Ever since his promotion to the Major League, Josh had been showered with praise from his friends, Rangers he had worked with, and especially the other Gym Leaders. noah faber had wanted to arrange for a crash course in racing before taking on his new Gym in Mauville, and several other Leaders had expressed interest in his challenge, as well. Once the 10th rolled around, he was going to be a very busy man. Not today, though. Today, he was going to see another Gym Leader on more relaxed terms: Alexei Ivanov .

They were going to go soaring over Petalburg Woods together, in search of Pokémon that roamed the skies. This was also the first time in two months that he had left Saber behind on a trip. The Manectric was safely in storage, of course, but it felt weird not having his first Pokémon at his side. Josh did have his second, though; Pazuzu the Pidgeot was at his left as he flew toward the forest. Bladestorm the Skarmory was at his right, and beneath him was Slider the Braviary, one of his new catches. The flying-types, like the rest of his Pokémon, wore saddles, though these were different. These were cocoon saddles, typically used for large flying Pokémon. Harnessing surrounded the rider's waist, making them able to perform daring feats of flight, or even flying upside down, without fear of falling off.

The three birds made a shallow dive as soon as the Birdfather came into view. It did not take them long to land from their low altitude. "Alex!" Josh waved shortly after they touched down, flipping his helmet's visor back up so his face was completely visible. "Sorry I'm late! There was a shipping delay with Slider's tack. Had to get it rerouted to Petalburg, and it was a mess. But now he's ready to fly! Oh, these two are Pazuzu and Slider," the Leader gestured toward his Pidgeot and Braviary. "Bladestorm I'm sure you already know."

The three birds screeched and squawked toward the Birdfather, Gym Leader of Fortree City, as well as the most impressive-looking Braviary Josh had ever seen. "Wow, that is one impressive looking Braviary!" he replied to Alex's greeting. "I've never seen one with plumage like that! Supposedly it's caused by a rare combination of recessive genes, from what I understand. Incredible find for your first Pokémon! Pazuzu here was my second Pokémon. I caught him a few days after I got Saber. And now, thirteen years later, we're still working to unlock the power of Mega Evolution together. Haven't been able to quite nail it. What's the Braviary's name--"

He got the answer when Alex shouted toward Kyouya, who was battling a Mantine that clearly looked familiar to the Leader. There were markings on it exactly where a saddle shaped for a Mantine would go. "This Mantine...no way. One of the ones from Splashfest...?" Capture successful or not, Josh would shake his head. "Anyway, down to business. We came out here for you to take me to pilot school, am I right? After how many times I almost crashed at your Gym? I still say you should have called my challenge off as soon as the weather got that bad."

[attr="class","wildtemp"]

[attr="class","wildbgsaf"]

[attr="class","wildtitle"]A WILD LEAVANNY APPEARED!

[attr="class","wildshiny"]

[attr="class","wildpkmnbox"]

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtab"]

[attr="class","wildtabox"] MALE	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] CHLOROPHYLL
[attr="class","wildtabox"]STRING SHOT	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]ENTRAINMENT
[attr="class","wildtabox"]RAZOR LEAF	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]LEAF BLADE
[attr="class","wildtabox"] ---	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] ---

[attr="class","wildtag"]Josh Devlin Alexei Ivanov

[attr="class","wildnote"] WHAT WILL YOU DO?

[attr="class","wildtemp"]

[attr="class","wildbgsaf"]

[attr="class","wildtitle"]A WILD YANMEGA APPEARED!

[attr="class","wildshiny"]

[attr="class","wildpkmnbox"]

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtab"]

[attr="class","wildtabox"] MALE	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] FRISK
[attr="class","wildtabox"]SONIC BOOM	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]TACKLE
[attr="class","wildtabox"]AIR SLASH	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]DETECT
[attr="class","wildtabox"]LEECH LIFE	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] ---

[attr="class","wildtag"]Josh Devlin Alexei Ivanov

[attr="class","wildnote"] WHAT WILL YOU DO?

Alexei Ivanov CAUGHT THE MANTINE!

Josh had a hard time believing the Fortree Leader's story at first, but just about anything was possible; there was still a myriad of subject matter the human race did not understand about Pokémon. Even Mega Evolution was a relatively recent discovery. But he had never heard of a Pokémon spontaneously exhibiting characteristics of rare, recessive gene combinations that caused what was commonly known as a Pokémon being "Shiny".

Before Josh could answer, a sonic boom followed by the deafening droning of wings battered his ears. Goose let out a shriek as clearly some kind of sonic wave passed through him, Pazuzu also similarly squawking in pain. He covered his ears as the droning got louder and louder from its source approaching: a Yanmega quite a bit larger than normal for its kind. This male was enormous; he could get him fitted for racing, and it would be one of the most nimble aerial Pokémon on the circuit! There was just one problem.

The vibration.

He had past experience with Verte, a Flygon he had used to travel the skies of Hoenn when he last came to the region as a teenager. Flygon were unique among dragons; they could soar and glide, flapping their wings like birds or dragons, and they could also zip back and forth, buzzing their wings like insects. Josh had experience with both, and the vibration made him sick. As agile as a Yanmega was, they only flew by vibrating their wings.

The bug-type seemed insistent on harassing him, though; a second burst of SONIC BOOM left the birds on Slider's flanks quite hurt. "Slider, AERIAL ACE!" Josh shouted, hoping the Braviary could hear him over the buzzing. He could. uprooting a blade or two of grass during takeoff. With great speed Josh knew Alex would teach him to control someday, the giant bird snatched the wild out of the sky. His body shook with the Yanmega's, buzzing loudly and harshly in a desperate bid to get the bird to let go. Valuing his hearing, Josh released his right hand from his ear just long enough to bop the wild with an empty Poké Ball. Once it was withdrawn, he relaxed his arms, his right ear ringing from even the brief exposure to the bug-type's dangerous sonic attacks.

[attr="class","wildtemp"]

[attr="class","wildbgsaf"]

[attr="class","wildtitle"]A WILD APPLIN APPEARED!

[attr="class","wildshiny"]

[attr="class","wildpkmnbox"]

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtab"]

[attr="class","wildtabox"] FEMALE	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] RIPEN
[attr="class","wildtabox"]WITHDRAW	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]ASTONISH
[attr="class","wildtabox"]---	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]---
[attr="class","wildtabox"] ---	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] ---

[attr="class","wildtag"]Josh Devlin Alexei Ivanov

[attr="class","wildnote"] WHAT WILL YOU DO?

[attr="class","wildtemp"]

[attr="class","wildbgsaf"]

[attr="class","wildtitle"]A WILD FLETCHLING APPEARED!

[attr="class","wildshiny"]

[attr="class","wildpkmnbox"]

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtab"]

[attr="class","wildtabox"] FEMALE	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] GALE WINGS
[attr="class","wildtabox"]FLAIL	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]QUICK ATTACK
[attr="class","wildtabox"]ME FIRST	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]RAZOR WIND
[attr="class","wildtabox"]FLAME CHARGE	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] ---

[attr="class","wildtag"]Josh Devlin Alexei Ivanov

[attr="class","wildnote"] WHAT WILL YOU DO?

Josh Devlin CAUGHT THE YANMEGA!

It took a while for Josh to answer Alex, mostly due to needing the ringing in his ears to die down. Yanmega were great ride Pokémon; the ability to fly in any direction while facing any direction, while not unique to the gigantic insect, was not shared by many species. "You would be surprised what kind of gear can be rigged up for them," Josh replied. "You see, there's this green haired girl about my age. Really skinny. She has a Yanmega about that one's size. Maybe a little bigger." While the one Josh caught wasn't egregiously large, it was a little bigger than the average species.

"Before I became Mauville's Gym Leader, I would go to Round One arcade in Slateport and Mauville with her pretty regularly. Played on one of those dance machines you used to see in bars and arcades all the time." He, of course, was referring to Hoenn's self-proclaimed wildest Pokémon rider, Shalin Nariya . "Really popular in Kanto...at least, they were. Until the whole Rocket thing happened." He frowned, wondering how long it would be before Johto was next. Hopefully by then, Raikou will have fled the region and, ideally, started seeking Josh out. Ultimately, though, he just wanted to see the Beast safe and not in Team Rocket's hands. He couldn't bear to think about his idol in the hands of malevolent folk like them.

"Anyway, she rode her Yanmega routinely when between cities, no problem. I actually think it's more the vibration that would bother me, but I at least want to try." It wasn't something he could do today, either; earplugs were absolutely required when riding a Yanmega...at least if the trainer valued their hearing. Riders would sit between two chitin wings longer than they were tall, each beating a rough one hundred times per second.

While Josh was conversing with Alex, the agitated Goose spotted a brave-looking Fletchling to vent his frustration on. He did not hold one bit of strength back, spreading his wings wide and preparing to take off in a swift and powerful SKY ATTACK. "I wouldn't call too many of my Pokémon truly unusual in that regard," Josh explained when asked about some odd mount Pokémon he had. "A couple come to mind, though. Luna, my Liepard, is a recent catch," he began describing the Liepard that was roughly the size of the other land-bound Pokémon of his Alex had seen before.

"There's also Flint, my Typhlosion. Typhlosion have the strange adaptation of being able to run while on two or four paws. It's really interesting." The impacts of Goose's SKY ATTACK, followed by the Fletchling's follow-up FLAILing of its beak, drew the Leader's attention immediately. He threw an empty Poké Ball toward the small bird before things got any farther out of hand.

[attr="class","wildtemp"]

[attr="class","wildbgsaf"]

[attr="class","wildtitle"]A WILD BRELOOM APPEARED!

[attr="class","wildshiny"]

[attr="class","wildpkmnbox"]

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtab"]

[attr="class","wildtabox"] MALE	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] POISON HEAL
[attr="class","wildtabox"]SKY UPPERCUT	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]FORCE PALM
[attr="class","wildtabox"]MIND READER	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]MACH PUNCH
[attr="class","wildtabox"] ---	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] ---

[attr="class","wildtag"]Josh Devlin Alexei Ivanov

[attr="class","wildnote"] WHAT WILL YOU DO?

[attr="class","wildtemp"]

[attr="class","wildbgsaf"]

[attr="class","wildtitle"]A WILD SURSKIT APPEARED!

[attr="class","wildshiny"]

[attr="class","wildpkmnbox"]

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtab"]

[attr="class","wildtabox"] FEMALE	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] SWIFT SWIM
[attr="class","wildtabox"]STICKY WEB	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]QUICK ATTACK
[attr="class","wildtabox"]MIST	[attr="class","wildtabox2"]BUBBLE BEAM
[attr="class","wildtabox"] ---	[attr="class","wildtabox2"] ---

[attr="class","wildtag"]Josh Devlin Alexei Ivanov

[attr="class","wildnote"] WHAT WILL YOU DO?

Josh Devlin CAUGHT THE FLETCHLING!

"Yep," Josh confirmed. It was one of the more impressive adaptations for a Johto native Pokémon, but it made some sense; the Cyndaquil line was quadrupedal for its first two stages. "Feraligatr are actually the same way; they can be bipedal or quadrupedal. It would surprise you how fast both species can run."

Josh simply shook his head; he knew his arcade buddy was a bit of a wild soul, but nothing like that! As curious as he was to know what the green one was up to, thinking about the kinds of misadventures she routinely went on would only distract him from the reason he had met up with Alex in the first place.

Josh withdrew his other two Pokémon and climbed aboard Slider, his Braviary. "That's why I came here, silly!" he smiled. "Not just that, but I want our rematch in Mauville to be close! That's right - I'm gonna be Mauville's new Gym Leader starting a week from Saturday!"