Matt was just as surprised he made that turn. "Amazing, Nana!" He yelled, and soon egged her on more. "We got this- just a little more, we can do it, Nana!"


She gave a howl, and Matt knew what it meant. "Go!" Extreme Speed time it was again! Let's see how well this turned out.

BGdXBEx1

Josh Devlin

Josh crossed the line and saw how hopelessly far behind he was heading into the final lap. That was part of being a Gym Leader, though! His goal as a Gym Leader was not to defeat challengers, but to test whether they had absorbed the tenets the Gym was trying to teach. Given he was close to three seconds ahead of Josh, Matt was clearly passing with flying colors. He had much more practice with Nana than Josh did with Braver, and this was a problem baked into his challenge by design. If the challenger was truly of one mind with the Pokémon they rode, then beating the Gym Leader to the finish line would be easy for them.

Josh had one big advantage on these curves, though; he knew the reversal was coming, unlike Matt, and unlike last time he raced this course with THEO BECKETT . Ready to reverse his tactile commands, he chose to hold off on the command for Braver's uncontrollable speed. There would be plenty of time to use it later in the lap, including on the big jump. "Get ready, buddy..." Josh briefly took his hands off the reins to pat the fire-type before squinting in focus. His muscles tensed, the Leader was forced to have Braver employ strategic braking toward the end of the switchbacks before the big jump.

The gallery sounded raucous applause and whistling as Nana's legs blurred with the EXTREME SPEED the species was known for. They roared much louder when they witnessed the determined Arcanine seemingly transcending the species' limits. The species was not known for being able to make sharp turns, yet here Nana was, slicing through them at whiplash-inducing speeds. It seemed to defy the laws of physics. The bond between those two had to be something special. Something extraordinary. After navigating the final turn at blistering speed, Matt may have been able to hear an announcer-like voice clip from the Gym's sound system, shouting, "Pour it on! You're way out in front!"

Josh's two Arcanine picked up the pace, his Pokémon ready for the reversed turns on the final lap. The two of them adapted quite easily, Braver cresting every turn with precision that reflected the rider's immense skill. Mystic's and Clyde's superior cornering saved them from wiping out in the last sharp corner due to poor form coming into it. They were still in the race, but they weren't going to be able to compete with Nana. The only Pokémon that had the real estate to catch the challenger was Craggro. And he had a lot of work to do to get there.

After a brief but fairly steep uphill straightaway was the titular Aero Dive. Part of the beginning of the ramp had been retracted, meaning the racers would have to jump their Pokémon a bit farther this time! With the power of Quick Attack at their avail this time around, that wouldn't be a problem, as long as the teams had the foresight to conserve their Pokémon's stamina...and their own, with how much faster the bumpy ride at the bottom would be coming!

Target Number: 95 (Speed)

Special: Pokémon that miss the Target Number by 30 or more will instead receive a flat -150 TP penalty for landing OFF COURSE due to coming up short on the leap.

Matt felt his face going numb, along with his legs, and his arms ached with agony. But he would bear through this pain. Grit through it. Prove Josh wrong. Prove him all wrong, that he wasn't some dumb kid. He was something who would overcome anything he was told he could not do.

But still, so me of this relied on luck. As the incline came, Matt held off praying the speed boost from before would keep them ahead, so when they landed they could kick in the last boost to whiz over the finish line.

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Josh Devlin

The entire race had led up to this moment. It was in this moment where Josh would observe if the bond Matt shared with Nana, as well as the trainer's skill and grit, were truly worthy of the Hoenn League's Quick Badge. He waited for one of his best friends to call out the command for Nana to enter the most extreme of Extreme Speeds... but that call never came. If there was one place to take advantage of Nana's blistering speed, it was here. Was he truly worthy of the Badge, after all?

Shaking his head, Josh firmly held Braver's reins and sharply squeezed the enormous dog's sides. "Alright, Braver, EXTREME SPEED!" he commanded, all three of Josh's remaining Pokémon following suit with similar moves of their own. Different moves, of course, but for a similar purpose. The Leader braced himself for a rough and tumble ride that was about as intense as an Arcanine could possibly get. There was a reason he had scheduled this one last out of all his challenges. Every muscle in his body was going to be sore by the end of this one.

Matt's decision to hold Nana's Extreme Speed back very nearly cost the duo the race. Nana's leap was egregiously mistimed, simply running off the platform and falling toward the downslope far below. Thankfully for the challenger, she had just barely enough raw speed to make it over the big gap without leaping at all, though she tripped over the front of the ledge serving as track bounds. She bucked and swerved about to try to get her balance back, the sound of EXTREME SPEEDs and other lightning fast moves being discharged from above.

The same announcer-like voice that was egging him on to go faster cried, "Watch your back!" as the WILD CHARGE-powered Craggro had completely chased Nana down. The two fought fiercely for the lead, the Hisuian Arcanine ultimately edging her out for first place. What made matters worse for Matt was that the rest of Josh's Pokémon had substantially closed the gap. Furthermore, they would have the momentum from their previous speed moves to carry them toward the finish line faster. There was a third factor, as well, and that was the human factor. The human body was clearly not designed to withstand this kind of speed for so long. Any one of those three, or any combination, could make the difference between a win and a loss!

The home stretch was all that remained, an official standing near the starting arch and waving the checkered flag. There was little risk of an accident on this straight sprint to the finish! Now was the best opportunity for the three Arcanine, and the rest of the Leader's Pokémon, to give it everything they had!

Target Number: 0 (Speed)

Matt knew his mistake, but it wasn't one he was going to let down easily. He ignored the arcanine that passed them, edging Nana on. "One more." He ordered. The canine howled, as her Extreme Speed kicked in and she dashed forward like the blur of speed she was.

Matt was going to go all out this last stretch!

_R|yn6IX


Josh Devlin

Braver's legs were a smooth blur immediately coming out of the final tight turn. He had a big momentum advantage on Matt and the rest of his own Pokémon, but the combination of time to make up and the lack of real estate meant it might have been too late. There were no more turns: just a straight-line sprint to the finish. He was already at the end of one burst of Extreme Speed from his fire-type mount. He know how fast Quick Attack chains could get: using the move one after another multiplied its effect, though at diminishing returns with each added speed boost. He was about to go faster than he had ever ridden a land Pokémon before. The more he thought about it, this might even be faster than Raikou unaided by Boosts of its own. This was going to hurt... but he needed to get through these pains if he wanted to command the electric tiger of his dreams.

"One more time, Braver! EXTREME SPEED!"

The Arcanine's acceleration blasted Josh backward further, wind flying toward his aerodynamic suit like that of a supertornado. It was a baby EXTREME SPEED chain of just two moves, and it was already overwhelming. The speed was paralyzing, even. Josh's strength was mostly used to keep his posture aboard the Fire-type whose legs bore the illusion of being still in the center of their blurs from their raw stride rate. Still, faster and faster they went, Josh internally screaming from feeling like he was going to be torn apart from how rapid and powerful Braver's strides were.

The five Pokémon gave the home stretch every bit of energy they had... perhaps even too much, in Braver's case. In Josh's desperate bid to get himself out of last place, he had overheated, BURNing UP and losing almost all his speed. To the Leader, it felt like Braver was slamming on the brakes. It was also starting to get very hot inside his suit, his mount radiating a great deal of heat. Nana and Josh's other three Pokémon were a bit more reserved, getting to the cusp of overheating but crossing the finish line before burning themselves out.

After the fire-types had cooled down, Mystic stood next to Josh on the main battleground's green, the race's winner, Craggro, standing in between Clyde on his left, and Matt with Nana, his Arcanine, on his right. The Gym Leader approached Matt with a clenched right fist. "You have shown me not just once, but many times, that two Pokémon of the same species can have very different capabilities. We had spoken over and over about how you had been working on your Arcanine's cornering, even sacrificing some of her raw speed to do so. The way you handled her today was incredible. It is regretful, painful, even, that I..."

He stepped onto the hidden second-place podium the challenger was on as Clyde's rose to a height of two feet, adorned with a blue number 3. Immediately afterward, the one Matt and Nana rose to a height of three feet, adorned with a purple number 2. Finally, Craggro's pedestal rose to a height of four feet, adorned with a yellow number 1. A virtual fireworks display in a bust of the Hisuian Arcanine overlaid the main screen.

"I'm just teasing you, Matt!" Josh had to get back at his racing rival for all the times he had given him a hard time. "It seems you forgot one minor detail. You didn't have to win the race. All you had to do was beat me to the finish line, and you did that handily." He flipped his fist upside down and opened it, revealing the Gym's Badge in the palm of his right hand. "The Hoenn League Quick Badge is yours now. Wear it with pride. You and Nana, your Arcanine, shall be enshrines in the Gym's list of Qualified Racers as champions." As Josh extended his hand, a big commotion was rippling through the stands--was that Stacie, Matt's mom, fighting through the crowd to get to the track's green and even tussling with a security guard? Surely that was not going to end well...!

Matt was... disappointed. Almost angry, but he looked to Nana. Who looked far more disappointed in herself for failing her trainer. Matt patted her mane, softly sighing. "Sorry.." He told her, feeling it was half his fault.

It wasn't until Josh came up, Matt giving him a weary smile. "Yeah.." The mumble, blinking as he soon came up and... offered the badge. "Huh?" Staring at it, he looked up at him, smiling and taking it. "Didn't think I earned it... so thanks." He went to pin it to his vest, pulling his visor back...

"....Id on't know that lady." He meant his mother.

Josh Devlin