Yuina hit the nail on the head.

This was one of Josh's core problems with the League; in his eyes, all they would do when something problematic was brought to their attention was kick the can down the road, unless it aligned with its top members' agenda. "That's exactly it. I wanted the giant Pokémon from Space-Time Distortions looked into. Alpha Pokémon, as you called them. I've spent a lot of time hunting Pokémon from them. It's how I can ride Pokémon that most of their kind would be too small for even a child. The eight Eeveelutions I caught from Distortions are one of the greatest joys of Mauville Gym. And that's just one such phenomenon."

And some in the League criticized Josh for acting without thinking, going too fast, and being over-reliant on instincts. Hideo Kino was near the top of that list, if their meeting in his Gym was any indicator. Instincts were powerful when honed, but they were not infallible.

"When Dynamax Bands were first distributed to those affiliated with the League, I expressed great concerns over Pokémon's health when using them. You know how if a Pokémon Dynamaxes on its own, it dies? Well, I was the one who discovered that for the League. The hard way."

The mention of the Ruinous Beasts made Josh shiver on the inside. "On the ship, it felt like I was being almost controlled by that woman with Wo-Chien. That one's the snail Pokémon, right?" he asked to confirm. "I felt a lot of the same emotions that I did when my Beedrill damn near stung Eris Halla to death. It's like she can bring out the very worst in me. Because I rode toward Cyllora with murderous intent. I'm not that kind of person."

For the only people within Hoenn he would willingly take the lives of were Rocket bigwigs. In his eyes, the people at the center of the conflict. Too entrenched to see what PENELOPE LIVY had wrought with her own Ruinous partner.

"And Chien-Pao is the snow cat, right? I had a run-in with it and a Marshadow that rode it. And not a very fun run-in at that. It was so fast that I bet it could even give Swift a run for his money." And it was not a theory he was willing to test, either. He was not disappearing to the Border without a good reason. Not after his run-in with Adrian Malcolm 's former Patron and its powers to turn living things to stone.

"I don't think I have access to those reports as a Gym Leader," Josh replied, showing clear interest in the three legendary Pokémon. "Do you know if the League updated my credentials after I became a Champion?"

Josh had a feeling that discussing his skeleton in the closet was going to make Hideo uncomfortable. He also had a feeling that it needed to be done. The privacy of the teenage Leader's dream chamber was one of the few places in Hoenn he felt he could talk about it in person.

It was clear that Josh's already unhappy colleague was about to become even more unhappy with him. "With the Perish Song having been sung, time was decidedly not on my side. I don't regret my decision at all, with the information I had and the situation I was in. Had I did as you just proposed, none of us would have made it back alive... but the monster. And if the monster remains alive, then everyone in the village died." It may have sounded like an excuse to Hideo, and perhaps it was. Was one of the precepts of Littleroot's Gym keeping an open mind?

Instinct was a powerful tool, but instinct could also betray.

"I was so desperate to get closure on what happened to Raikou in the war. I let my ambition to befriend him, to be his Avatar... consume me," he answered, shaking and shivering. Little did he know what fate the Great One had in store for him. "And I lost sight of what she could have known about the goings-on in Kanto. It wasn't until after some strange force blasted me away, and I was inside Elinor Anderson 's offices... that I realized just how far I had fallen. I repented. I paid the price for my sins. I've paid the price in money, time, and reputation. Reputation that I have toiled blood, sweat, and tears to rebuild. But there is no penance that can repair the trauma I've caused her."

Josh's eyes remained firmly fixed on Hideo. "I know an apology won't mean anything to you. If anything, it would just make things much worse. But I deeply regret what I did that day."

It was them.

The crystal within Josh's Z-GLOVE gleamed a brilliant white, both Nala and Kovu inhaling deeply as they loosed primal bellows that shook Route 111 itself.

It was painfully loud... and at the same time, uplifting. Inspiring. Josh's pride felt massively empowered, their paws shaking with the power to cleave steel. By virtue of being able to perform the Z-Move that their former king could, they were the ones that could bear the weight of the metsphorical crown. The burden of leadership.

It was only after Josh gave Clover's ears a chance to stop ringing, if they were, that he would answer. "I didn't have to convince them to come. They wanted to live with me. After we couldn't even see each other while the barrier was up, they decided they wanted to leave Johto and live in Mauville. I just wish they weren't too old to ride horseback. I think they'd really enjoy it." Such was the curse of having older parents, what with the two being in their sixties.

Josh couldn't tell how Clover's partner held up through the majestic outcry. "Is your Oricorio okay? I was expecting just one of them to be able to replicate the move, not two."

As great of a find as the Kingdra made yesterday, and as much as he wanted to reward her with another trip to the depths beneath Slateport, Josh had a lot of water Pokémon he wanted to get the chance to dive with. With Roil the Gyarados out of the question, he moved onto the next water Pokémon, taking a seat on Kairi's back.

The Vaporeon bathed both of them in an AQUA RING before descending, conditions being murkier than the Champion would like. While he could somewhat see with Keiga due to going earlier in the day, all he could see with Kairi at such a late hour were silhouettes. Pointing at something based on its shape alone, Josh ordered the aquatic Eeveelution to unearth it with as light of a WATER PULSE as she could muster.

"Thanks, Captain," Josh replied. "You're the best." He, too, had several aquatic Pokémon with him, including Megalo, a very capable Milotic healer. One thing Josh had learned from his time as a Ranger is to always carry a Pokémon with Heal Pulse, Life Dew, or a similar technique. When dealing with field injuries, time was of the essence. "Draw them away, and I'll send the cavalry in to pick them up and get them to safety."

With that, the Gym Leader released several more Pokémon alongside the Sharpedo: a Milotic of his own, a Dewgong, and even a Walking Wake. "Suicune will scare away any Sharpedo that slip through. I'm sure of it!" he cheered. "Good luck out there!" With that, the two approached the island, ready to go their separate ways. His team, having had so much experience with Ranger rescues, knew what they were doing. Josh kept his eyes out for prints of all kinds on the shallows, perhaps giving him a clue as to where the frightened, marooned individuals fled to.

Seeing Lutgarde seated on Noh made Josh a tad jealous. "I can't wait to be able to get on Staccato's back," he remarked. "He's my own Primarina. The docs just don't want me riding anything that swims with... an undulating swimming stroke." With his arm still not fully healed, it was best to stick to Pokémon that a rider would experience as little jostling as possible. Josh loved his serpentine Pokémon, but simply was not strong enough to be able to travel on them for long. It was largely what his rehab would be targeted at this month.

"Good shot!" Josh cheered as the MOONBLAST blew the door off its hinges. It led to a forking hallway, half of which was submerged. "Illumina and I can scout the lower levels real quick if you need us to," the Elite Ranger suggested, leaving Lutgarde to explore the other side of the fork in search of the missing discs the duo were expected to recover.

Just because Josh was sitting out the Mantine Surfing contest didn't mean he couldn't take Kopala out for a swim! A simple cleanup operation would be almost relaxing for the Champion who was used to. Sitting between the water and flying Pokémon's fins, the rider stretched, letting the stiff breeze blow among his fingers, letting the Mantine swim as she pleased. The operation may have been made more complicated that it needed to be, for the partner be would be working with would be one he had a checkered history with.

Eris Halla .

And the young one had the briefing. Until he checked in with her, he wouldn't know exactly the details of what his duties were. Getting any information out of her would be like pulling teeth, he imagined...

Far from the main wreckage site, a drilling rig had fallen victim to a Gyarados attack. And not just one, either. A lot of them. A chemical spill had forced many of the Magikarp in the area to evolve before they were ready to, and the resulting water serpents were quite cranky. Several of the tough water Pokémon had snapped two supports for the rig, causing it to begin tilting. Whether by water or by air, all the workers aboard the rig needed to be ferried to safety.

Josh was quickly on the scene, Buzz the Floatzel sounding like a revving speedboat from how fast his twin tails cut through the water behind him. His goal would not be to assist with the cleanup; that would have to be handled by a different team. The situation was so life-threatening that the League had not only dispatched one of their Champions to the sinking structure, but one of their Avatars, as well...

Josh and annalise henderson may have chased off a school of Sharpedo preventing stranded divers from escaping, but that was only a small part of the operation. Their violence had triggered a slow collapse of one of the wrecked vessels. As the ship slowly sank into the sand beneath, a small group of stranded divers panicked not only from their solid ground sinking out from underneath them, but a toxic spill inching its way toward them.

"You bring your best water Pokémon, Silverio?" the Mauville Leader asked his partner for the job, floating off his Palafin's back and onto a sinking deck. "I don't think I can do this with just six of my water Pokémon." As strong as they were, they could only help so many people at once...

Ever the showman, Hermes was. It made Josh look forward to standing behind him on his tail all the more. But he couldn't. Not yet. Not until he was at full capacity. Aleph stayed behind; as much as he wanted to brawl, he was at last starting to understand when to hold back. Despite the loud roar from the Raging Bolt, the two of them seemed to be having a lot of fun!

"Perhaps we should bring both our nutjob Pokémon, as you put it, together and see how they mingle," Josh suggested. "That might help." Raikou, Entei, and Suicune were all a bit crazier than he'd like. They all had some level of obedience issues. Tyrfing and Sigmund, too. Maybe it was due to the circumstances upon which they entered Hoenn. Perhaps it was their difficulty controlling their mighty strength and speed. Perhaps it was something else entirely. The only way Josh would find out would be to continue working with them.

Upon Zachary mentioning it, Josh recalled there being such a place in Alola. "Poni Island, right?" he asked, Janus slowly circling around to his friend's other side. "I don't think I would want to go to a place like that until I'm feeling better. How about after the holidays are over?"

While not completely unrestricted, Josh was at least cleared for surface and underwater travel on the backs of easier ride Pokémon to handle. What was too difficult to handle was ultimately his discretion, but his doctor had advised him to avoid Pokémon with strong undulations in their swimming strokes. This meant he couldn't swim with some of his favorites, such as Resheph. Staccato, his Primarina, was out, too. There was still plenty to pick from, and he could still hop onto one of his favorites: Snacker, his Sharpedo.

Best to take baby steps starting out, though!

Aboard Illumina, his Lanturn, the recovering Gym Leader dove toward the sea bed off Slateport's coast. This wasn't his first time searching for sunken treasure. He had a strategy, but he also had to take into account his own health. Instead, he went for what the masses did: reaching for a large object and having one of his other Pokémon haul it up. Keiga, his Kingdra, would be responsible for making their haul see the light of day.

The home stretch on boost laps was Josh's favorite part of the course. During the first lap, he was capped on how fast he could sail over the waterfall. Afterward, he could go as fast as he wanted, his surroundings disappearing from his mind. Only the course and his fellow racers remained, the gallery and all else at the Gym obscured by a metaphorical storm cloud.

After rounding the last corner, that time had arrived.

"Megalo, DRAGON DANCE and get ready to jump!" the Gym Leader ordered, tensing his arms in advance of the leap. The Milotic's tail glowed a deep purple, dragon energy propelling the two forward at speeds that defied common knowledge. Bouncing on the water's surface, the splashes of water toward Josh's visor didn't bother him one bit. "Now!" he cried as he flicked the serpent's reins. With a graceful, spinning leap that made Josh a little dizzy, the multicolored water-type surged toward the Primarina in front of him.

The four competitors in the back of the field each had a front-row seat to ACE SHEEKE's dominating performance, his FLOATZEL's tails loudly buzzing while out of water mid-AQUA JET. The noise could have easily been mistaken for a Beedrill's churning wings, a few children in the gallery covering their ears from being frightened of the menacing noise. The giant, water-type weasel skillfully inflated its air sac upon touching down, bobbing to the water's surface and maintaining control. The redhead found controlling his mount to be sluggish after crossing the line; had he pushed the water sprinter too hard?

The tight contest behind ACE SHEEKE was equally captivating, ARAVAN ESCHER's PRIMARINA flicking its long tail fin back and forth rapidly in an AQUA JET synchronized with the DRAGON DANCE from Elaine Highland 's MILOTIC. Hot on their tails were Josh Devlin 's MILOTIC and ERON IUNIS' DRAGONAIR, both glowing purple with similar dragon energy. The blue serpent's was of a different nature, the difference only discernable when its tail turned into a conic blue of scales from its EXTREME SPEED.

ARAVAN ESCHER's command to jump was timed tragically late, his PRIMARINA sailing through the air at a much lower angle and having to take the long way to the finish line. While not out of the race yet, he had his work cut out for him. The DRAGONAIR and challenger's MILOTIC swam almost in sync with one another, Josh Devlin 's MILOTIC not far behind when the white flag waved above them!

The fans cheered loudly as the white flag waved to the side of the starting arch; it was the last time around the track! For the final lap of the race, the Leader's rolls will be capped at 170, before modifiers are applied.

Prompt: The course's three opening U-turns approached for the final time. By now, racers likely had a better feel for how to approach the rapid-fire curves at high speed, perhaps even willing to drift around them when they didn't on pervious laps. There was nothing to take the field by surprise any longer; it was all a matter of execution.

Target Number: 135 (Reaction)

Special: Using BOOST POWER on this Obstacle will change the Intended Skill to Endurance from Reaction. Any TP lost as a result of a total roll that is more than 25 beneath the Target Number is doubled.