"Without spoiling much, I'll just say that one of the scenarios features a legendary Pokémon that looks a lot like Cyclizar," Josh cryptically answered. Perhaps one day he would be able to pay Kora a visit, the two of them racing one another on Raikou and the Koraidon. As efficient as the fighting-type's streamlined body was, there was something about being jostled up and down on Swift's back that brought joy to the Champion. Even if Koraidon was faster like he suspected, he loved the feel of the galloping feline too much. "What you have to remember is that despite how real it feels on the inside, it's just a simulation. You have effectively infinite lives as far as the simulation goes. In the real world, you only have one. The simulation will help you make it count."

Josh hoped that Katharina had a ride Pokémon of her own, because he had brought his most fearsome of Pokémon to Area Zero. "Do high speeds make you sick?" he asked, making sure before he offered the girl a ride on one of his Pokémon. They were all capable of running at incredible speeds -- even the long-necked electric-type he was astride.

It wasn't just to get the Pyroar exercise. The lions simply loved being active and helping; perhaps it was ingrained upon them as being Ranger Pokémon. Keeping them in shape helped, and rigging carts to their large saddles was simple enough that they were very adaptable for travel. "Don't mind Aleph keeping you company," Josh said as he leaned to make eye contact with Kee, his Type: Null in his peripheral. "It's where he usually--"

All of a sudden, a large sandstorm kicked up, forcing Josh to snap his helmet's visor into place to keep any more sand from collecting inside it. The Pyroar weren't so lucky; the desert's abrasive grains of sand became caught in their fur and even scratched against the soft flesh beneath. By the time they got to the dig site, almost half of the lions looked uncomfortable. "Remember, don't try to shake yourselves clean," he reminded them. "Once we're out of this storm, I can try to comb it out." With the size of the Pokémon, it would be a huge task, one he would almost certainly need help with.

The quick ROCK SLIDE stemmed the metaphorical bleeding, forming sturdy layers of boulders that would keep the vast majority of the sandstorm out of their faces. Josh and several of the other Rangers got to work dislodging sand from the pride's fur. "No stranger to this from all the times I've been to the Ultra Wilds," the Champion remarked.

Josh was no stranger to the dead. He had been to the Border on several different occasions. Wrangling with the spirit of Chien-Pao before it chose jayden cross . Avenging the death of SHAWN RICHARDS, his top Gym Trainer and planned successor to the Gym.

"It's okay, Andrea," Josh answered. He would have given the cosplayer a pat on the shoulder were he not in the saddle of Eriette, his Spectrier. His other ghost-type steeds were around, and he even looked like a knight with Danjuro the Honedge in his hand. "It feels weird holding a sword in my hand again, not gonna lie. I put that blade down after the resurfaced island. When I realized fighting isn't my forte. War couriers are just as important as those who fight, you know." It was a truth he hoped Andrea would be happy to hear. While it wouldn't keep him completely out of danger, it was a role that was less dangerous than directly battling Avatars.

He understood why Andrea wanted to return to the place she lost Chomper. "If we can't find him here... we'll visit him at the Border," the Gym Leader promised. "Given how close you two were to one another, it should be expected that his soul's running around there. I highly doubt he's passed on. That reminds me... I should check on kyle lopez if we end up going there." Little did he know that rumors of the Emergent's death were greatly exaggerated... though Kyle was no longer in the form the Knight of Thunder recalled.

With how familiar Yuina was with the DRK TRIAD, she had to be aware of the similar danger Josh was in. Though he was not being directly chased by them, and was not an Avatar, he had expressed great interest in becoming one in the past. He had chased the Johto Beast for over half his life, only becoming its bearer in the wake of Hoenn's Top Champion's death. Realizing his dream of being friends with Raikou -- if only a Raikou that was a reflection of his inner self -- only made him a potentially juicier target.

Josh loved Swift more than any of his other Pokémon. The ashen construct was not Raikou; it was an idealized version of Raikou that embodied everything the Champion loved about the Beast. He had seen what Avatarship did to MATIAS SILPH and Laurence Anderson . In his eyes, it had ruined their lives. He didn't want to fall prey to a god in the same way as they did. What would a flesh and blood Raikou's personality be like? He didn't want to find out, for he liked Swift how he was. Being a reflection of Josh's inner self, he could shape Swift into exactly the kind of Pokémon he wanted. The stronger he got, the stronger the Raikou got.

"Tell me about it," Josh sighed, waving toward Ayashi. "I only was able to make this work because it's the time of the year where Gym Challenger volume goes down. If Kyurem didn't come and mess up Hoenn's weather patterns, I'd be busy year around. But thanks to that dumb dragon, Hoenn now gets a touch of winter, like other regions of the world do." It was a nice break where Josh could catch up socially and do things he didn't normally get to do. Round One was one of them. For now, he wanted to take advantage of the weather being warm enough to go riding across Hoenn's longest road -- one that would take even Swift quite a long time to cross.

Josh mirrored Ayashi's abrupt stop with Swift, doing his best to remain stable as inertia flung him forward on the thundercloud, his hands nearly sliding into the back of the electric-type's head. Though he had hunted for Space-Time Distortions in an effort to find the gigantic Pokémon his Gym was known for, he wasn't sensitive to them on the same level that she was. After all, she had a whole different life to hone her senses to them.

"What's up?" Josh asked. "It's just overcast is all. We might get a little wet, but there weren't supposed to be thunderstorms. I'd love it if there was -- a natural thunderstorm makes Swift run faster."

As Suicune was building up his HYDRO STEAM to take off across the waves, a familiar, older man's voice called out to him. With a rear that made Josh clutch the reins tightly, the Walking Wake turned around to face Nereus. Recognizing the face, the Gym Leader turned around with a sly smile on his own. "That's Champion Devlin to you, Nereus," he retorted, unable to keep a straight face. "Kidding, kidding! Champion or no, you can keep calling me Josh."

At the notion of Josh having a story to tell, Josh couldn't hold it in anymore; he burst out in laughter. "Arceus me, you have no idea. My life's been a whirlwind these last seven months." The Walking Wake's cry sounded just like Suicune's; anyone familiar with the Beast of Winds could have easily mistaken it for a real Suicune's call. "Where do I even start?"

This was it. After five months of hard rehab, Josh's body was at last strong enough to attempt something he had not done since slicing through waves of Galarian Slowbro in the Galar Memory. The Josh back then would have longed for the Lightning Sword, ready to charge through and cleave foe after foe with an electric sword so fast and clean that its victims would not realize they were already dead until their upper and lower bodies slid apart.

That was not the Josh that sat on Swift's back today.

The Josh that rode upon the ashen Beast was one who had realized his expertise was not on the front lines. With how much Greyson Connors hounded him that speed alone was not a valid way to do battle, he would instead take on a role in the war that leaned into his strength. Not a Signer. A courier. An Envoy. "Swift, I'm not gonna lie to you, I'm a bit nervous," he said to the Raikou, though it was more like he was speaking to his inner self. Swift calmed Josh's outer fears with a purr of inner confidence that shook him to the bone -- one that Eva Morales would have been able to hear if she walked through the Gym's lobby and to its vast Racing Grounds north of Mauville proper.

The Master of Faster was ready for his first Quick Attack on the legendary Beast.

Once they were clear of the congested woods and onto the more open Route 104 proper, Josh squeezed his paradox mount's sides. "Faster, Entei! DRAGON DANCE!" the Master of Faster ordered. With a volcanic roar, the Gouging Fire tromped and stomped forward, on his way to a League outpost not far from Petalburg. It was where he needed to make his all-important delivery. It contained a blueprint seized by a HBIC agent; an accompanying document contained plans that would give Rocket a huge edge in their next invasion.

He couldn't risk that city being Mauville.

In a trail of dragonfire, Entei zoomed toward the outpost like a purple comet, perhaps a blur to Aqua Kennedy and robin coello . The rider's keen eyesight let him catch sight of their battle. While he didn't recognize the Rocket, his eyes widened at the sight of a familiar face. "...Robin?! What's she doing here?!" She was barely of age. Why was she in such a horrific warzone?

After making his delivery, he left the cart for those operating the outpost to unload. Dismounting long enough to unhook it from Entei and make sure the secret paperwork was properly handed over and secured, Josh waved goodbye to his allies before climbing atop the Gouging Fire again. Worry overflowed as he saw the young psychic's battle unfold, the Gym Leader kicked his paradox Pokémon's sides, the already speedy Pokémon performing a second, more fierce-looking DRAGON DANCE as part of its charge toward Aqua Kennedy 's Lapras.

With a lowered head of an angry fire dragon charging in a blur and a lowered head, Aqua Kennedy might learn why the Entei-like species was called Gouging Fire.

PURCHASING/REDEEMING

welcome to the poké mart!

1X Kasib Berry (Grown: 6 -> 5 remaining) - Grant Entei the Gouging Fire an extra move slot

1X TM/TR (60 PD) - Entei the Gouging Fire learns Dragon Dance

TOTAL

do come again!

60 PD

As Josh stashed away the Poké Balls, he heard that minjun hak was making excellent progress on his end, as well as his other colleagues. They had already rounded up a little under half of the girl's Pokémon. "Wonderful. Will rendezvous at your location, over and out." The lion galloped toward the lake area that the other Ranger was near, watching a Seismitoad pop out of the water, its saddle anchored around the bumps on its back. A Dragalge also surfaced, Josh admiring the engineering work needed for a saddle to be both comfortable and effective for both such a lithe creature and its rider.

"As much as I love the work she does, Shalin can be a bit... messed up in the head," Josh admitted as he retrieved empty Poké Balls to tap the aquatic types with once they came toward the shallows. "Look at that Seismitoad. I wouldn't want to sit in that saddle - that would mess up my insides so much!" As if to drive the point home, Bass Boost turned around to face the two and rumbled his back, creating a disturbance that caused several more of the Captain's aquatic Pokémon to surface. "Not gonna lie, I'm jealous of how self-sufficient her Pokémon are..." he mused as Kovu walked toward the lake's edge, Josh tapping Bass Boost and Pharika with Poké Balls.

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.

The Border was ever familiar to Josh, but perhaps not to the general public... given how much the League seemed to want to keep civilians away from it. It was sensible Vespa would know next to nothing about it. "It's where restless souls go after the body harboring them dies. Oftentimes, they need help passing on to the afterlife. I visited several of my dead coworkers there, as well as kyle lopez when he died at Mount Chimney," the Gym Leader explained, thoughts of the late Top Champion coming to mind. His first Gym Challenger, a mentor figure, and one of Hoenn's greatest war heroes. "There are spirits of legendary Pokémon that roam there and are dangerous to engage with. I can name at least five."

Vespa seemed easily distracted by the Pokémon haunting the tower, though Drifblim was a great Pokémon for a novice rider. They could use their four arms to form a seat for a rider to sit in, almost like being in the basket of a hot air balloon. Josh had one, too, and was working on helping the ghost-type control their Tailwind so they wouldn't be at the mercy of the natural wind. "I was asking if you've been to the top of the Sky Pillar before. If you haven't and want to go up there, hop on!" The Dragapult may have been an intimidating-looking ride, the draconic spirit's great speed and ability to go ethereal well-known...

Josh's leg joints buckled with every tree Entei's brutal charge uprooted, the Gouging Fire bucking him with maddening strength every time. In addition to towing a pallet of medical supplies in a wagon engineered with the Gym Leader's high speeds in mind, he also had an important war bulletin to deliver to Navy . A gaping hole had been discovered in Petalburg's defenses, but transmitting it electronically was too risky, particularly so close to the captured city. The Master of Faster was the most reliable and secure transmission option the League had.

"Easy, Entei! We're not trying to burn Petalburg Woods up!" Josh exclaimed after grunting loudly from the Gouging Fire nearly tossing him off. Though Entei lacked the great speed of Kyle's Beast, he was still fast, sending pieces of fallen tree flying when they got caught on his horn. The two emerged from Petalburg Woods, screaming southward toward Route 104, the rider barely able to see around his paradoxical mount's crest.

A soft spot Lydia hit, indeed. Raikou, Entei, and Suicune, his Raging Bolt, Gouging Fire, and Walking Wake, were all precious to him. Even if they weren't quite as swift as their Johtonian counterparts, they were still tremendously fast, and were just as precious to him. If anything, Entei was more precious to him than the more familiar modern Pokémon. With the speed the Gouging Fire could reach, those yellow horns were capable of inflicting unfathomable harm. "Consider this: what makes a legendary Pokémon legendary? Uniqueness isn't it; a lot of Pokémon that show up in legends like that, there are more than one of. Look at Glastrier and Spectrier," he argued. "They show up all over Galarian legends, but are in the hands of a number of trainers. Even mine."

Josh shook his head, pondering Lydia's words and what he remembered of the awful experience behind bars. "I think everyone was sorted properly," was all he said. "I don't remember anything glaringly wrong. But I'd rather forget about as much of that as I can. I wanted to keep Swift, my Raikou, a secret for longer. But circumstances in that prison forced my hand."

The ashen Beast's emotions and demeanor mirrored Josh's, as though he was an extension of the racer's subconscious. When his surface thoughts and his inner self were in sync, so were Josh and Swift. Only when those two levels of his mind disagreed would Beast and rider clash. "Other than the three Pokémon I talked about before, yes," he answered, Swift's purr sounding like rumbles of thunder. Were Lydia to remain in contact with the Raikou's crown, it may have felt like a massage chair turned up to a high setting, or the feeling one would get operating a jackhammer. It was among the most powerful purrs any Pokémon could create. "But even if stolen, the feather's useless to them without knowing the Sign."