Every slam of the Tyranitar's body left a red blemish on the Luxray's black fur. If it weren't for the Gym's safety measures, those blows would have broken the electric feline's bones. Tyranitar had an unbelievable amount of physical power behind their muscles. To make matters worse, the Copperajah emerged from underground, entering the TRICK ROOM and tromping toward Blitz with speed that made him feel like he was battling himself.

If anyone had mastery of blistering speed, though, it was Josh. Not some wannabe. "Got ya," Josh smirked as Junior faced the steel-type. "HYPERSONIC..." he trailed off, his Z-GLOVE's glow now bright enough that even the sandstorm couldn't hide it. Crossing his arms above his head, he raised Raikiri's reins before flicking his wrists, followed by his arms, rapidly downward, sending a huge pulse to the Zeraora's halters. If the thundercat didn't see his rider was using the reins merely to execute a Z-Move, they would have shot across most of the arena in a split second... and the TRICK ROOM in minutes.

"...PLASMA CHARGE!!!"



Not even a legendary Pokémon's TRICK ROOM could slow down the second fastest Z-Move in the world, second to TACHYON TEMPEST. Pushing off the Tyranitar with all his electric might, Blitz disappeared... then reappeared next to the giant steel-type in a ramming attack so fast that not even Josh could follow. Even the Mauville Gym Leader had to cover his ears from the sonic boom amplified by the underground confines of the Gym. A machinegun-like barrage of lightning bolts struck in the pachyderm's path with such force that even ground-types could not resist their might.

While the Copperajah's strike was too slow for the supercharged move, it came with its own flaw: the speed the Luxray was clocking got so high that the grains of sand cut into him like a thousand blades. The black feline's body covered in red freckles, the Gym Leader withdrew and retired the Luxray in favor of an Arcanine. "Finish that Copperajah, Braver! BURN UP!" Within the confines of TRICK ROOM, though, it would take the big dog's fur quite some time to turn all black and shed the Fire typing from him. There would be time to launch a rock-type move toward the normally speedy Pokémon...

After the Copperajah's ROLLOUT and Arcanine's BURN UP collided, the no-longer-fire-type's fur had turned solid black just prior to the STONE EDGE missile strikes. Had Josh acted a moment slower, his bid for the badge would have ended. "SCORCHING SANDS, Braver!" the Master of Faster shouted, turning away from the sandstorm as to not swallow any of its grains.

Braver got the attack off just before the follow-up volley hit, having split the attack in two by going above the TRICK ROOM's bounds. Copperajah was the direct target of the semicircular splash of superheated, pulverized rock, though Junior would be in danger as well if he didn't make a move.

The second missile strike, even without its Fire typing holding it back, was almost too much for it to withstand on its own. The inclement weather proved to be too much for the Arcanine to withstand. The match over, Josh dropped to his knees. "What is my PROBLEM?!" he shouted. "It's like... ever since going to Ever Grande, I can't win a single battle when it matters! Dewford, Mauville, anywhere! AAAAAAAAAHHH!!" Even Raikiri looked frustrated for Josh, longing to battle the Copperajah and Tyranitar, though he could not do so. He was so caught up in his despair that he failed to notice the glow coming from the switch of his Absol's Poké Ball...

Junior's PROTECTIVE shield was what Navy needed to seal the match. He had asserted his superiority as a Gym Leader by repelling a fellow Gym Leader. It would look fantastic for his reputation. With this victory, perhaps he would one day get a seat on Hoenn's Elite Four. He certainly had the tenacity and the battle skill to do so. Josh, on the other hand, couldn't have shown more self-directed angst. He had suffered three hard losses in a row at the Pokémon League. And now, he had taken a decisive loss to another Gym Leader, one who had made his interim Gym Leader look like a total disgrace. As close as the battle was on paper, in practice, Navy was in control the entire time.

Josh stood to his feet as instructed, recognizing the stern tone from before. It was the same tone from when they had spoken about Eris in his office. It was the same tone Navy used when he was trying to teach Josh something. The role of a Gym Leader was to teach challengers, not to crush them. While Gym Leaders did have to maintain standards on what percentage of trainers received Badges, their primary goal was to make their challengers walk out of the battle court with the lesson the Gym was trying to teach intact, Badge or no.

"But how?" Josh asked, genuinely curious if Navy was aware that he had taken down every Pokémon Josh had registered. "I registered three Pokémon for the match, and none of them can battle. I didn't register Raikiri for the match. He can't leave the Trainer's Box. You took down three of my Pokémon before I took down three of yours. It's over. What more is there to fight with? You do have to understand--"

The light from Twilight's Poké Ball became too bright to ignore. The red and white sphere grew to size completely on its own, the loudest Absol war cry he had ever heard echoing from within. "Twilight...?" Josh gasped as the hinge's snap whacked him in the belly, the Poké Ball shattering to pieces. Shrapnel went flying everywhere, a shard of the metallic object piercing the back of the Gym Leader's chin. He let out a wail as he shakily removed the glass-like foreign object, blood dripping onto his platform and eventually onto the back of Raikiri's front-left paw as he hugged the Zeraora for comfort.



The Absol that Josh had previously thought unable to battle had a second wind in her. Her eyes the same blood red as the wounds beneath her fur, she pushed herself to and beyond her limits for the close bond she had with Josh. She was willing to risk everything to see Josh through in this battle. She had already done so once at Meteno, and it nearly cost her her life. Despite her grievous injuries from the devastating knockout blow, she continued to fight. Raising her forehead blade toward the Tyranitar, Twilight looked for a chink in his armor, perhaps her SUPER LUCK letting her strike the sensitive flesh beneath with a NIGHT SLASH from her scythe.

Josh's jaw hit his Trainer's Box in disbelief. On a real battlefield, the maneuver Twilight performed, one of pure grit, could easily have ended her life. Once the match was over, he left his Trainer's Box to join Twilight and Navy, the Absol looking just as shaken as her trainer was. "I get that, Navy, but there are... you know... physical realities here..." Physical realities that the Absol had just stood in defiance of. In a rare instance of physical expression and emotion, she smirked. That and her body language was all Josh needed to understand what her cries meant in the human language:

"I've been through far worse."

" 'I've been through far worse,' you say..." It was true. She had survived Meteno. Were it not for her defiance and bravery, she, Janus, and Bladestorm would have been forever frozen under the Silent Icelands, along with the hundreds of Pokémon eternally trapped in the glaciers covering southwest Hoenn. "...You have. We have." Breathing a deep sigh, he turned to Navy, about to protest how he didn't deserve the Badge. Stuffing his self-defeating words and thoughts, he simply answered to his fellow Gym Leader and friend:

"You're... you're like a big brother to me," the Master of Faster answered, trembling. "I... I don't have any words that haven't already been said. At least not that I've said to you directly. But I'll try to think of something." It took a minute or two, but eventually something came to mind. Something that deeply resonated with him, yet could also apply to challengers after him. "I've got it. Thanks again, Navy," he stood up to hug the Gym Leader, then his Absol. Tools in hand, he began etching his message onto the Gym's Hall of Fame:

"NEVER LET YOUR DREAMS DIE. BUT ALSO NEVER LET YOUR DREAMS CONTROL YOU. - JOSH DEVLIN"

At the end of the message was the full-color face of a Raikou, its stern gaze replaced with a beaming smile.