Josh's growth came with a completely new team and a completely new battle strategy. Rather than going all-out with high speed from the beginning, his game plan was to turn the battleground into a makeshift race course of sorts, where his team would excel. Dropping his first selection into the chute of his Trainer's Box, the Gym Leader's Poké Ball came screaming out of it, emerging a SKARMORY. While the Pokémon was very fast.

With the Elite Four's team laid out on the screen, Josh wondered if his would be there, as well. The Slaking that gave him trouble didn't seem to be there. He couldn't let his guard down, though; just like Josh, Callan likely had Pokémon just as fierce as his own. The Metal Menace, lacking in a Steel-type move, served as a defensive bulwark. Looking to take into the sky from the word go, he would drop STEALTH ROCK and a ROCK SLIDE all over the battleground, looking to alter the arena's terrain to his advantage.

The exchange happened so fast. It was too fast for even Josh to follow; the Grimmsnarl had retreated in a split second after its hit-and-run tactics, leaving it totally unharmed and the Cinderace almost completely unharmed as a result. The PARTING SHOT was inconsequential in Josh's mind; this Skarmory's job wasn't to attack. It was to manipulate the battlefield to Josh's advantage. When Bladestorm was done, the remaining two Pokémon on the Gym Leader's team would be able to navigate its twists and turns far better than Callan's could.

Josh scowled at Callan's will to idle his Pokémon for even half a round. Was he going easy on the challenger just because he had achieved perfection during their last battle? The self-titled Signer wasn't going to turn down a gift, though, shedding a layer of sharp, SPIKED caltrops from his wings and talons. Perhaps that would spur the Cinderace into action, which was exactly what Josh was looking for.

"BODY PRESS."

Bracing himself for impact, the Metal Menace reinforced its IRON DEFENSE where the metallic shards were dropped from. His eyes squarely on the Cinderace, Bladestorm soared well above the fire-type athlete Pokémon before attempting to squish it between his full weight and the minefield of metal hazards littering the spotlight.

Cinderace's retaliatory PYRO BALL grew to colossal size as the Metal Menace took to the skies post-BODY PRESS. Reliant on the Skarmory's pure grit, the Gym Leader knew that no matter what, he was gaining the lead; the avian's STURDY body would not melt under the blaze. In fact, he had planned on the Skarmory taking that hit, the rest of the Steel-type's shrapnel falling off in the attack's aftermath, adding heat to the spikes on the ground. The past Josh would have let out a cry of worry for his Pokémon, withdrawing the felled bird. This Josh smirked.

His plan went exactly as he drew it up.

Pumping both fists upon hearing a determined screech, Josh let the steel-type act upon the instinct their many battles together let them hone. Bladestorm's wings echoed with a tinny hum, blades of air shooting toward the sky as he ascended with great speed, looking to slam into the athletic rabbit with a second full-weight BODY PRESS. Were the Cinderace still standing, it would be easy for the fire-type to pick him off, too exhausted to do anything but ROOST afterward and catch his breath.

Too exhausted to move even after ROOSTing, the close-range PYRO BALL laid the Metal Menace to rest for the rest of the battle. While that wasn't exactly as he had written it up, Josh's lead would be impactful even after it had fallen, the race course of hazards he had laid giving him a significant advantage and giving him a window to turn the corner. "You did a wonderful job, Bladestorm. Come back to me." he calmly said, holding up the steel-type's Poké Ball.

Josh lobbed his second partner's Poké Ball in a high arc, a Dragapult appearing from within its bright light. "Lock on target, Sidewinder, and fire!" he commanded, the incredibly fast dragon acquiring said target lock mid-DRAGON DANCE. His already high speed rose to ludicrous levels, zipping circles around Callan's arena before making a sharp turn toward Messi. Even if the foe had a quick move of its own, there was no outracing the living missile's QUICK ATTACK. Not even the physical barrier surrounding him would keep him safe, the phantom INFILTRATING past it.

The immense aggression coming from Callan Young 's Sinistea would have toppled Sidewinder had Josh not done battle in environments where his greatest strength was rendered moot. The previous Josh, the Josh that desired to be Raikou's Avatar above all else, would have met the SHADOW BALL with a kamikaze blow, a show of mastery of speed at the behest of all else.

Not the Josh that stood before Callan today.

This Josh was more cunning and more experienced, yet possessed the same blistering speed he did before. This Josh understood that speed was a tool in a trainer's toolbox, not a win condition all on its own. His strategy could be slanted toward speed without relying on speed. Even with the SHELL SMASH fueling the ghost-type, he still pressed that advantage, but in a defensive way.

Flying away from the SHADOW BALL to give himself the extra time he needed, Sidewinder vanished into the ghostly world of the ethereal realm in a seizure-inducing light show with the efficacy of a CONFUSE RAY. All Josh needed was one opening for the back half of PHANTOM FORCE, and he had control of this battle for the first time. It wouldn't be easy; the re-emergence into the material world had to be perfectly timed. With anything less than perfect timing, the dragon's tail would be exposed to a counterattack that could have caused serious injury if it were not for the Pokémon League's state-of-the-art safety system.