Josh's skills with the blade were rusty. Having learned from Finnegan Yang , he put them to use in Dewford's clash over RESURFACED TREASURES. With the region gearing for war yet again. If he was going to ride his Pokémon into combat, he may as well learn and practice maueuvers that made it effective.

Perhaps with a little modification, he could electrify the blade and truly be a Knight of Thunder. Even so, he didn't expect to use it often. He had determined that the front lines were simply not for him. He did have the Great One's blessing, meaning the League would closely monitor him and his Sacred Ash Raikou.

He would not be practicing with the Beast, though; that would have to be done at the Pokémon League, at HQ's onsite training grounds. The public could not know about Raikou. From the perspective of the masses, all traces of the electric tiger vanished with kyle lopez 's death.

Shortly after Gym staff paged Josh from his third floor office, he came out of the elevator, dressed in a Manectric-themed SYGNA SUIT. "Good morning, Mikael," he greeted the young man. "You weren't on my appointment list, but that's okay. What can I help you with?" Mikael was fortunate that business at the Gym was very slow.

Aslan let out a growl as he saw Reinier approaching. "Easy, Aslan!" Josh chided the Shiny lion. Many of the others were well-behaved, sitting a distance from them and looking as obedient and calm as a trained house Growlithe. Nala was almost unrecognizable in her normal form again, after having been pregnant for what felt like a long time. Nuka the Litleo was still back at Mauville City Gym, likely at play with the Luxray and other cat Pokémon there. It would take some time, but one day she would join the Rangers' Pride as its eleventh member.

Being one of the more tenured and high-ranking Rangers in the area, Josh couldn't dismiss Reinier's plight. Aslan walked toward them, stopping near them so Josh could have a face-to-face chat. "Elite Ranger Devlin or Champion Devlin, but please, Josh is fine," he introduced himself with his well-practiced statement. "What can I help you with?"

The rapport between them was already being repaired; Josh could tell from the Avatar's tone. It seemed almost exactly like it was in Lavaridge, that night they went out to dinner together and the young man learned much about Avatars. "When you have to have enough Bullet Seeds extracted from you to fill an entire cup..." he trailed off, unsure where he was going with the anecdote. "But hey, I can't say I didn't try. I've found my place in the war. I might never be a war hero like you were, but I know my contributions will be vital for the League's victory this summer."

Matias did have a point, though it was one that Josh quickly dismissed. "The problem is the training would take place on the Gym grounds and is engineered around the layout there. I'll need to ask Commissioner dahlia goode if what you propose is okay." The issue was more complicated than that, though. "I just want Mauville Gym to be able to contribute to the war effort a little more directly. Plus..." he trailed off again before resuming, "Mauville Gym's... been slow. Challenger volume's down a lot. I need to drum up business somehow."

Orange and white flames billowed from the Great One's mouth, spreading as soon as they reached the ceiling of kyle lopez 's private battle chamber. They rained upon Bladestorm the Skarmory's DYNERGY BARRIER, the very air from within it burning white. As the SACRED FIRE shattered the barrier, Josh's Pokémon did not faint; it disappeared from sight completely. "You too, Bladestorm?!" Josh cried, Ho-oh having similarly erased his Absol from existence earlier in the battle.

He clutched the Raikou stuffie in his hands tightly, a RAINBOW FEATHER's quill pinched between its white mane and gray crown.

"Are you ready for your judgment?" boomed the Great One's voice.

"I--I am," Josh stuttered, doing his best to remain brave in the face of one of the most powerful gods in the Pokémon pantheon.

Josh was taken aback by the news, Swift's eyes opening wide almost in sync with his rider's. Were the red of his eyes red instead of grey, they would have been narrower than what looked healthy. "I don't know how you haven't heard. It's been all over the news." He began to sniff, not wanting to accept it himself. But he had to. It was reality. His mentor and the Great One were gone. "Especially since you're a part of AQUA. You get these sort of updates way before we even do as Gym Leaders." Another sniff. "...Lars, Kyle's been killed. Possibly murdered."

He perked up when Lars shifted away from the discussion on the late Top Champion and toward the monochrome steed Josh confidently sat upon. Swift walked a slow circle around the Composed without so much as a verbal or tactile command from Josh. "Not one bit, Lars," he answered. "Because... that's how much I love Raikou."

The anticipation was off the charts. This was going to be Josh's first truly fast run on the Johtonian god of speed. He expected the Beast to accelerate so quickly that he might just ragdoll in the thundercloud saddle. That was one nice benefit of the shape of Raikou's thundercloud, and why he thought of the legendary Pokémon in the way he did.

"Alright, Swift! Let's go!" Josh cried, about to slap his legs into the Beast's sides when he heard a familiar voice. With the young man pulling back on the outer two tufts of thundercloud, the monochrome Raikou reared and about-faced.

The source of the voice was none other than the Fortree Leader, Alexei Ivanov .

"Hi, Alex!" he greeted the Birdfather. "If you're still at Fortree, then that must have meant freya morningstar and Michael Navidson didn't write you up, huh? How you been?"

Elise's skill and confidence had come a long way if she had the wherewithal to fully control Wiley. "Alright, I'll work on my command of Screech," he replied before taking to the raised seat on the Linoone's back. With the two of them on Josh's normal-types, he would let Elise set the pace for the time being, allowing her to get used to the Furret's unusual gait.

"I'll follow you when you're ready! Screech here can also make sharp turns, but not in the same way Wiley does." Once they were off, Josh would keep pace with whatever running speed Elise and Wiley set, giving them distance in case the princess was chomping at the bit to be yanked about from some wild turns!

If the Pokémon with rainbow antlers was a god, then of course it made sense why Josh was so badly beaten. "An Avatar..." he logically concluded. "No wonder I was overwhelmed. Their powers are on... a whole different level than anything I've ever seen." Pinky stretched her feelers toward his trainer's good side and gently rubbed them against his arm to console him.

The mention of the Tree of Life piqued Josh's interest. "Elise, I love mythology. Tell me more about this... Tree of Life." If he could learn more about Xerneas, perhaps he would be ready if they were to clash again. Little did Josh know that such a contest was not to be...

"I've told you this many times, and I'll keep telling you over and over: getting old is not for the weak," Jim insisted as the first hand played out. "Elise, you might understand that when you have a son or a daughter some day. You would do anything to be with them... because that's how much you love them."

The discussion uneventfully continued late into the day; between the card games and the football game, it was easy to lose track of time. Thinking of turning in early, Josh asked, "Hey, it's getting late, and we were planning on heading up to Ecruteak tomorrow. I don't know if you booked a hotel, Elise. If you didn't, do we have a sleeping bag or something for her? Just for tonight, Mom?"

"I think there's one in the closet," she answered. Regardless of lodging arrangements, the two would be on their way the following morning, Josh insisting they go out for breakfast...

Josh's emotions were a swirling thunderstorm; just sitting on the Raikou's back made his hair stand on end as he let the purple thundercloud form around him, almost like a harness. He grabbed its two outermost tufts and held them like one would reins. "Elise..." Josh trailed off, tears still cascading down his red face. "I would have ran away with you, had I known Raikou was going to take Saber's life," he lamented. "I... I let him control me. But nothing's bringing him back now. He'll... he'll live on inside Raikou."

What a whirlwind of events. The price of Avatarship was the life of his most trusted Pokémon. Had he been aware of that price when pledging his loyalty to Raikou, he may not have agreed to it. No -- he wouldn't have. This was what Laurence Anderson warned him about all this time, wasn't it? The price of being an Avatar was often steep. "I need time to process all of this before I speak to the Council about AQUA. I'm not even sure I want to join AQUA. I might remain independent. But for now, we should get back to Mauville City."

The young man scooted forward on the legendary feline's back. "Let's saddle up and get out of here."

Josh deeply inhaled beneath his helmet as the terrain at last flattened. His right thigh was still thumping from the pressure of the sloping terrain before, though not as much as it once was. He would have this home stretch and the opening stretch of the final lap to relax before Moosh would have to really watch his footing again, lest he slip and slide off the course.

He had another problem, though: with a loud cry, Wiley and Eron were trying to make a move on him. He couldn't let them pass just before the final lap was to begin. "Moosh, let's go! Cut him off!" Josh ordered as he squeezed the bear's sides tightly, tromping forward in a burst of HIGH HORSEPOWER. The duo were just wide enough to fit through the narrow lane, and it wouldn't end well if both of them tried to enter at the same time!

howard slayte 's BLOODMOON URSALUNA, desperate to catch up to those in front of him, bellowed and charged forward in a HEADLONG RUSH. Unimpeded by traffic, it was just them against the course. The duo were able to use Moosh's tracks as a visual cue of where to line up. He made a last-second adjustment when he realized Josh Devlin and his URSALUNA might be cutting it a bit close. How prudent -- and race-saving -- of him.

Two seconds in front of the challenger, the battle between the Leader's Pokémon and ERON IUNIS' FURRET reached a fever pitch. The white-haired racer yielded to the ground-type's HIGH HORSEPOWER when it was apparent his competition was too far to the left. The URSALUNA roared after scraping his side on the narrow pass, Josh yanked to one side after the left leg of his attire split in two, his piece of ruined clothing violently flapping in the high winds. The loss of speed was significant, too, the FURRET zipping past moments after the course had widened.

A white flag appeared on the starting arch's display as the three Pokémon were to cross it, indicating that it was the last time around the track!

Prompt: By now, the racers had become familiar with the LATERAL SHIFT's main gimmick: abrupt lane changes that, if not heeded, would result in falling off course and suffering quite the time penalty. A right turn that sloped toward the inside was a reminder that they had passed the last piece of flat ground before the home stretch. The two lane changes ahead were the last "easy" part of the course left. Pokémon were inevitably starting to tire, but those who trusted their partner's stamina may have found it tempting to risk trying to weave among the lanes with added speed!

Target Number: 140 (Endurance)

Special: Boosting does NOT impose disadvantage on this obstacle, but doing so will raise the Target Number of this Obstacle by 20 only for purposes of whether the Obstacle is passed or failed.

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED

Cain Stille

Your challenge has been accepted! Please tag Josh Devlin in a new thread in Mauville City. Your movesets are not locked in until the first post of your Gym Thread. You have until May 15, 2024 to post your Gym Thread or you will lose your spot.

It was clear to Josh that Ollie had a lot on his mind about Kyle, too. Not directly about Kyle, but what happened that day. "Weren't you one of the last people to see him before he died, too?" he asked, recalling that the Head Ranger was on the list of people brought onto the Mount Chimney operation. "...I've been asking around and I just... I want answers. What exactly happened out there? I know it got really, really hot around Lavaridge that day. I had to close the Gym completely and bring my Pokémon back into their Poké Balls. As it turns out, bringing a hundred and twenty Pokémon into their Poké Balls is a lot of work on its own, heh," he laughed as he took a look toward the crater -- no, caldera.

Memories of the Minor League came back to Josh. How he got more challengers than any recent Minor League Gym Leader since the program's inception. How Kyle recommended him for promotion to the Major League. And now, he had been denied the chance to re-challenge the Battle Arcade.

"Ollie, I have my doubts he's dead. The Great One is his Patron, who once resurrected Raikou, Entei, and Suicune after they perished in the tower in Johto. And they've done it again with Swift here. Not quite in the form I remember, but he's still Swift -- my Raikou." He held the two outer tufts of Swift's thundercloud in his hands, then slid forward. "I have my doubts he truly died. I think he's still out there. And even if he did die for real, his body will give us a lot of clues as to what happened. Wanna hop on Swift with me and survey the caldera?" he offered Ollie a ride on the electric tiger.