Mauville Racing Grounds' facility was enormous indeed; while the office space had little signage due to its size being on the smaller side, the property where the action took place, just outside the city proper, was enormous. Luckily, Josh had experienced staff who knew the facility well, and signage that could guide challengers to the correct location. The voice of SHELLY SPIEL, Josh's scheduler, echoed over the Gym's loudspeakers:

"Challenger Mika Nakayama , please report to Sector 5. Challenger Nakayama, to Sector 5. Thank you!"

Provided the challenger found ample signage, he would see the brash and tall ACE SHEEKE, already seated on Meteos the Aerodactyl; the timid and short ERON IUNIS, on Bladestorm the Skarmory, a metallic clang from his beak a sign of his aggression; and the reserved ARAVAN ESCHER, whose hair stood on end as Verte, the Flygon he was astride, buzzed his green, insectile wings. Lastly, he would see the Gym Leader Josh Devlin , making adjustments to the saddle strapped to Suzaku, a Talonflame the challenger may have been more than familiar with."Great to see you again at Mauville Racing Grounds, Mika," Josh greeted his challenger. "I hope you two are ready to give it your all, because if you thought battling me in a contest of power was hard, my contest of speed is even harder!"The three Gym Trainers introduced themselves and Josh's Pokémon they were borrowing, one by one.

The gallery surrounding Sector 5's INTERSECTION course was full, small as the stands were. While the course was typically well beyond the normal capabilities of someone without a single Hoenn Gym Badge, the Ranger had requested the difficult course specifically. One lap around this course felt like two: the first of the two triangles would find the racers flying around on the inside of a large, translucent tube; the second, dodging the very tube they had flown around inside.

Josh went over the rules of the challenge, required by Hoenn League statute. "See that arch near the starting line, with the long and skinny monitor on it? We line up behind that, and the countdown will be on that display. It will sound four horns and display '3, 2, 1, GO'. On 'GO', our Pokémon will start running. Pokémon are not allowed to use moves like Quick Attack or Extreme Speed on the first lap. After the first lap, though, use them as much as your Pokémon can handle! Beat me to the finish line after three laps, or otherwise prove to me you can handle the pressure of split second decision making, and the Hoenn League Quick Badge is yours."

Once he had finished explaining the rules, Josh reined his fire and flying-type forward, joining his three loyal Gym Trainers for the contest of speed. "As I'm sure you know, Talonflame are some of the fastest Pokémon in the sky. You asked for it - better hold on tight!" Josh bragged as he slammed his helmet's visor down. If Mika were to glance toward him, the challenger would see a laser focused expression, almost like he was in a zen state as he held Suzaku's reins in anticipation of the green light.

You will have 8 ranks to distribute among three skills. No more than 5 ranks can be assigned to any one skill.

• SPEED: This represents how fast your Pokémon can travel. Each rank of Speed adds 10 to all your rolls, and an additional 10 to rolls on Speed-based Obstacles.
  
• ENDURANCE: This represents how well a Pokémon can navigate difficult terrain, and affects how often a Pokémon can use its Boost during a race. Your Pokémon can use its Boost a number of times equal to its number of ranks in Endurance (min. 1). Each rank of Endurance reduces the Target Number of Endurance-based Obstacles by 20.
• REACTION: This represents a Pokémon’s cornering ability. Each rank of Reaction reduces the Target Number of Reaction-based Obstacles by 20.

In the OOC notes of your next post, please note your Pokémon's distribution of skills.

You do not need to roll after your next post, but you will need to [ roll ] twice at the end of every post mid-challenge. This roll will be modified according to your Pokémon's skill ranks.

Example: If a player rolls a 60 on a post involving running down a straightaway as fast as possible atop a Pokémon with four ranks in Speed, their effective roll will be 140.

The Leader's next post will include a "mod post" that depicts the course's first Obstacle: a prompt that presents a challenge for the racers to overcome. Each Obstacle will include the following information:

Target Number: This is the number the racers need to roll at or above to overcome the Obstacle without penalty. While it is uncommon, an Obstacle can have multiple Target Numbers.

Intended Skill: This is the Skill that will apply to the Obstacle. It can be Speed, Endurance, or Reaction.

Special: Any extra rules specific to this Obstacle are located here.

Example Obstacle: The track starts out with a bang--a sharp, 135-degree left turn mere tens of meters from the starting line. The width of the turn itself makes recovering from a misjudged angle easier, but the track quickly narrows up again afterward. A guardrail on the outside keeps Pokémon from sliding off the course, but there is no such guardrail on the inside, and there’s a shallow stream that looks time-consuming for non-Water Pokémon to climb out of!

Target Number: 105 (Reaction)

Special: Track Points lost as a result of non-Water Pokémon rolling beneath this Obstacle's Target Number are multiplied by 1.5, rounded up.

After the players make their rolls, the Target Number is deducted from the player's roll, and the difference becomes the player's Track Points (TP) for the round. 100 TP corresponds to roughly one second of time differential. The race will consist of three laps, with three Obstacles per lap. After the ninth Obstacle, total Track Points will determine finishing order. The QUICK BADGE is awarded if at least one of the following conditions are met:

1) The challenger finishes the race in 1st or 2nd place.
2) The challenger finishes the race ahead of the Gym Leader.
3) The challenger otherwise demonstrates their mastery of the tenets of Mauville Gym, at the Leader's discretion.

Josh was happy to hear Mika had been honing her skills, but he wasn't giving hints of any emotion except a highly competitive spirit, as though he was in an adrenaline-fueled trance. "All I can say is... your choice of Pokémon might make this challenge difficult. You might feel your face peeling against your chin by the time we're done here," the Leader bragged. "But I'm excited to see how much you've learned since your last meeting. While this will require a different set of skills than our battle, it will test your bond with your Talonflame to a greater degree. You must be of one mind with your Talonflame, or you will never win the Badge you desire."

Once the five Pokémon had lined up, three still images of a sprinting Raikou faded into view on the scoreboard and starting arch's display, overlaid atop a "GET READY" prompt. As the first of three images began to fade, a low-pitched horn sounded from the display's speakers. A second, then a third. When the last image disappeared, the "GET READY" changed to "GO", followed by a longer, similar yet higher-pitched sound. Josh jabbed at his Talonflame's sides, Suzaku and his other Pokémon sending dirt and loose grass beneath them flying as they took off.

After each posting round, a prompt describing the upcoming section of the track will be posted. These prompts may highlight different sections of the course on each lap. You will react to the prompt, then [ roll ] twice.

Prompt: The opening stretch of the course consisted of two long straightaways separated by a gentle 90-degree right turn with a large #1 ring in the center. It was easy enough to fly through that a racer would almost have to be deliberate about missing it. The size of the ring made it easy for multiple Pokémon to fly through it at the same time. This would be a wonderful opportunity for the Pokémon to build up speed. The only issue with the ring was its fairly low elevation; the birds would need to pull back up to make it to the entrance to the giant, translucent tube coming up!

Target Number: 120 (Speed)

Special: None

Unlike Mika, Josh was fully ready; having raced Pokémon as part of two different careers, he was perhaps more apt than anyone else in Hoenn at coaxing out every bit of speed a Pokémon had. Even traditionally slower ride Pokémon, such as Gogoat, could run at quite the clip under his command.

Fiery contrails burned from Suzaku's wingtips as she built up speed, riding the wake of a blazing explosion from the tips of her tail feathers. Josh had to lean hard into the first turn to get into position to fly through the opening stretch's lone target ring. With how often he had ridden land Pokémon for Ranger tasks and for his Gym challenge, it was going to take getting used to being on a flying Pokémon at the upper end of the speed range his team could reach!

From the green light, Gym Leader Josh Devlin 's Pokémon showed Mika Nakayama and her TALONFLAME no mercy. With a low roar from the firebird's tail flames, the SKARMORY's signature tin-sounding air blades providing tremendous lift to the steel-type, and a loud drone from the FLYGON's insectile wings vibrating fast enough to create a whirlwind beneath it, the challenger had her work cut out for her. Her late start left her in last place down the opening stretch, but there was still plenty of race to make up an early deficit.

The first target ring approached; large and thick, there was plenty of clearance for multiple Pokémon to fly through it at the same time. The challenger's form was excellent, keeping pace with the birds and dragon ahead. ACE SHEEKE's AERODACTYL led the way, soaring as high as the course's bounds would allow before diving through the target at an angle, pulling up at the last possible moment for maximum speed.

A grating noise that sounded like a taser going off echoed from in front of the Leader, challenger, and ERON IUNIS' SKARMORY. ARAVAN ESCHER's FLYGON had clipped the side of the target, the dragon's wing striking it dozens of times in the split second they were in contact. The noise startled the Gym Leader, an inadvertent motion causing his TALONFLAME to ride the thermals a little too high! He was forced to pull back on the fire-type's reins sharply, the bird spreading its wings to kill enough speed to make it through. Mika Nakayama and the white-haired Gym Trainer fiercely battled for second place going into the large tube, with the Leader and ARAVAN ESCHER trailing them in part due to their mistakes.

Prompt: The five racers came to the first part of the course's titular Obstacle: after a long section of a wide tube that gave them plenty of room to fly, its path began undulating wildly: three ups and two downs in alternating sequence. If the trainers were paying attention, they could see themselves flying above and below holes in the surrounding foot race course. The peaks and troughs crested in such a way that there was no straight line that took them through all five: rapid altitude changes would be needed. Furthermore, the tube's shape had a small amount of lateral movement to it, too, making each twist different! How would the racers handle the potential vertigo?

Target Number: 140 (Endurance)

Special: None

As Josh and Suzaku trailed the challenger's Talonflame, he wanted to make a move on them while the tube was still relatively straight. Not being able to see around turns was the scariest part of flying in the enclosed space. While one turn was not too big of a deal for Suzaku to navigate, the series of five turns required him to conserve her movement as much as possible.

His hands firmly on Suzaku's reins as the semi-blind turns approached, Josh leaned as low as possible on the Talonflame, briefly wondering how Aravan and Verte would hold up weaving around her blazing contrails. There was little time to ponder that, though; the Gym Leader was forced to pull up on the fire-type's reins hard, hoping his reaction time and angle were true enough not to scrape the poor bird's talons on the tube's floor!

The rivets holding the tube in place flew past the racers so fast it gave the illusion that the entire tube was moving, serving as another means to potentially distract the racers. The echoing of wingbeats and screeches made flying through the enclosed space all the more nerve-wracking. The peaks and troughs blitzed toward the five, forcing them into harsh, wave-like flight that made the trainers' guts feel like they were rising into their throats one second and sinking into their intestines the next.

ACE SHEEKE screamed through the first several turns on his AERODACTYL, expanding his lead until scraping his talons on a peak from not flying high enough. A shrill cry reverberated through the translucent, lit tunnel as the rock-type struggled to get up to speed, Mika Nakayama and ERON IUNIS passing them. The TALONFLAME and SKARMORY fought one another for precious airspace, tilting their wings up and down to help maintain the correct angle of attack for each of the winding, three-dimensional curves.

After what seemed like a marathon, the tube gave way to open airspace once more, the steel-type and fire-type at last able to separate a safe distance. If the challenger were to look back, they would see Josh Devlin and ARAVAN ESCHER fairly far behind; it seemed the verticality of the curves had given them a lot of trouble.

Prompt: After two long straightaways separated by a single ring marking a 90-degree turn, the second half of the titular Intersection came into view. The racers now had to weave around the tube they had just flown through as it intersected the course five times! Furthermore, there were trees marking course bounds, and there were "mandatory" arrows marked on the outside of the tube! The first pointed right, and they alternated in succession, forcing the flying-types to fly around the five sections of tube that cut across the course, slalom style! Missing a mandatory would result in a steep time penalty!

Target Number: 150 (Reaction)

Special: A Pokémon that rolls beneath this Obstacle's Target Number by more than 25 suffers an additional 100 TP penalty for missing a mandatory.

The main attraction of the Fortree-rooted course and one that was barely within Federation safety limits, having to fly slalom around the tube they had just rose and fell about was a tall order, particularly Pokémon not known for their great turning. Suzaku had come well-prepared, putting out the flames on one of her wings to allow the blazing thrust of the other to push herself, and Josh, in the correct direction.

Josh's Talonflame was so fast and nimble that the bird navigating the slithering turns was not the weak link in the team of two. After each curve, the Talonflame banked suddenly and sharply in the opposite direction, upsetting the balance of fluid inside the Gym Leader's head and inducing a sense of vertigo in him. He had taken these turns many times, but never at such a high speed. Midway through, the racer pulled back on his Talonflame to slow her down, soaring to the top of the course's bounds and gliding on her momentum. It would be slower, but there was no sense in pushing himself to the brink of meaningful cognizance to try to catch up to Mika. Boost laps were coming, and that would be the true test of the challenger's fortitude.

If the back and forth turns threatened to give Gym Leader Josh Devlin vertigo, they could potentially wreak havoc on those of the challenger and Gym trainers, as well. From the inside to the outside the Pokémon zoomed, hurling their riders back and forth in their cocoon saddles, or giving Mika Nakayama a serious test of her strength if she chose to ride without one. Every turn would squeeze riders in one direction, the next flinging them in the other direction from the rapid change in momentum.

As much strain as the course put on the humans atop the Pokémon, the Pokémon themselves found the rapid-fire turns a challenge. The momentum-based gliding Pokémon, such as ERON IUNIS' SKARMORY and ACE SHEEKE's AERODACTYL, struggled the most, having to slam on the brakes by tilting their wings almost completely vertically. The redhead was glad he was wearing a helmet, his head slamming into his mount's neck from how harshly the swift rock-type had to slow down to avoid a collision with the tube.

Flightier Pokémon, such as ARAVAN ESCHER'S FLYGON, zipped around the tight turns with ease, but they lacked the raw speed needed to keep up with the TALONFLAME duo ridden by Josh Devlin and Mika Nakayama . With every turn, he gained ground on the top three racers. His exit from the last one was almost perfect, getting a great view of the SKARMORY, AERODACTYL, and TALONFLAME in front of him. The challenger's exit was also crisp, the fossil Pokémon having to deal with the smoke of the race leader's contrails as they crossed the starting arch. As they did so, a callout from an announcer-like voice blared in the arch's vicinity:

[player]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/763977284038033418/1088229073215574077/You_Got_Boost_Power.mp3[/player]

"YOU GOT BOOST POWER!"

You Got Boost Power! Speed-increasing moves, such as QUICK ATTACK, AGILITY, and EXTREME SPEED are now allowed. Pokémon will be able to use such speed-increasing moves a number of times up to their Endurance ranks for the rest of the race. Speed-increasing moves will grant you ADVANTAGE for the posting round, meaning you will [ roll ] four times instead of two for that post and ignore the lowest two rolls.

Beware! Taking tight turns and stamina-draining Obstacles at high speeds can result in dire consequences, and may impose DISADVANTAGE, meaning the lower of the two rolls will be taken. If the lowest two of the four rolls would still pass the Obstacle, Track Position for that Obstacle will be calculated based on the highest two of the four rolls.

If you have a Z-Move that could be reasonably used as an extreme burst of speed, your Pokémon may use it once for the rest of the race. This will consume two uses of Boost . On the Obstacle the Z-Move is used on, you will NOT need to roll; your Pokémon's roll will be treated as an automatic 200.

Prompt: After the opening stretch's singular ring to fly through, the large tube the racers had flown into on the first lap had just a single right turn to navigate. With no rings to fly through and said right turn being gentle, now was the ideal time to let loose with a Boost. They had to be ready on the air brakes, though! The climbs and dips of the vertical part of the Intersection were coming!

Target Number: 0 (Speed)

Special: None

Pacing one's Pokémon was perhaps the most important part of any race. Taking a lead in the middle of the race would do Josh no good if Suzaku did not have the energy to hold that lead going into its final moments... or even worse, being unable to finish the race at all. Though it had been a while, he had embarrassingly had challengers that won his Badge by default from his Pokémon crashing out. He did not want to go through that again.

As much as Josh wanted to match Mika and her Talonflame's blazing contrails with his own, the Gym Leader held back. If he were to exhaust Suzaku now, all it would take would be one bad scrape or impact to eliminate them from the race. The Talonflame was also one of Josh's fastest Pokémon, making the danger of injury to them both even greater than it otherwise would be. "We'll catch up to them later, Suzaku! Steady, girl!" With a gentle lean to the right, Josh coaxed his bird into a roll along the course's gentle curves.

Leader Josh Devlin and his Gym Trainers knew the Intersection well. The only other racer in all of Hoenn that knew this course to such a degree was Alexei Ivanov . He knew how important it was to pace his TALONFLAME to prevent the fire-type from burning out. ARAVAN ESCHER and his FLYGON likewise held back; with how nimble the dragon-type was, he felt he could make his move on the backstretch. ACE SHEEKE took a similar approach, feeling his AERODACTYL's speed would be uncontrollable. The fossil Pokémon, though one of the swiftest in the air, was not stellar at putting on the brakes when need be.

ERON IUNIS and Mika Nakayama , with great courage, pushed forward, the BRAVE BIRD riding the currents of the challenger's TAILWIND. In an uncommanded move to dodge the SKARMORY screeching toward it from behind, the rock-type briefly dove toward the ground, leveling out in time to avoid a crash. Mika Nakayama had extended her lead, but she could likely hear the tinny sound of metal wings being rung by compressed air. The Metal Menace wasn't going to make it easy for her to hold the lead!

Prompt: Though the racers and their Pokémon were by now familiar with the workings of the titular Intersection, the added speed from being on boost laps made navigating the tube's up-and-down undulations much more taxing! Depending on just how fast the competitors tried to take the turns, the timing on them could feel completely foreign compared to their experience on the first lap! The threat of vertigo would be greatly increased, unless of course the racers felt the need to slow down. Could they afford to give up the time and position?

Target Number: 145 (Endurance)

Special: None

Josh holding Suzaku back not only made the Talonflame more controllable, but made the up-and-down nature of the tube easier on his stomach. As resistant as he was to the effects of motion sickness by nature of being well-versed in high speed, he was not immune. Eva Morales had proven that to him last year when he vomited out most of his gut after riding the emerald serpent during their Dragon Ascent.

Rather than make a push for the Skarmory and Aerodactyl in front of him, the Gym Leader took the curves much like he did the first time around the course, only at a slightly higher speed. Suzaku pumped the metaphorical air brakes on the last turn or two in an attempt to avoid scraping her talons on the tube's bottom. "Easy, girl. Once we get past the intersection, that's when I want you to floor it, okay?" With a screech, the Talonflame indicated her understanding, ready to light her wings and tail on fire at her rider's command.

The higher speeds of boost laps proved to be challenging for the entire field, the humming noise of Flygon wings noisily echoing off the circular tube's winding walls threatening to disrupt the concentration of Pokémon and rider alike. Vertigo was a big threat, as well: rising at a rough 45 degree angle for a few seconds, then falling at an equally sharp angle the next few seconds would prove to play tricks on all but the most intrepid and stout competitors.

All four frontrunners: Mika Nakayama, Josh Devlin, ACE SHEEKE, and ERON IUNIS would find the higher speeds of the second lap a real struggle. Their heads pounded with disorientation, their Pokémon having to make small rolls to compensate for the unsteadiness of the trainers controlling them.

On the very first trough, the screech of the Gym Leader's TALONFLAME may have startled the challenger. The booming cry was diluted by the noise of talons loudly scraping against the bottom of the tube. The fire-type vigorously flapped its wings in an effort to regain lift. Were it not for her cocoon, the Gym Leader would have easily been unseated from his bird. By the time they recovered stable flight, ARAVAN ESCHER and his FLYGON were right on the Gym Leader's tail.

ACE SHEEKE and his AERODACTYL added to the cacophony at the third peak, the redhead letting out a wail as he and his mount scraped against the top of the tube. The head of a bolt cut into his back, turning part of the back of his frilling shirt red as he felt thumping from the impact point.

Not even the Metal Menace could hold out, sparks flying as his wingtips scraped the side of the tube on the final turn. Though the amount of speed they lost was small, it was crucial, letting Mika Nakayama and her TALONFLAME extend their lead to almost a full second.

Prompt: After leaving the tunnel and navigating the outside portion of the Intersection for the second time, the course had one last brutal curve to send their way. It was a brutal, uphill S-curve that would have been blind if this was an overland course. The two mandatory rings made it arguably more challenging in the air.

The first was narrow and along a right turn, meaning the birds would have to fly with a high bank angle to soar through it. The second was much more circular, giving them freedom on how to approach it. The problem was the course curved back sharply to the left, and there was a large tree not far from where the ring was! If the racers didn't start their left turn before passing through the second ring, the probability of a crash was high!

Target Number: 150 (Reaction)

Special: Missing the Target Number by 30 points or more will result in a flat -150 TP penalty due to going OFF COURSE from crashing into the tree.