Set in the original region of Arciel, Legends Rising is a route-inspired, but not strictly route-based, Pokemon roleplay. Pick a faction, pick a class, and strike out into the wild to take on the League, master Contest coordination, research the mysteries of Pokemon and Arciel, and much, much more. Will you be a classic trainer? A criminal? A farmer? Choose your destiny on Legends Rising.
Nilbasse District - Jumps of Doom | Difficulty: ★★★★★☆
There was no getting around it - after yesterday's qualifier than felt more like survival than a qualifier, Josh was nervous. A track like the one in Ash's prestigious Nilbasse District was something more typical of a Gold League season finale - certainly far too difficult for Silver League. While the track width wasn't obscenely narrow like at Cedar Park (it was easy to go four or even five wide in places if need be), every single curve was at a right angle, due to the track being built around city streets.
As much as Josh would have loved to enter his Manectric, who could practically glide along the inside of every curve, there were enough long, dead straight sections of the course that Saber would get passed, especially on later laps when his meager Quick Attack wasn't going to be able to keep up with the Double Teams and Agilities of the rest of the field. Twilight the Absol was the Pokémon he qualified with, and the Pokémon he would be racing with in today's field.
While walking to the track's green, Josh was watching a video of a drone flying around the track once. He had a few concerns about safety of the Pokémon and riders, especially with all of the large ramps placed right before sharp corners. While the course had no required jumps to finish the track, it was certainly very tempting to try to use the ramps to cut a corner or three, if the Pokémon had enough of a jump to make it. From his experience racing her, Twilight certainly could. He tried and failed during his first qualifying attempt, and his second suffered as a result of not using any of the ramps. This was something practice would have been nice for. But it was too late for that now.
There were also large sections of the track built into stretches of city highway; those stretches had no guard walls surrounding them. Yes, there was a safety net to catch those who fell, but if Josh were to get too aggressive, his race could potentially end with a single error. Zero points, just like that. Even Twilight, normally not showing her emotions at all, was frowning a bit.
Once the two arrived at the track green, a couple of hours before the green flag was to drop, he started counting the number of booths for racers to interact with fans. Wait, twenty-six? Wasn't this a track designed for thirty? Peering toward the scoreboard near the start/finish line, it confirmed Josh's suspicions: everyone who had finished yesterday's qualifier at all qualified. That explained why there was a Stoutland in the field - Stoutland was a Pokémon normally never seen in races due to their relative lack of speed. Peering up at the scoreboard again, he noticed the Stoutland would be starting in 26th place - the very back of the pack. Granted, he wouldn't be starting much better with his 20th place finish from yesterday.
Once it was exactly two hours before the start of the race, the doors from the stands to the green were opened and the stairs were lowered, letting reporters and fans onto the green to chat with racers, obtain signatures, and so forth. This was a Silver League race, so there weren't too many, but there were enough. Josh smiled when he noticed a couple of familiar faces among the descending crowd. At least he was going to have some encouragement during the uphill battle that would be staying on the track. Who on the board of commissioners approved such a difficult track for a Silver League race?
It was a bit crowded despite what would be considered a relatively small gathering of spectators, and that did make Koa slightly uncomfortable, but he wanted to support Josh's career as a racer by showing up to a race as he had promised. He had to admit, it was a very impressive feat to configure a track in this manner for the races, though he wondered how this affected everyone's daily routine? He didn't know enough about the sport to really question the logistics of it, though so he stopped worrying about it after a while.
Once it was time to go down and visit with the racers before they had to prepare for the race itself, he carefully moved along with the crowd. He didn't want to accidentally push or shove anyone out of the way. Thankfully he was rather easy to see in the crowd given his height.
He looked around for a moment before he finally spotted Josh and approached. "Hey Josh! Holding up okay?" He asked since he hadn't seen him for a little while. "Glad to see you're still in the races. This all seems like kind of a logistical nightmare and even more of a nightmare to navigate, but I have faith that you and Twilight will get through this." He waved over at Twilight, glad that she had recovered from what happened a while back. "I guess this is the part I should give some kind of sage advice...hm...well, the best I can say here is...know your limits...and push beyond them. The race is coming, but think about the moment. The now. And during the race, live in the moment. Allow your instincts to help you push past your limits." He said. He blushed a bit, hoping this didn't sound super cliche. "I mean...that's what I try to do..." He said nervously.
Agate was here simply because he was invited... He... personally had no idea how big it would be! After all, what would a farmboy who does not have that much technology knows about Pokemon Racing? It's seem to be an extreme sport too... something that his mother voiced protest to whenever he tried to do anything with huge risk. She would say "you're already wild with your tree climbing, running around doing Arceus knows what with your mining kit and now you're going to do those kind of sports at it? No, absolutely not, not until you're old enough, young man!"
...And now he's old enough, but he never knew anything about Pokemon Racing. It sounds fun, definitely. That's why he asked what to do for a beginner. But... somehow he ended up in this sort of situation. He's... absolutely speechless. At first he thought that the racing field isn't this big of an event, probably just a local thing, like Gym in Unova. Not that many spectator, just the local, but it turned out to be quite big isn't it! With Ragnard on his arms, Riku following him from the back, and the Honedge egg (why is he carrying this Honedge?) and not to mention Schera and her daughter Randgris, Agate walked to greet a certain acquaintance...
...Though, he wasn't expecting someone there before him. He only caught the end of his words.
"Hi Josh! Thanks for the invitation!" he greeted after the man in front of him done with his words. "...Is he your... teacher or sort?" Agate tilted his head. "Anyway, good luck, I'll be expecting something amazing!"
Schera the Skarmory squawked to show her support too while Randgris the Rookidee perched on her mother's back, chirping idly. "Oh, these two are saying goodluck, heh. Although Schera is not too fond of Bladestorm, I think she know you're trying your best, so she's here to show you her support." A nod from the metallic crane-like pokemon confirmed this.
"Well, is there anything you want me to fetch before the match or something? At least while my eyes are still alright!" Honedge Egg: (Incubator) - 2/5
Last Edit: May 20, 2020 12:02:22 GMT by Agate Valyn
Indeed, there were a couple of familiar faces. Josh smiled when he saw Koa and Agate jogging toward him. "Hey, thanks for being here for me!" he shouted while the two approached, Twilight turning her head toward them but otherwise maintaining her usual blank stare. Configuring the track itself was just a matter of putting up barricades and detour signs to make sure the race could run with minimal flow to traffic. It was more time consuming getting all of the safety nets set up to catch racers who fall from the track and out of bounds. Based on yesterday's qualifier, they were going to be used. A lot.
"I'm a bit nervous," Josh replied to Koa after hearing his words of encouragement. "A track this tough has no business being in Silver League; the commissioners in Johto certainly would think a track is too dangerous for amateurs like us. I think today's key will be just finishing all three laps." Most races were between three and eight laps depending on the track's length; this one was on the longer side. He pointed toward a particularly nasty turn along a stretch of highway well to the north - though the highway itself extended well beyond the track, the turn crossed a maintenance road and ran immediately down the opposite lanes. There were no walls anywhere on that turn, either - misjudging that turn would end your race, just like that.
"Actually, Koa's not my teacher," Josh clarified. "We're just good friends, and he was interested in seeing what the races were like. Gonna wander a bit before they call us to the line - we have time." As Josh scouted the field, he saw there were a surprising number of Rapidash in the 26-man field - nine of them. It was risky for this track, but there were a lot of long straightaways due to the course being modeled around city roads. There were a lot of places, particularly along the backstretch, where the fire-types could really let loose with their speed. There were also two Luxray in the field, which made Josh smile and think about Blitz - he would be one of them soon. Twilight appeared to be the lone Absol. Easily the most unusual Pokémon entered was a Sceptile, some highly unusual harnessing on the grass-type to keep both the trainer and the Pokémon comfortable. They were fast runners on their own, but Agility would be so difficult to control on a track with nothing but right-angle turns. Certainly would be one to watch.
"Oh, believe me, I'll need all the support I can get. Thank you," Josh replied to the Pokémon, attempting to gently pat Schera if the roosting Skarmory allowed it. "Something for my nerves," he joked. "but I doubt there's anything you can do about that. I'm hydrated, Twilight's hydrated...we're as ready as we're ever going to be. Based on how qualifying went...I wouldn't be surprised if only 15 of us finish at all. I'm definitely writing a letter to Arciel's Racing Commission next week - this feels like the kind of track you'd see in a Gold League playoff or something." He let out a deep sigh, the three making it back to his booth after scouting the field and making the occasional stop to talk to a couple of other racers in the field. "They'll probably be calling everyone into the stands soon - they've already got the pace Zebstrika going around the track, making one last pass to make sure there's no debris on the track." A long pause. "...See you on the other side."
Koa looked over at the other person who arrived to wish Josh luck. Another friend of his, he assumed. He blushed a bit when he asked if Koa was his teacher, but he just laughed "No no, I'm not his teacher. I don't know the first thing about racing. I'm just here to offer my moral support." He said. He then looked back at Josh and frowned a bit "That is odd that they would include such a strangely difficult track for you all. Maybe some kind of changes happened up the ladder and they decided to tweak things for this season...spice things up maybe? I won't pretend I understand how these sorts of things work. Still, it's okay to be nervous. One of my teachers once told me that if you aren't nervous, you won't perform at your best. So it's only natural." He said with a warm smile.
Seeing all of the different Pokemon preparing to race was very interesting for Koa. Rapidash was a common one, which didn't really come as a surprise. Josh had the honor of having something truly unique in this race with his Absol, a Pokemon he always thought was really cool. "Do you think there's some kind of ulterior motive for a track like this? I don't really see what would benefit the higher ups if they gave Silver League such a difficult track." Could it have been to prevent too many people from going to Gold? No, that's ridiculous. Arranging stuff like that and toying with competitors like that just seemed...wrong. When Josh went to get ready for the race, Koa just sighed and crossed his arms "I hope he'll be okay..." he said. He looked at Agate and tilted his head "You said something about your eyes? Is something the matter?" He asked, worried. "If there's anything I can help with I'd love to help. My name's Koa Leilani, by the way."
Oh, not the teacher? Agate tilted his head. Then just a friend? Well, that explains it! But with the moral thing, could have sworn that it sounded as if this man was Josh's teacher... Then again, that's the viewpoint of Agate, a 14 years old. The man is named Koa apparently. From his name... someone from Alola perhaps? At least, it sounded quite exotic to him.
It also looks like Josh is fine wandering around the track for the meantime? He guess that makes sense, surveying the track and looking at what your opponents are like... Six Rapidash, two Luxray and one Sceptile? ...The last one sort of made him a bit... squinting? Grovyle probably would make more sense, but Sceptile? Pardon the rhyme, but it definitely made him... Skeptic.
Schera just crowed as she's patted, the Skarmory doesn't mind it, but Randgris probably different. The Rookidee, upon seeing a stranger patting her mother would peck at Josh's hand, not hard thankfully, just like more of a warning peck, as if saying "quit acting so familiar with my mother, who are you?"
The difficulty of the track however is alien to Agate. "What makes it so hard?" he asked. "Asphalt?"
But with Josh being called looks like their conversation must be cut short! Hmmmm...
"...Yeah, I sure hope so too, but hey, he got this... charismatic air to him. Part of me felt that he can pull it just fine... Although... I guess I can ask my mother and daughter duo to scout? Not sure if they'll can explain things all that well though."
Agate shrug his shoulders. "Oh wait, that was rude of me! Sorry about that! Name's Agate, Agate Valyn! And... well, it just happened my eyes often see... something weird, like... lights that's not supposed to normally appear... from the back of people, from around them... It just happened recently though, around when I moved to Arciel. For example, Schera here, there's light a light of blue and silver on her, the same light is on Randgris, except it's more melancholic compared to her mother's stream-like wisp... well I can't see them right now though, it seems only appears outta random..."
Once all the spectators had found themselves back in the stands, officials began the call to have the competitors and their Pokémon line up for introductions. Josh finished his bottle of water before heading to his assigned spot close to the back of the pack. It took a bit longer than normal to get everyone lined up, one of the competitors in the restroom when the call to assemble was made. The cleanup crew around the starting line had just finished by the time the announcements started. Sponsorships, endorsements, blah blah blah. Sure, the Federation had to pay for organizing the League here, but it seemed like the ad blitz droned on longer than it should have.
The Master of Ceremonies for the race took over once all 26 racers assembled in one line. After each racer's name was called, the teams of Pokémon and trainer took their position behind the line, forming rows of four, with the fifth row containing only the last two - a Stoutland and Gogoat. "Little wonder," Josh thought. "That Gogoat probably won't even finish the race. Asking Nitro to race this course would be nothing but trouble, even after he evolved."
"Qualifying 20th position in the time trials, from Goldenrod, Johto, Josh Devlin and Twilight, his Absol!" He probably wasn't as recognizable as in the wilds, all suited up in his yellow-on-purple, lightning-motif gear. He waved to Koa and Agate one last time before mounting up, the Absol taking her place on the far outside of the fifth row. Once the next row had assembled, he realized he might have a difficult time getting off the line quickly - there was a Rapidash in front of him, a Rapidash behind him, and a third to his left. He was surrounded by Pokémon that could practically fly off the line.
As the racers continued to line up, a familiar name boomed from the speakers: "Qualifying 3rd position in the time trials, from Ash, Arciel, Raye Higgins and Razor, her Sceptile!" That name rang a bell as thunderous applause sounded for the hometown racer. Right! She was the racer that did so well with the Glaceon in the big race on the other side of the mountains. That was about a month ago - was she looking to turn pro? It seemed she had a wide variety of Pokémon to do so.
Once all the competitors were lined up, Josh leaned low on Twilight, trying to time a jab to the dark-type's sides in sync with the green light. He did need to pace her, though - this was a long course, and one where maintaining a Pokémon's stamina was important. If they wanted to finish in a decent position, they'd have to try to cut at least one corner using the ramps. A yellow light on the left side of the archway above the starting line signaled ready. Three seconds later, the marshal dropped the green flag, and the Rapidash surrounding Twilight bolted in front of her, despite a well-timed pulse of her rider's knees. She just didn't have the speed off the line that a Rapidash did, the two finding themselves in 24th place after a mere second.
Koa decided to get a seat in the stands next to Agate so they could continue their conversation. The racers all gathered to their lanes and prepared to begin the race. The tension in the air was palpable as the race soon came to a start. He waved at Josh as he waved to them from the track. He had his theories based on what little he has seen of the track "Speed isn't going to be the deciding factor here. It's handling and traction. Something tells me that this track will show who the risk takers are, and if those risks are worth taking for the win. Some may go too fast to make the turns. Others might fail a jump..." He said as he looked up at the various camera feeds. "This is going to be interesting..."
As Josh fell behind in the first seconds of the race, Koa didn't worry "See? They're already going really fast for this sort of track. Being the quickest to first place might be more harm than good in this instance." He said.
Though as the race was going on, something Agate said to him caught his attention. He took a brief moment to look at his Pokemon and concentrate his vision. Sure enough, the patterns and colors that Agate had described started to emanate from the Pokemon. He gave a smile "Oh! Well I'm sure you'll be glad to know that your eyes don't have any problems, necessarily...it seems to me that you have the ability to sense aura. Are you familiar with Lucario? Mienshao perhaps? There are Pokemon out there that can see and manipulate a force called aura. Everything has an aura, but it's something that only a select few can properly control or see. Let me prove it."
He pulled out a Pokeball and brought out his Popplio, Azura. He hugged her gently. "Her aura is a cute mix of yellow and pink. Do you see it?" He asked, curious. Azura wiggled about happily as she stared at the new person, then marveled at the race going on.
...Endorsement, advertisement... he's really not aware what sort of different beast the Pokemon Racing was! Agate's eyes just swimming through different banners, silently wondering what sort of products are these company selling. Could there be anything that had nothing to do with racing? Supplements, treatment ointments... actually they all probably related to the racing...
...It was long though, and if someone starting to get pissed, he won't blame them. So instead he looked at the racers down there... A Gogoat? Hmm, ain't that a bit too brave? The area is rather urbanlike, therefore the Gogoat won't have that much advantage either, won't it? Aren't they great at climbing or at scaling down mountains but a bit more of relaxing ride Pokemons? Hrm...
"Speed aren't the only factor..." Agate mused. Josh is on the 20th, and seem to be fallen to 24th immediately... Eeeh? Wait, he's probably pacing himself, huh. The red haired youth nodded at that musing.
...Huh, so his eyes doesn't have any problems? Agate blinked. "...Really?" he asked in disbelief. He thought he need to save up money to go to a specialist! "Aura..." he repeated. But then again, how on earth should he look at someone's aura? Agate blinked. "Um... Hate to say, but even if it's part of my ability, I couldn't really harness it..." he squinted, as best a she could... concentrate more? It looked like someone who's trying hard to pick up the tiniest detail.
But before long... "...Ah... the sensation is here again." Agate's eyes would be thinly veiled with glowing light, almost wispy, silky, and golden in color, his aura sight activating. "...Oh, you're right... Huh, then this wavy aura that's similar to flowing water on you is your aura? In that case..."
Agate calls out both Riku and Anat, Riku being the Riolu and Anat being the Lucario. Anat at a glance immediately understood what's going on and nodded.
"...Ugh, if you just want to teach me about aura you shouldn't came up suddenly being all hostile! It's bad for me and Riku!"
The female Lucario snorted as if saying "but you're fine anyway". Honedge: 4/5
Last Edit: May 22, 2020 5:28:04 GMT by Agate Valyn
As the rest of the pack continued to distance themselves from Twilight as well as the Stoutland and Gogoat behind him. The more he thought about it, the more he realized Rapidash weren't a bad choice for this track at all. Though there were some brutal curves, particularly toward the end, there were a lot of places that speed-focused Pokémon could let loose. Twilight was not one of those at all. While Josh did pass a trio of Boltund, Twilight cresting the first two curves nicely, one of them was quick to pass him again on the next one.
He could see Rapidash manes igniting, the flames obscuring their trainers as they dashed up the ramps on the inside line, leaping over the track's wall and safely onto the other side. All nine of them. "Holy..." he thought as Twilight cut off another Boltund trying to pass. Those guys were good - the way they controlled their Pokémon during the big leap, they could well have been demotions from Gold League. With the kinds of deadly curves coming, though, not even the pros could control a Pokémon like Rapidash at those kinds of speeds...right?
Farther up, Raye and her Sceptile were holding just outside top five as the course narrowed to four-wide from five-wide. The scoreboard's video screen followed some of the racers near her as they rounded a particularly nasty curve that flung the competitors left, then immediately whiplashed them back to the right. Two Rapidash trainers battling for the lead made contact with one another on the outside of the track, stumbling and finding themselves running against the wall. A Mightyena, Luxray, and Thievul all got caught behind them as well, their trainers unable to react in time.
MecJEK3qp_ {67 + 15 = 82}
Most of the rest of the field was able to whiz past the five Pokémon by the time they could recover, Josh included. He found himself fluctuating in the mid to high teens for position after navigating the first of two particularly deadly sections of the course. Those Rapidash were likely to pass him on the way back...at least during this lap. During boost laps, Twilight could really turn on the afterburners - her Quick Attack was the fastest speed burst Josh's entire team had at this point. It would just be a matter of timing and pacing.
Raye, on the other hand, was able to react with great speed, yanking her Sceptile hard on its left side. The grass-type nimbly skid around the crash and made it to one of the first dangerous parts of the course. While there was a long straight stretch, there were no walls to guard against falling off the course. That didn't matter to her, though - she slammed her heels into her mount, the Sceptile sounding a loud cry as it ran full speed. The two were starting to build quite a lead. With no traffic to deal with, falling off the course here was no threat to her at all.
Koa leaned forward a bit for a moment, invested with how this race seemed to be going. There were a lot of sharp corners but also a lot of straight paths. Maybe he was wrong about the Rapidash. If they just controlled their speed at the corners, they could easily keep a strong lead. They were popular for a reason, though that wasn't what Koa focused on. There was more to this than choice of Pokemon, just like with battles. Bond between racer and Pokemon was also important. When to use which moves and when. "Come on, Josh...you got this..." He muttered as the race continued. Whoever that was on the Sceptile, though admittedly didn't like how rough she was being. Was it just a racer thing, or was she pushing it too hard? "I'm not sure how I feel about the rider on the Sceptile...it seems a bit much." He admitted.
He glanced over to Agate along with the Riolu and Lucario. So he did have Aura using Pokemon with him. "It's not surprising you didn't know about the aura at first. I got incredibly lucky since I found some articles online shortly after awakening to it, but it still took me a long time to start really...refining it." He reached over to the Riolu with a cautious hand and would attempt to pet them gently before pulling his hand back. "Luckily for you, you've got a potential teacher in that Lucario. You should see what they've got to teach you at some point. Have the Riolu join the training too." He suggested with a smile. Azura waved at the Lucario and Riolu with a beaming smile.
He smiled a bit "Yeah, my aura is sort of wave like. Sort of like the ocean, which I guess suits me." He said with a blush. He looked back at the race and tried to concentrate on it. While he had his reservations on how hard some of the racers pushed their Pokemon, he could understand it to a certain degree. However, to him, there was such a thing as going too far. Josh seemed to be doing very well though. He and Twilight worked together well and weaved passed some tricky situations there. Now to see if the two of them could keep this up.
Agate really had no idea what's going on, but man, those Rapidash... He wondered if Josh would be like that too, especially now that he have a Ponyta of his own. Not to mention, his Ponyta is huge. Agate cannot imagine himself doing any of those obviously, but it does make the young boy really enjoying the sight of the Pokemons doing all those sort of thing. If he were to participate, he wondered what sort of Pokemon would he use? Luxray? Lycanroc? There are so many choices, and it's all exciting! But what excites him most probably the notion of being able to take the sky with Randgris. Apparently the corvid Pokemon are known as ruler of skies in Galar, with size about 2.2 meters on the shoulder. With her pedigree, apparently Randgris could easily reach more than three meters. That's a ridiculous size!
"Hmmm, the Sceptile one huh..." Agate rubbed his chin in musing. "....Come to think of it, I saw that lady in news once... just in passing though... about how she's hurt with her Glaceon or something... But she already recovered enough huh... Her hastiness might come from her pain? I don't think she has entirely recovered but that's me... Or perhaps, she got too panicked... I think anyone would with their promotion hanging in this sort of tourney..."
But he seriously agreed with Koa. That was a bit too forceful. Is she that seriously in dangerous condition?
"Hmmm, I guess I'll train them! Thanks for the pointer, hmmm..." Alolan people call each other cousins, right? "Cousin Koa!" or here hoping he didn't sound too forward with it, heh. Agate felt someone patting him on the shoulder, and notices that it's Anat. She pointed at his stomach, then trails up with her claw to his forehead.
"...Are you telling me to focus this strange feeling on my core to my eyes?"
A nod. Agate tried to do that once again... But he still had no idea what's the use of it. It only makes world looks too bright... But he guess he might as well see how it goes...
It was only halfway through the first lap and Josh had already dodged a lot of proverbial bullets; such a large crash was unusual on the first lap of any race due to the slower speeds. He quickly glanced back, cutting off one of the Rapidash that tried to pass him on the long but dangerous straightaway. The pack of equine Pokémon ahead of him all flared up their burning manes, a stampede of hooves drowning out all other noise on the northeast side of the course. Two aggressive racers ascended the ramp before the course's meanest S-curve, fighting for the ideal jump angle. Only one of them succeeded, passing the rest of the tightly-packed racers in the vicinity and launching into top ten. The other found nothing but net - their run was over.
Josh's plan was only to take advantage of the ramps during boost laps - wise, given the Absol did not have the raw speed a lot of the other Pokémon did. She did, however, have sharp claws that could dig into almost any terrain. "Alright, see if you can slide through this one!" Rather than try to cut the corner with the ramp, Josh guided Twilight to the outside of the track, close to its edge, before yanking her into a sharp, right turn.
ka8a5a86p_ {59 + 15 = 74}
Just as she executed the turn and found herself on the inside of the S-curve, her rider tugged on the white Pokémon again, this time in the opposite direction. Sparks flew from the tremendous friction between the asphalt and her razor-sharp claws, the maneuver gaining Josh a lot of ground but no position as of yet. The next part would be critical though - there were no guard walls from here until reaching the home stretch, and there was a 180-degree turn coming up.
As Josh was just starting to come up to the curve before the 180, he saw a Sceptile race by on another section of track - was he really that far behind? He also heard the cries of a Boltund and an older male ahead - though he could not see it, some incidental contact on the right-angle curve caused the electric dog to trip and go sailing over the edge of the highway, an outstretched net helping to break their fall to the grass below. That was two disqualifications already. He couldn't imagine how many more there would be, particularly on laps where the Pokémon would be flying down the long straightaways at dangerous speeds.
Koa was a little caught off guard by someone calling him Cousin all of a sudden. It's been a very long time since someone referred to him as such, so when he heard it he couldn't help but smile. "Of course! And if you need any more advice please let me know. Also, keep an ear out for rumors of wandering packs of Aura using Pokemon. Training with them really helps increase your control and understanding of Aura. They can be a bit hard to find, but trust me, it's worth it."
Now his attention was back on the race. He watched Josh's position on one of the monitors and actually got up from his seat at the winding turn that he was navigating through. Once he made it through, he cheered for him "Yes! Keep it up, man!" he clapped once before sitting back down. Now this was getting exciting. There were still those that had a rather significant lead on him, but it was only the first lap.
He frowned as several of the racers were disqualified already. Even though there were safety nets, it still seemed extremely dangerous to fall out of bounds on this track. He hoped the ones who crashed and their Pokemon were all okay. At the very least, medical crews were on standby in case anything serious happened. "I can see why people get so into this. This is intense." He said with a nervous laugh. "Still, I can't help but worry about their safety. Though it's not too different from Pokemon battling. Injuries happen, and the best last-second decisions can usually decide the victor. I suppose a lot of competitive situations hold the same sort of idea."
He really had underestimated the hardness of the city track it seems... The injuries and such are very real, and it's... concerning, in many different ways. Agate winced when he saw someone gone too fast and ended up going off track. Apparently it's a ground for disqualification, which... in a sense, fair. Though, he was surprised that apparently you don't have to follow a set route as long as you ended up in the track anyway. Does that means anyone who unable to jump or turn fast enough to not jump would be at a disadvantage then?
"...Hmmm..."
But for the meantime, Agate need to ask Koa something. "Oh, I do have a simple question... What sort of imaginary do you use whenever you activated your ability? Apparently according to Anat I have to pull that feeling from my core, and it goes up to the place I want it to affect... but somehow I don't feel that's the only way... like... I don't quite get the mental imaginary at all."
As for Koa's words. "...Hmmm, that actually makes me wonder if... if they're not allowed to put on more tools or sort, like... horseshoe or similar to that? Basically, things to protect the Pokemon. With how the asphalt interacted with Josh's Absol's claws, it made me wonder if it's something that can be abused... But hmmm...
Anyway, I think it's a bit different than in Pokemon Battle. At least in Pokemon Battle, the chance of the trainer getting hurt is rather low? But in this case, both getting hurt, chance of them hurt at the same time is pretty high! ...While I know it doesn't make sense sometimes to say this, I prefer this racing compared to Pokemon Battling... I think? Are you aware of the term "together in one body and mind"? I think that's what happened here... the rider and Pokemon must be synchronized to higher extent than in pokemon battling... that's what I think at least! Showcasing the bond is stronger than in just a Pokemon battle!"
This was it - the most brutal curve on the course. Josh eased up on Twilight but kept her in the center of the course - there was no telling if someone would try to come up behind them on this turn. One incidental nudge from the left could easily send Twilight sliding across the road and off the course. Once they were a few feet from the access road they would be turning around at, Josh shifted his weight hard to the left, his knee looking like it was dangerously close to the pavement from the camera angle that the footage was being shot from.
lxbdTj1cp_ {27 + 15 = 42}
The yellow-suited competitor had nearly turned too soon - as sparks were flying from her claws in an effort to rush around the hairpin curve, Twilight stumbled. Her front left claw barely caught the grassy slope between the access road and the main highway, her tight grip the only thing keeping the two from tumbling into the net below. He caught a glimpse of another Rapidash and racer who had met the same fate and weren't quite so lucky. That was the third Rapidash the track had claimed, and technically another position advanced...though it more felt like he was treading water. Later laps were Twilight's chance to shine, though.
Raucous Pokémon cries filled the home stretch in front of the stands as Raye and her Sceptile crossed the line almost two full seconds before the rest of the field, many of the Pokémon entering into Quick Attacks, Double Teams, and the like the moment they crossed the line. The six remaining Rapidash in particular looked pumped, their flaming manes extending well beyond body length. It had to be hard for their riders to even see. The moment Twilight slid through the final turn before the home stretch, Josh tensed up in his legs, ready to spur the Absol into a Quick Attack chain that would get him back in this race.
Koa thought about Agate's question intently "Hm..." He crossed his arms as he tried to figure out the best way to explain in "You know how you relax your eyes to give yourself a little more peripheral vision? It's a mixture of focusing and relaxing your body, which sounds...strange, I know, but that's the best way I can explain it. You have to let your aura flow naturally throughout your body to properly access it. As for how to imagine it...imagine you're...putting on glasses or looking through binoculars? Maybe that'll help?" He chuckled nervously. "I'm not a very good teacher, sorry..."
He shuddered "I hope they're allowed to have some kind of protection on their feet. Asphalt will just chip and break claws...I've seen Pokemon break claws and it's not pleasant."
He shook his head a bit "While I see your point I'll have to disagree. Battles and racing require you to be in sync with your Pokemon. The more of a bond you have with them, the better you will both perform and trust one another. So both require some measure of being in sync with one another. Still, it does put the trainer in more danger, you're definitely right about that."
As the race continued, more racers were struggling to continue on. Josh had a rough turn, but it looked like he managed to push through just fine. Now the second lap approached and the Pokemon started to increase their speed with various moves. The first lap was now over and Josh had comfortable made it to a decent position. Still he had a long way to go if he wanted to place well. "Now they're going even faster? I can only guess more are going to get disqualified shortly."
Putting on a glasses or putting on binocular... Agate lifted his hand first, to check whether he could emulate that feeling of lifting binocular to his eyes. However, it's not quite there yet... hmmm... let's try the relaxing and concentrating method then? ...Once again... he lifted the hand, which is holding nothing, then swept his hand above to his eyes. This time, it's a success. For now perhaps he need to think how to activate it with less gestures, in more effective way.
"Mmm, actually that seem to be worked! You shouldn't be so modest on your ability to teach! When it comes to teaching it's two way road. Sure that the student's success are undeniable metric of a teacher's ability, but even then, it's just one side. Just because someone doesn't quite get it doesn't automatically spells that you're a bad teacher."
Hmmm, there's a crossed wire it seems. "It's not that I think there's no bond involved in Pokemon Battle. Sure that the Pokemon and Trainer must be in sync for an order and technique to be executed 100%, but... In case of Pokemon Battling, I think the fact that the human isn't quite at risk doesn't seem like an equal exchange you know? Again, just my personal opinion."
Agate winced at the near fail at that turn. "...Dang, that was close..." ...15 out of 23 remaining... That is barely pass isn't it? Agate grimaced. Deep inside, he cheered for his acquaintance. Everyone will probably use their booster around here, huh.
"...How many laps are there anyway? Is a lap is all it takes?" Agate asked.
Agate's question would be answered with a simple look at the scoreboard - there were three laps in this race. Some courses were so long that only two laps were needed - others were so short that more that three laps were needed. This one, though, was three. A long three, but still.
The flames of the Rapidash fighting for second place looked like they were going to burn up the track. Many of the Pokémon were harder to follow from the trailing images many of the Quick-Attacking Pokémon left behind. Raye was flung around in the saddle quite a bit as Razor yanked his rider back and forth, using his Agility to navigate the right-angle turns at what seemed like whiplash-inducing speeds. The two were really running away with this one, though many of the fire-types with explosive speed, like Rapidash, were doing their best to keep up. By the time the line was in sight, the field had spread itself into several clusters of racers: Raye by herself, a bunch of fire-types battling for the next six spots, and a seemingly random set of Pokémon fighting for the next seven positions. Josh was a distant 15th. On the plus side, he had a lot of track to work with - he could run the first part of this lap like it was a time trial.
The moment Twilight crossed the line, Josh squeezed her sides hard, trailing images of himself and his Absol when she dashed down the opening stretch. The Pokémon at the front of the pack, and even the ones in Josh's sight, were running faster than it was legal to drive on the city highways, thanks to their varying speedy techniques. With no one to bump into, Josh decided it was time to take some risks to advance his position. After sliding around the apex of the first two turns easily thanks to wide-open track, he jabbed at the horned Pokémon's sides again. "Floor it, Twilight!" Josh cried, headed straight up one of the jump ramps. The Pokémon leaped from the ramp's edge, sailing over the track's inside corner and through the air.
bftDLs68p_ {67 + 15 = 82}
Her jump angle was perfect - the Absol gracefully leaped over the track's wall, catching quite a bit of height off the ramp before safely landing on the other side, now just behind the big group in front of him. A couple more jumps like that, and Josh would be in the top half of the field before he knew it.
Koa nodded at Agate, happy that he was able to help him figure out how to use his sight. At the very least a starting point to channeling it more effectively. "See? You're doing great! You'll learn how to use it well in time." He said happily. He blushed a bit at Agate saying he shouldn't be so modest about his teaching abilities. Was he really doing that well for him? It was a nice compliment but it was still a lot to take in. "You know...that makes sense. Thanks, Agate."
He nodded a bit "Ah, I must have misunderstood what you said. Sorry. You're right about that for sure. In official Pokemon battles, the humans are pretty much safe due to rules put in place. That's not always the case though. Anything goes out in the wild and humans are in danger too in the event of a wild Pokemon attack or a criminal tries to take something from you. Though I might just be going on an unrelated tangent at this point. In an official sense, yes, riders are at much more physical risk than trainers."
There was a bit of a rough turn for Josh, but they scrambled back and recovered "He's not out of this yet." He said. "That was a rough turn, but he got out of it. It's only the second lap now, so he's in a decent spot right now."
He watched what Josh was doing and stood up from his seat "Wait, there's no way he's..." He watched as Josh took that gamble and soared off the ramp in an attempt to cut the corner of the track. Koa sat down and sighed as he cleared the jump "He's really going for it...he's taking those big risks to get himself caught up. If he's not careful, he's going to fall out of bounds."
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