"As it would when any of those three are involved," Josh mused. "I'm more terrified of Kyogre's brother." If he reached the position of Raikou Avatar, he would be even more terrified of the legendary Ground-type. Thankfully, he didn't have to be. Unfortunately for Alex, he had to keep the reason behind that secret. "I'm still unsure who these blue-skinned people are," he asked, looking confused. "Just who are they?"

Of course a war wouldn't end without casualties. The scale of death in the war described in the knightly fable Josh knew as the Hero of Johto was up there, but Alex was making this seem on a totally different order of magnitude. "It wouldn't be a war otherwise, now would it?" he smiled, trying to lighten the mood a little bit. It probably wouldn't end up working; if anything, the remark could have made things worse. Saber stood up, walked toward Alex, and gently nuzzled the Fortree Leader, the disguised Manectric's mask hopefully preventing him from getting shocked.

Josh was not prepared for Alex's description of the Megalopolans. At least the Leader gave him a warning. With every phrase, every sentence, the account of them grew more dire. They were aliens. Real life aliens. And they had mingled with society. "Arceus..." Josh swore. "So they're just floating around among Hoennians? I would hope the League has found most, if not all of them, by now. That's scary."

That wasn't half as scary as the detail Alex was about to share with him. The revelation that the aliens preyed upon human beings made the racer's heart skip at least one beat. "Great Ho-oh..." he swore again. It was a curse Josh did not use lightly. It had been one he had not used in well over a year. It was saved for truly egregious, truly mortifying moments such as this. "This is not the Hoenn I remember at all. Just...Great Ho-oh, deliver us from this unthinkable evil..."

Even the courageous Josh shuddered at aliens that dined on the human race. "I... I had no idea," were the first words that weakly came out of his voice after Alex reiterated that the Megalopolans preyed on people just like him. "Little wonder the Rangers wanted to try to keep this stuff under wraps. It's nothing short of chilling. Bone chilling." He breathed a big sigh of relief when the Birdfather mentioned all the bigwigs among the blue people were either dead or imprisoned by the League. "That doesn't make it any easier to swallow," the young Leader replied, visibly sweating.

The silence afterward seemed to indicate the end of the story. "No wonder you thought me crazy for liking Hoenn so much despite being a foreigner. I had no idea all this nonsense -- beyond nonsense, even -- was going on. And you know what, Alex?" He paused to let him respond. "This is even more of a reason for me to chase Raikou. If it means protecting Hoenn from terrors like that, I would want nothing more than to hold Raikou's reins in one hand and the mythical electric blade in the other." he boldly reiterated.

"Great Ho-oh, hear my prayers. For the sake of Johto and the sake of Hoenn, I desire nothing more to meet Raikou and fight for Hoenn's peace and freedom. For the sake of Johto, for the sake of Hoenn, I beseech you. Make the Great Raikou aware I would have it no other way than to serve you as his Avatar." He drew the plastic replica once more and slashed through the air in front of him, well clean of any objects in the residence as to not cause damage. "I've learned a lot today. Thank you. If there's anything I can do to repay you, please, let me know. We should also trade phone numbers. What's the best number to reach you at?"