"Oh, if you've been on a bike, a lot of the same skills transfer over," Josh answered, his smile growing. "It's still different, though; I love being able to feel every stride my Pokémon takes. That's one of the joys of traveling by Pokémon, and it's more environmentally friendly, too!" He left out the part that several of his Pokémon were faster than low end consumer vehicles, but he didn't want to spook Icarus. After all, Josh was a true outlier in terms of travel by Pokémon. His ability to tolerate super speeds was nearly unmatched in Hoenn - only Eva Morales had greater speed endurance than he did, and that was only because she was Rayquaza's Avatar. Traveling at interstellar speeds was something that was expected of her.

"Yeah..." Josh sighed. This seedy part of town was dangerous during the day, let alone at night. "How about we find some lodging away from the city line?" he suggested. "Then in the morning, we can go our separate ways. Just call me at Mauville Gym's number and ask for me when you're ready. If I happen to be near where you're at, I can even pick you up." Whether Icarus would ultimately like the way Josh did so, though, largely depended on how brave the younger man was. The Gym Leader's Pokémon were... fast. Very fast.