As Screech turned toward the northeast, Josh caught sight of Yuina, a Dark-type Samurott near making him wish he'd have thought to bring Toshiro with him. Instead, he had many Pokémon that were new to his team. With the female still and the Gym Leader moving toward her at incredible speed, he didn't have a lot of time to react. Feeling a sharp tug of his reins toward his rider, the Linoone dug his paws into the earth.

True to his name, the unusual mount's paws made a noise much like tires squealing against asphalt. The rider's eyes were locked in a squint, gritting his teeth as the Linoone slammed on the brakes. As powerful as their acceleration was, their deceleration was even stronger, launching Josh out of the saddle and rolling toward Yuina at impressive speeds. The damp grass kept Screech's paws from igniting it, their undersides searing hot from the tremendous friction needed to slow him down so rapidly. Proud of bucking Josh off, the Linoone reared to show his shaken-up trainer what his paws looked like.

How they weren't bleeding from absorbing the force of going from Extreme Speed to zero in seconds was beyond the Gym Leader. "I think I might need a cocoon for Screech, Yuina..." he sighed, the dome about to reach the surface and completely lock them in. That meant only one thing.

Giant, dangerous, red-eyed Pokémon were coming.

As Josh shakily recovered from the maddening deceleration of Screech slamming on the brakes, he withdrew the Linoone and sent out a different, sturdier, and easier Pokémon mount - an Ursaluna. He climbed onto the bear's back and steered the normal-type in front of Yuina. "I won't. I'll protect you. Now brace yourself - the Pokémon you are about to see are unlike anything you've ever seen before."

Right as the dome closed, locking the two in, several flashes of bright light threatened to blind the two trainers. Appearing from within the light were giant, red-eyed Pokémon. One of them was a massive Dragalge, the venomous dragon sticking its head and midsection out of the water. Towering over the two, the anomalous size may have jostled horrors within Yuina's memory as it sprayed a TOXIC discharge in their direction...

The ESPER WING was a curious defensive tactic he had never seen, completely neutralizing the corrosive venom and causing the dragon to recoil. Moosh reared and bounded toward the Dragalge, Josh's knuckles turning white from the strength needed to keep a grip on the Ursaluna's steering bars mid-combat. The bear rammed and trampled the dragon Pokémon with his HIGH HORSEPOWER, fighting through its contact poison. Instead of fainting, the red-eyed Pokémon disappeared in another flash of light. Another was coming, though; it was only a matter of time.

In the meantime, Josh slid off his Ursaluna's back and attempted to embrace Yuina if she allowed it. "Are you okay?" he asked, taking full advantage of the reprieve before the next giant Pokémon appeared within the distortion's black, swirling clouds.

Pokémon from distortions, with how many of them Josh had been to, had a tendency to be quite large and quite aggressive. Not only did this one seem friendly to Yuina, but she called it by name and it responded. He had never seen anything like that in his life. He had captured dozens of Pokémon from these blips in space and time. The giant, red-eyed Pokémon that lost their intimidating glares upon being caught littered the Gym Leader's grounds in Mauville. Seven out of his eight Eeveelutions came from Distortions; only Blinky was naturally bred to be the enormous size she was.

"You know this Pokémon?" Josh asked Yuina. "It looks kinda like a Braviary, but I've never seen--" His sentence would be left unfinished as a gale-force wind gust blew the Gym Leader off his feet. Its source was a red-eyed Floatzel that had turned around, whirling its large tails fast enough for them to hum like a revving boat engine. Moosh was quick to stand in the column of fast-moving air, shielding Josh from it so he could stand and SLASH at the water-type's back.

The attacks were intensifying as the Distortion grew more unstable, flashes of white lightning growing more frequent within it. They just had to survive a little longer, and it would be all over. Of course, it would not be easy: things would get far worse before they got better.

Right as the Floatzel vanished in a flash of light, another Pokémon appeared: a red-eyed, giant Pyroar that stood above Josh even when he was mounted on one of his Pokémon. The HYPER VOICE that came from its mouth ravaged Josh's ears, making him unable to hear a word Yuina was saying.

Even if he could, he was too busy hurling Roil's Poké Ball in front of him, the Gyarados knocked out of the air almost immediately upon release. The flying serpent struggled against the Pyroar's pin as the two violently bit at one another. Even with a clear type advantage, the giant held his own. Josh reached toward Yuina and cried out to her, but he couldn't even hear his own words...

As suddenly and as violently as it had started, the Space-Time Distortion was gone. All the giant Pokémon had vanished in flashes of light. All was calm in Mauville Bay once more. It took some time for the Gym Leader's ears to stop ringing from the fire-type's HYPER VOICE. "I'll be okay," Josh lied through his teeth, blood dripping from one of several points of impact. "I'm more worried about you! You called so many of those Pokémon by name, and even commaned them like they were your own. I've never seen anything like that in my life. What's happening?" It was not an inquiry to intimidate, but one out of genuine concern. Yuina was one of Josh's trainees as a Ranger. He felt partially responsible for her safety.

"If you don't want to talk about it here, we can talk about it over a meal. I don't think either of us are in great shape for a trail ride. How about we get carry out from some place? My apartment or my Gym office are open if you feel the need to talk privately about it."