The Great Desert at night was a playground for Josh's nocturnal Pokémon... and the ones too dangerous to use on standard Routes. At least not without frightening passersby with horrific paradoxes like Raikou, Entei, and Suicune, the three "Hoennian" counterparts of the Johto legendary Pokémon Josh revered. He had so many rare and powerful Pokémon that he was quite the force to be reckoned with.

Josh wasn't there to joyride, though. He was on a mission.

Seated on Eriette, his Spectrier, the ghost-type equine galloped across the night sands swiftly on the lookout for Neon, whom he had a tip was there. His nerves shot sky-high the deeper he got into the desert. For he knew from Remiel Calcifet 's testimony at the hospital that he would be engaging in battle with an Avatar. The RAINBOW FEATHER gleamed in the moonlight, its quill already leaking ash in a trail behind the hooved Pokémon.

Were they to get within sight of mint frost , Josh would quietly order Eriette to disappear into the shadows of a PHANTOM FORCE attack, taking the thrill-seeking rider on an ethereal jaunt to deliver a nasty surprise: a ramming and trampling attack from behind!

The satellite falls at a steady pace, Neon focusing to pull it to earth and then having to switch gears to keep it from falling too fast. He can see it up there, even at this dsitance. The UI in his helmet locks onto the target, and even swaps image modes to better keep track of it.

He doesn't notice and he probably wouldn't care that something else is awake in the desert. As the satellite closes in, he simply keeps focus, allowing himself to ease the breaks on it's descent. He doesn't expect the full force of a fucking horse to hit him this high up on the mesa. "What the-!" The Satelite freefalls as instinct moves to bounce the Spectrier and it's rider back before his entire spine is crushed.

Little wings flutter in SURPRISE, as Neon is harshly shoved forward, tripping over himself and slamming hard into the dry rock. That's definitely a bruised rib. The ache vibrates his knees and he swore he heard his wrists crack from the impact as he held himself up. Until he realized he was telekinetic and could stand with ease. Psychic power helps lift him to his feet and scoops up a few stray feathers that may have been tossed off. All are pulled into a tight orbit around him as he turned to face his opponent. "I'm sending that thing to the glue factory." he snarled, LED screen reflecting the irritated expression under his helmet.

He swaps vision modes, glaring at the gym leader and his steed. He then eases up a little as he recognizes the gym leader. How unfortunate. He doesn't remember seeing them in Sootopolis or the Petalburg reports, but he does remember their fight on the island. "A rematch? I'm kind of busy here." he said as the blinking light of the satellite drew ever closer to their meeting place. He holds up the few feathers, the bundle shining bright in the moonlight in front of him. Wit ha swipe of his hand he directs the feathers, sending the few that'd fallen racing forward, intent on stabbing either trainer or steed. The result would be the same anyway.

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Josh Devlin | 6th anni prompt - surprise

Once Neon had collapsed, Josh reined Eriette forward in an effort to pin him... only for him to levitate himself away from the ghost-type. This was all the confirmation he needed that the Galarian royal's lead was correct. This was Articuno's new Avatar.

Josh had an opportunity to get away if he felt he was in too much danger; mint frost was busy with some operation surrounding a satellite. And he would have run away, too, if it weren't his mission to disrupt the surveillance equipment that he had received League tips about. His arm still wasn't fully healed, but it was "good enough" to participate in missions that weren't in full-blown warzones. One day, he would be deployed into such an environment, not as a direct combatant, but as a supply runner.

At last, he had found his true role in the League. One that could make full use of his unique pool of talents.

Today was not that day. "I understand you're busy. And I wouldn't want to disturb you... if only that dismantling this little surveillance operation wasn't the reason I was here." The bright moonlight reflected the light of Neon's bright down, causing the Spectrier to rear in fright and Josh to nearly fall off the ghost-type horse. She had shielded Josh at her own expense, Eriette being well-equipped to handle psychic attacks.

With authority, the Gym Leader reined the Spectrier to one side. "I know about your new toys. And I've got some new toys of my own, too. If you don't want to see what happens when they collide, pack it up. Now."

Neon tilted his head, annoyed with the response. And with a panicked Spectrier, it made the threat even less potent. "Piss off. You don't want this." he said, watching the few feathers plunge into the ghost pokemon's body and blobs of ruby begin to bubble out. "Say goodbye to your pony." he said, holding up his hand lazily and making a swiping motion, the feathers embedded in flesh following the direction before plucking themselves away from the stab wounds and returning to Neon's orbit, now tinged with blood instead of the usual pristine silver.

"Huh?" he asked, not fully understanding. "What do you mean new toys?" He presses the gym leader further ignoring the threat and even his falling satelite.

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Josh Devlin | 6th anni prompt - ruby

"PHANTOM FORCE!" Josh ordered, both he and his bleeding horse disappearing into the ethereal. Inside the color-inverted world, it was cold... but not as cold as Josh remembered it being when he flew through it with Sidewinder, his Dragapult. It was as though Spectrier were adept at shielding their riders from the harsh, inhospitable reverse-atmosphere. It would be a technique Elise Calcifet and Josh would practice together in preparation for the war.

While concealed within the space, Josh pulled the RAINBOW FEATHER from his shirt, pinched between two of his right fingers. Holding the reins with one hand and the scintillating artifact in the other, he drew the Sign's four strokes, the ashen Beast galloping alongside the Spectrier.

Both accelerated toward Neon out of the ether at horrific speeds, Eriette huffing from the exertion of the PHANTOM FORCE attack and the blood loss from the Avatar's strike. "I may not be an Avatar, but I am the Knight of Thunder, successor to the late kyle lopez ." A heaven-rending roar left Swift's fangs. Though the electric feline's thundercloud saddle remained vacant, Josh and his monochrome partner still fought with a single, unified mind.

He disappears again and Neon hedges his bets on another sneak attack. Blade like feather in his orbit, he steps to the side, body splitting into two as his duplicate appears.

They reappear suddenly and he takes a bet. Like two mirrors, the Neon's push away from each other. PHANTOM FORCE smashes into one. The Illusion bends and moves, as if the real thing had been hit before shattering into nothing. An array of feathers move before the real Neon and shoot forward like a wall of knives. "You're serious? You get one illusion and think you're hot shit?" he asked, laughing as his hand moved down to him hip, pulling out a blade.

It seemed like somebody had hand delivered him another test subject. jayden cross 's knife spins in his hand, ready to taste blood. He may be outmatched in speed, but he doubted those two had much in maneuverability. He'd stake his pride on it. "This isn't DND, you're character class doesn't scare me!" He'd prove it too.

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Josh Devlin | 6th anni prompt - pride

Josh scoffed at Neon's threat and anecdote, despite smashing into only the illusion of the Avatar. "There are only three walls in this world, not four," he taunted, not fearing the icy blade before him. Little did he know how much he would have to fear it after coming back from Sootopolis.

Backing the hurt Spectrier away from the Mercurial, Josh let Swift battle the Rocket on his own. Though he had the terrain advantage, the Beast unable to circle him, he still launched a volley of ELECTRO BALLS from the tufts of his clouds toward mint frost . "A knight doesn't fight to intimidate. They fight to protect."

The volley of ELECTRO BALLS flashes forth, and something crawls off the back of the Avatar, unseen. Or perhaps, flitting out of the shadows. A little Spinarak jumps forth as the Beast darts accross the mesa trying to avoid the electricity. It felt like he was back in CYBERCHASE, dodging the legendary dogs again. "Did you practice that line in front of the mirror?!" he shouted

His partner spits as many threads as she can muster, blasting TOXIC THREADs at the electric apparition as Neon moved The hairs on his neck raise as he felt one of the balls zip past his wing. One grazes, but that's enough to feel the sharp blast if cold hurt across his shoulder, forcing a choked off yelp as he tucked into a roll and stood up. As his partner words to slow one moving target, Neon turns to the order, rushing Josh and ignoring the ashen beast. The green spider follows her trainer's lead, dissolving into Raikou's shadows with SHADOW SNEAK and reappearing under Josh's and his steed's with an angry chitter.

As she jumps upwards form the rock to attack, Neon cuts the distance throwing a dagger and aiming low at the Spectrier's legs. He didn't want to get smashed in the face with a hoof if he could help it. Anger pulls him back, makes him grow quiet as he focused his turmoil on one champion rnaked, biding his time until he could unleash it again.

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Josh Devlin - 6th anni prompt - champion

The toxic web ensnared the ashen tiger, each of Swift's cries sounding like crashing thunder as the purple threads ensnared him. Electricity would not dissolve them; only strength. Strength that Josh's obsession with speed had robbed the Raikou of. The idealized legendary Pokémon, wrought in not what made him legendary to begin with, but what Josh desired him to be, grew increasingly helpless beneath the small spider's venomous web. With only one free leg, he could not buck and kick as hard as he needed to free himself from the Spinarak's clutches.

At the same time, Neon's dagger pierced the Spectrier's legs, bucking Josh off as she writhed in pain. With the ghost-type in no condition to battle, and the Champion recovering from his nasty fall, he left the Spectrier be in the moment. Crawling away from Neon, he turned his head toward his trapped Beast. "Swift!!" Josh called out, wincing as he watched his prized Pokémon struggle against both the venom and the adhesion of the web.

With one thread subdued, even temporarily, Ciambotta zeroes in on the weaker prey. The little spider scurries away from a defeated Spectrier, mercy awarded by virtue of it being there with another pokemon to take the brunt of the little bug's attacks. Instead the spider turns with a beady eyed glare to the gray scale legend and pounces, throwing herself with SHADOW SNEAK. She pops out of Swift's shadow, launched upwards into the air before spinning and righting herself.

Locked in, the Spinarak drops down hard towards the ashen Raikou with CROSS POISON intent on injecting as much poison into the strange creature's body as she could. Neon leaves the horse as well, not caring if she struggled. He moves to the gym leader instead. "Not so swift now, is he?" he asked, robotic voice chipper as he taunted the speed spec.

There's no rush as he stalks his own mark. But the fury is there. The disdain evident in the way his fists tense as he goes around the man and tried to shove his heel, hard, into Josh's side. Miniature wings flare and the electronic eyes turn and shift from comical exes and exclamation marks to just big circles. The grin never faltered either with it's eerie blue glow. He repeats himself.

"What'd you mean by new toys?"

---

Josh Devlin

Despite not being composed of living flesh, Swift was just as crippled by the poison as a Raikou of flesh would. With nowhere to run, all the Beast could do was helplessly thrash to try to kick the Spinarak off. As his strength faded, so did his ability to struggle.

Holding the RAINBOW FEATHER in his hand, the artifact glowed with the Great One light. Drawing the Sign a second time, rainbow light left its quill, giving the Raikou a second wind. A colossal ELECTRO BALL expanded outward from his crown, dissolving the SPIDER WEB surrounding him and threatening to electrocute the small bug. Were he to direct his attention toward the sound and sight of tiger paws kicking large amounts of sand out of the way in his wake, he would be able to see Swift charging toward his trainer's side.

"That," he pointed to his legendary partner.

"That." he noted as the Ashen Raikou cut the distance. He doesn't lay off, putting the pressure on the gym leader. The little Spinarak chittered and screeched in response. Body twitching and pain stil lspasming, Ciambotta makes sure to catch up as Neon watched form on high. The spider clicked its jaws together a couple of times before, eyes locking onto the Raikou before she summoned her own PSYCHIC. She focuses on one of it's paws, visualizing a grip before yanking backwards to trip up the beast as she scurried after the electric beast.

Idly, there's a surge of beeping as the rainbow feather seemed to be triggering his infinity tracker. His eyes go back to the trainer, knife in hand as he points. "That thing is struggling to keep up with my Spinarak." His very well trained, sneaky Spinarak but non legend all the same. His own patron hadn't made its own presence. "How do you expect to stop my knife?" His next question is more pointed, as he bent down to yank Josh to his feet by his shirt, a threat on his life in exchange for the Ashen Raikou's obedience.

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Josh Devlin

Though it would be a struggle for the small spider, the PSYCHIC shift in momentum foreseen by the Avatar would being the Raikou into a vulnerable slide across the desert. A past Josh would have backed down during the knife-point discussion. Not the Champion before mint frost . Though she would successfully yank Josh from the ground, the poisoned Raikou that was fueled by his inner courage wasn't giving up on him. With a second wind from Josh's struggle to survive, a REFLECTIVE, electrified barrier expanded outward from Swift's crown with the aim of protecting his partner from the Mercurial's onslaught. Its strength may have been enough to bat both the Spinarak and Mint away.

"Like that," the Champion hissed, sharing the pain with his legendary partner. "For there's more to Swift than just mastery of the speed of lightning."