The food selection here was…underwhelming. One bite of that sandwich was all he needed to not try any more, and one sip of that coffee nearly had him spitting it out.

At least his Pokemon was enjoying it; the Ralts that sat on his shoulder consumed what Hideo wouldn't…well, "Ralts". It was Uxie sitting on his shoulder, an Illusion keeping it disguised as a Ralts. He was letting his Beheeyem rest for the time being, after all the battles he put it through, and a Ralts wasn't out of the ordinary to keep around.

A Ralts that didn't seem to mind tuna sandwiches or unsweetened iced coffee.

Did Uxie even like it? Or was it just trying a new experience? Hideo didn't know - he just knew he wasn't eager for either.

"Think we should just order something delivered here? There's an Alolan place nearby that does delivery. Could get one of my Pokemon to pick it up for us."

Hideo at party with his "Ralts" (Uxie with an Illusion disguising it)

Hideo doesn't like the food/drink, but his "Ralts" is eating/drinking them

Hideo offers to order Alolan food

Hideo's attention is ripped from his phone the moment noah faber addressed him. "Don't think there is any," he said, "'least none that my Ralts here saw…would'a brought something myself if I knew this was gonna be the selection. It's not even fancy cold coffee."

He was always more a tea-drinker anyways.

Sweetened tea.

It's a miracle that Alexei Ivanov showed up offering macarons; the second he offered them up, there were already several being lifted with psychic energy, floating over to the boy and his Pokemon. "Yeah, we'll have some!" Hideo said, unaware his Pokemon was already working on that.

Not until one was placed right in his hand.

Finally, sugar.

And the smell of fresh Mcpognalds was impossible to miss, courtesy of CIAN MAHER . Finally, some good fricking food. "Misread or not, it's just what we needed," Hideo said, already smelling the Kalos Fries Uxie was psychically lifting over in his direction.

No need to order Alolan today.

No sugar for us, noah faber

Uxie lifts some of Alexei Ivanov 's macarons over to itself and Hideo

Does the same with fast food that CIAN MAHER brought

In a way, Josh was happy that Navy 's and freya morningstar 's Gym Leader summit had been moved out of Mauville at the last minute. With all the Gym Leaders being present in Lilycove for the tournament anyway, he wouldn't have to prepare his office like he originally planned. He also wouldn't have several of the other Gym Leaders breathing down his neck for his large collection of Raikou merchandise. On the other hand, he wouldn't have to foot the bill for catering from the Checkered Flag. While the crowd was a lot smaller than it would be for the big Ranger meeting, it was still a pain hosting these things. Outdoor events, like his birthday party, were much easier for Mauville Racing Grounds to host. He couldn't help but bring his favorite item to the party; a ten-inch stuffie of the Johto Beast he admired and loved. The adorable god of speed was perched on his shoulder as he walked down the hallway to the meeting room high above the Vital City Tournament.

Unsurprisingly, many of his colleagues were there already.

He brought food and drinks: a pack of lemonade cans were strapped to the saddle of Inky the Glaceon, and two pizza boxes harnessed to that of Clyde the Flareon, both of whom followed him into the room. He had brought only his Eeveelution steeds with him. Raikiri had to rest after fighting twelve matches, and he couldn't bring anything overly large. "Sorry if I'm a little late," Josh apologized as he stepped into the meeting room. "Hi there, Noah! I can't believe I'm 11-1 after the first twelve rounds! How's your tournament been going?" he asked as the two walked up to the refreshment table, undoing the strap on the Glaceon to get his box of cans free. "There's two per person. That should be enough. If you need them on ice, Inky's got you covered."

He stepped away to the other side of the table and undid the straps holding the piping-hot pizza to the oversized Flareon. "One extra large pepperoni and one extra large meat-lovers should be plenty for nine people," Josh said to Alexei Ivanov , withdrawing Clyde once his duty was complete. There was only room for one giant Eeveelution inside, with with all the other Pokémon out and about. "When are my Pokémon and I gonna whip you into shape? You've wanted battle training for how many months now, and we've never made a date to do it!" he half-teased before walking off toward CIAN MAHER .

"Have you looked at the leaderboards for the tournament? After the first day, we're in first and second place!" Josh bragged to the weather warrior. "I'm 11-1, and you were my only loss! There's still a lot of action to go, and it's only gonna get tougher. There's so much food here, though... good thing I didn't make dinner plans for tonight!" Thankfully, he had some time to rest while other matches were still going on.

GYM JAM

GYM LEADER MEGATHREAD

“HMPH.”

fernando does not enter with grace or observance. he arrives with the same forlorn expression one would expect from a soldier retiring from the front lines. for the VITAL CITY TOURNAMENT is a war front of endurance and tenacity.

the world waits at their doorstep and he will be one to deliver. the future of the region depends on it.

with freya morningstar present, there is little reason for him to lead or even delegate. which leaves him to stand by the window, unfazed as a DYNAMAX pikachu scrawl across the lilycove skyline.

“it seems dynamax has proven quite popular,” he states aloud, “and just as potent.”

[attr="class","spiralpee"]

- enters the room
- views the city skyline
- comments on DYNAMAX

Josh Devlin 's pizza delivery soon found a slice being lifted out psychically, heading straight for the "Ralts"'s mouth - and a can of lemonade was deposited neatly in Hideo's hand. "Your gut's gonna get bigger if you keep this up," Hideo joked, taking a sip of his newly-given drink.

How could Uxie down so much food and drink in one go?

It just could. Hideo had learned that questioning Uxie's stomach capacity was a question of how much money he had to spend. It'd eaten several times its own weight before, and it still weighed a third a kilogram.

FERNANDO SILPH 's comment drew Hideo's attention, his "Ralts" informing him of the gigantic Pikachu off in the distance. "Already got to face off against one myself," he said, "courtesy of the Head Ranger. Kinda intimidating to deal with if you don't got one of your own, though my Beheeyem managed." ollie morales 's Pikachu had proven an impressive challenge.

Maybe that was Ollie's off in the distance right now?

Uxie pulled his attention over to the door - evidently someone was there, asking for help? It took him a second for Uxie to tell him who it was: lam logan .

Who had more pizza, according to Uxie.

Uxie wanted him in here.

Hideo made his way over to the entrance. "He's good," Hideo said, "Lam here's the Lilycove gym leader...you know, this city?"

Hopefully, that'd be enough for Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki to let him in.

"Mind letting him in before the pizzas get cold?"

Uxie loves pizza. Thanks, Josh Devlin

Hideo comments on his one battle against a Dynamax

Hideo goes over to help lam logan get in.