Somewhat disappointing, but expected. For those not trained for it, a Raikou's speed was vomit-inducing, remembering how ne nearly threw up the first time he invoked the Beast's Extreme Speed whe Kyle was still alive. He longed for it, being able to race across the land at almost invisible speeds. Alas, his relationship with the Raikou was too young. One day. One day, it would happen. And he would be in paradise on earth.

"My stay in Dewford Regional Hospital gave me all kinds of time to consider that," Josh replied, climbing back onto Swift not because he was leaving, but because he felt more comfortable astride the ashen Beast. "That's why I've devised a new challenge at Mauville Gym. It's for training war couriers and suppliers. The front lines need information, medicine and supplies to keep going out there. Having people who can keep supply lines flowing is just as important as those who do the actual fighting. I'm still waiting on approval from dahlia goode and the Elite Four; it got declined once in February." He had since made substantial revisions to the challenge. It would be an additional option alongside the racing challenge; that challenge brought in too much revenue to drop.

"It only takes getting shot so much to know one's place on the battlefield."

Josh frowned in disappointment. Had Shalin done nothing to assuage Zachary's fear of insects? If her Beedrill, sweet as they honey her kind produced, didn't make the challenger less uncomfortable around venomous insects, no other Beedrill could.

His words would not reach Zachary over the deafening buzzing. If his words wouldn't, then his actions would. Extending the toxic barb out of his rear, King Zing zipped toward Tarot, loosing an amplified, rapid-fire barrage of PIN MISSILES in a wide area around the Abra.

There sure was nothing like the south breeze blowing from the ocean onto Mauville Bay's pristine sands. With it being the middle of a weekday, Josh having only worked a half-day at his Gym, it wasn't too busy, either; there were Lapras, Gyarados, and Milotic frolicking with their trainers in the more distant sea, as well as smaller water Pokémon playing with their trainers in the shallows.

Josh's choice of drink was lemonade rather than anything alcoholic; after all, one of Mauville Gym's mantras was "Don't Drink and Ride!"

Josh clicked open five of the six Poké Balls on his belt, the last one a land Pokémon for the return trip to Mauville City. They surrounded the main dock: a Sharpedo, Kingdra, Vaporeon, Floatzel, and Primarina. All five of them wore a saddle and reins much like an equine would, custom-fit for their bodies. Even the typically smaller Pokémon were large enough for a human to mount them; the Vaporeon in particular was quite the anomaly.

"It'll be a real treat, Walter!" Josh smiled as he let his legs hang from the pier, ready to slide onto Snacker's back. "Try to keep--"

Before Josh could slide down, Buzz flipped his tails out of the water and whirled them harshly, making the sound he was named after. The whirlwind they produced was incredible, Staccato grabbing onto one of the pier's poles to keep his balance amidst the rough surf. "Sorry, Buzz can be a bit hyperactive sometimes," the Gym Leader apologized. "Anyway, try to keep us in sight!" he teased, sliding off the dock and onto the Floatzel's saddle. Leaning low on the water-type's back, Josh squeezed his mount's sides, Buzz's propeller-tails humming loudly as they thrust the duo forward fast as a speedboat.

Josh shook his head after leaving the CHAMBER OF DESIRES. Deep within his subconscious, did he still have desires to be the Cavalier - Raikou's Avatar? Despite Laurence Anderson ' warnings? Despite MATIAS SILPH lightly chiding him about it? Despite his horrible injuries that led to kyle lopez leaving him the RAINBOW FEATHER that would serve as Swift's vessel? If he were to join the AQUA Initiative as Raikou's Avatar, he would not be able to avoid the front lines, where he was grievously hurt.

Why? Why did he have those visions?

"...Today's the day," Josh whispered to Michael Davis , TERASTAL TEARS from the out-of-body experience empowered him. With trance-like focus, the world around him seemed to crawl ahead, the movements of others slowing to a crawl as though time itself had slowed. Others who observed him would not see what he did. When his morning Mochi was delivered, his cellmate may have noticed Josh the delivery and reaching for it almost before it was there, and with increased speed of movement, too.

Was this a taste of what being the Cavalier would be like? There was so much he could do with his newfound power. With the reaction time of a Ribombee and the speed of his legendary steed, he could become a blur of blades and claws... if he could find his legendary steed. "...And we're not leaving without Swift," Josh added.

Once they were on the platform, it was showtime. Wielding his now-rigid chain like one would a sword, his eyes glowed a sickly purple as he was able to observe the minute motions of the Megalopolan guards in front of him. Each of their counterattacks were futile; Josh saw them coming as though time around him was slowed. They would see him moving out of the way the moment they began making their motions. He sliced and diced his newfound weapon about, disabling the guards around him would not be difficult. "Now, Michael! We've gotta find Swift!" He took off with great speed toward the hall he remembered the tubes being in, leaving his cellmate in the dust without realizing it...

Elite Ranger Devlin, ready to saddle up and save lives!

Egg's dose of LIFE DEW stemmed the bleeding, but Verte was still whining in pain, his wing joints still aching something fierce. His Boomburst was a fearsome attack, but the method he used to create it, vibrating his wings so fast that his wingtips loosed a sonic boom, was incredibly stressful on his body. Even as a Badge winner, he had learned an important limit of the green dragon: Boomburst was not to be used more than once without a significant resting time.

Josh took a look at Verte's wings. The bases of them were still red, though the bleeding had by now stopped. While the swelling wasn't obscenely large, it didn't look healthy. "I'll need to get him to a Pokémon Center as soon as I can. Andrea, think you can give me a lift there on one of your dragons?" he asked.

Regardless of whether he would be flying or taking a cab, Josh stepped forward to accept the spoils of victory. "Hey, I learned the limits of Boomburst today, too. Even as a candidate for Champion Rank, I'm still learning. Even as a Champion, I will still learn. And even once I am a Champion, I will still challenge new Gyms that pop up. They need inspections, too!" he laughed, recalling when kyle lopez was Josh's first challenger as a Minor Leaguer.

Soon, he would return the favor to new Gym Leaders.

While Zachary was busy taunting the captured Raichu, Josh was reaching for a Poké Ball to capture the weakened Pokémon with. Snacker's reversion startled Josh, delaying him in sliding off the shark's back. "Don't just stand there, Zachary! Catch--"

Too late.

The angry Raichu loosed a powerful and wide DISCHARGE that completely fried Snacker and sapped Josh's strength almost completely. He was only able to remain conscious after the concussive electric blast due to working with and saddling so many electric Pokémon. Conscious, but immobile. He couldn't even crawl toward his Pokémon.

So much for catching the ultrafast Alolan Raichu for himself. It was all Zachary's... if he could. All Josh had the strength to do was be ready to dial out to emergency services in case the wild overwhelmed his partner, too.

Some Champion Josh was, huh?

The time that Zachary's team spent looking out for the Raichu didn't go to waste, either; the Mega Evolved shark's added water pressure served as a conduit for a gradual SPEED BOOST. It may well have made the dark-type and rider the fastest duo on the water, provided they had the room to harness their extreme speed. The two screamed across the waves, grabbing the Raichu's attention.

The wild, too, was quite the speed demon, mentally shaping the waves around it to likewise propel itself to maddening speeds. "Faster, Snacker!" Josh cried. Pumping his water pressure up to dangerous levels, they gave everything they had to stay ahead of the pursuing Raichu. Snacker let out several progressively louder cries as his rear sphincter began to ache from expelling water at such destructive pressures.

The shark would swim erratically in an effort to avoid any of the psychic-type's electric attacks. Rather than attack the Raichu directly, Josh stayed the course, directing his Sharpedo back and forth until they were near Dizzy's trap. With a mighty swerve that yanked Josh from his seat and caused him to roll all the way across the beach, the swimming Pokémon zipped away from the snare at the last moment!

Though Eddie's shirt would make a good makeshift patch for the corner of the crate missing, it left him more vulnerable to the elements. With no clothing protecting his upper body, his bare skin would be exposed to the wind from Delilah's speedy pace across the fictitious warzone. Though it was uncertain how long the patch would last, Eddie's experience in construction would let him be confident his solution would last long enough.

Delilah's speed may have been low, but those hooves were like tires on an all-terrain vehicle. There was little ground that could stop the Mudsdale; her STAMINA enabled her to quickly yank the cart out when one of its wheels started to sink into the mud.

All of a sudden, just as the mountainous foothills of SECTOR 4 was approaching, a flurry of WATER SHURIKEN whirled toward the young man and his ground-type, a saddle-wearing Greninja dramatically leaping out of the stagnant water! Most of them were aimed low, trying to disable the Mudsdale's legs or sever cables their cargo was attached to.

Were Eddie to take the time to look toward the Sector 4 summit he was headed toward, he would be able to see a silhouette of the safe house, as well as an imposing, quadrupedal shadow not far from it. What kind of Pokémon it was would be almost impossible to identify at their distance.

A traffic jam making it difficult for Josh to control Snacker was bad enough. Now, a bunch of bird Pokémon spooked into dropping WHIRLWINDS over the opening stretch to make the current even harder to traverse? How did this not cause a caution flag to drop? Far as he was concerned, the aerial vortices were a hazard that should have stopped the race. "Alright, Snacker! It's time!" Josh cried, leaning in and taking his left hand off the reins long enough to raise his MEGA GLOVE skyward. Snacker glowed with a blue-purple light as he morphed into his apex form, completing his MEGA EVOLUTION.

The Gym Leader grunted as Snacker ejected a huge surge of water from his rear, the impact with the surface sounding like a crashing waterfall. Yanked back and forth with each turn, he and his Sharpedo simply brute-forced their way through the swirling winds by going as fast as they could. After all, it wouldn't affect them much if they were inside the columns of air for only a split second.

Josh, too, had four Pokémon that wanted to zip around the back of the rugged den: Braver, Craggro, Entei, and Jiujiu. At first, the Xurkitree walked on two wires like a bipedal creature. Not for long, though; the Ultra Beast's cords took the shape of a predatory cat. The orange wires forming his front limbs looked like feline claws, and the thickest cord served as as a sturdy spine to support Josh.

Feeling adventurous, he would be a passenger aboard the electric wireframe for his first race. He had ridden the alien creature inside the Ultra Plant a few times, but this would be his first outside the Ultra Wilds. He doubted Jiujiu could outpace three Arcanine and two Gouging Fire. The point of the race wasn't to win, though; it was to let loose and have a good time.

"Ready!" Josh called out over the crackling sparks flying from his mount's head.

"Three years? That's longer than me; it'll be two for me at the end of June," Josh replied, not expecting Ever to have so much history with the region. From what he understood, Ultra Megalopolis had been somehow robbed of its light. The light it needed to thrive. The dream they were in was when the city was at its peak. "When we're out of here, I think a trip to the Lesser Megalopolis rift might be in order," he sighed. "Get to the bottom of this."

The talk of Ever being a skilled rider as well made Josh long for his Gym. "If you're that talented, have you thought about stopping by Mauville Gym? You could probably win the Badge there with ease." Thankfully, Raju would be more than capable of running the Gym in his absence. He was certain the League had Rangers and even other Gym Leaders searching for him most hours of the day. Part of being a Champion was an elevation to VIP status, after all!

The more people Josh ran into during the dreams, the more he realized what their ticket to escape was. "...We're all in the same dream every night. It's apparent that the wardens and Megalopolans are efficient at stopping individual escape attempts. But what if we coordinate? With everyone."

Josh leaned into the wind, his ashen Beast bouncing him about the grey thundercloud vigorously. The speedy tiger's strides shook him with earthquake-like force, rattling his limbs as he held on for his life through the acceleration. Just as the Raikou started to level off his speed, he caught a glimpse of Virizion's face.

Pulling back on the outer tufts of Swift's thundercloud to slow him down, the deceleration process was equally long. Not because Swift was slow at getting up to speed or shedding speed; those pointed claws were excellent at speed control. Coming to a stop took quite a bit of time because the Raikou's speed was that high. The Beast purred toward Virizion, Josh still coming down from the adrenaline rush that was all too familiar. He faced Virizion and Lam, greeting them, "Hey, Matias! What are you doing out here? I thought you were supposed to be under--"

He couldn't finish that sentence; he was in disbelief at seeing the Lilycove Gym Leader standing next to the Sacred Sword.

"...Lam?!"