There was just something special about Kyogre; it was as though the aquatic god was on a completely different barometer of power than even Josh's legendary partner. It withstood a barrage of electric attacks from the fastest Pokémon on land, only to fire back with ORIGIN PULSES and WATER SPOUTS strong enough to overwhelm even the sacred Johtonian Beast.

The Gym Leader grunted loudly, the arc of Mastema's swoop to avoid the aquatic violence putting great pressure on his healing arm. It throbbed, Josh able to feel his heartbeat through deep parts of his skin being pinched. "Nabi! We can't afford to be here any longer!" As lamentable as it was to abandon Lilycove City against the threat of Kyogre, he was a Champion. One of a few. He had to live to fight another day. Hoenn had already lost one Champion. They could not afford to lose another.

The most concerning part of Josh's battle was learning just how lacking Swift's power was in his current state. Discovering how to make the Beast into the one he remembered was going to be a task of utmost importance. If the Raikou wasn't at full strength by the time the war came around... he didn't want to think about it.

Josh saw Ghost break down into tears as the child-like Gym Leader sat atop the giant Raikou stuffie, holding its reins like he was speeding across the land. "This is just a giant plush toy, Ghost - it's not a real Raikou," he educated the Ranger. "But yes, I did battle him before.... before he passed away. That's what this video is -- a recording of our match." Josh's smile would grow as his team clashed with a Marshadow that rode upon Entei's back. The speed of the Pokémon involved were almost impossible to follow, even for the Master of Faster himself. As fast as they were, they could not keep up with Entei's legendary speed.

The video itself began to waver as the Great One materialized from the ashes of Entei's Sacred Fire, Kyle's voice changing out of nowhere as the Patron spoke through their Avatar. "I got to battle against most of Kyle's legendary Pokémon. It was a match any candidate would have killed for."

In the real world, Josh had once made Eris nearly helpless, only her sacred partner saving her life with a discharge of MYSTICAL POWER. In his sleep, he was the one that was helpless. At the mercy of the one he had brutally attacked for even the faintest clue that let him pursue the god he wanted to be a friend of. It was a folly that had destroyed both their lives. He couldn't bear to see it happening again, but there was little he could do about it.

He had to put his trust in Eris Halla .

Even at knifepoint, his resolve remained. He was going to make this right.

"...You know Isaac Merlo ?" Josh asked Eris. "He helped me out of so many jams before he became AQUA. He made me see the error of my ways. Without him, I would not be where I am today." Even as Reiner bore down upon Josh, threatening to tear into him with sharp fangs, he remained calm, yet pleading.

"I swear to you, I will not," he replied, his limbs still. His shoulders, still. His eyes, still, unblinking, and tired. Their red hue a clue of how badly he wanted his paralyzed body to just blink them. And yet, the only muscles he could move were those powering his jaws and voicebox. "It's all in your hands now... please Eris... please..."

Josh had heard of many legends before, but the name was unfamiliar to him. "Zacian?" He asked. "I've never heard of that Pokémon before." Though he only knew much of the Sacred Swords and Johto's legendary Pokémon, he was familiar with many of them in passing. Kanto's bird trio, Hoenn's weather trio, Sinnoh's creation Pokémon... but not the Galarian heroes. "What are they like?" he asked.

Before he could get a response, Bladestorm swooped in to drop off a construction worker who was ready to take lunch, bringing them close to Josh and Navy. Josh's pride of Pyroar ferried several others to and from sandwich shops and the like; it seemed it was around that hour. "The Great One seemed to be speaking using Kyle as a vessel when the whole thing happened," Josh clarified, remembering the moment like it was yesterday. "It was Kyle speaking, but his voice was totally different. Did you ever get to watch the match back?" he asked. "The video's public now, since I was forced to make the big reveal in that Megalopolan prison. Now everyone knows that the Raikou has been passed on. So much for ambushing Rocket with him."

Josh thought about it. Was Ho-oh making him a Knight of Thunder a true knighting? "You're... right, aren't you?" he asked Navy. "If not, then you're Hoenn's second Knight. Though I wield no sword. Not until my arm's better. That's just another thing I've got to add to my list of things to practice once I'm out of rehab."

Though many of the details of the Galar Memory escaped him, there was one that remained within his mind, and he had the sword hilt to remember it by. "It was my first taste of being a Knight of Thunder," he recalled to his friend and boss. "I trained with Swift in that Galar, Kyle helping me forge a sword that became stronger the faster I was going. Kind of like a Pokémon's Electro Ball. Not even Dynamax Pokémon were a match for us. Between Swift's Extreme Speed and my sword that discharged Electro Balls, I felt like a true hero. The person my childhood self wanted to be." A hero. A warrior. But that was Navy 's domain. He had to discover and develop his strengths with the Raikou, blazing his own trail to glory, and to the region's defense.

And war would not wait.

"He really is an influential man, isn't he? Completely deserving of his spot as one of Hoenn's Elite Four. Without his help, I don't think I would have recovered from the atrocities I put Eris through. So many people helped me understand both her and myself. But I digress." Josh waited for Meloetta and Melody to react before finishing his story, taking the chance to finish his plate and push it aside.

"Then, after the turf wars in Dewford, Kyle visited me while I was in the hospital. He left me with the RAINBOW FEATHER that serves as Swift's vessel. Little did I know that until he used Ho-oh against me during the Champion Assessment. Watching that match, and that moment, over and over again helped me get through my hospital stay. And that... that's what I have to say about Kyle. I miss him already."

Josh's sight floated up the waterfalls and toward the ceiling. "What matters is we carry on his legacy. You as Top Champion, and me as one of Ho-oh's knights. The Knight of Thunder. Just as you use your sword to protect Hoenn, I must use mine likewise." As they focused on a light above, he had an epiphany. "Melody, when we next get a chance, can you take me to AQUA headquarters? I think it would help Swift if he sparred with some of the League's legendary Pokémon."

Saber was a Pokémon that was very special to him. He picked an Electrike for his very first Pokémon because a Manectric was as close as he felt he would get to riding a Raikou. Then, he met kyle lopez , who traded him Raikiri. And now, he was living his dream, albeit a restrictive version of it due to multiple constraining circumstances. Even so, he loved every moment of it. If Andrea really wanted to meet Josh's parents, she could do so more easily; they had moved from Johto to Hoenn last holiday season. "Saber was actually the first Pokémon I got when I was ten. It took a couple years for him to evolve, but when he did, that was when my passion as a Pokémon racer really took off. I did bring him with me; maybe I'll use him for the contest instead of Swift."

The electric Beast's trot was fast enough to outpace Whiskers, putting on display just how much speed he had in him. It was speed Josh longed to harness. He had chased Raikou for almost fourteen years; what was waiting a few more months before he was strong enough to lean into the wind and ask Swift to floor it? The day he could was something he earnestly looked forward to.

"There's a contest every Tuesday and Thursday, if memory serves," the Johtonian answered as he reined the Beast to a stop, preparing to dismount. Even if there was a contest going on today, he doubted the staff would let him enter a Raikou into the event...

Andrea was right; for a Z-Move, the Hypersonic Plasma Charge that had become a staple of Josh's battles was quite weak. In terms of raw strength, it may have been one of the weakest Z-Moves around. Its utility was in being so fast as to be unavoidable, even by ground-type Pokémon. "That's fair; such a move isn't for everyone," he nodded. "I've thought about teaching it to my own Iron Boulder, Tyrfing. Of course, until my arm's at full capacity, there's no way I'd be able to ride him that way." It was one thing he wanted to do with his other Pokémon, and eventually with Swift, but could not until he was at full strength again. The acceleration from the supersonic charge felt like being fired out of a cannon, which would have undone all the hard work his doctors had done up to this point had he pulled that trigger now.

He knew better; to be at full strength when the was reached a fever pitch, he would have to hold back at its start. "It's just... frustrating not being able to give this war my all," he lamented. "I know we talked about it in the hospital. I'm starting to get better. That I can sit on Swift's back at all is satisfying." He stretched his arm as much as his rehabilitation would allow. While it wasn't perfect, much of the motion had been regained: enough for him to ride a big cat at slow speeds or a horse Pokémon at nearly full gallop. He wished he had brought his Zebstrika, but the striped Pokémon was the last cut from his team.

The Electric Terrain sped up their travels, getting both of them to the entrance of the derelict power station. "This is it," Josh exhaled. "Beneath here, there's at least one crystal of Quickinium-Z. The more I can snatch, the better; I would love all my Pokémon with Quick Attack to know the move." For Quick Attack was the key to initiating the ultrafast attack.

Terratron's ELECTRIC TERRAIN illuminated an entrance hall lined with statues of Xurkitree and Stakataka: remnants of the advanced civilization that once lived in the world now known as the Ultra Plant. Beyond a squeaky, metallic door in the opening hall was a translucent surface that looked like glass. Were Andrea, Josh, or any of their Pokémon to walk on it, they would find it extremely slippery!

So it wasn't anything special after all; Ghost just wanted to reconnect. That was fair. "Certainly," Josh acknowledged the request, letting Ghost take a seat in front of the desk. Realizing the nature of their conversation would likely be all relaxing and no business, the Gym Leader dragged the giant Raikou toward his half of the desk and sat astride it, holding the tiger's felt reins.

The wind was from the air vent above Ghost, blowing cold air on top of him as the air conditioning kicked in. "They're... related to one another. I could tell the story of it all, but... would you want to watch my title match with Kyle? That will explain a lot of how both happened." Provided Ghost agreed, Josh would dismount from the plush Raikou to turn his monitor sideways and get the video playing. Once he had the playback started, he would hop back on the soft replica of the Beast.

Zachary's rhetoric was something he had heard from many of his close friends. From Navy . From Andrea Vaneau . From many others. Josh, too, had a Pokémon healing him constantly while he was in the hospital. His Togekiss, Mastema, worked himself to exhaustion trying to keep his trainer as comfortable as possible. Even so, his injuries were just that severe. They had healed up over the course of weeks of care. Now, he had to relearn how to use his arm without straining it too much, which would be an even longer process than the physical recovery itself. Josh nuzzled and cuddled with Nyx out of comfort if the Hoothood allowed it.

Zachary was right. There was much more a Pokémon could do than serve as a steed. Pokémon were guardians. Friends. Sources of support for when their trainer needed it. They were partners, unified by a single, identical goal.

Swift purred loudly, Zachary perhaps able to feel bass-like vibrations moving outward from the monochrome feline. "He was... a parting gift from kyle lopez ," Josh answered, frowning when his friend expressed concerns about keeping the Beast a secret. "I only kept it a secret from you because I wanted to keep him under wraps until the war started. He was to be deployed as a secret weapon against Rocket. As you may have seen in Ultra Space, though. I was forced to use him early... and you know how information about a legendary Pokémon spreads."

The Raikou mirrored Josh's friendliness, the big cat sitting down and shifting his eyes among all of Zachary's Pokémon. He didn't look overly proud or haughty like a god would. He seemed to behave just like any of Josh's other Pokémon -- quite unusual for a noble and legendary creature like a Raikou!

Adapting to a new job took time. It was impressive in the Leader's eyes that Beckett was so good at it. "Don't make the mistake I have and sell yourself short," he reassured his employee. "There's a lot to learn about caring for so many Pokémon. There are what, close to a hundred and fifty in the Gym now?" There were so many -- enough that he would soon have to reclassify his business as a large employer if it continued to grow.

"I'm thinking about it as a trip down memory lane," the entrepreneur replied with a smile. "When I first sat in my Manectric's saddle, for he was the Pokémon I learned with, it was a real struggle. It'll be like that all over again!" Through his rehab, he would be building up his strength and his form again. And one day, when he was completely out of rehab, he would be able to live his childhood dream:

Racing Swift the Raikou.

Just thinking about it made his hair stand on end: fighting a gallop that was painfully fast. Leaping into a storm cloud and being a passenger on one of the Raikou's lightning strikes. There was so much to build up to, and when he was back at full strength, it would be so liberating. So satisfying. "Neither do I. It's not even the needles that bother me. It's being stuck in this bed and not being able to go anywhere." He wanted to see Hoenn fly by him, the wind dancing through his fingers as he felt his steed's powerful strides. He was no stranger to getting hurt, and with him being one of Hoenn's Champions, it would certainly not be the last time he found himself under convalescent care.

The battle courts at Mauville City were triple regulation size, giving the Gym Leader's super swift Pokémon plenty of room to run. "I traditionally give the challenger the opening move," the kind yet competitive man answered. @haoyu 's Thwackey seemed not only energetic, but impatient, Toralf squinting and squealing as the loud and high-pitched SCREECH nearly deafened him.

Shaking his head, the giant rodent's yellow cheeks sparked with electricity. As direct as Josh's Pokémon were known for being, overwhelming their foes with speed almost impossible to track, they were more than capable of being tricky, too. When it looked like the Raichu was about to ram the grass-type down with a Quick Attack, Toralf screeched to a stop and puckered his lips, smooching the stick-wielding Pokémon with an electrified SWEET KISS.

Lydia, of course, was under no obligation to answer. Perhaps revealing her identity would endanger other agents. He simply let the inquiry go and listen to the soldier's questions. Upon understanding where the confusion might be coming from, Josh pulled up pictures of his Paradox Beasts on his phone: Raikou the Raging Bolt, Entei the Gouging Fire, and Suicune the Walking Wake. They were all stern-looking and prideful. "These three Pokémon."

It was well possible that a Rocket, or someone else unscrupulous, had caught word of him racing Swift in the most remote corners of Hoenn. Ever Grande was not the largest island to train with a Beast of speed; he wanted a more wide-open, or at least long, trail he could practice with the Beast's speed at. Of course, with him in his injured state, there was little he could do to train with Swift now. "Yes, the Rainbow Feather is the Raikou's vessel."

"As is well-known, Mauville Gym specializes in ride Pokémon," Josh brought to Lydia's attention. "There are very few ghost-type ride Pokémon out there--" When Lydia brought it to Josh's attention that she didn't work for HBIC, he set the Manectric's reins down and covered his mouth.

Perhaps he indeed was a bit too loose-lipped.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I thought you did!" Josh apologized. "What division do you work for, again? You don't have to say if you don't want to."

Buzz was one quick water Pokémon; the next Silph Cup race he got the chance to enter, Josh would almost certainly use the Floatzel. He was an ideal Pokémon for time trials and setting course records; excellent speed and serviceable turning made him great for solo runs. His low stamina made him prone to crashing out from excessive contact, but it wouldn't be a concern if he just stayed in the lead! It was the philosophy the redhead was clearly using in today's challenge: stay in front and make traffic a non-issue.

Feeling the current push Megalo forward, Josh leaned in, water splashing on his helmet's visor from the Floatzel's wake. "Get ready to jump, Megalo!" the Gym Leader warned. With a flick of the reins, the serpentine water-type thrashed with his tail, performing a graceful leap with the hopes of landing on the upper half of the course.

The leap was a daunting one; on more difficult courses, failure by coming up short would likely cause a Pokémon to land out of bounds, resulting in a disqualification. Here, they had the safety net of landing on a slower channel beneath them. As the current swept them forward, the five Pokémon gracefully leaped skyward, the serpentine Pokémon flicking their tails harshly while ACE SHEEKE's FLOATZEL took advantage of its air sacs, diving and using the power of buoyancy to propel the team into the air.

It took great suppression of ERON IUNIS' instincts to keep his DRAGONAIR from engaging in true flight during the leap. The lighter and more aerodynamic dragon-type slowly passed Gym Leader Josh Devlin and his MILOTIC, landing on the upper straightaway.

The others in the race were not so fortunate, ARAVAN ESCHER and ACE SHEEKE misjudging their angles and leaping too high, falling just short of the upper part of the course and landing in the winding channel below. Elaine Highland 's MILOTIC had mistimed its leap, flicking its tail after leaving the water, resulting in the duo simply falling to the lower course. When the two channels merged, the FLOATZEL was still in the lead, but not by much! The challenger had fallen farther behind, trailing ARAVAN ESCHER and his PRIMARINA by around a second. There was still plenty of race to go, and with the course's most treacherous turn looming ahead, anything could happen!

Prompt: Most of the Drift Highway's turns were long but gentle, making them easy to slide around. This was the one exception: a brutal, narrow S-curve typically only seen on substantially harder tracks. To take this curve without slowing down, Pokémon would need to trust their trainers' strength enough to hold on through a full left turn, followed by a full right turn half a second later... if the Pokémon itself was capable of shifting its weight that rapidly without capsizing in the first place! The vast majority of Pokémon would have their braking skills tested by this one.

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