"I've got a new special challenge cooking at Mauville Racing Grounds," Josh smirked as he waited to see which bird the aerial specialist would use. When he saw Kyouya, that smile turned to a frown. "Slider..." he trailed off. The loss of his Braviary was a hard pill to swallow. Catching another Braviary big enough to strap a saddle to would be little trouble. But it wouldn't replace Slider.

The starting horn would snap Josh out of his funk. Just because he was starting across from one of his best friends didn't mean he could hold back. If anything, it was a reason not to hold back. The thundercat came out of the gates in an ultrafast pounce laced with the high voltage of his PLASMA PAWS.

What Alex had failed to take into account was the electric nature of the PLASMA PAWS were only half the attack's punch: the other half was from raw strength. Rather, strength fueled by speed. He should know Josh better: the Master of Faster didn't get to be an electric and fire Gym Leader by being defenseless against Ground-types!

The ROCK SLIDE grazed Raikiri, but more importantly, encircled him, restricting his movement. Direct strikes were impossible while inside the prison of boulders. There was one escape route left: directly above. It was one Josh came fully prepared for, the Zeraora BOUNCING out of jail and above Kyouya. If the bird wasn't careful, he would find himself boarded by the giant furball!

Kyouya's strength was incredible, snatching even the ultrafast Zeraora off the ground and somehow not being thrown off course from the tremendous momentum the blue bird had to stop! Josh could not believe a flying Pokémon could do that; even Slider could not pull off such a feat. For every bit of speed Josh's Pokémon had, Alex's were just as impressive in the air. Two all-in specialties clashed against one another in a battle that was poetry to watch.

"What strength Kyouya has!" Josh applauded, more than familiar with the Braviary. "But you've made one grave error. His speed will fuel Raikiri's. ELECTRO BALL!" Electric projectiles formed from the Zeraora's whiskers and blue faceplate, flying straight up at the bird's midsection from point-blank range. If the bird was flying fast, that would make the attack all the stronger!

Not only did Kyouya have great speed, but he had impressive strength, using the wild momentum shift of an AERIAL ACE to buck Raikiri off. Yeow, that looked like it hurt! He wondered for a bit if even Shalin's iron grip on Pokémon could withstand such a thrust. His thoughts did not idle away from the match for long, the glow of his Z-GLOVE reminding him of the not-so-secret weapon he had left.

Sliding toward the corner of the battle court, Raikiri roared, his QUICKINIUM-Z glowing lustrous whites and yellows. With a HYPERSONIC PLASMA CHARGE that he and Alex may have been the only Gym Leaders with eyes well-trained enough to follow, Kyouya would have to endure paw, lightning, and thunder in the ultrafast Z-Move's wake if he wanted to win the match!

Josh was speechless after seeing Kyouya not only standing, but flying after being rocked by paws slicing and dicing too fast to see, by the most wicked lightning Josh's squad could muster, and by the thunderous vibration in the supersonic attack's wake. His mouth was gaping open long after the official waved the red flag in his face. While he had a podium spot all but locked up by now, the chance to take that top spot was slipping from his grasp.

"Are you sure you still need combat training?" were the first words out of Josh's mouth after a minutes-long gap of silence.