Gym Trainers and guests zipped around one of the nearby courses at dizzying speeds; several of them weren't Pokémon exactly known for their speed, and yet, even a Meganium and Shiny Gogoat remained competitive with one another coming down the course's home stretch. Out of the nearly one hundred Pokémon roaming the massive facility's grounds, perhaps some of the most eye-catching were the not one, not two, but six Pyroar racing one another, trainers controlling them mid-DOUBLE TEAM with impressive talent.

When it was time for @saturn 's lesson to begin, she would see the Gym Leader arrive, seated on a Shiny Luxray who responded to the subtle shifts in his reins with unerring precision. Sparks flew from the adult feline's paws as he let out a cry to greet Lucian and the young lady. "Good morning... Alia, is it? I think you were the only lady on my short roster today," Josh greeted him before introducing himself. "Gym Leader Devlin or Elite Ranger Devlin, but you can just call me Josh if you want to. And this is Blitz," he gently pat the yellow and black great cat's head.

Even though many had never seen the Mauville Gym Leader, his traits were quite distinct among those in Hoenn. Intimidating yet friendly demeanor, born in the saddle, and strong customer service skills made him pleasant for anyone to work with. "Thanks. Being from Johto, Raikou is a very special god to me. He and the Great One, Ho-oh, are among the most revered gods back home. Many pray to them both."

Josh whistled for some of the rest of his fairly exotic, but still beginner friendly, racing Pokémon. Several came bounding toward him: Aslan, a Shiny male Pyroar; Mystic, a Kantonian Ninetales; Pinky, a Shiny Sylveon; Crash, a Boltund; and finally, Janus, an Espeon. Despite their listed average size in the Pokédex being wildly different, all the saddled Pokémon before @saturn were between five and seven feet tall at the shoulder - more than comfortable for a person to sit on. The Gym Leader introduced them all one by one. "They're all good to learn racing fundamentals with."

Pinky approached Lucian and reached toward the Shinx with her feelers, touching and comforting Alia's Pokémon with positive energy if they allowed it. Aslan's regal, golden fur gleamed in the sunlight much like Blitz's did. "I guess you're getting private lessons today! Looks like neither of my other two students showed up. How exciting for you!" It may not have been if Alia didn't want to constantly be the center of attention. "You can learn with any of my Pokémon - even with Blitz if you want, given your Shinx. He's a big boy, and with the right training, will be a great Pokémon to get into the racing circuit with."

The stunned expression was met with calm from the Master of Faster. "None of them bite, I promise! Well, unless you show blatant disrespect to them," he laughed. Pinky was an incredibly useful Pokémon for Rangers, especially rescue specialists like Josh. Calming marooned victims was important, especially ones hesitant to sit on the backs of saddled apex predators. Even though they were docile as could be, there was still something intimidating about being in the presence of, let alone sitting astride, one of the Gym Leader's many lion Pokémon.

At Alia's request, Josh slid off his Luxray's back, leaving his saddle vacant for the young, inexperience Ranger. Liking the idea of teaching how to ride a feline Pokémon by riding a feline Pokémon himself, he tapped Aslan's saddle, the Shiny Pyroar responding by crouching to let him on. "Now before we go off to Twist Road, I just want to make sure you've got all the riding fundamentals down. How to control speed, direction, and so forth. How to make your Pokémon jump. All that find stuff."

Josh did a small double take when Alia didn't recite the basic controls correctly. She wanted to learn how to be a racer, yet she was missing fundamentals? He was a little worried, but this was nothing the Gym Leader couldn't review. "Not quite," he answered. "You actually control speed with pressure from your legs. If you squeeze Blitz's legs, he'll run faster, and if you let up the pressure, he'll slow down. Pulling back on the reins with both hands is only an emergency brake. Most Pokémon don't like it when you pull on their halters really hard." He learned that from experience when he first rode his Manectric. Josh would never forget the day he suffered a big scrape from doing just that, Saber responding by hurling him out of the saddle violently.

"For turning in general, you can also just lean your body in the direction you want to turn. You can combine both method to turn tighter, but mind your Pokémon's turning capability. An Arcanine won't turn very quickly no matter how hard you pull, for example." All tips Josh learned not from reading a book, but from experience riding his own Pokémon. No matter what the subject was, experience was truly the best teacher. "Finally, if you flick the reins with both your hands, your mount will jump."

Josh would give Alia time to take in the information, even practice a little, before evaluating her prowess. "Now, let's head over to Twist Road and see if you have the basics down. Aslan and I will go at your pace, but I want to see you push Blitz to a gallop. You'll need it to clear the jump on the backstretch." With that, the Gym Leader would guide Alia to Sector 1 of his Gym's property, the grassland where the beginner-friendly course was located. "When you're ready, let's ride!"

Alia clearly demonstrated knowledge of how to control a Pokémon mount, her unease and lack of confidence confirming the Gym Leader's suspicions. Her experience had been tainted by rust. What impressed Josh most was her adaptation to the feline's gallop. Unlike Rapidash and common Pokémon for the task, the electric-type was a feline predator whose back flexed a lot more. The saddle on Blitz's back helped mitigate it some, but it may have been jarring for one who had only ever been on horse Pokémon before. If Alia were to watch Aslan run, she would see the Pyroar's flexing motion even more pronounced than the Luxray's.

While impressed with the way she handled the Pokémon, there was one thing missing. "You've got the basics down. Almost. You forgot one." Pressing a hidden switch behind Twist Road's starting arch, the bridge above them retracted, just like it would during boost laps in a real Gym Challenge using the course. "You forgot to have him jump."

Once the bridge had retracted completely, Josh was ready to test Alia's ability to handle this last basic control before getting to racing fundamentals. "If you flick your Pokémon's reins with both hands while they're in a gallop, they'll jump. To give it a test, how about trying to build up speed along these first three corners, then going as fast as you feel comfortable with. At the end of the hill, see if you can clear the gap where the bridge was with a jump! If you need to see it first, I can have Aslan demonstrate."

The declination was clearly one of confidence, Josh content to watch as Alia built up Blitz's speed from a trot to a powerful gallop that she seemed to be adapting to easily. The leap was perfectly timed, clearing the wide gap with plenty of room to spare. Josh applauded her as Blitz jumped down to the lower section of the course, near where they had started. "You've got a good grasp on the fundamentals. But you came here to learn how to race Pokémon, right?"

The Gym Leader would start with some of the very basics of competition. "One of the most important things to learn is the inside line. If your Pokémon can turn tightly enough, you want to run along the inside of the track, as close to the walls or bounds markers as you can. The inside line is the shortest distance around each curve. A slower Pokémon on the inside will beat out a faster Pokémon on the outside." It was a simple concept, but one of the most important ones. Aggressive lines were especially important during time trials, where every split second mattered to racers chasing the pole position.

"Second, pacing is important," he continued, Aslan tilting his head toward Alia, as well. "You can probably feel your Pokémon's heartbeat when you're riding on them. You want to keep it high but not too high; it's a great indicator of how much energy your Pokémon is using. This also plays into one other thing. In Pokémon races, moves like Quick Attack and Extreme Speed are completely legal to use, and they can make a big difference. Do you think you could handle Blitz's Quick Attack?"

The inside line was also much more important in Pokémon racing than in track and field, where runners had a set lane they stayed in and the racers were staggered along the starting blocks to ensure the distance covered was the same. In a Pokémon race, pathing through turns was important, as the courses were not simple ovals. They were road courses, many peppered with wicked turns designed to push Pokémon and racers to their limits. The very fastest Pokémon required equally strong endurance from riders, some species such as Arcanine capable of running faster than many commercially-available cars could reach with their engines running full throttle.

"They're best used on straight stretches, jumps, and lighter turns," Josh answered. "Not only do turns come at you faster just by way of going faster, but higher speed also means greater momentum. It takes a lot more energy from a Pokémon to shift that momentum, meaning they can't take turns as well. Plus, you have to think about your own strength. If you can't hold on through that momentum, it's not going to do you any good."

After the long-winded explanation, the Gym Leader guided Alia to the long straight stretch before the jump. "See if you can keep up with Aslan and I. We're going to run toward the gap and jump over it, only this time using Double Team. Blitz should be able to keep up with him if he uses Quick Attack. We'll take off when you're ready. If the speed ever gets too uncomfortable, don't be afraid to stop, as it can be very physically demanding on you." With that, the lion would line up with Alia and Blitz when they were ready.