Theo had known Josh for quite some time; having gone on several adventures with him while Josh was still rising up, the challenger probably had a good idea what he was in for. The Leader had a penchant for electric Pokémon, and ones that went fast at that. It was a strange sight; as secluded as he kept his love of the Johto Beast, Josh seemed all too eager to share his love of the fastest Pokémon on four legs with his office décor. It was filled with electrifying yellows, cyans, and purples, the ceiling painted the color of clouds one would never want to see when far from down.

"Theo?" Shelly, one of Josh's receptionists, called him. "The Leader will see you now. Take the first left, then your track will at the very back of the facility. Good luck!"

As long as Theo followed the simple directions, Josh would be trivial to find, seated atop his Luxray, Blitz. "Unsurprising that my first challenger would be a familiar face. That's right; you're my first challenger as a Major League Gym Leader." He didn't feel the need to introduce himself to Theo, as they had known each other since before he had even set foot in the Minor League.

"I'm sure you've met many of these Pokémon, but I'll introduce them again. Beneath me is Blitz," the Luxray purred then let out a not-quite battle cry as Josh gently pat the black fur covering his mount's head. The rest of his Pokémon were, as expected from their many travels together, geared up just like the Luxray. "Aslan," he gestured toward his male Pyroar, "Blinky," toward his Jolteon, "and Mystic," toward his Kantonian Ninetales. "You might remember Mystic."

From Josh's understanding, Luxray were very versatile, very balanced Pokémon for racing: jacks of all trades, masters of none. The course was fairly narrow, but hilly and disproportionately oblong north-to-south. Its two most prominent features were "steps" forming small jumps in the opening straightaway. There was little danger of falling out of bounds, but small leaps would be expected. The titular "Aero Dive" was on the backstretch, a long series of uphill turns leading into a huge drop. It was inspired by an official Federation course built around Meteor Falls. At its bottom were more "steps" angled downward. Any Pokémon exiting that massive leap was going to come out of it moving well above their normal top speed, and would test the grit of both Pokémon and rider.

"So here's how this is gonna work, Theo. We line up at that checkered line near the arch. Before the race starts, watch the display on the arch. It will count down 3, 2, 1, GO. On GO, we start. You can't use any moves that make your Pokémon go faster during the first lap of the race. After that, go nuts. Beat us to the finish over three laps, or otherwise prove your ability to keep cool under pressure, and the Hoenn League Quick Badge is yours. Blitz and I are gonna do everything we can to stop you, though! Just because we're friends doesn't mean I'm making this easy!"

You will have 8 ranks to distribute among three skills:

• SPEED: This represents how fast your Pokémon can travel. Each rank of Speed adds 10 to all your rolls.
  
• ENDURANCE: This represents how well a Pokémon can navigate difficult terrain, and affects how often a Pokémon can use its Boost during a race. Every two ranks of Endurance lets you use a Boost move an additional time per race. Each rank of Endurance reduces the Target Number of Endurance-based Obstacles by 10.
• REACTION: This represents a Pokémon’s cornering ability. Each rank of Reaction reduces the Target Number of Reaction-based Obstacles by 10.

In the OOC notes of your first post, please note your Pokémon's distribution of skills.

You do not need to roll after your first post, but you will need to [ roll ] twice at the end of every post mid-challenge. This roll will be modified according to your Pokémon's skill ranks.

Example: If a player rolls a 60 on a post involving running down a straightaway as fast as possible atop a Pokémon with four ranks in Speed, their effective roll will be 100.

The Leader's next post will include a "mod post" that depicts the course's first Obstacle: a prompt that presents a challenge for the racers to overcome. Each Obstacle will include the following information:

Target Number: This is the number the racers need to roll at or above to overcome the Obstacle without penalty. While it is uncommon, an Obstacle can have multiple Target Numbers.

Intended Skill: This is the Skill that will apply to the Obstacle. It can be Speed, Endurance, or Reaction.

Example Obstacle: The track starts out with a bang--a sharp, 135-degree left turn mere tens of meters from the starting line. The width of the turn itself makes recovering from a misjudged angle easier, but the track quickly narrows up again afterward. A guardrail on the outside keeps Pokémon from sliding off the course, but there is no such guardrail on the inside, and there’s a shallow stream that looks time-consuming for non-Water Pokémon to climb out of!

Target Number: 85 (Reaction)

After the players make their rolls, the Target Number is deducted from the player's roll, and the difference becomes the player's Track Position (TP) for the round. 100 TP corresponds to roughly one second of time differential. The race will consist of three laps, with three Obstacles per lap. After the ninth Obstacle, total Track Position will determine finishing order.

"Hope you're ready, Theo! This one might get a bit bumpy!" Josh smiled, flicking his helmet's visor down. It locked into place with a loud click. A low-pitched but loud squawk boomed from the starting arch's speakers, indicating the racers were to get ready. Josh's four Pokémon lined up at the starting line, letting Theo and his Luxray take their assigned spot between his own Luxray and Mystic. Blinky and Aslan rounded out the starting grid of five.

Once the five were ready, three still images of the sprinting Johto Beast faded into view, a "GET READY" prompt beneath them. The images of the divine electric-type disappeared, one at a time, Each change was accompanied by another brief, low-pitched squawk intended as an aural warning to when the race would start, allowing them to more easily time their leaps off the line. After the third such squawk, only one of the images remained. The final squawk accompanying the final one vanishing as the display changed to "GO" was a much higher pitched one. Josh jabbed at Blitz's sides with his knees, all of his Pokémon leaping off the line and fighting for position ahead of Theo and his shiny Luxray.

After each posting round, a prompt describing the upcoming section of the track will be posted. These prompts may highlight different sections of the course on each lap. You will react to the prompt, then [ roll ] twice. For the first lap, the Leader's rolls will be capped at 120 before modifiers.

The course starts out with a long, slightly uphill straightaway for the racers to get their Pokémon up to speed, though there are five short drops no more than a couple feet each to balance out the elevation gain. They are intended to prepare the racers both physically and mentally for the titular Aero Dive later in the course. Past the straightaway is a myriad of progressively tighter curves, some left and some right, forming the illusion of a roundabout-like structure from above. Course bounds form a linear path through it, making racers go the long way around. The last uphill curve in particular is deceptive, racers unable to see over the hill until just before making the turn. It is very easy to misjudge and start turning late.

Target Number: 100 (Reaction)

In sync with Theo's Luxray, Blitz darted forward, along with the rest of the Leader's Pokémon in competing for early position. The beginning of the race was always the most chaotic part, though this was less so than official races with full fields of thirty Pokémon and riders. The rapid downward jumps were a bit jarring; while he had raced the Meteor Falls course this one was based on during his last trip to Hoenn, he had forgotten how rough the short jumps could be on him. He had to keep his focus to ensure he took the inside line, the three Pokémon near him fighting each other for position.

There were only two spots on the course where nasty curves would be a problem, and this was the first one. It was going to get far worse on boost laps, when it was feasible for his electric-types to try to slide around the dirt paths at high speed. Blinky, with her artificial claws, could not risk changing sliding directions so quickly. After all, needing more paw surgeries could put her back on the DL. The Leader wouldn't have that.

To be safe, Josh guided Blitz to the outside of the final left curve, then yanked hard with his left hand, sharply reining the electric feline in same direction. The Luxray swerved hard, sparks flying from his paws as the Leader let out a grunt from the power behind his ride's momentum shift.

The five Pokémon darted off the line in near-sync, Blinky and Theo's Luxray taking an early lead. The Leader's experience kept things close all the way through the rapid-fire turns until the very last one. Blinky crested the apex perfectly, the Jolteon nearly grazing the inside wall. The two Luxray ran neck and neck alongside one another, neither giving the other an inch in their intense battle for second place. While Blitz was technically hundredths of a second ahead, to everyone watching, it looked like the two were virtually tied, with Mystic the Ninetales trailing shortly behind just from having less raw speed.

Aslan, though, was not so lucky. He turned too late, his right side briefly scraping against a thick, foam wall. While there wasn't any bodily harm due to the Pyroar being able to quickly recover, the wide turn left him trailing by the leaders by around a third of a second.

Theo and the Leader were in an intense battle for second position, Blinky ahead of them by a fraction of a second. Within half a second of each other, Josh's team leaped off the highest section of the course to one of the lowest, the odd sensation of weightlessness overcoming him for nearly three full seconds as Blitz sped toward the downslope below. Focused as he was, even the Leader couldn't help but let out a whoop after the blue-skinned Luxray touched down. The electric-type's body was shaking from the added, unsustainable speed, and Josh with it.

The constant, small leaps at the end of the downslope not only tested Blitz's stamina, but Josh's as well. He had ridden some Pokémon with a bouncy gait before, like Pyroar, but this was on a different order of magnitude of intensity. This would be as easy as it got, too; on the next two laps, they would likely be coming down this stretch even faster, making maintaining and gaining position even more difficult than it was before.

The five Pokémon leaped off the highest ledge on the course, a series of poles guiding the racers' eyes to the section of track far below. Sparks flew from the shiny Luxray's paws as Theo intended to fire off AGILITY at the very end. His timing was late, the move firing in midair, when it was too late to do anything except keep his eyes on the course below. It was a good thing that the move misfired, though; it would have broken the rule about no boosting during the first lap! That would have incurred quite the time penalty.

As with Josh, Theo experienced the odd sensation of weightlessness for about three seconds before landing on the downslope far below. Aslan was the only one of Josh's Pokémon to execute the tall leap with some sense of expertise, though even his wasn't graceful. The other four Pokémon looked more like they were falling rather than flying; to varying degrees, they all landed at an angle, the sudden momentum shift swinging Theo and Josh hard in one direction, necessitating a time-wasting correction that may have been tough on their bodies. While no positions changed, the field widened, Theo now trailing Josh by about two-tenths of a second and his Jolteon by about three-tenths.

Josh reined his Luxray subtly to the left before more sharply drawing him back to the right in an effort to crest the sharpest curve on the course. With the number of challenges he had taken, he had designed many courses around various interpretations of this particular turn. He knew the angle well. He bounced in the saddle as he guided his Luxray through some more shallow turns and small jumps. This course certainly tested how sure-footed and shock-absorbent its challengers' Pokémon's paws, hooves, or the like, were.

When the big slope came up, Josh was tempted to flick his Luxray's reins for a jump, but decided against it, calculating he wouldn't have the speed needed to clear the slope in a single bound until boost laps began. Instead, he leaned as low as his mount's gear would let him, nearly burying his face in his Luxray's black fur as he hit the steep grade.

Josh knew just how hard it was on the electric cat from how deliberate every step of his running stroke was. That combined with the ramp-induced angle of attack made his hips thump briefly until the course flattened out and the arch came into sight. Boost laps were coming, and the course was about to get a little rougher thanks to the added speed. The rest of Josh's Pokémon had an equally tough time, particularly Blinky, whose claws were designed for rapid acceleration over flat land.

With the two of them being within earshot, Josh taunted the challenger. "Hope you're ready to go fast, cause now the real race begins!"

As the competitors raced around the backstretch, the field started to separate, with the Leader's Jolteon, Luxray, and THEO BECKETT 's Luxray the first to make it to the line. The Leader's angle was a little off coming up the incline, the opportunistic challenger passing him. Josh's Ninetales slipped mid-way up the slope, desperately scratching against the track to try to gain traction and avoid slipping down the steep road. She barely managed to recover, allowing Aslan's strength to serve him well in keeping those two competitive. They were still overall more than a second back from Blinky, the Leader and challenger not far from one another as all five of them crossed under the starting arch.

Just as Josh said, the real race was about to begin.

You Got Boost Power! Speed-increasing moves, such as QUICK ATTACK, AGILITY, and EXTREME SPEED are now allowed. Luxray will be able to use such speed-increasing moves up to three times for the rest of the race. Speed-increasing moves will grant you ADVANTAGE for the posting round, meaning you will [ roll ] four times instead of two for that post and ignore the lower set of rolls. Please separate the first two rolls from the second two rolls with a delimiter of some kind. For the second lap of the race, the Leader's rolls will be capped at 140, before modifiers are applied.

Beware! Taking tight turns and stamina-draining Obstacles at high speeds can result in dire consequences, and may impose DISADVANTAGE, meaning the lower of the two rolls will be taken. If the lower of the two rolls would still pass the Obstacle, Track Position for that Obstacle will be calculated based on the higher of the two rolls.

Leading up to and past the starting arch was a long straightaway. The racers would still have to deal with quite a bumpy ride from the repeated small jumps downward, but there was little in the way of turns. They would need to eventually slow down to get through the mess of turns afterward, but for now, the Pokémon could really let loose.

Target Number: 0 (Speed)

The moment all five Pokémon crossed the line, elements of speed flew out of the paws of all four of Josh's Pokémon, as expected on such a long straightaway. His arms tensed up as he had to hold Blitz's reins with more strength to keep himself from being blasted back by the oncoming rush of air and minimizing drag. While they weren't going fast enough to go down the opening steps two at a time, each landing was a lot more intense due to the substantially higher speed.

Josh's focus tightened with Theo and his shiny Luxray passing him. His Jolteon was practically designed for this course; it was just a matter of whether she had the energy to climb all the steep hills, which there were quite a few of. After all, the course had to have sufficient altitude for its titular Aero Dive! Reaching the fifth drop, his Pokémon's Quick Attack had expired. Josh kept his right arm tensed, ready to coax his Luxray into the right turn that started the mess of curves leading into the dive.

QUICK ATTACKs, bursts of AGILITY, and a display of DOUBLE TEAM were in full show, fans of both competitors roaring as fire and electricity erupted from the paws of the five Pokémon. Perhaps Josh should have considered using a more experienced, perhaps more excited Pokémon: Mystic looked like she was showing signs of fatigue from her first burst of QUICK ATTACK. She had also expressed concerns prior to the race about her ability to race in general. Her lack of self-confidence was showing. Perhaps the Leader needed to do some training with her? All the rest of his Pokémon were keeping up fine.

Aslan's mane and paws flared with flames, dashing past the fox and threatening to roar past Blitz as well. Theo and his Luxray were holding their position well, his prowess at taking the inside line letting him slowly catch up to the Jolteon that could clearly outperform the other Electric-types in terms of raw speed. Theo had one advantage, though: he had his own cunning and wits.

After the huge dive that begun the backstretch were more step-like drops: eleven of them in rapid succession. These steps would quickly reduce Pokémon back to their normal top speed after they felt like they were flying for nearly three full seconds. For the Pokémon, the repeated shocks to their paws would be their biggest test of stamina, as one poor landing could send them flying toward the outer or inner walls, and maybe even out of bounds if they carried too much speed.

Target Number: 110 (Endurance)

Special: Any Pokémon that misses the Target Number by 40 or more will instead receive a flat -150 TP penalty as a result of landing OFF COURSE.

The rapid curves were a little more jarring at the second lap's high speeds. All of Josh's Pokémon briefly needed to angle their claws into the track to brake. Part of what gave Feline Pokémon their ability to take turns well was the superior braking their sharp claws offered. Braking was a counterintuitive but very necessary technique to practice, as the more complex courses got, the more needed it would be.

The sensation of weightlessness followed by the sensation of turbulence from the repeated jumps was jarring even after the first time around the course. The Leader took a deep breath, intending to hold it during the rest of the descent, so he did not have to focus on breathing rhythmically during the landing. That would only wear him out more.

Josh made minor adjustments in an effort to keep Blitz as close to the center of the track as possible, having sufficient space to maneuver in. He had his eyes on the next section of the track as a spot to overtake the challenger atop the brightly-colored Luxray. The two fire-types let out repeated grunts as they descended behind Josh, Theo, and Blinky, Aslan in particular looking to make a move on his Trainer toward the end of the lap.

If this dive's landing zone was a mere downhill ramp, the Leader's Jolteon would be nigh unbeatable on this course, able to dash down the ramp at speeds rivaling a legendary Pokémon. The rapid leaps pounded at her paws and claws, testing the limits of the implants that made racing possible for her. At the eighth jump, an awkward landing nearly caused her to twist one of her front paws, sending her flying toward the left. If she wasn't quick to recover, she would have gone sailing out of bounds.

Most of rest of the field took the chance to pass her, even the Ninetales starting to close the gap. The two Luxray were still in front, with Josh's Pyroar barely staving off his Jolteon's bid to regain third place. A nasty curve was coming up, one Josh might be looking for a passing opportunity after in a bid to gain the lead and keep the challenger on his A-game.

The course's single sharpest curve was upon them: it was a full U-turn on a fairly narrow section of the track only five wide. After the high speed descent of the huge downhill, braking of some kind would almost certainly be required for most Pokémon to navigate it without trouble. It was better than the alternative of pinching or scraping one's leg against the outer wall! A right-angle left turn very shortly followed, testing the racers' abilities to rapidly change direction as the home stretch loomed.

Target Number: 125 (Reaction)