Being in control of a Pokémon mount was one of the most liberating things Josh could imagine. There was something simply magical about working with a living creature capable of moving at dizzying speeds, blasting across the land, sea, or sky as one. Something magical about feeling a beast's powerful strides. It gave one the sensation of disappearing on the wind. After rounding each turn, Josh gave Absinthe a thumbs-up, letting her concentrate on steering the giant dog.

The words our of Absinthe's mouth made Josh smile... and yet, his face had a hint of worry about it, too. Braver was one of his fastest Pokémon, capable of going faster than a race car when invoking his fastest attacking moves. "Braver is an Arcanine. They're some of the fastest land Pokémon on the planet," he warned. "If you give him enough room to invoke his Extreme Speed... he'll go as fast as a Raikou."

That remark wasn't far from the truth, either; as hard to believe as it may have been, Josh had personal experience with both.

Josh frowned as Morrighan seemed to sniff out the reality of Josh's drinking preferences. "You figured it out, didn't you? I'm not much of a tea drinker in general." She was a smart fellow, picking up on what made Josh the person he was in the region. "You're quite perceptive! I'm arguably Hoenn's most talented Pokémon rider," he tooted his own horn. "I'm the Leader of Mauville City Gym. When John Sullivan stepped down, I turned the military base into a Pokémon riding and racing academy." Perhaps she hadn't been in the region for long? Josh was quite the celebrity, being the only Champion that wasn't also a member of the League's upper echelons.

Come to think of it, he hadn't heard from either of them recently, had he? After all, Fortree Sanctuary was Alexei Ivanov 's life. With it being stripped of public funding, he didn't imagine it lasting much longer in its current form. "You see, I'm not originally from Hoenn. I'm from Johto. And since I've been a child, I've admired the three Pokémon that the Great One, Ho-oh, resurrected from the dead after they passed in the tragedy of the Brass Tower's collapse."

"Ah, the Gym grind," Josh mused. "Reminds me of my own road to Champion Rank. It was a long and hard one. Almost two years long." Becoming a Champion was one of the most rewarding, confidence-boosting things Josh had accomplished since being trapped in Hoenn underneath Meteno's barrier in the first place. Once his recovery had completely passed, he would be on cloud nine, demonstrating to Hoenn why he was indeed the Master of Faster. "What about you? How's your own grind going?"

As Shaymin jumped onto Eriette's head, the Spectrier reared in fright and vanished, taking Josh and the grass-type with him. They reappeared on Kee's opposite side in a demonstration of PHANTOM FORCE -- a thrill-inducing jaunt through the ethereal. Once his heart had calmed down, the Gym Leader answered Keenan's question. "Eriette is a Spectrier, and I'm training her to be the fastest of her kind in Hoenn," Josh answered.

Josh sighed deeply, sliding off Voja's back. "I tried to stop you... but if you really want to go a few rounds, then you leave me with no cnoice. Voja, let's make this quick, okay?" The Gym Leader turned toward his Mightyena and briefly cuddled with the giant hound before getting ready for a battle with this fool in front of him.

"DOUBLE TEAM!" Josh ordered, Tangaroa Emzar made to witness what may have been the fastest Mightyena in all of Hoenn. The move meant to disorient foes was just as much of a signature move as Quick Attack was to him. Depending on how keen the Alolan Exeggutor's vision was, it may have been helpless against the high-speed assault to come!

Though Josh grimaced on the inside, he kept his patience and calm demeanor amidst Vespa Baskerville 's cluelessness. He pointed toward a specially marked container that had been dropped off at the island for the task. While not as large as a standard shipping container, its volume was still impressive. "It's just a matter of removing as much of the nasty parts of the wreckage as possible from the island. Anything that's been tainted by oil, fuel, and the like. Anything that could leak and pollute the island if ruptured. You have Pokémon that would be good at that?"

Josh clicked open a second Poké Ball, this one containing a Type: Null. "Aleph here will he able to help with the heavier pieces. Won't you, Aleph?" he asked, giving the ornery Normal-type a gentle pat. The chimeric Pokémon seemed to have other ideas. though...

Perhaps the remark was unintentionally condescending? "It is different from other large cities in that geography prohibits us from expanding outward... so instead, we've built the city up. I don't know of any other city that has three entire layers of streets built on top of one another. That can certainly make it confusing." They were, of course, subject to frequent and rigorous inspections. A crack in a road could not only lead to injuries and deaths of those above it, but those below it, as well. With many buildings spanning all three levels of Mauville, any structural issues needed to be located and addressed as quickly as possible.

At the mention of Sinnoh, Josh recalled his vacation with Andrea Vaneau ... back when she could still fly using her Sygna Suit. With Chomper gone, that was... no longer possible. "I went to Sinnoh earlier this year, and Veilstone can be just as confusing. I definitely got lost downtown looking for the hotel I stayed at." Flipping through the menu as he sipped on his lemonade, Josh asked Ceres, "You getting lunch, too?"

In the aftermath of the explosion of a small vessel, fuel, metallic debris, and other pollutants had been scattered all over a small island northeast of Sea Mauville's main wreckage site. The sea had already been cleared, and what recoverable lives there were had already been recovered. Josh and Vespa Baskerville found themselves on cleanup duty, this time on land rather than in the sea.

Rather than finding Cassandra, Vespa would find Mauville's Gym Leader, Josh Devlin, astride perhaps the largest Vaporeon she had ever seen. "Vespa?" he asked as the water-type transitioned from swimming to running, slowing to a stop near her. "Champion Devlin or Gym Leader Devlin, but you can call me Josh. I've been told we'll be working together removing toxic debris in the wake of a crash."

Josh guffawed at the Alolan's ignorance. "Work there? You're talking to the Gym Leader," the young man answered, Aleph growing more and more wary by the moment. He was not afraid of Huzu's musculature, too... for those with such strength often lacked in agility. With how fast his Pokémon were... good luck taking advantage of all that strength.

The Exeggutor would be able to frisk out a typical lower-upper class man's possessions, such as a loaded wallet... but the most unique find would be a RAINBOW FEATHER that would glow all seven colors when exposed to sunlight.

"You're barking up the wrong tree. I'll only warn you one more time. You're messing with a Gym Leader, a League official. If you want to end this the hard way, I promise you that it won't end well for you."

Before telling his tale of the Lorekeepers, and what he had learned from them, Josh gave the tea a sip. Not expecting it to be as bitter as it was, he squinted, bringing the liquid to the back of his tongue. While he didn't choke on it, it was easy to tell it was not a taste that was for him. "Sorry -- it's a bit too bitter for me," he replied, sliding the cup back. Once he was comfortable at the table, he clicked open a third Poké Ball, from it emerging a Type: Null that sized up the two Galarian legendary horses.

"The Lorekeepers are those who pass down stories of legendary Pokémon from generation to generation," Josh explained. "The one I know best is former Fortree Gym Leader Alex. He's intimately familiar with two of my favorite Pokémon legends in the world: the Unovan pantheon, and the Johtonian pantheon. The latter in particular is very special to me." A sly smile grew on his face as the scintillating RAINBOW FEATHER reflected prismatic sunlight...

Josh could tell from both Absinthe's posture and her tone that she was filled with mixed emotions: excitement yet also discomfort. "You're doing well!" he answered, noticing the female's posture shift forward as Braver got up to speed, approaching what could have felt like a swift canter or even a gallop to her. Arcanine were cooperative, but they were among the fastest Pokémon commonly ridden by trainers. They were commonly employed as police dogs for a reason!

"Next is steering! If you pull on the reins with just one hand, he'll turn in the same direction you pull," Josh taught Absinthe the second part of the basics. "The more agile your mount, the tighter they'll turn. With an Arcanine, it can take a bit of muscle power for them to make anything but shallow turns. Think of it like tilting their head in the direction you want to go. Give it a try! And if you ever feel uncomfortable with tactile controls like these, many Pokémon will respond to verbal commands, too."

As if to guide her, Josh would lead the Arcanine off the main concourse and onto Twist Road, the easiest track on the property. It had several turns that would be perfect for the novice rider to get used to steering with!

Josh interpreted his friend's arrival as a time-out, giving Keldeo the instruction to hold. It would give both Zacian and Keldeo time to recover, what with both bleeding from each others' blows. Almost anyone else who walked by wouldn't have been able to tell that they were merely sparring.

"That she can spar with and defeat both Keldeo and Swift at the same time shows how strong she is," Josh replied, looking a bit overwhelmed. "She's not only fast, but that sword of hers can cut through anything. I think it helped Keldeo a lot." Once the water-type recovered, they would walk toward Zacian and clinked their blue horn with the flat of her sword if she allowed it. A sign that they had a good, yet friendly match. "Once my arm is completely healed, I bet her and Swift would be competitive with one another on the track."

With the Elite Four's return came a burning question that the Gym Leader had. "I've been hearing some rumors that a member or two of upper management feel that my victory against Kyle, and my ascension to Champion Rank as a whole was a giant fluke. You get to see them more than I do. Is it true?"

freya morningstar 's orders made Josh's heart sink. It made him cry. Ratting out one of his best friends turned enemy Alexei Ivanov was one thing. Being commanded to engage an Avatar with an injured body was another. "Captain, I wish I could. I wish I could. But not with the Councilwoman's orders." Inert his suit may have been since Aslan's death, but Sygna Suited he was, and he had to engage a Rocket Avatar... or risk losing his job as Gym Leader. His Gym was profitable even after a theoretical loss of the League stipend. Was Mauville Gym worth this price?

In a twist of fate, he would have that choice made for him; seated alight a Roaring Moon was fern delaney , the black-winged Tapu Koko rapidly closing the distance upon annalise henderson and her Mew. "Captain!" Josh cried, reaching for the RAINBOW FEATHER and hastily drawing the Sign's four strokes.

The primal thunderstorm filled Swift with energy, the monochrome Beast materializing near the Mauville Duo. A scintillating glow formed atop the black crown; a familiar one, at that. He remembered this glow from several occasions, most notably sparring with illeana reyes and Palkia. "Caaaaaaaaaptaaaaaaaaaain!!" From his surface thoughts to his subconscious, Josh willed the Raikou to protect them from NATURE'S MADNESS above all else.

Heeding his bearer, Swift resonated with Josh's innermost wishes, a REFLECTIVE barrier shaped like his crown expanded outward in an effort to shield Beast, Gym Leader, and Captain from the Alolan deity's wrath.

MOVE SLOT REGAINED

Swift the Raikou regains the move REFLECT.

"You're not the only one who can command lightning," the Champion spat toward fern delaney . "You won't lay a finger on my Captain. You hear me?!"

Unlike kyle lopez , he wasn't going to be a martyr. Today, he would be a hero.

PURCHASING/REDEEMING

welcome to the poké mart!

1X Crystabloom (RVL reward - was called "Illumina Potion" at the time) - Make Illumina the Lanturn an Illumina Pokémon

3X Premium Gacha Ticket (3x Postdormitum MP Shop) - All ghost-type, please!

TOTAL

do come again!

00 PD