Josh, too, cherished his battle with the late Top Champion. He watched the recording of his match many times while he was in the hospital. It was a match any other candidate of the Champion Assessment would have killed for. From his perspective, Kyle truly went all-out, wielding his Patron against the Gym Leader. "I hope he's alive, too. I have a lot of questions about Swift. He was originally Kyle's Pokémon, and I don't know how to use him to his full potential. He has only been able to use Spark and Quick Attack under my control. And you know that wave of energy legendary Pokémon exude? Feels like you're being crushed under PRESSURE? Swift's not like that. It's like he's a shadow of the Beast I remembered him having, and I want to know why and what I can do to fix it. Sooner than later, before this war kicks into high gear."

Genny seemed to believe Josh's suspicions of Kyle not being dead after all; it brought a smile to his face in these trying times. "Thank you. No one else seems to buy that Kyle didn't truly die that day. I, too, would love to rematch with him one day. Show how much Swift and I have grown in understanding one another." One day, he imagined Swift and Entei would spar with one another. One day.

Josh sighed upon Genny's voicing of her sentiment to lay low. "Unfortunately, I don't have that kind of time. I'll rest as much as I can and go through rehab as quickly as I'm comfortable... but war doesn't wait for Champions. I'm still one of Hoenn's Champions. I may not be an Avatar, but I've proven that I'm just as big of a threat to Rocket as an Avatar is." His frown turned into a smile at the mention of their Gym rematch. "I look forward to the day we can have our rematch. Perhaps that will be the day I get to... at last, live my childhood dream and... race Swift. Race on Raikou's back, going as fast as he can muster."

"It is," Josh nodded as the two descended a cliff trail to the main wastes area of the perpetually stormy sector of the Ultra Wilds. "It has to be. Have you ever tried to ride a big cat Pokémon bareback? It's almost painful with how much their backs flex." It was the biggest reason why big cats' saddles were so large; they were contoured in such a way that they reduced the harshness of the Pokémon's gait. Without them, only the strongest, most iron-bodied riders could brave felines' backs.

Mecha-Chomper's eyes would catch several Xurkitree whirling their cords about, dancing closer. A wave of sickening PRESSURE, one that might make even Josh and Andrea feel ill for a few seconds, made them all turn tail. Even if the Beast was an ashen memory of Ho-oh's precious child, Josh had developed a strong enough understanding of Swift that his PRESSURE was just as strong as that of a traditional legendary Pokémon. It was once nauseating for the young man. Now, as the Raikou's bearer, he had become used to it.

The coordinates that the Science Sisters, Eva Morales and illeana reyes , had provided Josh led him to an underground power facility; while the derelict city it had once powered was gone, the power plant still crackled with electricity. "The Science division determined that the Z-Energy coordinates resembling QUICKINIUM-Z were strongest here. There should be enough to make several crystals. Have you thought about teaching the move to one of your Pokémon?" he asked Andrea as he slowed Swift down some. "You just need a Z-Charm, the crystal, and a Pokémon with Quick Attack."

The sight of Whiskers brought Andrea to ease. As much as Josh wanted to invite her aboard Swift, he didn't want her to get anything less than the full experience of being astride the electric tiger. In his eyes, she deserved nothing less than a full Extreme Speed sprint. The time for that would be later, not now; with how his recovery was going, he expected it might not be until next year.

As Andrea had urged him multiple times, he had to take care of himself, too.

"It is," Josh answered. "It brings me back to the first time I rode Saber through here, when I was... twelve, I think. Sometimes, I wonder what twelve year old me would have thought of seeing me now, on a Raikou's back like this." He tilted his head toward Pon, wondering how much the ogress would enjoy high speed. It would be something to ask Andrea about later.

Several trainers hunting for Pokémon, or even just having friendly skirmishes with one another, stopped and stared at the ashen Pokémon in awe. To see one of their gods wandering about with a trainer in tow was breathtaking, reminding him of his first encounter with kyle lopez and Entei.

As Pon let out an excited cry, Josh squeezed Swift's sides a little more tightly, pushing the Raikou to a quick trot. It was as fast as Swift could go without breaking into a run, and his rider's arm could not yet withstand the force behind the big feline's flexing back. Even so, he was free to imagine the god of speed shooting across the land as fast as a lightning bolt. "Whoo-hoo!" he hollered as the large park's entrance came into sight.

"That's not what I'm saying at all," Josh corrected as he squeezed Swift's sides slightly to maintain pace with Amir. "Racing on the back of a legendary Pokémon is a thrill. As harrowing as Operation Meteno was, soaring on your Articuno is something I won't ever forget. But as you know, even among the legendary Pokémon, Swift is... very special to me." Little was he aware that the events within Megalopolan prison would substantially delay the opportunity to live such a dream. "Not that I haven't forgotten about our race."

It wasn't until Lars' last line that Josh realized the Avatar was teasing him. "It's okay. This is our chance to relax and let loose. A chance for us to forget about Hoenn and just... be ourselves." And a chance to get himself used to the Beast's speed, would Lars and Amir dare to do so.

It was about their imprisonment, as Josh thought it might be. "I can't say I'm okay. Alive, yes. Okay, no," he sighed as he plucked the RAINBOW FEATHER from its pinned spot on his shirt. "The labor wasn't the most painful part, nor the beatings those three Pokémon inflicted upon me. It's been... being unable to do what I enjoy most." The Gym Leader rolled up his sleeve and revealed the bandages covering his left arm. "It doesn't hurt as badly as it did when I was in the hospital, but I still can't race like I once did. And being denied the chance to do that while I'm going through rehab... Zachary, that's what hurts me the most. I'm gonna be out for the rest of the racing season."

Holding the RAINBOW FEATHER's quill, the Gym Leader drew the Sign. From the ashes formed a monochrome Beast that was the embodiment of speed itself.



"Since I was a child, it was my dream to meet, befriend, and ride this Pokémon. And now, he's my friend... and I can't do that. And this leads into how I'm coping. It might help you, too. While I'm still in rehab... I'm going to start over. I'm going to have to relearn how to ride and race Pokémon from the ground up. And that's starting with keeping proper posture while your mount is standing still or walking. The very basics of the basics."

"It's part of being a celebrity," Josh sighed. While having a large social circle was good in many aspects, it did not leave him a lot of time to be alone when he needed it. "She's... something else. My Sygna Suit just lets my Manectric and Pyroar be better at what they already do. Hers lets her do something completely new. How she doesn't turn to mush when she... I can't even describe what she does with that suit. Anyway, it blows my mind."

It was easy to forget about the small towns, especially one as remote as Dewford. Their role as a seafaring town was still as important as the roles of any other town in the region. "It's part of why I affiliated the Gym with Verdanturf Leather and Saddle," Josh added, "rather than a place in Mauville. It's the little guys that need help the most." Mauville Gym could have made Josh incredibly wealthy. Instead, he chose to invest his profits back into his business, his people, and ultimately his region. He could have chosen to live a life of luxury.

It was his selfless nature that kept Josh from doing so.

"Ho-oh did not," Josh answered. "Their last words before me were 'Don't fail me now, Knight of Thunder.' Nothing more. It was more a metaphorical knighting, but still a knighting all the same." Josh walked toward Swift's face and gave the ashen creature a hug, the Beast mirroring his love.

"The Original One?" Josh asked Father Winter, though he did not get a response before the DRK TRIAD member disappeared into the rift. The singular UNOWN had distracted the Champion long enough for its owner to elude him. "Wait! I have several more questions for you!"

The Master of Faster reached for and pointed toward the rift. "Gwyar, this is the same Father Winter that came to us with those weird dreams during the holiday, isn't it? We should chase after him." Jogging toward the rift, he pursued the mysterious man without hesitation.

The Z-Move's breath-stealing speed shook the Champion to his core, not from the terrain's bumpiness, but from Toralf's impossibly fast gait. For the few seconds that the burst lasted, it felt like being in an intense earthquake, every hair on his body standing on end from both the static and from being tossed about like a salt shaker.

Josh was closing in on the competition ahead of him, but was racing on razor-thin margins. Even a brush with an obstacle or another competitor would be race-ending, Toralf's heartbeat an indicator of the Raichu running on fumes. "Stay to the right, Toralf," Josh huffed, shakily reining the electric Pokémon away from the inside as he came down from the adrenaline high of the fastest charge his Pokémon as a whole were capable of. He could not only hear his own heavy breaths, but those of his mount, too.

As Josh Devlin 's RAICHU came down from the adrenaline rush of their Z-Move, others in the field saw the opportunity to regain their lost time. With great confidence in their partners' speed, ERON IUNIS and ARAVAN ESCHER leaned in, coaxing QUICK ATTACKS from their JOLTEON and PURUGLY. The red-headed Gym trainer, ACE SHEEKE, dug his heels into his HOUNDOOM's sides, TRAILBLAZING a path along the inside line in a heroic effort to keep pace with the faster electric Pokémon in front of him.

zachary stellar , sensing the threat of the Gym Leader passing him, raised his TERA ORB above him, its TERASTAL ENERGY morphing the surfing rodent into a PSYCHIC-TYPE. Their greatly elevated speed squeezed his body with every turn after the jump, at times making him feel like he was being wrung out. Much like Josh Devlin , he would be able to feel the ALOLAN RAICHU's heartbeat accelerate after the PSYCHIC explosion propelled them forward into a solid second place. Were Zachary to glance toward the scoreboard, he would find that two more portraits were flashing red: those of ERON IUNIS, and himself.

Prompt: By now, the racers were probably used to the course getting narrow on the backstretch. What they weren't used to, though, was handling the half-pipe-like mound on the outside of the hairpin curve leading to the home stretch while at the heightened speeds of boost laps. Their experience would give them a good idea of how to handle the Obstacle: play it safe and brake around the turn, or take a risk and try to use the dirt mound to their advantage in navigating the 180 without losing momentum? This would be the last real opportunity for a major position shift to occur. Better make it count!

Target Number: 130 (Reaction)

Special: None

July was at last upon Josh, and it couldn't have come with better news. His doctors were pleased enough with his rehab that they could ease some of the restrictions the Champion had on riding his Pokémon. At long last, he could hold his Pyroar's reins again, albeit with greatly reduced speed limits. Even though he would be limited to a trot, it still felt great to be rattled by their purrs, as well as feel their strong muscles as they speed-walked around the concourse.

A lion's trot was not slow by any means, either.

As much fun as he had riding the Shiny Pyroar and going as fast as his physical condition would safely allow, he had an appointment for today, didn't he? Shinobu Awai 's appointment was coming up within the next few minutes; was the candidate running a bit late? His mind wandered as he watched his myriad of saddled Pokémon gallop, swim, and soar with members on their backs, each of them looking like they were having the time of their lives. One day, he would finish rehab and be able to join them on their high speed adventures.

With Josh's parents having moved away from Johto, there was little reason for him to routinely come to his old homeland anymore. He didn't have the connection to Goldenrod that he once had. Even so, coming back would be a nice trip down memory lane. One he needed after being locked away in two prisons, one during April, and one during May.

Though his arm looked better, not needing to be supported by bandages anymore, it was still vulnerable and needed to be used with care. There would certainly be no blasting across the land at breakneck speeds, unless it was on the back of a psychic Pokémon. He had Tyrfing to get his fix of high speed, though he still could not fully control the Paradox Pokémon outside Area Zero.

North of the gates, he had already drawn Swift from the feather that was his last memory of the late Top Champion, the Mauville Leader gleefully sitting astride the large feline. "Since my arm's not ready to handle going really fast yet, shall we enjoy the scenery from Goldenrod to Ecruteak? Maybe we could even stop by Goldenrod National Park," Josh suggested. "They supposedly have bug catching contests twice a week. Maybe Pon would like competing in one!"

(July 2024) Taking a trip to Ecruteak with Andrea Vaneau

One month of rehab was behind him. Josh's doctors had lifted some of his restrictions, though not on the Pokémon he wanted. At least he could now ride on his big cat Pokémon, albeit with serious speed limits. Even so, simply sitting on Swift's still back was invigorating. It made him feel whole again.

Surrounded by his rare electric Pokémon, Zaborg holding Raikou's reins in his paws, the Gym Leader felt at home, like he could make a difference. There was just one thing holding his Pokémon back, and that was Raikiri's missing Z-Crystal. The saddled, quadrupedal Zeraora could no longer use his most powerful attack. As much danger as coming to the Ultra Plant was, it would be the best place to look for a replacement crystal of QUICKINIUM-Z.

"Andrea, you have no idea how gratifying this feels," Josh exhaled from within his Sygna Suit, Saber's bark echoing in the sky filled with dark clouds. He stood far away from the other electric-types to serve as a LIGHTNING ROD for stray lightning bolts as he and the dragon cosplayer beheld the wilds' stormy wastes. "Even if I can only go up to a trot, it feels so good to saddle up Swift again. Did I tell you that when I was a child, I thought Raikou's thundercloud was a saddle? It kinda looks like one, even!"

"We were more than friends," Josh answered, Swift's facial expression and general demeanor mirroring his trainer's own. "He was my mentor. He helped me become the Gym Leader I am now. I owe much of my success to him. And most importantly, this Raikou used to be his. It was as if he passed the Beast on to me knowing the hour of his death."

Had he known that the cost of joining forces with his childhood idol would be Kyle's life, he would have turned down the opportunity. That was in the past now, and he had to live without Kyle... at least for the time being. Something within him made him feel that Kyle was not truly dead... that the Great One was just waiting for the right time for him to return.

"So what's new with you, Honoré?" Josh asked, trying to shift the subject to something less glum as Ixion whinnied when a wild Durant got a little too close for comfort. Aleph was quick to chase the steel-type away with a TRI-ATTACK.