And Josh thought he was self-critical and negative toward himself. This Wren was like looking into a mirror. Very eye-opening. "Don't say that about yourself!" he insisted. "That's what the Rangers are here for. There are too many people out there that think Pokémon are only good for fighting. They're not. I'd rather save lives using them any day." While the rider's posture wasn't great, it was good enough; Steel Needle was quite the unusual steed, the cape of flesh on its back forcing a rider to sit at an angle that was not straight up.

The curious Rapidash, not afraid of Steel Needle at all, approached Steel Needle and Wren, attracted to a scent on them. Perhaps there was a type of Berry the mechanic was carrying that interested him. "Rapidash are some of the most reliable Pokémon to ride on in the entire world. They are the single most common ride Pokémon in the world for a reason. They're really fast at full gallop, but you'd be hard-pressed to find an easier Pokémon to learn with. I think you should catch it." The Gym Leader kept Janus' Ball handy, as well as a second empty one in case Wren couldn't handle it, but he wanted to see what the young man was capable of on his own first.

By now, Aleph, Josh's Type: Null, had also caught up. If he had one of his fits... oh boy, would that ever complicate things.

And just like that, it was over. Gloss had withstood Raikiri's assault; the feline's energy had expired not just from the whimsical Pokémon's attacks, but by his own exertion. Speed was a wonderful weapon, but it came at the price of stamina. "...I hate to admit it, Desiree, but that makes you the superior trainer of us. I respect your decision to not want to graduate to the Major League, but you have the chops for it. If you ever decide you want to move up, I'll vouch for you. Believe me."

Breathing a deep sigh, Josh was prepared to answer Desiree's questions now that the match requiring all of his focus was over. "I went to war in Dewford, then spent over a month in the hospital having Bullet Seeds cut out of my body. It was miserable. I'm still training to get back to full strength. How about we meet some place private; I'd rather fill you in on the details there."

"Incredible..." Josh gasped. There were very few Pokémon in all of Hoenn that could withstand the ultimate technique Mauville Gym taught: an electric ramming attack that used Z-Power to propel the user at supersonic speed. Such exertion came with a steep price, though; completely discharged for the time being, his electrical attacks were offline, and he was still reeling from how quickly and how intensely he expelled that energy.

Even Raikiri was woozy, putting on a display of AGILITY not to go faster, but to slow down more smoothly after coming down from the high that was the speed of his Z-Move. He was still plenty fast; any strike the Sylveon tried to make would require almost supernatural precision to land a hit at all!

As fast as the ramming attack was, it did take time for the paws to ignite from how much friction it took for them to combust. That part was telegraphed enough for the Meltan to see the attack coming, its FLASH CANNON knocking Raikiri off his feet and filling the arena with the stench of burning paws. The fires had been quenched, and Raikiri could not pull that trick again for the rest of the match.

Josh wouldn't be the Master of Faster without having more than one way to weaponize extreme speed! In an effort to confuse the Meltan, the Gym Leader's thundercat put the pedal to the metal, swerving madly around the rare, mysterious Pokémon with AGILITY and speed that Shred may have never seen before. After several rapid circles and near misses, Raikiri fired a trio of ELECTRO BALLS from his teal faceplate and bolt-shaped whiskers. They were coming in fast and hot, their strength amplified by their user's blistering pace.

Josh's Zeraora was different from many others; rather than fighting like Domon did, the feline fought on all fours, much like a Raikou would. It was little wonder that Josh once thought the big cat was Raikou. With speed that nearly matched that of the god he revered above all others, the striped cat was one slippery quarry.

The WICKED BLOW used the Zeraora's speed against him, sending him flying into the arena wall and out of bounds at the same dizzying speeds he initially charged with. The impact with the wall made Josh wince, both for Raikiri's health and for the match score; the out-of-bounds penalty was one he could not afford in a match so tight. Now on the defensive, the thundercat circled Domon with surreal speed and AGILITY perhaps unlike anything the ex-Elite Four had ever seen.

What a strong mind the Beyeehem had to stand up to such a destructive and fast volley of electric attacks. Josh knew the battle with Hideo wouldn't be easy. They were coworkers, after all, and some of the most talented trainers in Hoenn!

Hideo's idea to lead the PSYCHIC explosions was the right way to go, though Raikiri's intense speed kept it to no more than a thick graze or two. Clouded in a split-second lapse of judgment, the QUICK ATTACK Raikiri lunged with was at a slightly off angle; with good reaction time and a little good fortune, perhaps they might feel only the wake of displaced air from the charge!

"Big Bert better be ready," Josh replied with a smirk. "Raikiri is no joke. He's the strongest, fastest Pokémon I have. And if I have anything to say about it, he might have a cousin roaming the Gym when this tournament's over." Any other trash talk would be cut short by the starting horn.

In just a split second, the Zeraora was effortlessly dashing about the arena. It would have been hard for other competitors to follow, but Raju had been trained in the art of speed. That extra split second of time he had from faster reactions by virtue of being a trainer of the fastest Gym. Determined to outpace Big Bert, Raikiri zoomed around the Tauros, circling him with impressive AGILITY unlike that of any of Josh's other Pokémon.

Though powerful, the Iron Boulder remained standing after the CRUNCH. Aslan could not withstand a second MIGHTY CLEAVE from the rock-type, sending Josh flying off his mount and the rest of his pride running to him. More robotic mockeries of the Unovan Sacred Swords tromped past, the Gym Leader's pride overwhelmed. Kovu stepped in front of Rani, who bit into Josh's Sygna Suit and hurled the black-haired rider onto her back. He wasn't dying on her watch.

Mauville's finest trainer fought tirelessly against the oncoming horde, and to no avail. For every Iron Crown one of his lions felled, an Iron Leaves reciprocated the consciousness-sapping attack with a PSYBLADE. Mufasa, too exhausted to fight after being trampled in CLOSE COMBAT. Kovu, twin TACHYON CUTTERS. Vitani, safely in her Poké Ball after an Iron Boulder's STONE EDGE. Zira, unable to continue fighting after a SACRED SWORD cleaved almost all of her burning mane away.

All that remained of his pride was Rani.

Desperate, Josh radioed on the emergency League frequency. "This is Devlin! I'm inside the Terastal chasm fighting through these Pokémon. I'm trying to find out where they're coming from and need backup, bad! If you have anyone available -- anyone -- send them, and fast!"

Josh only had one Pyroar steed left after several had been knocked out or killed beneath him. Desperate to protect them both, the Gym Leader hurled his last emergency Quick Ball at the Iron Leaves charging at him. In a cruel twist of fate, an Iron Crown galloped in front of the pitch, intercepting his throw and being drawn into the Ball designed to catch extremely fast targets. The paradox's Pokémon's high speed worked against it, the ball landing with a click.

The Gym Leader's eyes flashed before his eyes as the Iron Leaves cleaved into the rearing Rani with its PSYBLADE -- right through the lion's ribcage, cauterizing her vital organs shut. Josh's head thumped as he and his steed were launched into the air, the two landing on top of one another. The lion's weight smashed into him, knocking him unconscious as the female Pyroar's bleeding corpse rolled toward the front of the cave.

The worst tragedy of it all was he would not know of Rani's death until all was calm in the Silent Icelands...

"Right, if it's above the weather..." Josh trailed off. That was the reason airplanes flew above the clouds: to avoid weather. If anything, they had Pokémon that could help them, or they could rent appropriate gear for the climb. "We should save the arcade for some evening, when it's too dark to go riding or do anything else outdoors."

As Josh retrieved his luggage, he slipped on his winter coat from Johto. Sinnoh was extremely far north, parts of it above the Arctic Circle, even. Snowpoint City was covered in the fluffy white stuff year-round. It was almost the antithesis of Hoenn, a region cool to warm even in winter. "If you've never left Hoenn, you might never have seen one of these before!" The heavy looking coat was solid black, its inside soft to the touch. It had so many pockets that one could fit multiple hats and gloves inside.

Thankfully, signage at the airport was ample, Josh easily able to lead the way to the Pokémon runways on Veilstone's skyway level. Though many Pokémon did not need much room to take off, there were strips long enough for even Garchomp to take off. Looking for a relaxing ride to their destination, Josh clicked open his Drampa's Poké Ball. "Andrea, this is Valoo," he introduced the placid, long-necked Pokémon before scampering aboard. "You won't believe this, but this is his second life. He tragically died, then came back to life in a dream come true. I can tell you the whole story when we get to the hotel, if you want."

The aileron roll was fast and daring, grazing Raikiri and preventing him from landing on the giant corvid's back. It was Lancelette's saving grace, and one that would give Gwyar a chance to turn the match around. It was a slim chance, given that the STEEL WING was but a glancing blow on the thundercat.

A ruthless and merciless competitor, Josh thrust his Z-GLOVE high into the air, Raikiri's QUICKINIUM-Z glowing a myriad of whites and yellows. The Zeraora leaped at the Corviknight at seemingly impossible speeds the Z-MOVE: HYPERSONIC PLASMA CHARGE gifted him. Though he expected the supersonic claw swipes to do little to the heavily armored avian, the line of lightning strikes in his wake would threaten to fry Lancelette. If she was still aloft after that, the sonic boom would ring and rattle every piece of her metallic armor!

Josh's Zeraora was indeed optimized for speed, perhaps to the detriment of all his other battle parameters. His strongest weapon was not raw power, but the confusion and deception of being seemingly in multiple places at once, Double Team or no. It was almost impossible for those with eyesight to follow. He couldn't have imagined the kind of focus it took from Hideo to even comprehend what was going on.

The ROUND knocked the thundercat away, putting distance between the two. Josh smirked; Raikiri was more than capable of fighting from a distance. Taking advantage of his incredible speed, the mythical feline loosed a barrage of ELECTRO BALLS toward Hideo's partner from a myriad of directions, their ferocity fueled by his blinding speed.

"Evening, Eko! Fancy seeing you here!" Josh waved toward his fellow speed racer across the court from him, the quadrupedal Zeraora at his side purring loudly and impatiently. He could not wait for that starting horn to go off. "Just because we're friends doesn't mean I'm not going easy on you. I've got a tournament to win!"

As the clock wound down, Raikiri dragged his paw across the court several times, looking like he was going to bolt as soon as the match timer started. He could feel the electricity in the air, and he imagined Eko might be able to, as well. If he knew the curator well, this would be a battle of extreme speed.

"Evening!" Josh waved toward Finn, the Zeraora a little woozy from having fought so many matches. The Gym Leader's Z-Glove and Raikiri's QUICKINIUM-Z were steaming from having been used so much. He would have to check the crystals for cracking after the tournament from how much they had been used. If the crystal broke, it wouldn't be a big deal; he still had last fall's Passho harvest stored away safely, ready to craft a replacement if need be.

"Gym Leader Devlin, but please, call me Josh." There would be little time for pre-match banter, Raikiri sprinting toward Faolan with PLASMA PAWS sparking a brilliant white.