After Josh's whoop of joy, he had to catch his breath as Resheph slowed to a still brisk, but more reasonable, pace. "Whew!" he let out another cry. While racing was fun, he hadn't been able to go for a simple, yet thrilling, joyride on the Dragonair in quite some time. "Oh, that wasn't even close to peak speed. If you want to see her at her peak speed, all you gotta do is tell her to use Extreme Speed." Though Isaac couldn't see it, there was a giant grin on his face. He had never ridden on an Extreme Speeding Pokémon before; Resheph was the only one on his team who could use it, and she just mastered the Sacred Arte recently.

He had forgotten just how fun it was to be at gravity's mercy atop the serpentine dragon, going from the feeling of near-weightlessness to being squeezed against her back in a split second. "Hold level flight for a bit, will you Resheph?" The Dragonair nodded and maintained a steady altitude.

Once they were leveled off, Josh handed Isaac Resheph's reins, then wrapped his arms around the small boy's waist with just enough force to comfortably stay mounted. "So Isaac, the best way to control Resheph is to imagine you're tugging on a giant joystick with the reins," the racer started to teach his friend. "Hold a constant pressure on them, and she'll fly steady. Pull back on her to make her fly up, and loosen your hold to make her fly down. If you pull with just one hand, she'll turn. You can also turn by just leaning in the direction you want her to go. And lastly, you can vary your leg pressure for speed changes." Josh let out a hum of thought. Did he miss something? Ah, he did. "And if you're uncomfortable with any of that, she listens to direct verbal commands, too."

Now not having to focus on controlling Resheph, Josh took in the view from above once more. Even from their lower altitude, the mountain range was a sight to see. He relinquished complete control over to Isaac and prepared himself to be a passenger on whatever wild thrill ride Isaac was about to take him on.

Josh was really starting to feel the adrenaline coursing through his body; while it was thrilling being at the reins of a nimble Pokémon like Resheph, it was a different kind of thrilling to be a mere passenger on said Pokémon. Even circling above the Valley of Steel was breathtaking; with the two being at altitude, they could nearly the entire canyon every time Isaac guided her around the south. "I could spend day after day soaring above Hoenn and never get tired of it," Josh said, his mind lost in the region's pristine beauty. While he wasn't a fan of the tropical climate, the warm weather had other benefits, such as the potential for a year-long racing season. He might have to mount a camera to something next time he soared this high; the view of Hoenn from thousands of feet in the air was unforgettable.

The racer was caught a little off guard when Isaac not only sped the dragon up, but skillfully guided her into an undulating flight pattern that made him happy he had planned on eating a late lunch. "Wahoo!" Josh shouted at the top of a particularly sharp undulation. "This is why Resheph is my favorite way to fly. Dragonair are so graceful, yet so powerful and swift. You could show me a tamed Zapdos and I still wouldn't fly on him if it meant giving up Resheph." It was a harsh remark; riding a legendary Pokémon was a common dream among young children unfamiliar with the different rules they had for bonding with humans. After all, that dream was one that had stuck with Josh. And no matter the adversity, he would never stop believing in the one he felt he had a connection to. Even if it wound up being a false faith, it was still his faith, and it was that faith that drove him to give his all in everything he did.

"Thanks!" Josh replied. "She has to be. They are difficult to raise, but they're some of the most rewarding Pokémon to have once you've forged that bond. They're definitely not a good first Pokémon, or even second or third. But once you're ready, I highly recommend catching one."

"She means a lot to me," Josh added as Resheph climbed a little more. He meant it too. There was only one legendary partner he would ever give up Resheph for, and that was Raikou. And even then, it would be a very hard decision. "Resheph...was a Game Corner Pokémon," he said after a long pause. "I played a lot of poker and a lot of Voltorb Flip to win her. I'm sure the house robbed me blind. I'm sure you've heard all kinds of horror stories about the Pokémon that come..." He stopped right there. He did not want to sour the moment he was about to take Isaac--and himself--on. This was going to be a real treat. With no aircraft around for miles, this was the perfect opportunity.

"If you really want to know, we can talk about it when we're back on the ground," Josh abruptly changed the subject. "For now, though, if you've had your fun, can you toss me the reins back? There's one thing I've always dreamed to try." If Isaac obliged, and thought about what Josh was saying, he had a good idea what was about to transpire. It was also a lot more relaxing to hold the reins rather than Isaac's waist. He did one more quick loop to make sure there were no trainers or aircraft in the skies. They were wide open - not a soul in sight. Today, the skies were theirs and theirs alone.

"That one thing I've dreamed to try...is something I've never had the chance to do before. And that's to see what Resheph's Extreme Speed looks like from her perspective." Resheph let out an excited cry; her Extreme Speed was so fast that Josh had been scared to try riding her while using it...until now. "If I truly want to ride on Raikou, he's going to be even faster than this. I need to prepare as much as I can. And I want to give you the chance to back out." A confident nod was the only response he got. "Alright." He left out a deep sigh before lazily looping the dragon-type back eastward. "Resheph...use your EXTREME SPEED!!" Josh cried.

The orbs on the Dragonair's neck and tail glowed a royal purple, dragon energy seeping out of them to form a wind shield of sorts and raise her aerodynamic efficiency. The energy enveloped the riders as well. Once it surrounded herself and both trainers, she lowered her head, her body shaking from building up dragon energy from her tail. With a powerful whipping motion, the sound of roaring wind boomed from her tail. Josh lurched back hard from the sudden and powerful acceleration. It was almost like riding the force of an explosion as his mount exhibited the requested Extreme Speed--by far the fastest rush any Pokémon had to offer. Such few Pokémon could master the Sacred Arte, and Resheph was one of them.

Dragon energy trailed behind her as Hoenn's plains zoomed by, making her look like a low-flying purple comet from anyone who could see her from the ground. It was hard to get a scale of just how fast Resheph was going, but Josh would not be surprised if she could overtake jet airplanes in her current state. He didn't even try to speak to Isaac; with as little ear protection as he had on, it probably sounded like he was on the inside of a tornado. With the surreal speed the Dragonair was flying at, the reins themselves felt stiff; he had to pull with quite a lot of strength just to make shallow turns. Even the turns he was making felt like he could get ripped out of the saddle at any moment if he didn't stay focused. He wanted to let out the biggest scream of his life, and not one that was of pure bliss. This kind of speed was scaring even him.

Resheph's Extreme Speed was perhaps the fastest burst any Pokémon, barring a Legendary, had to offer. For a mere human, the kind of speed the Dragonair was achieving was numbing, even with the dragon energy she was using to partially shield the two. And yet...this would be a mere stepping stone if he wanted to sit astride the Pokémon his childhood self had dreamed of. If he truly wanted to live that dream, this would be something he would need to practice regularly, pushing his physical prowess to and even beyond his current limits.

It was not until the Dragonair's Extreme Speed wore off that Josh noticed Isaac was no longer between himself and his Dragonair. He immediately looked downward and saw his friend and Knuckles in free fall. With the reins not feeling so stiff due to the speed burst being gone, they were easy to manipulate. He had Resheph perform a sharp U-turn, adjusting her angle for Isaac's trajectory before shouting, "Resheph, use your EXTRE--"

Your courage is admirable, but you sorely lack the foresight to use it.

He stopped the command just in time. Josh's instinct was to push Resheph to her absolute limit to recover Isaac as quickly as possible. "No, Resheph! Extreme Speed will be too fast! Just dive after them, but don't use anything yet! Keep your Agility ready, but don't use it until my command!" What the Raikou of his dreams was trying to teach him is that while good instincts were important, the electric Beast could not recognize anyone who acted on instincts alone. Sometimes, instincts were deceiving.

Not to say there wasn't a high speed chase involved; Josh released all pressure on the reins and even pushed forward on his mount's body, Resheph responding by entering a steep dive beyond anything conceivably needed for a race. The two quickly caught up to Isaac, Josh releasing his tension on the Dragonair when he was beneath his falling friend. With mere hundreds of feet to spare, he pulled up sharply in an effort to catch Isaac and hoped his timing was correct...!