If it was courage Matias was looking for, it was courage he would get. As the Kartana whirled up a VACUUM WAVE, Josh raised his hand for Rime to stop. Rather than making an effort to evade the attack, the Pokémon simply stood her ground, her icy tails also whirling in a circle that grew brighter by the moment. The resulting DAZZLING GLEAM might blind and even burn through the Kartana's paper-thin skin.

Hit or no, the Ninetales would collapse upon being caught in the center of the fighting-type's VACUUM WAVE, flattening her fluffy tails against the ground. Silently withdrawing his fallen ice-type, the Gym Leader hurled Expresso's Poké Ball in the Kartana's direction. A swift, Shiny Espathra, he expected the speed-trained psychic-type to be able to get the jump on his foe. The challenger crossed his arms, confident that his speed would let him turn the match's momentum around. "Rime did. To the very end of her strength. You couldn't see she gave it all she had, can you?" Josh retorted, shooting Matias an electrical, courageous gaze of his own.

NAME            SPECIES           STATUS 
Raikiri         Zeraora           Good  
Rime            A!Ninetales       KO 
Twilight        Absol             Good  
Expresso        Espathra**        Good  

Leave it to MATIAS SILPH to not be able to see that the white ane blue fox gave it her all, even if she did come up short. She had done quite the number on the Kartana, Josh expecting it to be easy pickings for his Espathra to clean up.

Yes, his strategy hinged on speed, and Matias had seen it before. This Espathra, though, had a new trick up its sleeve. While it also relied on speed, it would utilize the Gym Leader's strength in a way the Elite Four had yet to see. "I wouldn't drop your guard so soon, you gaslighter," Josh retorted. "If you think I didn't do my homework between now and the last time... then maybe I'd be better off in your position as Elite Four."

While the tactics would look much the same, Expresso surging toward Kartana in a SPEED BOOST-fueled QUICK ATTACK to minimize the exposure to its VACUUM WAVE, Josh had a much more grandiose plan to turn the match around.

After all, what good would a strength be if its wielder didn't have multiple ways to take advantage of it?

NAME            SPECIES           STATUS 
Raikiri         Zeraora           Good  
Rime            A!Ninetales       KO 
Twilight        Absol             Good  
Expresso        Espathra**        Good  

The slower NIGHT SLASH attack was exactly the tactic Josh was waiting for. Rolling a second Poké Ball toward the empty stadium's center, he sprung his trap. "BATON PASS!" The SPEED BOOSTING Espathra retreated back to his Poké Ball, an angry-looking thundercat with Expresso's added speed ready to zip out of the way. Even for the Zeraora, though, there was not enough time to avoid the NIGHT SLASH. With a whip-like cut of the Kartana's paper body, blood sprayed across Raikiri's mouth, cheek, and one of his bolt-whiskers, dangerously close to his eye. He shook violently, wrack with searing, paralyzing pain.

"Raikiri, we've been through far worse!" Josh cheered. He had never pushed the Zeraora this far. In any other moment, he would have withdrew the thundercat. Another attack like that could seriously injure or even kill his most precious Pokémon. And with no one there besides the two combatants, no one would ever know if the Zeraora were to give up the ghost. There would be no witnesses. No evidence. No trace. In his moment of anger from being gaslit by the Volatile, though, all he could see in his mind was victory. Not safety. What would kyle lopez think of his recklessness in the moment?

"YOU'VE GOT IT IN YOU, RAIKIRI!" he shouted all the louder. With reds in his blue eyes, the bleeding Zeraora sprang to his feet, shrugging off the pain so intense that his muscles could convulse at any moment. With the added speed, he prepared to hurl the fastest ELECTRO BALL in Hoenn at the Kartana. He truly fought like his life depended on it, backed into a corner. Though even the slightest brush in attack would tip him over the edge, he was at his most dangerous in this feral, primal state unlike anything Josh had ever seen.

NAME            SPECIES           STATUS 
Raikiri         Zeraora           Critical 
Rime            A!Ninetales       KO 
Twilight        Absol             Good  
Expresso        Espathra**        Good  

The tactic was one that only a speed specialist like Josh Devlin could truly understand. Fueled by Expresso's SPEED BOOST, Raikiri's speed was extraordinary, rivaling even legendary Pokémon known for it. All that speed would be funneled into another volley of ELECTRO BALLS, a move or which Raikiri may have been the best user in the world. When Josh saw the Hisuian Arcanine that was likely armed with Extreme Speed to trump such speed, he even fake hesitated.

This was exactly what his Z-Move was for: to snipe away Pokémon that looked to pick Raikiri off in his moments of weakness.

"Gotta catch us first!" Josh taunted, trying to draw out the ultrafast move that he was among the few in Hoenn who could react fast enough to it to execute such a daring plan. Though the Zeraora's running stroke was unsteady at first, it became more stable as the tired electric Pokémon got up to speed, another trio of spherical electric blasts flying toward the Rock-type almost too fast to track.

NAME            SPECIES           STATUS 
Raikiri         Zeraora           Critical 
Rime            A!Ninetales       KO 
Twilight        Absol             Good  
Expresso        Espathra**        Good  

Josh was waiting for the speed attack that never came, instead the Arcanine BURNING UP his entire body in a fireball that would expand to the arena's entire bounds. Were the trainer's boxes not outside the battleground, unlike the elevated ones at Josh's Gym, he would have been roasted by the powerful fire attack, too. With little choice, the challenger raised his Z-GLOVE to Raikiri's head level, both their Z-CRYSTALS glowing in sync. "HYPERSONIC..."

With a dramatic rear and a loud bellow, the blue-eyed thundercat flashed his menacing teeth at the igniting fire-type, ready to zip toward and across the Hisuian Arcanine faster than the eye could follow.

"...PLASMA CHARGE!!!"



In a split second, the Zeraora shot from one corner of the court to the other, slicing and dicing toward the bulky foe, completely unafraid of the building flames. Even if it were able to remain standing after the supersonic claw and paw strikes, it would have to handle both a trail of lightning bolts in the Zeraora's wake, as well as the sonic boom that followed.

Though Raikiri was only in contact with the flames for a split second, that split second was enough to do him in. "...Thank you, Raikiri. I'm so proud of you." With gratefulness for his prized steed taking a fall, he withdrew the feline and sent his Espathra back into the arena.

NAME            SPECIES           STATUS 
Raikiri         Zeraora           KO 
Rime            A!Ninetales       KO 
Twilight        Absol             Good  
Expresso        Espathra**        Good  

Silence was golden from MATIAS SILPH . Josh had learned from the minimal meetings with the Elite Four that silence from him could be taken as a compliment. Every time the Volatile opened his mouth seemed to be to berate the Mauville Gym Leader, the "weak link" in the Hoennian military forces. He and Alexei Ivanov would he "helpless" together, if that was what it came to.

The lack of words also let Josh focus on the battle, Expresso zipping about the empty arena on his powerful legs in a familiar SPEED BOOST. His beak glowed in a bright light that at first appeared to be a Dazzling Gleam. Were Matias not overly familiar with the Paldean species, he may not have recognized it as a far stronger attack: LUMINA CRASH. The searing light from Expresso's beak would not only wrack the eyes, but the mind directly as well. Even if the Exploud recovered, the added speed could make getting off a sonic counterattack in time challenging!

NAME            SPECIES           STATUS 
Raikiri         Zeraora           KO 
Rime            A!Ninetales       KO 
Twilight        Absol             Good  
Expresso        Espathra**        Good  

Blinding the Exploud wouldn't stop the HYPER VOICE from ravaging Expresso's ears, but it might stop the normal-type from being able to see the flightless bird. The screeching noise permeated deep and attacked the psychic-type's mind, prompting Josh to cover his ears as well. Even squeezing them shut, he could feel the vibration coming from his foe's many sound-producing organs. Were he any closer, that attack would have deafened him, too.

A trail of blood dripped from the sides of the psychic bird's head; the Espathra was dizzy from the physical and mental sonic attack, but not out of it yet! Taking advantage of the Exploud's inability to see, Expresso zoomed around the sound-wielding Pokémon several times to confuse its hearing before lunging at its back with a DRILL PECK, aiming for the most sensitive spot the Shiny Pokémon could find.

NAME            SPECIES           STATUS 
Raikiri         Zeraora           KO 
Rime            A!Ninetales       KO 
Twilight        Absol             Good  
Expresso        Espathra**        Poor