As serious as the Zeraora was, Josh was relaxed. There was no stress of weeks or even months' worth of pay riding on the outcome of a single match. Aaron'a gesture of letting Josh have the initiative made him do a double-take. It was clear that Aaron knew who he was. Letting the speed specialist take the initiative felt like a concession in his eyes. Who did he think he was?

He wasn't going to turn a gift Ponyta down.

Knowing the Pikachu would be fast, as was Toralf, his Raichu, Josh winked to Raikiri, a signal for how to start the match. As soon as the starting horn sounded, Raikiri lunged at the Pikachu like a world-class sprinter pushing off from the starting blocks, slicing and dicing with his QUICK ATTACK-powered claws.

While Raikiri was faster, the electric rodent's small size proved to be an asset in the lightning-fast battle. All of his paws whiffed with the whoosh of a baseball swing, the Zeraora reeling as Aaron's Pokémon and delivered a nasty headbutt to one of the mythical feline's blue faceplates. The mouse was winning their game of cat and mouse. That's not how it was supposed to go!

With a loud purr from having lost his pride, the Zeraora leaped at his fellow electric-type and pounced. While it may have looked like another Quick Attack with how fast all of his attacks were, this one was slower than the previous one, being more deliberate about piercing the Pikachu's skin with his front claws. The incoming DRAIN PUNCH threatened to turn the match around if Aaron's partner could not zoom out of the way!

Aaron's Pikachu was incredibly well-trained, easily within the top one percent of their kind. Being able to not only keep up, but outpace, the Zeraora was inconceivable to the Gym Leader.

He was being beaten at his own game.

Raikiri was panting, blood dripping from his face as he changed tactics. He knew, and Josh knew, that his Gym's signature Z-Move would be the key to turning this match around. It had to be properly timed, and against such a small foe, there was no guarantee it would even hit, what with how hard it was for the Zeraora to control his supersonic movements the Z-Energy bestowed upon him.

He had to hold back.

For now, Raikiri would loose a barrage of ELECTRO BALLS in front of his foe. Their purpose was not to harm, but to corner the Pikachu and make the follow-up attack nearly impossible to avoid.

They did deserve an award; being able to outmaneuver Josh's very fastest Pokémon counted for something special. Even more special about the electric vermin was the colossal size it reached after Aaron's DYNAMAX BAND glowed red. Now, Raikiri was playing the role of the mouse, and the Pikachu, the cat.

Mobility did not matter when the G-MAX VOLT CRASH covered every unoccupied square inch of the battle court. Even Josh had to dive out of the Trainer's Box when the electricity came a bit too close to him for comfort. While the Zeraora's VOLT ABSORB left him ready and raring to go, he had slid out of bounds from the electric blast's recoil, disqualifying him from the match.

"You only won because of that... thing... on your wrist," Josh shook his head. "Don't you see all the health problems those things will cause Pokémon down the line?" Had Aaron been paying attention to Gym Leader sentiment, he would know how vocal Josh was about not using Dynamax Bands.