Josh was excited. This was going to be his first truly fast ride on any of his Pokémon since banging his arm up in Megalopolan prison last Spring. Craggro, his own Hisuian Arcanine, let out a loud howl as the Champion waved toward his Ranger friend. "Hey, Yuina! There you are," he greeted her, Braver and Craggro both standing tall, but not much taller than Kano. "Thanks to Entei, I'm recovering a lot faster than I thought I would. How you been?"

To help in the search, Josh brought out the rest of his six fire Pokémon: four Pyroar, including two Illumina ones that Yuina had yet to see. The four saddled lions faced Celebi's bearer, Nala's and Kovu's resplendent fur making them look like gods of the feline species...

Before Josh could apologize, Yuina had already recalibrated her device. "What are you searching for? Sounds like Infinity Energy reading if Kovu and Nala set them off," he speculated, hoping the two new leaders of his pride didn't inconvenience her too much. "The king and queen of my pride get to absorb the power of a Crystalbloom as part of their coronation. Aslan didn't make it back from Sootopolis. He... drowned." What a horrible way for a fire-type to go.

Yuina would later answer his question. "So it is Infinity Energy related," the Gym Leader replied, Kovu and Nala walking toward Yuina's piece of technology with curiosity. "I ended up finding out the hard way that my suit could no longer sync with Nala after her coronation. It seems that like with Mega Evolution, Crystalbloom technology and Sygna technology reject one another."

The two would be looking for Illumina Pokémon, it seemed. Fascinating. With every answer seemed to come two more questions; such was the scientific method. "Have you noticed an increase in Crystalblooms appearing in the wild?" he asked. "Illumina Pokémon don't really appear in the wild much. If they've started showing up, they must be growing on their own again."

"Illumina and Mega Evolution are also incompatible," Josh added from experience with his Absol. He, Matt Vice , and Isaac Merlo had discovered that firsthand long ago, the Crystalbloom powering the Illumina phenomenon shattering to pieces once Twilight was forced to Mega Evolve. "You can't deny the sheer power of either, even though the Illumina phenomenon isn't--"

He was going to say "well-understood" when Yuina began trembling. The golden phantom was impossible to ignore. Even Craggro was paralyzed with awe, refusing to move in the presence of the mighty Arcanine whose size dwarfed even Braver. Sitting astride such a creature would be uncomfortable without a doubt, so big that it was doubtful one could even wrap their legs around the top of its back. "What is that?!" Josh asked his seemingly distressed friend, though she may not have been able to hear over the golden Arcanine's deafening HOWL.

The noble Arcanine's flames rushed toward both its smaller brethern at speeds Josh thought was impossible. "EXTREME SPEED, Craggro!" the Gym Leader cried, bracing himself against the rock-type's fur. With whiplash-inducing speed that mildly agitated his left arm, he managed to avoid most of the golden inferno, with Craggro only being grazed by the flames.

"But what is it?!" Josh shouted over the carnage. "It's clearly an Arcanine, but I've never seen one like this!" The golden giant started to give chase, Josh avoiding the noble foe's charges with predominantly sharp right turns. Eventually, though, the yellow dog would catch on, ramming toward the racing duo with primal RAGING FURY.

The power behind the charge was incredible, the ground itself torn to pieces in the glowing Arcanine's wake. Kano met the noble, their RAGING FURY and ROCK HEAD colliding in a thunderous impact that sent pieces of blazing earth flying outward in all directions. One piece smashed into Braver, the Arcanine loudly squealing in pain from the Rock-type attack's wake sullying his orange and cream fur a blood red. "You don't have to tell me twice!" the Gym Leader exclaimed, violently reining Craggro away from the majestic and powerful wild in preparation for Extreme Speed. "But what is it?" he asked Yuina for the third time.

As Josh led the way back toward Mauville City, his steed's paws starting to blur as he prepared for an Extreme Speed run, so did the noble's. A humming noise filled the air around the Gym Leader as Craggro executed the sprint, giving the illusion that his four legs were one. They weren't out of the woods yet, though; that Noble probably knew the move, too. And with its larger body size, it would outpace and outmuscle Josh's Pokémon given the chance...

As Craggro and Josh sped away from the golden Arcanine, he glanced backward, only to see it had stopped pursuing them. With how much speedier the fire-type was, the Champion reined the Pokémon back and eased off with his legs: a command for his partner to slow to a stop. With the wind not roaring around them, he could more easily communicate with Yuina and Ayashi.

"So they're from the past, then?" Josh asked. "That Arcanine had the power of a legendary Pokémon. I could feel it." The girl seemed flustered about the very existence of the Pokémon. "I would have needed Swift, my Raikou, to get away from it if it continued to chase us... and the RAINBOW FEATHER is back at Mauville Gym under lock and key."

Once the Noble's yellow light was no longer visible, he would continue with his questions. "Have you seen any more of them in Hoenn? It's... concerning if Pokémon like this are suddenly appearing all over."

Yuina's answers were not straightforward, and they were not easy to understand, with how she seemed to speak under her breath. The Arcanine's beauty and extreme speed captivated Josh. He wanted to battle, weaken, and catch the golden dog for himself. Such a behemoth would be an incredible asset for the League... and an amazing mount to traverse Hoenn upon. With Angrath's strength and Braver's speed, the Arcanine could haul entire pallets of Potion, Full Heal, and Revive across warzones in a flash of yellow light.

He cared more about his friend, though, and she seemed to know more about them than she was letting on. "How about I go with you? Help you get to the bottom of this," the Champion answered, keeping Craggro to Ayashi's pace. "I've got a wide-reaching social network. We'll be able to find out quickly if there are more of them in Hoenn."

Josh frowned upon hearing Yuina's request to disengage from them. "If they fight me, I will defend myself. But I will not provoke them." It hurt him to say. He wanted that Arcanine for himself, badly. Just like he wanted to befriend Chien-Pao at the Border. Perhaps it was a similar omen to what he experienced there... one that would end up saving him much grief later.