As soon as the Kangaskhan dropped onto the battle court from Matias' Poké Ball, it rocked the entire bounds with an EARTHQUAKE. "Quick, Aslan, DOUBLE TEAM!" Josh cried, but it was too late. Before the first afterimage could even form, the rumbling ground launched Aslan off his feet. He landed on his side, a fault line forming underneath him. All it took was one roar from his precious Shiny lion's flesh being rent for Josh to remove him from the battle. He had a great foil for the Kangaskhan in the form of Nitro, his Gogoat.

Sending out the Shiny grass-type that was far faster than the average of his kind, Nitro was the slowest member of Josh's team, and the only Pokémon he would easily be able to dial back the blistering fast tempo of this battle with if need be. "BULK UP, Nitro. We'll find the perfect time to strike. Just be patient!" Patience was one of the things Hoenn's other Gym Leaders taught him. If he played his cards right, that patience would see him to a victory that would impress even the stern member of the Elite Four!

Nitro, seeing the CRUNCH attack coming, lowered his horns to try to use them as a natural jawbreaker. "Wait, Nitro! The young--" Too late. The Kangaskhan's young socked reached over the edge of her mother's pouch and socked the Gogoat's nose with an uppercut. While it didn't leave the ice-type frozen, it did serve as enough of a distraction for the mother to follow up with an ICE PUNCH uppercut of its own.

The critical hit left the Gogoat rooted to the ground, beginning to freeze from the hooves up. "Quickly, Nitro, HORN LEECH!" Josh ordered. Time was of the essence; perhaps the nutrient draining attack could buy the grass-type sufficient time to thaw out. That ice wasn't showing any sign of retreating, though...

The Kangaskhan's ICE PUNCHES were relentless. Though the added toughness of Nitro's BULK UP would in theory let him outlast the normal-type, the proective mother's mist-laden fists completely freezing him threw a Mankey wrench into that plan. Seeing the writing on the wall, Josh withdrew Nitro for Bladestorm, his Skarmory. The moment he did so, the side judge raised his red flag.

"Gogoat is unable to battle. Judges' call: one point, Elite Four Silph."

Josh felt he was too far behind to win now. Rather than winning, the rest of his time with the Volatile would be spent studying his battle style. He had dozens of Pokémon at his beck and call. There had to be a combination of six out there that would take the Avatar down. As much as he resented the man for his scorched-earth stance, he at least fought with honor. Unless they weren't obvious, Matias didn't seem to be using any of his Avatar powers to give him an edge in the battle. He appeared to be fighting fair.

That he was still losing with Matias holding back was the very realization that kept him from approaching the Volatile directly with his resentment.

Josh wasn't one to not go down fighting, though. Taking advantage of the Metal Menace's high speed, he ordered his Skarmory to crash toward the weakened Kangaskhan. With a metallic screech, the bird soared, then dove at a slight angle toward his opponent, looking to slice and dice the parental Pokémon with brandished STEEL WINGS.

Both combatants were incredibly tough, the Kangaskhan's hide repelling the brunt of Bladestorm's wing-edges. The normal-type's claws would likewise have difficulty finding purchase in the Skarmory's metallic frame. Those two could go at it all day, something Matias was likely aware of, as evidenced by his yawn.

The longer these two battled for, the less likely Josh was to win. Already an underdog, he had to make a move, and now. "...Bladestorm, BRAVE BIRD," he ordered with a scowl. With a nails-on-chalkboard screech, the steel-type hurled himself skyward before reversing course in a steep dive, the G-forces of which would have bent the metallic body of Skarmory that weren't trained as well as the Gym Leader's. Though a whiff would have dire consequences, an upper body strike as the Skarmory intended could turn the match around for Josh.

It was high risk, high reward.

"Abort, Bladestorm! Abort!" It was far too late; the ice sheets had already stretched above the Metal Menace. There was no stopping the SUBZERO SLAMMER now. His BRAVE BIRD caused his beak to get stuck in the ice. leaving him unable to move. If Josh didn't act quickly, his Skarmory would be completely encased in ice and beyond the reach of his Poké Ball's withdrawal beam. He didn't look as distressed as he did before. Matias had played all his cards.

Josh hadn't.

It would be an uphill battle, but over his dead body he was going to at least make this one close. "It's clear to me that your Kangaskhan was one of your first Pokémon. One of the ones you have a very close bond with. My next Pokémon is one you may be familiar with. We share that same level of bond, if not greater." Saber, the Manectric his Gym was known for, was an opponent that wouldn't go down easily.



Not wanting to get in melee range of the muscular Pokémon, Saber circled the Kangaskhan once before paws, tail, and mane became wreathed in electricity that expanded into the form of a large, hemispherical DISCHARGE that threatened to envelop the Normal-type.

That Kangaskhan could take an immense amount of punishment. It would certainly be a Pokémon to watch out for when he inevitably would challenge Matias again. He might need to get a Kommo-o from somewhere and raise it for his rematch with the Volatile. It was one of the few mountable Fighting-type Pokémon out there. Backed into a corner, Josh was really trying to save his trump card for the Elite Four's final Pokémon. He had little choice, though. With its heightened strength, that fist would drop Saber in a single blow. There was only one way out. "HYPERSONIC..."

This was the first time Josh had made his Z-Pose without being mounted on a Pokémon, and performing it was awkward. While crossing his arms was the easy part, he had to leap to flex his legs in the correct way. He looked like a clown performing the necessary moves to get the Z-POWER flowing between himself and his Manectric.

"...PLASMA CHARGE!!!"



As Josh righted his arms and flicked his wrists, a sphere of electricity surrounded Saber as the Manectric disappeared from sight. A sonic boom ravaged the ears of those present, the electric wolf appearing on the other side of the arena after an invisibly fast ramming attack that was followed with a line of lightning bolts raining from above, striking in the Kangaskhan's direction with the frequency of a fully automatic firearm. Confident that the precise strike would down the normal-type before its DRAIN PUNCH could connect, he crossed his arms and scoffed at Matias' question.

"If it's about her and not 'finishing the job', and you know damn well who I'm talking about, then I do." The fire in his eyes was unlike anything Matias had seen of Josh just yet. This taunt drove him to beyond a simple competition. "There's something I have that you don't, and that's empathy. There are people out there that are in the bad situations they're in not by choice, but by their circumstance. And if I know you, you would sweep them under the rug along with the people that are actually problematic in Hoenn. If my tenure as Mauville Gym Leader has taught me anything, empathy is one of the most important traits for a leader to have." He could likely tell that since the last time they had met, during their interview, Josh had developed bad blood toward him.

"If I'm wrong, then pardon my Kalosian, but fucking correct me."