surprisingly, nikola seems to be doing well with the jolteon. they're not really guiding her, though... just holding on tight for dear life and laughing all the way. flammula is tucked away into their coat again, hiding from the sands. as a fire type, he isn't a fan of sandstorms; they remind him too much of being attacked by ground types. as nikola and josh's jolteon zip over the dunes, nikola can hear a roar from their right. without even looking, they announce, "there's an onix!" as they run past. the massive rock type barely has time to react before they're gone again. a weepinbell flopping around in the sand is almost trampled, managing to get out of the way just in time.

the desert itself is vast. nikola looks up finally, calling out a "woah, woah! let's slow down a moment!" to blinky, pulling back, hoping to achieve something closer to a fast trot. they glance over their shoulder at josh. "this is fantastic! i can see why you have so many large pokemon. i could never have made it this deep in on my own." their glasses are caked with sand. oops.

[ Josh Devlin ]

passing over onix and weepinbell.

As fast as Onix were, the giant rock-type had no hope of even following them. Even the rock-type panicked to get out of the way of the speeding yellow Pokémon. Listening to both Nikola's voice and their tactile commands, Blinky obeys them, though her fast trot may still have been a little uncomfortably fast for them. Josh likewise reined Toralf in to match their pace.

Now that the wind wasn't howling in their ears, the duo could talk to one another. "That feeling is the freedom riding a Pokémon gives you. I did try to warn you about how fast she is, heh!" the Gym Leader chuckled. If only Nikola could see Blinky's beaming smile, proud of how her rider held on even with her running as fast as she did. "One thing I highly recommend to anyone traveling Hoenn is to track down a Pokémon that can carry you while running, one while swimming, and one while flying. If you do that, there's nowhere you can't go!"

they sit up a bit further in their saddle, looking thoughtful. "i see... so rather than relying on vehicles, you use more traditional methods of transportation..." it does sound exciting, but there's some logistical issues they'd have to work out. even having one pokemon was more of an accident than anything-- they'd rescued flammula when he appeared in their path, beaten and exhausted. even after he was healed, he seemed rather overwhelmed by the world around him, so nikola had decided to take him in more permanently. feeding and housing a single cyndaquil is much easier than taking care of ride pokemon, they think.

watching a rolycoly drift across the sands, they turn to josh. "how is it you manage to care for so many large pokemon?" they ask curiously. the rolycoly runs afoul of a klawf hiding in the cliff face nearby, the crab pokemon swinging a claw at the much smaller creature. nikola's watching them, but not making any moves otherwise.

[ Josh Devlin ]

passing over rolycoly and klawf.

Josh took note of Nikola's posture, impressed they picked up on good technique so quickly. "Pokémon can take you so many places vehicles can't. Plus, there's that sensation you get... being able to feel every one of your mount's strides as you race across the land. Isn't that feeling just... liberating?" It was that motion, that bounciness, that brought Josh to his preference of land ride Pokémon over flying ones.

Letting the two wilds duke it out, Josh continued on, a spark from one of Toralf's yellow cheeks making his hair briefly stand on end. "It's my position as a Gym Leader. With me running Mauville Gym, I get a lot of public funding. On top of that, because Mauville Racing Grounds is independently registered as a business in the event the League no longer wants me as a Gym Leader, I can write off a lot of Pokémon care, including feed, as a business expense. If it weren't for Mauville Gym, I'd have to let go of so many of my Pokémon."

nikola nods along as josh explains. so being a gym leader is about more than just taking challengers, huh? they never really looked much into it, having had no interest in the gym challenge overall. but it does make sense; a gym leader should be expected to be a leader of the community, which makes it a position of both responsibility and privilege. nikola is starting to get the sense that they were very fortunate to wander into josh's path as they did.

another onix passes. or is that the same one...? it doesn't pay them much mind. there's a roserade standing on its back as if riding it just like nikola and josh rode here, and nikola regards it curiously before turning back to josh.

"it's unfortunate that we didn't stumble into any actual fossils," they say with a sigh. "but catching a fossil pokemon was more than i had hoped for, honestly." they're getting a little sick of the sand. "maybe this is where we should part ways...? oh, but i'll be sure to visit you in mauville some time." they give him a bright smile. "i'll be looking to expand my team, i suppose. maybe when we meet again, we can battle."

[ Josh Devlin ]

passing over onix and roserade.