Josh noticed another sellout crowd for a Toral family member's Gym challenge. This family must have had quite the influence in Hoenn; normally there were a fair amount of empty seats, especially higher up the stairs. Not today, though; he would have to work hard to show challengers that Mauville's Gym had the reputation it did for a reason.

"Hope you're having a good day, Aaron," Josh greeted the challenger from the back of his Manectric, Saber, who would not be participating in the battle. The three that were, a Jolteon, Flygon, and shiny Pyroar, were already near or inside the Leader's trainer's box. The quadrupeds each stood on one side of the box, while the dragon-type hovered, his wings producing a gentle, pleasant hum. "Since we've already gone over the rules, let's get this battle started!"

Anticipating the side judge to wave his green flag, Josh pointed toward his Flygon, who was quick to zip toward the battle court's center. Flygon weren't known for being extremely fast, but this one sure was! Verte started flitting around the center of the battle court with the agility of an insect, though not once did he go offsides. They awaited the signal to begin.

What a nightmare matchup.

This was not the foot Josh wanted to start his challenge with Aaron on. While Flygon's CRUNCHing dragon fangs could rend the Froslass' soul from her body, the Gym Leader immediately dismissed the possibility. One ice attack, even something as simple as an ICE SHARD, and Verte was taking a dirt nap on the battle court. The Froslass could even focus on simply evading attacks while the hailstones did the work for her. While the chitin of a Flygon's wings was incredibly thick and strong, the secret to the dragon's unique method of flight, if the hailstones got thick enough, they could still rend holes in his wings. With how fast those wings vibrate, the resulting stress would leave Verte in agony.

Furthermore, Verte's primary method of handling hidden foes, his BOOMBURST, would be ineffective on the Froslass. Instead, he had to command the next best thing. "Verte, use BUG BUZZ!" The Flygon's wings disappeared and began to shriek, hoping to catch the Froslass pinched between the intense shockwaves traveling in different directions.

Ice from the ghost-type's BLIZZARD covered the edges of Verte's wings, "Fight it, Verte!" Josh cried over the severe wind Aaron's Pokémon was generating. The dragon kept buzzing, tilting his wings to attempt blowing the cold away from him. Verte squinted as his wings shrieked from how fast they were going. That shriek reduced in pitch as the intensity of the BLIZZARD increased. It was not the weight of the ice on Verte's wings that caused them to stop; after all, the Flygon could still buzz them even with heavy weight bands on them. It was the dragon's muscles that locked up under the extreme wind and cold. Verte was blown off his feet and into the thick pole supporting the Trainer's Box. Josh had to grab onto the rail to avoid falling.

"Leader Devlin's Flygon is unable to battle. Judges' call: one point, Challenger Toral," the side judge announced as a buzzer indicated the knockout.

"Nice one!" Josh shot Aaron a thumbs-up. "But that's the only easy win you're getting. Aslan, you're up!" Josh waved his Pyroar into the arena, hailstones digging into his fur as he leaped into the arena. "Roast it with your FLAMETHROWER!" The lion's glowing mane visible through the hailstorm, the accumulation melting in his presence. He opened his maw, a burning stream of yellow hurtling toward the challenger's Froslass.

Gym Leaders were massively skilled trainers. They were so skilled that in order for challengers to have a chance, Leaders were forbidden from swapping Pokémon. This was not the case against the Elite Four, where battles would inevitably consist of a revolving door of Pokémon. Smart challengers, like Aaron, would take full advantage of that. This left Josh in a tight spot, having to handle a Pokémon that was defensively oriented. Combined with Froslass' Hail, he was behind the eight ball. He still had his ace in the hole, though.

"Aslan, NOBLE ROAR!" Josh cried, the albino Pyroar tilting his head skyward and loosing a bellow whose shockwave ripped across the grassy field in an effort to reduce the ghost-type's morale and goad the Froslass back out.

Aslan reared and lurched backward as the ghostly hands of the Cofagrigus hurled TOXIC SPIKES across Josh's half of the battle court, impeding the lion's mobility. It was then Josh realized the purpose of the Cofagrigus was to slow Josh's team down. The denser the field of venomous spikes got, the more his team would have to be cautious.

He had to get aggressive now.

"Aslan, CRUNCH!" the Gym Leader commanded, the lion leaping for the ghost-type's body, Given the tiniest of openings to do so, Aslan would attempt to slam the foe's lid open and chomp down on the soul gem he expected to be underneath said lid. Even if the Pyroar couldn't shatter the soul gem with his jaws, Josh hoped the fire-type could at least put some big cracks in it. Even so, the open lid would make way for a nice fire pit further in the battle, wouldn't it?

The field of TOXIC SPIKES surrounding Josh's trainer's box grew more dense. When Blinky leaped into action, landing on them was now unavoidable. Aaron was taking of Josh's difficulty with handling defensive threats. This battle would have been a completely different story if Josh had been able to switch Pokémon freely. Under challenge rules, though, he could not. The young man had taken advantage of that by laying an elaborate speed trap. While Blinky would be able to build up a lot of speed, it would come at great expense. Aaron could play the battle purely defensively and simply outlast Josh. It was one of the things the Gym tried to teach.

Josh still wasn't going to give it anything less than his all, though. That was what being a Gym Leader was about: battling under restrictions and finding creative ways around them for challengers to overcome. "FLAMETHROWER, Aslan! Light that box on fire!" If he couldn't shatter the coffin's soul gem physically, then perhaps he could melt it into crystalline goop. With fangs wide open, the lion did not clamp down; instead, the shiny Pyroar attempted to raze the now-open coffin from the inside out.

It was difficult for Josh to tell whether the Cofagrigus was out of strength after the lion's FLAMETHROWER ravaged the inside of its coffin. He hadn't heard a call from the judge, so he could only assume the Pokémon was still able to battle, merely withdrawn for the Jellicent.

TRICK ROOM?!

This was awful. Far worse than the hailstorm that was dying down.

Josh's best strategy for handling the warped space of TRICK ROOM was to use extremely fast attacks, such as QUICK ATTACK, that were not affected by it. With all of Aaron's Pokémon being Ghost-types, he was really in a bind. "Aslan, CRUNCH! That Jellicent's got a soul gem somewhere - find it and crush it!" the Leader commanded, not one to give up despite being on borrowed time. The big cat bounding toward Jellicent in what appeared to be slow motion was breathtaking to watch, and showcased just how tough Josh had to be to handle the fire-type's flexing back.