb, the energy within flowing towards his Beheeyem. In a flash, a small crown appeared on the Beheeyem's head, bearing a small heart with a bow on it, the Beheeyem tinted with a pink light.

Would going from Psychic-type to Fairy-type actually make much difference against a Zeraora? Probably not - but it did grant the Beheeyem access to a new move.

The Beheeyem pointed is arm towards the Zeraora one more time, a swirling sphere of white energy appearing in front of its arm. The Tera Blast fired forward, aiming to surround the Zeraora before exploding in a pink, fairy-type blast.

HP: 1/3

NyoDGIDf(+15 if even)

Josh Devlin

Raikiri was far too tired to even try swerving out of the way of the TERA BLAST. The incredibly fast move was powerful, yes, but it left its user winded afterward; the exertion of ramming and trampling a foe far faster than the user's body was designed to move at was a danger of the attack. With no energy to evade, the explosion sent the motionless Zeraora flying into the air, later hitting the court with a loud thud.

"Such a close match," Josh admitted. "If anyone had the chops to withstand my ultimate move, one I pioneered myself mind you, it was a Gym Leader like you." Withdrawing his Zeraora, he shakily smiled. "One of these days, now that you're in the majors, I'll have to come back and meet the Raikou of my dreams again. In a different adventure, of course."

There was satisfaction, landing such a solid hit. It was his first time getting a chance to use that attack (he'd planned to against Shalin Nariya , but his Beheeyem fainted before he got the chance), and it performed spectacularly.

Finally, he had a solution to a number of types his Beheeyem struggled against.

With the battle over, the crown atop the Beheeyem's head disappeared, the energy tinting it dissipating in the air with a sweet scent. "Really was a close one," Hideo added, his Beheeyem taking its usual spot by his side. "If I didn't have a Zeraora of my own, my Beheeyem would've had a much rougher time. You did pretty well yourself."

"And it definitely sounds like I got quite the wait-list for my non-traditional challenge! Who knows, maybe I'll open up some spots after this is all done with~"

HP: 1/3

Josh Devlin