There wasn't just the sound of one set of hooves clopping against the dirt road east of Mauville City leading to the bay area. If Alec was listening closely, he could hear a second set of hooves echoing in the near distance. "Now, Raiden!" a familiar voice called out, the sound of electricity crackling from the same direction as what was clearly a Zebstrika slid around a large tree. The striped Pokémon, seeing the Galarian Pokémon galloping around, ran behind it as though to challenge it to a race.

When the rider saw Alec nearby, calling out to him, he yanked back on his mount's reins hard, the electric equine rearing high and spiking the Gym Leader's adrenaline as he held on tight. "Fancy running into you here, Alec! I'm trying to help Raiden here learn some new racing techniques, as well as Meteos, an Aerodactyl. I don't like to let him roam out of his Poké Ball too long, though, as his screeches get really loud."

Alec could hear the hooves coming from a pokemon in the distance, and as he had gotten closer, it was clear to him that it was from Josh's zebstrika. "Makes sense. I heard an Aerodactyl's screeches are loud enough to burst someone's eardrums," Alec said, while somewhat in a train of thought. He always wanted an Aerodactyl for a number of reasons. The main reason why he wanted one was because it provided another way for him to fly, aside from using his dragons. Sure, flying on them was a blast, but flying on them while also finding the time to train them was a task in itself.

"I took out Etain, here out for a stroll. He doesn't normally like battling all too much. So, I figured I'd give him a day out of his pokeball to run around," Alec said, which prompted the galarian ponyta to neigh happily.

---

Josh Devlin

"They can be," Josh answered, "but they're normally not painful. Not unless Meteos is in battle." Raiden looked at Etain and sounded a greeting whinny, a competitive look on his face. While Josh's couldn't see his face, if Alec was looking at him, it was evident he wanted to challenge the Ponyta to a contest of speed. "In battle, though, it's a different story. It's so loud and high pitched that you have to cover your ears if you're near one. I've heard some smaller regions mandate headphones for battle tournaments for this reason. There are so many Pokémon species that use sound as a weapon now."

Galarian Ponyta were an enigma to Josh still; he had seeon Gwyar Wledig 's Rapidash several times, but was unaware of what kinds of powers the Pokémon had. He wanted one for himself since that day. "Is Etain ride-trained?" Josh asked Alec. "Could be a way to have fun and let our Pokémon run!"

Alec and Etain looked at one another, with the thought of Alec riding the little guy seeming to make the galarian ponyta frightened. "If Etain were evolved, then I could see riding him, but right now, I'd probably just end up hurting him." Alec interjected politely. "But that doesn't mean that he still can't race. Especially with all of the pent-up energy he has," Alec smirked, which quickly relieved the galarian ponyta. "I'll just sit and watch, yeah?" Alec had asked rhetorically, given the circumstances.

The thing was, he doubted that Etain would be able to outspeed any of Josh's pokemon, but at least it'd be more fun for Etain to play with someone.

---

Josh Devlin

Josh took his right hand off Raiden's reins long enough to stroke his forehead in embarrassment. "I'm sorry, Alec!" the Gym Leader apologized. "He looked a lot bigger than that when I first saw him. I didn't realize how much he still had to grow! If he's got all that energy, I'm sure he can keep up with Raiden!" Young Pokémon really were something else, weren't they? It reminded Josh of when Aslan was still a Litleo.

"You're more than welcome to ride alongside me if you want! I've got more Pokémon like Raiden!" Josh offered. Regardless of whether the former Gym Leader accepted, he would pull back sharply on the Zebstrika, causing the electric Pokémon to dramatically rear. Electricity arced among his four hooves as he prepared to run alongside Etain. "Ready when you are, Etain!"

"Nah, don't beat yourself up about it!" Alec said to Josh. Anyone probably would have made that kind of mistake. When Josh offered him to ride alongside with him as well as noticing Etain for his master to join in on the fun, Alec held his smile and said, "Sure! What pokemon ya got?" Alec had asked him. Sure, Alec could have just used one of his dragons, but it wouldn't be fair, seeing that most of them were able to fly. As for his other pokemon, there'd be no way for them to keep up, and Alec knew that it wouldn't be as enjoyable if he were the nominated slowpoke.

---

Notes: Sorry if this is too short! x.x
Josh Devlin

While they weren't equines, Josh did have two more Pokémon to release alongside Etain and Raiden. They were some of the biggest and fastest ones at his gym. From two Poké Balls emerged a pair of Arcanine of different breeds. "They can be a bit hard to control, but Braver and Craggro here are two of my fastest Pokémon. Don't be afraid to try to overpower them; you have to pull pretty hard on their reins to get them to make more than shallow turns."

Even though Raiden knew he would get outran, he looked fiercely competitive. Come to think of it, he might be a better opponent for Etain than these two giant dogs, each of which towered over Josh and Alec by a fair bit. Both of them crouched to let riders aboard, the Gym Leader sliding down from his Zebstrika's back. "They're both users of Extreme Speed, too. Ever seen a land Pokémon use it? It's breathtaking."

When Josh pulled out his Arcanine, Alec looked at the one with a peculiar fur coating, having never seen an Arcanine like that one before. "I've never seen an Arcanine like that one before," Alec had said. In fact, he thought that it looked pretty cool. Even Etain seemed to be amazed by its different appearance. Would it be okay to ride him?" Alec asked Josh, obviously having decided on which Arcanine he'd choose. Despite the fact that it knew Extremespeed, Alec knew that Etain would still have fun running with them ... even though catching up might be close to impossible.

With that, Alec figured that using Extremespeed might be a bit too much ... but the thought of going that fast on an Arcanine was rather enticing. Alec waited for the giant dog to crouch down, allowing him to mount the Hisuian Arcanine. "Not gonna lie I haven't, but as long as Etain's okay with it, I don't see why I shouldn't give it a try," Alec said to Josh with a determined smirk. Shortly after making that comment, Etain seemed rather determined herself, making herself to ready to dash off when given the signal. "I'll let you do the count off this time," Alec said, also getting ready.

---

Notes:
Josh Devlin

With the four Pokémon out, this was going to be two different races: one between Raiden and Etain, and one between Josh's two Arcanine. When asked, the Hisuian Arcanine crouched to let Alec aboard. He was big, after all; both Arcanine were a bit larger than the average, which was already one of the larger quadrupedal common species of Pokémon! "I'd be careful with Craggro if I were you," the Gym Leader warned. "Arcanine can be one rough ride when they get fast. You know how Dragonite's wings blur when they're using Extreme Speed? Arcanine's legs do, too. Not fast enough to hum, but you can't really see them."

Once the two were on the fire-types, the equines lined up next to them, Josh would count from one up to three. On "three", the four Pokémon were off, Raiden leading the way along the beachside road. Alec would find Craggro to respond sluggishly to commands issued through the reins, primarily due to the giant dog's immense momentum from body weight. Give them room to run, though, and they would be able to pass even Raiden while the equine was WILD CHARGING.

While Alec sat on the peculiar-looking Arcanine, it felt as if he were sitting on granite with fur. "That’s odd. Was this Arcanine a Rock Type?” Alec couldn’t help but think to himself. It was definitely something that he would have to get used to as Craggro started to break out into a sprint. Josh’s Zebstrika broke out into a WILD CHARGE, while Etain used his psychic powers in order to increase its own AGILITY.

Alec also noticed that Craggro was much more sluggish when reacting toward’s his use of the reins, more than likely because of the massive dog’s body weight. If it were a Rock type like Alec surmised then his conclusion would make it more solidified. “Hey Craggro! Ya wanna give out your EXTREMESPEED a try?” Alec smirked. Craggro gave a bark, obliging with Alec’s request. The only thing though was that Alec wasn’t … prepared for what would happen. “W-Woah!” Alec said, instantly holding much tighter as the Hisuian Arcanine broke out into intense speed.

“Josh was right. This is way different than how a Dragonite uses this move” Alec thought to himself as he managed to hold on to reins for dear life, making sure he wasn’t unnecessarily pulling on them either.

---

Notes:
Josh Devlin

Josh gasped at how aggressive Alec was being with Craggro's speed. It looked like he was at first struggling, the rock-type's reins stretched quite a bit. "Braver, EXTREME SPEED!" Josh shouted, the faster of his two Arcanine chasing the other down. Even chaining uses of the move together, it took him quite a bit of time to catch up.

The giant dogs' blurred legs roared with the sound of a loud whirlwind, the riders looking like sequences of trailing images as they rapidly bounced on the fire-types' backs. He wanted to say something to Alec, but he knew the young man wouldn't be able to hear him over the ripping wind. He wondered if Alec's choice of clothes was as aerodynamic as Josh's. Ordinary clothes would risk being torn in the extreme wind, after all. He hoped racing alongside his partner with a look of concern under his helmet would give him the hint to slow down to a more reasonable speed...