Thea's curiosity would be sated; soaring above the Gym grounds was a saddled Togekiss, ferrying Zaborg the Shiny Zeraora about at EXTREME SPEEDS. The thundercat looked and sounded like a child on the wildest carnival ride in the world, simultaneously overwhelmed and overjoyed with the thrills of the fairy-type's aerodynamic prowess. "I owe the League and Mauville citizens for such a generous land grant." It was his primary motivator to remain a Gym Leader; without such an expansive property and taxpayer support, he would have to cull about half his squad.

Dashie whinnied in approval as Thea took her position, Ixion's blue mane blazing high. "They can be more autonomous, too!" Josh reassured her. "I just prefer more tactile control is all. If your Pokmon work with you better without reins, that's your call to make when you train together!" She may have been able to feel a psychic hold on her to aid her in keeping her balance. When that horse started the swift gallop his species was known for, Josh was certain Thea would appreciate the help.

"That's only half the equation, though," Josh added. "To control speed, use leg pressure. If you squeeze her sides more tightly, he'll accelerate. If you let up your pressure, he'll slow down. Just try not to go overboard, okay? These two can run really fast. Fast enough that you try to race them on the highway, the cops will be after you in little time at all. And you don't want to see me on the other end of a police chase. Believe me." Police chases were how Josh straddled the line between Ranger and Law Enforcement. When it came to high speeds, the Mauville Leader was fearless. No one broke the speed limits on Mauville's highways.

For there was no outrunning the Master of Faster.

Dashie snorted as the Psychic-type mentally harnessed Thea up just tightly enough to secure her while still giving her the maximum freedom of movement possible. "Exactly! When you're feeling adventurous, there's nothing like flicking a mount's reins hard to one side and swerving, letting your momentum fling you around. If you want to try at any point, Dashie's psychic hold will make sure you don't fall!" Josh didn't have that lucury; if his strength gave out, he would fall. He had years of experience on his side, and he knew what the blue horse could do.

The Gym Leader chuckled at Thea's response. "This is one of the few places close to a town where you can go as fast as you want and not have to worry about the police being on your tail," he bragged, in a clever way trying to goad Thea into pushing Dashie to great speeds.

The psychic horse responded to Thea's command, easing her from a trot to a canter. It wasn't slow by any stretch, and showed just how much speed the species could put on. Josh skillfully matched Thea's pace, the two already exceeding the speed Ghalta had ferried them to the front door at. Even if Thea were to be distracted by the many Pokémon roaming Josh's Gym, including a Linoone and Furret that were large enough to wear riding gear, Dashie would keep her balanced ans safe!

Everyone had their passion, and Josh's was Pokémon speedsports. It was a passion he had used to make a name for himself, including transforming an entire city into a hub for not just Pokémon racing, but sports of all kinds. He wondered if Mauville would be able to get their own baseball team eventually. Going to Lilycove games was not cheap!

"They're really good for beginners," Josh agreed, "so long as you can keep an open mind for them. Good luck getting one; there aren't many. Your choices other than Dashie are... Espeon, Girafarig, Braviary, Wyrdeer, Espathra, and Veluza. That's about it." The Sacred Sword paradoxes were also psychic-types, but riding one outside Area Zero was dangerous in Josh's eyes; he remembered the neural beating he got when he so much as rest his hands on Sigmund's back without even trying to mount up. If he had to pick one psychic legendary Pokémon to get a chance to hop onto, it would be Solgaleo. Maybe one day, kyle lopez would let him zoom across Ultra Space on his...

At Thea's nonverbal command, Dashie broke into a run, his hooves loudly clopping against the course as the increased winds blew toward her. "One of my favorite places to do this is Route 123. It's over a hundred miles long, it doesn't wind too much, and it's all flat. Big wetland around there. You could ride on a Raikou at full speed and it would still take you a while to get to Lake Pyre from Mauville!" One day, Josh would be able to relive that experience for himself: Swift could leap skyward into a thundercloud, giving him the thrill of riding on a lightning strike. Not yet, though. Not until after the raid on Sootopolis.

"With the Distortions showing up in Hoenn, yep!" Josh chirped. "They've become more common since then. Really big Pokémon in general, too. They're usually on the west side of the property. I'll have to show you Janus and his seven cousins once we're off the mountain." At the speed Dashie and Ixion were running, it would not take them long to get to where the rainbow of saddled Eeveelutions typically roamed.

The Gym Leader's fixation with Raikou was well-known by now, as was the trip of a lifetime he got to go on so long ago. Even then, he kept that memory close to his heart. Little did he know he would soon be able to relive that memory soon, and whenever he wanted at that. In a few days, he would have Swift at his beck and call.

"The experience of riding Raikou was the greatest birthday present Top Champion kyle lopez could have given me," Josh answered. "I can't explain why, but... I feel like I have a special connection to him. Like I'm one of only a few people in Hoenn that could have accomplished such a feat. If I had to pick one phrase to describe it, it would be like riding on a lightning bolt. Even that doesn't do it justice." There truly were no words for how skin warping a full-speed run on the Beast was. His speed and acceleration were so intense that his skin stretched behind his bones, even beneath his helmet and visor.

As the two horses rounded a corner, Thea would be able to see the scale of the saddled Espeon -- and the rest of Josh's Eeveelutions. "Blinky is probably the closest experience anyone here could get to being on Raikou's back," he pointed toward the Jolteon, her saddle designed with guards to reduce the chance of a rider being perforated by her quills.

Sensing Thea's desires, Dashie reduced the intensity of her hold on her quite a bit, necessitating she balance mostly on her own, though that safety net would be there if she still needed it. Josh daydreamed of his experience with Kyle's ashen Raikou, soon to be his own to relive at his leisure. "Far as I'm aware, Raikou is the fastest Pokémon on land. You know those low to the ground, triangular race cars that are popular in Unova? He's even faster than one of those." Thanks to Josh Dragomir 's gadgets, he even took measurements of Raikou's speed that day. It was something he did every time he had the privilege of riding a legendary Pokémon in a situation that wasn't life-threatening. "He definitely takes the phrase 'purring like a motor' to a whole different level, heh!"

The remark about brick breaking, in the style of the Pokémon attack, didn't go unnoticed. "You're a martial artist?" Josh asked. "I've had some training with a sword myself, but not hand-to-hand combat. Figured it would be useful for the war. I'm so out of practice that I don't think I could use it correctly now. Wonder what happened to Finnegan Yang 's school?"

In a way, it was dangerous. Jolteon were incredibly fast, particularly Blinky. Josh had gone to great lengths in designing a saddle that would keep its rider safe from the quills, even with the sudden momentum shifts. "Blinky's the only one of the eight I didn't find in a Distortion in Hoenn. I got her from a breeder back in Johto. Cost me a small fortune, she did, but she was worth every PD I spent on her. She's... really fast, too. You could push Dashie to full speed and not keep up with her."

"He's the Johtonian god of speed for a reason!" Josh chirped, barely able to hold his excitement in. One day, he would be able to take Thea upon Raikou's back if she wanted. Not yet; not until Raikou had been strategically deployed against Rocket. He had taken many horrible losses in Dewford.

It would he his turn to fight back and wreck havoc upon them.

If Thea was a martial arts lover, then Josh figured she had many fighting-type Pokémon: Machamp, Lucario, and many others. "Finn's school was a sword school specifically, not hand-to-hand combat. I wonder if Gwyar Wledig still teaches the art of the sword at Mossdeep Gym, now that he's the Leader there." There was one person that came to mind: Hoenn's king of martial arts himself. "Have you talked to noah faber , Verdanturf's Gym Leader yet? I bet you'd have fun sparring with him."

Blinky's history was a bit... complicated, too. "She was originally bred for dead sprints. Think drag races but with Pokémon. Her claws, and the whole rest of her body, were bred to be optimized for that one task. Her claws were so thin that they couldn't be used for battle, and they would break if she tried to turn too hard. She had to have artificial claws implanted just to be able to fight and maneuver like most Jolteon do." Thanks to modern technology, they would be just as strong as natural claws.

As Thea and Josh passed by more of his Pokémon, including a Manectric, Luxray, and even a Raichu that were all about the same size, the Pokémon were approaching the Gym's rear entrance. "Hope you had fun! If you want to see more of me, I'll be going on a Pokémon hunt on Route 116 this weekend. This was a fun one, Thea! If you want to learn more advanced maneuvers, come on back. We've got classes for riders of all skill levels."