As the Megalopolan hurled Josh's arm away, he tried to regain control of his hold with the suspect, only to find himself at knifepoint. The blade drew blood; the Gym Leader let out a hiss as he felt the sting of air against sensitive internal skin. Even so, he did not panic; his time in Dewford, taking the Champion Assessment, and riding fast as a race car gave him the nerves of a Cobalion.

When Maki freed Josh from knifepoint, he made a quick leg sweep, attempting to trip his former captor and pin them down once again. "...You're not going anywhere other than Law Enforcement for questioning," the Gym Leader declared from beneath his helmet. As his eyes shifted toward Maki, they were... bleeding badly from the stabbing. If someone didn't stem that bleeding, they wouldn't make it. And medical was not the Leader's forte.

"Someone get these doors open and get us our Pokémon," Josh urged. "We need a healing Pokémon or someone with medical training!"

Even with the disabling blow to its arm, the REGISTEEL simply reactivated it. Josh had realized that a battleground this intense was not the place for him. "Andrea Vaneau , Raziel Beckett , Yuina Higashi ... I'm sorry, but I'm in no physical condition to continue on..." he moaned from the hard hit he took to his good side. Nothing that caused a long-term injury, but now both his left and right sides were hurting.

Nitro's horns glowed a bright green, charging a SOLAR BEAM between them. With a war cry, the grass-type looses the searing column of light upon the REGISTEEL's face. "Hoenn needs me. And I know I cannot die here." For if he kept going with his injuries, he would find himself in an inescapable tomb where he could help no one. Not even himself.

Right. Raikou was only generally known to those of Johtonian heritage, like the Champion was. Pulling up one of his favorite illustrations of the Beast on his phone, he would show it to Yuina. "This Pokémon. He's Johto's god of speed. He can run faster than a race car, and is as far as I'm aware, the fastext land Pokémon in the world. I've wanted to meet him since I was a child, and now, we're friends."

Friends in as far as one could be friends with an ashen construct. Within his mind, though, the construct was still the Beast of his dreams, and was as much of a friend as such a being could be. Even if Swift wasn't truly alive, he was alive in the Knight's mind. "One day, you'll get to meet him. I promise."

Haoyu's response was startling; had he not heard? The disappearences were all over the news. It would have been nearly impossible to not know about them. He wouldn't press Haoyu about it any further; the whole Megalopolan prison was something he wishes he could erase from his memory.

"I do," Josh confirmed regarding his Pokémon collection. "One of my goals is to raise one of every common ride Pokémon. It would be amazing to have every saddle experience the Pokémon world can offer." He had already experienced most of them, given the size of his collection.

The concern was warranted; Josh's Pokémon could hate hit Eddie directly during the challenge. Ironically, as gentle as Togekiss were, they were also incredibly speedy. Provided they curbed their speed, they were a perfect flying mount for an older trainer. "The trials were cleared by the League; I just have to do some additional refining before it can become an official Gym challenge."

Josh, though he had been under Wo-Chien's influence in his act of vengeance, may have come off to Yuina as quite violent in his worst moments. It was one part of his electric personality that he did not like, but he could not completely erase it. For in that part of his personality was his true power. Power he could control if he set his mind to it.

To those not used to high-octane thrills, getting flung around like a whip, even at speeds safe for the average person, had to have been daunting just to think about. "Tell you what - I'll go on it first and let you decide from there," he proposed. "But either way, going to her theme park sounds like a fun way to relax and forget about all that's been going on in Hoenn recently. It's starting to wear on me. But I'm a Gym Leader. If I don't contribute to the war effort, I put my job at risk."

Not only was he a Gym Leader, but he was the Knight of Thunder. The last one Kyle and the Great One knighted in the Top Champion's final days.

Before Josh started, he stood up and filled his plate with one more round, knowing that the variety of foods at the table were their "main course." Much like his family's Christmas Eve meal. "So I first met Kyle through the Minor League program, back when he was the director. He was the one that got me set up at a field near the Battle Arcade on Route 111. That was when the Racing Grounds had only three courses and not twenty-four." They were much more humble times; Josh's herd was much smaller than it was now, and he didn't have the weight of one of Hoenn's most populous cities on his shoulders.

"Not long after I got promoted up, I talked to him after challenging his Battle Arcade and meeting Entei there. Of course, I lost. Horribly. And I never got the chance to challenge it again before he died. Do you know who's in charge of it now?" The Arcade was a genuinely fun place to battle, what with the constantly-shifting conditions requiring trainers to think on their feet, rather than their match result be decided in the locker room.

Josh's faith in the Great One was strong. So strong that it at times clouded his judgment. Gwyar Wledig 's words were a reminder that this, indeed, was just a simulation. "An information gathering tool..." the Gym Leader mused. "Sometimes, I forget this is a simulation from how real it feels. I'll... play along."

Reluctantly, but he would.

Relic Red was a store Josh recognized. In Mauville Hills, it was an upscale boutique. Everything in there was too rich for his blood. Gwyar may have been able to tell Josh struggling, but ultimately suppressing his instincts.

"Heads always shreds."

Bladestorm turned around to see the Skarmory chicks, clearly impressed with their larger kin's stature. Josh wondered what they thought of the saddle on his back. In their eyes, was it a mark of symbiosis, or subservience? As they and Navy reminisced, several of his dragons would pass by, including Alphamax the Garchomp. Excited that he was out and about, he helped ferry some of the heavier supplies about the city. It had been quite some time since he had seen action. Taking care of such a large herd was a lot of work; there were Pokémon he had failed to give proper attention to. He made a note to adventure with the Garchomp when he was feeling better.

After all, even if he had his favorite Pokémon in his possession, the Beast couldn't be a spotlight hog.

Josh finished drawing the Sign, its electrified ashes coalescing into the form of an ashen, monochrome Beast that he stood on the left side of and rest his hand on the side of his thundercloud.



"Navy, this is what hurts. The war's coming and I feel powerless to prepare for it. I want to sit on that thundercloud and train with Swift. It's not even about racing him. To be the Great One's Knight of Thunder means to raise your sword. But with my arm in the condition it's in, I couldn't even withstand a canter. I found that out in the RKS Simulation. At least we have a simulated environment to test that in without messing up my real arm, huh?" he joked, sensing Navy's desire to change the subject from his body language.

"Yeah, I'll do that. I've heard from the grapevine that Shalin Nariya 's transferring there from Rustboro. Would be a good opportunity to go up there."

They truly were polar opposites, weren't they? The grass-type Ruinous Beast had enslaved Elisabeth Fiorelli . While they had not completely deprived her of her free will, they showed far from the symbiotic relationship Kyle had with his Patron. This was exactly the kind of situation that made Josh happy Ho-oh didn't make him an Avatar. As special as Swift was, he was ultimately a Pokémon, to be treated with the same love, care, and respect as any other.

"You are the misguided one," Josh barked, a roar from Swift threatening to rattle Elisabeth's bones. "A Pokémon's potential can only be truly maximized if both of you are friendly with one another. Truly understand one another. Swift may be one of Ho-oh's children, and we may not understand one another completely yet, but we're--"

A second roar would escape between Swift's fangs as Aleph charged forward, slashing toward the Glastrier with his CRUSH CLAWS in an effort to knock the ice-type out of the way. His efforts would be too late, the DOUBLE KICK smacking Swift and causing him to rear, giving Elisabeth a chance to get back on her feet. Monochrome eyes fixed upon the Wo-Chien emitting POISON GAS, the Beast bravely and recklessly dashed straight into them with the intent to ram them with a paralysis-inducing SPARK.

An elementary deduction; Rock-types had great advantages over birds. At least on paper. In practice, many rock-type attacks were too unwieldy to strike a bird down. "Etali, AGILITY!" the Gym Leader ordered.

The Kilowattrel tilted his wings upward, rocketing high above the ROCK THROW at a speed that made his acrobatics difficult to follow. One lesson Mauville Gym sought to teach was against high-speed foes, accurate attacks were more effective than powerful but unwieldy ones. If Kasper had done their homework, they may have been able to anticipate the next move that was coming, and against a Pokémon as slow as a Tyranitar, it would be certain to wreak havoc.

The Great One's judgment was upon Josh, his precious RAINBOW FEATHER floating above Eris Halla . "Swift!" he called out, completely distracted by the feather's presence above the halted Luxray. He reined his own Luxray to a stop well past them, the electric cat's claws growing hot from the tremendous friction of their emergency stop. He turned around and rode toward Eris at a much more gentle pace.

Josh reached for the vessel containing his Beast. As he touched it, it disintegrated into ash. Ash that covered his glove. As he frantically attempted to wipe the glove clean, all it did was spread across his body like a virus.

And yet, Josh did not weep for the Raikou's loss. If Swift was the price of Eris understanding him once more, than so be it. But was Swift truly lost? His skin tingled the entire time, the ash laced with voltage that should have knocked him unconscious. And yet, it did not.

"...I have made a grave and selfish mistake," Josh admitted as he slid down from Blitz's back, frowning and full of self-remorse. "You aren't the person that has the lead I'm seeking. Do you need a hand getting back to the city?" he asked, being careful not to touch her with his static-filled body.

"Somehow, I think I know who you are. You're Eris, right?"

The light tap on the Gym Leader's bad shoulder made him flinch, but not wince like it would have last month. It hurt him that Dewford had to see the Champion and Knight of Thunder like this.

Sliding down from Ixion's back was something he was so happy he could do on his own accord, rather than having one of his psychic Pokémon levitate him on and off like one would take a child in and out of a car seat. "Well... we haven't really had a chance to," Josh nodded as he plucked the feather from his shirt. "Between my rehab and what went down in the desert, I've had horrible trials of my own to deal with... but nothing like the agony of what happened during the prison break."

Bladestorm's screech could be heard overhead as the Skarmory ferried a construction worker to another priority job. Once he was done, he flew toward Josh and landed near where Ixion was relaxing. "Bladestorm, you're doing a superb job out there," he complimented, giving the Skarmory a gentle pat. "You deserve a break." With a metallic clang of his beak. the steel-type found a nearby place to roost.

"That's what the League's medical team has ordered me to do for so long, too. And I've still got a couple more months of rehab. I've had to greatly reduce capacity at my Gym; we're essentially battle challenges only at this point."

Though he did not shed a tear, Navy may have been able to tell the internal strife bubbling up within Josh. The speedster was never good at hiding his emotions, particularly when they were laced with metaphorical high voltage.

He drew the first stroke of the Sign, electrified ash in a line perpendicular to the ground hanging in the air. "And Navy... this is the part that hurts most of all."

Josh nodded; he knew what his friend was talking about, just from his tone. It was traumatic, senseless, and led to Josh showing a violent side he thought he had long cast behind. "Mauville Hills is actually an apartment park on the north side of town. But if you want to meet north of my Gym in the foothills, I can. Where are you at?"

Once he had clarity on where Zachary was waiting for him, Josh would arrive astride his Espeon, Aleph the Type: Null bounding behind them. The first sign the psychic specialist would see of his entrance would be the glint of a RAINBOW FEATHER. The second, his psychic steed. The third, a friendly wave.

"Hey, Zachary. You sounded pretty serious. What's going on?" he inquired, wondering what was so secretive. He suspected it was just a vent about their Ultra Space detention, but it could have been something unrelated.