With the tremendous demand for winter clothing in the aftermath of 99943 METENO, Josh, despite being a Gym Leader, was unable to secure so much as a heavy coat. His fall, blue Elite Ranger uniform was the warmest getup he had, and he would still freeze in subzero weather like this. It was, therefore, fortunate that one of the fastest Pokémon types was the fire-type, letting him prepare for his trip through the Icelands. Letting Simba run on his own, Josh buried his hands in the large Pyroar's heated mane. The big cat's gait was a lot bouncier than the Leader was used to, feeling like he was floating in the air for a split second with each of his ride's powerful strides. It felt good to be in the saddle of a Pyroar again. But it wasn't the same as riding the swifter Pyroar, his shiny albino one, Aslan.

Why did Aslan have to be in the hospital? Why did this have to happen?

Hearing Melody Miro 's shout, Josh shouted back, "Coming!" When he witnessed the Mamoswine roaring at the wild Tropius that were freezing their leaves off in the process of migration, he threw his Houndoom's Poké Ball in between the fighting parties. "Komainu, shove your FLAMETHROWER between them!" The black-furred canine let out a blood-curdling howl before charging toward the warring wilds and spewing a line of fire between them. The saddled dark-type gazed up at the woolly Pokémon with a death stare, doing everything he could to get the Mamoswine to back down.

Simba was second to arrive, Josh using shifts in his body weight to guide his mount toward the Tropius to serve as a heat source for them. "Ah, I must have missed you, Melody. Sorry about that." He looked below the Pyroar's feet, pointing toward pieces of ABSOLITE embedded toward the top of the ice's surface. "It's still here... Twilight's Mega Stone..."

When Cobalion appeared, Josh tensed up harshly; he suspected the Sword of Iron Will was still not on great terms with him after their last meeting. From what he had met of them, legendary Pokémon were either harsh allies or bitter, often lethal enemies. There was no in between. He had ridden multiple legendary Pokémon during and shortly after the Meteno crisis, and every single one put stresses on his body beyond anything he had imagined a Pokémon capable of doing.

It was only Melody instructed Josh to call back his attack that he realized the Mamoswine wasn't wild. That Mamoswine wss Melody's Pokémon! When he saw her withdrawing the ice-type, Josh set Simba's reins down and buried his face in his racing gloves, the KEY STONE embedded in the left one glinting in the sun. Without Twilight's ABSOLITE, though, it was a useless bauble. "I'm s-s-s-o s-s-sorry!" Josh stammered. "I mistook your Mamoswine for a wild Pokémon!" If Melody remembered their previous exchange, it would become apparent the reason for Josh's nerves was not his misunderstanding with Melody, but Cobalion's presence. The blue Pokémon's cold gaze chilled Josh to the bone. As much as he would have loved the privilege to go for a run on Cobalion's back, much like he had with the patrons of Eva Morales and Laurence Anderson , he felt that was never happening except in a life-or-death scenario.

While he didn't fully show it, Josh breathed an internal sigh of relief when Cobalion left. He wondered if it was all the Sacred Swords except Keldeo that disliked humans, or just Cobalion that had a beef with him. He had, a while back, floated the idea of meeting up with MATIAS SILPH to help him train his body for his meeting with Raikou by going for a run on Virizion's back. Meeting Terrakion would be awesome, as well, but getting in touch with kyle lopez for anything other than official business was impossible. He had to work hard just to get his run on Raikou's back that day he would never forget.

"Must be new to the team," Josh answered. "Komainu, my Houndoom, is also a newcomer to my own squad, and he's a bit temperamental, as well." Not wanting to risk losing control of the dark-type, Josh withdrew him. He was going to need Pokémon that were better at emitting latent heat to keep the Tropius warm anyway. Houndoom were not very adept at that. "Alright, Dashie, Ares, you're on! Try to keep the Tropius warm!" The Rapidash and Charizard that emerged from Josh's Poké Balls were much better behaved, though the former did make a single bucking and kicking motion upon his release. "You'll get your turn later. Simba, let's g-g-get them off this ice." There was only so much even the Pyroar could do to keep the inadequately-dressed Ranger warm.

Komainu wouldn't have appreciated the comment too much, being treated like a house pet; he saw himself more like a hunting dog. He was glad he withdrew the Houndoom when he did, otherwise Melody's remark might have set him off. "I'm not sure affection like that works on him. He's really aggressive. The way a racing dog should be, but I'm sure he'll learn what he can and can't do over time."

Josh whistled as he saw the size of the powerful fire-type insect. While he wasn't sure how well the blazing moth would do in a race, he knew of the species' power, the brief buzzing of its wings startling him as it started dancing and prancing around the ice-laden grass-types. With so many warm Pokémon surrounding them, the Tropius were able to pick up the pace, at last stepping off the NEVER MELT ICE proper and onto tundra-like ground. While it wasn't quite gone yet, once the ice melted from their fronds, they would be able to properly fly home.

"Any time, Melody! Gotta repay you for leading me to kyle lopez ! That's what the Mauville Rangers are for!" he cheered as Simba kept pace and formation with the myriad of fire-types. "Did I tell you that thanks to him, I got to live my dream and ride Raikou? It was absolutely unforgettable!"

"No," Josh answered, "but it sure felt real. Static running through my legs and arms, his storm clouds in my hands, everything about him felt just as real as the real thing would." Of course, he had no way of knowing what the real thing was like, but he had his ideas, and his experience matched those expectations.

"I about cried when it happened, too." He even shed a tear or two in front of her, which quickly froze on his face. "Kyle is such a tease. I asked him about going for a run on Entei first. That's what I came to him wanting. There would be no better preparing for my chase than experiencing the next fastest thing: a full speed run on Entei. He said Entei wasn't willing, then...did that. I had no idea he had that kind of power at his command!" It was nothing short of mindblowing the power the Great One had granted Kyle, and Josh had just seen the tip of the iceberg!

As the Tropius' wings had thawed out, some of them began to take off, Josh's fires-type filling in the gaps afterward to warm the other Pokémon up faster. It looked like they would all be able to make it back to safety. He was relieved that such a simple solution worked! "It was... nothing short of overwhelming," he admitted. "The start, and especially the finish. If you've ever ridden a rollercoaster before, you know you feel like you're being squeezed into your seat after it gets to the bottom of the big hill? Well, imagine that feeling but for about five times as long. That's what the start felt like. It's not that Raikou can't accelerate quickly. It just takes him so long to get to his top speed because his top speed is just that high."

As the last Tropius took off into the air, the duo reaching green, lush grass again, Josh continued. "And then, there's his EXTREME SPEED. I felt like I could have thrown up at any moment. It's not that his gallop is violent. It's just so rapid that it feels like you're floating on his back. Almost like... riding on a lightning bolt." It was hard for him to even describe what he saw, given his peripheral vision would have been a total blue from the scary speeds the electric legendary could get to.