Ever since dorian westcliff 's attack, security had tightened substantially, Josh again having to hire an outside firm to help ARCHIE COOK keep Mauville Racing Grounds safe until he could find staff willing to work for him directly. Given how his Gym had suffered two high profile attacks in less than a year, it was little wonder he couldn't get applicants. Clearly there was someone, whether Rocket, DRK Triad, or elsewhere that wanted his guts.

After check-in, staff would lead Thomas to the sprawling backyard of Mauville that was Josh's prized Racing Grounds. The facility was enormous, featuring all kinds of terrain for land, sea, and sky races to take place. Provided Thomas followed the directions to get to the Main Sector's primary battle court, he would see Josh removing the saddle from his Manectric in preparation for their match. "There you are, Thomas," Josh greeted the man who had ultimately directed him toward Top Champion kyle lopez , who was largely responsible for shaping Josh into the force he was today.

As he finished removing his primary mount's gear, Josh directed his friend toward the west side of the triple-sized court, toward the Trainer's Box on the challenger's side. "According to your application, this will be a half-team Singles match. The first side to incapacitate all their opponent's Pokémon will be the winner. The challenger is permitted to withdraw Pokémon, but the Gym Leader is not. There will be a ten-minute time limit. Once time expires, the side with more Pokémon standing will be the winner. Ties will be broken by sudden death. Good luck to you; you'll need it."

Once the two trainers were positioned, the small gallery cheered, primarily for Josh, as the platforms rose to a height of roughly ten feet. The Gym Leader hurled a Pokémon toward the circular pool surrounding the inner ring of the battle court, a rather large Lanturn emerging from it. It was clear from the creature's size that the Gym Leader rode her regularly in marine environments. "Now, bring forth your first Pokémon. I can assure you it will be the only decision you will have time to ponder," Josh taunted as the move timer counted down on the scoreboard clearly visible to the challenger.

As Josh had learned from their previous encounters, Thomas was a man of few words and much action. The Ceruledge was a fierce opponent, but the Master of Faster would meet him blade for blade. Twilight's forehead blade gleamed as she leaped from the Leader's Trainer Box, ready to charge. All that remained was the signal from the side judge, the two Pokémon taking their places near the large, grassy battle court's center.

As much time as Josh and Thomas had spent together, they had never actually seen each other battle. Knowing Thomas was a former Avatar, Josh figured he had a lot of field combat experience. As the Gym Leader had discovered, field combat experience and regulation combat experience were two vastly different things. How well would one translate to the other? Time would tell. The side judge raised both his flags skyward, a horn sounding the start of the match.

"Begin!"

With that, the match timer began counting down.

BULK UP was a wonderful strategy against the Gym Leader's ace combatant. Absol were brutal Pokémon to face in battle, their forehead blades capable of piercing sturdy armor and rending even the toughest flesh. It was, however, a strategy Josh had seen many challengers employ, both successful and unsuccessful.

"...If you think you have time for that, you're sorely mistaken," Josh smirked as Twilight's forehead blade hardened, reflecting the sun's light brightly. Angling it toward Mordred's face in an effort to temporarily blind him, the Absol wound up before charging the Ceruledge down at high speed. Perhaps her SUPER LUCK would aid her curved horn in finding a chink in her foe's armor, the aim a devastating critical hit leaving the fire-type in dire straits... or perhaps down for the count entirely.

PHANTOM FORCE was a move Josh was more than familiar with. He had ridden on the back of his Dragapult, Sidewinder, while using that move. It struck with great speed, the beginning of the move fast and the end of it faster, recalling how much of a thrill riding his ghostly mount was for that reason. There would be no dodging it, no anticipating where it was, and no reacting to it.

"Twilight, SWORDS DANCE! Cut that Ceruledge up the moment you see it!" With a nod, the Absol glared at Thomas menacingly, rearing and slicing the air in front of her. Her forehead blade reached maximum sharpness, looking like it could cleave even diamond in half. Thomas may have been able to see Josh holding the first two fingers of his right hand over the MEGA GLOVE on his left hand, trying to time a MEGA EVOLUTION as soon as possible after the Ceruledge returned to the material plane. If he could time it right, he could save his Absol, then use her immense speed to crush the rest of Thomas Pokémon. He wanted to prove to the former Avatar, and to Hoenn as a whole, that he was no longer the weak Gym Leader he once was!

The ability to appear and disappear into the ethereal was a powerful one. It was one that made Josh consider giving serious training time with Sidewinder to be able to use beyond the Gym Challenge. Having a Sygna Suit now would make withstanding the pressure of an ethereal jaunt much easier, and riding foes down like a speeding missile sounded both fun and effective.

Being a Ghost-type, there was no using his priority moves against the blade-wielding foe. There was no need for communication between Josh and his battle ace; she knew exactly what to do. Not knowing where the Ceruledge would emerge from would enable Thomas' battle partner to take aim at the Absol from behind, striking her with speed not even she could react to. It was only her Dark typing that kept her from keeling over on the spot.

Twilight lurched forward from the impact, briefly dazed before getting ahold of her senses. With equally high speed, she lunged between her foe's blade-arms in an effort to dig her destructive blade-horn into the fire-type. The Gym's safety system would keep the NIGHT SLASH from causing any real injury, but a critical hit from the forehead weapon would still be unfathomably painful if it connected cleanly.

The former Avatar's tactics, and the resolve of his Ceruledge, were nothing short of impressive. His time in Hoenn's warzone had shown. To withstand such a powerful cut, from a Mega Evolved Pokémon at that, was enough to wow even the Gym Leader's staunchest fans. The entire gallery roared in awe, whistles drowning out Twilight's screech. The light of reversion was all the Gym Leader needed to see to call the battle over. The side judge raised a red flag, signaling the knockout. Thomas' Ceruledge might be disappointed with its own stamina recovery; there was not much left to siphon from the Absol.

"Leader Devlin's Absol is unable to battle. Judges' call: one point, Challenger Benoit."

Sighing, the Leader pointed toward the north side of the pool and shouted for the Pokémon beneath the waves to take action. It was Illumina, a Lanturn that was quick to spray down the Ceruledge with a BUBBLE BEAM aimed at turning its burning blades into mere metallic weapons instead of ones whose flames melted the skin of those they touched.

"Challenger Benoit's Ceruledge is unable to battle. Judges' call: one point, Leader Devlin."

Josh fistpumped at the knockout. That ghost-type battled like it was his best partner, able to take down a Mega Evolved Pokémon with relative ease. He felt like he had the upper hand against the Zoroark, too. Though he did not own the dark-type fox himself, he had battled against enough of them to be familiar with their typical tactics. The NIGHT DAZE didn't make him so much as flinch; while the Lanturn was much faster than others of her kind, it didn't come at the cost of any of the species' toughness.

The shockwave itself did very little harm to the water-type; it was mainly the pool wall that did much of the Zoroark's work for it. Conscious of Illumina's now-impaired vision, he went with a tactic that would be reliable even while she was blind: THUNDER WAVE. Even a small splash of water would conduct the electricity needed to send a debilitating surge through the dark-type, Josh hoping the Zoroark's muscles would seize up enough for Illumina to charge up for a big attack.