Ugh, why Sootopolis of all places? There were a large number of unruly dragon Pokémon in League custody, Elites like Josh saddled with the responsibility of making them easier for newcomers to handle. They were among the most powerful yet the most fickle of Pokémon. Why the the League have to keep them all there, as well as their facility meant to help trainers open the door to the hardened hearts of many dragon Pokémon? All it took was one bad run-in with Team Rocket, who had the city overrun, and all those powerful Pokémon could end up in the syndicate's hands.

Plus, Josh was a Gym Leader, one of the League's paragons of battle. He would be such a juicy target. He had enough work to handle his unruly dragons and possibly other dragons at the facility. He would be starting with his own, of course. "Morning, Princess Elise," Josh called out toward the young lady, who had already arrived at the mountaintop facility away from the rest of the town. "I don't get why they assigned us to do this here, though," he muttered, releasing his entire saddle-wearing dragon squad.

They were all fickle but trustworthy, and some of them still had instinct the Mauville Leader would have preferred to train out. Verte in particular looked ready to go, the Flygon's wings churning at high speed, filling the surrounding air with a pleasant but loud hum. "We've got a lot of work ahead of us. Let's fly."

Josh didn't have an issue with training the League's dragons for them, or even getting his Gym Pokémon up to League standards. After all, to be approved for Ranger use, they did need to meet a minimum standard demonstrtaing their obedience. Several of Josh's dragons did not meet that standard, and Verte was one of them. "If you're going to break Verte in, might as well get this out of the way with Tiamat, too. These dragons have similar issues and I don't get why." The intelligence of dragon Pokémon was part of what led to them having big mood swings that some of the Leader's most ferocious dragons were.

Verte and Tiamat had less an issue with obedience and more an issue with not wanting to hold back their power. It may have become quickly apparent to Elise once she was secured in Verte's cocoon saddle. His warm-up turned into a bit more than what most Flygon needed, planting his feet in the ground and vibrating his wings in anticipation of taking off soon. It wouldn't be as bad once the duo were in the air, but while they were on land, the force behind the insect-like wingbeats reverberating through the ground and reflecting back onto his own body. It could have been anywhere from a strong tickle to a throbbing sensation, depending on how sensitive she was to it.

Tiamat didn't behave too much better after Josh harnessed himself into her cocoon; she looked like she wanted to enter EXTREME SPEED from a standstill, which would have handily knocked her trainer unconscious. Was she, perhaps, trying to practice discharging HURRICANEs instead? That was the only other thing he could think of that pushed a Dragonite's wings to hum. On Josh's signal, both of them took to the air with great agility.

"It's less of an issue with the Pokémon herself and more with me as a rider," Josh answered, "because she doesn't know how to hold back." It was a trait the Dragonite was quite proud of. She gave her all no matter what she was doing, even in situations where her all wasn't warranted. While the humming of Verte's wings wasn't horribly loud, and certainly not enough to necessitate earplugs like with a giant bug Pokémon, he did have to raise his voice to communicate with Elise... for now.

That didn't last long, though, as Verte did not want to be outdone by Elise's Noibat. His BUG BUZZing wings roared like a revving engine whose corresponding gas pedal was to the floor, doing what he could to stay ahead of the smaller dragon as they circled the white peaks of Sootopolis.

The competitive Tiamat, also not wanting to be outdone by Josh's Flygon, let out a roar that Elise may have been able to hear even over Verte's buzzing. Though it was uncommanded, Josh knew what was coming. He leaned as low as he comfortably could in his dragon's saddle, tightly clutched her reins, and prepared to feel like he was being flung out of a slingshot. The low, loud hum of Tiamat's wings vibrating wracked her rider's ears, the duo surrounded in the purple dragon energy of EXTREME SPEED.

"Might be a bit late for that!" Josh cried, Tiamat's wings disappearing from sight as he lurched back in the cocoon from the explosive burst of speed that created a sonic boom above the north seas between Sootopolis and Mossdeep. As fast as the Flygon was, there simply was no keeping up with Tiamat in the air. Mastema, his Togekiss, could give the Dragonite a run for her money, but the sacred dragon was simply the fastest of the four common ride Pokémon capable of using the move, making her incredibly valuable in aerial races with long straightaways.

Not only was Josh's vision greatly impaired from the blur of the high speed flight, but being cocooned up intensified the Dragonite's vibration from her wings beating fast enough to maintain the blistering pace of EXTREME SPEED. It was numbing, and reminded him of his ride on the Raikou-familiar's back. In his temporary paralysis, he wondered if the real thing would be identical to the experience the Top Champion gave him that day.

He started to regain feeling in his limbs after the EXTREME SPEED wore off on the way back from Mossdeep. The hum surrounding the duo disappeared, her wings now flapping about as fast as a small bird's as she returned to a more normal, but still swift, speed. Once they were above Sootopolis again, he wheeled his Dragonite to the back of the volcanic city, trying to avoid attention as much as he could. If Rocket found out who was atop Tiamat, he could wind up in heaps of trouble, as he was almost assuredly in Rocket's scope by now.

Landing back at the training facility, Josh sat astride his Dragonite for a couple minutes before dismounting onto legs that were still tingling some. Josh's Dragapult, Salamence, Garchomp, and Hydreigon were still ready and raring to go. He awaited Elise's return for her choice on the next round of flight.

Josh was still catching his breath on a nearby bench at the dragon training facility, He had learned how to keep his cool when doing barrel rolls, inversions, and other acrobatic maneuvers after extensive training with Alexei Ivanov , the face-melting speed Tiamat could display was a whole different matter. "That doesn't surprise me! They fly more like bugs than dragons, and when he tries, his wings can roar quite loud."

After taking a few minutes to catch his breath, Josh was ready for the next two. "Right, you said you wanted to learn flying on Sidewinder's back, did you?" It was a while ago, but the request jostled his memory. "I know you said you wanted to raise one at one point. This would be a great way for your to learn! Now I have to warn you," he continued as he got himself seated on and harnessed up to his Garchomp's back, "though he's as beginner friendly as can be, riding Dragapult is really hard because of how fast they can fly. They have the highest sustained speed out of any dragon Pokémon. Also once we're ready to take off, I won't be able to hear you even if we fly next to one another. Alphamax's little engines on the sides of his head get really loud, and I have to have earplugs in to try to curb the noise." With that, he got ready for takeoff, not giving the command for the Garchomp to spool up his engines until Elise was secured in the ghost-type's cocoon saddle.

Sidewinder's takeoff was effortless and seamless, as was expected for a Ghost-type. By virtue of being one of the only ghost-type ride Pokémon capable of free movement, Dragapult had a unique niche on his squad. The dragon was silent and fast, as Elise would find out from floating skyward and rapidly accelerating. Hopefully she was strong enough to resist its takeoff force and control Sidewinder's nearly limitless aerial agility!

Alphamax started running across the training facility's length, Josh spurring his dragon to higher and higher speeds to get enough lift under his wing-fins for takeoff. These runs may have been the most rough and tumble ride he had to regularly endure, with exception of perhaps Kokusho's unpredictable bucking frenzies. Too many takeoff and landing cycles in rapid succession would make the Master of Faster sore, which is why he had to limit how much he rode the Garchomp.

The takeoff was routine, Josh and Alphamax handily clearing the rear fence as his mount circled Sootopolis' inner ring to gain the altitude needed to soar past the island's bounds entirely. The Gym Leader exhaled as his mount's thrust dropped to a setting more appropriate for a high speed cruise through the sky. It was rough getting in the air and landing, but Garchomp was a buttery smooth flight in the air. "Alright, let's chase Sidewinder down!" Depending on how fast Elise wanted to push the dragon, he might have a hard time with that...

There was little that got the blood pumping more powerfully than flying on a dragon Pokémon. Though each flying dragon had a unique feel to it, Alphamax's bio-engines shaking his entire frame versus Sidewinder's smooth yet swift flight, they both offered the same feeling of freedom. That was indeed the joy of riding a dragon Pokémon, and it made him proud to be an honorary Blackthorn Dragoon. Or at least he thought he still was; he wondered if his membership had been terminated after having been away from Hoenn for so long. Whoops! He should have made a quick trip to Blackthorn when he was on vacation in Johto...

Alphamax's competitive nature led him to pour on the speed when Sidewinder had done the same at Elise's command, his already loud engines roaring to a deafening volume catching the attention of several Rocket patrols. As much fun as he was having, he couldn't let himself get identified in such hostile airspace. Hoping the royal would get the cue, Josh descended to the training facility he had taken off from, lining up for a tricky landing with very limited space to slow once the Garchomp touched down.