Josh had just finished his last Gym Challenge of the day; he had closed his Gym at noon today due to some prior commitments. One of them was with Matt Vice . He had agreed to help him do some personal training with Nana. And what better way to do that than train himself with Braver and Craggro both of his Arcanine? If he wanted to chase Raikou, Arcanine using Extreme Speed was the best preparation he could realistically get. Even if it was only in short bursts, he could get a feel for what it was like to sit atop Raikou's back. But even that would take much physical training.

His duties done for the day, Josh grabbed a light lunch, then sent out Braver and hoisted himself onto the back of the orange- and black-striped dog. Buckling his harness's side straps together, the Leader firmly held the fire-type's reins and squeezed at the giant canine's legs, the two bounding eastward.

It did not take Josh long to see a second Arcanine shooting down the road in the opposite direction at very high speed. He guided Braver to the side of the road to yield to the charging Nana, waving toward Matt to try to get his friend's attention.

The speed started to relieve some of the tension that built up. He spurred Nana to go faster; the dog picked up speed. Letting her form go blinding down the road, she was almost tempted to use her extreme speed, but she wasn't. But the canines caught sight of- Josh? That had her slowing her sprint to a jog, then a tort.

They slowed in front of Josh. Matt looked over, mentally... he cursed. He wasn't sure if he was able to talk to Josh right now with all that's happened. "Hey.." he offered, trying to push back his own personal feelings right now.

"How'd everything- er, go?" Then he glanced at the arcanine he was on. "When you get one of those?"

Josh Devlin

Even sitting astride the trotting Arcanine was a bit of an adjustment. They were a bit wider-bodied than most of his other ride Pokémon. Unsurprising, given that many of his ride Pokémon were lithe felines, some of which were just big enough for him to fit his whole body onto. "After you left, it got really productive. I sent you an email about it; have you not checked your email yet? Josh Dragomir should have emailed you too. He has something special for you, and you'll need to go back to Lilycove to pick it up at your earliest convenience. It's a high priority but not urgent."

Josh's eyes shifted to make sure the side straps holding his legs to Braver were properly securing him. Everything looked good. "Not too long after the meeting, actually!" he answered Matt's question. "I went to meet an old acquaintance at Chimney Canyon one day, and ran into Braver there. I'm still trying to get used to him. Arcanine are...big." Braver introduced himself to and started chatting with Nana, though it was apparent from how much more noise he was making that Josh's Arcanine wanted to dominate the conversation.

"I said this after the meeting, and I can't remember if I told you about it that day, but the whole meteoroid thing?" Josh asked. pointing to the sky. While the space rock on a collision course was only visible with a telescope, it was there, and only around 20 million miles away at that. It was going to fall in less than a month and a half if it hurtled toward Hoenn at its current rate. He and the rest of the Gym Leaders were responsible for making sure that the impact didn't happen. "I've got to...never mind." While the beacons' locations were known to Rangers, the details on how to activate them were under NDA.

There was something he could do to help Matt, though; while he wouldn't know it until he read the email, he was responsible for protecting one of the beacons. "Hey, do you have a Water Pokémon on you? If not, we could ride from here to Lilycove! We'd have to cross through Pyre Bay, but there's a lot of room for our Arcanine to run until we get there."

Route 123 was one of the few roads rural enough that going full speed on an Arcanine, was viable. Even Extreme Speed wouldn't be out of the question. "Oh right, I lost my train of thought. At the meeting I told everyone, but I didn't tell you. You might have wondered why I wore the costume I did to the masquerade. I could go on all day about how I feel about him. But I'll save you the story. If you want to hear the whole story, I can tell it to you. But long story short...I'm going to pursue Raikou. Pursue, befriend, and ride Raikou, all to steer Hoenn away from a future she does not deserve."

A face was made. Honestly, it wasn't the answer he wanted. Productive? That miffed him a little more. "Oh yeah, throw a pie, then get productive." Came the mutter under his breath. A brow cocked at the mention of gear. Okay, he'd go get that or ask Josh to pick it up so he didn't have to see them people. "Not gonna lie, you mind grabbing it for me? I've been chewed out enough already."

Really his whole view for the rangers was in the mud. The only good ones he saw was Josh and Alicia. Maybe Isaac Merlo was right...

"Oh, no, I don't got a water-type. Nico does, but he's off training for gyms. So we can ride, yeah."

Easy to let that go, and move away from the rangers, he then stared at Josh like he was crazy as he went on about that. Blinking rapidly at the mention, trying to think... why that was important. It didn't click to him, it was just a legendary. Shaking his head, people had their goals, and this was Josh, he would follow it through till the end, he knew it.

"Well, I can't say I... understand why you want to do that, however, if you think you can; go for it dude. Full support from me."

Josh Devlin

It seemed like Matt just wanted to forget about the Ranger meeting completely. Even by Josh's standards, it was a shitshow. He, too, got ridiculed for his dream that day. It seemed everyone that wasn't in his inner circle stared at him like he was crazy for wanting to meet, befriend, and ride a legendary Pokémon. And they were right. He was crazy for it. "Can do! Once we get to Lilycove, I can run to Lars' office and get them for you." He frowned at Matt's understandable resentment. "I got chewed out after you left, too. How about we just put it behind us and let the wind in our faces blow our troubles away?"

It seemed Matt didn't have a Water-type. That wasn't a problem! He knew from his escapades with Isaac that Resheph could seat two people. "We'll have to take Resheph, my Dragonair, over the water to get to Lilycove, but that sounds like a winner otherwise!" It would help him with one of his goals, too: gaining speed tolerance.

"As to why I'm chasing him...it's a bit of a long story." He did his best to summarize what happened in the Cloud. There were no qualms about sharing it, either; he had already broken down about it once, mostly from sharing it with so many people. He was sharing it with a close friend. This time, there was not one bit of hesitation in his voice. "Like I said, at first, it was personal. But now, it's beyond personal."

Josh cleared his throat. "But enough doom and gloom. This is Braver," he introduced the Arcanine, burying his hands in the fire-type's thick fur to give him a nice pet that he certainly appreciated. A tailwind started to blow from behind them. "Then how about we get going! It's a long way to Lilycove, but Braver and Nana will get us there real fast, I'm sure!"

Relief washed over him as Josh agreed to go get the gear for him. Made him feel like stressed out abut it. Glad to let the conversation roll on by, he made a face at the mention of riding a dragonair... if this was anythign like Nico's milotic, he was gonna have some words. Matt didn't like water about as much as half his team did.

Nana was looking at Braver, sniffing towards him. Giving a tough stare at him. Something came over her face, like a look of hurt. Head hanging down as Matt frowned at her. Reaching down to pat her head softly. "It's okay... I won't stop looking for them." He knew what she was upset about, before a quick glance at Josh.

"Random question, but has... anyone reported anything about some stolen growlithe pups?"

Unless Josh asked he was not going to explain much else. "But yeah, let's get going."

Josh Devlin

Josh tilted his head toward Matt; it seemed the green Ranger had some qualms about water travel. He inferred that not just from his friend's expression, but from Nana's as well. "...Resheph can also fly. She enjoys swimming, but she can fly, too." He wasn't letting Matt hold Resheph's reins, though. Not for one second. If he thought Nana's Extreme Speed was fast...then hoo boy, Resheph's, by virtue of being a flying Pokémon, was far faster. He already dealt with that once with Isaac Merlo . He wasn't risking another friend's life like that. Not this soon. Granted, being over water made a fall about a million times more survivable, but it would just be overwhelming for the young man. Maybe another time.

"Lemme check RangerNet real quick. Might be a request for them," Josh answered, starting to log in from his phone. "Right, the RaiCorp glasses. Should probably get used to using those." He forwarded the RangerNet app's display to his prototype HoloWear sunglasses, which conveniently fit inside his helmet. The only annoying thing was the light reflected twice, thanks to the extra piece of glass between them; it caused him to see everything double. It made the center of the screen difficult to read, but text on the edges was perfectly legible.

"Doesn't look like it," Josh sighed. "Why not submit a request yourself? There's even a form for it on RangerNet. If the Rangers can't handle it, I'm sure Law Enforcement could track them down." He sighed again. "I think you could use a refresher on how to use RangerNet. It's one of the most valuable resources we have as Rangers, and with RaiCorp now sponsoring us, we have access to it all in the field. I would email your Captain about it as soon as you can."

But enough of that. They needed to get to Lilycove, yes, but they were also in the field to train themselves, their Arcanine, and just to have some good, clean fun. Josh grinned as he brought up an area mini-map and speedometer on his Holowear. He would now be able to see just how fast his mount was running at any given time. It was a scary thought, but an exciting one. "Route 123 is over a hundred miles long. It's the longest rural road in Hoenn. Nana and Braver are gonna have room to run, and there's almost no trees. There's a wetland to watch out for, but if you just say on the road, we shouldn't have to hold anything back."

Josh took another deep breath. "Not even Extreme Speed." Braver's Sacred Arte, like Resheph's, was scary to think about. Even if it was just in a burst, he was going to get experience riding just as fast, if not faster, than Raikou's sustained speed. If he wanted to befriend, impress, and ultimately ride on Raikou's back as the Hero of Johto once did, this would be one of the first steps he would have to take. It would be brutal to adapt to. But he had to try. "Alright, let's ride! Yah!" With that, Josh flicked Braver's reins, and the two were off. While his acceleration wasn't particularly fast compared to the Leader's feline mounts, the Arcanine seemingly never stopped. Braver just kept getting faster and faster...

"Uh-huh."

Matt may have been half listening. There was a reason he didn't go on the rangernet for it, but he was not going to say way. "Flying? I'm better at that than swimmin' pokemon, even though I was one during Splashfest." So flying was a-okay for him.

"Let's go."

A soft nudge to Nana's side and the arcanine veered around to start following after Josh and Braver. The competitive pokemon let out a howl, as she started picking up her speed. Matt looked a lot more in control than he used too. As he hunched himself down, he actually had on goggles this time, so he pulled them down over his face.

Josh Devlin

Matt seemed genuinely disinterested in Josh's advice to use RangerNet more. The Ranger on the cusp of turning Senior was only trying to help his mentee become better at his job. He wasn't going to push, though; ultimately, it was Matt's choice. If he wanted to make his job as a Ranger more difficult by not utilizing all his resources, that was his decision to make. If anything, he would have to send Captain annalise henderson an email with concerns about Matt's complacency, if anything just to cover his own ass. He had already been roasted by Elite Ranger Raziel Beckett , one of the most tenured Rangers in Hoenn, for Matt's behavior, and was the primary reason he was on thin ice with the Rangers in general.

Josh kept one eye on the road in front of him abd the other on his HoloWear's speedometer in the lower right corner, the two Arcanine dashing alongside one another. The rate of acceleration started to slow, a sign that Braver was getting up to speed. Were they already going this fast? Without the wind in his face, getting a sense of speed without a numerical reference was hard, and that was something his full racing attire blinded his senses to.

Josh's eyes shifted toward Matt, noticing that he appeared to be in full control of Nana despite the high speeds. His new pair of goggles helped a lot with that, though the Mauville Leader thought he could see the wind pushing the skin of his friend's cheeks back a little. Though the primary function of a racing suit was to reduce drag, it had a secondary benefit of making sure no skin was exposed to wind burns from the hurricane-force winds the fastest Pokémon could expose their riders to. Josh grunted as he reined Braver into one of the sharper right turns on the Route. While it wasn't particularly tight by Federation standards, he also had to pull on the Arcanine's reins with a lot more strength to get a Pokémon with sluggish handling to turn as tight as one of his cats would with just a light tug.

Matt had his reasons. If Josh asked, he'd tell him. Otherwise, he didn't touch the subject. Right now though, it was time to run!

And run they did.

Nana kept up her speed, eyes focused forward as the giant canine ran. Paws kicking up dirt behind her in her wake. As the turn came up, Matt leaned his weight to the side- into the turn. A nudge of his heel, as Nana dug her claws into the dirt, switch caused her to jerk to the side of the turn, reangling herself to send her back into the correct direction.

Matt wasn't trying to show off- he had been practicing turns!

Josh Devlin

Josh was impressed with Matt's turning; he didn't want to admit it, but his apprentice was better at adapting to the fire-type's poor turning capability than he was! The way he got his heels in the action was seriously impressive. He wasn't close enough to Braver to the point where he could use that kind of technique with him yet. A sharp kick to the Pokémon's flanks could indicate urgency if used properly, but if done with too much force or overused, it could injure the mount and sow distrust between the two. And a distrustful mount was an accident waiting to happen, no matter what one's skill was.

Josh took a deep breath. It was time; the road was almost perfectly straight for miles. He wouldn't get a better opportunity. He rode next to Nana and asked Matt if he was ready, but he probably could not be heard over the ripping wind their speed was causing. No matter; he gave a thumbs-up to indicate he was ready. If he got confirmation, the Mauville Leader would give Matt and Nana some space before commanding, "Braver, EXTREME SPEED!"

Nana evened out of the turn and they slung forward once her claws got a hold of the dirt. Racing forward as Nana's ear twitched towards Josh. Snarling and thrashing her head so Matt would look and see what was going on.

With the blur that was going past them, he certainly knew what was happening. Growling to himself, he dug his heels into Nana's sides, taking her reigns, lowering his head. "Extreme Speed!"

The sound of wind came first, clenching his eyes shut for just a moment to begin his thoughts.

Josh Devlin

Josh had ridden incredibly fast Pokémon many times. Saber in Quick Attack was plenty to make even intermediate riders' stomachs leap out of their chest. Aslan's Double Team was faster yet, trails making it look like there four sets of paws pounding the dirt rather than one. Resheph also possessed the Sacred Arte of Extreme Speed, but she flew using the move. She and Togekiss were the only other ordinary ride Pokémon capable of using the move.

Then, there was Braver the Arcanine.

There was nothing that could prepare Josh for the ride that fire-type was about to take him on. Extreme Speed in the air was vomit-inducing to those not prepared for it. Extreme Speed on the ground was breathtaking; the Leader briefly shifted his eyes downward and saw nothing but an orange-and-yellow blur where his mount's legs once were.

The Arcanine's gallop--no, sprint--was so violent that Josh's entire body was shaking. The reins felt incredibly stiff, the wind outside sounding like a freight train from the tornadic land speeds the two Pokémon were running at. He shifted his eye toward his HoloWear's speedometer. Braver was going faster than a race car and showing no signs of letting up. Was that pain coursing through the joints of his limbs?