It was hard to hit the Master of Faster. It was in the name.

Josh Devlin, Mauville's Gym Leader, was an awe-inspiring force to see on the battlefield. Few, if any, were faster than him, and that made him extremely difficult to pin down. He made for a great skirmisher, taking down Team Rocket's infrastructure before anyone could react. He was also a kind man, who helped stray archaeologists find their hotels.

And Howard had to fight him? No. No way. Absolutely not. This couldn't happen. He wouldn't win.

But he had to try. Someone had given him advice to keep moving forward. To try, and to push beyond his limits. Fighting was fine, as long as he had something between himself and the Master of Faster. Howard Slayte was going to fight a person he had worked alongside.

Not that it mattered. Howard couldn't recognize the man riding the Dragonite, anyway.

As Josh and his mount launched off into an Extreme Speed, the Gym Leader would feel a massive Sandstorm brewing from Ayer, his Probopass. Howard himself stood on the ground, in a grunt uniform and helmet. He stuck out like a sore thumb. Perfect for another beheading. The storm grew stronger, blowing around in the sky.

"I'm not doing anything wrong. We must get this info out." Howard muttered.

---

Josh Devlin
MISSION: Sky
POINTS: 60
+50 (mission)
+10 (post)

The SANDSTORM reduced visibility enough to blow Josh off course, the Gym Leader unable to feel the drifting from how much power was behind the Dragonite's vibrating wings mid-EXTREME SPEED. They did, however, blow the sand away in a small sphere around Josh, preventing him from getting sandblasted while darting through the air at hair-raising speeds.

Even through the Sandstorm, the Rocket uniform and Probopass stood out. Tiamat was unable to maintain Extreme Speed any longer, her wings now merely fluttering as fast as a small bird's. With a bellow, the orange dragon whipped up a TWISTER using her wings. Its purpose was twofold: to blow howard slayte off his feet, as well as to suck up the sandstorm to restore visibility. If all went according to plan, it would be only Howard ensnared by the blinding grains of sand whirling around him faster than a race car.

There was a solution to the Twister blowing towards him—Carbink. However, Howard was too slow in grabbing it. He sat and stared at the attack for several seconds, stuttering, before being blown off his feet by the countered Sandstorm.

He only had a few moments before the Sandstorm struck Howard hard. With the speeds it was reaching, it'd pepper Howard with a thousand extra holes. Unfortunately, he only had one eyepatch. Not nearly enough for that much damage. Right now, he was only experiencing the first winds of the storm. Once it fully hit, it was over.

How did he fight Josh Devlin? Howard squeezed his eye shut. He was just too fast. Nothing Howard had could keep up. Then, he remembered a conversation he had with Josh in Fallarbor.

He would never have the tempo in this fight, but Howard could make it manageable. As he was lifted up in the air, he shouted something that was lost into the wind, yet Ayer understood. The Probopass responded with a Thunder Wave, intent on slowly the Dragonite's movement substantially. That would stop the wall of sand from shredding Howard and Probopass!

"Waaah!!!" Howard shouted as he flew up into the air, his Probopass flying after him.

---

Josh Devlin
MISSION: Sky
POINTS: 60
+50 (mission)
+20 (posts)

Josh pumped a fist as Howard was sent flying above the twister. He had his foe right where he wanted him: completely helpless and airborne. Tiamat's humming wings roared louder as she zipped toward the explorer with the agility of a Ribombee. Hovering above the twister, she wound up her powerful AQUA TAIL, ready to fling it into Howard like a cracking whip and send him hurtling back to the ground at nosebleed-inducing speeds.

The whirling sandstorm masked Ayer's location, Josh's skin tingling as the THUNDER WAVE blindsided Tiamat. Her wings slowed from insectile speed to that of a small bird, the humming sound and whirlwind ceasing to exist. It gave Howard a window, but not a very large one, to catch his bearings as the Probopass neared him.

Even with muscles wrack with paralysis, Tiamat could still put on quite a bit of speed. Just not quite as supernatural-seeming as it once was when those wings purred like a great cat.

Who pumped a fist at sending someone flying into the sky? Was Josh celebrating this? One little motion, and Howard's perspective of the Gym Leader shifted slightly. It then proceeded to shift substantially as Howard was flung around in the sky, and Howard found himself getting scarily close to being swatted like a bug.

If that strike from Tiamat landed on Howard... Forget nosebleeds, he'd break every bone in his body.

As the Aqua Tail landed, the Dragonite was instead met with a body block from Ayer. Howard, meanwhile, was intercepted by the three mini-noses, and was floated down to safety. The strike let out a loud clang as it sent Ayer tumbling down towards the beach, but not before letting out a ferocious Stone Edge.

As the attack was released, Ayer crashed down onto the beach. "Probopass!" Howard scrambled towards his Pokémon. The Probopass floated weakly, but it was wounded. A firm strike from Tiamat would knock it out.

Dammit. Was he already losing? They had barely started!

---

Josh Devlin
Points:
+50 (mission start)
+30 (posts)

The PARALYSIS took away Josh's advantage, leaving Tiamat unable to get her EXTREME SPEED off before the STONE EDGE fired. Cutting right through the Dragonite's tough scales, Josh quickly unzipped the cocoon as the two Pokémon fell simultaneously. Falling toward the sea briefly, the Master of Faster was quick to send out another Pokémon, and one Howard might have been familiar with. The screech of an Aerodactyl, this one quite a bit larger than his, may have assaulted the researcher's ears as it caught Josh. Taking a moment to get properly seated, he zipped the rock-type's cocoon up, ensuring he could not fall from the wildly fast predator's back.

The screeching, armored dinosaur's maw crackled with electricity that was to be expected from the Gym Leader. Harshly thrusting his hands downward, Meteos entered a meteoric dive that pushed the skin of his rider's cheeks to the back of his head. If Howard didn't send out another Pokémon to defend himself, he would find himself snatched and electrocuted!

Thud. Howard was blasted backwards as his Probopass fainted, though not before taking out Dragonite. He had managed to take out one of Josh's Pokémon! A noteworthy achievement, if not for the fact that Howard had ambushed him. There was no time to think about the morality of hitting Josh while his back was turned, though.

"Bastard. Mine is better." Howard grunted as he stood up in the sand. He looked towards where Probopass lie, defeated, before returning the Pokémon to its ball. He felt awful about Ayer's downfall, but he needed to scramble away. Howard reached for his belt to throw out Gemsly, before stopping.

His ball was missing. Damn.

Turning around, Howard saw a ball gleaming on the beach, and cursed. Aerodactyl were fast. Apex predators capable of mauling much in the ancient world. Josh didn't need to tell Howard how fast they were. He knew. Howard sprinted towards the ball, with Aerodactyl close behind. Shit. Shitshitshitshitshitshit...!

Howard lunged, his hand wrapping around the ball, which clicked and released his Carbink. The gem fairy twinkled in the ocean spray, and released a Power Gem.

Nonetheless, it was not fast. Howard had wasted too much time to reach his Carbink. If he was better at keeping an eye on his pokeballs, he could've flawlessly intercepted the attack. But now...

---

Josh Devlin
+50 (mission start)
+40 (posts)
+50 (ally KO)
+10 (KO)


 

"Got ya," Josh mumbled as his screeching Aerodactyl continued to ride Howard down. Meteos adjusted his dive angle to ensure Josh wouldn't be flattened by the g-force of their swoop back into the air. While he could withstand the force of just about any land ride, no matter how fast or strong, ones in the air were another thing altogether. This kind of dive was more Alexei Ivanov 's wheelhouse.

It was that adjustment that allowed Howard just enough time to send out his Carbink and blind the hunting Pokémon with its POWER GEM. The wake of the wind trailing the Aerodactyl flying at skin-peeling speeds may have threatened to blow the researcher off his feet as Josh and his rock-type partner soared once more. Howard would have precious little time to catch his breath and mount a counterattack; only long enough for the Gym Leader to recover from the whiplash-inducing swoop. He was ready to go again, this time Meteos turning himself into a living missile, his IRON HEAD serving as a devastating warhead. If this connected, whether it was to the Carbink or to Howard directly, it was gonna hurt.

"No!" Howard shouted as his Carbink fired off another Power Gem. This attack was stray and fleeting, lacking the precision of the original strike and the force of Probopass's other attacks. Now that Josh had breached that first Pokémon, this grunt was crumbling.

Howard felt it. He was crumbling. He had never been confident about this fight, and now...

Meteos's Iron Head crashed into Gemsly with the force of a freight train. The distinct sound of gems cracking with the connection rang out as the Carbink was blasted backwards, rolling in the sand much as Howard had before. It tried to float weakly up into the air, before collapsing again, exhausted.

"Carbink!" Howard screamed, his voice being scrambled by his helmet's voice changer. He clenched a fist. No. It was happening again. He was losing all his Pokémon again. He was failing again. In that precise moment, he had never hated someone as much as he did the Master of Faster.

With a clenched fist, he threw out his final Pokémon, Celpho. The Armaldo stood proud, pointing a claw towards Meteos and Josh in challenge.

---

Josh Devlin
Points:
+50 (mission start)
+50 (posts)
+50 (ally KO)
+10 (KO)

It was only the cocoon that kept Josh in Meteos saddle as he swooped skyward after the devastating impact. That Carbink had some force of will to not die on the spot after absorbing such a monstrous Steel-type attack. Squinting, the Gym Leader noticed the number of Poké Balls on the Rocket's belt. Was this his last one? His ace? If this Armaldo was his ace, Meteos would be able to make very quick work out of the fossil Pokémon.

Raising his TERA ORB and bopping his mount with it, Josh and Meteos became surrounded by translucent, cyan crystals. A heavy mist fell from them as the Aerodactyl was encased in a TERASTAL ICE-TYPE body. "Freeze them," the Gym Leader sternly commanded, his Pokémon again threatening to give him whiplash from the speed at which he dove toward Howard and his Armaldo with serrated, empowered ICE FANGS.

Terastal? Seriously? Josh was already kicking Howard's ass in a dozen different ways. Did the Gym Leader really need to rub a Nacli into the wound? To make matters worse, the type wasn't even particularly good against Howard's team. It was just that his Probopass and Carbink were already fainted, which left his options low.

As the Aerodactyl became coated in glimmering crystal, Celpho let out a challenging roar. It was Howard's second-ever Pokémon. Besides Atlas and Shirley, it was likely one of his strongest. Besides Shirley, Celpho was his most loyal Pokémon.

Even so, Howard wasn't blind. He knew what was coming. Despite Navy's words, cowardice was setting in. He sprinted away as his Armaldo retaliated with Ancient Power, striking the fossil even as Aerodactyl's fangs gnawed into its impossibly study armor.

Armor that was already cracking.

---

Josh Devlin
Points:
+50 (mission start)
+60 (posts)
+50 (ally KO)
+10 (KO)

The close-range ANCIENT POWER collided with Meteos' ice, the powerful attacks crashing into one another with reverberating force that violently shook the seated Gym Leader. At the same time, he wondered how much the ice seeping between cracks in the Armaldo's rocky skin would break apart its natural armor. The Aerodactyl's flight was rough, every flap of his unsteady wings throwing the Leader in a different direction. While the ANCIENT POWER did not rob Meteos of consciousness, it did steal the dinosaur's usefulness in combat.

Performing another impressive mounted quick switch, the Master of Faster withdrew his weary Aerodactyl, landing in the saddle of his Togekiss, Mastema. Quick to zip up within his cocoon, he sped around the Armaldo fast as a floating dragon, an AURA SPHERE growing on top of his blue and red crest. If not interrupted, the unerring attack would almost certainly down the Armaldo in its weakened state.

Mastema. That Togekiss that Howard had ridden just a few months ago. Its ferocity was as unmatched against Howard's weakened team. Josh Devlin's entire team had been unmatched. The only reason he had gotten so far against the Master of Faster was due to type-advantage and the element of surprise.

If Josh had attacked him first... Howard would've lost. He had played this poorly. He couldn't protect the satellite. He couldn't even fight optimally. He had staggered against Meteos, and his Carbink was heavily wounded.

Celpho let out a challenging roar as Mastema fired off his attack. The Armaldo intercepted, attempting to parry the strike with a Crush Claw. Why hadn't the Armaldo used Protect? Why? Why? Why why why? The attack hadn't even come close to Mastema, and it was failing against the Togekiss's attack.

The strike connected with Celpho, and the fossil fell with a scream that mixed with that of the owner's. The Armaldo returned to its ball shortly after, leaving Howard alone. Undefended.

Hate.

Clenching his fist tightly and grinding his teeth, Howard pointed towards the Gym Leader. The static-filled voice echoed and buzzed as it rang towards Josh. "Next time, Master of Faster. I won't forget this."

Suddenly, a Volcarona appeared behind the mysterious man. With the snap of a finger, the Volcarona began to dance and dance as its scales caused the area around Howard to ignite into flame. A fiery wall birthed from a Fiery Dance. The flames spread out and dispersed...

...and the man was gone.

---

Points:
+50 (mission start)
+70 (posts)
+50 (ally KO)
+20 (KOs)
+300 (loss)
+100 (Sky complete)
TOTAL: 590 MP