"Great to meet you, Gerald," Josh called out. "Respect the Absol. Raised one myself and love her. Twilight's her name." Josh had used an Absol that day he gave chase to the fleeing Isaac Merlo ; perhaps that would jostle his memory.

Any conversation would be cut short by the starting horn. Absol were quick, but Raikiri still had the speed advantage. One of the fastest species in the world, raised by one of the greatest speed specialists in Hoenn, resulted in a true Pokémon speed demon. It was speed the Zeraora was quick to demonstrate, vanishing into a QUICK ATTACK as he sought to leave long cuts beneath the horned Pokémon's white fur!

Claw collided with blade, sparks flying as a metallic CLANG echoed in the arena. With a loud purr, the Zeraora resisted the dark-type's forehead blade the best he could. "Break away, Raikiri! It's too--"

Too late. Gerald's Pokémon drew first blood and gave the electric feline a leg shave he did not want. Perhaps a little too deep, the first scent of red filling the nostrils of Pokémon and observers nearby. If the Absol wanted to play hardball, Josh and Raikiri were more than willing to do so, the Zeraora rearing and slamming downward with his front two PLASMA PAWS.

While Raikiri was faster, Josh knew that an Absol's speed was not to be trifled with. For a long time, Twilight was his ace combatant, and he was aware how sharp the dark-type's forehead blade was. Sharp as a samurai's sword, it could cleave through flesh and bone with frightening cleanliness. It was only the feline's speed that turned the forehead blade's slash into a haircut (or was it a furcut?), though the electric-type still bled from having part of his skin filleted. Had the hit been clean, it could have been that he would see a major part of the Zeraora's body slide off where it was attached. The shiver-inducing thought gave him Kantonian samurai film vibes.

You Are Already Dead, indeed.

As much as he didn't want to, the Mega Evolution forced Josh's hand. When it looked like the Zeraora was about to charge an Electro Ball attack, the Gym Leader raised his Z-Glove skyward, turning his wrist to point the Z-CRYSTAL's yellow light toward Raikiri. His own QUICKINIUM-Z glowed brilliantly, the feline zipping toward Twilight in a HYPERSONIC PLASMA CHARGE. With speed even legendary Pokémon had a hard time matching, he came at the dark-type with outstretched paws moving too fast to see.

The disturbingly fast attack gave Josh and Raikiri an opening to turn the match around. It was only an opening, and one that the Zeraora was too tired to use. Z-Energy, the way he utilized it, had backlash similar to a Hyper Beam, making him unable to attack. That didn't make him unable to contribute to the battle at all, though.

The thundercat transitioned out of the Z-Move into a display of AGILITY, not to move faster, but to slow its rate of speed loss. It could keep Josh's partner slippery enough to end the match with one more powerful attack as time was beginning to wind down. Time was not on his side, and he had to stay on his feet past a moment where the Mega Evolved Absol could focus, try to parse the illusion of his speed, and deliver a match-ending cut of her own.

As fast and evasive as Raikiri was, all it would take was one lucky or skillful hit to bring him down. The Absol's clairvoyance let her accurately predict the Zeraora's position, the STONE EDGE using her own momentum against her and deliver a nasty, bleeding cut that caused the judges to immediately call off the match.

"I'm impressed your Absol could see through that," Josh remarked as he withdrew his fallen Pokémon. "Good luck in your next round, and get that lettuce!" After his encouraging words, the Master of Faster turned around to get Raikiri patched up and enter another flight.