"And up there in the standings, too!" Josh replied with a big smile on his face. "If I can get past you, I think I've got a good shot at making day two, or even top cut." The sun was already on the way down, though the Mauville Leader could only tell by the time; those storm clouds on the horizon looked nasty. He was ready to take full advantage of it. Raikiri was fast in sunny weather. In stormy conditions, he was even faster.

"Not bad here - glad to at least be out of the hospital. I already put out a notice that challengers to Mauville Gym are discouraged from using Dynamax Bands," Josh related his own take on the Dynergy-consuming devices. "Can't outright ban them, since there's technically a Power Spot in Mauville, but I really prefer that they don't get used, especially with how densely populated Mauville is."

Raikiri leaped forward, getting into position on the battle court as he awaited the starting horn. "Right, I've already discussed my opposition at length in Gym Leader chat. Let's just make this a good battle." The moment the horn blew, Raikiri lunged at Ribbit with a warp speed QUICK ATTACK, trying to grapple the small Water-type and flood him with electricity.

While the Weather Leader's experience was valuable, Josh was still cynical toward use of Power Spots. "I still don't think we have enough data. I'm concerned it's a serious health hazard for Pokémon." As the Master of Faster would later discover, the health hazards were largely due to the already large size of his Pokémon. The combination of Josh's Pokémon already being nearly as large as their genetic makeup would allow made the Dynamax phenomenon even more stressful on their bodies that normal.

The rear attack from the Froakie left the feline's back covered in slobber that not even shaking his fur out would clean up. Its presence would slow the swift Pokémon down, the two on even footing now. The thundercat had plenty of raw strength, though, and a bit of cunning. Enough cunning to try to bait Ribbit into a leap before springing skyward and BOUNCING into the water-type.

Raikiri landed on all four of his paws with the grace of a feline predator, seamlessly transitioning from one fluid turn into the next. It was clear from the way he battled that Josh had brought his very best Pokémon to the tournament. He was going to make anyone else work for a win. Even if that win was a fellow Gym Leader.

Another slow but strong attack? Two could play at that game. On Josh's command, Raikiri matched strength with strength, PLASMA PAWS sparking with white electrical arcs that filled the battleground with loud crackling noises amplified by rumbles of thunder from the THUNDURUS passing high above them. With a flourish of his sharp teeth and a roar, Raikiri leaped right into the column of water. With his momentum, he intended for his gleaming, glittering paws to electrolyze the HYDRO PUMP and ram the frog squarely.

The multiple images of the Froakie were so fast that even Josh and Raikiri could not recognize which was real by watching shadows. That the adaptive Gym Leader used his own strengths against him likewise made both of them growl angrily.

No one goes faster than Josh Devlin in battle. No one.

Josh raised his Z-GLOVE, causing the yellow QUICKINIUM-Z crystal hidden in Raikiri's fur to glow. A whirlwind began to form in the middle of the court, not from the weather, but from the absurd speed the Zeraora circled its outer bounds. The electric feline looked like a yellow comet circling the Froakie. The HYPERSONIC PLASMA CHARGE to come as the Mauville Leader unwound from his Z-Pose was his partner's best shot at seeing through the illusory clones and striking true with a blow the Froakie may not recover from. If the maelstrom of lightning surrounding Raikiri didn't ravage Ribbit, then the explosion from the Zeraora outrunning his own sound waves would.

"Try riding on him while he's doing that!" Josh laughed. He had done it before. Several times. Even for someone trained in the art of extreme speeds, it was almost painfully fast. Had he not had experience with Kyle's Beasts, it may have been too much for him to withstand. He wanted to end the match with trampling Plasma Paws, but could not. With only a few seconds left until time expired, he only had time for one attack. The fastest one he had.

"QUICK ATTACK, Raikiri! Hurry!"

The exhausted Zeraora flung himself toward Ribbit with the rest of his strength, Josh crossing his fingers that he would be able to reach the Froakie before time ran out. The clock ticking down the tenths of a second seemed to go by in slow motion, one eye on his ultrafast partner and another on the bulb surrounding the clock. It would illuminate red once it read zeroes...

Josh pumped a fist when he saw the QUICK ATTACK smack Ribbit down right as time expired. His expression turned upside down when the refs waved the attack off, determining it was not in time. "What?!" the Gym Leader shouted, getting in the official's face. "I demand a booth review!" They were adamant about not giving Josh what he wanted, citing that the clash was unreviewable. With no appeals process, the angry Gym Leader stomped toward the exit, fuming. Before leaving, he turned around to address Cian one more time.

"I assure you that this bullshit won't happen when we meet in the brackets."