Ketchup and mayonnaise oozed out of the bottom of the burger as the Gym Leader took his first bite out of it. Though the Checkered Flag's kitchen was new, their recipe was just as good as it was before. the attack. The meal, though not cheap, was worth every PD he paid. He listened to Dirk's history and was surprised to hear that the jersey was no replica, he played for a real sports team. He had watched Olympic volleyball before, knowing the agility and strength required for the sport. Strength that would serve him well.

One he was halfway done with his burger, he set it down and started to advance through the interview's prompts. After some keyboard tapping and some mouse clicking, he was able to pull Dirk's League profile. "Sounds like you've already done your homework," Josh mused. "Then you must know that you'll need not only Pokémon that are good in combat, but ones that wear a saddle well." Were Dirk to look out the north window, he would see the size of the Racing Grounds behind the office building -- and some of the dozens of saddled Pokémon that belonged to Josh. From the ordinary, humble Rapidash to a gigantic Beedrill that one would have to be quite brave to fly on, nearly every conceivable ride Pokémon was there.

One concern did catch his eye, though. "I pulled up your League file, and I noticed you do not possess any Hoenn League Gym Badges. Do you have any Badges from other regions?"

---

dirk summers

{PC: 3}

NOTE: All of the Pokémon in Josh's PC are present somewhere on the Racing Grounds.

Rockets weren't irredeemable. Far from it. Josh had listed many Rockets that had escaped the clutches of the Syndicate. Many of them on AQUA or formerly on the most elite of Hoenn's forces. Isaac Merlo and Remiel Calcifet in particular were two of the League's strongest Avatars. As much as he wanted to repeat it, she wouldn't listen. The only way Josh could get through now was by force.

The force of lightning incarnate.

"Swift, ELECTRO BALL!" the Master of Faster ordered the use one of his Gym's signature moves. A move that grew stronger the faster its user was. To his knowledge, there was no Pokémon with a stronger one than Raikou. His command was too late; the Duskull's IMPRISON prevented the Beast's ultimate attack from leaving the inside of the shield. Fizzling out, he could barely keep up the shield that protected him from the psychic as judge, the ghost as jury, and the Ultra Beast as executioner.

The Blacephalon's head detonated, instantly boiling the floodwaters around the ground-level light show that pounded. The legendary Beast grit his teeth together, his eyes growing wider and wider until the shield shattered, the shrapnel melting away before it could harm Josh or his Raikou. The heat was a whole different story. Under its broiling pulses, Swift could no longer maintain the shape of his body, dissolving into ash and returning to the now-inert RAINBOW FEATHER. The barrier lasted long enough that Josh was spared from the worst of it, though his legs were singed with first-degree burns in a couple places.

Once Robin had disappeared, Josh radioed back to HQ. "It's Devlin. I'm down. And it's not by Rocket's doing. It's robin coello . She's lost it. She can't be trusted. Over." From how much static was on the channel, it was uncertain whether he had been heard...

---

robin coello Aqua Kennedy

TOTAL MP: 1160
Post (100)
use a legendary, mythical, ultra beast, paradox pokemon in a way that reflects your character or highlights another character. (50)
have an antagonistic exchange of dialogue between your character and another writer's character or NPC. (50)
include a motif or recurring symbol of some kind in your thread. (50)
have your character learn something from the other character. (50)
have your pokemon be inflicted with a status condition by an opposing pokemon. (25)
have your character recall a past thread or event that they have participated in or not (link the thread). (50)
reference (tag) another character that is not in your thread in a meaningful way. (50)
have your character learn to respect another character in some way. (50)
have your character self-doubt or cast doubt on another's confidence/allegiances/beliefs, etc. (50)
have your character reflect on why they're fighting/reflect on their loyalties. (50)
have your character attempt to or successfully take revenge in some way. (50)
have your character's Pokemon symbolize or represent in some way, the condition of your character. (50)
have your character "hit rock bottom" (their lowest point). (50)
showcase a meaningful moment between your character and their Pokemon. (50)
have your pokemon set weather, terrain, or a magic, trick, or wonder room in your thread. (10)
pace your narrative accordingly by featuring a "back and forth" in terms of advantage and raising the stakes until the climax. (50)
for completing your Skirmish thread. (25)
for "losing" or having a "negative" outcome for your character and their Skirmish thread. (150)
for having Rocket and League characters and faction-based conflict in the thread (no NPCs). (150)


{PC: 10}

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Entei         Gouging Fire   Poor
Swift         Raikou         KO
Aleph         Type: Null     Missing

Eva's presence on Swift's natural thundercloud saddle was heartwarming for the Champion. "Takes you back, doesn't it?" he asked the Head Scientist. "Hold on tight, Eva! This is gonna get fast!" A flash of lightning and the sound of crashing thunder accompanied a gait even more rapid than the Arcanine's. With every flex of the big cat's back, his natural saddle in the form of his thundercloud dropped beneath the two riders, only for it to catch them on the way up. When it felt like the tiger shouldn't be speeding up anymore, he kept going. Even the cheeks of Josh's face were pushed back toward his ears. "Jump, Swift!"

And jump he did, springing high enough to touch the low-level cloud. The Beast's cloud merged with the natural one, a tingling sensation running through the Champion with every flash of cloud-to-cloud lightning within. The sense of power was incredible, the euphoria like he experienced when Eva Morales 's flight suit interlocked him with Rayquaza's emerald scales, effectively strapping him to the legendary creature. With outstretched legs the Beast flew west.

"We are," Josh answered, peering over his ashen partner's side. "But it looks... different. There are two towers, not one." The Brass Tower and the Tin Tower both stand. Cherrygrove and Violet Cities passed beneath them in a flash. While they were going incredibly fast, the ride felt buttery smooth like a Metagross. Somehow, they could still communicate with one another even with the wind howling in their faces.

Swift rounded the cloud's corner to give both of them a wonderful view of Goldenrod and Ecruteak Cities. The streets of the normally bustling city were empty other than a few thugs. While he could not recognize any of their builds or faces, he did recognize the black Rocket uniforms. "This... was my home before I moved to Hoenn," Josh told his half of the story. A story that he now realized the relationship between his and Eva's. How linked they were in their battles against Rocket. They once quarreled over how Rocket should be handled; now, after receiving the blessing of the Great One's wisdom, their disagreements were few and far between. "When Goldenrod was occupied by Rocket, I was separated from my family. I worked together with what remained of the police department to rescue them. It was one of the scariest moments of my life."

What he wasn't aware of was how much of Rocket's forces were assembled to the north.

As Josh guided the flying Raikou northward, he saw three familiar figures surrounding the Brass Tower. The Johtonian deities Raikou, Entei, and Suicune, holding off legions of Rocket soldiers with the speed of lightning, the passion of magma, and the compassion of water and ice. On the outside, Josh knew it was a flashback to the Kanto War. His inner self brimmed with worry, a powerful purr rattling both Josh and Eva. "I'm going down to help them. Hold on tight!" Electricity crackled around the Beast's faceplate, whiskers, and fangs as his body turned into a living lightning bolt, ready to strike. Though both riders would be protected from the elements, there was little telling just how fast their landing would be.

---

Eva Morales

{PC: 7}

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Swift         Raikou         Good
Raikou        Raging Bolt    Good
Entei         Gouging Fire   Good
Suicune       Walking Wake   Good
Pazuzu        Pidgeot        Good
Regole        Dragonair**    Good

Eddie's joke may have been funny, but Josh couldn't have been more serious. It took a lot of willpower for him to not laugh at the soldier's punch line. "No, I'm serious. You can talk to him about it if you want. He thinks Genny, you, and I are all Elite Four material. Personally I would rather see her as a Head Ranger." There was a time when that duty was shared by three people. Now, ollie morales bore that burden by herself. In Josh's eyes, she couldn't do it alone. Someone needed help. And Genevieve Cromwell was enough of a go-getter to do it. "You've got almost as much military experience as Navy does. And I'm a Champion. I think all three of us have a good shot at being selected." Little did he know that all of AQUA disagreed with Navy.

He did have a big strike against him he failed to consider; he was the Gym Leader of not the largest city in Hoenn, but arguably the most strategically located. Almost every supply line in the region ran through Mauville. That city falling could easily cause all of Hoenn to fall like dominoes from supply starvation. No matter how strong the League's Avatars were, even they would be no match for their Rocket counterparts without a steady supply of food, water, and medicine. On top of that, without someone to deliver intelligence reports (for transmitting them electronically near a battleground was incredibly risky), field marshals could walk right into a trap.

The issue at hand might be that he was far too valuable as a Gym Leader to be promoted.

---

Eduardo Hisakawa

{PC: 9}

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Swift         Raikou         Good
Aleph         Type: Null     Good
Zaborg        Zeraora**      Good
Raikou        Raging Bolt    Good
Entei         Gouging Fire   Good
Suicune       Walking Wake   Good

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."

---

mint frost

{PC: 7}

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Eriette       Spectrier      KO
Swift         Raikou         Poor

The draconic phantom's agility was nearly unlimited, one of the few dragons capable of flying completely vertical. It was an out of body experience for anyone who sat in Sidewinder's saddle -- almost like sitting on a heat-seeking missile as it bobbed and weaved toward its target. "Whee-hee-hee!" Josh whooped with the turns the Dragapult made, circling above the Sky Pillar before landing on top of it. Even Josh stumbled as he dismounted from the phantom, noticing a sleeping Ducklett on top of the tower. What an odd place for a Pokémon like that to be; was it displaced by an angry dragon Pokémon? With how much less oxygen there was so high up, he wondered if the waterfowl had passed out from having insufficient air to breathe. He tapped he helpless creature with an empty Great Ball before turning toward Vespa to make sure she was okay.

Provided she had her wits about her, Josh would take her close to the tower's edge. "This is one of the best views in all of Hoenn," he would point out, letting her gaze outward from the roof of one of the region's tallest structures. To the west, Mauville. To the south, Pacifidlog. To the east, Ever Grande. To the north, Sootopolis. One could see for miles and miles. The only better view of Hoenn one could get would be from the saddle of a dragon. A reason Josh had pushed Vespa so much to catch a flying one for herself.

---

Vespa Baskerville

{PC: 9}

Ducklett catch!

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Yosei         Salamence      Good
Ao            Roaring Moon   Good
Ares          Charizard      Good
Sandy         Flygon         Good
Sidewinder    Dragapult      Good
Tiamat        Dragonite      Good

This was... not good. Roaring Moon were dangerous. They were immensely aggressive, strong, and fast; he knew if he gave Ao enough altitude to work with, the Roaring Moon could break the sound barrier by diving. Without a flying Pokémon on his team, Josh would have to get a bit creative. "Entei and Suicune, we need your help, too!" the Champion cried. clicking open two more Cherish Balls containing the Gouging Fire and Walking Wake that knew Raikou well.

Entei couldn't fly, but the Gouging Fire could jump. While not able to leap high enough on his own, he could springboard incredibly high with a little help. "Suicune, flex your legs and ready an AQUA JET! Entei, DRAGON DANCE! Jump into it!" The Gouging Fire tromped forward, accelerating like a cat chasing down its prey. Just as the paradox sprung toward the Roaring Moon, Suicune fired his AQUA JET straight upward, giving Entei a massive upward boost -- enough to attempt to impale the Roaring Moon with his mean-looking horn.

While the two legendary paradoxes engaged the wild, Josh rode his Raging Bolt toward Katharina. "Do you have a flying Pokémon? Otherwise we'll have to watch where it falls and catch your Teddiursa!"

---

Katharina Strophe

{PC: 5}

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Aleph         Type: Null     Good
Raikou        Raging Bolt    Good
Entei         Gouging Fire   Good
Suicune       Walking Wake   Good
Swift         Raikou         Good

"It is a relief," Josh nodded in agreement. "If anything because of how inconvenient it's been going to Hoenn's most remote corners just to practice with him." He had to go to places like Route 114's mountain pass just to live his childhood dream. More importantly, to get used to how the Raikou's strides felt, what he was capable of, and how he fought.

"Most of the time, it is on my person," Josh answered. "When it is not, it is stored under multiple layers of security in my Gym's basement. I am the only person that knows the full combination that will get inside where it is stored. Several of my most tenured employees know a part of the combination in the event of a dire emergency." Raju Mystic had been entrusted with the final such number. "It is why my rarest Pokémon are not all kept in the same place."

Lydia was right. They did have criminals to catch. With a hum and a nod, Josh led the way to the inside of the Operations Center. Within, the duo would find no criminal presence; only quite a mess that they had left searching through records. "Do you have a psychic and-or a ghost Pokémon with you?" he asked. "We may need to look for ethereal and psychic residue."

---

Lydia Magnusson

{PC: 8}

NOTE: All of the Pokémon in Josh's PC are present somewhere on the Racing Grounds, with exception of the Johto Paradoxes.

Bound by the Z-MOVE: PALE RIDER'S SHOT, Josh was as helpless as Robin was filled with virulence. The water only aided the Dhelmise in its efforts to bleed the Champion dry, the rider letting out a scream as the sharp anchor Pokémon cut across a small part of his bad arm to siphon life force from him.

His Beast, however, was far from helpless. With a deafening roar from the striped shadow of a god, Swift projected a crown-shaped REFLECTIVE barrier around Josh and himself. Speed was the legendary species' specialty, yes, but as the Champion was learning, one trick did not make a Pokémon's battle prowess worthy of the gods' classification. The greyscale, translucent shield kept every ounce of the shadow Pokémon's venom out of the wound Robin's Dhelmise had inflicted, repelling both of Robin's Pokémon.

Outer disdain and inner anger resonated with one another, the shade of the Raikou's eyes shifted to a brighter, more menacing gray. His voltage-laced shield expanded outward, zapping all it touched with the intensity of a lightning strike. The rising floodwaters made nowhere within them safe other than the inside of the REFLECT shield.

"I am not... the one that has... betrayed the League, Robin..." Josh's rasping voice echoed as loudly as crashing thunder. "You... are the betrayer."

---

robin coello Aqua Kennedy

TOTAL MP: 825
Post (90)
use a legendary, mythical, ultra beast, paradox pokemon in a way that reflects your character or highlights another character. (50)
have an antagonistic exchange of dialogue between your character and another writer's character or NPC. (50)
include a motif or recurring symbol of some kind in your thread. (50)
have your character learn something from the other character. (50)
have your pokemon be inflicted with a status condition by an opposing pokemon. (25)
have your character recall a past thread or event that they have participated in or not (link the thread). (50)
reference (tag) another character that is not in your thread in a meaningful way. (50)
have your character learn to respect another character in some way. (50)
have your character self-doubt or cast doubt on another's confidence/allegiances/beliefs, etc. (50)
have your character reflect on why they're fighting/reflect on their loyalties. (50)
have your character attempt to or successfully take revenge in some way. (50)
have your character's Pokemon symbolize or represent in some way, the condition of your character. (50)
have your character "hit rock bottom" (their lowest point). (50)
showcase a meaningful moment between your character and their Pokemon. (50)
have your pokemon set weather, terrain, or a magic, trick, or wonder room in your thread. (10)
pace your narrative accordingly by featuring a "back and forth" in terms of advantage and raising the stakes until the climax. (50)

{PC: 9}

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Entei         Gouging Fire   Poor
Swift         Raikou         Good
Aleph         Type: Null     Missing

Matias had a point. Kyle was a special individual, having the foresight to pass one of his strongest gifts down to Josh before becoming perhaps Hoenn's greatest martyr. "No. No one can replace Kyle. But Melody is as close as we're going to get. It's important for a Champion to be powerful, yes, but a Champion also has to be personable with as much of the public as possible. She shares more personality traits with him than anyone else I know." He waited for Swift's body to stop rumbling as a purr sounding like distant thunder left the space between his fangs. The shaking was numbing while it lasted.

Josh met the Volatile's curiosity with the truth. "I applied for the first time when Katherine Fairburne stepped down, and was turned down. I wasn't ready for it back then, and I now understand that. When Melody got promoted up and the seat opens to applicants, I'm planning on applying again. Navy thinks I have the chops for it." Little did he know that the Warrior was the only member of the AQUA Initiative that thought so.

---

MATIAS SILPH

{PC: 8}

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Swift         Raikou         Good
Raikou        Raging Bolt    Good
Entei         Gouging Fire   Good
Suicune       Walking Wake   Good
Raikiri       Zeraora        Good
Saber         Manectric      Good

It wasn't just those two Mega Stones. Every single Mega Stone he had acquired had been from a ruin of some kind. Twilight's Mega Stone came from an ancient waterway beneath Lake Pyre. Without Isaac Merlo 's help, he would have lost the Mega Evolution to Kyurem's wrtah. Without Navy 's help in exploring a sunken temple in Hoenn's deepest trenches, he would never have been able to Mega Evolve his Sharpedo. He had Eva Morales to thank for being able to Mega Evolve his Pidgeot, as well.

"They're not easy to find," Josh cautioned. "My Pidgeotite I had to piece together from fragments in a floating ruin high above the desert mountains. Couldn't have done it without Rayquaza's Avatar helping me. If you want to find Mega Stones, talk to Eva Morales . She and illeana reyes have this machine that can detect Mega Stone signatures." Perhaps once she did so, the two would go on an equally grand adventure tracking down a Mega Stone.

Miyako seemed enthusiastic to see Mega Evolution in action. "Tell you what. If you've caught your fill, where you going next? Back to Pacifidlog, or somewhere else?"

---

Miyako Noguchi

{PC: 18}

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Suicune       Walking Wake   Fair
Yosei         Salamence      Good
Ao            Roaring Moon   Good
Verte         Flygon         Good
Reverb        Noivern        Good
Ares          Charizard**    Good

Before Josh could respond to what anyone could say, he caught sight of a Studdul mercilessly THRASHING all over a helpless Meditite below. The Ranger within him compelled him to save the fighting-type from the territorial Pokémon's wrath. "Yosei, break that up, would you, please?" he asked, letting off all pressure on the reins and even shifting his body weight forward.

With a mighty roar, the Salamence entered a screaming dive, one of his claws extended in a BRICK BREAK at horrific speeds. The force behind the swooping attack lifted the Stufful high into the air alongside the rapidly-climbing Yosei and passenger, the Gym Leader hooting and hollering as though he were riding the most intense roller coaster in the world. As the Stufful's momentum reversed due to gravity, Josh reined his dragon beneath it, letting the unconscious foe fall into an empty Poké Ball in his hand.

---

nicholas steele

{PC: 8}

Catching the Stufful!

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Yosei         Salamence      Good
Zaborg        Zeraora**      Good
Zetalpa       Tropius        Good

Josh was all too familiar with the price of power. The power the Knight of Thunder had at his fingertips came with the unrealized price of its severe limitations. The only techniques the Beast knew were Quick Attack, Electro Ball, and Reflect. All traditional means of teaching Swift new attacks had failed. Dynergy did not affect his ashen body. A Terastal frame could not hold itself together. And without a genuine, two-way bond, Z-Energy was impossible to utilize.

"Raikou being legendary has nothing to do with why I love him so much," Josh admitted, showing clear affection for the electric-type like one would an ordinary Pokémon. "I love big cat Pokémon. Their majesty, their ferocity, their protectiveness, and most importantly, their speed. And once my rehab is over, there is nothing I look forward to more than pushing the limits of his speed. My limits. Our limits." It may have been a mere joyride for now, but one day, that kind of speed would be needed somewhere on the bloodstained battlefield that was Hoenn.

The sentiment Minerva expressed was similar to what Melody Miro urged him to do: be open-minded to the concept of entering into service to Swift as a Patron. "I... really don't want him to. But if it is the Great One's will for me to enter into such a contract with him, I will."

For the Great One, Ho-oh, was the wisest deity in his birth region of Johto. The deity he revered above all despite his move to Hoenn.

---

minerva valentine

{PC: 6}

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Swift         Raikou         Good