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While Josh didn't have full access to Hank Winters' dossier, since he was only working a contract for the League, he knew just how important his mission was. Hank was a high profile target for the League, possessing information that would expose multiple critical Rocket operations if he was interrogated. Traditional interrogation techniques were ineffective on Hank; he would need to be transferred from Lilycove City to a maximum security facility with a full interrogation room, located on an island in the middle of Lilycove Bay.

Thankfully, Josh's contract only put him in the B-squad. It was a perfect fit for the Pokémon racer; if Hank broke free, it was his responsibility to chase the prisoner down and bring him back into custody. Many of his Pokémon could outrun commercial vehicles, including Aslan, the Pyroar he was astride. Unlike most feline Pokémon, he had no need for stealth to catch his prey; he was just that fast. Saber, his Manectric, trotted alongside Aslan as a backup.

Once Lilycove was out of sight, all hell broke loose. A Blizzard attack obscured Josh's line of sight with his target. By the time it cleared, there was a pile of unconscious bodies covered in Rage Powder. He heard a revving motorcycle engine slowly get more distant, a Dhelmise keeping pace while carrying the target in its Power Whips.

The entire A-squad had been incapacitated. It was largely up to Josh now; he was going to have to earn his paycheck. He sprung into action. "Saber, Aslan, after them!" With a Noble Roar, the fire-type feline dashed alongside Saber. He had aerial Pokémon in case their jail-breakers did as well, but the Pyroar's raw speed should let the two gain significant ground. As they passed the site of the attack, Josh saw what was distinctively a Decidueye quill lodged in a dead officer's shoulder. His eyes immediately started shifting between the target and the sky.

He had company. Now where was it?

Isaac Merlo Gerald Kaiser

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Resheph       Dragonair      Good
Twilight      Absol          Good
Aslan         Pyroar         Good
Saber         Manectric      Good
Bladestorm    Skarmory       Good
Crash         Boltund        Good

{WC: 332}
{PC: 1}

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Josh, Saber, and Aslan were rapidly gaining on their target, who was distracted with assisting their Dhelmise remove their jailbroken ally's bindings. "Not on my watch!" he shouted boldly, almost foolishly, announcing his presence. "Saber, Quick Attack!" The Electric-type ran ahead of Josh and Aslan, now just barely behind the motorcycle. "Now, short circuit that motorcycle with your Discharge!"

Saber's fur crackled with electrical arcing as he kept pace with the escapees. Halfway through charging up, an Amoonguss popped out of hiding from the passenger car, flinging a Spore cloud into Saber's face before he could react. Perhaps Saber's heroic effort, despite only resulting in a half-power Discharge attack, would be enough to at least cause the driver to experience control issues.

Josh, on the other hand, had more time to react to the Spore cloud, yanking hard on Aslan's left side. The speeding lion swerved to the opposite side of the bike. "Now, use Take Down!" With a loud roar, the Pyroar swerved toward the small vehicle, trying to get it to spin out and amplify any control problems Saber made a great sacrifice to induce.

A split second after Josh issued his command, the sound of whirring arrows filled the air around him. Before he could even react, he felt himself be yanked backwards with a tremendous amount of force. While the Spirit Shackle arrow did not strike Josh directly, it struck his shadow and kept the shadow pinned down. The result was the rider being yanked from his Pyroar's saddle with whiplash-inducing force and leaving him prone, without the strength to stand for far more time than he'd like.

It pulled Josh back far enough for him to witness a second strike as it was happening; a second Spirit Shackle arrow struck Saber in the back of the head - a critical hit! With great reaction time, Josh immediately tried to recall the Manectric and lock the Poké Ball shut, knowing he could not open it again until after he got to a Pokémon Center. That kind of injury could cause permanent damage if not treated promptly.

Unfortunately for him, his immediate attempts to withdraw Saber failed, and the Manectric's pained cries for help grew more and more weak. In an act of foolhardy desperation, Josh yanked the stuck quill out of the ground, flailing his right hand about as it burned hot. He scrambled over to his Pokémon and yanked the stuck quill out with his other hand, afterward feeling like he had stuck both his hands in an oven. With the quills gone, he was able to recall his Manectric, but was starting to lose feeling in both his hands aside from the awful burning sensation of making direct contact with the Decidueye's ghostly flames.

Based on the quills' landing spots, their source had to be coming from directly behind. Josh looked down at his belt, unable to rely on his sense of touch to feel where Bladestorm's and Resheph's Poké Balls were. He released both Bladestorm and Resheph, then climbed aboard his Dragonair. "Bladestorm, these are Decidueye quills. Find where they're coming from and take care of it. Resheph, we gotta catch up to the others!" He left the dragon-type's reins be; with little feeling in his hands, Josh was better off relying on his Pokémon to do the piloting for him.

A third arrow flew toward Aslan and phased right through him, to no effect. The riderless Pyroar, carrying out his Ranger's wishes, used his speed advantage to try to catch up to the bike and use Take Down to try to crash it.

Isaac Merlo Gerald Kaiser

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Josh          Human          Fair
Resheph       Dragonair      Good
Twilight      Absol          Good
Aslan         Pyroar         Good
Saber         Manectric      KO
Bladestorm    Skarmory       Good
Crash         Boltund        Good

{WC: 602}
{PC: 2}

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It was working! Aslan's tackle caused Isaac's motorcycle to lose stability and start spinning out! They were coming up to a ledge, too. This was where he would make his stand. He had them cornered! All he needed to do was hold them back until Josh and his Pokémon arrived. It wouldn't take long, either; Resheph was swift. Aslan's red fur glowed and his mouth opened wide, ready to blow Isaac's and his team's eardrums out with Hyper Voice. Maybe he would even rattle some sensitive parts inside the bike out of place.

All that changed when Dhelmise's Anchor Shot grappled Isaac and his passengers to a nearby tree. They spun around the tree several times to build speed before launching themselves in the opposite direction, slingshot style. Aslan was thrown off balance purely from the tremendous air displacement as their pursuit target passed within feet of him.

Meanwhile, Bladestorm scanned the skies for Josh's assailant. With her speed and superior vision, it did not take him long to locate the Decidueye causing all the trouble. He let out a loud screech to announce his presence, his wings producing a tinny hum from containing the pressure of the compressed air blades about to burst out. He charged full throttle toward the grass-type sniper and made himself a living missile mid-Brave Bird, completely ignoring Decidueye's Leaf Storm. The leaf arrows all bounced off his metal armor.

Josh and Resheph gave chase, closing in on the cliffside that Aslan was holding them up at. He faintly heard the word "Surprise!" over the roar of Isaac's motorcycle. That was all the warning he needed.

"Resheph, use your Agility to fly high--"

Then, everything turned white. White, cold, and tingly. While Resheph managed to swerve to get her rider out of the way of the center of the attack, the Blizzard and Discharge still grazed Josh. Even the outer bands of the electric cold were enough to take most of the rest of the wind out of him. Unable to fly in her pained state, Resheph used her last bit of consciousness to fling Josh out of the saddle, so at least he wouldn't get crushed by the collapsing Dragonair.

Knowing he couldn't continue any longer, Josh called for backup from the League officers supervising his mission. "It's Devlin! I'm down! Repeat: I'm down and need backup! I'm at Overlook Cove on Route 121! Send help as quick...ly..." he trailed off, barely able to keep his eyes open. While he wasn't quite unconscious yet, he had lost meaningful consciousness due to the trauma he had been put through. If he took that Blizzard and Discharge full force...he didn't want to think about it. Aslan was on the way to Josh's aid, but it would take him some time to get there.

Isaac Merlo Gerald Kaiser

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Josh          Human          KO
Resheph       Dragonair      KO
Twilight      Absol          Good
Aslan         Pyroar         Fair
Saber         Manectric      KO
Bladestorm    Skarmory       Fair
Crash         Boltund        Good

{WC: 468}
{PC: 3}

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The Charizard's sudden presence on its own caused Bladestorm to back off; he knew that while he had a speed advantage, that dragon could melt him with a single fireball. Dissuaded from pursuing such a dangerous foe he could not see, the Skarmory rolled sharply to reverse course and start flying back toward Josh.

Meanwhile, back at the crash site, Josh had recovered consciousness in time to see the Rocket he was chasing had just covered his grievous wounds in rejuvenating Pollen Puffs. Did the person he was just trying to apprehend minutes ago just save his life? The electrical burns on top of patches of frostbitten skin left him in pain still, but not so much as to be maddening.

While he did not have the coherence to form a sentence, he raised his shaky right hand and signaled a thumbs-up. Even if he wanted to give chase, he was in no physical condition to do so. The Pollen Puffs healed him to the point where the burned skin would not need to be surgically removed; he would be on the DL for a while, but he would make his return in full capacity. Josh raised his head and smiled toward the young man who saved his life before he turned his motorcycle around and zoomed off.

By the time Josh's backup arrived, he felt well enough to sit, though he still did not have much feeling in his arms. He recalled all of his Pokémon, including Bladestorm who had arrived last. He gave his report to Law Enforcement, including a description of the likely-unregistered motorcycle and the presence of a sniper with a Decidueye. The head of the backup squad propped Josh onto a police Arcanine, and the team returned to local Law Enforcement headquarters. Josh would have plenty of time to recount his story at the infirmary.

Isaac Merlo Gerald Kaiser

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Josh          Human          Poor
Resheph       Dragonair      KO
Twilight      Absol          Good
Aslan         Pyroar         Fair
Saber         Manectric      KO
Bladestorm    Skarmory       Fair
Crash         Boltund        Good

{WC: 311}
{PC: 5}

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