"I hope so!" Josh chirped as his Aerodactyl started to glide gently toward one of the grass-covered clifftops with his trainer at the reins. "Could you imagine it? Kora and Raikou racing one another?" He started to daydream about the premise: Josh at Kora's steering horns, engaging the Johtonian god he worshiped in a contest of speed. If the data from the RKS Simulation was correct, it would be a competitive race, too.

"It's... unbelievably accurate to what was inside the RKS Simulation," Josh gasped as the two continued to descend past an entire horde of Scream Tail. He had never seen so many paradox Pokémon in one place. Just what was at the bottom of Area Zero?

As the two descended toward the cloud layer masking the Terastal Caverns from the utopic paradise above, an immense wave of PRESSURE rocked Josh and his Aerodactyl. He was used to the aura of PRESSURE from the prehistoric predator, but this was on a whole different level. It reminded him of the day he battled kyle lopez 's Entei at the Battle Arcade, watching his team fall to the legendary Beast, one by one.

"What in the Great One's name...?" he gasped, forced to land his Aerodactyl. "Andrea, did you feel that?"

Josh's passion for racing had never been lost; he was simply so preoccupied with his other duties as a Gym Leader that he didn't let it show. He loved going fast more than anything else, which is why he chased Raikou as fervently as he once did. It was only when his obsession became destructive that he had to take several steps back. Plus, now, he had Raikiri, who was almost as fast as the Beast he idolized.

"Just what's down there, though...?" Josh asked as he passed through the cloud cover to the Terastal Cavern known as Area Zero. There were paradox Pokémon everywhere, Terastal Crystals the size of buildings, and a constant influx of Terastal Energy. While he could still only Terastallize one Pokémon at a time, his Tera Orb would never run out of energy in a place so dense with the stuff. "The last time I felt this much PRESSURE was when I was at the bottom of Shoal Cave with Laurence Anderson ."

As Josh and Meteos gently circled the enormous Terastal cavern, weaving around the Tera Crystals the size of buildings, he told his grim story. "His Articuno went berserk down there and fought him. I was powerless to do anything about it. The whole confrontation felt like an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object. Every fire Pokémon I brought out to keep warm damn near froze to death. I don't know what it was about, but I've never seen a legendary Pokémon so mad before."

That was the same feeling he got as the waves of PRESSURE continued to intensity, giving even the Master of Faster pause. As his eyes shifted to the bottom of the cavern, to its source, there was an entire horde of dangerous paradox Pokémon. From its center erupted a brilliant flash of electricity that blinded Josh and caused Meteos to slam into a Terastal Crystal, forcibly Terastallizing him into an ICE-type. Though they crashed, they did not have far to fall, landing on the next layer of the enormous crystal as tall as Silph Headquarters.

Was that... a purple thundercloud within the swarming, writhing paradox Pokémon?

Josh had a good idea why, but he couldn't share too many details with Andrea; Laurence Anderson had bound him to keep the details of the incident a secret. Perhaps even mentioning the incident at all would draw the ire of the icy Avatar. Even so, he worried about the ex-Head Ranger's health. He knew the man's ice immunity had its limits, Kyurem able to bypass them with no trouble at all.

Several Iron Thorns and Sandy Shocks flung their tails and spiked limbs into the body they swarmed around. Though there was some friendly fire, the majority of it was directed at the striped Pokémon beneath. All that changed when a familiar, thunder-like roar, followed by a wicked THUNDERBOLT unlike anything Josh had ever seen, blasted away many of the paradox Pokémon. At the center of the electric explosion glinted a faceplate Josh would recognize anywhere.

"...No way! Andrea, he's here!" Josh gleefully jumped up and down despite the condition he was in. It wasn't until he noticed the blood spattered all around the Beast that he saw just how injured his idol was. "Raikou's here! And he's really badly hurt! We gotta help him!" But how? With so many electric attacks being hurled everywhere, flying down to them directly wasn't an option in the Gym Leader's eyes. They would need to find another way down there. But would Raikou bleed out if they went by land?

Inspired by the DRAGON CHEER, Josh withdrew his Aerodactyl for Saber. Syncing up with his Pokémon, he mounted up, his JOLLY expression and determination of saving the Raikou before them fueling his the Manectric to speeds that could match the Beast he idolized. Though the leap at first looked suicidal, a quick use of MAGNET RISE slowed their fall dramatically, While they weren't flying like they once did on the surface of Meteno, they were able to glide on the power of electromagnetism. The landing was still a bit rough, but not lethal like it would otherwise have been from such a great height.

Half the remaining horde, consisting mainly of Scream Tail, Flutter Mane, and Iron Valiant, turned to face their new assailants. They were all that remained after the relentless wave of Dragon-type moves, all the others felled from the many wide-area dragon-type moves. There was no doubt some friendly fire in there as well, the Raikou growing weaker by the moment. Mount barking and rider screaming, the duo were desperate to save the Beast, even if it meant being hurt themselves. Though one Scream Tail fell to a THUNDERBOLT, there were too many for the Gym Leader to handle alone!

The clashing waves of Infinity Energy from Andrea Vaneau 's Sygna Suit and the remaining paradox Pokémon were oppressive to be near. Josh felt like he could vomit at any moment; the injured Beast's PRESSURE and that of all the rare Pokémon he had on his belt made him appear sickly-looking. Humans simply were not built to wield so much power at once. Some were better at it than others, but everyone had their limits.

If Josh was to wield so many powerful Pokémon, he would need to train himself to withstand their PRESSURE.

Once Andrea's storm of dragons had dispatched the remaining paradox Pokémon, all that remained was a barely-conscious Raikou. Josh slid off his Manectric's back to remain clear of the electric attack he was ablt to command his Pokémon to use. "Saber, see if you can recharge him with your THUNDER WAVE!" The canine counterpart to the Johtonian god aimed the weak but sustainable electrical current at the Beast's faceplate. "Andrea, do any of your dragons know recovery moves? I don't think Raikou's gonna make it with just Saber helping. If he dies, I'll... I'll..."