Master of Faster
He/Him
25
December 12
Goldenrod, Johto
Straight
Mauville Gym Leader
Champion
"With great speed comes great responsibility."
TAG WITH @joshdevlin
Josh Devlin
turnabout is fowl play [gym]
POSTED ON Nov 9, 2022 7:40:31 GMT
The Intersection's final curves were downright dangerous. To an outsider not familiar, it looked like Josh was frantically waving and yanking Slider's reins in a panic. The course's backstretch was just that difficult to navigate at high speed. The Leader even let out a grunt followed by a shout, feeling like he was being whipped back and forth from how rapid and sharp the last few curves were. He could only have imagined how much more intense it felt for Bladestorm and Pazuzu, who were actually remaining competitive with Kyouya and Alex.
"Slider... TAILWIND one last time...!" Josh managed between breaths as the home stretch came into view after the rest of the field had already passed under the arch. He had no idea what order the three competitors ahead of him had finished in, but Josh was going to finish strong despite his dizziness. While he wasn't full-on airsick, his Gym Trainers were likely going to need to take over. It didn't help that the Intersection was one of Josh's longest courses. The longest course on the racing grounds, Spiral, had lap times close to three minutes. Thankfully he got very few challengers with enough Badges to race that one! {WC: 201} {PC: 11} LM|Zs7ac||
The trio of roaring TAILWINDs rocked the home stretch with hurricane force. It was a good thing the near side of the stands were protected with a giant windshield, otherwise the gallery would have been blown away! And literally, at that! The small crowd and all the Gym staff overseeing the race, even the stage managers in the Operations Center, watched with bated breath as Pazuzu surged forward far faster than he had flown all day, and possibly ever. The loud shrieks of the four birds were about all that was audible over the fierce, even dangerous winds surrounding the racers and their Pokémon.
The Pidgeot, Skarmory, and of course, Kyouya, crossed the finish line at almost the same time, with Josh and his own Braviary bringing up the rear nearly four seconds later. A slow-motion replay of the final moments of the race made it obvious that the Pidgeot did not win, though he was still incredibly close behind. The side angle and the frame rate of the replay made it impossible to tell whether Kyouya or Bladestorm crossed the finish line first. This truly was a photo finish, and would require review through a special camera not connected to the broadcast.
After what had to be a tense several minutes for the Fortree Gym Leader, the replay from the high speed camera was manually uploaded to the large scoreboard, showing that Kyouya and Alex had barely edged Josh's Skarmory out for the win. The time interval?
Three hundredths of a second. [player]https://fi.zophar.net/soundfiles/nintendo-gamecube-gcn/f-zero-gx/228%20-%20Hurrah%20for%20the%20Champion%20%28Winning%20Run%29.mp3[/player] [break] 🎼 NEW THEME SONG! - Hurrah for the Champion! - F-ZERO GX OFFICIAL SOUNDTRACK Josh's jaw dropped when he saw Alex had won by the slimmest of margins versus a Skarmory that seemed, oddly enough, not upset about losing. He had a competitive nature, but he seemed to, if anything, enjoy the thrill of being part of a race so incredibly close. "Alex, I didn't get to see much of the race because Slider and I fell so far behind," Josh said as he guided the Leader toward the starting area on foot, having withdrawn his tired Pokémon. This was a long course even by his Gym's standards! "I'm going to have to watch this one back, but if you can beat those two to the finish, you clearly have the split-second decision making skills, the trust in your Braviary, and most importantly, the ability to keep your cool even when flying at breakneck speeds. Those skills will see you far in the Pokémon League challenge."
With that, the Mauville Leader reached into his pocket, grasping a small, beacon-shaped, metallic object into his now-closed fist. "You've earned it." He retracted his arm from his pocket and opened his fist into a palm. "The official Hoenn League Quick Badge. You and your Braviary shall be enshrined in the Gym's list of Qualified Riders as champions, and as Intersection record holders. While the Badge is eternal, records are meant to be broken."
Once the victory ceremony was over, Josh led Alex back to the Gym's entrance. "One more question before you leave," he managed to smile through heavy breathing. "When do we joust at Fortree Gym?"
Alexei Ivanov ···
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