[attr="class","text"]
A colossal explosion follows, and a massive leaf ape falls in turn. Lucas gives his longtime partner a high-five as the max energy dissipates, turning to his usual size. The conflagration in the background provides a dramatic backdrop as many of their adversaries fell by the wayside.
[break][break]
It wasn't over, however. The army of poisoned Pokemon was the opening act for two divinities to take into the skies. He recognized the form of the Black Knight in one of them, but the others awakened the fight or flight instinct inside him.
[break][break]
The visage of the skeletal dragon is foreboding, but Lucas didn't need words to recognize the miasma surrounding its form. They had been fighting the same influence for more than half his lifespan.
[break][break]
Lucas glances at his partner on his side, wordlessly conveying if he wants to take this destiny. Zico, surprisingly, shakes his head.
[break][break]
"Guess it's not the place of us mortals, huh?"
[break][break]
He looks up to see Carmen flying close to the battle in the skies, her movements resolute. She uses her speed to maneuver the dragon's massive frame before taking on the residual space-time energies left behind by those shedding their gigantic forms. The majestic visage of the Galarian legendary bird once more graces the skies.
[break][break]
"It's been fun."
[break][break]
The bird turns her gaze at the dragon, glaring at him enough to freeze space around him.
[break][break]

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At the sight of one of the G-maxed opponents, Zico let out an appreciative whistle. Lucas can't help but snort once the avalanche of moves hits the Dynamaxed enemy Cinderace. A glimpse of a future possibility, perhaps?
[break][break]
He won't wish that on his partner, but there's an argument about being too eager to engage enemies. Still, if he wants to take on everyone by himself, who is he to say no?
[break][break]
Everyone, is it? Lucas glances at the trial before them, a seemingly endless tide of poisoned hosts with several towering specimens overlooking the battlefield. There's no guarantee that they could cut their numbers to size. The lull in the poisonous invasion in recent years seems to be building up to this climax.
[break][break]
A climax, though? Not without the accompanying performance, no? If the preliminaries already promised excitement, it stands to reason that the final match need to live up to the hype.
[break][break]
Lucas feels if he doesn't let his partner loose, he'll resent him for the rest of his life.
[break][break]
"Alright, buddy, let's see what you can do!"
[break][break]
Ball's in your court, as they say.
[break][break]
Local space distorts as the Cinderace Dynamaxes, granting the battlefield two colossal fireballs. Hoping to take out one of their opposite numbers fast, Max-Zico turns his attention to the big drummer, kicking his ball at him. Lucas kicks his weaponized steel ball, coordinating their attacks to try and take out one target fast.
[break][break]
Even if they'd take the brunt of the punishment.
[break][break]
lKi9C|DJ

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Another decade passes as Lucas feels his physical capabilities declining.
[break][break]
Lucas has been living in Galar longer than Hoenn. Hell, even longer than his childhood in Unova. Even if he's back to Hoenn, will everything revert to what it was?
[break][break]
Should he stay? Even in a City besieged by corrupted adversaries, he made it to Ballonlea. Perhaps he should cultivate what he constructed in the city once it's over.
[break][break]
Then again, perhaps it won't be up to him.
[break][break]
Athletes peak in their late-20s - the right age for the perfect blend of physicalities and experience - and would decline since then. Lucas noticed he couldn't sprint as fast as he wanted to, perhaps a death sentence for strikers who rely on his pace. Now in his late-30s, he would have to rely on guile to maneuver the field.
[break][break]
In that way, Pokemon battles and football are similar. He realized it might be why so many athletes can apply experiences one to another, but this is the first time where it's relevant to him.
[break][break]
He somewhat envies his partner. Zico does slow down with age, but Pokemon have more leeway on mingling with time, and his abilities only become more refined. The Dynamax training only enhances his capabilities. With Carne never recovering from her battle with Articuno, self-sufficiency is more urgent than ever.
[break][break]
Carmen, meanwhile, becomes more mature by the years, and while Zico would tell you why he alone is sufficient in battle, engaging whatever's behind the corrupted threat with only one Pokemon sounds like a fool's errand.
[break][break]
He can only hope he had done an adequate job raising one of this region's guardians.
[break][break]
That herein lies the problem. Lucas could only surmise from his experience that their adversaries have both infinite time and patience in trying to subdue these lands. He and the other defenders can hear the clock ticking on their prowess.
[break][break]
So he decided to take the initiative. Lucas began to take on more and more expeditions, coordinating with others like John Sullivan and El Sunderland. If the adversaries are on the move, he'd want to be the first to know.
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"Carne!"
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The realization that perhaps he was out of his depth here started to dawn on him. But he has to press on, no? He has no choice but to stand against the overwhelming presence of this Legendary Bird with whatever he has, or else he'd have no grounds to stay on.
[break][break]
Perhaps Zico needs to recover faster than he demonstrated. Again.
[break][break]
Switching the frozen Carne back to her ball, Lucas withdraws the ball containing his Ace Striker. There's no way a rookie would stand against a menace like Articuno, so he's forced to rely on his star player again.
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Then again, this is what he promised his Cinderace would happen. He'll have to put his money where his mouth is.
[break][break]
Fortunately or unfortunately, depending if you're Zico or not, attacks from other parts of the town started besieging the Lord of the Skies, and the coordinated efforts - miraculously, considering they only relied on body language and one-off command - managed to pierce the avian's defenses.
[break][break]
At long last, after what seemed to be titanic clashes after clashes, the bird falls from the sky. The defenses managed to hold, but there were more questions than answers. What was the motive? Where did the poisonous sludge come from?
[break][break]
At least he received an answer to one of his questions. The bird fell, but the frozen feather acted as a catalyst for his reborn. The youth quickly grew fond of him in an ironic turn of events, even if he wasn't sure how proficient he would be raising it. With Carne out of action, he'd have to try.
[break][break]
Once the dust settled, survivors and visitors alike congregated in Ballonlea. The people praised the ones who fought back, hailing the foremost - most inspiring - among them as the new royals. There's a familiar face among them.
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"Clair?"
[break][break]
He wasn't sure why Clair was here, nor did he see his sister before this aftermath. He has suspicions since she goes by Rhydia Ver now, but now the conflict seems so distant. It's wiser to band together for survival than try to kill each other while the malignant poison is only too happy to kill everyone.
[break][break]
But now that they're here, they're stuck for the long haul.
[break][break]
...The First Month.
[break][break]
Lucas refused Clair's offer to rule with her, as he's not cut out for governance. He prefers to be at the front, pitting their skills against his.
[break][break]
Lucas thought they would be here for a while, so he turned to the populace to lift their spirits the only way he knew how. Despair reigns inside your mind when it doesn't recognize the competition, so playing ball seems the perfect diversion for the fear-gripped people of Galar.
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Then again, perhaps he was only looking for people to spar with.
[break][break]
...The First Year.
[break][break]
The young Articuno had grown. Lucas named her Carmen, after the main character of a comic book of his young age. He thought it was a good name.
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By now, the football league has spread. Lucas only returns occasionally to assess the talents who could give him a good game. He felt like the last of an ancient conspiracy, but if people still showed a passion for the game, he'd play as long as he could.
[break][break]
Zico wants to get stronger and seems receptive to the energy which powers the gigantification process. Unfortunately, none of them could utilize it yet, and he won't be the first to know if the researchers cannot. In the end, Lucas settled for training. When the corrupted attack, he'd be ready.
[break][break]
...The Tenth Year.
[break][break]
The stadium is in ruins. Many players rose to defend the town and lost their lives. They fought and died with him and the other warriors. Would they accept their ultimate end?
[break][break]
Lucas can't answer that, but he won't let their memories fade into the ether. The Black Metals left behind by the terrible Black Knight became his newest instrument. The rigid nature of the metal makes poor a playing ball, but his trained legs will be able to handle it, and it would be strong enough to withstand the Close Combat maneuver.
[break][break]
He still remembers the prophecy written in poisonous sludge. If the final battle approaches, they should finally settle on a date. He'd give them a show fitting for that moniker.
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"Buddy!"
[break][break]
The consequence of leaning too much into your headbutt is that you'd often be knee-deep in whatever target you tried to engage. With the Cinderace coming out on the other side of the sludge poisoned, their calamitous obstruction receded. He paid the price already.
[break][break]
While he proceeds to faceplant on the ground, struck down with poison, it seems he still manages to cling to life regardless. It's one thing he shares with his trainer.
[break][break]
Switching the striker in once again, Lucas withdraws the medic once more. The pokemon center might have seen better days, but with the healing efforts, they could at least simulate medical treatment. John Sullivan had set up an impromptu healing service, and Lucas allowed Carne the Blissey to help.
[break][break]
Plus, it will at least allow Zico to recuperate.
[break][break]
Once the Pokemon Center becomes something resembling functionality, Lucas excuses himself to go to the observatory. He hoped there would be something to explain whatever was in the town, but no such convenient exposition exists.
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Maybe sending football players to investigate observatories wasn't the best of ideas.
[break][break]
Thankfully (?), the rapid development of events left little room to breathe, and Ballonlea is again under siege. Lucas Teleported in time to experience John Sullivan's Psychic Field. He looks to the skies at the apparent leader of this army.
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"Shoot him out of the skies!"
[break][break]
In response, Carne releases a wave of electricity, flying straight into the sky. The army below would also feel the residual energy from the attack, but by and large, Blissey's focusing her efforts on the leader.
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+10

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The change of scenery was drastic.
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As he tried to adjust his vision to the newly-arrived scenery, the tortured screams out of Hell greeted Lucas. The sounds were ubiquitous, and the sights weren't much better. The mishap in the space-time continuum seemed to have thrown him into a nightmarish crack in time in-between dimensions.
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Some concept that was, huh?
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"What the heck's going-"
[break][break]
Before he could finish that sentence, all Hell broke loose, and a gallant man led the head-on charge to combat the tide of darkness. With his pocket medic still in his hands, in comparison, Lucas looked paltry, but it seemed the situation waited for no one. It only takes no one to do anything for the nightmare to triumph.
[break][break]
With a sleight of hand, Lucas switches Carne in. Judging by the situation, she'd get her turn soon, but not now. He hopes that his partner has enough rest. He's going to need it.
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The Cinderace looked at the situation and glanced back at his trainer, his expression rife with confusion.
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"I don't know. Use your head?"
[break][break]
The smile returned to the Cinderace's face before he leaped to the fare. Reclining his head backward, he snapped his neck back, headbutting the mass of sludge. The resulting shockwave kept the tide at bay, but Lucas didn't know how effective it would be.
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But it should be enough for now.
[break][break]
"Don't worry. We're going to make it through."
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Lucas mingles with the townsfolk, piling more stuff on the makeshift barricade while the frontline fights. It's the least he could do.
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Do you know how volatile space-time is?
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Most only see it from a local perspective, but every time you mess with the fabric of time, you create a ripple in the vast continuum of present reality. In other words, you probably broke something somewhere.
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In Lucas' case, Blissey's attempt was innocuous enough - Arceus knows how many individual teleports trainers here use, and that's not counting other worlds - but the Legendary Pokemon's last gasp of power crossed the stream into harmony. Or discord, depending on how you view the outcome.
[break][break]
When Lucas and Carne disappeared, their Teleport attempt managed to somehow resonate with one of Calyrex's portals, sucking them in without any fanfare or them having a say in it. It was perhaps an unfortunate series of events, but given how things had gone, you can't say it was unexpected.
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Would Lucas encounter any snowcats? The jury's still out on that one.
[break][break]
As space-time stabilizes and Lucas steps onto solid ground, he looks around and takes a second to realize he's once again on uncommon ground. The shrine and snowy mountainous regions are gone, replaced by new, unfamiliar background.
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As for the place? Well, even the narrator isn't so sure.

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As Lucas scales the snow-covered grounds, the clearing reveals the shrine and the courtyard overlooking it. The legendary figure of the giant ground lizard and his would-be opponents are clear from the vantage point, but Lucas only gave them half his attention.
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The ruination Pokemon is nowhere to be found, but he can see the peculiar object encased in ice. He had never seen a feather of that color before, but he might get a better idea once he's out of this frozen wasteland.
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Well, if he's out of this frozen wasteland. But he likes to remain positive.
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Another rumbling follows as he picks up the frozen feather and pockets it. This time, the tremor creeps up quickly into the elevated ground. Even on a platform high above the shrine, the platform would shake with great force.
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Before long, a beam of concentrated sunlight barely misses Lucas, instead melting the platform below. Even if he wanted to stay out of the fighting, it seems he has an uncanny ability to attract collateral damage.
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The rock beneath him gives way, and - in a bout of deja vu - the crumbling ground threatens to trap him beneath another avalanche.
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Picking up his Blissey, Lucas tries to scale down from his vantage position. Alas, his path down gradually crumbles before him.
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"Carne, Teleport!"
[break][break]
The Blissey looks at him with a head tilt and her usual cute quip.
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"Anywhere! Back in solid ground, preferably!"
[break][break]
Space-time blipped in that area, and the pair disappeared. Hopefully, the Pokemon understands the urgency.
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The world is vast.
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Even if you were the ace of a national-level competition, some faced hardships that make your bone-breaking training feel like a walk in the park in comparison. The chaos of the battlefield was overwhelming, but the masses of snow served as a reminder of nature's wrath commandeered by the Pokemon of ruin.
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Even so, perhaps there was a silver lining in their action. Without the streak of flames cutting through the cold, there might be more casualties. Or so Lucas told himself.
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He paid the price already by not being strong enough. But, then again, perhaps this is what he wanted when he departed Unova.
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Lucas watched with a disappointed cry as the flaming ball - one that managed to cleave through the avalanche - stopped by a sudden earthly pillar. Who would be foolish enough to help one who would destroy them with the slightest provocation?
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And yet there was something familiar with the spontaneity.
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However, perhaps Lucas shouldn't gaze that far ahead. The avalanche descended, diminished yet still deadly. Amidst the snow, he can see his partner's body engulfed by the same all-encompassing whiteness.
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"Buddy!"
[break][break]
And then, darkness.
[break][break]

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Once he stirred, the white expanded as far as the eye could see. Lucas tried to stand but found out one of his legs failed him. It couldn't even stay straight. The fall might have dislocated a bone or a dozen of them.
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He gritted his teeth and supported his body weight with only one leg. He had been through the same thing, and Lucas won't let it stop him again.
[break][break]
There's a faint trace of red nearby, and Lucas digs into the snow with his hand to reveal the form of the fire bunny, still breathing. His fire-type seemingly acted as a shield from the potential frostbite.
[break][break]
Even when unconscious, he has a self-satisfied expression on his face. Lucas scoffed, but he'll live.
[break][break]
He reaches into his belt for the Pokeballs. They're still there. Falling to his knees, Lucas tosses one of them to reveal his medic. Carne has her usual warm smile and understanding nod before releasing a Heal Bell at their wounds.
[break][break]
"Still, where the heck is this?"
[break][break]
He reaches into his pocket for his communicator, but his luck runs out. All he can hear is static and a faint makeout of buzz. Still, that means someone tried to contact the League personnel. It's a shame he cannot make out anything they said.
[break][break]
Even with the attempt at healing, he'd need to feel the sensation on his right leg back. He opts to instead walk briskly instead of running. Returning Zico to his ball, he tries to reach a vantage point to observe his surroundings.
[break][break]
The snowcat or the shield wolf is nowhere to be found, but he can make out a gatehouse of sorts in the distance.
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But then, distant explosion.
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Lucas tries to scout from an elevated position while breaking into a light jog. Who knows, maybe he'd find the snowcat. Putting two and two together with the avalanche and snow isn't hard. Even a football player can do it.
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Not every day you get to gaze upon a battlefield of titans.
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When the news broke of a distress call of legendary refugees from Galar, it was all hands on deck. Rangers or not, if you've proven capable of defending yourself, they might need your expertise. Even athletes abandon their tracks and boots to serve their region in war. That's how you lose an entire generation of youths.
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Hunkering down behind the erected wide guard, Lucas eyes the devastation before him. He's a gym trainer, which means he should at least be an auxiliary in the gathered militia. At a glance, he's perhaps only one of the youths sent here to die.
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Well, Death needs to take the ball first.
[break][break]
On his side, Zico looks positively ecstatic. Beyond the coming avalanche, the sea of flames, and the mad descending from the skies, there's only one target in his vision: the snow weasel.
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At least he's thinking big.
[break][break]
Wordlessly, Lucas doesn't need to second-guess what his oldest partner is up to. He can't blame him. He'd understand when facing an overwhelmingly strong team in the stadium, beelining to face the opposing team's ace is what he'd done.
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"Yo." The avalanche's howling winds and general chaos threatened to drown his voice, but he knew his partner could hear him. "Long ball?"
[break][break]
He can make out the grin on the bunny's face. Long ball it is.
[break][break]
Taking advantage of the path the flames created, the Cinderace leaps over the wide guard. His leg outstretched back before recoiling forward, delivering a powerful kick. The flames converge on the space where the kick's energy collides with the void of space, producing a ball of flame that flies straight in the direction of the snow weasel.
[break][break]
As he lands back, Zico and his trainer observe the long pass behind the barrier. Would it hit? Doubtful. Should it hit, though? Well, it would be a bit embarrassing for the furball, wouldn't it?
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Os6gN_oz

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Death.
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To stare at a veritable blur of hardened metal barreling at you without protection is to stare at Death itself. The human body cannot withstand collisions with denser materials without liquifying a part of it. Not without anything to cover them, at least.
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But what's more human than to depend on your wits and quick feet to survive?
[break][break]
Lucas won't admit it outright, but he could learn something from Zico, who sidesteps the armored-horned tank without visible exertion. In comparison, he had to dive sideways to avoid the stampede. It wasn't perfect, and the motion opened an old wound.
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He could sympathize with a workaholic. His former teammates in Nimbasa used to call him that too, and he'd retort about their lack of conviction. What use of limits if you don't push them at least once every so often?
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In his not-so-humble opinion, that would also apply to cooking, but he's no expert in that.
[break][break]
"Heeeh," Lucas retorted with a mock callout, though he never went all-out with the jeer. It was a sign of respect, perhaps, like staring at a mirror with differently-colored edges. "I'm looking forward to tasting your food then~."
[break][break]
Lucas walks to the cashier - now thankfully devoid of the queue - before communicating his orders. He looked the part of a repeat instead of a waiting customer. Staff who observed him would probably assume that he's an old friend of their head chef.
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That's not quite the right assumption, but not entirely incorrect either.
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Once he's back in his seat, he has a new anticipation in mind and more seemingly casual questions.
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"How often do you branch out? Trying new recipes, perhaps, or trying new ingredients."

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Lucas frowned. It was quite a piercing question.
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"That is...a bit complicated. My long-time partner is a Cinderace, a Pokemon optimized to perform in the Nimbasa Stadium, with others in my team to support him. In terms of traditional battle challenges, he'd be able to take on comers since I have experience on that front."
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"However-"
[break][break]
The Cinderace is a human-sized Lepus, unsuitable for a mounted race with a rider, no matter how you slice it. A general footrace might fare a bit better, but that doesn't seem to be what this gym specializes in.
[break][break]
"-I don't think he would be ideal for Racing Challenges. The others are similarly specialized: a Medic, a Cheer Captain, and an Illumination Specialist. None that I would call ideal for racing, which I admit is a demerit of mine."
[break][break]
"I would pledge to catch someone ideal for racing should I go through the selection process, however."
[break][break]
He said that without missing a beat.