Josh's heart pounded, seeing Melody in a genuine state of distress for the first time. His eyes may have been the only pair in all of Hoenn trained to follow the speed of his Zeraora's Z-Move... and even then, the thundercat pushed his keen eyesight to its limits. Lightning flashed brightly all over Raikiri's path, even dancing along the waterfalls at times. Ultimately, though, the hyperspeed feline was unable to fully interrupt the Lapras' FREEZE-DRY. Both of Josh's Pokémon were encased in glacial ice similar to the hundreds of Pokémon frozen beneath the Silent Icelands. The difference between there and here was the Smeargle's limited power with the move left the top of their bodies exposed, which was all Josh needed to recall them into their Poké Balls.

His knees hit the frozen ground in despair.

"Why?!" Josh screamed unto the heavens out of his frustration boiling over. "What is it about me that always causes me to fall short?! First Matias, then Callan, and now you!" The rambling and ranting continued, some of which wasn't completely coherent. "It's not my Pokémon - I could tell they gave it their all. It's something about me! But I don't know what! Where as a Trainer did I... fall short?!"

Josh has always battled with emphasis on speed. He rarely had to deal with moves like LOCK-ON, for the Pokémon that used them would fall before their wielders could take advantage of them. SOLAR BEAMS, SKY ATTACKS, and the like fell in the same vein. He simply wouldn't give them time. "The use of speed has never been about dodging attacks... it had been about preventing those attacks from happening in the first place," Josh stubbornly answered, standing behind what his Gym was all about. "You wouldn't have time. After a follow-up Quick Attack or use of Extreme Speed, what can possibly stand?"

The Gym Leader got back to his feet and shook his head. "MAGNET RISE is a well-known defensive move for electric Pokémon, and my Pokémon are so fast that they have time to use it after seeing an EARTHQUAKE ripple toward them. That's a talent not a lot of trainers can claim they have. It just doesn't do a whole lot against you." He took another deep breath, his mind churning for similar ideas. "Against Matias, it did work... well, was supposed to. That was the idea behind Blinky's WISH."

His mind continued to wander, the tide of ideas within rising. "The more I think about it... all of you are so talented. You're among the most talented Elite Four in the world. Wouldn't be surprised if Hoenn's was number one. Many regions require trainers to take on the Elite Four, one after another, with the same team of Pokémon. Hoenn is the only region I know of that lets you use a different Pokémon team for each member. Might need to consider that more seriously."

At last, he came up with an idea. "Perhaps a short-term defense like PROTECT is the answer."

As a Gym Leader, there was a reason Josh had such a large retinue of Pokémon at his beck and call. While speed was the theme he was known for, his true theme was ride Pokémon. There were ride Pokémon of all kinds of speeds. "Not all ride Pokémon are blistering fast, after all. Look at Mudsdale," the Gym Leader answered, citing an example. "They're not known for being very fast, but they're commonplace in Alola for carrying riders through rough terrain for hours on end. Gogoat, too. I was so close to pulling through against Matias because of him. That SUBZERO SLAMMER, though..." he trailed off.

Change was a terrifying thing to think about. The whole reason Josh had initially become a Pokémon racer and trainer was the thrill of the wind in his face. The adrenaline of flying across the land at speeds that would make even the Pokémon of his dreams, the Legendary Beast Raikou, was one of the things that not only attracted him to Pokémon, but kept him going to the point where he opened a Gym about spreading his love of life in the fast lane to others. He had created a whole racing league in Hoenn.

"Absolutely," the defeated Gym Leader nodded. "More importantly, I'll have this battle to study in the downtime before I can challenge you to battle again. Just as I teach my challengers that loss is a learning experience, I will use today's battle as a means to improve. See you in the fall!" As he turned around, he realized how deep into the Pokémon League's facility he was. "Mind leading me back to the lobby? I left my Sharpedo's Poké Ball there and I need him to get back to Mauville."