Josh rolled his eyes. Though he loved his family, one of the things that got under his skin was his father's incessant teasing. The jabs Matt was taking at him were far worse that anything anyone in his family had thrown his way. Josh scowled at the Arcanine rider. "Now's not the time for it," he answered in an almost-snapping tone. "I've been trying to teach you the meaning of those words since we met. Are you even listening to me?"

Frustrated, the Manectric's rider tilted his head toward Julia. He listened to her account of the Lilycove kerfuffle between the two. "You too, Julia," Josh answered, perking back up. "You stood up for me, too. And the whole--" he stopped himself, making sure mentally that all of them were aware. "And the whole Raikou thing too. Between that day and...well, this Gym, word's gonna get out there eventually. And I'm scared. But like I said, there ain't no gettin' off this train I'm on." He tilted his head back to Matt. "I already sent Captain annalise henderson an email requesting not to be assigned with him." Of course, with the Captain's promotion to Head Ranger, it was anyone's guess whether that got tied up in red tape.

"About a sixth of my challenges are battles," Josh answered Julia. His low frequency of battle challengers was the only thing keeping his overall Gym Leader metrics up. He was awarding a little over half his battle challengers Quick Badges, which wasn't a concern on its own, but if it got much higher, there could be real trouble.

Once he made sure Julia would be okay, he turned to Isaac, who seemed to have no trouble at all at Blinky's reins. The hardest part to adapt to would probably be her extremely rapid gait... assuming he would go fast. Given their past experiences with Resheph, he was not afraid of the high speed. That was part of the reason he had tried goading Isaac into a Quick Attack run aboard her. "You know, that might be a fun advertisement to record. Might have to arrange it!"

When the group reached the aquatic part of the Gym, the Gym's Operations Center on the other side of the river, he released his Sharpedo into the body of water. He hadn't been out on the waved in a while; with so many water Pokémon on his roster, Josh didn't want to use him in Gym Challenges without directly controlling him. He didn't trust the Sea Bully on his own, particularly since he was a little fickle. Even now, a snap of his jaws reinforced he was one of the few Pokémon Josh raised that wasn't completely obedient. He was obedient enough, though. The shark swam as close to the shore as possible and beckoned Julia to hop on. "Have fun!" he smiled, ready to watch the Ranger zoom across the surface.

Matt snapped his head to Josh. His face hardened real quick, his eyes narrowing. "I really wish you'd quit actin' like I don't hear what you're saying." He snapped back. Matt's bad mood from earlier returning real fast. "All of you act like I don't know what the hell I'm doing." He muttered, though that was to himself.

He'd just prove him wrong. Prove them all wrong- when it came to him challenging the gym. He'll show them.

But that didn't stop his ire from getting the better of him.

A harsh jerk was given to Nana's reigns, pulling himself away from the crowd now. Nana growled at the action, huffing towards him. "Sorry." He said, patting her head. "Shouldn't take my frustration out on you." Aware of his mistake and trying to soothe the canine. She huffed, shaking her head, but forgave him.

Though he let her fall to the back of the pack. Gently stroking some knots out of her mane, his eyes downcast. Maybe he really should just shut up and keep his head down. Seemed to be the only thing that kept him out of trouble. Either follow the order and be perfect or get chewed out. Shaking his head, he was trying to get the negative thoughts gone before someone tried poking the wolf within him more.

Julia Davis Isaac Merlo

Matt had a lot of amazing qualities that made him a good Ranger. His heart was in the right place, and he could tame even the wildest canine Pokémon, which were rather common pets and companions. In Josh's head, he just had one thing holding him back. That was his rashness. Sure, Josh had a bit of a rash personality, but Matt's seemed like it was on another level. "I didn't mean--" Josh started to apologize, but it was too late. Matt and Nana were already gone, secluding themselves to the back of the pack.

He felt bad.

"I just worry about you, Matt. That's all." He wasn't sure if his words reached the budding Ranger, but he was sure they reached Julia. "I feel like I have a duty to protect Matt. He was the first Ranger I recruited. It's almost like...almost like he's in the saddle with me for every mission, for lack of a better metaphor. Speaking of missions, November can't get here fast enough." He was tired of having to be chauffeured on even the simplest assignments. What a waste of resources.

With all the marine work the two did together around Splashfest, Josh figured Julia had a prosthetic that was water-proofed. "I thought you would have, but Lazuli keeps you completely dry at sea, doesn't she?" he asked. "If you're going to do so much work at sea, especially as a Ranger, see if you can ask for a League subsidy, since you're on their official roster. I'm sure you'd qualify for a grant or something." Josh, by virtue of being a Gym Leader, had a huge grant of his own. He was living in Mauville City, though by the city's standards in a ramshackle apartment, almost entirely on the League's own dime.

Josh swore under his breath when he saw Isaac command Blinky to go into a QUICK ATTACK. The Jolteon's footfalls sounded like a one-Pokémon stampede from how rapid they were. 0 to 100, Isaac? He was doing well beyond 100 for a brief moment. Even with the safety measures the Gym had built in, riding so fast was dangerous and took a lot of practice. Josh had to push Saber to a QUICK ATTACK of his own to catch up. "Yee-ha!" he whooped, the two chasing each other for a brief moment before letting the others catch up. If the two pushed one another, there was no way Saber would be faster. "Told you!" Isaac may have been able to feel a rush of static, Blinky letting out a proud bark after showing off her speed.

Matt had caught the tell end, looking up towards Josh. Frowning, he brought his hand to his face. Did Josh just... not understand how he felt? Sometimes Matt wondered if Josh was the childish one. To blindly follow his dreams and not think of the other stuff..

He scoffed.

Though as they stopped, a brow raised at... that. Well he didn't know that. Slowly coming up, he looked at the water, and Nana growled at it, turning her nose up, she was not getting anywhere near that!

Julia Davis

Josh didn't make very many friends, but all the ones he did make, he was quite emotionally attached to. It was the same for his Pokémon. He was very picky about the Pokémon he caught because he cared for every single one of them. He would be devastated if even a single one of them perished in front of his eyes. Perhaps Matt was right. Perhaps Josh truly didn't understand. He did what he felt was right, and that was stand up for Matt. If Matt took it the wrong way... well, half of him felt bad. But the other half felt like the way Matt reacted was on him.

Isaac was certainly being a bit reckless with Blinky's speed, but that was par for the course for him. After what they went through with Resheph on that fateful day above Hoenn's skies, those events set Josh's current life, whether both knew it or not, into motion. Of course Isaac would quip that the ride aboard the Dragonair was far more intense. They were flying, and flying speeds were far faster than running ones. Blinky let out a prideful bark and smiled wide. "I think she likes you!" Josh mused with a smile of his own.

Julia's joke about Hoenn having too much water, followed by Isaac's remark, was nothing short of a massive eye roller for Josh. Perhaps the racer was just taking humor too seriously? Humor washed over him in one of two ways: if he thought the joke was tasteful and clever, he would laugh along. If he thought otherwise, he would scowl. This one was scowl-worthy to him. "On the topic of the sea, Julia, I'll try to let you know about going out on the water so you can be prepared next time. Snacker is such a thrill to control!"

That joke from Julia actually got a snort out of Matt. Who covered his face to snicker, he thought it was pretty funny. "Don't feel to bad, Julia. One of my friends back home can't even swim and she yells at me every time I suggest we go swimming." He said, knowing Aki would be so mad at him for mentioning this.

Seeing Isaac showing off with Blinky... that made Matt's brow arch. Smirking, he leaned towards Nana. "Go." He whispered, and the canine took off in a whirlwind of fur, blurring past Isaac as Matt pulled his eyelid down and stuck out his tongue.

Show off.

Josh's first instinct upon seeing Nana bolt, followed by Blinky, was to try to stop their impromptu race. He knew Matt had since gotten used to the Arcanine's fearsome speed, but Isaac was on Josh's fastest land Pokémon. This was the nightmare situation, had it been anyone else. Isaac was special, though. He had shown he could handle Resheph's crazy speed. What made the Jolteon different in that regard? He simply shouted, "Go get 'em, Isaac," cheering for the young, short trainer.

Left to her own devices, Blinky was quite competitive. As Nana had attempted to put more distance between herself and the Electric-type, the Jolteon fired back. Her strides became so rapid it may have felt like Isaac was floating above her saddle. The force of every turn the concourse took them on would have been readily apparent, perhaps even putting a significant amount of pressure on his inside leg with every curve they took. If there was a place to practice with that kind of speed, though, it was the concourse surrounding the network of tracks sprawling the property. With only shallow turns, there was not a better place for Isaac to try to adapt to the Jolteon's dizzying gallop.

Josh wasn't interested, though; he simply wanted to catch up with Julia and make plans for the future. Their pace was still quite brisk, but nothing compared to what Matt and Isaac were pushing each other to. "As I'm sure you know, as a Ranger, you can't be too prepared. Until you can get a dedicated aquatic upgrade, carrying that around is a good idea." Understandably, Julia was hesitant about high speed aquatic endeavors. The resistance of the water would put a lot more strain on her if she fell from the shark's back. "Sure! Next time you're ready, I can give you all the tips you need." By now, Blinky was approaching a big left turn along the foothills' edge, the Sector 3 Operations Center looming over the hilltops.