Josh had experienced the Beast's presence once before, though as a replica. His familiarity with the Emergent's facsimile of Raikou helped prepare him for this moment. "He's... Elise, he's right there!" Josh managed through much trembling. After thirteen tireless years, was this at last the Gym Leader's time to shine? "It's the Kanto War. Rocket tried to invade his homeland. I imagine he is searching for a partner to return the favor. He's already appeared to me in dreams several times. I think I'm the one he's looking for." He cleared his throat. "I'm going out there. I'm not passing this opportunity up."

Josh took the elevator down to the ground level, flying past challengers and Gym employees taking cover. "You should take cover, too." Of course, Elise was free to follow him to the Racing Grounds proper if she wanted. Stepping outside, she may have been able to hear Josh in prayer:

"O Great One, hallowed bird of rainbow colors, thy will be done. Impart me with thine FORESIGHT, thine JUDGMENT, and thine INSIGHT to carry out thy will, and to deliver Hoenn from thine enemies. O Great One, impart thy faithful servant with the Blessing of Thunder, and make me a messenger of the new kingdom to come. A kingdom where thine Blessed serve thy Great Will for ever and ever. Amen."

Josh whistled for his very fastest Pokémon: his Manectric, Luxray, Zeraora, Zebstrika, and both of his Arcanine. Hopping onto Saber's back, he slowly guided the electric wolf toward Raikou. As the wind picked up, the silhouette would turn full-color, revealing the Beast in all his glory.

"Great Beast of lightning, I beseech you. While you and your brothers have kept Kanto and Johto safe, Hoenn is on the brink of collapse at the hands of the same bad actors that invaded your homeland. If I am the one you are looking for, then I shall serve you in the best capacity I can. Together, we can make not only Johto, but Hoenn, a safe place to live. Great Raikou, I wholly offer myself to you."

Saffira's melted ICE PUNCH created enough water to at least prevent the fire from spreading in one direction, though the dousing didn't have as much of an effect as common sense would expect. "Ugh, all my water Pokémon are out and about," Josh groaned loudly enough for Elise to hear, rolling his eyes. "Think! What other Pokémon do you have that could put the fire out?" Remembering the day he helped paxton concordas with putting out a forest fire helped; while Josh used water Pokémon, Paxton had used ground Pokémon. Unfortunately, he was without his ground-types, too.

Then, an epiphany.

"It won't exactly be clean, but I do have an idea," Josh notified Elise with a hint of dejection in his tone. "Braver, come here," he called out to his Kantonian Arcanine, cupping both his hands around his mouth for projection. The fire-type fearlessly bounded toward the disaster waiting to happen. "Braver, can you cut this fire off with your SCORCHING SANDS, please?" While it wasn't a great solution, surrounding the electrical fire with the heated, hard grains of rock would deprive the electrical fire of fuel. The sands would need to be cleaned up eventually, and that was going to be a big project. The main battle court would no longer be usable, meaning Josh would need to come up with a temporary location for battle challenges until it could be repaired.

Once the fire had been extinguished with the two working together, Josh noticed a deep set of footprints where the center of the fire was. The claws came together at a single point, and were deep and long. More similar footprints, albeit less prominent, led away from the Gym and to the east, along Mauville Bay. "Look how far apart these are," he pointed at the massive gap indicating how long the creature's strides had to be. "I think we've got our answer. Let's follow this trail out of here. The rest of my staff can batten down the hatches." He withdrew the rest of his Pokémon and took a seat on Saber's back; as much as he wanted the added speed of an Arcanine, the protection from stray electric attacks would be far more valuable. After all, they were dealing with a god of lightning.

Josh's skin tingled as he and his Manectric picked up the pace, beckoning Sayori to match it. "Look how far apart these footprints are," he pointed beneath his feet. The sheer speed of the creature that made them had to be extraordinary. Supernatural, even. Though they had taken the time to look at the first set of footprints before they had given chase, it was worth it for Josh to understand his confidence was well-placed; it was his honed JUDGMENT in action.

"Saber, faster!" Josh cried, squeezing the Manectric's sides and getting a feel for the length of the electric wolf's strides at full speed. While they weren't longer than his quarry's, full running speed wasn't everything. Burst speed mattered a lot. Though the Beast was far faster, Josh had a secret weapon: the discharge of Z-Power in the form of a HYPERSONIC PLASMA CHARGE. That was a move that surely no wild Pokémon could use, as the power of Z-Moves required the trainer and Pokémon to be in perfect sync. It was his honed INSIGHT in action.

Even so, Josh had a plan but he also had to plan to be adaptable. As the outskirts of Old Mauville's roads gave way to the sands of Mauville Bay, he knew he had a choice to make. Would it be better to draw Raikou toward the north, in Fortree's direction, or toward the east, in Lilycove's direction? His instincts leaned toward the more open path toward Lilycove. The immense speed of his Z-Move would be more controllable there, but that would also put Raikou in his element. He also had to respect Elise Calcifet 's comfort with speed, as well. With how fast the electric-type could go, it might not be possible for Sayori to keep up. As counterintuitive as it was, north might be their best shot. It was his honed FORESIGHT in action.

Like Elise, Josh worshipped the Great One, though the two called the same god different names. Similar, yet slightly different tales. Though Raikou was the one the Gym Leader desired above all else, it was the glory of the Great One, Ho-oh, to whom Josh dedicated himself.

The mention of Route 119's shrine dedicated to Raikou sparked memories of Elinor Anderson to the forefront of the Gym Leader's mind. It was at that very shrine that the path leading to his current positions, both as Mauville's Gym Leader and as one of Hoenn's most prominent Rangers, had their seeds planted. How fitting that Elise suggest they head that way. "Then we should ride closer to the shore," Josh suggested, reining his Manectric from the grass to the beach. With every stride, the electric-type kicked up a cloud of sand behind the two.

Not long after they had set foot on the shores of Mauville Bay, the sky erupted in yellows and whites, Josh flinching as lightning struck all around him, booming thunder compromising his hearing. One bolt forked directly above Saber, dancing between his halters. Josh's skin tingled as his steed's LIGHTNING ROD directed the divine-strength THUNDERBOLT into the ground beneath. A second boom echoed across the bay, though this one was not accompanied by a flash of lightning. He peered up to see the source of the noise. It was the Pokémon he had dreamed to meet for the last thirteen years. The Champion's familiar could not hold a candle to being in the presence of the real thing.

It was Raikou.

Josh's heart thumped, the Gym Leader feeling like it was going to pound out of his chest at any moment. This was it. If destiny was real... this was the only chance he was going to get. He had to seize destiny's reins, for they would not magically attract themselves to his hands without effort. Fangs wide open, electricity danced from them as another maelstrom of lightning circled Josh, even endangering Elise. Once the lightning storm let up, he rode next to the Galarian. "You're right. I have fond memories of that place. Let's go for it. On my lead. One... two... three!"

With that, Josh spurred his Manectric mount toward Raikou at an angle that he hoped would encourage the Beast toward Fortree City.