The sight of Whiskers brought Andrea to ease. As much as Josh wanted to invite her aboard Swift, he didn't want her to get anything less than the full experience of being astride the electric tiger. In his eyes, she deserved nothing less than a full Extreme Speed sprint. The time for that would be later, not now; with how his recovery was going, he expected it might not be until next year.

As Andrea had urged him multiple times, he had to take care of himself, too.

"It is," Josh answered. "It brings me back to the first time I rode Saber through here, when I was... twelve, I think. Sometimes, I wonder what twelve year old me would have thought of seeing me now, on a Raikou's back like this." He tilted his head toward Pon, wondering how much the ogress would enjoy high speed. It would be something to ask Andrea about later.

Several trainers hunting for Pokémon, or even just having friendly skirmishes with one another, stopped and stared at the ashen Pokémon in awe. To see one of their gods wandering about with a trainer in tow was breathtaking, reminding him of his first encounter with kyle lopez and Entei.

As Pon let out an excited cry, Josh squeezed Swift's sides a little more tightly, pushing the Raikou to a quick trot. It was as fast as Swift could go without breaking into a run, and his rider's arm could not yet withstand the force behind the big feline's flexing back. Even so, he was free to imagine the god of speed shooting across the land as fast as a lightning bolt. "Whoo-hoo!" he hollered as the large park's entrance came into sight.

Saber was a Pokémon that was very special to him. He picked an Electrike for his very first Pokémon because a Manectric was as close as he felt he would get to riding a Raikou. Then, he met kyle lopez , who traded him Raikiri. And now, he was living his dream, albeit a restrictive version of it due to multiple constraining circumstances. Even so, he loved every moment of it. If Andrea really wanted to meet Josh's parents, she could do so more easily; they had moved from Johto to Hoenn last holiday season. "Saber was actually the first Pokémon I got when I was ten. It took a couple years for him to evolve, but when he did, that was when my passion as a Pokémon racer really took off. I did bring him with me; maybe I'll use him for the contest instead of Swift."

The electric Beast's trot was fast enough to outpace Whiskers, putting on display just how much speed he had in him. It was speed Josh longed to harness. He had chased Raikou for almost fourteen years; what was waiting a few more months before he was strong enough to lean into the wind and ask Swift to floor it? The day he could was something he earnestly looked forward to.

"There's a contest every Tuesday and Thursday, if memory serves," the Johtonian answered as he reined the Beast to a stop, preparing to dismount. Even if there was a contest going on today, he doubted the staff would let him enter a Raikou into the event...

Perhaps that day would come sooner than they thought; Josh had also shared some of his most personal moments with the League's Calyrex: the one that traveled with Elise Calcifet . "Only one way to find out," Josh answered as he approached the park's south entrance, the warden taken aback by the legendary Pokémon he was sitting on. "We're here to enter the Bug Catching Contest," he asked. "Can I enter with a Raikou?"

The attendant shook her head. "Unfortunately, entering with a rare Pokémon is against the rules, and Raikou is on the list of prohibited Pokémon." Frowning, Josh drew the Beast back into the RAINBOW FEATHER, swapping him out for Saber. The thundercloud-shaped saddle the Manectric wore was almost indistinguishable from the one Swift carried, other than the color. It was the true color of a Raikou's thundercloud. They didn't stop Andrea and Pon; was Ogerpon such a recently discovered species that it wasn't in the database?

The warden began to explain the rules. "With your single registered Pokémon, you'll have twenty Park Balls with which to catch a bug-type Pokémon, and a half hour to search. You can only catch one Pokémon; if you change your mind, you'll have to release any others you catch. Your Pokémon will be judged based on size, strength, and rarity. There will be prizes for the top quarter of finishers." He also went over the entry fee, which Josh was more than happy to pay.

After paying up, Josh took a seat om his Manectric's back, feeling like a lottery winner from being able to sit in the saddle of a Pokémon and go at more than a brisk trot. He was still not feeling strong enough to handle a big cat's flexing back, but that would come in due time. "Alright, let's get out there and bag a winner! See you in thirty, Andrea!"

Armed with Park Balls and Saber, Josh rode through the brush, keeping an eye out for Pokémon that traditionally scored high. Bug-types were not his forte at all; he owned a few, but not many. He was far from lithe, many winged bugs unable to bear his weight in flight. King Zing had amazing strength to be able to do so, and Josh couldn't wait until his arm was feeling well enough to bumble through Petalburg Woods astride him.

The time passed quickly, and Josh had little to show for his efforts; down to the ten-minute mark, he never made a catch. He was in luck; in the many years it had been since Josh entered the contest, species from abroad had been introduced to the park, making scoring a much more complex affair. Having made his way to the corner of the park, a Larvesta crawled, its oranges aglow bright as the sun. This was quite the rare species that would score well.

With time running out, Josh knew he only had one chance, and he had to make it quick. He slid down from Saber's back, ordering a QUICK ATTACK before the wild could BUG BUZZ. While his Manectric was mid-charge, Josh hurled a Park Ball toward the fire-type. As it sailed toward the wild, encapsulating it, the buzzer sounded. He took his Poké Ball to the judges for evaluation, receiving the bad news.

His capture had not been completed prior to time expiring, so his catch would not count.

"...You're kidding me," the Champion moped, wandering off to track down Andrea. "My catch didn't count. Apparently the Poké Ball has to lock prior to time expiring for it to be legal. Guess I'm scoring a big fat Swanna egg this time around..."

Josh, too, let his catch go at the end of the contest; he had a Larvesta back at his Gym, on the cusp of evolution. There were a handful of Pokémon at his Gym he wanted to evolve and train for riding, and a Volcarona was one of them. He could still not fly per his doctor's orders; if all went well, he expected to be able to soar on his Pokémon in August or September. "The females do have smaller horns, don't they?" Josh asked, remembering that detail from when he was in Ranger school long ago. "It was still fun. I haven't done anything like that in years."

With the competitors having scattered, it was Josh's time to leave, as well. Departing through the park's east exit, he drew the Sign once more, Swift appearing near Whiskers. The Beast crouched and let Josh saddle up, comfortably balanced on the black thundercloud. "Yes, we need to get there before it gets too late." The sun was still warm, but not blistering hot like it was in Hoenn during the summer months.

With a brisk but still comfortable trot, Josh guided Swift alongside Whiskers. "When I'm done with rehab, Swift and I are going to take a bunch of records at Mauville Gym," he drummed up idle conversation as the duo rode north. "Speaking of Gyms, how are you doing with yours?"

Josh felt that sentiment, as well. "It's been rough here, too; my racing challenge carries Mauville Gym. Appointments for battle challenges go unfilled despite the League's push toward battles. If they pull the plug on that challenge completely... I'll need to scale way back. I have registered it as an independent business in case I have to step down, so the Racing Grounds aren't going anywhere. I'll just have to make some... ugly changes if I get cut off from League funding."

For one, his business would no longer be tax exempt. Second, as a Gym Leader, a lot of his business expenses, such as Pokémon feed, were tax exempt. An enormous amount of Mauville taxpayer PD went to feeding his army of Pokémon. How many did he have now, a hundred and fifty? The grim thought of storing his inactives digitally crossed his mind. He didn't want to think about it. It would be a big change, especially for Pokémon that loved to run.

At least by virtue of being a Champion, he was exempt from the rules restricting how many Pokémon a civilian could own. That was more valuable than even his Raikou. "You're right. Let's see what Ecruteak has to offer! I haven't been here in a bit. Not since... January of last year. With masquerade season coming up, I'd love to find a Raikou mask! Have you thought about going to one together this Halloween? I had dressed up as a Raikou Avatar!" the Gym Leader gushed, smiling at how much of a fantasy hero he looked like in the blue, yellow, and purple getup.