With the crowd getting bigger, there was quickly going to be a lack of room for a Pokémon as large as Crash. Josh recalled the Boltund and got in the food line. He would definitely save the desserts for his final go-around. "I'm gonna be in a food coma when I get back to my hotel," he said to himself as he grabbed a plate in each hand. It was a good thing Ranging and racing Pokémon was such an active lifestyle; if he had a mere desk job, this alone would have put on a few pounds!

The very first thing he put on his first plate was some of Laurence Anderson ' carbonara. Absolutely no way he wasn't having some of that. He took probably a little more than his fair share, but he wasn't going to turn decadent Alto Maren cuisine down. Noah Camus ' Pecha Cobbler would have to wait until dessert! No spoiling his meal now!

Oliver Shrakes 's au gratins looked delicious too! He wanted to load up on them but didn't grab more than one set of tongs' worth, grabbing a few of the steak fries he brought as well. Josh noticed that he was in line next to the Ranger who brought them! "That's me," he replied to the red-haired colleague. "Semi-pro Pokémon Racer, part-time Ranger, and now part-time Gym Leader. If I ever get promoted out of the Minors, I'll probably have to give one of the others up." He couldn't help but take a quick bite of the au gratins while in line. "These are heavenly. Truly a blessing from the Great One, Ho-oh," he complimented, giving his Johtonian origin away if Oliver had a passing familiarity with the region's myths.

"Were these homemade?" he asked, briefly setting one of his plates down to offer a handshake. "I've had a lot on my plate recently, and not the ones I'm holding. It took a miracle for me to even make it out here. Even with my new Gym only being open one or two days a week, it's all so much to keep up with." He looked visibly tired, though the aroma of good food gave him a second wind. He got the feeling he was going to end up sleeping almost all day tomorrow.

There was so much good food that he could only grab one slice of Elinor Anderson 's pepperoni pizza. With pizza, Josh was a bit picky; he only liked sausage and/or pepperoni. Callan Young 's creamy-looking macaroni and cheese was also something he took a little more than his fair share of, filling up the rest of his first plate. He loved cheese!

...And that was the end of the line. More people would be coming in later, and if that was just the first round, he looked forward to what others brought! For now, he stuck his empty second plate under his first, put a couple more steak fries on top of his pasta, and started wandering. He waved to Elinor. "Ah, Elinor! You made it!" Just as he was about to start catching up with his Ranger mentor, he got a text from Matt Vice asking where he was. "I'll catch up with you in a little bit; I have to take this message." With that, he quickly replied to the message with a simple I'm here. Where you at?

It didn't take Josh long to find Matt; he was skulking about in a corner, not even with a plate of food in his hand! "You okay, Matt?" the green-garbed Ranger asked.

So many people were starting to fall into the room. It made Matt extremely uncomfortable. Also he was spotting no one taking the pan he left, which made him feel a little worse- sighing as he shoved his hands into his pockets. Hand going to be directed at the floor, brood and keep to himself. Maybe Josh and Annalise weren't even here-

Then someone spoke to him.

A brow raised towards the one who spoke, unable to tell if they were being rude or not. "Matt." He answered back, going to turn his head back down towards the floor. Feeling so unbelievably uncomfortable here. It was a bad idea to come without Nico. Feeling his phone going off, he was about to text Josh back but instead the man appeared like a teleport.

Oh thank Arceus.

Matt also fled to him, giving him a big bro hug. "Hey dude, wouldn't miss it." That was a lie. He wished he had. "I brought food... Nico made some chili." Now that he was more at ease, he turned to the other who had spoke to him. "Oh uh, new ranger.. sorry I don't know many people."

Keeping close to Josh, he looked at his plate. "Oh come on, you denyin' my mans food, bro? You better get some of that chili, I promise it's not going to melt your insides."

A lie, that was a damn lie.

"Have you seen Annalise?" He asked Josh... but now he was feeling very rude he was rude to the other earlier, so he kept looking back to check to make sure he wasn't ignoring her. "Oh, mind standing in line with me, Josh? I don't really know anyone here..."

[TLDR: bro josh, nervous Matt interacting with Josh Devlin and Calliope Marks, also he did bring chili for everyone!]

"Do you think they'll drink all this?" Kaida stood outside the meeting, seemingly having a conversation with her Ekans. As far as she knew, many people loved drinks...drinks of the alcoholic variety, but that could not stand at a meeting. Yet sodas were usually interpreted as childish...if anything, at least she'd drink it.

As usual, Ormr didn't answer, but she did feel more confident from the calm gaze he gave.

"Yes, let's go see Laurence Anderson " A friend of hers, she would have never turned down the meeting, the promised food only helped her decision.

There was only one problem, and that could be seen in the twitch of her eyes as she spotted Guillermo Marceliño , hurriedly heading towards the food. It was fine, she wasn't expected to talk to anybody she disliked here, all she had to do was listen to the meeting...preferably hand around other Rangers she worked with like Josh Devlin and annalise henderson. This was supposed to be the family she trusted almost as much as her Pokemon family, and she was determined to not let it sway.

She started piling food on a plate after setting down her offering, a giant plate, mostly for herself and some for her seeming ambassador Ekans, who sat calmly on her shoulders.

Notes: Kaida brought a buncha packs of soda! Hope you're thirsty!