Josh, too, had four Pokémon that wanted to zip around the back of the rugged den: Braver, Craggro, Entei, and Jiujiu. At first, the Xurkitree walked on two wires like a bipedal creature. Not for long, though; the Ultra Beast's cords took the shape of a predatory cat. The orange wires forming his front limbs looked like feline claws, and the thickest cord served as as a sturdy spine to support Josh.

Feeling adventurous, he would be a passenger aboard the electric wireframe for his first race. He had ridden the alien creature inside the Ultra Plant a few times, but this would be his first outside the Ultra Wilds. He doubted Jiujiu could outpace three Arcanine and two Gouging Fire. The point of the race wasn't to win, though; it was to let loose and have a good time.

"Ready!" Josh called out over the crackling sparks flying from his mount's head.

Jiujiu's change in shape was an intriguing one, Ettie and Yip both watching with clear fascination. What other sorts of shapes could a Xurkitree take, Ettie wondered?

Well, perhaps that was a question for another time. For now, it seemed that Josh was ready to go. Ettie grinned wide with this - excited - and would nudge at Zeit with her heel. "We go! Lets go!" She chirruped with an eager laugh. Zeit, in turn, let out a couple of eager barks - and with that, everyone was off!

It was interesting, really, the differences between the pokemon. Of Ettie's pack, Duchess and Duke were by far the fastest. However, Duke was a little zippier in his turns and side-steps to avoid obstacles, and Duchess had a bit more stamina overall. These two were true blue racing pokemon, especially in open or clear spaces.

Zeit and Apex weren't as fast, but they were juggernauts - any obstacles were simply knocked aside or crashed through, between Zeit's Rock Head and the impressive crest Apex had. Zeit's acceleration was better than Apex's though, even if Apex's top speed was slightly higher once they got up to speed. They made wonderful off-road pokemon, as a result.

Ettie and Yip both appeared to be having a wonderful time though, Ettie letting out happy whoops and Yip barking eagerly. The rush of wind, in getting to simply get out and run - there was nothing like it!

Josh Devlin

On the signal to start, Jiujiu's long tail, which served as the feline-shaped Xurkitree's back, began to gleam brightly in a TAIL GLOW. The electric Ultra Beast was the slowest of Josh's four Pokémon, but by no means slow. The alien's feline-like gallop looked wholly unnatural compared to Entei's, the Gouging Fire running past the Gym Leader's Arcanine.

Jiujiu's wireframe was good at making sharp turns, flicking Josh back and forth as he rounded corners with precision unlike most Pokémon native to Hoenn. He felt something within his skin crack as his mount rounded a U-turn, closing the gap rapidly.

Where Entei had raw speed, he lacked Apex's strength, having to move around obstacles that the wild child's Gouging Fire could simply ignore. Braver, impatient, kicked up his running stroke into EXTREME SPEED, his four legs turning into a single blur as a dust cloud formed behind his invisibly fast legs.

"Faster, Jiujiu!" Josh ordered, trying to keep up with the others. "Use DOUBLE TEAM!"