At long last, Josh was ready. He had spent countless hours at his Gym riding his other Pokémon to rebuild his core strength. Today, he would put that core strength to the test. He still had a long ways to go; riding during a Z-Move was still off the table. That would take months of work on his own. He was still happy with his progress. He was ready to race Raikiri at full gallop for the first time since his extended stay at Dewford Regional Hospital.

Seconds after Josh took a seat on his Zeraora's back, the feral-looking feline standing on all fours instead of upright, he felt the vibration of a loud and powerful purr, making his hair stand on end. Zipping himself into the saddle's cocoon, the Gym Leader was ready. "Alright, Raikiri! Let's go!"

With a squeeze to the feline's sides, the Zeraora accelerated down the long road leading north to Lilycove City. Even at breakneck speeds, it would take quite some time to traverse the entire Route, which is why Josh loved it. It was also not very frequently trafficked due to its length. "Faster, Raikiri, faster!" he shouted, the mythical feline indulging him. Though it was not the speed of a Quick Attack, it was still fast enough to make the Gym Leader's insides shake from the power behind the electric-type's powerful strides.

Just as he was getting up to speed, he saw a young man with his Tinkatink in the middle of the road, and just in time at that. "Whoa, someone's out there!" he exclaimed, loosening his hold on the speedy Pokémon and pulling back on the Zeraora's reins. A sound akin to screeching tires echoed not far from Sol. If he were to peer in the noise's direction, he would witness a yellow, cat-like Pokémon slamming on the brakes so hard his paws were on fire from the friction! He was doing everything he could to avoid colliding with Sol!

Josh's back arched forward from Raikiri slamming on the brakes, causing his face to become planted in his mount's yellow fur. Those claws were not just good for offense and control at high speeds, but they were good at slamming on the brakes, too. The Tinkatink's gentle swing was still multiplied by the thundercat's powerful momentum, causing both to recoil in the opposite direction. The rider was woozy; perhaps he wasn't truly ready to ride at full speed yet.

Once he had his bearings again, Josh unzipped his cocoon saddle and slid down from the feline's back. "You okay?" the Gym Leader asked, Raikiri also looking worried for the traveler. It wasn't often that people traversed 123 on foot due to its sheer length. It was one of the few places in Hoenn that Josh could ride during his Pokémon's Z-Move and not run out of real estate.

The elbow didn't look too bad; nothing a little Pokémon healing couldn't take care of. He never went riding at his fastest speeds without Mastema nearby, in the event of an accident. He clicked open the Togekiss' Poké Ball. "Hey Mastema, mind patching the young man up?" the Gym Leader asked, the stern-looking fairy-type floating around him and raining LIFE DEW on top of them both. Like the Zeraora, the Togekiss, too, wore a saddle. If Sol knew much of famous figures in Hoenn, he would likely have a good idea who was in front of him.

"Raikiri here is a Zeraora," Josh answered. "Most of his kind run on just two legs. This one's different; he runs more like a wildcat would." Sparks flew from the electric feline's rear paws, a sign that he wanted to get back to running at ludicrous speeds again. "They're rare, but they appeared in large numbers during the PokéAthlon, as well as the recent Vital City Tournament in Lilycove. I've got two now." His other Zeraora, Byakko, ran like most Zeraora did. Perhaps he would join Josh's Gym trainers to be a jockey during racing challenges one day.

[attr="class","wildtemp"]

[attr="class","wildbgsaf"]

[attr="class","wildtitle"]A WILD WEEPINBELL APPEARED!

[attr="class","wildshiny"]

[attr="class","wildpkmnbox"]

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtab"]

[attr="class","wildtabox"] FEMALE	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] GLUTTONY
[attr="class","wildtabox"]ACID	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]GROWTH
[attr="class","wildtabox"]SLAM	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]RAZOR LEAF
[attr="class","wildtabox"] ---	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] ---

[attr="class","wildtag"]Solstice Arylide Josh Devlin

[attr="class","wildnote"] WHAT WILL YOU DO?

[attr="class","wildtemp"]

[attr="class","wildbgsaf"]

[attr="class","wildtitle"]A WILD NICKIT APPEARED!

[attr="class","wildshiny"]

[attr="class","wildpkmnbox"]

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtab"]

[attr="class","wildtabox"] MALE	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] RUN AWAY
[attr="class","wildtabox"]TAIL WHIP	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]QUICK ATTACK
[attr="class","wildtabox"]NIGHT SLASH	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]SUCKER PUNCH
[attr="class","wildtabox"] ---	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] ---

[attr="class","wildtag"]Solstice Arylide Josh Devlin

[attr="class","wildnote"] WHAT WILL YOU DO?

Solstice Arylide CAUGHT THE DACHSBUN!

Josh looked relieved to see Sol was only shaken up after Mastema's healing did its work. The Togekiss returned to the Gym Leader's side briefly before turning toward a wild Nickit stuck in the mire. Raising a line of boulders toward it in the form of ANCIENT POWER, they were not to attack, but to rescue the wild. The vulpine Pokémon panicked, falling off the boulder as it peaked in height. Mastema's EXTREME SPEED helped him catch the wild, who clawed into his saddle for dear life.

"Yep, was a present from Top Champion kyle lopez . I've got a second one at my Gym, but he doesn't run on all fours. Don't think he ever will, either." Were Sol to touch and pet the Zeraora, he would feel strong vibration from the thundercat's purring. The species had evolved powerful and efficient lungs to maintain the ludicrous running speeds it was known for. Provided Sol remained friendly around the mythical Pokémon, Raikiri would reciprocate that respect.

The Gym Leader reached down to Sol to shake his hand. "Name's actually Josh. Josh Devlin, Mauville Gym Leader and Elite Ranger, but you can just call me Josh. Everyone in my family's a different J name, so I'm used to it." Before they could continue, Mastema returned to Josh again, this time with a frightened and hurt-looking Nickit clinging to the fairy-type's back. "Where'd you find this little guy?" Josh asked his Togekiss. "We'll need to get him back to a Pokémon Center. I wonder what happened to him." He lined up a throw to tag the dark-type with a Poké Ball.