The two Golisopod were quite passive in their delirium, though its claws were now sharp as razors. They could cut through anything. Even metal. Were it to strike while Snacker and Illumina were close together, that would end the battle all on its own. Were it to trip and fall, those blades would stab cleanly through its own carapace. With how angry Snacker had made it, Josh trusted the shark's capabilities. If the exchange didn't pan out in his favor, he would be hopelessly on the defensive for the rest of the match.

But why was the other Golisopod being so passive? He didn't want to find out, and that light wasn't going to leave it seeing stars for much longer. "Pincer attack!" Josh commanded, the two swift aquatic Pokémon jetting toward the speedier Golisopod before it got too fast to be vulnerable to such an attack. Snacker and Illumina swam toward it in opposite directions, trying to sandwich the insect between PSYCHIC FANGS and SPARK attacks.

"A Zorua..." Josh gasped, not expecting to see the wily fox. It went against the expectations the Gym Leader had set from the beginning, that the battle would take place primarily in the water. He looked flustered. The purpose of the aquatic battle was to test how Raju battled in aquatic conditions. He wanted to stop the battle then and there, but ultimately decided to let it continue. He would be having a chat with Raju about it, though. Maybe not after the battle, but at a later date.

For now, he would simply take his frustration out on the dark-type, ordering his Pokémon to regroup. The BITTER MALICE would cross with a THUNDER WAVE intended to limit the Zorua's movement, setting up an opening for Snacker to leap out of the water and toward Mage. A large section of the grassy island encapsulated by the nearby channels would be drenched in the wake of the Sharpedo's LIQUIDATION. It gave Samurai some breathing room, yes, but the Gym Leader wanted to send a message to Raju about his trickery that was, in the Gym Leader's eyes, uncalled for.

Recognizing Zorua and Zoroark was one thing Josh had trouble with; he had yet to raise one himself, and given his penchant for riding Pokémon, he would likely leave his in its true form more often than others of its kind. They were quick, but their riding gear had to be specially commissioned due to their less than ideal body shape. Josh could make it work, though; it was just a matter of finding one. Their illusions made them extremely tricky to locate.

The brutal exchanges left Illumina and Snacker belly-up, the large needles stuck in his skin causing him great pain. "A little trickery can go a long way in battle. But the purpose of this was to test your aquatic battling skills. That means in the water." Perhaps he miscommunicated to Raju, but it did feel a bit unfair to the Gym Leader that his water Pokémon could also hide on land. "Need a breather before our final match? And this time, your Pokémon won't have anywhere to run."

Being a new Gym Trainer, Raju indeed had limited options. For a moment, it made Josh take for granted his ability to raise so many different Pokémon. He never imagined that he would run into space issues at his Gym, but with a hundred Pokémon and counting, there wouldn't be room for many more.

"Sounds like a good idea," Josh nodded in agreement, leading Raju back to the lobby indoors. On one side of the waiting area was a water dispenser and a stack of foam cups, normally used by challengers waiting their turn to see the Leader. "Help yourself, and don't be modest! We've got plenty more tanks downstairs."

The Gym Leader would take a seat next to Raju while both rehydrated. "One of these days, when it's after hours, I'll have to show you some of my... really special Pokémon. I've come into quite a few of them over the recent months. Might be helpful to get to know them in case you have to take a challenger that has one, too."

Josh, too, filled one of the small Styrofoam cups with water. It was only a half-cup, but it would be plenty before heading back out there. "Yes, that is part of how we make sure the challenge is fair," Josh confirmed. "Generally speaking, badge count is the way Gym Leaders decide what Pokémon to use. The more badges a challenger already has, the harder the challenge should be. This is how Gym grinders can challenge Hoenn's Gyms in any order they want without being overwhelmed."

Josh nodded at Raju's last statement. "Absolutely, which is why we're supposed to use those special Pokémon sparingly. Still, it's a good idea to get to know them. Some of them can be pretty... fickle, though." Was it because they were not well-understood, or was it because they were demigods? Raikiri seemed to be the exception; he and Josh seemed to just... click. He was the Pokémon that the Gym Leader was bonded closest to. Had their fields of Infinity Energy not conflicted with one another, it would have been his Sygna Pokémon.

While badge count was not the only assessment of trainer strength, it was one of the gold standards the League used. "Real battles aren't like simulators, where you can put out a number to how strong a Pokémon is at. Badge count is the best standard we have. Hoenn isn't the only Pokémon League with this problem. It's just a problem that there's not an elegant solution for." It had been a problem that had been around since the very first Pokémon Leagues in Kanto. Had such a "simple" problem not been solved for decades already, it wasn't such a simple problem, was it?

"It's more the latter," Josh confirmed. "Pokémon like those are, simply put, stronger than ordinary Pokémon. Not that they can't be overcome, but there's definitely an advantage to having a legendary Pokémon like Hylda, my Glastrier, on the squad."

The conversation turned toward Josh's history as a Gym Leader. He was not proud of his early days. "I have. A while ago, I challenged Callan Young as part of the Champion Assessment. I didn't even land a single scratch on any of his Pokémon." It was a match he would rather forget about, but there was no undoing it now. It would be a strike against him going forward; another performance like that, and he might have to start his entire run at the assessment over again. Interview and all.

"Funny you ask," Josh replied with a laugh. "One of the first challengers I got as a Gym Leader was Melody Miro . She did exactly that with her Toxtricity duo. I'm glad I never had to face them in the Champion Assessment. They would have been horrible to overcome when she had home field advantage." Her Primarina was nasty enough; without Ground-type moves, they would be a nightmare to take down. He would do well to remember how to battle them, for such knowledge would save his life later on.

Almost all the people in the running to become Champions were high-profile League officials. Gym Leaders, Elite Four in the own right. People who didn't need to prove themselves worthy, but wanted to do so anyway.

"Think I'm good to go now," Josh sighed. "How about we head back out there and finish our match?"