Were Josh in better shape, he would have arrived to the Top Champion's spacious chamber astride one of his ultrafast Pokémon. Not with only one arm at full capacity; while he could still manipulate his arm covered in white wrappings, his range of motion was limited: too limited to manipulate reins with. Instead, he came to the chamber alone, with only the plume of his RAINBOW FEATHER sticking out of his casual top. Josh was never one to dress to impress, unless it was explicitly required for a gathering, or he was on duty as a Ranger. He preferred to let his actions do the talking.

"Hey, Melody!" Josh waved with his good arm as he walked toward the snack bar and filled a small plate with appetizers. "Congratulations on your promotion to Top Champion," he complimented the singer. "I can't think of anyone better for the job."

Indeed, Josh was being genuine. He felt it was important for a Top Champion to be down-to-earth, just like Kyle was. Melody was an incredibly skilled trainer, a Champion herself. As much as he felt like eating his humble pie, he kept the remarks to himself. A Champion could not be self-deprecating. Besides, he had discarded those lines of thinking in the Great One's funeral pyre. The funeral pyre he cleansed himself in when Swift became not Kyle's Pokémon, but his.

"It's been a roller coaster," Josh said, plucking the RAINBOW FEATHER from his shirt. "Becoming a Champion, then my childhood dream coming true was the highest point of my whole life. You have no idea how much it means to me," he continued with a sappy tone, SACRED ASH dripping from its quill and down his shirt. "Then losing Kyle and... going to Megalopolan prison... it's all so much. That's what messed up my arm." Were Melody to request it, Josh would show the extent of his injury - wrappings going from just in front of his wrist almost all the way up to his shoulder.

The Knight of Thunder set his plate down near the snack bar and turned around, holding the feather above his head. "You wanna see him?" he asked.

As Josh carefully rolled up his sleeve, Melody would see just how much the Gym Leader had suffered during his harrowing stay in Ultra Space. "Not nearly as much as it used to," he answered, letting his sleeve fall back down on its own. "I don't have full motion in my arm yet, though; I'm taking some rehab for it. I can still ride, but I can only hold the reins with one hand, and I need a psychic Pokémon to lift me onto the saddle. Dashie, my Galarian Rapidash, has been getting quite the workout," he smiled, appreciative for how much action the psychic equine was getting in the wake of his injury.

"It is," Josh confirmed, turning around to draw the Sign. With four linear strokes resembling the shape of a lightning bolt, the electrified ash coalesced into the form of the sacred feline.

There were even thin, ashen reins sprouting from the Beast's sides, reflecting Josh's desire to ride upon him. Every time he saw them, resisting the temptation to defy his doctor's orders and go speeding across the land became progressively more difficult.

Josh's mouth, and Swift's, both hung wide open at the Top Champion's revelation. "No wonder you and Kyle were so close... I was grateful to him for resurrecting two of my Pyroar that Kyurem and Hoopa killed at the beginning of the year. My pride wouldn't know what to do without them. But to be given a second chance at life courtesy of the Great One..." he trailed off. As much of a privilege as Kyle left Josh, leaving the Pokémon of his dreams in his hands, Melody's gift from the late Kyle was far more precious.

Even Swift's relatively quiet purr shook the air like a thunderclap. "I did too," Josh replied, "at Dewford. I got to ride the ashen Suicune across Dewford's seas. It was an experience, being on a Beast fast enough to run across water and never sink. The wind shifting to always be at your back no matter which way you turned. It was an unforgettable experience."

Melody's use of present tense did not go unnoticed. "So you think he's still alive somewhere, too..." Josh trailed off, his eyes shifting about Melody's chamber as he finished his plate of appetizers. "Am I reading that right? He's got a Patron that revived two of my Pyroar. You, too. Countless other people, I imagine. There's nothing stopping the Great One from giving Kyle another chance. That's what I believe."

At first, Josh didn't respond to Melody's question, pondering his words carefully. Taking up the mantle was a huge privilege... and an even bigger responsibility. To him, though, it was like Kyle was constantly with him, watching him from beyond the grave.

"It's a dream come true," the Champion eventually answered. "In my pursuit, I had spoken to many Avatars, some of which have had... tumultuous relationships with the Patrons. All that time ago, when I said I wanted to be an Avatar, it was because I thought that was the only path to becoming Raikou's friend. Now that I've seen what Avatarship has done to Laurence Anderson , MATIAS SILPH , and others, I'm not so sure I would want to be one even if given the chance."

None of the reasons he liked Raikou were due to his deified status, his power, or any of the typical reasons one would pursue such a Pokémon. To him, it was the aesthetics and the speed. Especially the speed. The RKS Simulation has shaken Josh's ideals quite a bit; Koraidon, the prehistoric paradox, was fierce competition to outrun Raikou and take his title of fastest Pokémon on land. He couldn't get a clean comparison; by the time he could make it to the simulation, he couldn't saddle either Pokémon without suffering life-threatening pain.

"And it might be better that the Great One didn't make me Raikou's Avatar," Josh continued. "Because the more I study Swift, the more I believe he's a less memory of the Raikou that went missing in the Kanto War... and more a memory of what I want him to be deep within."

The Top Champion's reassurance earned a sigh of relief from Josh. "Finally, someone who believes he's still out there. You and Noah. How's he been, anyway? I haven't seen him since the Gym Leader summit." He figured the Gym Leader was just busy, like all Gym Leaders were. Josh had just been in his position long enough to complete required tasks with lightning efficiency. "Hope he's been okay."

Melody's understanding of Josh's emotions got a laugh out of him. Swift mirrored the Champion's facial expression with a smile of his own. "Heh, remember when I first met Cobalion? How I wanted to be Raikou's Avatar? Now, Swift's right here, at my beck and call, and I don't want to be an Avatar anymore. Like you get much of a choice, from how I understand it. I love Swift and I want to be with him, but I'm afraid he'll leave if I turn that kind of relationship down. It's not joining AQUA I'm afraid of. If they'd let me, like they let Navy , I would. I'm a Champion. One of the most elite trainers in Hoenn. It's just... my childish ambition didn't understand how fickle legendary Pokémon can be."

In his current form, Swift was everything Josh revered him for, and nothing more. Exactly what Josh thought him to be deep down within his subconscious. For him to truly be a Beast of legend, Josh would need to realize there was far more to Raikou that just extreme speed all the way down to that level of his psyche. His unaugmented running speed had already peaked. But he could not fight like a Beast. He could not protect like a Beast. The relationship between trainer and Pokémon was not there like it was with the rest of his team. Josh desperately wanted the Raikou to truly be alive. But he also didn't want the Raikou to dominate him. His greatest fear was not being able to do what he enjoyed most with the Beast: shooting across the land at the speed of lightning. He couldn't do that now. Not while he was still in rehab. But he at the very least could look forward to it.

"I know now that it's not their fault," Josh answered. "If anyone is to blame, it's their Patrons for not understanding that for best effect, the relationship between Avatar and Patron should be two ways. It should be a friendship, not one side dominating the other. Like Andrea Vaneau told me while I was in still in the hospital, even gods need friends, right? I just wish I could read what Swift was thinking."

Avatar or no, a Pokémon and its trainer could only truly peak when they were of one mind.

"I get it, Melody. No one can. Kyle tried, and the only person he couldn't protect was himself. Tell you what. When I'm feeling better, I'll share my memories of Kyle with you the best I can. After all, there's room for two on that thundercloud."

"Not under his thundercloud," Josh teased as that very part of his Beast's body flashed white briefly, "on his thundercloud." He fully intended to share his childhood dream with Melody when he was feeling better. Depending on how long the war lasted or when an armistice was reached, maybe they would do so as a way to celebrate its end. "Did you get to watch the video of our match? I authorized it to be released to the public now that the world knows he passed Swift on to me before he died."

The Champion's smile grew as Melody seemed warm toward his offer. "Tell you what. When I'm feeling better, I'll take you to my favorite route to run with him. Mauville to Lilycove. It's one of the few places in Hoenn open enough where Swift can actually reach his top speed." He was under doctor's orders not to do so while still in rehab, and even if he was, he knew better from the RKS Simulation. He had ridden Koraidon there after returning from the prison, and he felt like he had died within from how much his arm hurt.

He was not going that fast again until after he was fully healed. Depending on how much he was needed in the war, he might be waiting even longer. "He truly was impossible to understand. Him passing the Raikou on to me was completely out of left field at the time, but now I know why he did. I can't imagine how agonizing it would be to know the hour of your own death." He wondered if Kyle knew the circumstances of his death, too. From what he had discussed with Matias, it seemed like Kyle gave himself up as a martyr.

The Mr. Rime swapped out empty plates for filled ones, performing a janitorial role. "Just hors d'oeuvres then, Melody? Reminds me of my family's Christmas tradition. That's what we have every Christmas Eve. Everyone cooks something so addicting. I always feel miserable afterward."

Josh let out a chuckle at Melody's suggestion. "Right, because we probably won't be able to hear each other too well over the wind when we're moving at the speed of a lightning bolt. Where do I even start...?" He paused, humming while collecting his thoughts. "Should I start from when I first met him? I know we talked about that when you introduced me to Cobalion when I first asked about AQUA."

Before Josh started, he stood up and filled his plate with one more round, knowing that the variety of foods at the table were their "main course." Much like his family's Christmas Eve meal. "So I first met Kyle through the Minor League program, back when he was the director. He was the one that got me set up at a field near the Battle Arcade on Route 111. That was when the Racing Grounds had only three courses and not twenty-four." They were much more humble times; Josh's herd was much smaller than it was now, and he didn't have the weight of one of Hoenn's most populous cities on his shoulders.

"Not long after I got promoted up, I talked to him after challenging his Battle Arcade and meeting Entei there. Of course, I lost. Horribly. And I never got the chance to challenge it again before he died. Do you know who's in charge of it now?" The Arcade was a genuinely fun place to battle, what with the constantly-shifting conditions requiring trainers to think on their feet, rather than their match result be decided in the locker room.