He's starting to get the hang of this Battle Zone thing. The city layout is still thoroughly confounding, but the red-walled Zones break it down into more manageable chunks. Admittedly, the rush of adrenaline that accompanies the rising barriers makes it difficult to focus on actually memorizing anything other than the nearest cover from which to attack his opponents from, but Guzma feels that maybe he's becoming a little more familiar with things. But that's not the point of being here, is it? He smirks as another Trainer groans in defeat. He may not have the benefit of Mega Evolution, but it didn't seem his opponents did either. If he recalled, many were in this in order to gain the ability to wield it.
The hours pass and the number of opponents dwindle, but just as he's wondering if he's got this night in the bag, another trainer appears. There's something about the guy that feels different from the others he's fought. He's got a kind of sharpness about him, but an opponent is an opponent, and he's determined to beat the guy down just like all the others.
“Shit, he good,” Guzma hisses under his breath. At the start, he feels like he's got the advantage. Then a draw. Then... “Wait, Scolipede can do dat?” Grey eyes widen at the Mega Evolution, not one he'd recalled hearing about before. He's so in awe of it that he very nearly freezes up, but no, damn it Guzma, focus! He shakes his head with a growl, unleashing Duke's Z-Move on the armored creature. It's still not enough, between the stat boost and poison, and the Golisopod falls. “...Hey, you did good, Duke.” He recalls his Pokemon.
He feels that familiar flame of rage kindling in his chest. He'd come so far tonight, and maybe if he hadn't allowed himself to get surprised, hadn't spent those few precious seconds gawking like a moron, he could have cinched the victory. He clenches his scarred fists, lips curling into a scowl. "Guzma! You did it again, seizing defeat from the jaws of victory..."
It's your fault, it's your fault, it's your fault...
No, damn it. He takes a deep breath, forcing himself to relax. It was a good battle, and his team was tired after long hours running the ZA gauntlet. He'd limited himself to three, since that seemed to be the standard for most trainers – Ariados, Masquerain, and of course Golisopod. They'd given it their all, and hell, considering his opponent could Mega Evolve, he'd done pretty fucking good. And... yeah. It had been fun, and he'd gotten to see something new. Goliosopod might be his favorite, but Scolipede was up there. He'd be sure to bring Pohole along if he ever managed to earn that Key Stone. He takes a few more breaths.
“... Yeah. Dat was actually pretty radical. It looks like it gets higher defense, yeah? But even with dat I think it felt da hit.” He stares at the other for a moment before remembering that it was one of those Lumiosian things. He returns the smaller man's fist bump as cool droplets begin to fall. “I stay a lotta things, but a snooze fest no is one. Not many people got bug-types as their ace. Got ya boy's respect for dat one.” He considers for a moment before following. “Aight. Da rain here is so cold.” He wasn't keen on getting soaked.
