Josh was relieved Isaac was so lighthearted over his disturbing entrance. While Resheph was not capable of flying anywhere close to the speed of sound (yet), she was fast enough to leave quite a wake. She pulled out of the dive and wheeled back toward Isaac, slowing to a just-above-ground hover near him. Josh had to catch his breath before responding to his recent friend.

"More like working on a really tight turn," Josh answered. "One thing I've found Resheph isn't great at is sparp turns, and we're trying to figure out the best method for it. I think once I refine this, though, it will work well." The Dragonair cooed at Isaac, her ears perking up. Josh's attention, though, was on Ivan. "What a cutie!" he smiled toward the Jolteon. "Mine is still stuck in customs. I miss Blinky so much." He described a Jolteon that was positively enormous for the species' size; big enough to be a ride Pokémon, but by a narrow margin at that. "Nice to see you out here, though; what's new?"

Isaac's young Pokémon were a lot tougher than they looked, being able to hold up against the wake Resheph's high speed turn left meant they were strong even at a young age. "She already knows Aqua Tail," Josh answered. "That's not a bad idea, though; might try that next time. And if it doesn't work, can't say I didn't try!" Resheph was trying to make small talk with Ivan while their trainers bonded alongside them.

"She," Josh corrected. "But I hope so, too. She needs me, too." He pulled up on his phone the last photo he had another person take alongside the Jolteon, primarily to illustrate the scale of just how large she was. "I got her from a breeder who bred her specifically for racing, but later found out she was bred for straight-line sprints. Kind of like drag racing but with Pokémon. That's not the kind of racing I do."

Memories of that horrible day came flooding back, ones he shared with Isaac. Blinky's claws were long and thin compared to those of most Jolteon; they were bred specifically to be good at accelerating in straight paths. Making high speed turns put a tremendous amount of stress on them; so much, that one day when he was doing a time trial with her, all of her front claws snapped off, leaving the Jolteon in immense pain.

"She had to have surgeries on all four of her feet as a result, and even have artificial claws implanted," Josh continued, his voice turning somber. "Before that, she couldn't even defend herself. She absolutely would never make it in the wild as she was. But since her surgeries, she's been an amazing Pokémon to race. It's the implants that have her caught up in customs; they're waiting on the Hoennian Regional Medical Board to rule whether the surgery she had is legal in Hoenn."

When asked about where he came from, Josh was happy to entertain Isaac. "Goldenrod, in Johto," he answered. "Was supposed to just spend the summer here, but with the whole meteor situation trapping us in Hoenn, I might end up moving here permanently. I really like it here. Good to see you're still hanging tough."

When his question was reversed, Josh let out a sigh. "Still trying to learn the ropes of my new job. It's...very different than what I used to do. But it's a lot more fulfilling. I'm now Ranging as an intern near Fortree, but I'll probably end up relocating once I'm out of training."

"Now whether that's legal for racing will be up to the Federation," Josh added. "That's why you usually see Quick Attack, Aqua Jet, Agility, Double Team, and Extreme Speed. Those are the most common ones across lots of Pokémon, and they've all been Federation-approved since the beginning." Aqua Tail had been considered in the early days of Pokémon racing, but its legality was shot down due to safety concerns. Other moves had gone on and off the legal list before; perhaps he could start a petition for them to reconsider the use of Aqua Tail.

Josh sighed when it looked like Isaac was in deep thought over Blinky. "She still runs real fast. Faster than any of my Pokémon here. Definitely not a Pokémon for anyone but an expert rider. She also had to be custom-fitted because of her quills." That cost him a pretty penny, both in the cost of the materials and in labor. Fitting a Jolteon with a saddle was dangerous work. Tanners dreaded fitting electric-types in general due to how nasty their shocks were, but Jolteon in particular had that added danger of very sharp quills that could make Swiss cheese out of a worker's hands.

Josh did a double take when Isaac told him he was a wild one. "I've been called a lot of names in my life, but wild is not one of them." He chuckled alongside Isaac as he listened to the younger trainer's concerns about leaving Hoenn. "You know...up until about two weeks ago, I felt the same way. But then..." He thought about Elinor Anderson 's words about sharing his dream with others. The dream of meeting and befriending Raikou. The one he held near and dear to his heart since before he became a trainer in the first place. "...Something happened, and I just felt like I couldn't stand idle any longer and watch the conflict play out. I had to take a side."

Until prompted, Josh never thought about where he would want to be stationed. Wherever the work was, that was mostly what he cared about. "Admittedly, it would be nice to be stationed next to Mauville, near my Gym. I don't know if I told you on our camping trip, but it did finally get approved. Since the racing season runs between April and October only, I need another part-time job to keep me afloat." He couldn't help but laugh at how things turned out.

At the mention of the Gym, Saber started rolling and rattling his Poké Ball from within. He listened to the call, withdrawing Resheph and letting himself fall to his own two feet before releasing his Manectric and sitting down next to him, still opposite of Isaac. The Electric-type let out a howl. "So what's funny is I applied to be a Gym Leader, then that thing happened. You know, the thing I talked about before." He was still hesitant to talk about his vision of Raikou with Isaac. "Well, it was after that I gave up the Gym Challenge to start Ranging. So now I'm stuck with both. I'll do most of my Ranging and taking on challengers between November and March."

Isaac was a bright kid. Despite having no knowledge in the field of racing, his common sense was top notch. He seemed like the type of person that could pick up any job or hobby pretty quickly. "Yep. It's just a safety issue," Josh confirmed. "In the early days of the Federation, injuries to Pokémon and riders were commonplace. A higher level of contact was accepted, and there were many more serious accidents. It didn't take much of that for many of the standards we follow today to be established. In the decade-plus the modern Federation has been around, there have only been two fatal crashes since."

Isaac seemed to be getting pushy about the event that Josh was dancing around talking about. He let out a deep sigh. "I..." Another one. "I..." Elinor's words came to mind about avoiding keeping his dream bottled up. "Isaac, this is going to sound so childish, but...I want to meet and ride Raikou. Even if it's only once." He began rambling about the electric tiger as the Johtonian legends depicted it, taking a big breath after every sentence. "That was the reason I chose Saber as my first Pokémon. That's why I gave up the Gym Challenge to be a Ranger."

Isaac seemed very happy that his Gym was finally open. "All this awful stuff going on in the news. I want to meet Raikou and be his partner in stopping all this and make Hoenn peaceful again. And moving up the chain of command with the Rangers and gaining rapport with the Gym Leaders feels like the best way to make that happen." He could not hold a few tears back after letting that off his shoulders.

As he leaned over to reach for a handkerchief to wipe his face with, he accidentally clicked the release mechanism on Resheph's Poké Ball. The Dragonair had only been in her Poké Ball for minutes before coming back out. Sensing Josh's tears, she wrapped her tail around the trainer's arm and forced him back to his feet. She floated between Isaac and Josh and let out a coo. "You want to go flying again already? Now?" As Josh walked toward her, she floated closer to Isaac, until the three were next to each other.

"...Thank you," Josh sobbed for a few more seconds before shaking his head to discharge his electric emotions. "Like I said, just look at what's been going on in the news," he added, lost in thought about Isaac's remark over the impossible happening. "They'll stop it. I know the Hoenn League has the people and the resources to stop it. After the radio tower incident when I was younger..." Josh paused; if anything was going to give a big red flag to Isaac just how dangerous he was to the other side, it was the mention of the Goldenrod Radio Tower takeover. "...and now, the Hoenn League being super tight-lipped about the meteoroid, I have my doubts. I want to take matters into my own hands. I want to say I tried."

Isaac's remarks about how free Josh felt when he was in the air with Resheph perked him right up. The Dragonair cooed at the shorter young man, then her trainer. While he didn't mention it directly because it would be quite rude to ask such a question, Josh was able to read between the lines and infer what his new friend was referring to. The metaphorical bright lightbulb went off and blinded the rest of his thoughts. He reached for Isaac's arm in an impulsive moment to drag him next to the floating dragon. "Then what's stopping us! Let's ride!" he exclaimed, slamming his helmet visor down and locking it into the closed position. He swung aboard the excited-looking Dragonair, sitting as far back in her saddle as possible to allow Isaac to ride shotgun, if he wanted.

"Ultimately, the principles of the bonds between our Pokémon and their trainers can also be applied to bonds between friends," Josh replied, his thoughts drifting back to when he and Saber raced in the Johtonian Bronze League and rapidly ascended through its ranks. "There's nothing teamwork can't accomplish." It was true; a trainer and their Pokémon together were far greater than the sum of their individual strengths.

Josh let out a whoop as he firmly held Resheph's reins, excited to bring his new friend on a thrilling flight he wouldn't soon forget. Unlike most birds, who needed to maintain a certain minimum speed to maintain the lift necessary for flight, the Dragonair simply floated into the air, gently swishing her tail for thrust. The inner workings powering their flight had been a mystery to scientists since the species was discovered over two decades ago, but that did not make them any less desirable. What was important was the flight worked and was stable.

Once they were airborne, Resheph started circling the field that the rest of Isaac's Pokémon were in, building up speed for the true takeoff. While Josh couldn't feel the wind in his face due to his helmet, the wind spitting in Isaac's face had to be something he had never felt in this way before. While they weren't going particularly fast by Josh's standards, it had to be quite the experience for his guest. "Alright, we're taking off now!" the racer announced, giving Isaac ample warning to brace himself. The Dragonair let out a loud coo as Josh tugged down and back on her reins. With a stronger undulating motion powered by her swishing tail, Resheph soared rapidly skyward in a spiral that was tight but not uncomfortably so.

When the dragon-type and her riders leveled off, they were well above the ground and could see for miles. Both downtown Mauville and downtown Verdanturf were visible and gorgeous looking on the overcast but dry day. The Chimney mountain range was a sight to see, too. Hoenn looked positively enchanting from this high up. "What do you think?" Josh asked Isaac now that the flight was more calm. They were still flying at a brisk pace, but they no longer had to deal with the complex takeoff maneuvers. "Hoenn is so beautiful. I couldn't bear to see it wiped out."