Mauville Gym had changed a lot every time it was handed over to a new Leader. The Gym had one of the most storied histories in all of Hoenn, its Leaders forming a dynasty of highly influential League heroes. cait alfric . Katherine Fairburne . John Sullivan . All of them storied war heroes. Avatars. These were big shoes for Josh to fill. While he wasn't quite ready to fill a role that important yet, he was close. With the only Raikou that Josh knew dead (or best case scenario, missing), and kyle lopez letting Josh live his dream of letting him sit in the electric tiger's metaphorical saddle for the fastest run he'd ever been on, he had to move on. Perhaps Raikou was still alive and was still trying to reach out to him, but could not for an unrelated reason. He would never know. But he could not dwell on it, not with as much evidence as he had that Raikou had likely perished in the Kanto War.

Today was a Gym maintenance day for Josh; he had the place closed to challengers until January 2. He still had to be there to supervise the operations, though. As Katherine walked up to the front desk of the nearly empty office, the Leader's receptionist, Shelly, greeted the female. "Oh, Katherine Fairburne of the Elite Four! You need to see the Leader? He's overseeing maintenance being done on the Gym this weekend, and he won't be taking challenges until after the new year. I can let him know you're here, though!" With that, she sent a text to Josh to let him know there was a VIP present. It did not take him long to reply. "The Leader will see you now. Proceed out the back, to the Main Sector. He shouldn't be far."

And lo and behold, it would not be a long walk for the Malevolent to see Josh astride Blitz, his yellow-sheened shiny Luxray, wandering the vast Racing Grounds to make sure maintenance was proceeding smoothly. In addition to his in-house staff, there were a lot of outside contractors helping with the gargantuan job of repairing wear and tear to the courses. There was a particularly large group working on undoing the damage that Elinor Anderson and Kaida Adachi had caused with their giant rock and metal snakes. They were going to be added to the list of forbidden Pokémon for his racing challenge.

"Morning, Ms. Fairburne!" Josh asked, Blitz letting out a greeting purr of his own, the end of his rider's greeting line perhaps a little hard to understand. "What brings one such as a distinguished member of Hoenn's Elite Four to the Racing Grounds?"

The reason for the visit was clear at Katherine's mention of the assessment Josh had received back in October. Great. Yet another high-ranking League official wanted to fleece Josh for his battle incompetency. "That assessment is also from October," Josh added, trying to defend himself from what he suspected would be yet again scathing, belittling, perhaps even cutting remarks from his superior. "I'm actually due for another performance evaluation at the end of next week, and I can assure you, the numbers have been trending in the correct direction since. I'm sure you know Callan Young . He, Elinor Anderson , and the other Gym Leaders have exposed a number of flaws in my battle style."

Katherine was correct in every word with the information she had available to her. "That's correct. I got promoted back in September after several Gym Leaders retired." He sighed, having taken a tough loss at Rustboro not long ago. "Is one of them CIAN MAHER , out of curiosity? I went into his Gym earlier this month and left with not a Badge, but an important lesson I won't forget." He took a deep breath, still a bit nervous around the standing Elite Four member. "I want to show you some more recent data not accounted for in my report. How about we head to my office on the top floor? It'll give you a nice view of the Racing Grounds."

"One that's already showing in Gym match results," Josh bragged. It was true; the Councilwoman and multiple members of the Elite Four had personally trained Josh to be the best Gym Leader he could be. He was far less reliant on his Thousand Cut Joust than ever before; when he first started as a Major League Gym Leader, he used that high speed technique as a strategic lynchpin. though as his numbers started to slip under goal, it was becoming apparent to him that speed was not as much of a one-size-fits-all answer as he expected it to be. He hadn't used it on a challenge in three weeks, yet his Traditional Battle pass rate was not too far above League standards.

His confidence didn't make Katherine's red gaze any less intimidating; unlike Melody, Matias, and Callan, all of which had a friendly demeanor to them, this fourth member seemed to not know the meaning of the word empathy. She was, in his eyes, easily he most apathetic soul in the League's upper echelons of leadership. She was certainly not afraid to tell it like it was.

With that, the two arrived in Josh's office. He tilted his monitor so both of them can take a look at recent reports. "These charts are all reflective of match data taken after October 15, the day of the evaluation. While it's still not where the League wants it to be, you can clearly see I've been toughening up the battle challenge a lot." The Elite Four's training showed in Josh, too; after the day he acquired Callan's Stark Badge, there was a substantial, almost unnatural rise in win rates against challengers that sought to reverse his speed advantage through use of TRICK ROOM. It was a clear response to the report's suggestion of finding a way to handle the cited scenario.

An acknowledgment of his improvement was all he was looking for from the Elite Four in general. Improvement from an egregious deficiency was something that took time, and Josh had shown a vast improvement over time. If he could make that final push to get his battle challenge win rate to the high standard the League wanted it at, that would push him over the line from being a good Gym Leader to a great Gym Leader, such as the great former Gym Leader before him.

"It's almost there," Josh agreed. "And every other metric is right where the League wants it. I know how hard that final push is gonna be." He paused to collect his thoughts after Katherine Fairburne 's question. "There's still one that's been burning in my mind. I know this is gonna be a tall ask, but the last place I need practice is against Pokémon that are faster than mine. I know it has to sound comical coming from someone who calls himself the Master of Faster, but I've been consistently losing to trainers with Pokémon that can outrun mine."

He thought back to his battle at the Battle Arcade. "Ever since I battled kyle lopez that day in the fall, and his Entei made me feel totally outclassed in every way, I feel my improvement in that aspect of my battle skill has just stopped. I've got some approaches I've been meaning to test, but I don't get the opportunity to practice just because those types of trainers are so rare."

It was true; there had to be only a handful of trainers in all of Hoenn that had a team of Pokémon capable of beating him at his own game.

Katherine had a fair point; every trainer had their own unique battle style, and adapting to each challenger was one of the most challenging aspects of being a Gym Leader. As he listened, he would gain insight into what kind of battler the standing Elite Four member was. It seemed like he would have the speed advantage against all four, but they had to have been prepared for that. "While I no longer rely exclusively on it, it is something I battle with a heavy emphasis on, both personally and as a Gym Leader. There are plenty of trainers out there whose eyes just can't follow the action."

Josh's eyes widened as he heard the term Ultra Beast. "Wait, as in those things that are super dangerous and almost destroyed Slateport? It's hard to even call them Pokémon." Hearing the extreme speed the creature possessed gave Josh even more pause. "That's so hard to believe. After riding Kyle's Raikou-familiar earlier this month, I know how fast they can get firsthand. But I think that's a good idea. How about we head back down to the main sector and I show you Blitz, my Luxray. Even if he loses, this will give me good practice in trying to follow your Pheromosa's motions." If she agreed to the battle, he would lead her down to the Main Sector, where most of the facility's battle courts were located.

Katherine was right; as unusual as they looked and fought, not to mention how different rules of physics seemed to apply to them, they were still Pokémon. "They just look so much different than all the other Pokémon I've ever seen. It's made me wonder is all."

Josh's worship of the legendary Pokémon Raikou had blinded him. With so many new Pokémon species being discovered over time, it was only a matter of time before a Pokémon dethroned Raikou for the title of fastest on land. Once they had left the office, Josh sent out and mounted his shiny Luxray, leading Katherine to the main battle court. Once they were there, he hopped off, only then seeing the strange Pokémon he had never heard of. It looked insectile, but with the largest and sturdiest wings he had ever seen from any bug-type.

The Gym Leader backed toward the Trainer's Box, but did not bother arranging for the platforms to be lifted like a real Gym match. Blitz snarled, courageously shooting a menacing glance toward the Beast of Beauty. "Alright, we're ready!"

The alien insect, from the very start of the battle, went from zero to a dead sprint in a split second. Josh's penchant for speed was the only reason he was able to follow the Ultra Beast's movement, and even then, it was with difficulty. It was a curious creature, indeed; despite having massive wings the length of its body, which stretched parallel to the ground from the high speed it ran at, they did not seem to be used for flying. Josh briefly wondered how sturdy they were; with the size of the bug-type, could he hop on one? With illeana reyes having tasked Josh with researching all the rifts to begin with, perhaps he could catch one during his travels and at least give it a try. And even if it couldn't, it would still be a valuable weapon against Rocket.

For now, he had the battle to focus on, and it was clear how much of a speed disadvantage he was at. Even if he ordered Blitz to use Thunder Wave, it still wouldn't slow the Pheromosa enough to allow Josh back in his element. Each kick and whirl of the TRIPLE AXEL took a split second to execute, the Luxray only barely able to see his foe until it was right in his face and laying down a potent smackdown.

Having studied extremely evasive foes as part of his preparation for the Champion Assessment, he did have a retort, though; Blitz possessed an electric attack that even a Pokémon faster than Raikou wouldn't be able to outrun. "Blitz, use SHOCK WAVE!" he commanded, a large electrical pulse radiating outward from his black-and-gold feline.