Josh was having a glorious day; he had just returned from Trainer Hill's main office after submitting his application to open a Minor League Gym in Hoenn. He wanted to share his passion with other Trainers, and doing battle in more ways than one with a wide variety of Pokémon would prepare him to be on the front lines against the calamities that befell the region almost nonstop recently.

His trip to New Mauville would be driven primarily by the need to fill his prospective Gym with Electric-type Pokémon. While Josh was already astride Crash, his Boltund, and Saber was trotting alongside him also wearing riding gear, he had another reason to come. One of New Mauville's unique attractions, a very special race course only Electric and Steel-type Pokémon could use, had just opened a few days ago. The course featured one set of back-and-forth turns but was otherwise perfectly ovaloid. What made it unique was the course was an electromagnetically-charged Mobius Ring. Electric-type and Steel-type Pokémon could run upside-down on the underside of the course when it turned over!

On his way to the circuit, he ran into an older gentleman with an Overqwil floating near him. "Hi there! Is that a Qwilfish?" Josh asked the traveler. "They're native in my homeland." Saber warily eyed the floating Pokémon and rolled his eyes at his rider; this was very clearly not a Qwilfish despite the resemblance. "Name's Josh. I'm a Pokémon racer looking to turn pro, and a new track opened here. It looks pretty wild. Looking to go for a few runs on it with Crash and Saber here," he gestured toward the Boltund and Manectric, in that order.

THEO BECKETT

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Resheph       Dragonair      Good
Twilight      Absol          Good
Aslan         Pyroar         Good
Saber         Manectric      Good
Bladestorm    Skarmory       Good
Crash         Boltund        Good

{WC: 286}
{PC: 1}

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At least Josh was in the ballpark on what kind of Pokémon the traveler's partner was. "This is news to me! I wasn't aware Qwilfish evolved!" he answered with a tone of surprise. "Great to meet you, Theo! I'm actually from Johto. This was supposed to be a short trip for a few races here in Hoenn, but given the circumstances, I'm going to be here a lot longer than I'd like." Saber kept pace with Theo's walking. "What do you do, if I may ask?" Perhaps that wasn't the right question this early on...

Josh's attention was drawn by the shattering of glass, followed by the sound of a Boltund barking. With the nearby overhead light shattered, the local area was dark, but the barking distinctively sounded like Crash's. Wait, Crash was gone and Josh didn't even notice! He turned his head toward Theo and said, "Theo, I'll be right back!" Saber faced the dark area and closed the distance, finding Crash engaged in a battle with a Doublade, both sides looking like they had taken significant blows.

Josh threw a Poké Ball toward the ghost-type. If anything, it would buy him time to address Crash's wounds. He hastily sprayed Super Potion around the two deepest cuts, and rationed the rest of the bottle for smaller bruises. The Boltund barked in approval; while he obviously wasn't 100%, he was still strong enough to run on New Mauville's new course, if Josh asked him to.

THEO BECKETT

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Resheph       Dragonair      Good
Twilight      Absol          Good
Aslan         Pyroar         Good
Saber         Manectric      Good
Bladestorm    Skarmory       Good
Crash         Boltund        Fair

{WC: 246}
{PC: 2}

tl;dr: Capture attempt on the Doublade!

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BOTH OF YOUR CAPTURE ATTEMPTS ARE SUCCESSFUL!

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Theo seemed happy to be here. Despite how much of the region featured island cities, Hoenn had such diverse ecology overall. "Hoenn would be my second choice to live, but Johto is my home." He listened to what Theo's interests were; while he was expecting to hear a career path, hobbies worked too. "Funny you mentioned it; the Gym Challenge is what I do on the side, during the winter months when there are no races. Of course, that might be different here, given that it doesn't get too cold in the winter months. Goldenrod is far enough north that we get snow every winter."

Theo must not watch much sports coverage; every weekend there's coverage of at least one Platnium-Class race being broadcast on PSPN. "There's a big scene for it in every large region," Josh continued, hearing a metal-to-metal contact echoing from where the new race course was at. "A few years ago, I came out here to compete for the Devon Cup, but now it's called the Silph Cup. I love a good battle, don't get me wrong, but I think being atop a Pokémon and going flying around a course as quickly and as accurately as possible tests the bond between Pokémon and trainer more than simple combat. At least to me, it's so much more engaging." Crash barked in approval, looking forward to getting to do his first run with Josh. It was certainly a hot take in terms of which was more engaging, but to each their own.

As the track lit up and its generators began humming, Josh heard a louder metal-to-metal contact, followed by a screech all too familiar to Johto natives. That was a Skarmory cry: a perfect opportunity for Bladestorm to show off his self-perceived superiority. "Bladestorm, it's time!" The big Skarmory, like the rest of Josh's Pokémon, wore riding gear, though his was optimized for flying. It only took one of his battle cries to get the smaller, and presumably, younger Skarmory to back down. "This is Bladestorm. He's my eyes in the skies, and my best Pokémon for aerial races." He stared at the fleeing wild until it roosted in New Mauville's highest rafters, but did not give chase. Perhaps a fellow Skarmory would be too difficult for him to take down? Josh never knew with him. "Anyway, I'm going to check out the new track! It looks wild, and only Electric-type and Steel-type Pokémon can use it."

THEO BECKETT

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Resheph       Dragonair      Good
Twilight      Absol          Good
Aslan         Pyroar         Good
Saber         Manectric      Good
Bladestorm    Skarmory       Good
Crash         Boltund        Fair

{WC: 415}
{PC: 3}

tl;dr: Letting this Skarmory go.

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THEO BECKETT CAUGHT THE TOGEDEMARU!

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When Josh arrived at the stairwell leading up to the course proper, he had to withdraw all of his Pokémon before ascending several flights leading to the track level. A few wild Electric-types and an Escavalier were gathering on the course, likely attracted to the strong electrical energy needed to keep its surface magnetically charged. Four electrical arcs ran from the surface to each Pokémon standing on it. "This is the first season I've had him, but he's faster than my Dragonair in the air, and by a long shot at that. I'm going to let them both have a run, though. He and Saber."

Josh reached the course level at the top of the staircase and released his two Pokémon. Both were no exception: four electrical arcs shot up from the surface to the Manectric's paws, who was now levitating about a foot off the ground. Bladestorm had similar arcing keeping him in place about two feet above the charged surface. He had to ask the Electric-type to sit down just to be able to swing aboard.

When the Manectric stood up, the disorientation started to kick in; it was as though every Pokémon on the track was under the effects of Magnet Rise. Josh was excited; with greatly reduced friction due to this effect, Saber could fly. Not literally, of course, but he could put on some real speed he otherwise wouldn't be able to. "Shouldn't be long, Theo! Just want to give this course one or two laps!" he waved to the onlooker. Maybe they would end up being good friends, after all!

Other than its single prominent feature, the course was a simple ovaloid, having two shallow but long curves, one at each end. Saber took off at Josh's command, the Escavalier chasing him. It seemed to have no intent to attack him, though; did it want to race him? It was certainly one of the speediest Bug-types around, and quickly overtook him.

After the first long curve, Josh was ready to have Saber floor it. Just as he was about to spur the Manectric into a Quick Attack, he felt a sudden rolling motion, as though he was on a flying Pokémon making a turn. He heard a small crackle with every running stroke his mount took. The visual of the rest of the world rotating around him was disorienting, to say the least. When the rolling sensation stopped, the racer was getting a view of New Mauville, but upside down! If the rolling motion was disorienting, then having the electromagnetism keeping Saber above the underside of the course pulling him in one direction while the force of gravity pulled him in the other direction was utterly alien. The only phrase that could describe his facial expression was "completely bewildered". Even Bladestorm felt rather disoriented from the electromagnetism forcing him to fly inverted.

THEO BECKETT

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Resheph       Dragonair      Good
Twilight      Absol          Good
Aslan         Pyroar         Good
Saber         Manectric      Good
Bladestorm    Skarmory       Good
Crash         Boltund        Fair

{WC: 482}
{PC: 4}

tl;dr: No capture; interacting with the Escavalier then letting it go about its business.

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THEO BECKETT CAUGHT THE KLINKLANG!

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Josh had initially planned on going multiple laps around the course. Each lap felt like two complete loops around the oval-shaped course; one on the starting side, and one on the "reverse" side, where all the turns were inverted. Once he crossed the line, he pulled back on Saber's reins and withdrew the other Pokémon of his racing alongside him. This was the reason he preferred overland races more than sea or sky; going inverted on a mount that had full three-dimensional freedom of movement was beyond what his physical training let him handle. Leave that stuff to fighter jet pilots...and whoever was lucky enough to bond with Latios or Latias.

Josh slowly made his way down the stairs to rejoin Theo, holding onto the rail with both hands. He was still quite dizzy from riding his Manectric at full gallop while upside-down. The power of magnetism was something else. "I...could not do that," Josh sighed, plopping down onto a nearby bench. "Being upside down like that...I had to let Saber control himself. It's the most...out of this world thing I've ever felt in my life." He slouched back and faced sideways, spreading his left leg out over the rest of the bench's seat. "Once and never again. If I have to race here, I'm taking a big ol' Swanna egg for a score."

When Josh had recovered enough feeling to stand back up, he swung his left leg back down, accidentally grazing a wild Shinx. The black-furred feline cub let out a yelp from the near miss of what could have been a serious injury and scampered from underneath the bench, between Josh's legs. "Oh!" he cried, hastily reaching for a Poké Ball and tossing it at the fleeing Pokémon.

THEO BECKETT

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Resheph       Dragonair      Good
Twilight      Absol          Good
Aslan         Pyroar         Good
Saber         Manectric      Good
Bladestorm    Skarmory       Good
Crash         Boltund        Fair

{WC: 297}
{PC: 5}

Catching this Shinx!