The Great Desert was one of Josh's playgrounds. With his Sygna Suit's helmet and visor protecting him from the sands, he could zoom across the desert at incredible speed without having to worry about crashing into anything. Even Aleph was in an unusually good mood, the Type: Null prancing about and chasing after the Jolteon that the Gym Leader was seated on. With how much of her back her saddle covered, it was clear that the electric-type was just but enough for a grown man to comfortably hop onto.

Josh leaned into the wind and squeezed his mount's sides, the Eeveelution picking up the pace. He whizzed past Cacnea, Baltoy, and other desert dwellers that looked dumbfounded at how fast the Jolteon and Type: Null were moving. Quite the distance from them, a tan-plated, wide-bodied quadruped zipped about even faster than the Jolteon, his MIGHTY CLEAVE slicing a rock formation to shreds in a loud crash. His wary, digital eyes scanned the desert, on the prowl for humans that sought to harm the desert's Pokémon denizens. Josh seemed wholly unaware of his Iron Boulder's intentions.

Barely hearing the young man's hollering through his racing helmet, Josh reined his Jolteon toward him, kicking up a cloud of sand from making the turn. As the two dashed closer, it was more readily apparent that the Jolteon was massive for its kind, and that he was riding on it. To those not in the know of there being so many unusually large Pokémon in Hoenn, it may have been a bit frightening to see.

Not wanting to blast a cloud of sand in Titus' face from slamming on the brakes, Josh instead skillfully reined his electric mount to a gradual stop. Aleph was restless still, keeping his eyes on the vigilant, battle-ready Iron Boulder, Tyrfing. "Hi there! Gym Leader Devlin or Elite Ranger Devlin, but you can call me Josh. Is there something you need a hand with?" the friendly, young man asked.

"Thanks!" Josh replied with a beaming face. "Blinky here is a living miracle. The reason she's so big is she was bred to the maximum size known to be possible, in order to be a racing Pokémon." He would leave out the part about how she had to have four paw surgeries just to be able to run at all, and that she had artificial claws only. She was bred for straight-line springs, not road courses that could whip rider and Pokémon back and forth with crazy turns.

"You've picked a good spot to learn! With the wind not so bad, Hoenn's Great Desert is a great place to catch tough Pokémon," he educated the young trainer. They both had eye protection in the event of a sudden sandstorm: Titus with his Go-Goggles, and Josh with his racing helmet's visor.

"The two biggest things in building a strong bond are communication and time. Pokémon have personalities, just like us. If you can appeal to them and show them that your relationship with them is going to be a two-way street, they'll be loyal to you and do what you want them to do. I've broken over a hundred Pokémon to the bridle this way. Trust me. It works."

Their conversation would be interrupted by a loud, sword-like clash echoing in the distance. If they squinted in its direction, both would be able to see the Iron Boulder's axe-like blade clashing with the Type: Null's CRUSH CLAW. Were they sparring?