Well, this sure was different.

The last time Josh found himself astride a Cyclizar in the RKS simulation, it was in a world before true civilization existed. This time, it was in a world seemingly millennia into the future. "Is this Mute City?" he jeered aloud, watching hovercars fly above him. As he watched the road for a highway entrance, he noticed a familiar face on another Cyclizar. "Oh hey, Xuying!" he greeted the traveling trainer. "Didn't expect to run into you here!"

Noticing the jet seat on his acquaintance's Pokémon, Josh peeked behind him, seeing his own was outfitted with one, as well. "Hold on tight! Floor it, buddy!" he called out, bracing himself for what he felt would be explosive acceleration. Inflating his air sacs, the dragon-type let his body fall onto them, the ride on the futuristic road buttery smooth. After the Pokémon turned onto a highway, a surge of dragonfire came out of the seat's exhaust, propelling Josh and his mount to racing speeds.

The Genesect chased after them at incredible speeds. Thankfully for Xuying Zhou , Josh was the Master of Faster. He was the best at coaxing out every bit of speed any Pokémon had. There was a meme on social media that the Mauville Gym Leader could train even a Slowpoke to run faster than the average trainer's Ponyta. "QUICK ATTACK, buddy!" Josh cried, urging his partner's Cyclizar to do the same.

Were he to follow the Gym Leader, not even the robotic insects would be able to keep up with the jet-propelled dragon-types. This sounded like a lot of fun to try in the real world, too; with a Pokémon sitting behind him and using Flamethrower, Goroh could reach breathtaking speeds.

Taking the hint, Josh left his temporary steed behind and followed his partner, defending them against the mechanical monster. "Nala! Kovu!" he cried, pitching the two Poké Balls containing his Pyroar pride's king and queen. They attempted to overload its optical sensors with their ILLUMINA glow, becoming incredibly bright. Bright enough that silhouettes of their leather saddles and reins would be clearly visible against the red and white light...

The Pokémon before them was one Josh had never seen before: a floating shadow with a white head, the clawed entity of darkness moving with dizzying speed. The black orbs hurled toward the trainers in the center immediately put almost all of them to sleep, their bodies subconsciously shivering from the nightmares the dark-type induced. The Infinity Energy radiating from the creature was on par with the Great One. Was this a legendary Pokémon?

If so, this was truly an emergency. One that had to be responded to with maximum force.

Plucking the RAINBOW FEATHER from his shirt, Josh hastily drew the Sign as another volley of dark spheres converged toward Xuying Zhou and himself. The enormous lightning bolt that struck the Sign's ash created an equally large peal of thunder that he hoped would wake the trainers from their sleep and allow both of them to resist the sleep-inducing attack.

"Swift, ELECTRO BALL!" Josh ordered, a thunderous roar leaving the fanged cat's mouth as he built up speed. The Raikou built up so much speed that he looked like the base of a whirlwind, electric spheres whizzing around and converging upon the Darkrai almost too fast to follow.

Josh wasn't one to back down unless things looked bleak. He had the advantage. Though Darkrai was speedy, Swift still outpaced the dark-type, the ELECTRO BALLS converging upon the legendary Pokémon. Swirling ash and lightning enveloped their foe, disoriented by the attack's extreme speed. Darkrai was smart, retaliating with an attack that didn't require aim.

By the time the feline was about to pounce, the spinning Pitch-Black Pokémon created a DARK PULSE dome around itself. rapidly expanding and forcing both Beast and wielder through the same ring that Xuying Zhou had leaped through. If he wasn't paying attention to the ring, he and the great tiger might have landed on top of him! Landing from the rough fall, Swift was having difficulty holding his ashen body together. Josh recalled him back into the RAINBOW FEATHER before anything worse could happen to him. Reliant on his Type: Null now, the Gym Leader clicked Aleph's Poké Ball open, the two trying to make headway on wherever the simulation sent them next.