[S] Blast Off!

While Izoni's wings didn't flap fast enough to buzz, they kicked up quite the sand blast when she flew a bit too close to the ground. Raiden reared in fright as one of the Ultra Beast's side stings grazed him, lightly and harmlessly scratching him. "Careful, Izoni! Try to put some distance between us when you're flying around!" Of course, she could not understand a word Josh was saying; instead, she kept her eyes peeled for a Pokémon to plunge her stings into.

A low rumble startled Raiden, causing her to rear and the Naganadel to shoot skyward to the zone's height limit. "Easy, Raiden!" Josh grunted, his thighs and waist aching from her saddle going nearly vertical out of fear. Whatever was coming, it was big.

With the Stakataka out of sight, Josh carefully slid off the bucking Zebstrika, seeing what the problem was. It was clear why he was not okay; some shrapnel from the exploding rocks lodged their way into the equine's sensitive rear, much like the scratchy substance put into a bull's rear to get it to buck. It was painful for the trainer to watch, let alone feel.

His back sore from having to absorb all that shifting weight, Josh withdrew Raiden and sent out Izoni, trying to get to know the Naganadel better. Where its PokéSpeech would be was just a random assortment of suit icons, the Ultra Beast looking ready to give a HELPING HAND to the next Pokémon ally in sight.

What in the world was that clown Pokémon? Whatever it was, it sure was powerful: that MIND BLOWN attack was one of the most brutal Josh had ever seen. Were Izoni not a dragon-type, even she would have been brought down in one blow. Down two Pokémon, going back to Thunderfall Shrine seemed like an inevitability.

Switching out some Pokémon wouldn't be the worst idea, either; with all the dragon and fire Pokémon he had seen, Ulysses would be a great Pokémon for the arid environment. Bringing both Raiden and Granmarg wouldn't be the worst idea; having a backup mount in case a quick retreat was needed would be very important.

Now where was that living rocket?

Aha, there it was. Coming at Josh and his Naganadel at ludicrous speeds, its thrusters roaring louder than jet engines. Were his pain thresholds not reduced, he may have suffered hearing damage in-game.

Diving into the sand in an effort to get out of the Invasive Species' targeting range, the foe's HEAVY SLAM was instead pointed at Izoni, crashing into the Naganadel and leaving her just barely flying. By the time she could prepare an attack, her target was too far away. Operating on gambit, she scanned for a Pokémon to use HELPING HAND upon, invigorating Alkaid 's GROOKEY.

Josh, seeing another trainer nearby, waved toward the redhead. "Hey! Mind giving me a hand with this thing?!" he cried, the wild performing a 180 and accelerating to takeoff thrust. Whatever its next attack was, it was going to hurt.

The HEAVY SLAM had left Izoni's model blinking: a sign that its HP were critically low. As the Celesteela turned around, the Naganadel was ready this time, jaws opening wide to discharge a potent DRAGON PULSE all over her rival.

Rather than taking advantage of its supreme physical strength, the Celesteela turned around, getting stuck on the flight ceiling intentionally. That way, it would be stuck in position as it discharged a FLASH CANNON from its thrusters. Josh's partner fell from the sky, a trail of energy returning to the Poké Ball. "How was I supposed to know there were random mini-boss encounters out here?!" he called, trying to add more to his argument before he started fading away in a white silhouette...

"Faster, Raiden! QUICK ATTACK!" Josh cried, spurring his electric equine into a sprint that pushed his cheeks back some. The wind howled around him as his mount's hooves sparked, adding even more speed but sapping stamina quite a bit. All that practice at the Surge Steppes made the increased velocity barely tolerable.

As Alkaid and the Celesteela came back into view, their quarry was flashing, like it would despawn soon. With Alkaid the party leader now, thanks to Josh having fallen previously, attention seemed to be on him. That wouldn't last for long, the Zebstrika stopping at nothing to ram and trample one of the Invasive Species' side rockets, perhaps jamming some of its exhaust pipes.

"Sorry I took so long!" he called back to his partner, reining the electric horse to a much more manageable speed.

With how fast the Zebstrika was, it may have looked like a Manectric to the redhead. "Ended up blacking out and got booted back to Thunderfall Shrine! At least you still seem to be kicking!" Josh called back, breathing a sigh of relief before sliding off his steed and letting his Pokémon battle instead of ferry him around.

Josh was concerned when Alkaid mentioned an explosion. "Then we better win this damage race, or we'll need to go hunting for another one!" Rearing and enveloping himself in flames, the Zebstrika lined up a FLAME CHARGE toward its exhaust pipes.