Josh's Gym lobby showcased his blatant love of the fast, the furious, and the king of land speed: the legendary Pokémon Raikou. If onyx straub was at all familiar with Johtonian myth, he would recognize the purple, yellow, and blue motif as the colors of the electric Beast. It was as though the entire Gym was constructed as a love letter to the now-missing Pokémon Josh suspected was dead, given his talks with the Top Champion and his trip to Johto confirming it. It was a busy day at the Racing Grounds, with well over a dozen appointments on the books.

Shelly was on vacation this week, leaving scheduler ANDREW WEISS working overtime. The young man behind the desk was in the middle of rescheduling some appointments when he was approached by one of Josh's scheduled challengers for the day. "Challenger Jett Black?" the short, black-haired man confirmed his appointment. "The Leader will see you now. Follow the signs all the way to the back of the Main Sector, to the moat arena. Good luck, and remember: with great speed comes great responsibility."

Provided Onyx followed the directions, indicated with ample signage, he would find the Gym Leader, Josh Devlin, carefully removing a saddle from the back of Blinky, his quite-large Jolteon, a Lanturn poking her head out of the nearby channel surrounding the large, circular, grassy battle court. A Dragonair and Kantonian Arcanine were also observing, their heads tilting toward the challenger. The Arcanine gave a greeting howl that attracted Josh's attention and made him fully aware of the challenger's presence.

"Challenger Jett Black?" the Leader asked to confirm. "Leader Josh Devlin, the Master of Faster himself!" He offered a handshake with his right hand covered in his racing glove. "Great to meet you! You're actually my last appointment before we close for lunch. These four are Blinky, Illumina, Resheph, and Braver. They'll be the ones you'll battle today for the official Hoenn League Quick Badge." The Jolteon let out a crackled cry that startled the Leader, still trying to remove her saddle. "Hold still, girl! Gotta get this off before your battle!"

Unlike many of the Leader's courts, this one was constructed to accommodate Water-type Pokémon, which was necessary for the Lanturn on his own side. Channels in the shape of a Poké Ball's outline ran along the court's bounds, the top half and bottom half of the Ball wide fields for Pokémon to run along and build speed. The most noteworthy detail about it was the lack of cover. Not one tree to hide behind. There was everywhere to run, but nowhere to hide.

"Alright, we'll pit our Pokémon against one another, two at a time. Defeat four of my Pokémon before I defeat yours, and the Badge is yours." Even the extra-wide Trainer's Boxes, rising above the arena via hydraulic lift once the Trainers were in position, were a bit of a tight fit for four Pokémon. The Dragonair and Lanturn floated above the Trainer's Box, the Arcanine and Jolteon sandwiching Josh as he explained the rules. "The challenger pits their Pokémon against mine first. Ponder your decision carefully, Jett, as it will be the only decision you will have time to think about."

Metagross was a Pokémon Josh had long considered for a racing psychic-type. Had he not run into Janus at the Safari Zone in the before times, he would have gont look for one. Nonetheless, he knew just how powerful the steel-type was, especially under the burst of Agility it had put on. Being in situations where he did not have the speed advantage was something he needed to work on before taking the Elite Test, yes, but in live Gym Challenges that could impact his metrics, the Master of Faster preferred to avoid those types of situations completely.

He didn't ignore the Pinsir, either. The lightning-fast Jolteon leaped off the platform, Illumina the Lanturn splashing into the deep channel surrounding the large, grassy battle court. Having gone through this exact song and dance at Johanna Joy 's Gym in Ever Grande City, current surged through the swift electric-types, Blinky's through her paws and quills, and Illumina's through her bright headlight. They discharged twin THUNDER WAVEs toward the combatants while also staying close to one another, ready to cover for each other in the event the pulses didn't leave their foes' limbs as limp as Josh wanted.

No Pokémon on Josh's watch would deny him his speed advantage, especially not tough-looking ones like Pinsir and Metagross. While he maintained one advantage, Onyx had sheer power over him; the Pinsir's sharp horns had crushing grip strength, paralysis only taking hold after the Jolteon had already been grabbed. It was the same with the Metagross; by the time the psychic-type's circuits began to overload, it had already flipped the Lanturn out of the water.

Josh had carefully positioned the four Pokémon close to one another, which is why he wasn't concerned about his Jolteon being crushed between the bug-type's thorned, clamping horns.

"And now, double DISCHARGE!" the Leader cried, playing one of his trump cards. The two loosed large spheres of electricity around themselves, attempting to catch both of the challenger's Pokémon in each of the wide electric blasts. The moment the SUPERPOWERed Pinsir clamped down on Blinky, Illumina's electric blast washed over it, the VOLT ABSORBed electricity the only reason the Jolteon was still conscious... and even then, her eyes rolled around wildly, like she was going to collapse the moment she hit the ground! Even the most glancing blow, such as a Scratch from a newborn Pokémon, would be enough to send Blinky packing.

Blinky, too, returned the favor; while the Lanturn was beached next to the channel, any impact she suffered from the Metagross lifting her out of the water was reversed by her own ability to VOLT ABSORB the Jolteon's electric blast. The two were a deadly combination, able to recover from even the fiercest blows!

Josh pumped a fist when Blinky's hastily-fired Discharge was just fast enough to keep her from being crushed between the Pinsir's spiked horns. It came with a price, though; after being beached, it was trivial for the challenger's Metagross to lift Illumina into the air. The screeching Lanturn went flying above the grass, directly into the waiting horns of the challenger's Pinsir. The gallery roared at the combination attack leading to an instant knockdown.

"Lanturn is unable to battle," the side judge announced, lifting a red flag. "Judges call: one point for Jett."

Josh silently withdrew the fallen water-type before commanding his hulking Arcanine to leap toward the center of the battle court. Both of Jett's Pokémon were hugely problematic for Josh, but his priority had to be on the Pinsir. Blinky may have been on her last legs, but the racing Jolteon was one slippery Pokémon. "Ready to joust?" Josh innocently asked. If Jett had studied some of Josh's previous matches, he may have known what was coming.

"Blinky! Let's get up to speed! Braver, burn that Metagross up with your FLAME WHEEL!" While the Arcanine's head-on charge was much more straightforward, the Jolteon's attack was anything but. She ran laps around the battle court as though it were a full race track, building up speed until she was a yellow blur. With a loud cry and a crackle, she swerved toward the Pinsir in a blindingly fast QUICK ATTACK, passing by the flightless insect with such speed that it would take split second timing to interrupt the charge. She wouldn't stop at one, though! She would kick up grass and dirt, a whiplash-inducing turn reversing her run back toward Jett's Pokémon. It was one slash after another. While each cut individually did little, each strike was so fast that Josh expected to wear the sluggish bug-type down, especially since it was wrack with paralysis. It was one of the Gym's signature tactics.

The THOUSAND CUT JOUST.

Each successive slash got faster and faster, Josh ready to pump a fist at his Jolteon's decisive blow. After the sixth blow, the challenger's Pinsir found the split-second timing needed to catch Blinky in its horns. It took only a glancing blow to down the electric-type.

"Pinsir and Jolteon are both unable to battle," the side judge announced, raising a red flag once more. "Judges' call: one point for Jett, one point for the Leader."

The Gardevoir was a nasty Pokémon for Josh's anchor Pokémon, Resheph the Dragonair, to handle. "Braver, EXTREME SPEED! Don't let that Metagross stand!" the Leader cried, the Arcanine lunging toward the steel-type in an invisibly fast charge than even he could barely follow. Both of his Pokémon put on displays of speed; the blue and white serpent loudly cooed above the battle court, purple energy enveloping her mid-DRAGON DANCE and propelling her to speeds almost as great as Blinky reached when she was dashing back and forth.

Hypnosis was one way to disable the Arcanine, the drowsy Pokémon curling on the ground and looking nothing short of adorable as he started sawing logs. While wanted to shout the fire-type awake, Ferrum would not give him the opportunity. It was only the Dragonair's familiarity with the attack from fighting alongside Twilight, Josh's Absol, that let her dull what would have otherwise been a critical blow. It still stung badly, cutting through her soft scales, a purple spray coming out of where the psychokinetic blade passed through the dragon.

It was a strong blow, but not one that incapacitated the Dragonair, and that's what mattered. "DRAGON RUSH, Resheph! Charge the Gallade!" the Leader shouted, his one conscious Pokémon lowering her horn and performing a corkscrew-laden, Dragon Dance-enhanced ramming attack. Rather than directly diving at the Gallade, Resheph's goal was to land the blow at a slight angle, trying to get out of the way far enough to evade a counterattack. Once Braver woke up from his unplanned nap, the battle would be in his favor once again. But for now, the challenger had the upper hand, and the Leader had to hold down the fort. All his momentum in the battle had been lost, and he had to get it back.

Now.

Resheph's DRAGON RUSH collided with the Gallade at full speed, threatening to send it flying into the Gardevoir that was currently feasting on Braver's dream of racing Raikou again. The curled-up Braver started restlessly kicking, night-sweating in the middle of combat, but could not wake from its dream collapsing in upon itself after being siphoned away. The threat of a massive double team was too big of a threat to ignore.

Cornered, he ordered the ailing Resheph to press the metaphorical big red button. "Resheph, line them up for a HYPER BEAM!" The wobbly dragon, her scales pierced and sliced open from Gallade's SACRED SWORD, made a best effort to float away from the psychic-types, purple ooze dripping from her tail from the vicious slash. In a desperate, last-ditch effort, she angled her open maw toward the two psychic-types with a high-speed orange beam of pure energy. The exertion was too much for her ravaged body to handle after loosing the violent attack, Josh recalling his precious Dragonair before she suffered any real injuries.