"Yes sir," Josh said with a solemn nod, Twilght mirroring her rider's motion. "To everyone else, you're still the Drift King. Absolutely." Just because he was no longer spreading ill will didn't mean he couldn't use his old title. The title had an intimidating ring to it, fitting his personality. Even knowingly racing against a former criminal who had kept all his aggression on the track would be enough to get less confident racers to back down. That alone, at least at the lower levels of competition, would earn him many checkered flags. "Thank you for being honest with me. I have an idea how hard it has to be for you."

Sila's Life Dew was still having an effect on Josh, easing his pain. It still wasn't enough to race in any capacity, but simple riding at (relatively) low speeds was still easy enough for him. "...Matus, that's something I've thought about ever since we walked away from each other at Chimney Canyon that day. Like I said, you have a ton of talent with...Sepkat, did I get your Liepard's name correct?" He paused to get confirmation before continuing. "Tell you what. Once I get this medical issue handled, let's meet up again at my Gym. After hours and off grid, if you want. We should exchange contact information so we can keep in touch, too."

Satisfied with Josh's solemn agreement, Matus would give a quick nod, just to give his show of acceptance towards him. At the call of her name, even questioningly, Sepkat would turn the brunt of her attention onto Josh. Head lowering a bit with the prowling stalk to approach—despite her size and the bulk of the saddle she carried, the feline's steps were near soundless. Only the slight shifting of the pebbles that had been tossed onto the path from the brief scuffle with the Typhlosion. Though the Liepard would not stop in her prowl until she'd set herself practically nose-to-nose with Josh— Offering only a brief considering glance towards Twilight as she did so.

"... Seems like she's fond of ya, squirt. She ain't tried to maul you yet." Matus finally called from his spot, watching the brief interaction with a curious eye. "... Guess you earned some of her respect for once." Well, wasn't that high praise right there! Somebody Sepkat didn't immediately try to attack after prowling? it was almost unheard of.

"... Off grid, after hours. Don't want any peepin eyes when I kick your ass on the track. Gotta let you have some semblance of a rep." And that was about as teasing as Matus could get while being entirely sincere. That had (essentially) been how their first race had taken place, so in his mind, the rematch had to be done the same. If the course was going to be at the gym—which he'd seen a couple by now, Matus would have to figure out which one Josh actually meant when it was time- then the rest of the scenario was going to have to be the same... minus the cheating and attempted murder, of course.

"Give me somethin' to get in contact with you with for that rematch and I'll handle the rest."

---

Sepkat — Liepard — OK
Sila — Togekiss — OK

Josh Devlin

Skipping this round

Josh leaned backward in Twilight's saddle when Sepkat tried to go nose-to-nose with Josh. He took his left hand off the reins long enough to give the dark-type a gentle pat on the head, provided the feline allowed it. "She must be looking forward to the rematch just as much as you are," he answered with a beaming face. "You're very skilled. I think this race will be just as close as our last. Probably closer."

Matus' request was reasonable. If there wasn't going to be an official challenge, then why would it need to be on the Gym's books? He nodded in agreement with the revised terms the Drift King had come up with. "Might need to call in someone after hours to officiate, in case it's a photo finish. But no one else will know, I can assure you."

"You can text me at my number," Josh offered. "I'll get it to you so we can add each other." As he pulled out his phone and read his number off, he received an urgent email from the Commissioner's office. It read as follows:

FROM: Hoenn League Commissioner's Office (commissioner@hoennleague.gov)
TO: Josh Devlin (josh.devlin@hoennleague.gov)
CC: kyle lopez (kyle.lopez@hoennleague.gov)
PRIORITY: High
SUBJECT: Josh Devlin's Gym

Hello Leader Josh Devlin,

Thank you for your service to the Hoenn League! It is with your service that we can help ensure the next generation of Pokémon trainers in Hoenn is the best it can be.

After an extensive review of your performance regarding your Minor League Gym, we are thoroughly impressed with not only your battle skills and challenger feedback about your non-traditional challenges, but also with your customer service and teaching skills. We are also impressed with how much you have brought your Badge award rate down to be in line with Hoenn League standards while still conferring Badges upon those who truly deserve them.

As a result, we at the Hoenn League Commission have, after lengthy deliberation, decided to promote you to the Major League, effective September 10, 2022. Any challenges scheduled after that date will need to be canceled. Your Gym's new location will tentatively be Rustboro City, but is subject to change. You will receive a follow-up email when the location is finalized in the next day or two.

Please begin making preparations to relocate your Gym as soon as possible, as you will need to complete the move prior to September 10. If you need additional resources or labor to do so in a timely fashion, we can make that arrangement for you.

Congratulations.

Best regards,

Commissioner Dahlia

When Josh finished reading the message, he raised both his hands in the air. "YES!" he screamed joyously. "YES YES YES!! ARCEUS YEEESSSSSSS!!" He had completely lost his train of thought, overwhelmed by the news that his Racing Grounds were to become an official Hoenn Major League Gym. It took Twilight intentionally recoiling to bring him down from his excitement high, though he was still speaking loudly.

"So ummmmmmmmm...we have an unexpected problem. My Gym is going to be relocating in the near future. If you can make it work, I have an idea. How about we have our race at my Gym on the night before it closes. September 9, under the lights. That would make you the very last person to race me at my Gym. There would be one official and the starting arch. No stands, no scoreboard, no nothing else. That's it. It would be the very last thing I did before I hand the keys back to Director Lopez. I can't think of a more fitting end for the Racing Grounds as they are."

The hand was given a calculating look, before the Liepard had turned to nudge her head into the offered palm; a temporary allowance, for now. "... Or she pities you." Oh Matus was really trying to throw off the fact he was looking forward to the rematch race. Though he'd turn his attention away from Josh as the ranger had started reading something; giving enough privacy he figured. He didn't want to see anything that might make that smidgeon of concern overshadow everything else he was feeling at that moment.

Which... is what drew his focus towards Sila—where the Togekiss had drifted away from the situation to circle around a particularly chunky Charmander, staying just out of range of the small Embers the fire-type was spitting up at him. Chiming in a certain joy the man was deeply familiar with, "'Atta boy, Sila.". At whatever prompting Matus had given, The Togekiss had given a much, much louder chirrup, spinning about in place just a little higher than the swiping claws—barely high enough to avoid the Fury Swipes the Wild Charmander was trying to catch him with... To then promptly flip himself over, and lay a big Sweet Kiss right on top of the little reptile's head.

"Good eye." A ball produced from one of Sepkat's saddle pouches offered out to the Togekiss—who carefully accepted it in his mouth, to return to the confusion-flailing Charmander, and lightly bonk the empty ball against the same spot the Fairy had kissed.

As wrapped up as Matus was in watching the excited mass of a fairy, he hadn't noticed the building excitement behind him until Josh had practically exploded in joy. The man spinning sharply on his heel to watch the other with a note of hostile confusion— a sentiment rather closely mimicked by the Liepard beside him judging by the low, annoyed growl from the large feline. Though as nothing more came from the display, other than the Absol bouncing Josh in a way that vaguely reminded Matus of Sepkat, he began to settle back down. Letting out a heavy breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

"If I can make it work?" The disbelief was almost palpable in his tone; leeching heavily into the air around him as Josh continued to speak. "No crowd, no observers. Just the official, and you?" A vague request for clarification, though he didn't elaborate much. Crossing his arms over his chest, and leaning back a bit into Sepkat's still tense form— knowing she would stay put, but fully expecting her to decide to move at any moment. "... September 9th, at Sun down, in the dinky little minor league Gym up the road." Well that was a bit more helpful to understand there.

"Fine, but I'm not doing any sappy heart-to-heart bullshit after I kick your ass."

---

Sepkat — Liepard — OK
Sila — Togekiss — OK

Note: Attempting to catch Charmander!

Josh Devlin

[attr="class","wildtemp"]

[attr="class","wildbgsaf"]

[attr="class","wildtitle"]A WILD CARKOL APPEARED!

[attr="class","wildshiny"]

[attr="class","wildpkmnbox"]

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtab"]

[attr="class","wildtabox"] FEMALE	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] STEAM ENGINE
[attr="class","wildtabox"]BURN UP	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]SMACK DOWN
[attr="class","wildtabox"]TACKLE	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]SMOKESCREEN
[attr="class","wildtabox"] ---	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] ---

[attr="class","wildtag"]Matus Baran Josh Devlin

[attr="class","wildnote"] WHAT WILL YOU DO?

[attr="class","wildtemp"]

[attr="class","wildbgsaf"]

[attr="class","wildtitle"]A WILD PROBOPASS APPEARED!

[attr="class","wildshiny"]

[attr="class","wildpkmnbox"]

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtab"]

[attr="class","wildtabox"] MALE	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] STURDY
[attr="class","wildtabox"]ROCK BLAST	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]MAGNETIC FLUX
[attr="class","wildtabox"]SPARK	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]POWER GEM
[attr="class","wildtabox"] ---	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] ---

[attr="class","wildtag"]Matus Baran Josh Devlin

[attr="class","wildnote"] WHAT WILL YOU DO?

Matus Baran CAUGHT THE CHARMANDER!

Not wanting Twilight to have to sharply buck Josh out of a rush of excitement again, he held back his emotions as Matus seemed to agree to his request. "Yep. Just the two of us and a single spotter necessary to run the race. No one else. And if it has to be this way, it can be our little secret, too. The only record of this race can stay with the three of us."

With that, the location, date and time of the challenge had been set. Josh nodded as Matus confirmed their agreed meetup. "That assumes you even win," the racer taunted back. The trash talk had already began, days before the race was to start. "Neither one of us wants to lose...but that is the zero-sum nature of racing. For every winner, there is a loser. And that loser isn't gonna be me." He had his Absol pick up the pace to get in front of Matus and his posse of Pokémon, then pivoted back toward them. "Until then, you take care, okay?"

"No record gets out. Just the two of us and that official." A repetition in agreement; solidifying the details in his own mind. Though the taunt from Josh had a smirk that showed far too many teeth answering him. "You got a heart full of hope, kid." Matus chuffed, "Too bad I'm going to crush it. " The taunts felt far more in his element, easing what bits of tension had still clung to his form.

Though Josh's hurried pace to get ahead of him had the man rolling his eyes slightly, he'd raise his hand from where it had settled against Sepkat's flank to give a short dismissive wave. "Yeah yeah, don't get your ass kicked any more than it already was or Sila ain't gonna let this race happen." And his own morals, but putting that on a Pokémon was better than addressing that he wasn't a complete asshole all the time.

---

Josh Devlin