Josh's docket for the day was primarily battle challenges, in no large part due to the League's refocus on them. While he enjoyed his racing challenges the most, he understood that it was ultimately the Commissioner's decision, whether that decision be deferred to the Council or anyone else she deemed fit. As much as he felt he and Alexei Ivanov got the short end of the stick, he respected the decision. If anything, it made him savor the opportunities to race Pokémon even more, whether it be during the Silph Cup's major events or those who still took on his racing challenge despite the Badge's lower value with respect to Champion Assessment eligibility.

His only racing challenger for the day, Andrea Vaneau , was one such person. She may have been the first challenger to enter a Cyclizar in such a challenge, yet was not Paldean. Josh was still relatively new to controlling the species. While he now had Jody, a second Cyclizar, she was still in training. Instead, he and Ace, Aravan, and Eron, school buddies he had recently given jobs at the Gym to, would be testing the prowess of some of Josh's newest Pokémon. Once the Gym Leader's first 30-minute break was over, the challenger's name was called out over the PA system.

"Challenger Andrea Vaneau , please report to Sector 4. Challenger Vaneau, to Sector 4. Thank you!"

Provided she followed the facility's ample signage carefully (and after a long walk if she didn't choose to ride Gia all the way back to the facility's distant northwest corner), she would find Josh and his posse of Gym Trainers. Ace, the tallest of the three (even taller than Josh!) was dressed in bright red and already astride Komainu, who gave Andrea an intimidating stare as he kept a firm grip on the dark dog's horns. Aravan, around Josh's height, was making some adjustments to Medli's saddle, the Meganium's long neck undulating around to nuzzle him. Eron, the shortest of the three and dressed in white, waved to Andrea, his hand resting in Voja's saddle, also awaiting the cue to line up.

"Morning, Andrea!" Josh greeted the PokéManiac and challenger from Goroh's back, the dragon-type sounding a deep moo to greet Gia. "You and your Cyclizar are looking great! As much as I wanted to make this an all-Cyclizar race, the rest of mine are still in training, so I've got the closest thing in these promising newcomers to the Gym team," he gestured toward the trio of Pokémon and their temporary partners. "Ace and Komainu," he pointed toward the Houndoom, "Aravan and Medli," toward the Meganium, "and Eron and Voja," toward the Mightyena, all of which were around the same size regardless of what a Pokédex wanted one to believe.

Wave Panic was located in the southwest corner of Sector 4, in the foothills of the mountains bordering the property's north end. True to its name, the only piece of flat ground on the entire track preceded the starting arch where they would begin the race. There were constant peaks and troughs on the course that would not only test the racers' ability to control their Pokémon on uneven ground, but their ability to keep their breakfast in them from the constant rising and falling of their insides. Every turn also had lateral slopes to it, leaving precious few spots the racers could charge ahead at full speed without risking catching air and suffering OFF COURSE penalties from leaving the fairly narrow track.

Once everyone was ready, Josh led the four other trainers and Pokémon to the course's starting arch, embedded within a digital display showing three images of the legendary Pokémon Raikou sprinting at full speed. "That monitor will show, and sound, a countdown of 3, 2, 1, GO. On GO, you better be ready to burn rubber. Any Pokémon moves that bestow a burst of speed, like QUICK ATTACK, can't be used until after the first lap. After that, use them as much as you think you and your Pokémon can handle. Beat me to the finish line after three laps, or otherwise show me you can stay calm while making split second decisions, and the Hoenn League Quick Badge is yours. I don't want to hear too much screeching, you hear?"

You will have 8 ranks to distribute among three skills. No more than 5 ranks can be assigned to any one skill.

• SPEED: This represents how fast your Pokémon can travel. Each rank of Speed adds 10 to all your rolls.
  
• ENDURANCE: This represents how well a Pokémon can navigate difficult terrain, and affects how often a Pokémon can use its Boost during a race. Your Pokémon can use its Boost a number of times equal to its number of ranks in Endurance (min. 1). Each rank of Endurance reduces the Target Number of Endurance-based Obstacles by 20.
• REACTION: This represents a Pokémon’s cornering ability. Each rank of Reaction reduces the Target Number of Reaction-based Obstacles by 20.

In the OOC notes of your next post, please note your Pokémon's distribution of skills.

You do not need to roll after your next post, but you will need to [ roll ] twice at the end of every post mid-challenge. This roll will be modified according to your Pokémon's skill ranks.

Example: If a player rolls a 60 on a post involving running down a straightaway as fast as possible atop a Pokémon with four ranks in Speed, their effective roll will be 100.

The Leader's next post will include a "mod post" that depicts the course's first Obstacle: a prompt that presents a challenge for the racers to overcome. Each Obstacle will include the following information:

Target Number: This is the number the racers need to roll at or above to overcome the Obstacle without penalty. While it is uncommon, an Obstacle can have multiple Target Numbers.

Intended Skill: This is the Skill that will apply to the Obstacle. It can be Speed, Endurance, or Reaction.

Example Obstacle: The track starts out with a bang--a sharp, 135-degree left turn mere tens of meters from the starting line. The width of the turn itself makes recovering from a misjudged angle easier, but the track quickly narrows up again afterward. A guardrail on the outside keeps Pokémon from sliding off the course, but there is no such guardrail on the inside, and there’s a shallow stream that looks time-consuming for non-Water Pokémon to climb out of!

Target Number: 105 (Reaction)

After the players make their rolls, the Target Number is deducted from the player's roll, and the difference becomes the player's Track Points (TP) for the round. 100 TP corresponds to roughly one second of time differential. The race will consist of three laps, with three Obstacles per lap. After the ninth Obstacle, total Track Points will determine finishing order. The QUICK BADGE is awarded if at least one of the following conditions are met:

1) The challenger finishes the race in 1st or 2nd place.
2) The challenger finishes the race ahead of the Gym Leader.
3) The challenger otherwise demonstrates their mastery of the tenets of Mauville Gym, at the Leader's discretion.

Though Josh was in his element, Andrea was in hers, too. She loved dragons of all kinds, and both of them were new to riding the Paldean species. He switched his RaiCorp helmet to racing mode, giving him vital statistics such as speed, position, and lap time in his peripheral. He knew from watching the Paldeans race that this would get intense fast. Cyclizar were swift, capable of gliding on their twin air sacs like a motorcycle.

Wave Panic was a course rated three stars in difficulty mostly due to rating creep; the Kalosian course it was based on had its difficulty rating changed several times. The lack of flat spots on the course would make it particularly difficult on the Cyclizar, making it extremely easy for them to go airborne without proper speed management. Steady hands on the reins, or in Josh's and Andrea's cases, handlebars, would be imperative in avoiding costly OFF COURSE penalties from landing out of bound.

Once the five Pokémon and riders were lined up, three images of the legendary Pokémon Raikou, dashing full blast, appeared on the monitor covering the starting arch's near face. Behind the images was a "GET READY" prompt, Josh and his Gym Trainers tensing up in anticipation of the signal. The first image of the Beast started to fade away, accompanied by a loud squawk serving asn an aural warning. A second, then a third, followed. When the final image vanished, the prompt changed to a green "GO" alongside a longer and higher-pitched tone. Josh squeezed his Cyclizar's sides, the dragon entering a swift gallop that roughly jostled him about in the saddle. Once he was up to speed, the Paldean Pokémon lowered his air sacs to the ground, the ride becoming buttery smooth as the first troughs loomed ahead.

After each posting round, a prompt describing the upcoming section of the track will be posted. These prompts may highlight different sections of the course on each lap. You will react to the prompt, then [ roll ] twice. For the first lap, the Leader's rolls will be capped at 130 before modifiers.

Wave Panic made its name known right away, its lack of flat spots making an otherwise lazy left U-turn a real challenge. The height difference between every trough and peak was so great that the riders could not see over each one even from the backs of their Pokémon, leaving them with precious little time to react. The course itself was also laterally sloped toward the inside, which naturally pulled the Pokémon toward the inside line. With every change in direction, though, that lateral direction would change! Split second reflexes would be needed to round these corners would having to pump the metaphorical brakes!

Target Number: 125 (Reaction)

Special: None

While Gia remained on all fours for the opening stretch, Josh's Cyclizar, Goroh, took a different approach. After getting up to speed on the opening turn, she extended her twin air sacs all the way to the ground, lifting her four legs off the ground and coasting along the uneven ground much like a motorcycle. The hybrid nature of locomotion is what made Cyclizar so unique and easy to ride despite being so swift.

The course's constant sloping to the inside meant Josh had to constantly counter-steer the dragon-type toward the outside to compensate. On every switchback on the backstretch, he had to correctly time practically flicking her handlebars back and forth, as each turn required nearly a maximum drift from the Cyclizar to navigate while keeping top speed. While this was normally a challenging course for more traditional mount Pokémon, the way a Cyclizar moved made this course easier in some aspects yet harder in others.

Andrea's decision to swerve toward the higher ground was brilliant; while the raw distance the Cyclizar had to cover was greater, it was far easier for Gia to maintain higher speeds up there, where the angle of the slope wasn't as severe. Counter-steering at the more severe slope angles on the inside line, as well as those of the more traditional quadrupedal ride Pokémon, gave the Leader and all his Gym Trainers trouble. Medli in particular had quite a bit of trouble with the first transition from a left turn to a right turn, skidding all the way to the inside of the second corner and kissing the inner wall preventing them from going out of bounds.

Andrea and Gia found themselves well ahead of the pack coming out of the first series of sharp vertical waves, a fierce battle for second place beinf fought among Goroh, Komainu, and Voja. The Cyclizar and Mightyena were in perfect sync with one another, their trainers' eyes squinting out of focus on the uneven road ahead of them.

Prompt: Wave Panic was named after its waviness in not one, not two, but in all three dimensions! While the vertical and lateral sloping wasn't too severe after the first two turns, the snake-like first half of the course was merciless, switching back a total of five times! By the time the racers had completed one U-turn, there was another one following it almost immediately! While the vertical and lateral angles weren't as severe as on the opening stretch, they were still there and had to be accounted for! With insufficient or improperly-timed counter-steering, it would be very easy for a Pokémon or rider to scrape their legs or sides on the inside walls!

Target Number: 125 (Endurance)

Special: None

While the sloping on each curve eased off and made counter-steering easier, the snaking curves in the course's midsection tested not only the stamina of the Pokémon, but that of the trainer, as well. Even the Gym Leader felt a lot of pressure against his thighs as he turned the gliding Goroh almost as hard as she could turn around each curve. Around the second curve in particular, he had turned so hard that a screech came from Goroh's air sacs, followed by a cry from the Pokémon herself. "Sorry, Goroh!" Josh apologized, easing his leg pressure slightly to get her to back off full speed.

Josh smiled when he heard Andrea's cry. Not only was she winning, but she seemed to be having a lot of fun! He was happy to see her so into racing the Paldean species, and hoped to see her in future Federation races. Now was not the time to think about the future, though; there were twists and turns to navigate, and each reversal of direction needed perfect timing. There were even moments where Goroh had to raise her air sacs and run on all fours for greater stability at the cost of speed. Andrea could have the lead for now. The real test of skill and trust would be during boost laps. Once Josh could unleash all of the Cyclizar's speed, all bets were off.

Andrea's approach to ease up on the metaphorical gas and drift to the outside line to keep her out of traffic worked well! Traffic was nonexistant on the higher sections of each curve, letting Gia maintain a steady speed against Pokémon that outsped her. Goroh and the two Dark-types remained competitive with one another, the Houndoom barely edging the Leader out around the fifth consecutive U-turn coming into the treacherous home stretch.

Medli and Aravan were the standouts, though; while the Meganium didn't have the raw speed the rest of the Pokémon did, the grass-type's seemingly bottomless well of energy let her ignore the sloped, difficult terrain and crest each curve effortlessly. Medli was gaining on Gia, and fast.

Prompt: After a wavy downhill straightaway that the racers would be good to remember for boost laps that were rapidly approaching, the course entered a tunnel that featured the most brutal corner on the entire track: an uphill left turn the racers would not be able to immediately see the top of, followed by a sharper, downhill right turn they would not be able to immediately see the bottom of. A third, more shallow left turn would take them to the home straightaway that would given them a precious moment to breathe. It would be almost impossibly fast to react to at the speeds the racers were flying along the previous downslope at, and the biggest reason Wave Panic used to boast a difficulty rating of four stars.

Target Number: 135 (Reaction)

Special: None

As Goroh started coasting down the backstretch, the Tunnel of Doom, as Josh casually referred to the course's final curve, was fast approaching. He and his Gym crew knew the angle of this turn very well, and it would be his big chance to catch up to the challenger! The only issue was the downhill was raising his speed a bit too high for the blind S-curve ahead of him! "Brake, Goroh!" Josh commanded, not yet having devised a way to abruptly slow the Cyclizar nonverbally.

The dragon, coasting on her air sacs, briefly lowered her rear claws to the ground to create friction and slow herself and Josh down enough for the nearly full-input turns to be comfortable. Despite every effort to be gentle, Josh could not prevent a squeal from coming from Goroh's air sacs as he wheeled the Paldean Pokémon hard to the right, then back to left as the starting line came into right.

All five racers took different approaches to the track's deadliest curve, and all were successful to varying degrees. Andrea's trust in Gia was well placed, the Cyclizar briefly deflating her air sacs and entering a gallop up the steep left turn before inflating them a second time and coasting down the equally steep right turn. Komainu and Ace created the wavy turns as close as possible, minimizing changes in lateral direction as much as possible. While the Houndoom was a fairly distant second, it looked like the aggressive dog would start gaining on Andrea at the first opportune moment!

Medli's lower top speed let her run at full speed through the nasty curves, keeping pace with Voja as the two cross the starting line neck and neck. Josh's approach of making full turns through the tunnel, however, was not quite as effective as the other racers' more cautious tactics. With another squeak of Goroh's air sacs, the two nearly crashed on the right side of the tunnel, just barely able to recover before the straightaway leading to the starting line.

Boost laps were on. And that changed everything.

You Got Boost Power! Speed-increasing moves, such as QUICK ATTACK, AGILITY, and EXTREME SPEED are now allowed. Pokémon will be able to use such speed-increasing moves a number of times up to their Endurance ranks for the rest of the race. Speed-increasing moves will grant you ADVANTAGE for the posting round, meaning you will [ roll ] four times instead of two for that post and ignore the lower set of rolls. Please separate the first two rolls from the second two rolls with a delimiter of some kind. For the second lap of the race, the Leader's rolls will be capped at 150, before modifiers are applied.

Beware! Taking tight turns and stamina-draining Obstacles at high speeds can result in dire consequences, and may impose DISADVANTAGE, meaning the lower of the two rolls will be taken. If the lower of the two rolls would still pass the Obstacle, Track Position for that Obstacle will be calculated based on the higher of the two rolls.

NOTE: This Obstacle has more than one Target Number. Please indicate in your OOC notes which Target Number your character is challenging.

Prompt: The wavy backstretch that Wave Panic was known for, sloping both vertically and laterally. While the series of five U-turns, one after another, had become more familiar to the racers on the second lap, the ability to put on bursts of speed opened up a new avenue of attack: leaping across one switchback and landing in the middle of the next. While it would save a substantial amount of time, it came with the risk of a costly OFF COURSE penalty if the Pokémon came up short!

Target Number 1: 125 (Endurance)

Special 1: None

Target Number 2: 135 (Speed)

Special 2: Pokémon who meet or exceed the Target Number gain 75 TP in addition to any TP they would normally gain from this Obstacle. A Gym Leader or Challenger who rolls beneath the Target Number by 25 or more will instead suffer a flat 150 TP penalty from landing OFF COURSE. Gym Trainers that land OFF COURSE are DISQUALIFIED instead.

Josh's eyes shifted toward Andrea and Gia taking a sharp turn to the left, then launching off the top of the steep wave on the outside of the course, using it as a ramp to cut a corner. He smiled, seeing the intended shortcut potential be used. It was a big risk, though; a bad angle or not enough speed would leave her out of bounds and cause her to suffer a serious time penalty! She was a daring one; many challengers with a lead would try to preserve their lead.

Josh didn't have a lead to preserve. He was in last place. He had to try to make a move. He dug his heels at his mount's scaled sides, pushing the dragon for a burst of speed. "Goroh, use your QUICK ATTACK!" Goroh nodded and let out a low moo. With Josh's help pulling back on both her handlebars, the Cyclizar reared onto her rear air sac only, performing a wheelie that sent her rocketing forward and up the same ramp Gia did.

With hard left turns, four Pokémon went sailing over the wavy course's guardrails and above the rolling hills: Gia, Goroh, Komainu, and Medli, and each with different moves at that. Andrea opted to have her Cyclizar SHIFT GEAR to fifth, Ace to have his Houndoom TRAILBLAZE across the hills, Aravan to have his Meganium put on a surprising display of speed with DOUBLE TEAM, and Josh to enter a wheelie with his own Cyclizar's QUICK ATTACK. Eron and his Mightyena were the only team to take it safe, bounding and sliding around the hillside.

Some leaps were more graceful than others; the challenger's expertly-calculated angle landed her in perfect position to swerve and slide around the remainder of the sharp curves on the backstretch. Josh's and Ace's leaps were less clean, the canine and dragon letting out yelps as they nearly tripped over the guardrail on the way in, but ultimately landed in bounds. Aravan and Medli were far less fortunate, leaping a fair bit early and not having the forward momentum to land on the in-bounds side of the hill. Shaking their heads, the Gym Trainer directed his Meganium to run alongside the rest of the competition from the inside of the course, getting front-row seats to the high speed contest they had just been eliminated from. Even the accouncer was getting into just how amazing the challenger's performance was, shouting at Andrea Vaneau 's huge lead:

[player]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/996935022286209055/1071442026886864916/FZX_-_Youre_Way_Out_in_Front.mp3[/player]

"Pour it on! You're way out in front!"

And then there were four.

Prompt: The downhill stretch before the deadly tunnel curve was coming, but it was fairly long and would give the riders a breather from the back-and-forth turns Wave Panic was known for. As long as the Pokémon remembered to ease off the speed before entering the tunnel at the bottom of the hill, this would be a great place to let loose with a powerful speed-boosting move!

Target Number: 0 (Speed)

Special: None

All of Josh's Gym trainers were aware of how far Gia and Andrea were ahead, feeling like they all had to make moves. Eron and Ace tensed their hold on the dark-types' reins and horns, TRAILBLAZING and DOUBLE TEAMing their way down the slope. Eron in particular felt his stomach sink as the Mightyena bounded down the wavy road, still relatively new to overland races. His expertise was in flying races, after all. While Goroh and Komainu were starting to huff a little, Voja seemed to have all kinds of metaphorical fuel left in the tank, plowing forward with almost no fear. Goroh even swerved slightly closer to the inside line when she heard the Mightyena's pounding paws.

Andrea's more cautious approach did result in her lead being cut into, but her lower speed would give her and Gia much more time to reach to the blind corner she knew was coming. The second time around the course, she could at least be more familiar with it. It would almost certainly be harder for the Gym Leader, especially if he didn't get Goroh back on both her wheels in time!

Prompt: The long but wavy downhill gave the racers just enough time to breathe before a familiar, whiplash-inducing S-curve obscured by it being within a tunnel. The racers' familiarity with the blind curve would likely be offset by the higher speeds of the second lap, forcing them to either turn earlier than they felt comfortable with, or slam on the brakes. It was one of those corners that simply didn't get any easier no matter how many times one practiced it.

Target Number: 135 (Reaction)

Special: None