The castle was grand - perhaps more grand than Elise Calcifet 's castle Gym in Mauville. If it were not for the Shiinotic's guidance, Josh may have become lost in the great building's myriad of hallways. The signage slowly got better as he went deeper in, the SLIDE course marked by floral arrangements that were stunning to look at. Was this what his own challengers experienced when they beheld Mauville Racing Grounds? This was impressive, especially for the limited budget a Minor League Gym Leader had to work with. He remembered when he was a Minor Leaguer that he only had three courses to work with instead of the staggering twenty-four he had now.

The course was equally as impressive, reminding Josh of the ORDEAL course back at his home. "I never thought I would call you Gym Leader Desiree in my entire life," Josh replied. "I've been to a number of Gyms before. Every one of them is different, and that's what makes Hoenn's circuit so much fun! Even after I take the title of Champion the spring after next, I'll continue to challenge the Gyms I like the concepts of. And yours is intriguing."

Desiree seemed all too interested in Raikiri. "I do!" he chirped. "This is Raikiri, the fastest land Pokémon I've got. He can even outrun Beanbean. One of these days when our schedules align, I should take you for a ride on him. It's so much fun." He frowned a little when he heard that speed was not the focus of the slide course.

His eyes opened wide when the Gym Leader said Josh was to be subject to a strong halucogen as part of his challenge. One of the Gym Leader's strengths was his immense focus, very much needed to ride at the blistering speeds he was known for. "I'm a little familiar with the ethereal; I have a Dragapult I've ridden into the ethereal plane before. It and the Ultra Sea aren't that far off from one another."

Accepting the offered concoction, it was bottoms up. And the acid trip to come would be more intense than anything he had experienced in his life, Ultra Sea or no.

Josh saw Desiree stumble a bit in grabbing the water bottle her Shiinotic offered her. With a sigh, he guided Raikiri in a straight line, walking toward the fairy-type's left with his left hand while holding his right out to grab the bottle and remain hydrated. As he got closer, though, the narcotic began to take effect, making him see an inversion of his environment's true colors. The bright pinks of the Leader's hair turned to jungle greens, her skin tone changed from a light tan color to a deep, Megalopolan blue that made Josh panic for a moment. The bright-colored walls turned dark as night.

The Gym Leader's hand missed the water bottle, unable to see it and its translucent, clear liquid in his new environment. He reined Raikiri around to make another pass, missing again as his surroundings wavered like a mirage. It was only on the third pass that he secured it and took a drink out of it, spilling some of its contents onto the Zeraora's fur.

As the two Leaders lined up next to one another, Josh was glad Raikiri seemed to be more cognizant than he was; with the inverted color and cross-eyed vision, he couldn't even see the countdown on the screen. All he did was brace himself, relying on his Zeraora to spring forward and pass the Rapidash from the word go.

That did not happen; even the electric cat was confused by Josh's delirium. Not reacting immediately when the countdown ended, the mystical feline trailed Desiree and her Rapidash by such a wide margin that the challenger nearly lost her in the smoke.

Raikiri charged off the line like a living lightning bolt. His speed was difficult to control when his rider was at full mental capacity. Under the influence of DESIREE BLOOMS 's cocktail, controlling that speed would prove to be almost impossible. When the duo started to catch up, what was the Gym Leader and her Galarian Rapidash appeared as Raikou to him, beckoning him to chase the prize he desired more than anything else. "It's Raikou! Look, Raikiri, it's Raikou! After it!" Josh called out with slurred speech. The Zeraora, of course, knew that was not the case. Whether the Johto Beast of his dreams or what would give his loyal trainer Desiree's badge, his goal was to carry Josh to victory.

Josh flinched as Raikiri stepped on a green panel on the floor, the impaired rider hearing and seeing crashing lightning. The Beast was alongside him once more; it seemed even the Leader on duty was having trouble navigating her own course. "Pounce it, Raikiri!" Josh cried, pointing at the rival Pokémon. With a daring leap, the Zeraora would attempt to leap and BOUNCE over the green panels on the second go-around.

Wait, did they actually pass Raikou? They were in first place, in front of the god of speed? Wes Raikiri really the Beast's equal after all? That was what swirled through the Mauville Leader's mind, high on DESIREE BLOOMS 's Spore concoction as he crossed the line to the next segment of the wild course that never would have passed Federation safety standards.

The Gym Leader's impaired senses caused him to completely miss the giant divots; from his perspective, the floral arrangement was a giant red and purple field that stretched all the way to the horizon. "Floor it, Raikiri! QUICK ATTACK!" The illusion of an endless flatlands marring Josh's judgment, he rode forward with reckless abandon as his electric steed became a blur. It felt like riding a living lightning bolt. Perhaps the feline's sharp claws would lend him traction on the slick ground...

Josh and his mythical feline mount danced across the colorful course with the speed of a lightning strike, the rider having to close his eyes at times. Though he was not photosensitive, the rapidly-shifting colors were painful to perceive, made far worse by the high he was on from Desiree's mushroom soup! Even through his high, he could feel himself being hurled skyward, Raikiri's cocoon the only thing keeping the young male aboard his Pokémon.

The two just barely landed on their feet, past a second inflatable that would have been a major setback had they landed on the wrong side of it. What the catapulting obstacle did do, though, was sap the challenger and his Zeraora of a lot of speed. They had been sapped of so much speed that DESIREE BLOOMS and her Rapidash had caught up to them. It was a tight race, and they were running out of checkpoints to make a move!

Perceiving the narrow path to be much wider than it actually was, the Master of Faster flicked Raikiri's reins to the right. Thinking he had more room than he did, the Gym Leader recklessly commanded AGILITY from the big cat. The resulting burst of extreme speed pushed Josh's facial skin toward the back of his head, tan and cream skin turning white as it stretched over his bones.

When Josh had passed DESIREE BLOOMS and Amalthea, he was completely unaware he had done so; he believed one of the sparkling gemstones on the slope to be the Galarian Rapidash that was actually behind him! Furthermore, the young racer's wavering perception was getting worse as the race went on. His competitive instincts compelled him to command his mount in ways that were not only unintuitive, but very unlike him. Where the sober Raikiri saw an icy slope, the impaired challenger saw an icy cliff, the gemstones jutting outward the only safe places to land. Acting on the false surroundings before him, Josh raised the cat's reins to head-level before loosing a sharp pulse with a vigorous flick of his wrists.

The Zeraora was obedient. Rather than run straight up the icy surface, the electric-type BOUNCED from gemstone to gemstone, Josh not knowing how small they were. It would take incredible precision from the thundercat to make it all the way up the slope he thought was a climbing wall. One mistimed jump was all it would take for them to land when an ice block passed over a gem and send them back to the start of the slope!