Ask to Join Alola World Festival [RP]

[Captain Cardboard]

As they walked, Shiori listened to Angel's explanation of what she knew about Z-Crystals. The explanation seemed to make sense. An item that channeled human energy to a Pokemon to strengthen a move. Shiori had a few questions still, but he figured he'd save them for later. Like, why a dance?

"That would be great!" Shiori said when Angel offered to demonstrate a Z-move with her Pokemon. He had been hoping to get in a bit of training tonight, even though it has been a little late. Having not prior experiences with Z-Moves, being able to see the effects of one in battle would help Shiori know what to expect. "Where should we do it? Malie Garden?"

While they were walking, Raza glanced over and noticed Zorro had relaxed his Illusion already. Raza, on the other hand, had stayed in her illusion. It was a force of habit, really.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Angel smiled and headed her way over to Malie Garden, nodding in response. They went over there and found Pyros sleeping around his Pokemon, with Zarda sleeping around some Wild Pokemon. The aftermath of Chu's Z-Move could be seen. The lights decorating the trees illuminated the charred, electrified circle in the ground and the air still felt electrifying. Raising an eyebrow, Angel quietly went around the crunchy grass to go off in another direction, hoping that her demonstration won't wake up the others.

After a moment, she finally made it to a spot a ways away from Pyros and the Pokemon there. She put in her Darkinium Z on her wristband and Zorro took off his glasses and gave it to Angel before running up on the field. Smiling, Angel asked if Shiori was ready.

"You ready? Also, dancing is a way of sharing your energy, the Z-Crystal channels the energy better if you move."

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Walking with Angel into the Garden, Shiori also noticed the blackened circle that was caused by the Alola Raichu's Z-move. Shiori, of course, didn't know that was what it was from. Was it from some sort of battle between electric types? It seemed to be bigger, or somehow different from that. Nearby, Shiori noticed Zarda and Pyros were dozing as well, along with a group of Wild Pokemon. Cute. The actor wondered if Pyros knew anything about the cause of the large scorch mark. He'd ask him tomorrow.

Shiori followed Angel to a more remote area of the park, watching them get ready to use the Z-move.
"Dancing?" Shiori said. That was strange. Why did a crystal need dancing and poses in order to work? Yet Shiori knew that it did work, so he played close attention. The actor couldn't help but to feel a little excited about being able to watch a Z-Move.
"Oh, well yeah! Any time you are." Shiori said. Raza sat down in the grass, watching Zorro carefully.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Angel and Zorro smirked and her Z-Crystal began to shine. "Now, show them your power, Zorro. "

They both crossed their arms together in front of their faces and then released their arms from their hold into a straight line in front of them. They both hunkered down, their body bending by the waist and their arms are now draped upon the ground, Angel's Z-Crystal glowing brighter. They then slowly climb back up, one of their shoulders almost guiding them back up from the ground. Their arms then quickly went above their heads in an intimidating manner, Angel's fingers flexed to look like claws. Her Z-Crystal shined brightly and a dark energy left the crystal in an arch of dark light and attached itself to Zorro, with Zorro's body now glowing a dark hue.

"Now! Black Hole Eclipse!"

With the cue, Zorro's attack Night Daze was transformed into Black Hole Eclipse. His entire body exuded more of this built up Z-Power and it started to form above its head. The attack formed into a large black blob with red and purple waves coming from it and coating around it. It then get spewed up in the air and it transformed into a huge black hole, sucking up the bushes, light, and some parts of the ground. The black hole in the sky then collapsed on itself, ending in a huge blast of energy that caused the bushes and ground and light to be exploded forth, almost regurgitated by the black hole. There are now craters on the ground and broken up pieces of earth all around them. Luckily, none of the obstacles ever hit them.

After that is done, Zorro and Angel sigh in exhaustion and Zorro walked up to Angel, taking his Wise Glasses and putting them on. Zorro stood by Angel's side and let her lean against him, even though he was tired himself, she was more so. She walked over to Shiori and Raza, smiling with a weak and tired smile.

"Z-Moves take a lot out of you. They take the Z-Power you build up when you dance and they are used in the attack. If you put your entire being into it, you get tired out more easily, but there is more power. Of course, using Z-Moves constantly helps to keep this exhaustion at a minimum, it is inevitable that one would feel tired after using it, especially the Pokemon that have to burden the energy you give to them and have to release that energy in one single attack. This is why you can only use one Z-Move in battle because anymore will force your Pokemon to faint and have to be hospitalized from pure exhaustion. Of course, people aren't stupid.. Hopefully. This is why I wanted to teach people about Z-Power and Z-Moves. They can seriously hurt you and your Pokemon. Not only does it exhaust your Pokemon, but overuse on a human's body can rend them incapacitated and, in serious cases of forcing your body against way past your limits, can lead you into a coma. You can get seriously hurt if you don't rest well afterwards. That dark circle we found in the area. It felt like someone had used their Electric-Type Z-Crystal, but it was different. It was like a special kind of Pokemon used it. Like an Alolan Raichu. I have seen Shade's Alolan Raichu use her Aloraichium Z once, and that looks similar to that. Pretty sure she was showing that scientist the power of her Alolan Raichu's Stoked Sparksurfer. The electricity felt in the air afterwards could still be felt as we walked around it. She must be tired now. Anyway, how did you like?"

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Shiori watched the attack so intently that he didn't even flinch when a piece of earth infused with dark energy flew past his head.
"What did I think...? That was AMAZING!" Shiori said, then quickly clapped a hand over his mouth. He hadn't meant to yell, but just watching the sheer power of that move hyped him up. I gotta get me one of those, pronto... Was Shiori's first thought, but it soon changed as he looked around at the damage caused by the Z-move. These things really did cause a lot of damage. He looked over at Angel and Zorro and saw how tired they looked. Now wouldn't be a good time to get a Z-Crystal, even if he could. With no practice and little experience, things could easily go south.

"Thanks a lot for showing me that." Shiori said. "I sure hope I won't be running into someone with a Z-move, but now I think I know what to do if I run into one. You have to be careful when using it, right? That dance kinda leaves you a bit open for attack."

 

[Merciless Medic]

Angel smiled, but she shook her head when he had said something about being left open for the attack. She decided to elaborate a little more on the subject.

"The Pokemon doesn't have to follow along with the Z-Move dance, so they can do just about anything freely. The person just has to do the dance, which builds up Z-Power, which is then sent from the crystal to the Pokemon. You do have to be careful when using it, but the only thing you have to be careful of is not building up too much Z-Power or have the Pokemon attack humans with it. Usually, they do have a good sense of what to do, but if you and your Pokemon are inexperienced, it can break the Z-Crystal, the Z-Power can damage your Pokemon more so than exhaustion affecting them, and you can go unconscious or be damaged yourself. A good safe way to practice your Z-Power would be to do it in a friendly battle against someone you can trust. Do the motions of the dance yourself a few times and then once you know the appropriate motions and ways to build up Z-Power, you can then have your Pokemon practice taking the load and expelling it. Of course, most people when using it for the first time either break their Z-Crystal, which can be mended, or they go unconscious for a few minutes to an hour because of the amount of energy taken from them. This is completely normal, but if you are experiencing this unconsciousness, even after you've been doing this at least once a day for a week, it means you are doing something wrong."

With that out of the way, she smiled and motioned for them to leave Malie Garden.

--

Pyros could hear the attack from afar, but he didn't exactly do so much but stir. He woke up for a brief moment, saw a black hole in the sky, and then fell back to sleep. The other Pokemon either didn't wake up at all, or got woken up but then got calmed down by Zarda or some other Pokemon nearby.

It had seemed that Angel's demonstration didn't affect Pyros and the Pokemon around him at all.

 

[Ninian]

Their battle was coming up first, and Colress was going to be thorough in his preparations. Seven of Nine had recovered from being on the business end of a Z-Move the night before, however the scientist was unsure whether or not she would even be participating in this round.

Their opponent Jackson Stevens had a wide variety of incredibly powerful Pokémon; many of them from Kanto most likely. This of course made strategizing a bit more difficult, as there was no correct answer; though given his own preference for Steel and Normal types, Machamp was most definitely going to be in their lineup. Unfortunately, only one Pokémon wouldn't be at a disadvantage, meaning Electrode was going to be his first choice. Hopefully Machamp would be Jacksons'. The rest of the team wouldn't be too much of an issue, he suspected. Metagross was his strongest fighter, followed by Klingklang. He had made his choice.

"Will you have me battle today?" The blonde female's brow raised as she looked over the scientist, pouring into the device mounted on his sleeve.

"No, Eight, One and Two will be participating in today's battle. However, I will ask that you collect data on the battle." Smiling, Colress rose to his feet, and began to head out of his hotel room, wanting to get to the battle arena early.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~[??? Minutes Later]~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seven had taken a seat in the front row, nearest to her Master's side of the field. Sitting quietly, she awaited the start of the fight.

Meanwhile, Colress had been standing near the card reader, awaiting their timeslot. However, his wait was no longer as it was time. With the entryway now open, Colress stepped into the arena, taking his position.

Before him was a spikey haired youth, which reminded him of a certain character on the cover of a popular video game, though the name of the character escaped him. As the pair stood quietly, Colress wondered which Pokémon he would send out first, and wondered if his choice was the most optimal. Given the particular style of this tournament, it was difficult to calculate.

The silence was soon broken by none other than Kukui himself, his voice booming over the loud speaker, "Alola! Our first battle of the morning is between Jackson Stevens of Pacifidlog Town, and Colress of Castelia City! Make sure to cheer them on! Now, send out your first Pokémon!"

The match was between Colress' Electrode, and Jackson's Machamp. It was as the scientist predicted. With Eight of Nine having the initiative, Colress commanded it to set the stage with a Rain Dance.

Jackson wasted no time retaliating, ordering his Machamp to pummel the ground, and create a devastating Earthquake.

Electrode initiated evasive maneuvers, rolling around the splintered ground enough to avoid the main rift, though it still took quite a large amount of damage. Finding a safe location to slow its roll, it then utilized the rain cover to launch a Thunder, which struck the Machamp, paralyzing it. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough. Another Earthquake struck, knocking out the Electrode in an instant.

A voice called out over the loudspeaker, indicating that the fighting had finished, "Looks like that Earthquake ate Eight! Markov the Machamp is the victor! Next up!"

The next fight was between Metagross and Raichu. However, the fight did not last very long; Raichu had an absolutely abysmal tolerance for physical attacks, and its large feet made it difficult to dodge the incoming barrage of Bullet Punches.

Kukui made the call, "One of Nine came up number one! Sorry Halo, better luck next time! The battle is currently one to one! This last fight will determine who comes out the victor!"

Two flashes of light revealed the final competitors; Jackson's trump card Gyarados VS Colress' Klingklang. Klingklang took the initiative, immediately starting off the battle with a Thunderbolt, powerfully striking the faux dragon. It appeared however that Jackson was hoping to end the fight quickly, ordering his Gyarados to perform a sacred Dragon Dance. Not wanting to let up on the pressure, Colress ordered his Klingklang to perform yet another Thunderbolt, hoping this would be the last strike. Much to his surprise it was not.

Now powered up, Gyarados launched towards the Gear Pokémon, being caught up in a powerful Waterfall. The Klingklang was sent flying across the battlefield, crashing unceremoniously to the ground. However, the distance between them was not an issue, as another powerful crack of electricity struck the flying sea serpent, finally defeating it.

"What an electric battle! Dragov the Gyarados is unable to battle, which means Two of Nine was victorious! Colress has emerged victorious! Give them a round of applause, it was certainly a heated fight!"

With the fight now drawn to a close, the pair of combatants left the battlefield, Colress returning to his assistant who had reserved a place in the stands for him.

 

[vaultie]

Given the circumstances of the night before, both Atty and Guzma's morning routines were a bit different than their norm. Guzma, waking up and realizing everything that had happened yesterday was, in fact, NOT a dream, decided to let Atty shower and get ready first, as to avoid any awkward complications. Instead, he waited, silently checking his phone to preoccupy himself.

She finally stepped back out of her room and into the common space, hair dry and let down into a bouncy little bob, an alternative outfit from yesterday. He could feel himself unintentionally staring, before catching himself and speaking up. "Looks good," Was all he could muster, although there were many things running through his head that he wanted to say.

--

After a quick stop for a bit of breakfast, the two made their way back to the renovated Gym/Stadium for the next batch of afternoon battles. As much as Atty wanted to sit near Pyros, his siblings, and the others to make up for her absence from yesterday, she couldn't find them. It was a possibility that they had gotten there before them, or that she wasn't looking hard enough. Either way, the pair found an open spot for two decently close enough to the action, and proceeded to watch the battle unfold.

At the mention of Colress, however, Atty let out a groan. "Great, this guy."

Guzma turned his head to her, thick eyebrows furrowed in slight confusion. "You know him?"

"Yeah. Well- I met him in person only just yesterday... But I'm not too fond of the guy, y'know? After what happened with Plasma and Unova and all that shit... Why? Do you know him?" Her gaze met his, equally as confused at to why Guzma of all people would be familiar with Colress.

"Damn, I didn't think he was that bad..." He scratched at the back of his neck, knowing their views on the man in question were rather different. "Like, I heard about the Plasma stuff, but he didn't seem too bad when I met 'em."

Atty, quirking her brow, wondered just how in the world Guzma and Colress even ended up in the same room. Disregarding it as things kicked off, just sighed and rested back in her chair. The battle was underway quick enough, and she had to admit, even through her distaste of the blonde, he was a skilled battler. He seemed to have an affinity for Electric and Steel types, two rather powerful kinds of Pokemon. Although Jackson had gotten lucky with his Machamp knowing Earthquake, she couldn't say the same for his other two Pokemon. She would definitely have to keep a close eye on him throughout the tournament, as she didn't expect an ex-Team Plasma scientist to go down so easily.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Pyros had woken up at the buttcrack of dawn and stretched his body. It was time for a little bit of early morning training for his Pokemon, with Zarda being the willing punching bag. The Wild Pokemon who were cuddling with Zarda had ran off to do their survival thing, while Pyros' Pokemon slowly woke up and stretched. With newfound energy, he smiled and tried to keep his voice low while he spoke to his Pokemon.

"Alright, everyone. We should not miss a day of training. Of course, we aren't battling today, but I'd like to keep all of you battle-ready and keep your strength and maybe improve. Because we aren't battling today, we'll train harder today, and then train a little bit tomorrow with a warm-up before our battle. Everyone okay with that? Also, Zarda, I was hoping you could be their punching bag for the time being. You alright with that?"

All the Pokemon nodded their heads in agreement, while Zarda nodded to both questions. She got herself ready at the far end of an imaginary field, and each Pokemon took turns fighting her, utilizing their attacks and their environment in different ways with some guidance from Pyros.

After a few hours of this training, all the Pokemon were tired and sweating, ready to return to their Poke Balls and rest up. After a little breakfast, he returned all of his Pokemon, save for his Salazzle, Ninetales, and Charizard. They really wanted to be out for some reason. Pyros smiled and made it to the stadium before Colress was up for battle. He gave Colress a good luck and found his way on the seats. The large Charizard caused some people to move to a better seat while Pyros was able to sit next to Atty. Ennewt took his lap and lazily laid on it, Kyukon also took one of Pyros' legs and had her tails droop over Charizard's legs, who took the seat next to Pyros. He overheard her talking about the man, and he chuckled.

Shade and Stror woke up from their night's rest, with Shade bouncing with vibrant energy like the night before didn't happen. They rushed onto the stands with Chu being cradled in Shade's arms and found some seats in front of Atty and Guzma, and sat there. Luckily, the people behind him were at a rise, so they could easily see over their heads.

Angel and Zorro left their hotel they were staying in and floated over to the seat next to Shade. Angel smiled and stretched while Zorro took the seat next to Angel. It had all seemed that Atty had quite a friendly following.

Shade, Stror, and Angel all heard what Atty had to say about Colress, which prompted Shade to turn around on her seat a bit right before the battle started to help quell a few things. "Hey, I used to hate the guy, but he's actually really nice. Super gentlemanly, but will do anything to go forward in his research, which was why he joined Plasma like he did. It really does seem like he has turned a new leaf, and that he is staying away from hurting Pokemon, since his research says that the method wasn't the way to go about it. He's on our side, and-"

Stror interrupted. "Shade has a small crush on him."

"I don't have a crush on a sociopath. Sorry," said Shade irritably and turned back around to watch the rest of the battle. Pyros and Angel just chuckled at Shade's little embarrassment.

----

When Colress won, the party clapped happily and Pyros whooped while Zarda roared for his victory. They couldn't wait to have the next battles come to a close, and Stror moved two seats over to give Colress and Seven a seat next to Shade, to which Shade sighed and just relaxed.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

As Shiori watched Colress battle, he felt a shiver go down his spine. Electric and Steel, with a LOT of electric moves. If Shiori won this match, he'd be facing off against him. It was to be expected, seeing as Colress was a scientist, but it still made Shiori a little nervous. No. Now was not the time to be nervous. Picking up his suitcase, Shiori walked out of the stadium.

Making sure he was in a private place, Shiori opened his suitcase. He sent out every member of his team, looking over each of them, then started pulling items from the suitcase and handing them out. To Raza, he tossed an Assault Vest. Raza caught the red, military-armor vest and slid it on, growling softly. Once she had it on, the Zoroark went off and began practicing both her attacks and her illusions. To Quagsire, Shiori handed his derpy Pokemon some Leftovers. The Quagsire clapped happily as it accepted the Leftovers, placing it in a small pouch on his leg before scampering off.

With each of his Pokemon, Shiori took another item out of his bag and handed it to them to train with. That was, all except Gyarados. Shiori patted his first Pokemon on the head, hugging it for a moment.
"I'll hand you yours later, okay?" Shiori asked. Gyarados nodded, and slithered off for some last minute practice with Raza. Shiori sat down and looked at the remaining contents of the luggage bag, pondering for a moment.
"Well. Looks like it's time to get started..." Shiori said.

~~~~~(Approximately an hour later)~~~~~~~~~~~

The man quickly walked through the lobby, towards the two doors. Although people stopped, stared and pointed, the man continued on his path.
"Is that..."
"No way, it can't be..."
"This has to be a stunt, right...?"
The man's long, scruffy black hair extended down his back, and his blue cape swished as he walked. Blue armor glinted in the light, and the man approached the door. To busy staring at his appearance, only one child noticed the looked of pure intensity in this man's eyes. He reached to swipe his keycard, then paused and looked down at the kid staring at him in shock.
"You might want to back up a little, kid..." The man said, his voice muffled by the mask he wore. The boy's eyes widened as the man unclipped a Pokeball from his belt, and the boy quickly ran back.

Kukui glanced at his watch. The hour break between battles was nearly up, and Shiori hadn't shown yet. The first competitor, a girl named Sedna, had showed up early and ready to fight. But Shiori was almost late! Kukui sighed and was about to stand up when the door to the arena opened. A Pokemon let out a high pitched, almost singing cry, and a blue and black blur was suddenly launched from the entrance. Kukui followed the figure's arc as he landed firmly on the opposite side of the arena, quite a flight for a man to take. With one smooth motion, the masked, armored man flipped something in his hand. A golden trident extended, which the man spun before tucking it under his arm and striking a pose. Kukui, of course, recognized the man immediately.
"Alright! Everyone, give it up for your first competitor, the Marine Knight Gyarados!!!" Kukui yelled into the microphone. The crowd went wild, as none of them had expected Shiori to battle as the Marine Knight Gyarados.

Up in the crowd, the actor known as Ben Krayton turned and glared at an older man.
"Really? That was the big surprise you kept hinting about? Shiori getting to play dress up?" Ben Krayton asked irritably. The older man simply smiled.
"I thought you would be, eh, intrigued by it..." The order man said with a thick Kalosian accent.
"Oh, Ben's just jealous that he hadn't thought of it first. I think it's really cool!" A younger girl with brown hair lowered her binoculars, looking over at the two men with an excited smile. "I can't wait to see how this ends up!"

"And of course, let's not forget about our other competitor! Hailing from Littleroot Town, we have Ms. Sedna! Now, trainers! Send out your first Pokemon!" Kukui announced. Without hesitation, the two opponents sent out their first Pokemon.

Sedna had chosen her Emolga to start off the match. Marine Knight Gyarados had gone with Quagsire. Using its high defenses and immunity to electric type moves, Quagsire cinched the battle by subduing the Emolga in the Haze.

"An intense battle, but it looks like Marine Knight Gyarados came out on top! Now, onto round 2!" Kukui announced. Changing his pose, the Marine Knight sent out his second Pokemon. In a flash of light, the Pokemon the hero was based after emerged from its Pokeball with a huge roar. The crowd went wild seeing the Gyarados standing alongside the Marine Knight, in very simiar poses to that of the movie. But the crowd's cheering quieted when another roar and tremor reached their ears. Sedna had sent out her Pokemon, her Torterra. It roared a challenge at the Gyarados, who roared back in defiance.

"Flamethrower." Marine Knight Gyarados commanded. The pseudo sea Dragon soared towards the Torterra, letting out a breath of fire. It was quite an intense flame, causing the Torterra to back up a little bit.
"Torterra, retaliate with Leaf Storm!" Sedna commanded. The Torterra roared, and from its shell a tornado of razor sharp leaves were launched at the Gyarados. However, instead of hitting the Gyarados a majority of the leaves simply passed through! Raza's illusion disappeared as she was knocked back from the attack. Sliding back, the Zoroark managed to keep her footing. She smirked at the Torterra, wiping away the leaves blocked by the Assault Vest. The crowd gasped. This was not the Pokemon they thought!

"Night Daze." The actor commanded. Raza held her claws close together as a shadowy ball of dark energy was formed. She spread out her arms, and a shockwave of darkness flew from the dark type, hitting the Torterra. But even that didn't keep it down.
"Torterra, Earthquake!" Sedna directed. With another roar, the Torterra jumped back on its hind legs before falling forward and slamming the ground, shaking and cracking the earth. The attack hit Raza much hard than the Leaf Storm, knocking the Zoroark back again and sending her rolling. For a few moments, it didn't look like she was going to get back up. Then the Zoroark slowly got to her feet, taking a fighting stance. Her smirk was gone, and she looked pissed.

"Flamethrower." Marine Knight Gyarados commanded. Raza ran towards the Torterra and jumped, shooting a Flamethrower attack from her paw. When the flames and dust cleared, Sedna's Torterra was on the ground, unconscious.

"And with a final attack, Shio- er, Marine Knight Gyarados cinches the match!" Kukui announced. The Marine Knight Gyarados bowed at Sedna as he returned Raza to her Pokeball, then the two exited the arena.

 

[vaultie]

While Atty was happy to have the company of Pyros, Stror, Shade, and the others, Guzma didn't seem to be as enthusiastic about their party suddenly doubling in size. He slunk back in his seat while Atty conversed with her friends, not wanting attract unwanted attention.

"I dunno," Atty cocked her head. "I mean, it sounds like he's getting better, but... I'd have to actually talk to him in person to see what exactly has changed. And maybe get an apology, I guess... I saw him in the garden yesterday with that weird woman that's following him around, but I didn't bother saying anything." The brunette gave a small huff, feeling Guzma tense beside her. Her fingertips gently grazed his arm, causing the man to slightly flinch, and he suddenly turned to her. He was met with a wide smile from his little brunette friend, who suddenly spoke up to grab the attention of the others.

"Speaking of meeting in person... Have you guys met Guzma yet?" Her mood seemed to do a 180 when the subject was changed from Colress to the man beside her. "We started talking last night. I'm letting him stay with me during the festival so he doesn't have to go back and forth between Malie and where he's living. Right, Guz?"

Guzma gave a harsh swallow. There was that nickname again. As much as he enjoyed attention from Atty, it was a slightly different situation he was faced with when attention from the rest of them. "Right," He nodded at the girl, and then held a hand up in greeting over at the others, being unusually quiet for a man with a reputation such as his. He even had to do a double take when he noticed the Salazzle sprawled across Pyros, recognizing it as the same one from the other day, the one that had basically set everything into motion. Had it not been that he was sitting in a crowded stadium, he would've argued Pyros for a battle to teach Ennewt a lesson about messing with Big Bad Guzma's feelings. Alas, the next battle was soon to start, time ticking away down to the wire before Shiori actually showed up.

Or, should it be said, the Marine Knight Gyarados. He had managed to scrape up two wins in a row, surprising the audience with his "Gyarados", only for the disguise to be dropped. Atty found it odd that a Gyarados knew Flamethrower, but the sudden sight of the Zoroark made far more sense. The crowd seemed riled up at his appearance, but Atty felt a little guilty for not being into the movie scene and knowing who he was, especially being from Unova as well. Granted, she spent most of her time traveling, but still... Thankfully, Guzma didn't seem to care much for Shiori's stardom either, more focused on the way he battled instead of who he actually was.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Shiori exited through the stadium doors he had been launched through. He wasn't mobbed by fans instantly, and there was quite a good reason for that. Most people were keeping a good distance from the large Water-Type Pokemon. Approaching his Milotic, Shiori petted the water serpent's head. The Milotic let out a happy cry, and Shiori climbed on the Pokemon's back. The Milotic began to slither towards the exit of the gym, and people were quick to get out of the large Pokemon's way.

After a few moments, Shiori managed to make his way back to the private clearing he was at before, and took off the Marine Knight Gyarados mask. The actor let out a breath, then began to change back into his normal clothes.

A few minutes later, Shiori had healed up his Pokemon at the Pokemon Center and headed back into the gym.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Turning back around, Stror, Shade, Angel, and their Pokemon turned around to face Guzma and wave at him, like they didn't know who he was all about a few years prior. "Nice to meet you, Guzma," responded Angel, with Zorro clicking a little in greeting. Pyros leaned forward, with his Pokemon waving at Guzma.

"Yo, yo, G-Dawg. You sleep good?" Pyros chuckled, but he couldn't help his speech pattern turning into a gangster when he sees someone who looks like they were in a gang. It doesn't help that Pyros was in a gang at a young age, as well, and their lingo were similar to Team Skull's lingo.

When Shiori went up to fight and won, Shade, Stror, Pyros, Angel, and their Pokemon smiled and clapped, with the reveal of the Gyarados actually being Raza surprised most of them but Shade and Angel, who had Zoroarks to know when they were seeing an illusion, but unlike some others the Gyarados using Flamethrower wouldn't have given away the Zoroark's identity. Both of those Pokemon could have learned the attack, which caused even more surprise for Pyros and Stror when they saw it was a Zoroark.

Now, it was the next contestant. Who was going to be up? To be honest, the three Darastrix Siblings and Angel didn't remember the boards.

 

[Ninian]

Seeing that the Darastrix siblings had left a place open for them, Seven of Nine made her way over, giving the trio a nod of appreciation before taking her seat, and beckoning over her Master. Though they were typically solitary, it seemed Colress enjoyed discussing science with Shade.

With the battle concluded, Colress made his way towards the group, taking the seat directly next to Shade, giving her a beaming smile, "Good morning!" Though his eyes fell to the female sister, he was addressing everyone in the vicinity. "I hope everyone has had a wonderful time thus far!" Looking to Seven he flashed another smile, "I did not keep you waiting too long?"

Shaking her head, the blonde automaton spoke bluntly, "No."

It didn't take very long for the next fight to begin, to which Seven immediately blurted out, "Shiori Fujimoto."

Smiling back to her, Colress responded, "Ah yes, the actor that plays the Marine Knight Gyarados. I suppose it should be unsurprising that he would battle in costume."

Seeing that the pair fighting currently would be his next opponent, Colress took care in recording both of their strategies and capabilities. Shiori utilized items, and a plethora of Water-types. However, the Zoroark knew Flamethrower, which would devastate his Steel-type Pokémon. He would likely have to avoid using One, Two and Three during battle. Or perhaps sacrificing one of them would be enough; Shiori's other Pokémon lacked counters. However, forumlating a strategy would come later, for now he would study their tactics.

With the battle concluded, the scientist beamed, "Ah, what a fantastic battle! Truly spectacular."

⟶ Kantonian Gym Stands

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Shiori peeked over the window of the Kantonian gym, wearing a pair of Blackglasses. Besides him Raza also popped her head up, disguised in her Illusion. Both Shiori and Raza knelt back down below the window.
"Do you think people are gonna recognize me?" Shiori asked. "I mean, I just battled. How the heck am I gonna get back in?"
Raza simply gave her trainer an unimpressed look. He was over thinking again.
"There! Through the air vent! Just like Ben's spy movies, Operation Improbable! Or The Man from A.U.N.T.I.E!" Shiori said, pointing at an air vent. Raza sighed, then grabbed her trainer's wrist and began to pull him into the gym lobby. The actor resisted for only a moment before going along with it and trying to act natural.

Luckily, acting natural seemed to work. Shiori and Raza made their way into the stands, and Shiori noticed their clump of friends and began to make his way over to them.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Shade just sighed and shook her head a little before returning to a smile and nodding to the greeting, saying a little "g'morning" herself. Seeing Shiori come back, Angel and Zorro waved at them and signaled that there was an open seat next to them, with Stror congratulating him on the win. Shade's Chu, who was being hugged to Shade's chest on her lap, smiled and made an adorable squeak at Colress and then at Shiori when they came back, congratulating them on their victory in her own little squeaky language.

Stror smiled and stretched a little, while Pyros was giving Ennewt... A back massage? Yup, the Salazzle had Pyros entrapped in her pheromones again, and he was blindly giving her a back massage. If questioned on the subject, he would most likely not remember doing so. Although, it's causing a little giggle to come from Kyukon and Zarda as they watch. Even though it wasn't uncommon for Pyros to give his Pokemon massages, now of all places would be rare to see Pyros doing it willingly. His pupils were dilated, which showed a sign that he was being semi-controlled by the pheromones.

 

[Ninian]

With Shiori heading in their direction, Seven's gaze was trained upon him as she watched quietly until he would finally arrive.

Colress on the other hand was curiously watching Pyros as he gave a massage to his Salazzle. Though he understood what was going on, it wasn't something he was going to interrupt. Instead, he turned back to Shade, "Is this a normal occurrence for them?" However it was then that his gaze caught the guised actor, "That must be Shiori Fujimoto!"

⟶ Kantonian Gym Stands

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Shiori smiled and waved back to the group. Approaching them, him and Raza took a seat next to Angel. Shiori placed his Blackglasses on his head.
"Thanks!" Shiori said to Stor. "I don't think we've been properly introduced. I'm Shiori."
Noticing Seven watching him, Shiori smiled and waved at the robotic being.
"Hello! You guys did great in your battle!" Shiori said to Seven and Colress. "I guess this means we're throwing down, huh?"