It did not take long for Josh's partner to return to the memorial. "Rookie Ranger Devlin, but you can call me Josh," he quickly introduced himself to his partner, expecting he would get his partner's name in return but not asking aloud. They did not have time for small talk. "We need to load them up and take off as soon as possible," Josh urged Thomas, a strong wind gust testing his balance.

The young boy was quick to hop on Ares with Josh, excited because he had always wanted to ride a Charizard since becoming a Trainer at age ten. He was even raising a Charmander, and this would give him a preview of exactly what he could experience once the fire-type grew up! The young girl and mother went with Thomas' Flygon, and the father straddled aboard Resheph, who was quick to lift off into a hover once she felt the man's hold. Right as Josh grabbed Ares' reins, an alert came through on his radio:

The Hoennian Weather Service has issued a SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING for the following counties: Pyre County until 5:15 PM HDT, and Lilycove County until 5:30 PM HDT. This is a highly dangerous storm with a history of large hail, strong winds, and frequent lightning. Take shelter immediately!

As the special weather statement continued, another strong wind gust rocked the southern hills of the mountain, Josh grunting as he tried to remain balanced on his Charizard while also keeping the little one safe. He withdrew his Skarmory the moment he heard of the threat of lightning. "We need to get in the air, NOW!" the Rookie shouted, commanding both of his Pokémon to lift off and become airborne. There was a wall of heavy rain headed their way, too...

Thomas Benoit

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Bladestorm    Skarmory       Good
Ares          Charizard      Good
Resheph       Dragonair      Good

{WC: 299}
{PC: 2}

Josh didn't need to respond; Thomas' introduction, even if it was with the pseudonym Daisuke, was enough to communicate with him when--not if--things got bad. Once the entire family was aboard their flying Pokémon, they were off. The young boy looked particularly excited, flinging one arm into the air while grabbing onto Ares with the other. He looked like the only one that was having a blast. The father looked scared to be on Resheph, and understandably so. Dragonair weren't exactly the easiest ride Pokémon to stay atop. The stressful conditions added to the pressure, as well.

Once they had risen above the peak of Mount Pyre, the turbulence hit, Resheph having to make constant adjustments to maintain level flight. Both of Josh's Pokémon were having some difficulty battling the southwest wind. While it was a tailwind, which would make their trip to Lilycove much faster, it came with the dangers of maintaining altitude much more difficult. It would also make landing extremely challenging, but that was something they would have to deal with later.

Once they had passed Mount Pyre and into Lilycove Bay, the rain and lightning hit. With the tailwind, it at least wasn't blowing at full force into the travelers' faces, but they were big drops. Josh could feel Ares' breaths as the two bravely pressed on through the rain battering his wings, wearing them down. This was very dangerous for a Charizard to fly through, but he had little choice; he didn't have another flying Pokémon that could safely fly through a thunderstorm. His Skarmory would be a giant lightning rod in this weather.

A nearby cloud-to-sea lightning strike spooked Resheph and threatened to dismount the older man, but he managed to stay aboard thanks to the Dragonair's saddle design. Another nearby lightning strike blinded Josh and his Pokémon for a full ten seconds, the crashing thunder ringing in his ears. He hoped he would be able to lead this family to safety; if they were too late, not only their lives, but his own, would be in peril!

Thomas Benoit

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Bladestorm    Skarmory       Good
Ares          Charizard      Good
Resheph       Dragonair      Good

{WC: 349}
{PC: 3}

A sizzle sounded behind Josh, Ares letting out a pained cry as a particularly large raindrop landed right on the top of the Charizard's burning tail. The next big splash could send the racer and the young child tumbling into the ocean. He had to make a difficult JUDGMENT call: continue to stay ahead of the worst of the stormfront and fly over ocean, which would result in near certain death of his Charizard and possibly his passenger, or fly over land and directly into the path of the stormfront. Neither option was appealing, the young boy letting out a yelp as a fairly large hailstone struck his side. Most of the hail wasn't too large, but it was uncomfortable to fly in even with the tailwind.

Letting out a deep sigh, Josh put his trust in the airmanship he had learned from the Fortree Gym Leader the first time he was in Hoenn. He shouted, "Daisuke, I'm going over land. That way if we have to make an emergency landing, we can go the rest of the way on foot. Those waves will devour us if we go over the bay." Regardless of whether he was heard, Josh reined Ares closer to the storm, Resheph following suit.

After Josh finished moving over land, all was calm for a precious minute or two; while the rain was heavy still, the hail stopped, and there was no cloud-to-surface lightning. It didn't last long, though; a second wave of supercell thunderstorms closed in on Josh and his two flying Pokémon, and with that, a sudden 180 in the wind's direction. What was a strong southwest tailwind turned into a northeast headwind of almost the same intensity.

The resulting windshear, an effectively hurricane-force change in wind direction and speed, blasted Resheph and Ares. The Dragonair, flying mostly through the application of draconic energy and not having to worry so much about lift, took the sudden and violent shift in wind velocity about as well as could be expected. The initial shift was violently turbulent, but Resheph kept her rider intact.

Ares would not be so lucky.

Thomas Benoit

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Bladestorm    Skarmory       Good
Ares          Charizard      Poor
Resheph       Dragonair      Good

{WC: 354}
{PC: 4}

The bucking action from the windshear nearly threw Josh off his Pokémon. This would be a lesson learned for him: no matter how much of a training device they felt like, he was outfitting his flying Pokémon with cocoon saddles for his own safety. It wouldn't be cheap, but it was better than taking a spill from atop a flying Pokémon.

The hailstones had done a number on Ares. That, combined with the wind and rain, was making his flight quite labored, particularly with two people on his back. At least the two were over land in case the storm kicked up again. Relief was on the way, though! Daisuke's Clawitzer came to the rescue with a much-needed HEAL PULSE that gave not only Ares, but Josh as well, a second wind.

That second wind let Josh be on his A-game, the Pokémon racer showing strong airmanship with a Pokémon with such clumsy flight. The strong headwind was still rough, but at least it was starting to die down. The reins no longer felt stiff from his dragon having to resist both wind and rain.

Once the Pokémon were over land, things got a lot less dangerous. The winds were dying down a little, but the rain was still very heavy, and there were lightning strikes everywhere. "This weather isn't letting up any time soon," Josh called out to Daisuke. "I think we should divert to the Safari Zone. It's way closer than Lilycove, and there's a building we can hunter down inside until this monster passes." With that, Josh reined his Charizard to the northwest, his Dragonair following. It wasn't ideal, but it would be safer than being tossed about by an unpredictable headwind.

Thomas Benoit

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Bladestorm    Skarmory       Good
Ares          Charizard      Good
Resheph       Dragonair      Good

{WC: 291}
{PC: 5}

Torrential rainfall, large hail and strong gales battered Thomas, Josh, and their Pokémon the rest of the way to the Safari Zone's main office. Flying in this kind of weather was dangerous even for seasoned pilots, and could pull small and even large aircraft out of the sky. That was likely the reason Josh was asked to go to Mount Pyre to save the family. The Ranger's exposed skin, and even some underneath, was dotted with red marks from where the hailstones bruised him. The Clawitzer's Heal Pulse could only do so much. It was enough for the two dragons to nail a successful landing, though.

They had made it to the Safari Zone.

"Everyone inside!" Josh pointed, dismounting Ares and making sure everyone was able to get off Resheph and his partner's Pokémon before recalling his team. Once this weather passed, he would have to get them to a Pokémon Center. One of them was vomiting from being airsick after flying through the severe turbulence, and another was bleeding from several large hailstone impacts, but they were all alive for now.

The howling ceased once Josh closed the front door after verifying everyone was inside. "We'll be able to get you first aid here, and once this weather passes, we'll get you to an immediate care facility in Lilycove," the Rookie Ranger assured the rescued family. He turned back to Thomas. "Daisuke, you're a real pro. Are you also a Ranger? It sure seems like it." The two would continue to make small talk until the storm passed, after which Josh would do his part in getting the injured the rest of the way to Lilycove without incident.

Thomas Benoit

NAME          SPECIES        STATUS
Bladestorm    Skarmory       Good
Ares          Charizard      Good
Resheph       Dragonair      Good

{WC: 282}
{PC: 6}