Josh grumbled as he picked up his Pokémon from Slateport Round One's main locker room after a tiring but productive Step Step Revolution session. He was only a few missions away from reaching Platinum Rank on the official Silph leaderboards, but those missions took him well outside of his current comfort zone with the game. Those 18s, man. Shalin was a much more skilled player than he was, and even she struggled to score on those. Granted, she was in Diamond Rank pushing Cobalt, which was just a whole different level of skill. He wasn't grumbling about anything related to the game, though.

The complaints Josh had were about how Splashfest had caused so many road closures, including the closure of the main thoroughfare leading to and from the arcade. He would need to take some back alleys to get back to his hotel room, and flying was not an option in downtown Slateport. He stepped out of the air-conditioned mall and released Resheph from her Poké Ball. Forbidden by city statute from levitating more than a few feet off the ground with a rider, the Dragonair let Josh mount up, and slowly floated about the alleyways to get back to the main thoroughfare. Josh popped in some headphones, listening to some aggressive-sounding synth metal. The alleys were confusing; he hoped he could remember the way back...

Asher Baran

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Resheph       Dragonair      Good
Twilight      Absol          Good
Aslan         Pyroar         Good
Saber         Manectric      Good
Crash         Boltund        Good
Blitz         Luxray         Good

{WC: 228}
{PC: 1}

The guy wasn't much older than Asher, and so the red head sent out Bones, his shiny Alolan Marowak. The victim sent out a Mightyena. The fight didn't last long, and the guy left with a black eye, scraped face, and a bloody nose, his Pokemon not in much better condition. It was really quite laughable that a fifteen year old took on a young adult, both in a Pokemon battle and man on man, and won. Sighing he was about to go in the opposite direction when he saw a shadow. That made him freeze and look up.

And saw a noodle. Okay, it was a Dragonair. And it was potentially super effective against half his team...since you know, most of his were fire types. But he didn't know for sure if it, or its trainer, spotted him. Or heard the battle. Still, he and Bones darted next to the wall, and just tried to play it cool. But it was still plenty obvious that he had been up to no good. Slipping past the pile of wallets that was behind some trash cans, he just kept going. Hopefully it would be a quick and easy get-away. But he also sure as heck wasn't going to back down from a fight.

Josh Devlin

The canine squeal of what Josh could only presume was a suffering Pokémon put him on alert, turning his music off and prompting him to remove his earbuds. His eyes, as well as Resheph's, shifted back and forth. Yes, there were a lot of Pokémon battles going on; it was Splashfest, after all. A battle in such narrow confines, though, was suspect on its own. That squeal sounded close, too.

While he wasn't formally on duty at the moment, Josh was required to carry his Ranger credentials on him at all times. He had his Dragonair turn a corner, and found signs of a scuffle. The longer he stayed, the more he didn't like what he was seeing. After the two had fully turned the corner, he saw a young man and a gleaming Alolan Marowak on one side of the alleyway. "You two okay?" the tall, black-haired rider asked. "I'm having a lot of trouble getting back to the festival grounds, what with all the roads closed." The Rookie Ranger's small-talk bluff was pretty obvious; anyone could tell he was on edge and suspicious of the trainer and his Alolan Marowak.

Asher Baran

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Resheph       Dragonair      Good
Twilight      Absol          Good
Aslan         Pyroar         Good
Saber         Manectric      Good
Crash         Boltund        Good
Blitz         Luxray         Good

{WC: 194}
{PC: 2}

Despite the trash cans helping to hide his thievery, they could probably still be seen by someone observant. And he didn't know just how observant this guy was. The oddly colored Marowak eyed the Dragonair. The blazing red head just raised an eyebrow when the guy came down, and asked if he was okay. "Yeah, I'm fine." A bit standoffish. His amber eyes looked to see if he could find a weapon on the guy. Asher himself kept his tanto dagger hidden behind his back. It was a keepsake from his grandfather. But sayed plenty sharp and a viable option should he ever need it. And thankfully, he never had to actually use it.

The man further explained why he was taking the alley. Oh really? You have a semi-legendary that can fly/float, and you're having trouble getting to the festival grounds. Looking pointedly at the Dragonair, Asher spoke. "You're a dumbass if you can't make it on a floating Pokemon. You're pretty close to it anyways. Just walk over there, turn right, and just keep going. You'll run into it." Hopefully, the guy wasn't too observant. But if he persisted in his questioning or bullshitting with him, his oddly colored Alolan Marowak stomped up, ready to go into brute mode. And if that still didn't do anything...well, Bones would start this fight off with a Double-Edge attack, and his Rock Head ability basically letting him go all day with the attack.

Josh Devlin

It was easy for the redhead to see that other than having a full team of Pokémon on him, Josh was unarmed. "Just sounds like someone was hurt, that's all." This teenager felt more and more menacing by the moment. If things escalated too much more, he had to be prepared to get help from festival Rangers. There were plenty of Rangers on site if it came to that. He hoped it didn't.

Josh's eyes shifted about as he passed by the sassy young man, catching a glimpse of the dirty work he had been doing. "You know traffic laws apply to Pokémon as well, right?" he asked, the off-duty Ranger pulling out his phone to alert Law Enforcement of his trouble. "It's not like I'm going to fly over signs that say Road Closed. The road is closed for--OOF!"

SMAAAASSH!!

Josh was cut off as Bones' Double-Edge attack clocked Resheph, launching Josh clean out of her saddle, over Resheph's head and into a heap on the ground, in the alleyway's dead end. His phone flew out of his hand and broke a rear window in the kitchen of a restaurant. There was no calling for help. There was no easy escaping, either. He had to fight his way out...or buy enough time for the cooks within to notice the scuffle outside and call Law Enforcement.

"Resheph, Aqua Tail, now!" Josh cried, still trying to right himself after the rough landing. While there was not enough room for the Dragonair to wind up for her low sweep, she was able to orient the attack vertically and send a lash of water flying toward the Alolan Marowak.

Asher Baran

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Josh          Human          Fair
Resheph       Dragonair      Poor
Twilight      Absol          Good
Aslan         Pyroar         Good
Saber         Manectric      Good
Crash         Boltund        Good
Blitz         Luxray         Good

{WC: 279}
{PC: 3}

Seriously? As if anyone was going to call the cops over that. It was time for action. And Bones delivered, sending the guy's phone into a building. The door was luckily right there if he needed a way out. But this guy was going to have to go through him if he had planned on trying to use it. The interloper got up, a little worse for wear, and ordered his Dragonair to use Aqua Tail. That wasn't good, but about what he expected. Bones, however, had a good bit of battle experience. Avoiding the water, the Alolan Marowak burst into green flames, and charged at the dragon with Flare Blitz. Again, his Rock Head ability made it so Bones can use it all day long.

Asher for his part, darted around the battling Pokemon and aimed a punch at the guy's gut, followed by a punch to the face. The boy was plenty athletic, and could hit hard. But then again, he didn't know how well trained this guy was. Assuming he was even trained at all or just a brawler like he was. Much like his opponent, he had a full team of six on him. Aside from the three that he came to Hoenn with, he also had Bowy the Cyndiquill, Dazzle the Selazzle, and Kraken the shiny Magikarp. Everyone else was keeping his temporary home safe from others.

Josh Devlin

While Josh was athletic like Asher was, he was not at all trained in hand-to-hand combat, and it showed. He reacted by trying to deflect the gut punch, which left him wide open to being socked in the cheek. His right side jaw was throbbing; this young man had some real strength to be able to land a blow like that! Resheph wasn't doing too much better, either; the Alolan Marowak's Flare Blitz downed the dragon-type.

Josh lurched toward the side of the alleyway and withdrew Resheph. "Aslan!" Josh called on his male Pyroar, who took up most of the width of the alleyway after being brought out of his Poké Ball. "NOBLE ROAR!" The tall feline let out a bellowing shout intended to stun the Alolan Marowak and its trainer long enough for Josh to scurry onto his fire-type's saddle and run the two over. He wanted to at least make a retreat to a wider alleyway where his Pokémon would be able to fight more effectively. There would be time to retrieve his phone later; the restaurant had a front entrance, too. He just need to get out of here without suffering too many more injuries.

Asher Baran

{WC: 199}
{PC: 4}

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Josh          Human          Poor
Resheph       Dragonair      KO
Twilight      Absol          Good
Aslan         Pyroar         Good
Saber         Manectric      Good
Crash         Boltund        Good
Blitz         Luxray         Good

That was one down, now for the trainer. Or so Asher thought. The guy might have succeeded in stopping his gut punch, but his hook connected pretty well. But it also didn't stop the guy from switching Pokemon, letting out a male Pyroar. The Roar did startle both him and Bones, making them take steps back and giving distance. That gave the ranger enough time to saddle up and charge them. Both boy and Pokemon darted to the edges of the alleyway. Time to encourage their retreat. Taking out a pokeball, he released the Kracken. The golden Magikarp. It wasn't just the coloring that was unusual though.

Catching the fish, he and bones reunited to the center of the alley, his golden fish looking angry. "Kraken...Hydro Pump. Encourage them to run." With Bones bracing the boy, Kraken glubbed in confirmation. With a deep breath, he shot out a torrent of water at such force that even with Bones's help, nearly toppled the boy over. That should keep the guy from coming back until he was long gone! After the ranger was away, he would return his fish, and run away laughing his ass off.

Josh Devlin

At last, some room to maneuver. Aslan slid around to face the entrance alley head-on, his red mane glowing and heating up. He was ready to loose a FLAMETHROWER above the alley, in an attempt to superheat the alleyway itself and force the small thief to battle on Josh's terms. His foe wasn't intending on allowing that, though; the golden Magikarp that emerged from the Poké Ball started foaming water around the mouth, the two mixing to create a lot of steam.

"Aslan, that's enough! Let's get out of--" Not a split second after the HYDRO PUMP was let loose, the Pyroar flung his trainer to one side to keep him safe from the most powerful of Water-type attacks. The surge swept the fire-type away at full force, Josh forced to immediately withdraw him for Twilight. The Absol shook her head at how much of a beating he had let himself take, giving him a scowl before turning around and letting him climb on. He felt bad about letting the shady trainer get away with his thievery, but this was well beyond Ranger duties. The two continued their search for the way back, so Josh could find the restaurant's front entrance and retrieve his phone.

Asher Baran

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Josh          Human          Poor
Resheph       Dragonair      KO
Twilight      Absol          Good
Aslan         Pyroar         KO
Saber         Manectric      Good
Crash         Boltund        Good
Blitz         Luxray         Good

{WC: 205}
{PC: 5}

ooc: Submitting for rewards.