Getting Nana used to riding gear had proven... difficult. The arcanine did not like the added weight it made. Nor did she like the feel, the sound- absolutely none of it she enjoyed! Terrible, terrible thing! She bucked and tried to chew it off. Matt scolded her each time like she was a newborn pup. How dare he, she was older than him! At least... in dog years. The pouting she was doing as they were traveling to the raining place was hilarious.

"Come on Nana, you remember what happened last time. I almost died because I couldn't hold onto you!"

She scuffed at him, turning her head up stubbornly. "You're worse than Nico." Sighing heavily, he scratched her mane. "Look, we want to be rangers, right? Well this will help us work together." Nana huffed, knowing he was right, even if she did not like it. Grumbling, she started to trot faster to their destination. "Besides, we get to see Josh. You like his Pyroar, right? Y'all can run around maybe. Er, well I guess we're training.. guess we find them?" Hell if he knew.

Finally he spotted Josh. "Hey!"

Josh Devlin

"Oh, there you are!" The green-garbed Ranger waved to his new friend. He would recognize that Arcanine any day. Ares greeted the two with a grumble. It was intimidating-sounding, but the Charizard meant no ill will. To be fair, almost every sound a Charizard made was intimidating if one wasn't familiar with the species. There was a reason the species was so popular among trainers of all skill levels despite how dangerous they were to raise. "Never thought I'd see you in a Ranger uniform, Matt! I'll make sure to share some of my referral bonus with you if you make it through training, just like we agreed!" The Charizard beat his wings hard once, Matt likely able to feel the rush of air if he was standing close by.

"Now I may be a Rookie Ranger still, but I'll be overseeing your Practical Exam as the last part of your Ranger training," Josh explained to the fresh recruit. "I can't tell you what Pokémon you'll be looking for, but you'll be able to recognize them by their green collars and the saddles they wear." He paused to let Matt take the directions in. "None of them will be inside any buildings on the complex, and they will all be within the confines of the training area. If you see concrete with green paint on it, you've gone too far."

Once he was done going over the "mission" briefing, Ares flexed his legs, ready to take off. "Bring all three of them back here, and your training will be complete. Ares and I will be observing. Your mission will start when you're ready," he continued, further assuring Matt he would not interfere in the task in any way, helpful or harmful. Pulling up a stopwatch app on his phone, he was ready to start the timer as soon as he saw Matt and Nana take off into the training environment filled with a wide variety of terrain. "Remember everything you've learned up to this point, and good luck! We're all counting on you."

To say Matt hated the color of his uniform... well, he wasn't going to discuss his hate of the color green. The color had become dull to him over the years of growing up with two friends who obsessed over the color. Alas, it was neither here nor there, and he would deal with it for right now. It was all for a cause.

Though he was impressed with the charizard Josh had. Not a pokemon he would go for though- it was a reach he even got that Scraggy. She was a wild thing to tame, not even sure she would be to useful on this mission.. However, he knew exactly who would be.

"Well, what can I say, got inspired by annalise henderson and you." He laughed, remembering kicking some poacher ass with Anna. That day was wild. Moving Nana closer, he released two of his pokemon. Kazzy and Dagger. Per usual, Dagger looked like he was glaring daggers.

"Okay! Kazzy, Dagger, and Nana- we're searching for Josh's pokemon. If I had to guess, it's either horse-pokemon and ridable. Maybe a few cats. We're gonna try our best, right?"

Kazzy barked, running in circles, looking ready to report! Dagger rolled his eyes, crossing his arms, huffing. Whatever. Nana nodded her head, turning her head right to Josh- sniffing him. Motioning with her head for the other two canines to copy. They followed the older canines instruction, locking the scent in their noses. Giving barks of readiness.

"Aight! Go on you two, signal if you find anything! C'mon Na-NAAAAAA"

The canine took off before he could finish. Seems she was excited to do this mission with her trainer!

Josh Devlin

Oh Matt could strangle Nana. Not that he ever would lay a finger on her. But the two were off. Matt went to stand on top of Nana's back, placing his hand over his eyes to peer out against the tall grass she had settled in. The air felt... weird. Not sure why.

"You smell anything, girl?" Nana lifted her nose, giving a sharp sniff. Her eyes squinted, going to press her nose firmly to the ground. Inhaling, before she barked a command for Matt to sit. He fell very ungracefully back into the saddle, and she trotted forward. Circling an odd patch of grass within.

Matt lfited a brow, hopping off her and going to comb through the grass- and trip over the bolthound. Well... that's one way to find someone!

Josh Devlin

Matt tripping over the sleeping Crash woke him up instantly, the Boltund setting out some fierce-sounding barks with a hint of thunder in his voice. He turned around to see who it was that had disturbed him. It was a familiar face! His aggression turned into friendship-fueled affection, whimpering and attempting to give the trainee a nuzzle and kisses on his cheek - not the attack NUZZLE, but it could have felt like it thanks to the mild static surrounding him. Even without the green collar, the saddle on him was a big giveaway this was one of Josh's Pokémon! With that, the speedy canine ran back toward the entrance on his own.

One down, two to go!

Meanwhile, high above the training grounds, Josh saw Matt had found the first of Josh's three Pokémon, and in a matter of a few minutes, too. At this rate, Matt would pass the exam with top marks. The Boltund was as affectionate as ever toward Matt, even running back on his own to let him keep searching for the other two Pokémon. "Well, that's the easy one," Josh mumbled to himself. "The other two won't be so easy, both in locating them and in getting them back." His eyes shifted toward a series of ditches full of fast-moving water, intended to simulate a raging river.

Matt had rolled over to look at what he tripped on. Was that Crash? The sudden kisses gave it away. "Ah! You're as bad as Kazzy, boy! Down, down!" He laughed, giving him some affectionate pets. "Sorry I tripped over you." Getting up, he waved Crash off. Going to hitch himself back up on top of Nana.

Looking around the area, he was trying to spot where Dagger or Kazzy had ran off too. Kazzy had followed the scents to the river, staring at it with his ears pinned back. Whining as he paced the riverbank, poor pup was concerned one of them had fallen in and gotten hurt! But wait, was there footprints? The canine started to look, to see if possibly his bigger friends had been swept away by the waters!

Meanwhile Dagger had went and perched himself up on top of the highest thing he could find- which was a tree. He was sitting on the very top branch, eye eyes scanning the area. Higher vantage point was always good... until he looked towards Josh. Eyes locked with the Charziard, the canine just glaring them down, before it went back to looking for it's targets- only for a ear to flick towards the whining he was hearing from Kazzy probably panicking over nothing. Rolling his eyes, he used Swords Dance- which caught Matt's attention. Daggers pointed the swords to point towards where Kazzy was, which sent Nana running off in a hurry in case something was wrong!

Josh Devlin

The static in the air built as Matt and Nana approached the ditch that the footprints led him to. The footprints led straight into the ditch. It was big, smooth, and steeply sloped; with an angle of over 45 degrees, there was no easy climbing up and down. That water was really moving, too; if he dropped in, he would get swept away for sure. Of course, there would be no more than minor injuries even if he did take a spill; the training facility was properly equipped to make the chance of a trainee injury as low as physically possible.

Dagger's SWORDS DANCE pointed Matt in the right direction; the feeling of static in the air slowly got more intense as the two raced downriver. When combined with the potency of Nana's scent, the two were able to locate a saddled Luxray with a green collar, awkwardly sitting on a ledge not too much larger than she was. He had to have taken a nasty fall to get stuck down there! As soon as Nana's shadow passed over him, the Luxray started waving his claw toward Matt and his Pokémon, letting out a weak cry to feign injury.

Josh smiled at how quickly his Pokémon were being discovered, but that was only the Search half of a Search-and-Rescue. How would he deal with an injured Pokémon that was also difficult to reach? He expected the Ranger to come up with an ingenious solution worthy of the new position...

Matt followed along, finding Kazzy along the way. "C'mon, buddy." He called to the smaller canine, as Nana sniffed the air. Her head turning, her mane started to stand on end. It made her growl lowly, like something else was here. Turning her head around, before snorting. Finally, she leaned over, seeing the Luxray below. Brow raised at it, already trying to compute a way for her to get down to assist.

Climbing off Nana, Matt reached into her saddle and produced a thick rope. "Here, hold this." He instructed the canine. Nana took it in her maw, lifting a brow at him. Matt tied it around his waist, he went to the side of the cliff. "Okay Bana, keep me steady." Nodding, she held the rope tighter in he rmaw.

Matt propelled himself down, getting to Blitz. "Hey there buddy, I hope you're actually okay. Lets get ya back up there, alright?" If the Luxray allowed him to touch them, he would go to untie the rope from himself and start tying it around the Luxray's body. "I'm going to climb up and meet with Nana, then we both will pull you up, okay?"

Josh Devlin

Josh was impressed; Matt had exhibited the skills to handle a more complex rescue. He did take his time, but some situations allowed for, and even warranted, such an approach! More impressive was the trainee's footwork on the small ledge, forcing him to secure the rope from one side! The electric-type nodded and let out another weak cry once the rope was secure.

Nana's strength, along with Blitz's, were able to get them up the steep, smooth slope, though their strength was tested when the Luxray slipped once. As soon as he was over the curve, though, he stopped feigning his injury and nuzzled Matt gently before dashing toward the Ranger Headquarters' back door, where Crash was waiting.

Two down, one to go!

The only target Matt had left to find was Josh's Manectric. Ares continued to prowl the skies high above the Ranger training facility. Of course, he had saved the most challenging rescue for last; not only had the Manectric hidden itself well, having purposefully fallen into a partially-camouflaged sinkhole near the facility's rocky terrain, but he had instructed Saber to be particularly uncooperative. Furthermore, it looked like some clouds were rolling in...

Dagger rolled his eyes at all this. What was the point? Huffing to himself, he leaned against the tree. Yeah, he'd help with his eyes, but otherwise.. Nah! Until he saw the clouds rolling in. Brow raised, was this natural or was someone bringing in clouds? Growling, he climbed down the tree.

Sniffing the air, he caught the scent of the last pokemon. With a sigh, he soon let our a loud bark. It echoed over the area, to alert Matt. Which it did, Matt had just got settled after saving Blitz, turning his head at the bark. "Kazzy, go help Dagger." he ordered. Kazzy nodded, zooming off to find his Riolu friend!

He crashed right into him. Tail wagging happily at him, tongue out. Dagger made a face, but soon he was leading the pup to the new area. Looking around, he scratched his head. This would be difficult to go through... but maybe not for the rock type. He motioned him forward with a paw. Kazzy stuffed his noise to the ground, sniffing out where this last pokemon could possibly be!

While Kazzy and Dagger had their adventure, Matt was climbing back on top of Nana. Giving her some affectionate pets, then motioned her to follow where the other two canines went. "Let's go."


Josh Devlin

Kazzy was soon yelping in terror. Getting knocked back in a panic and sliding across the ground. The pup froze in fear as it stared at Saber thrashing about like that. What had happened to their friend? Whimpering he got up and backed away quickly, tail between his legs. Frozen in his spot and trembling. But soon Dagger was in front of him, snarling towards the other canine. He wasn't going to follow him near Kazzy.

Matt felt the air change, knowing that meant they must have found- then the display happened. His eyes went wide, gently going to spur Nana forward. Nana howled, sprinting off in full speed. Barreling straight through the training fields, jumping rocks, before arching to turn herself into a sliding stop, which Matt kicked off her back into a roll to then go running for the canine.

"Saber! Calm down! You're going to hurt yourself!"

Matt may have honestly thought something was wrong. "Come on boy, it's me, Matt? Remember?"

Josh Devlin