The Great Desert of Hoenn brought back a lot of traumatic memories for Josh. He had trained on controlling the Z-Moves of both his Luxray and his Manectric: HYPERSONIC PLASMA CHARGE. He needed to have precise control over them to activate the beacon that would have warped 99943 METENO to Sea Hoenn, saving their own universe at the expense of another. All of that practice went out the door as the League Commissioner conscripted him to fight on the meteoroid's surface that day. That left the beacon activation in the hands of his most trusted Gym Teainer, SHAWN RICHARDS, who had trained just as hard as he did for that critical moment.

The two would leave that moment behind them by putting their racing skills to the ultimate test. With how wide open the desert was, it might be the only place the two of them could do the reckless thing they were about to do. It was already blistering fast, even with the reduced speed of sound on the meteoroid. On Hoenn's surface, the dueling HYPERSONIC PLASMA CHARGEs would be true to their name.

The two riders, Josh aboard Saber and the taller Shawn aboard Blitz the Luxray, were dressed in racing attire from head to toe. Visors locked in place, the two turned their heads toward one another and gave each other a thumbs-up. Spurring their electric mounts into a swift run, their acceleration was smooth... for now. Once the two were clear of the main roar and into the Great Desert proper, the two found a straight line that would take them to the Route 112 side, took deep breaths, then cried in unison amidst their Z-Poses:

"HYPERSONIC PLASMA CHARGE!!!"




There was no target for the Z-Moves. The Mauville trainers' skin tingled as lightning bolts danced around the two electric-types during their harsh, violent acceleration. Josh's and Shawn's bodies were shaking just as strongly, the Manectric's and Luxray's legs no more than blurs as though they were using EXTREME SPEED.

This was pure, unadulterated speed. And it was fast.

Josh and Shawn both let out loud screams of half bliss, half terror as the two could barely see in any direction but straight forward. Even those screams couldn't be heard over the twin sonic booms. The silence that followed was a sign that they had exceeded the speed of sound. All that was visible to outside observers were two comets shrouded in electricity. Neither rider dared to shift their mount's direction even slightly; they feared the surreal magnitude of resulting g-forces would instantly fling the duo off. And at the speed they were going, it would get ugly. Fast.

For the most part thus far, the trek was a pretty ordinary one - even if the pokemon that pack was trying to track down was anything but. Though they'd briefly linger to look at the different sights of the desert that they'd pass by - the remaining fragments of some ruins, a cluster of cacnea, a talonflame passing overhead... The pack moved ever-forward, eager to see what had Ettie just so excited.

Thus far though, though the trail was still present, there were no signs that they were getting any closer to their quarry.

But, their exploring and hunting would soon be interrupted by the distant sounds of twin booms. Or, at least, they thought the sounds to be distant. The sound startled the pack, bringing them to a stop as they glanced about in an attempt to see the source. However - they'd soon see twin beams coming from just over a dune back the way the came, off towards the horizon. And these beams, safe to say, were approaching fast.

Realizing the danger for what it was, Anne would bark a command to the pack and - diving forward - picked up Ettie, to bring her out of the path of whatever this ambush was. "Wh-huh?!" Ettie yelped in surprise, alarm clear in her eyes. The rest of the pack would scatter to the sides, meanwhile - eager to avoid being trampled by whatever in the world this was. It was nothing they'd ever seen before..! "F-Fast?!?"

Josh Devlin

The duo of Mauville Gym representatives rode out the wave of strong, mixed emotions, alongside perhaps an overdose of adrenaline, that came with the ludicrous speed from the discharge of PRIMAL ENERGY. And to think, that was just practice. If his dreams were to be believed, Raikou was capable of that, too. Only even faster. Even from that brief run, Josh's head was thumping.

The maelstrom of lightning left the two as the high of the discharge wore off, the two electric-types coasting across the desert and letting the breakneck speed wear off slowly. They had looped around the site of the Epoch Ruins once before they felt comfortable enough with their control of Saber and Blitz to approach Ettie and slide to a stop near them. "Oh, hello Ettie!" Josh greeted her pack. "Fancy to run into you out here! This is Shawn, my second-in-command at Mauville Gym. He's getting into Pokémon racing on his own, too!" The slightly shorter young man was still too dizzy to respond. After all, he was easily pushing the limits of his own body during that reckless run!

Once he had greeted the rest of Ettie's pack and had finished catching his breath, Josh procured his TERA ORB and hopped off his Manectric's back. "Ever seen one of these before?"

In the wake of the duo, sand was kicked up every which way - and the pack would collectively shake themselves off, Anne staring off in the direction of the twin beams with clear bewilderment. What in the world had that been? Was that from a couple of pokemon, or something else..?

(Duchess, wrinkling her nose, would begin to have a brief sneezing fit from the sand - bringing a paw up to try and wipe away the grains.)

Off in the distance though, the pack watched as the light gradually faded - somewhere just beyond the ruins. But, then the duo begin to circle back around - and as they approached... Ettie's eyes lit up in recognition. "Josh! Friend!" She'd cheer in greeting, hopping down from Anne's back to approach the two gym trainers. Duchess was happy to join in the greeting - yipping happily and bouncing about as she approached.

At the introduction of Shawn, Ettie would peer to the young man in question with a hue of curiosity, before nodding. "Hello Shawn! Friend! Am Ettie!" She spoke, introducing herself with a bright smile. Though, he looked kind of dizzy - and tilting her head a little, she'd glance between the two, before asking "... Is Shawn-friend okay?"

Once introductions (and checking in on Shawn) was out of the way though, Josh presented Ettie with a Tera Orb - something that made Ettie blink curiously. "Ooh... Shiny..." She murmured - reaching a finger out to gently poke it. Princess, too, would regard it with vague curiosity - the little Snubbull cocking her head. It had a bit of a crystalline shine to it, one that almost made Ettie think of...

"... Oh! Right! Josh-friend! Shawn-friend!" Ettie spoke up, remembering what the pack had been up to. "Ettie and pack! Following glowy-shiny pokemon! Like shiny rock!" She explained, gesturing animatedly - trying to seemingly gesture out some approximation of what the pokemon was, but... At the same time, she just could've been excited. Tilting her head though, she'd glance to the ranger and ask "Josh-friend Shawn-friend see glowy-shiny-rock-pokemon?" Maybe they'd seen where it was, or otherwise had seen something like it?

Anne - seeming keen on providing some actually helpful information - would let out a gentle 'whuff' to get Ettie's attention, before drawing a line in the sand, which...

"Oh, yeah!" Ettie chirped in response - catching on and crouching down in the sand, she'd begin to attempt drawing the pokemon that she had seen. "This!"

Josh Devlin

Running into Ettie again was a nice surprise! "Oh, hello again!" Josh replied to the young female's friendly greeting, Saber and Blitz panting after the discharge of both electricity and PRIMAL ENERGY that left them spent for the time being. Shawn looked like he was going to fall out of Blitz's saddle at any moment...or would have, if his lower body wasn't wrapped in a cocoon like Josh's also was. Normally, he wouldn't outfit the electric-types with them, but the two were still trying to get used to the terror, yet blissful thrill, that was being mounted during the fastest Z-Move the Mauville Leader knew to exist. Unbeknownst to him, there was one faster yet, but with the only potential user he knew about dead, he would likely never find out the truth of TACHYON TEMPEST.

"Don't mind Shawn; it looked like that HYPERSONIC PLASMA CHARGE took every bit of stamina he had." Even Josh was showing signs of being worn down from the tremendous whiplash even the slightest turns induced in him. As it turned out, the human body was not designed to withstand that kind of speed. Even his Arcanine's EXTREME SPEED paled in comparison to the electric comets that Saber and Blitz became in that moment. The crystallized surface of the TERA ORB was rigid to the touch. "Careful not to cut yourself on one of its corners!" Josh warned, speaking from experience when handling it without his gloves on previously.

What Ettie described resembled a transformation Saber had made in the battle against the Deoxys that flew alongside 99943 METENO. "Oh, you mean this?" He raised the TERA ORB above his mount's head, PRIMAL ENERGY flowing around the duo. The TERA SHARD embedded in the electric-type's tuft glowed a bright lavender, as well as the sphere in the rider's hand. Moments later, both suddenly stopped glowing. "It's not working!" He swapped the TERA ORB to his other hand and raised it closer to where the TERA SHARD was located, only to get the same result. He undid the cocoon he was harnessed to his Manectric with, dismounted, and repeated the process while standing a safe distance from his Pokémon, again with the same result. "Why isn't he Terastallizing...?"

Ettie's eyes lit up in recognition, at thr reasoning for Shawn's current state. Though she didn't wholly understand this 'Hypersonic Plasma Charge' - besides it potentially being what had them going so fast - the idea of going at such ludicrous speeds definitely seemed dizzying to the wildchild. "Ooohhh...." She'd murmur thoughtfully, before glancing over to the gym trainer in question. Approaching him, she'd reach up the best she could to give Shawn a comforting pat, saying "Friend rest lots!" He'd feel better in no time, she was sure, if he took it easy for a bit.

The tera orb, however, was certainly a curious item. Josh's warnings may have ended up being slightly too late - Ettie making a soft, surprised noise as her fingertip was nicked on one of the sharp edges... But the resulting cut ultimately added up into being a paper cut, and she'd pop her fingertip into her mouth to suck on it briefly. "Why sharp...?" She wondered out loud - furrowing her brows thoughtfully. There didn't seem to be much reason to make it sharp, right? Unless... you were meant to throw it at your enemy?

But it seemed that Josh had another idea - because he'd bring up the Tera Orb, with the plans to put its actual function to use! As Primal Energy began to swirl about the duo, Ettie's eyes lit up with excitement, and she'd point, saying "Yes! That glowy-shiny! Same glowy-shiny!"

... However - just as suddenly as Josh had begun whatever the process was, it had ended abruptly - with seemingly no clear reason why. Ettie blinked; cocking her head from one side, and then the other, like the confused pup that she was. "What happen...?" She wondered out loud, stepping closer to try and eyeball both Saber's Tera Shard, as well as the Tera Orb. Was something not working as it should...?

Maybe Saber just wasn't feeling up to the task? "Friend dizzy-tired?" She'd ask the manectric in question, idly scritching the electric wolf behind the ear. "Want rest?"

Haru would approach as well - even if somewhat timidly - the Braixen glancing to the Tera Orb with intrigue... Did she want to figure out this strange new object, too?

When Shawn was ready to dismount, able to feel his limbs again after going so fast he couldn't hear anything, he asked the Leader to recall Blitz, who clearly needed a rest. "Tera Orbs are still being researched," Josh explained. While most of what he told Ettie was information regurgitated from his trip to Lilycove with illeana reyes and Eva Morales after they had tracked down a likely location for Twilight's replacement ABSOLITE, bringing up their discoveries and discussion was enough to think of a reason why. "Right! From what we understand so far, Terastallization, Z-Power, and Mega Evolution all use the same energy source, this Primal Energy." Having recovered enough to stand on his own two feet, Josh also withdrew Saber after Ettie played with the electric-type to her heart's content.

"Every Pokémon has a reserve of it. Even if they can Terastallize, a discharge of Z-Power, such as those HYPERSONIC PLASMA CHARGEs, exhausts that Primal Energy." Because Blitz did not have a TERA SHARD embedded anywhere in him, there would be little point in testing the TERA ORB on him. "I do want to try this with one more Pokémon, though. Resheph!" The Gym Leader tossed the Dragonair's Poké Ball above his head, a tiny, deep blue TERA SHARD embedded in the weather orb around her neck. She twirled around Ettie and her pack, getting perhaps uncomfortably close to her face and letting out an excited coo. Like the rest of Josh's Pokémon, she wore special riding gear. Wouldn't riding a Dragonair, being a serpentine Pokémon, be both challenging and dangerous? Not in Josh's eyes - he had more than enough skill to handle the undulating dragon's flight!

Josh raised the TERA ORB in his right glove toward Resheph, PRIMAL ENERGY flowing outward from it. Unlike the lavenders, this time the discharge was a deep blue. Josh flinched when the Dragonair became encased in a brilliant crystal, Resheph's body vibrating madly for a few seconds to break out of the Terastal crystal. Her entire body glowed the same blue as the crystal she had been temporarily encased in, the weather-controlling jewel on her neck changing form to a water droplet. A crystallized fountain of water exploded from her head. "Interesting!" Josh gasped. When Saber Terastallized, he sprouted crystallized wings and could fly. With Resheph, though, the color of the crystal, as well as the shape of the TERA JEWEL, was totally different from his other Pokémon. One thing was common between them both, though: Terastallization, even post transformation, gave off a lot of light.

Ettie tilted her head a little bit, at the different terms that Josh was dropping on her. Terastallization, Z-moves, Mega Evolution...? "Ettie not know..." She spoke, her confusion plain to see on her face. Though she could understand that they're all fueled by this 'primal energy', whatever it was... She still didn't wholly get what they were, otherwise! At best, she knew that Z-Moves were stronger moves that some pokemon could do, and the Tera-whatever stuff looked as though it was related to the pretty-glowy-shiny stuff. It was all pretty complicated for the young girl, though - especially given that she'd only recently been exposed to these odd phenomenons... A lot of this wasn't something she usually had to learn in the wild!

The further explanation - that Saber couldn't Terastallize because he had already used up his energy in the Z-move - was a little easier to digest though, even if the subject at large was still beyond her. So she was kind of right - he was just tuckered out, and that's why it didn't work! Saber just needed some rest, and then they could try again, surely.

But in the meantime, Josh would bring out Resheph - and with the elegant dragonair, he'd once more attempt to Terastallize. The Primal Energy begun to swirl about the duo once more - the same brilliant shine that Ettie had seen from that mystery wild pokemon before. The pack watched on in awe as the dragonair was enveloped in crystals ever so briefly - before bursting free, like a butterfree emerging from its chrysalis. It was a dazzling display, one that was met with clear admiration. "Pretty..." Ettie breathed, ever so softly. The dragon had become like a beacon in the night, with her gentle yet brilliant glow - azure like water.

Clearly enthused by it all, Ettie would now turn her attentions to Josh - her gaze wide and eager. "Ettie try?" She wanted to make her pack all shiny-pretty-glowy, too! She wanted to see what they thought of doing what Resheph just did! Surely it'd be easy, if Josh was able to do it just like that, right?

This was the power of the Terastal Phenomenon. While it was still not fully understood, Josh at least understood how to use it at will now. "Shawn, Ettie, can you two help me with a little experiment?" he asked. "Be gentle about it, but I want you to strike Resheph here with as many different types of energy as possible. Not all at once, but one at a time. I want to see how she reacts to them after she has Tersatallized." Though he wasn't quite sure how to articulate his plan as a veil of water flowed around the crystal shell surrounding the Dragonair, he was particularly interested in see how the energy that normally interacted with Dragon Pokémon, such as Dragon-type attacks, interacted after she Terastallized. "Did you bring the Gym Pokémon I asked you to bring?" he asked Shawn.

"Yes, Leader Devlin," Shawn answered, having Ares, Crash, Yosei, and Nitro with him. The Charizard, Boltund, Salamence, and Gogoat would be a good start. It wouldn't be all he wanted to test, though. What would Ettie have to bring to the experiment, if any Pokémon? He would have time to get the answer for that question later.

"Josh is fine," the Leader replied. "You don't have to be so formal around me, you know!" With that, his most trusted Gym Trainer sent out Ares, a Charizard wearing riding gear designed for a flying dragon. Did every single one of his Pokémon wear a saddle and bridle? It sure seemed like it. At Shawn's command, the orange dragon backed up, inhaled, and spewed FLAMETHROWER toward the Dragonair at the very edge of the attack's range. The fire-type attack was mitigated, but in a vastly different way than before Terastallizing. Rather than the heat simply bouncing off the serpent's scales, a sizzling noise filled the air as Resheph found herself within a veil of steam. "Fascinating," Josh voiced his thoughts aloud.

Ettie couldn't help but deflate a little, at the lack of proper response to her remarks and questions. She supposed it was okay - Resheph was really pretty right now, and she'd be pretty distracted by something like this too if a packmate became all glowy-pretty-shiny! Who wouldn't want to just spend all day, admiring that beautiful glow, and watching the sinuous snake move through the air like a figure skater?

... She still kinda wanted to try doing it too, though... Maybe she could borrow the orb, when Josh was done with this stuff? (Though her idea of 'borrowing' might be slightly different from Josh's, even if she had every intention of giving it back afterwards.)

But in any case - Josh wanted some help in teaching something, namely in how Resheph might react to different kinds of attacks. Ruffian would perk up visibly at this - the pup clearly relishing the chance to tussle... But, the clarification that they had to be gentle would make the lillipup grumble - his enthusiasm for this disappearing just as quickly as it came. Figures, he wouldn't get a chance to go all out...

But Ettie, on the other hand, was plenty eager to help. "Okay! Ettie help!" She spoke with a bright smile - glancing over to the pack. Who should go first... "Anne try?" She'd suggest, patting the lycanroc's side.

Anne would regard Resheph thoughtfully for a few moments - looking the dragonair up and down... Before nodding, stepping forward towards the dragon(?)-type with a gentle chuff. If they were being gentle, and if Resheph was willing, then she could oblige. Hunkering down briefly, she would take a position as if preparing to pounce...

... Before suddenly darting forwards, in an Accelrock! She would scrape her pointed mane and claws against Resheph in a well-measured glancing blow as she passed - being mindful to not truly pierce the scales. Anne may favor strength over speed, but she knew her strength very well - especially for playing with rambunctious packmates.

And as she skidded to a stop at the opposite side of the dragonair, Anne would turn around before darting in once again. But this time, she'd snap her teeth forward as she came in close, nipping at Resheph with a Crunch just hard enough for her fangs to scrape. This up close though, the lycanroc couldn't help but note the humidity that Resheph's scent gave off right now - something that the wolf found quite strange, to say the least...

Anne's ACCELEROCK and CRUNCH, with the Lycanroc holding back, left mere scratches on the water-covered crystal; if anything, the Rock-type may have felt a little cold from the water running over her as she attacked. "Nothing out of the ordinary so far," he noted aloud. "Thanks, Ettie!" Resheph looked excited, a fountain of water spraying backward from her AQUA TAIL swishing back and forth, discharging excess PRIMAL ENERGY that made her Tera Jewel glow a deep blue once again. Josh was too busy conversing with Shawn to notice it, though.

"Alright, how about we try it with Crash next?" the Leader asked.

"Sounds like a winner!" his top trainer replied, withdrawing Ares and sending out Crash, a saddle-wearing Boltund that stuck its tongue out panting when he beheld the Terastallized Dragonair. "Crash, use SPARK at minimum power!" Surrounding himself in an electric sphere, the speedy canine dashed toward Resheph. Flinging himself at the serpent, Resheph sounded a loud screech on contact, electricity arcing all over her crystallized body.

"Wait, what? Dragon-types are supposed to be resistant to most energy attacks. What in the world...?" Shawn gasped.

"I'm just as confused as you are, buddy," Josh added. "You okay, Resheph?" She was breathing a bit heavily, but nodded in approval. "As long as you can handle it, I'd like to try other energy types. Please let me know if it gets to be too much. I don't want to hurt you... you know?" She let out another coo, trying to tell Josh not to worry so much for her. Ettie may have been able to tell!

Another strange thing to note, was the water running down from Resheph. Anne couldn't help but make a displeased grumble from the sensation of the water - shaking herself off as she backed away from the dragonair, even if she didn't necessarily get soaked. The lycanroc had a distinct dislike for getting wet though - even beyond how most rock-types shied away from water-types. Sitting around in the rain, going through a river... No thanks, in her opinion.

But nonetheless - when Resheph was struck by the Spark, the pack would react with collective alarm and confusion. Was she okay? It seemed like that hurt a lot more than it should've - but... At the very least, though Resheph was winded from the strike, she seemed okay - though Ettie would still take the time to pat the dragonair. "Rest if need, friend." She reminded Resheph, with a gentle smile.

But that did raise the question as to what to test next - and though Ettie took the time to look over the other pups with a thoughtful hum...

... Anne already had an idea of who should go next. Stepping over to where Princess had dozed off - leaning against a rock - she would nudge at the snubbull with her nose, chuffing gently. And as Princess stirred with a grumble, Anne would nudge her in Resheph's direction - the lycanroc's actions deliberate.

"Oh! Yes! Princess!" Ettie spoke - her eyes lighting up as she caught on to Anne's plan. "Princess help!" Princess had plenty of different types of moves that she could use, after all!

Princess would lazily glance between her packmates, and then at Resheph - the Snubbull yawning briefly as she got up to her feet. She wasn't entirely sure about what was going on, or why the dragonair looked like that... But if Anne wanted her to use some moves, then she supposed she could do so before she went back to sleep...

Toddling up, Princess looked Resheph up and down - before deciding to, first things first, use Lick - lolling out her large tongue, before running it against the cool watery scales sloppily. (Which, she found it to taste like that mineral water that Ettie had gotten once.)

She'd work her jaw a moment thoughtfully - though when Anne 'whuff'd instructions at her, the snubbull followed them dutifully. Fangs taking on an frosty blue glow, Princess would lean in to nip at Resheph with an Ice Fang - briefly watching the dragonair's expression for any adverse reactions.

Finally though, came Princess' Play Rough - which... Though she wasn't initially sure how to be gentle when 'rough' was in the move's name, she'd settle on just flailing her little arms at Resheph, as if she were trying to have a slapfight with the serpentine dragon. Hopefully, this would suffice!

Josh Devlin

While the relationship Ettie had with her pack was quite different from the one Josh had with his Gym squad, the redonance was there, and the two started to understand they had similarly strong bonds with their partners. The girl's simple, almost stone-age-like talk was still jarring, but she did not need many words to effectively communicate. "Aww, Princess is adorable!" Josh cooed alongside Resheph as the Snubbull LICKed a small section of the Dragonair's wet, crystalline body dry temporarily.

The ICE FANG and PLAY ROUGH that followed told Josh all he needed to know; the Dragonair shrugged off both compared to how she would have before. Those would have knocked her out on their own if it weren't for her Terastal body. "That's fascinating!" the Gym Leader mused. "So when you Terastallize a Pokémon, the... what's even a good phrase for it... Crystal type... supersedes a Pokémon's natural typing."

The more Josh thought about it, the more his head spun. "As Tera Orbs get into the hands of more trainers, this is going to completely change how battles are done at the highest levels of competition." His battle with Elinor Anderson came to mind. Once scientists uncovered more information about Terastallization, the Pokémon Shedinja was about to become a massive ethics problem. With the correct combination of support, it was theoretically possible to make the ghost-type completely invincible. Perhaps an IAPL vote would be needed on its tournament legality.