With a kick of his heels to Swift's sides, Beast and rider were off. A trail of sparks gushed from beneath the ashen Raikou's feet, Josh's body shaking from the powerful acceleration, the wind pushing against him and trying fiercely to force him out of his seat. The tiger's flexing back bounced him up and down mercilessly, his core muscles rippling from the strength needed to keep his balance. With a backward tug on the thundercloud, Josh commanded Swift to level off his speed. Though it was far from as fast as the Beast could go, the highlands were still flying by in a blur. "Yeehaw!" The Champion whooped as his legendary mount sped up the rising terrain.

When the terrain plateaued, Josh noticed a dramatic temperature drop; with the winds being on a speeding mount generated, frostbite was a real threat. He pulled back on the black thundercloud, Swift quickly killing his speed and dramatically rearing higher than a terrified horse. Even when they were still, the cold, blustery wind did not cease. Josh's eyes shifted, his heart starting to thump.

Had someone spotted him?

The Liberator's soothing voice was news far better than he could have expected. He exhaled, seeing the water vapor of his breath as he was still recovering from Swift's charge. Just because he now could wield a Raikou himself didn't make being in his thundercloud saddle any easier! He had a long ways to go before he could effectively fight with Swift in combat, and he didn't know how long he had before the League mobilized its war plans against Sootopolis, either.

"...Isaac?"

He was aware from League reporting exactly what Suicune's Avatar could do, but seeing the young man do so in the flesh was still startling. Excited to see one of his best friends for the first time in well over a year, the Champion slid down from the ashen Raikou's back and embraced the redeemed Rocket if he allowed it.

"Isaac! It's been so long since I've heard from you! What happened?" There would be a lot of catching up for both of them to do. While Josh was no Avatar, both of them had been blessed by legendary Pokémon in their own ways. Isaac by the Beast of Winds, and Josh by the Great One.

After Isaac shared his story, Josh would share his, too. "You have no idea. And I wish I was happier about it, too," his mood whiplashed as the Great One's disappearance, and kyle lopez 's death, came to the forefront of his mind. Even Swift looked ready to break into tears, a reflection of the emotions of the Knight of Thunder. "Now it all makes sense. You heard about what happened to Kyle, right?"

Josh knew of the horror stories of Rocket defectors. He just didn't expect Isaac to be one. "I'm just glad you're safe and sound." With the growth of the Ranger Amnesty program, something Josh was getting more and more involved in due to his tenure and rank within the Rangers, he heard others' tales, too. Those who had escaped from Rocket. None of them were pleasant. If he heard of the lengths Cillian Quinn went to in order to end Isaac's life, he might have vomited inside.

"Right, you're AQUA. You probably knew of it well before I did," Josh recalled. "Where is Suicune, anyway? I thought you two would be inseparable." Admittedly, his reasons for meeting Suicune were a bit selfish; he wanted to dash across the hills alongside the Beast, a race that would be truly competitive. As much as he was known for his admiration of Raikou, Josh loved Entei and Suicune, too. The only Suicune he had seen was kyle lopez 's ashen one; never one in their true colors.

"I've known him since I got involved in the Minor League program all the way back in... what was that, July or August of the year before?" Josh asked himself, trying to remember exactly when he opened Mauville Racing Grounds on Route 111. It was so long ago. Who was going to run his Battle Arcade now? Was it even operational? It was hard to say, what with the Champion Assessment suspended and one of the program's most heavily-involved representatives now deceased.

"You're not the only one that owes him," he continued as Swift purred loudly, perhaps the Liberator able to feel the vibrations in the air. A reflection of Josh's inner emotions that were increasing in temperature, the Beast's colorless eyes gleamed brightly. "You are right. We were. He would summon Swift regularly and let me train with him. It was as though he knew I was going to be his successor. At least for being the one who would wield his Raikou. The whole time, he was preparing for this very moment, wasn't he? Such foresight. I couldn't imagine the galaxy brain needed to be prepared for a crazy scenario like that."

Josh breathed a deep sigh of relief. "Other than that, I'm okay. Wish I didn't have to come out here to practice with Swift, but I can't risk any Rockets seeing me. If they find out, it'll really bungle the surprise for the Sootopolis invasion. It's coming soon."

Right, Isaac was a defector. Rocket worked around the clock to drag defectors back to their halls and reindoctrinate them. Those who refused were often brutally killed: spectacles for others who thought of breaking away from the syndicate.

"Aww, was hoping to have a bit of friendly competition!" Josh moaned. He also dreamed of just how face-meltingly fast Swift could run with Suicune's Tailwind at his back -- arguably the strongest Tailwind in the world. It would have given him a taste of what a Quick Attack would be like. Something he would have to brave when he learned more about the ashen shade of Raikou.

They both had far more in common than they knew.

"It's why I'm being so proactive about training with him. I would do it at the Pokémon League, but Ever Grande just is too small for him. Even their largest testing field is too small for Swift. My Gym would be ideal, but it's also very public. I can't do it there without risking an intelligence leak." Josh was already a target for his fervent interest in Raikou. The DRK Triad had attacked him and Laurence Anderson in Area Zero.

"I think that's why Kyle and the Great One blessed me with this gift," Josh surmised, thinking of his role in the invasion. He would not be on the front lines if he could help it. With his legendary steed, he could relay intelligence and deliver valuable supplies faster than anyone else in Hoenn. "I'm aware. This is what Lars had been trying to warn me about the whole time. Once you get involved in the supernatural, there's no going back. Even so, I love Raikou too much to turn this chance down." He gave the Beast a pat on his black crown, the Raikou responding with a purr that rattled his body.

Josh scooted forward on Swift's thundercloud, making room for Isaac behind him. "With how fast Suicune is, you're probably one of the few people that I could realistically ask. Wanna go for a ride with me? It'll be just like old times with Resheph!"

While Isaac's thoughts on the reason Josh was out in the middle of nowhere were not far from the truth, the real reason was secrecy. He needed to keep Raikou under wraps until the war started. Little did he know that during his stint in Megalopolan prison, the Scorned would force the issue, and Rocket would be entering the battlefield fully aware of how dangerous the Champion was.

Josh guffawed at the Liberator's bold claim. "You're... you're joking, right? Swift here is faster than a race car. Not even my Arcanine can keep pace with him." Little did he know that part of Suicune's blessing gave him super speed: the ability to meld into a hurricane and ride its destructive winds.

"Exactly," Josh gave a thumbs up. "I may not be a soldier like you and others in AQUA are, but I know my role. To make sure League safe houses deep in Rocket territory are stocked. That war plans are communicated in a way that can't be wiretapped. Honestly, maybe The Envoy would be a better title for me than The Signer," he joked.

Indeed, it would be just like old times. Only this time, it wouldn't be as smooth of a ride as the Dragonair was. The duo would have to contend with Swift's flexing back and a pronounced gait that fed the Beast's unparalleled land speed. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

Once both Josh and Isaac were seated on the electric tiger, Swift purred loudly, his entire body shaking as though standing in the middle of a high-frequency tremor. Akin to an intense massage, the Champion's hair stood on end, both from the static and from the vibration. Holding the Beast's outer two tufts of thundercloud like reins, he applied pressure to Swift's sides. "Hyah!"

And with a thunderous roar, Swift began to accelerate, the force of his gallop pushing Josh back on the thundercloud and forcing him to lean into the ferocious wind.

"Right, heh," Josh sheeipshly replied, reminding himself that Isaac was pro racer quality too. He had to be, if he could ride a Suicune. Josh had his turn on Kyle's Ashen Suicune late last year, and it was fast. Not as fast as Swift, but fast enough to make one's skin ripple. "Bet that experience helps a lot when Suicune needs to get you somewhere in a hurry."

The winds of conversation blew toward the upcoming war. Josh may not have been AQUA, but his role there would be invaluable. "I had a long talk about this with Navy after Dewford happened. I don't belong on the front lines," Josh admitted. "I may make a good shock trooper, but I don't last long. And it's not a good use of my strength -- my speed. And with Swift in my care now, no one is outrunning me. No one."

Contrary to what Isaac may have believed, Swift was going far from full speed. Though the acceleration was not as intense as it once had been, the Beast continued to run faster, terrain not directly in front of the two becoming increasingly blurry.

This was the kind of speed Josh wanted to weaponize against Rocket. Speed that Rocket would only be able to see if Swift was coming at them head-on... and by then, they would find themselves pancakes in the ground, flattened by paw and claw.

"Can't have said it better myself," Josh answered. "Alright, time for Swift to floor it, if you think you can handle it!" Wait, how were they communicating in tornadic wind speeds? Was this also Isaac's doing?