"It's hard to think of anything that's faster than a Sharpedo in the water," Josh replied. It was one of his preferred aquatic Pokémon for that reason. Resheph could hit the speeds required, but was completely uncontrollable in enclosed spaces. Having been to the Mirage Palace for his initial Absolite, the Ultra Wilds, and now this place, Josh was a believer in the wonders of ancient technology. He idly wondered just how far back Poké Ball technology, or temporally local equivalent, went back.

The idea of a Gym Leader summit sparked Josh's interest. "That's what I don't get. Gym Leaders are supervisory League personnel. Why don't we get invited to AQUA? We're Hoenn's generals on the front lines. Why don't we get a say in policy?" Gym Leaders did get to craft policy, but their jurisdiction was only the city they were leading.

"That was also part of my motivation for searching for Raikou. I want to make a difference on that task force. And that is something I actually do need him for. As much as I'd like to apply for an Elite Four spot when it opens up, I can't. Even my nomination has to be unanimously approved by the entire AQUA Initiative. And as long as MATIAS SILPH is there, he will object. We're... not on good terms. After he thrashed me at the Pokémon League, he wanted to talk to me about why I 'let' Eris get away. He's... such a scary man. He needs to be impeached."

That discussion was for another time, though. For now, they had to go deeper. In addition to the search for Sharpedonite, they had to get to the bottom of why the water Pokémon near the Seafloor Cavern were so aggressive. Something within was causing them to go berserk, and they had to figure out what. Riding Snacker toward the west door, Josh undid the lock on it with one of the two remaining SMALL KEYS, their ears assaulted with the sound of rushing water. On both sides of the wide chamber were waterfalls that, upon further observation, he could not see the bottom of. The Gym Leader withdrew Snacker for Resheph, who was perspiring quite a bit by now, and not just from the humid environment. "You have a Pokémon that can fly? If not, Resheph can give you a lift across." It was a good thing he came prepared, because without a flying Pokémon, there was no crossing the gaping void created by a floor collapse.

Opening the far door with his final SMALL KEY, the two could at last hear each other clearly again once they got far enough away from the rushing water. It was far from calm, though; several Araquanid floated on the surface of an oddly-shaped room whose waters rose and fall like the tide, submerging what little standing room there was and forcing them to tread water or hop on a water Pokémon's back.

When the water started rising, Josh sent his Dragonair back out and hopped aboard, immediately calling for a DRAGON DANCE as an evasive maneuver. Though they dodged one LUNGE from the bug-type wilds, another rammed them from behind, Resheph FAINTING from the impact and sending the rider flying across the hall to its north side. Panting, he recalled the dragon and waited for Navy to catch up. There would be a lot of waiting on the tide to reach the far north end due to its unnatural shape.

Once the two Gym Leaders were together again, Josh led the way into an even larger hall with a dense mist obscuring vision. Ankle-deep water filled the entire hall other than three mounds of sand: one at each entrance and one in the center. It was much brighter than the surrounding areas, and the mist made it impossible to see the ceiling. "What in the world...?" the Master of Faster asked with unease. With Resheph out of commission, he took out Janus' Poké Ball and took a seat on the Espeon's back, tensing up as he felt the Eeveelution's psychic hold on him.

Finding the north door sealed with a tall slab, Josh turned around to see two wavering, human-shaped shadows leaning against a dead tree in the center of the middle sandy island. The moment he turned his gaze toward one of them, both of them started moving, reaching toward their waists as though they carried belts full of Poké Balls. They sounded battle cries that were much lower-pitched bastardizations of their own voices. The popping noise of a Poké Ball sounded, a Manectric-shaped shadow manifesting next to it.

[player]https://fi.zophar.net/soundfiles/nintendo-64-usf/legend-of-zelda-the-ocarina-of-time/37%20Middle%20Boss%20Battle.mp3[/player]

Middle Boss Battle - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

One got on the Manectric's back and immediately loosed a DISCHARGE, the mist and water causing the electric attack's range to extend through the entire hall. Anyone or any Pokémon not on one of the three sandy islets would be severely electrocuted. Drawing the blade he learned how to use from Finnegan Yang , the shadow on the Manectric mirrored his actions. It was clear what Josh and Navy had to do.

They had to CONQUER THEMSELVES!

Josh was no stranger to breaking regulation. He did so only with his Eeveelutions, wanting to keep the eight of them together when possible. They were the closest thing his Gym had to a proper Pokémon family. He felt bad bringing only Janus here, but the psychic-type had an extremely important role, and one he had to preserve. Without the Espeon, he had no healing.

The flying Pale Rider distracted Josh just long enough for him to leap into the saddle, the Mauville Gym Leader lurching back hard as a lightning-fast QUICK ATTACK struck them both. If he wasn't able to parry his misty clone's sword, he would have been in far words shape. Still, the impact sites bled and bruised. In the blink of an eye, his adversary was in the opposite corner of the large, damp chamber.

Was this the frustration and terror Rocket experienced every time they clashed with him, the master skirmisher landing blow after blow while zipping away too fast to counterattack?

The sound of sharp metal-to-metal collisions peppered the grunting of Pokémon and human as the battle raged on. "Thanks for the save, Navy!" Josh cried as he prepared to parry another one of his dark self's charges. At the last possible moment, he swerved his Manectric out of the way, his foe sounding a low hiss as his blade pierced the mistform Josh in a direct hit.

Retreating to the near side of the foggy battlefield, Josh lowered his Z-GLOVE toward the QUICKINIUM-Z embedded in Saber's saddle, his powerful foe mirroring the motion. Electricity surged around both Manectric. The two riders aboard the electric Pokémon would be safe, but anything not on one of the islands would be a victim of the strongest electrical surge his ace Pokémon was capable of. Josh bellowing the word "HYPERSONIC..." along with a lower-pitched echo of his voice was the only other cue Navy would get of the clashing Z-Moves to come...

"...PLASMA CHARGE!!!"



The two HYPERSONIC PLASMA CHARGES clashed with one another in a blinding, dazzling surge of electricity that made standing in the water tremendously harmful. Even Ground-types would not be immune to the fury of their clash. The sonic booms, and the force of the charges with them, knocked both the Gym Leader and his shadowy self off their mounts, the latter of which let out a low-pitched, distorted scream as he and his Manectric steed fell through the shallow water and vanished. Saber did not stand up with him, Josh recalling the unconscious electric-type into his Poké Ball.

After the intense battle, the slab covering the north door sealed, the sandy isles and fog disappearing to reveal a large, rectangular, empty chamber that looked no different from the rest of the place. "That was one powerful illusion," the panting Gym Leader sighed as he stood up, badly hurt.

Advancing through the newly-opened door, Josh stepped into the smaller chamber beyond. Floating above a dais with an image of the legendary Pokémon Kyogre embedded into it was a MEGA STONE, and one he recognized. It was a marble-sized SHARPEDONITE. "...What a find," Josh exhaled with a lot less enthusiasm than normal, blood dripping from the electrical wounds he had suffered, said wounds amplified by the dampness in the air. He took the stone for himself, ready to slot it into its place at the front end of the shark's riding gear.

Behind the dais was a submerged chute leading quite far down. "Do you have a Pokémon that can patch me up? If you don't, we might have to abort. I don't like reporting mission failures to Ranger HQ, but we might not have a choice," Josh suggested to Navy, who seemed a lot better off than he was.

Was this more evidence that Navy was a true warrior and Josh was not?

Josh could tell the agony in Navy's voice. He was a warrior. He didn't want to back down. What choice did they have, though? They had to have a healthy Pokémon to get back to the surface. They were thousands of feet below sea level, after all. "Going back to the surface sounds like a great way to give Snacker's new Mega Evolution a test drive."

It was less that Josh was thrusting the decision into Navy's hands and more that he wanted the Sheriff's input. As much as he didn't want to believe it, he and Josh were equals. Though Josh's self-confidence had grown since their pep talk at the ball game, it still had a long ways to go.

Even warriors had their limits, though. And a warrior knew that discretion was, at times, the better part of valor. "I brought all the water Pokémon I have that I can trust on this kind of task. My backups couldn't handle such a high stress environment yet. Besides, this won't fall on you. It will fall on me. I'll make sure of it in my situation report."

With that, the Mauville Leader led the way back through the corridors to the top level, where they could raise the water level to its highest point once more. It was the only way they were getting out. Once they were above the entrance tunnel once more, the Pokémon rider sent his Sharpedo out once more. "Alright, let's do it!" Slotting the Sharpedonite into the dark-type's saddle, Josh raised his MEGA GLOVE, both stones glowing with the purple light of MEGA EVOLUTION.

The Master of Faster could feel the throbbing wave of Infinity Energy flowing outward from the shark. "Let's head back to HQ. I don't feel comfortable going deeper in here." With that, a powerful pulse of water from Snacker's tail caused Josh to submerge along with his Pokémon, making quite the clip back into open ocean.