Josh was almost fully recovered from the attempt on his life so many weeks ago. And yet, there assuredly would be more attempts on his life whilst in space. 99943 METENO loomed over the sky, even blotting out the sun on a daily basis for a growing amount of time every day, much like clockwork. Commissioner dahlia goode had conscripted him to the war effort, like most other Gym Leaders in the region.

Gwyar Wledig would be one of the last Gym challengers Josh would take on personally, leaving the place in the hands of his capable Gym Trainers. And he was going to enjoy it. The Galarian royal knight was indeed talented, both in terms of Badge quantity and in terms of racing skill, as was demonstrated during the 2022 Silph Cup pilot race mere weeks ago. He was excited that he finally had a challenger he could hold nothing back against. The course secretary Shelly directed the knight to wasn't the most challenging course on the property in terms of pure difficulty, but it may have been the most challenging course for a challenger to win against. It was a replica of the Leader's favorite course from Johto, cloned in painstaking detail. He wouldn't admit it, but this course boasted by far the largest budget out of any of his courses. Recreating this one was a big motivator for moving into Mauville City. He routinely defeated racers above his Class on this course.

It would only be thematically appropriate that the course be called Thunder Road.

If Gwyar thought Multiplex was diverse, Thunder Road was even more so. It would test everything. It had turns jagged as lightning. It had narrow roads. It had jumps. It had uneven, bumpy terrain. It had long stretches where Pokémon could even EXTREME SPEED without consequence. With how much Josh had raced it in Johto, he had every angle, every peak, every trough, and every other aspect of the course memorized. The course would test absolutely every skill he had. Furthermore, racing weather was far from ideal. Black, billowing clouds loomed above as rumbles of rainless thunder echoed above Mauville Racing Grounds. Was Josh going to postpone the challenge over this?

Hell no.

He also wasn't going to hold back the fastest electric Pokémon he had. The Gym Leader waved from the back of his Alpha-sized Jolteon, Blinky, who looked all fired up, ready to let the incoming storm propel her to borderline dangerous speeds. "Good afternoon, Gwyar!" Josh greeted the noble. "Again, congratulations on your third place finish in the big race! This is Blinky," he introduced the Jolteon with a careful scratch behind the ear. Even with his gloves, he was not fully immune to being poked by the electric fox's quills!

Three of Josh's Gym Trainers were also present, holding the reins of three of his other electric Pokémon, including one Gwyar was probably familiar with from the race. All three looked roughly the Leader's age, wearing goggles instead of having a helmet visor to flip over their eyes. Of course, they were all wearing appropriate safety gear. "This is Shawn, my top performer at the Racing Grounds," he gestured toward the tall, big-boned athlete. He certainly needed one of the Leader's sturdier Pokémon to be able to compete. "You might also remember Saber." The Manectric barked toward Llamrei in greeting. "The others are Blitz and Lyndon," he introduced the skinny one atop the Luxray, "and Crash and Duncan," pointing toward his Boltund. All the Pokémon were very large for their species, but Blinky was by far the most anomalous.

Josh began to explain how the challenge would work, having to pause for a loud rumble of thunder. "I'll keep thing short, since you might be familiar with the rules already. You'll be racing us against us four. See that arch near the starting line, the one with the digital display above it? It should be quite familiar to you. We line up there. The display will read and sound 3, 2, 1, GO. On GO, our Pokémon take off. Just like the big race, no boosting during the first lap. After the first lap, do it as much as you think your Rapidash can handle. Beat me to the finish line after three laps, or otherwise show me you can keep your cool despite the pressure of split-second decisions, and the Hoenn League Quick Badge is yours." He placed his right hand over his mouth briefly, posing much like a laughing cartoon character would. "I'm warning you, though! Thunder Road is my best course. This won't be easy!"

You will have 8 ranks to distribute among three skills. No more than 5 ranks can be assigned to any one skill.

• 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 next post, please note your Pokémon's distribution of skills.

You do not need to roll after your next 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 Points (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 Points will determine finishing order.

Quick Badge

We meet again, Josh Devlin.

"Hello again, Mr. Devlin." The blonde man said with a polite smile, lightly tilting his head towards the youth's Jolteon. "A pleasure, Blinky."

How quaint. Raki would've surely enjoyed the introduction, had he been there. Unfortunately, it was just him and Llamrei.

Last he had been in the track, he had lost at 3rd place. He had no intention of letting such a thing happen again.

"Ah, these are our opponents, then?" The man said shortly after Josh finished introducing the other racers, looking the young men up and down and smiling.

The one named Shawn, specially, he would need to keep an eye on, if Josh's words were anything to go by.

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, gentlemen. I shall see you all again at the finish line." He said as he swung himself atop Llamrei, the mare slamming her hoof against the soil experimentally before snorting.

"It wouldn't be worth doing if it were easy, my friend!" The man said with a laugh as they took their spots at the starting line, patting the side of his pokemon's neck before smiling confidently. "Llamrei did a little training on her cornerning work since the previous race. You'll find us to be quite a bit more agile than last time!"

Poor cornering had costed them a lot of time during the last race... Not this time!

---

Llamrei's Stats
Speed S, Endurance E, Reaction B

Just enough sunlight filtered through the thick clouds of the midday dry thunderstorm for the racers to be able to see, though a sudden flash of lightning would be bright enough to potentially disrupt a racer's concentration. Perhaps even Llamrei's as well; this was one of the reasons Josh audibled to all electric Pokémon for today's race. Even Lyndon and Duncan looked a little nervous about racing in the windy weather. Shawn, though, showed confidence; it was as though the second-in-command shared the same passion toward racing electric Pokémon as Josh did. If Raikou was to join Josh's cause, Shawn would be one of the first guest riders he would invite to hop on the electric Beast with him.

Once the Galarian Rapidash and all of Josh's crackling electric-types were lined up, three still images of the legendary Pokémon Raikou, running at top speed, appeared on the starting arch's wide monitor. Behind them was an orange "GET READY" prompt, the Leader and his lackeys tensing their legs to spur their mounts off the line at high speed. The first of the three depictions of Raikou began to fade alongside a loud squawk from the monitor's speakers. A second, then a third followed. When the final picture had completely faded, the prompt changed to a green "GO", with a longer-lasting, higher-pitched squawk an aural indicator that the race was starting. The four electric-types made low, swift leaps to rapidly get up to speed, Duncan letting out a loud grunt from not expecting his mount's thunderstorm-enhanced acceleration to be so intense.

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 opening thirty seconds of the course consisted of long straightaways ideal for getting up to speed, separated by four extremely wide, nearly right-angle turns: a left, followed by three rights. The sheer width of the course made it almost impossible to crash unless a racer deliberately tried, but it made rounding the corner ever more important; getting that far outside could cost entire seconds! The lane wouldn't be so wide forever, though; after the fourth turn, the course would narrow to three-wide! Better be close to the center of the track at the end!

Target Number: 0 (Speed)

Special: Each Pokémon will also apply half its Reaction ranks (no rounding) to this Obstacle as though they were additional ranks in Speed.

Quick Badge

We meet again, Josh Devlin.

GET READY!

He could feel the intensity in the air. Sweat began to gather in his brow as his grip on Llamrei's reigns tightened and his posture shifted. The clap of lightning did little to break the knight's concentration, the men around him slowly fading away to nothing, the track spreading out before him.

He was getting fired up...!

"GO!"

"FULL SPEED AHEAD!" Roared the blonde excitedly as he snapped at the reigns, Llamrei bursting forth with a spirited neigh.

What had been their place last time? Third?

Absolutely unacceptable results! This time, she was in it to win it! This time, the gold medal was hers!

"Speed is your game, Llamrei!" Gwyar shouted as the first straightaway spread out before them, eyes narrowing. "Make them eat our dust!"

---

t_qj|MiM

Llamrei's Stats
Speed S, Endurance E, Reaction B

It was clear that Gwyar and Llamrei had done a lot of practicing since their last meeting in the Silph Cup's pilot race. The Galarian Rapidash was fast off the line. Really fast. Josh had ridden his Manectric in that race, though he may not have been the best choice for the course, because it was the Pokémon he had the closest bond with. Saber was also practically the Gym's mascot Pokémon... that is, unless by some miracle, a Raikou from another universe, like MATIAS SILPH mentioned, were to find Josh worthy of a partnership. It was a hope astronomically unlikely to happen, but one nonetheless.

The difference between the Silph Cup race and this Gym Challenge was that Josh was on his very fastest Pokémon, at least in terms of sustained speed. A single mistake could have dire consequences, as the Jolteon was built for speed and speed alone. She was a rough ride at full speed, but when the electric fox put the pedal to the metaphorical metal, very little outside of a legendary Pokémon could catch her.

He was on his home course, in his element. Thunder Road, in a dry thunderstorm that would give his four electric Pokémon more speed than normal, meant the Leader would be racing at his peak. Gwyar would have to be absolutely on top of his game if he wanted a Badge today. "Hyah!" Josh cried, slamming his knees into the Jolteon's sides at the starting buzzer. With a crackling bark and a low leap that caused her rider to lurch back in the saddle, she gave chase along with the other electric Pokémon with Josh's Gym Trainers.

He knew the angles well enough that he was confident in utilizing Blinky's MAGNET RISE to drift dangerously close to the inside corner of each right-angle turn. If his timing was off by even a split second, Blinky would trip and lose almost all of her speed, or even get hurt! Once mount and rider were hovering inches above the course, though still affected by its terrain, Josh pulled sharply on Blinky's reins in one direction for a split second while also leaning in the opposite direction, "crossing the controls" and entering a very brief slide in an attempt to navigate each right-angle corner without slowing down.

The competition was fierce, the brave gallery cheering loudly as the Silph Cup competitors shot past the starting arch at speeds most casual observers would mistake for a burst of AGILITY. This was far from the case; the natural speed of the Jolteon and Rapidash was just that high. The two were neck-and-neck with one another, Bilnky doing her best to maintain the inside line, though Llamrei wouldn't let her.

The rest of the field weren't slow by any means, either, the dry thunderstorm causing electrical arcing among the mounts' sets of paws. Duncan and the Holtund he controlled struggled with angles on the sharp turns, the rider overestimating Crash's turning capability and finding themselves sliding toward the outside of the opening stretch. Knowing there was a place for the Luxray to speed up later, Lyndon held Blitz back, focusing on making sure the Luxray could swerve around each corner without losing too much time.

Josh's overzealous approach was costly; Blinky's front right paw grazed the corner of the final right-angle curve, the Jolteon letting out a yelp. He was forced to tug hard left on her reins to prevent a crash while the electric Eeveelution found her footing again. Llamrei, Blitz, and Saber all whizzed past him, the Leader neck-and-neck alongside Duncan. Gwyar had an early lead, but Josh's most trusted Gym Trainer and his Manectric were going to make him work to keep that lead!

NOTE: This Obstacle has more than one Target Number. Please indicate in your OOC notes which Target Number you are challenging.

Prompt: One of the course's titular turns loomed ahead, and fast: four rapid-fire, right-angle turns in the rough shape of a striking lightning bolt. Two approaches would work well for this unique challenge found nowhere else on official Federation race courses, and each came with their pros and cons.

The first would be to treat the whiplash-inducing turns separately. While less risky, the speed at which the turns came would flick the riders back and forth harshly without significant braking.

The second was that there was a small space between each pair of corners. If executed properly, it would result in taking much more shallow turns and be faster overall. The downside was the much higher degree of difficulty that came with it, on top of the greater consequences for failure. Tripping on one corner would likely send Pokémon and rider flying to the opposite corner of the next turn, resulting in an abrupt crash that could be race-ending for a team.

Target Number 1: 125 (Reaction)

Special 1: Pokémon apply only half their Speed ranks (no rounding) to this Obstacle.

Target Number 2: 140 (Speed)

Special 2: Pokémon that meet or exceed this Obstacle's Target Number gain 75 TP in addition to any normal TP gain. Any TP loss resulting from a Pokémon rolling beneath this Obstacle's Target Number is multiplied by 1.5.

Quick Badge

We meet again, Josh Devlin.

"Ahaha! Off to a good start!" Cackled the knight as they managed to take the first place.

But he knew he couldn't get too confident just yet— last time, he had taken the lead at the beginning as well. It didn't matter who started in first place. Hell, he could see the racers hot on his tail, eager to leave him in the dust.

"Not today...!" He huffed, gripping more firmly onto his reigns and lowering his chest against Llamrei's hackles. "Show them that we mean business, Llamrei!"

A spirited neigh left the mare's nostrils as she put the pedal to the metal, her confidence such that when she saw the two paths before her, she knew, instantly, that there was only one choice for her.

And it was the one that let her go full throttle.

"Houp!" Gwyar suckled in a sharp breath as the corners narrowed around them, firmly hugging against Llamrei. Risk and reward... time to see if the choice paid off!

---

Ondi6UrK

Llamrei's Stats
Speed S, Endurance E, Reaction B

Lightning illuminated the otherwise dark skies above Thunder Road, the inclement weather pushing Josh's electric Pokémon to run faster than they could under normal circumstances. The rest of the Leader's Gym Trainers were worried, never having trained to ride so fast on his Pokémon. While it wasn't ths first lap they were concerned about, the speed the electric mounts would get to after the first lap were scary to think about. Duncan in particular was worried about how fast Crash could bolt down the winding course.

Josh, though, had raced this course many times, whether in his homeland or on the property. He did almost all his personal racing training on this course, so he knew the angles well. He didn't just have his eyes on Blitz or Saber in front of him; the Jolteon's rider had his eye on Gwyar and his Rapidash, who looked like they were at the correct angle to take shallower turns through the lightning-shaped section of the course. It gave Josh a better visual cue for his own angle, though his line was more aggressive. He was ready to angle his mount's last turn dangerously close to the inside corner, leveraging the electric fox's superior speed to pass all three of them and get back where he belonged: the lead.

Cutting across the bolt-shaped turn's corners was one of the riskiest moved possible on the course, yet would pay off in one of the greatest ways if properly executed. It was one of the biggest reasons Thunder Road was such an exciting course, and one he begged the Federation to run a race at this year. No lead was safe, and this race was no exception. Josh and Gwyar had exceptional confidence that they could weave their mounts' reins back and forth with the precision needed to crest each of the four corners easily, as did Shawn with Saber. The two less experienced racers slammed on the metaphorical brakes, the loud skidding of paws filling the air between rumbled of thunder.

The two that took their time, despite a small kiss against the final outside wall from the Boltund, found themselves in great shape, ahead of most of the pack. The only one that they were behind was Blinky. The Jolteon and Gym Leader, having shown the fruits of their practice on Thunder Road, whipped past Llamrei and all the other electric-types, even able to correct from a minor skid as they flew out of the final curve at nearly full speed. That Jolteon of Josh's was bred for racing, and all of his fans knew it.

Saber, Llamrei, and the riders were not as fortunate as the Jolteon; the aggressive Manectric couldn't find the right line, bouncing off one of the inside corners and skidding into an outside corner, sparks flying from beneath his paws as the duo lost almost all their speed. Llamrei had overcut the final curve, Shawn wincing as he saw the Galarian Rapidash stub a hoof at high speed on the last corner of the four. Both of them were able to recover and get running down the next narrow straightaway against at about the same time, but they were now more than two seconds behind the Leader and his blistering fast Eeveelution.

Prompt: Seconds after the brutal, right-angle curves, the course narrowed to be only wide enough for three Pokémon to run. At the end of the narrow stretch was a big jump that it was important to get as much distance as possible, because the track below, while wide, featured mogul-like terrain its entire width. While there wasn't a common Pokémon out there likely able to clear all of it, the farther the leap, the less of the rough ground the Pokémon would need to handle!

Target Number: 135 (Endurance)

Special: Each rank in Speed adds 15 to your roll on this Obstacle instead of 10.

Quick Badge

We meet again, Josh Devlin.

Fortune was, as it turned out, not always with the bold. A most disheartening realization. As Llamrei released a pained neigh, Gwyar hissed alongisde her as he justled atop her, nearly thrown off as the mare struggled to maintain her balance at their speeds.

Fortunately, they were both nothing if not stubborn.

"Do not be distraught!" The man said as he patted his mare's side, hugging his body against hers and narrowing his eyes. "The race's just started, we are still in this!"

The ever stubborn Llamrei huffed at his words, regaining a bit more pep to her step as she began her furious chase. As if she needed the knight to remind her that! She had never been one to give up!

"Chase after them, Llamrei! Nothing but victory is in our destiny!"

---

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Llamrei's Stats
Speed S, Endurance E, Reaction B

Josh could faintly hear the crashing of, unbeknownst to him, a Manectric and the challenger. While their safety did come to the back of his mind, he trusted his medical crew could handle any accidents that required such attention. He briefly turned his head to look behind him before the course narrowed, keeping his Jolteon mount toward the center. No need to be extremely aggressive: the size of one's lead does not matter, so long as they simply maintain said lead.

When the narrow stretch straightened out, the section of track ending in a high jump leading to some rather bumpy terrain below, the Gym Leader tensed his muscles. He was ready to flick the Jolteon's reins just before she ran off the platform. "Floor it, Blinky!" She resisted the urge to enter an illegal Quick Attack, instead springing into the air at Josh's tactile command. It was gonna be one rough ride when they landed, though...

Llamrei's extremely high acceleration let the knight and unicorn recover much faster than Josh and his Gym Trainers did from the wicked corner. The Rapidash gained a lot of ground on Shawn and Saber, the Manectric frustrated that he was at the back of the pack by a wide margin. As Gwyar and his Pokémon were in midair, another bright flash of lightning, followed by a thunderclap that could have been startling, boomed over the Racing Grounds.

Most of the Pokémon caught the footing well on the uneven terrain, though Lyndon and Duncan were grunting loudly as the jostling became quite intense even for the trained Pokémon racers. Llamrei handled the moguls with ease; while it was still extremely bumpy and could have been rough on Gwyar, the equine gained a lot of ground with both a long leap and great footin.

Blinky, on the other hand, landed on the backside of a hill, the Jolteon and Gym Leader lurching toward the inside wall and scraping it. Even Josh let out a yelp, feeling the pinch of the impact softened by leg pads. The important safety precaution had just saved him from a nasty injury. The time loss was real; the Leader's Luxray and Boltund were right on his tail as the Pokémon rounded the course's last several curves, crossing the starting line. The second lap had begun, and the real test of speed tolerance would begin...

You Got Boost Power! Speed-increasing moves, such as QUICK ATTACK, AGILITY, and EXTREME SPEED are now allowed. Llamrei will be able to use such speed-increasing moves up to two 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.

Prompt: After the course's opening three curves, the track narrows to three-wide but remains relatively straight for a long time. For those confident in their ability to control their Pokémon in narrow lanes, it is a prime place to let loose with reckless speed, but passing is risky! Racers also need to heed the nasty right-angle curves coming after the long, but thin, straightaway!

Target Number: 115 (Reaction)

Special: Boosting does not impose disadvantage on this Obstacle.