Oldale Town at night was far from Josh's typical Ranger domain; he much preferred the wide open fields of the Mauville area he was stationed from. It was close to his new Gym. Thankfully, the League had supplied him with plenty of labor to make the transition from the Minor League as painless as possible. He was going to have his hands full once his Gym opened on the 10th; that was just a few days from now! Astride Saber, the new Gym Leader took one hand off the electric-type's reins to review the mission briefing.

TO: Josh Devlin (josh.devlin@hoennrangers.gov)
CC: Melody Miro (melody.miro@hoennleague.gov)
MISSION: "Old Dogs, New Tricks"
PROTOCOL: Dispersal
DANGER: ★★☆☆☆

A large Rocket trafficking bust has left a large number of Mightyena displaced from their habitat on Route 102. Since then, they have been terrorizing the residents of Oldale Town every night. Your mission is to rout the pack from the streets of Oldale Town and back to their natural hunting grounds on Route 102. Other canine Pokémon are highly recommended for the job; bring as many as you can, but avoid bringing feline Pokémon at all costs.

Good luck! We're all counting on you.

"Melody...why does that name sound so familiar..." Josh mused as he guided his Manectric toward the spot the two intended to meet. Once he spotted an attractive-looking female's Herdier, it clicked. He had Saber pick up the pace to greet the idol. "Oh hi Melody! Long time no see!" Josh greeted. While it took Saber a bit to remember, the large, yellow and blue dog recognized her. The last time they had met, he was still an Electrike!

"A lot has happened since I last saw you!" Josh seemed excited to catch up with an acquaintance he hadn't seen in a couple of months. Saber the Manectric let out a bark of greeting. "I used to have to carry Saber everywhere. Now, he's carrying me everywhere!" The electric-type closed his eyes and tilted his head skyward in pride. "What's new with you?" he asked as Melody shifted the conversation to put the uncharacteristically social racer back on task.

"Not yet, but I have a couple of Pokémon that are good hunters. Braver and Craggro, you're on!" Josh detached two Poké Balls from his belt, pressing the release switches on them. From within emerged an Arcanine and Hisuian Arcanine, respectively. "These two are good hunters! I have yet to go racing with them, but I want to once things calm down. I've been super busy!" He turned to face the two Arcanine; it was hard to believe such drastically different-looking Pokémon were of the same species. "Braver, Craggro, send some EMBERs or RAGING FURY skyward if you find those Mightyena!" The two let out rather different-sounding barks before bounding in opposite directions. "It never takes those two long to pick up a trail."

"Thanks, Melody!" Josh smiled back. "They're both fairly recent additions to the squad. I still have to get them fitted. Arcanine are notoriously unwieldy for racing, but give them room to run, and there's nothing that will outrun them! Nothing except..." He paused for a long time, Elinor Anderson 's words ringing in the back of his mind again.

“Never be afraid of talking about your wish. I hope it comes true for you. In fact, I will be looking forward to the day it does.”

"...Rai...kou." The syllables composing the name of the Johto Beast of Thunder seemed to echo louder than anything else in the night. He shook his head as though he was snapping out of a trance when Melody brought up his advancement in the League. "That is the case. Effective September 10, I'll be Mauville City's new Gym Leader. It's bittersweet, actually; because of how much greater the challenge volume is compared to the Minor League, I've had to give up professional racing for the time being. I'll still enter a few events, but I couldn't keep up with the at-times grueling schedule and a Major League Gym anymore."

The sound of an Arcanine bellow from the southwest, followed by the distinct explosion of RAGING FURY, pierced the night ambiance. No more than a minute after the noise of the Fire-type attack ceased, Josh saw Braver zip by at high speed, chasing down his fellow Arcanine. "I think they've found them. Let's move."

"It's expensive, though," Josh added. Among Ranger contracts, investing his winnings rather than spending it extravagantly, and the fairly generous pay Major League Gym Leaders received, he would be able to live there, but he would have to tighten the purse strings a bit. "I hope you can get in soon. I'm expecting a flood of challengers. My secretary is overwhelmed with the call volume about challenges, since we're not open yet. I imagine I'll be booked out for weeks, or even months, within hours. If you want a spot, the signup form will go live at 8 AM on September 10, at racinggrounds dot hoennleague dot gov."

"...N-n-n-nevermind," Josh stammered when asked about Raikou. "We need to follow Craggro and Braver. Come on, Saber! After them!" Melody's summoning of Cobalion caused Josh to lose just about all his focus. His jaw dropped as low as it could, Saber sensing the urgency of the situation and wrenching control from his stunned rider. Who was this girl, and why was she astride Cobalion, the Sword of Iron Will? He had countless questions for Melody. But not now. He had to focus on the job at hand...or at least try.

The steel-type Legendary's SMART STRIKE was enough to scare off and disperse most of the pack, though a few stubborn hounds instead turned their attention to the much more vulnerable Braver and Craggro, sinking their POISON FANGs into the two of them. He initially wanted to react to them violently, knocking them silly and arranging for them to be mass captured and released out of town. There had to be a reason why these Mightyena kept coming back. Figuring that out would be a great test of INSIGHT for the young man, as well as do the small town a huge favor.

As much as the move wound fun afoul of noise ordinances, noise was the best way to expel the Mightyena from town nonviolently. "Cover your ears, Melody! Craggro, use ROAR!" Josh commanded, following his own instructions. The Hisuian Arcanine bellowed a low-pitched, loud and intimidating cry that was still clearly audible even with their ears covered. It was a good thing it was during the evening hours and not overnight; this would have woken up half the town otherwise!

"Just...just who are you?" was all Josh could manage. He clearly recognized Cobalion, but nerves were shooting through the roof. A human riding a Legendary Pokémon was something he had studied in high school mythology. He was staring at a living Legendary and partner, and his dream was to be among them, astride the Johto Beast. While it gave him more confidence that his desired Legendary partnership was closer to a reality than simply chasing a phantom, it left him with more questions. "The Sword of Iron Will, Cobalion. I don't remember a lot about him, but I remember him from studying them in high school." He let out a long pause. "...When this is over, I have a lot of questions. Can we talk some place secure? It's about this Raikou you asked about, too."

"I try," Josh replied. A very self-critical person, one of the few things he was proud of himself for was how quick of a study he was. At the Elite Four's command, he began gathering both the Mightyena and the Cherrim that the two of them worked to capture. "Once we get these out of the city, we should be fine, for now. Just need to make a stop at the Pokémon Center on the west side of town to get my two Arcanine checked in. Didn't exactly come prepared for Poison-type attacks."

Josh smiled when Melody agreed to at least talk to him about Cobalion. "Wonderful, and thank you. I've heard of this AQUA Initiative by name but that's about it. It's something I've been meaning to look into more. Once the two of us are some place more secluded, I'll tell you why." He listened to Melody express concerns about things she had to keep private. "No, I get it. NDA sucks. I used to work as a beta tester for a small video game studio. I am more than familiar with how awful NDAs can be. Anyway, the Pokémon Center isn't far from the gate. Shouldn't be more than a few minutes to get them dropped off if the line isn't long. See you soon!" With that, the Manectric bounded west, running as fast as municipal speed limits would allow.