"Woohoo!" Vanilla cheered, hanging onto her Altaria as she sped through the pack and caught back up where she had initially been. There wasn't time to waste, however! Vanilla was going to ride this thing for all it was worth. Her hands on her Altaria's mane would forced her to remain down so that the Pokemon could better speed up with the pack. Josh had suffered from a pretty minor mistake from the first lap, as she'd spot him just a bit ahead of her. "Here we go!" She said, aiming to barrel roll through the obstacle as fast as possible to gain a few seconds on top of Josh.

Josh Devlin

Glancing back to see where the competition was at behind Flowen, who was clearly running away with the race. There was little hope to catch the four-winged bat now; it was simply too fast. Josh was impressed with Vanilla's control over her Altaria, able to keep pace with his own. He wasn't going to make it easy on her, though; if she wanted a Badge, she was going to have to earn it. Earning that badge took physical and mental strength not only from her Pokémon, but from the trainer herself, as well.

"Squall, DRAGON DANCE!" Josh commanded, squeezing the blue dragon's sides. With a shrill cry, his white wings turned purple, a trail of dragon energy forming behind her. The rider leaned into as sharp of a right roll as his shaking arms could muster, the intense g-forces forcing his eyes shut and leaving his complete trust in his mount. He could hear beads of Altaria sweat hitting his helmet's visor, both rider and Pokémon pushing their muscles close to their limits.

The tight barrel roll at increased speed was gut-wrenching for almost everyone in the race. ARAVAN ESCHER's CROBAT had so much innate speed that he felt going even faster through the barrel roll would wrench him from his poison-type mount. Everyone except ERON IUNIS and his SALAMENCE; the lethargic dragon completed his barrel roll as lazily as possible, the white-haired Gym Trainer wondering what the point of him racing the red-winged dragon was in his condition.

The other three fought fiercely for second place, Vanilla Kingsley 's TERASTAL ALTARIA using its added speed to keep pace the best she could with the DRAGON DANCING ALTARIA and ROARING MOON surrounding her. ACE SHEEKE let out a pained-sounding cry, the g-forces behind his Paradox Pokémon's flight making it feel like his leg was being wrung out. Josh Devlin 's, too, throbbed from the nasty speed his dragon achieved mid-DRAGON DANCE. For a Pokémon species not known for their speed, the two were zooming. Though the gap between Leader and challenger widened, there were still passing opportunities out there!

Prompt: The course quickly narrowed after the high speed corkscrew. While the racers were no doubt familiar with its width after two laps, those not used to flying Pokémon that subjected their riders to the intense g-forces that came with the spinning turn may find the resulting vertigo to interfere with their ability to keep their Pokémon steady through the narrow backstretch! While passing by going above or below a competitor was possible, the course turned so narrow that passing side-to-side would be risky! The end was in sight! Once the racers passed the narrow S-curve at the end of the backstretch, it would be a straight line sprint to the finish!

Target Number: 175 (Speed)

Special: Pokémon also apply half their Endurance ranks and half their Reaction ranks (no rounding) to this Obstacle. TP loss as a result of rolling beneath this Obstacle's Target Number is multiplied by 1.5.

"How much stamina does Josh even have?" Vanilla asked herself, huffing to herself at Cauli would let out a shrill cry, as if to warn her that she was losing her energy rapidly. It was the first real time her mega evolution had lasted long enough to run out at this point. She looked at the bracelet and frowned, starting to worry about whether or not she would finish the race in time. "Damn it. Alright, just try and hold out as long as you can, Cauli." The pack was heading towards the second obstacle of the race rapidly, that very same corkscrew as before. She had been troubled by it before, but this time, Vanilla would at least try and hope for the best. The crobat was first to enter, followed by Josh and then her, all the way down and ready to speed up as much as she could.
Josh Devlin

Josh and Squall were slowly gaining on the Crobat in front of them, but as they entered the narrow curves, it became increasingly clear that the blue-haired Gym Trainer was well out of the Leader's reach. With only seconds remaining in the race, even his swiftest aerial mount, Tiamat, would not be able to catch the four-winged, flying vermin.

The narrow course made passing treacherous, which was a double-edged sword. It made maintaining position easy, but slowing down to avoid flying out of bounds made it easier for those behind him to pass him when the course widened in the home stretch. With the racers poised to make a big push toward the finish line, he had to make sure he left that final curve on the inside line. Reining his mount back, the Gym Leader lightly tapped the Altaria's metaphorical brakes to ensure he could crest the final curve, preparing for the impending final sprint.

The nastiest curves on the track preceded the home stretch, and with the speeds the dragons and CROBAT were flying at, would take great precision to maneuver through without losing speed. With traffic as spaced apart as it was, the trying stretch could be approached much like a time trial, racers having enough space that they could feel like it was just them against the course. Even so, ARAVAN ESCHER did not let up on the metaphorical gas one bit, the blue-haired Gym Trainer reining his CROBAT aggressively around each corner and well out of reach of Josh Devlin 's and Vanilla Kingsley 's two ALTARIA.

The two competed fiercely for second place, the Gym Leader making a risky move of his own toward the end. Goading his ALTARIA into a low swoop, the Gym Leader swerved toward the inside of the ending S-curves, trying to cut Vanilla Kingsley off from doing the same. At the very end, the unsettling, distressed screech of an ALTARIA would find her ears. If she were to glance down, she would see Josh Devlin 's dragon's talons scraping the ground below, struggling to regain enough lift to get back into the air. The challenger's timing was perfect, the added speed and maneuverability of MEGA EVOLUTION being the difference between soaring ahead of the Leader and joining him in a painful scrape against the ground.

Well behind them, ERON IUNIS' SALAMENCE had suffered a similar fate; his TRUANT disposition had caused the duo to turn too far to the right, the dragon's red right wing rubbing against the boundary fence and unbalancing him, causing him to swerve left and lose almost all his speed. Vanilla Kingsley had won the battle, but the war was not yet over: ACE SHEEKE's ROARING MOON was screaming toward them, the primal Salamence look-alike's red gaze vicious-looking as the redhead prepared for one of the fastest Dragon Dances the challenger may have ever seen!

Prompt: The home stretch was all that remained, an official standing near the starting arch and waving the checkered flag. There was little risk of an accident on this straight sprint to the finish! Now was the best opportunity for the five Pokémon to give it everything they had!

Target Number: 0 (Speed)

Special: None

With some trickery and fancy flying, Vanilla and Josh were neck and neck for third place. They comitted to the S-turn as the challenger would look over at the gym leader, her mega evolved Altaria keeping its wings to the sides while cutting the corner as much as possible. She was smiling, her hair blowing in the wind as she laughed. "Woohoo!" They went back and forth onto who could overcome the other before Josh's Altaria would scratch on the ground in order to slow down long enough to regain altitude. The two of them surged forward, overtaking them both as Vanilla now placed in second. With the final obstacle coming itm it was down to the wire. Anything could happen in these past few seconds! "Keep on going, Cauli! We're almost home-"

Her voice faltered as the mega evolution wore off. her trump card had run out at the worst possible moment. Her Altaria would shrink back down into her usual form, looking up at her trainer as Vanilla cursed to herself. She leaned down as did Cauli, as Vanilla pointed forward. "Full steam ahead! We can still win this!" The Altaria let out a shrill shriek of angreement as they dove towards the finish line.

Josh Devlin

Josh felt his body fling forward in Squall's cocoon saddle, the pressure of its straps against the feathery dragon's underside adding further displeasure beyond that of the scraped talons. The true danger of racing was the whiplash from sudden shifts in momentum, and that did not require a crash to invoke.

A trail of white and blue feathers whirled skyward in their wake as Josh resumed proper riding posture for the final sprint to come. He was determined to catch up to the redhead on Ao's back, and possibly even the challenger. If he couldn't, then the Badge was hers, earned fair and square. "Squall, DRAGON DANCE!" The Altaria's wings turned from white to purple once more, expecting those of the dragons around him to do so as well in sync with his mount's own.

Way out in front, a fierce TAILWIND roared behind ARAVAN ESCHER and his CROBAT. Their form was perfect, the purple bat's four wings catching every bit of the gales. There was no catching the poison-type, the duo crossing the finish line before the competitive Vanilla Kingsley , ACE SHEEKE, and Josh Devlin rounded the final corner.

Among those three, it was anyone's race, Vanilla's ALTARIA no longer able to maintain its added speed once the INFINITY ENERGY high left it. This opened the door for the ROARING MOON and the Leader's own ALTARIA to make big moves, both of them catapulting forward in DRAGON DANCES that left the gallery gasping in awe. The paradox Pokémon's speed was intense, rocketing past the fluffy dragon and leaving her in third place.

Josh was on pace to pass the challenger as well, but he was running out of real estate! With how quickly the gap between the two bird-like dragons was closing, all eyes were on them as they crossed the finish line within a split second of one another. Only the most hardcore of ERON IUNIS' fans watched as his SALAMENCE crossed the finish line several seconds later, earning last place by a long shot.

Third place was too close to call.

As the two prized Altaria crossed the finish line, the victor unclear in real time, Josh unzipped his cocoon and slid off Squall's back, the Altaria letting out a trill of pride from putting on such a competitive race. He took a seat on the ground near the gallery and flipped up the visor on his helmet, every hair on the back of his neck standing on end as even the summer air felt like stepping into an air conditioned room.

It was a photo finish, the results of the race for the final podium spot under review. "Vanilla, you and your Altaria are incredible to keep up with me. This is the first time I've raced Squall, and I had so much fun. I really hope I can give this to you," he said as he held one of his Gym Badges in a closed fist ready to be dropped into the challenger's hand. "It all depends on the final results."

He drew his rival's attention to the big screen, officials reviewing the final moments to see whether there would be a new Badge holder this day. It also could not be understated how monumental ARAVAN ESCHER's new course record was. A photo of the very moment the race ended gave both of them the answer.

It was challenger Vanilla Kingsley , by less than a tenth of a second.

"For finishing ahead of me, you've earned it." He opened his hand, letting the official Badge drop into the challenger's possession. "This is the official Hoenn League Quick Badge. You and your Altaria shall be enshrined in the Gym's list of Qualified Riders as champions."

With the ceremony over, Josh led Vanilla back to the Gym's lobby. "You're welcome to use the showers in the locker room if need be. Always a pleasure seeing you, and I'm sure it won't be the last time we meet."

The wind was howling at the speed Cauli was going. She was in second now, but the surge of air passed them would come in the form of Ace on his Salamance. He beat her to the end of the race, but behind him came Hosh and his Altaria. It was now neck and neck, gym leader versus challenger! He inched ever so closer while both of them crossed the finish line together. It was close enough that it would be up to a photo finish to decide the winner. The teen departed from her Altaria, the rush still coursing through her veins.

"Ohmygodthatwassointense, thanksforhavingme! Ican'treallyrfeelmyhandsandhowlongwasthat?" Vanilla was giddy, having to hold onto Cauli as she'd be bouncing up and down, trying to wear the adrenaline off. The footage was being prepared as Vanilla and Josh waited. Her eyes locked onto that badge, eyes swimming full of hope. Could she have won on her first try? All it would take was a little luck and trust in Cauli's skill. The video was prepared and the times were shown....

"I did it!" Vanilla cheered, hopping up and down as she hugged her Altaria. The drained but gleeful Pokemon cried in glory while its wings fell on top of Vanilla's back. Josh came over and congratulated her on the win, dropping the bedge in her hands. The challenger looked at it in awe, then smiled back at the gym leader once he mentioned being pinned as the champions inside of the gym. So it was kind of like Navy's then?

Vanilla pocketed the badge and then stood before Josh. "Actually if you don't mind, would you mind if we raced more one day? It would be an honor to fly or ride with the Josh Devlin!" Her eyes showcased her newfound enjoyment of racing. That glimmer of awakening, tasting the sweetest dish for the first time in what was likely ages. "Only if you wanted to, though."

Josh Devlin