The children among Rustboro's audience would have a very special aquatic show to look forward to. As was made apparent to Marguerite by the Gym Leader's presence backstage, today's show was a celebrity performance by Mauville's Master of Faster himself. Though the choreography wouldn't be as dizzying as it usually was, he would need as much of the giant tank's space as he could get. There were still plenty of dazzling tricks his water-types could perform, one of his Pokémon next to him.

As the group of contestants debriefed, waiting for their cue for the show to start, Josh approached Marguerite , his Vaporeon the size of a small Rapidash next to him. If it were a more wide open space, perhaps one of the younger contestants would have been beckoned to ask Rielle for a ride. The one thing the Leader was a bit nervous about was riding bareback - no saddle, no reins, no gear at all. His Pokémon were not used to it.

"Afternoon!" Josh greeted the Skrelp's trainer. "Ready to wow 'em?"

The crowd, young and old, was impressed with the size of the fountain such a small Pokémon created, and the Skremp wasn't even a proper water-type! The rain made the waters of the giant pool a little rougher, but perhaps it was by design, making Josh's part of the choreography even more impressive to see.

On cue, Josh and his large Vaporeon stepped toward the edge of the large pool. The young audience whistled in the Gym Leader's presence, cheering as he sat on Kairi's back. Without a saddle covering it, her frill was a bit uncomfortable. The show had to look all natural. Had he known in advance he would be riding bareback, he would have brought a different water-type to the opening act. "Alright, Kairi! Use your QUICK ATTACK!" Josh commanded once he was seated.

The Eeveelution made a low leap toward the pool's center, right into the HYDRO PUMP fountain. Its force lifted the duo sky-high near the top of the stadium. Once they had reached the apex of their jump, Josh leaned in on his mount. Kairi folded her legs closer to her body, the Vaporeon's tail swinging like a whirling whip as the two splashed into the giant pool with the grace of an Olympic diver.

The Gym Leader's audience whistled as Josh and Kairi surfaced from the dive, the Vaporeon's flicking tail propelling the duo at impressive speeds around the pool's perimeter. Their next trick would really wow them: Josh had a mounted quick switch planned. Kairi and the hidden Dewgong, Ulysses, were about to leap into the sky, the talented rider jumping from the back of one Pokémon to another with masterful practice.

It was not to be.

As Marguerite 's Skrelp launched a SLUDGE BOMB skyward, he had little choice but to spoil the surprise. "Ulysses, BUBBLE BEAM!" The Dewgong exhaled a column of water bubbles, encasing it and causing it to fly over the densely-populated aquatic theater instead of into the stands. Two distinct screams from outside the venue meant that the attack wasn't completely harmless, but better there to be two victims than many. Security footage and eyewitness testimony would keep Josh's name clean. Staff postponed the rest of the show until the mess could be cleaned up. With them waving for Josh and Marguerite to get out of the pool, the Leader obeyed, sliding off his Vaporeon's back, withdrawing his Pokémon, and climbing out using a ladder.

"Just look what you've done!" Josh scowled toward his partner, obviously quite chapped at the situation. "We'll be lucky if they let us finish and don't cancel the show entirely."

Tensions between Marguerite and the Gym Leader escalated quickly. Josh had a long fuse, but when that fuse got to its end, his emotions had a tendency to become explosive. "But they're children! They almost--" To Josh's utter surprise, the young audience gave the duo a standing ovation for their performance, Ulysses' BUBBLE BEAM levitating the sludge out of the arena like a home run baseball. They loved it. While it was apparent the event staff were less than comfortable letting the duo continue their show, they got a thumbs-up to keep going. After all, they wouldn't want to refund any more tickets than they already did.

The young man's emotions took a complete 180, turning from escalated to apologetic. "I didn't mean to blow up on you like that. I just... I expected you to have better control over your Skrelp. They're telling us the show is to go on. Just... try to rein the little one in a bit better, okay?" he pleaded his case as he sat bareback on the Dewgong.

The ice-type's blubbery back was a bit harder to grasp than the leathers of a proper saddle, his performance making the Gym Leader appreciate the work of his Gym's affiliated tanner all the more. "Ulysses, let's AQUA JET!" His powerful tail muscles swished back and forth as a cone of displaced water fled around Pokémon and rider, building up enough speed to create a rotational current in the pool. It was not so much that the Skrelp couldn't resist and perform the tricks Marguerite had planned, but it would be something for the small poison-type to be mindful of.

The acrobatic aquatic Pokémon were bedazzling to watch, what Josh could only assume was a low-power HYDRO PUMP spraying against the whirlpool's waters in an aesthetically-pleasing impact. As amazing as it was, it was time for the Gym Leader's grand finale, and it was one he was nervous about executing.

The racer submerged one more time, Ulysses keeping the whirlpool up with his swift swimming. From beneath the churning waters leaped a Milotic that Josh was clinging to. Not on the slippery, cream colored body, though. The blue scales near the tail offered the purchase he needed. It was a gorgeous and unique sight, cameras flashing at the jump's apex. Milotic were popular in beauty contests for a reason: they were some of the most breathtaking Pokémon to see perform... well, just about anything an aquatic Pokémon could.

Josh's knuckles turned white as the COMPETITIVE Megalo landed back in the water, surfacing and swimming against Ulysses' current. The rider was dizzy from being swished back and forth on the blue-scaled tail. Just how did Shalin Nariya do this?

Josh dizzily raised his hands as Megalo took a bow for the exemplary performance, the raucous applause reaching a crescendo when it was clear to everyone that the Gym Leader was sitting on the water-type's tail. What an impressive show of dexterity and strength from both the trainer and their Pokémon!

While there were hiccups along the way, the audience was generally positive about their experience overall; only a few families, mostly those in the path of the Skrelp's poison-type attacks, requested refunds. "Thanks," Josh huffed as both of them climbed out of the pool and withdrew their Pokémon. "It's not the kind of riding I'm used to. There's a lot of muscle power in that tail. For someone used to riding faster than a race car, it takes a lot to get me saddle sore. And that did it." He had only ridden on Megalo's back a couple of times before, and could feel the power behind the swishing tail from where his seat was strapped.

Tail riding was clearly Shalin Nariya 's wheelhouse. Perhaps he would recommend her to perform out here one day. "I'm gonna hit the shower and head back to Mauville," Josh said. "If you're headed that way, I can give you a ride there. I've got a lot of Pokémon that can handle it."